No abstract available.
Anterior Temporal Lobectomy* ; Seizures*

Elastofibroma dorsi is a rare, slow-growing, ill defined soft tissue tumor that's typically found between the inferior scapula and chest wall. The characteristic findings on ultrasonography, MRI and CT usually allow the correct diagnosis and so prevent unnecessary surgical procedure. We experienced a case of bilateral elastofibroma dorsi in an 87-year-old man, and we report on this case along with a review of the literature.
Aged, 80 and over ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Scapula ; Thoracic Wall ; Ultrasonography

Self-expanding metallic stent insertion has been widely applied for the palliative treatment of malignant esophageal strictures. Although it is known as an easy, safe, and effective procedure, complications are well known and include things such as stent migration and esophageal stent occlusion caused by tumor ingrowth. However, metallic stent fractures have been rarely reported in the esophagus, especially for nitinol stents. We report a case of a stent fracture associated with migration in a patient with a malignant esophageal stricture near the gastroesophageal junction. It is highly probable that the stent fracture was due to chemical erosion of the stent caused by gastric juice.
Alloys ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Esophageal Stenosis ; Esophagogastric Junction ; Esophagus ; Gastric Juice ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Stents

The absence of the inferior vena cava is an uncommon congenital anomaly that has recently been identified as an important risk factor contributing to the development of deep venous thrombosis. Congenital agenesis of the right hepatic lobe is a rare anomaly which is found incidentally in radiologic examinations. We present a case of a congenital absence of the infrarenal inferior vena cava, combined with agenesis of the right hepatic lobe in a 62-year-old man presented with symptoms of deep venous thrombosis.
Humans ; Liver/*abnormalities/radiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vena Cava, Inferior/*abnormalities/radiography ; Venous Thrombosis/etiology

No abstract available.

Because nonspecific colonic ulcer is an unusual condition and varies markedly in clinical presentation and course, preoperative clinical diagnosis of nonspecific colonic ulcer is very difficult, But now, preoperative clinical diagnosis can he made by advent of colonofiberscopy. And, it is very important to diagnose this disease early, because late diagnosis make a poor prognosis. We report a case of nonspecific colonic ulcer diagnosed by repeated colonofiberscopy and treated with surgery.
Colon* ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diagnosis ; Prognosis ; Ulcer*

OBJECTIVES: Apoptosis may play a major role in determining the growth and progression of the tumors. Certain oncogenes and tumor supressor genes are known to modulate apoptosis. The aim of study was to investigate whether apoptosis is related to the degree of differentiation, MIB-1 indicies, and expression of mutated p53 and bcl-2 in cervical neoplasms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined 57 samples of normal, premalignant(i.e. mild, moderate and severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ), malignant cervical tissue to evaluate whether differences in the apoptotic activity. Apoptotic cells and bodies were visualized by 3' end labelling. Simultaneously, quantitative immunostaining was performed for bcl-2 and p53, two known regulators of apoptosis. RESULTS: The cell proliferation index as determined by MIB-1 immunohistochemistry increased with progression from normal to cervical intraepithelial neoplasm and invasive cancer. The apoptotic index(AI) also increased with grade of lesion and was significantly associated with cell proliferation. However, the extent of apoptosis did not correlate with the expression of p53 and bcl-2. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the elevation of AI in cervical neoplasm is associated with cell proliferation activity but is independent of the expression of p53 and bcl-2. It is likely that the effects on apoptosis of bcl-2 and p53 are countered by those of other oncogene products and/or additional factors that regulate apoptosis in vivo.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Proliferation ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Oncogene Proteins ; Oncogenes ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It was reported that external nasal dilators (ENDs) can reduce snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in white people by dilating the nasal valve area and then, improving nasal breathing. However, there are no available data on Asians, whose geometry of nasal cavities is different from that of white people. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of ENDs on snoring and OSA in Korean adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve simple snorers (3 female and 9 males, aged 19 to 44 years) and 35 OSA patients (35 males, aged 22 to 65 years) without nasal diseases were included in this study. Polysomnography including measurement of snoring intensity was performed at two separate nights, one with and the other without an END. Averaged maximum snoring intensity, apnea index (AI), respiratory disturbance index (RDI), ratio of deep sleep (stage 3 and 4) to total sleep time, and minimum arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) with and without an END were measured and compared. RESULTS: Snoring intensity was reduced in 6 (50.0%) of 12 simple snorers and 16 (45.7%) of 35 OSA patients. In overall, snoring improved significantly in both groups. In OSA patients, AI and RDI improved significantly, but ratio of deep sleep time and minimum SaO2 did not. There were no significant correlations between change of snoring intensity and change of AI or RDI in OSA patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that ENDs are helpful to improvement of snoring and respiration during sleep, but the sleep stages remain almost unchanged by ENDs in Korean adults with snoring and/or OSA.
Adult* ; Apnea ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nasal Cavity ; Nose Diseases ; Oxygen ; Polysomnography ; Respiration ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* ; Sleep Stages ; Snoring*

Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is two-step process that first involves the primary mechanical injury and then the secondary injury is induced by various biochemical reactions. Apoptosis is one of secondary SCI mechanisms and it is thought to play an important role for the delayed neuronal injury. The enhanced formation of nitric oxide (NO) via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of apoptosis in SCI. The level of .iNOS mRNA peaked at 6 hr after SCI and it declined until 72 hr after SCI in a rat model. Double-immunofluorescence staining revealed that iNOS positive cells were stained for ED-1, synaptophysin, GFAP, and oligodendrocyte marker. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUDP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) positive cell count was higher for the 72 hr post-SCI group than for the 24 hr post-SCI group. This cell count was also higher going in the caudal direction than in the rostral direction from the epicenter, and especially for the 72 hr group. Treatment with a selective iNOS inhibitor resulted in the reduction of TUNEL-positive cells at the lesion site. These findings suggest that nitric oxide generated by the iNOS of macrophages, neurons, oligodentrocytes, and astrocytes plays an important role for the acute secondary SCI that results from apoptotic cell death.
Analysis of Variance ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Comparative Study ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/analysis ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; RNA, Messenger/genetics/metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spinal Cord/chemistry/enzymology/pathology ; Spinal Cord Injuries/*enzymology/pathology/physiopathology ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND: Secondary spinal cord injury (SCI) that follows an initial mechanical insult can exacerbate the overall damage, limit the restorative processes and eventually lead to an in- creased neurological deficit. We hypothesized that selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) may decrease the delayed cell death, and so this will contribute to decreased level of the secondary injury. METHODS: The dorsal surface of the cord at the T9 level was subjected to weight drop impact using a 10 g rod. To block COX-2 activation, a selective COX-2 inhibitor (NS-398) was administered (5 mg/kg, i.p.) 15 min prior to SCI. The COX-1, COX-2, Caspase-3 and PGE2 expressions were measured by real time quantitative RT-PCR and fluorescence immunostaining. RESULTS: Many activated caspase-3 positive cells were observed at 6 h and they increased until 72 h after SCI. The expression of COX-2 peaked at 6 h after SCI, while the COX-1 expression was unaffected. The principal cells that showed a COX-2 expression were the neurons and microglia. Pretreatment with NS-398 caused a significant decrease in the expression of prostaglandin E2 and activated caspase-3 positive cells after SCI. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that COX-2 is one of the main factors related with the pathologic deficits from secondary SCI.
Animals ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Death ; Contusions* ; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors ; Cyclooxygenase 2* ; Dinoprostone ; Fluorescence ; Microglia ; Neurons ; Rats* ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spinal Cord*