No abstract available.
Diarrhea* ; Humans ; Infant*

BACKGROUND: Intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) is a very popular and relatively safe technique due to its innate negative feedback mechanism. Morphine, the most commonly used analgesic, however, has its own drawbacks due to troublesome side effects. Narcotic agonist-antagonists are known to have ceiling effects not only to their analgesic potency, but also to their side effects. The authors studied the efficacy and incidence of side effects of Butorphanol IV-PCA for postoperative analgesia and compared these to morphine. METHODS: 38 ASA class I or II patients, undergoing gynecological surgery were randomly assigned into two groups, respectively Butorphanol and Morphine and examined hemodynamic changes, overall pain relief, patients satisfaction and the frequency of side effects. After general anesthesia, each patient randomly received loading dose of butorphanol or morphine in the recovery room and discharged to the floor with the PCA module. Upon arrival, individual patient was evaluated at predetermined time interval for 24 hours. RESULTS: The percentage of patient satisfaction was very high in both groups. The incidence of nausea was less in butorphanol group. The incidence of other side effects was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Butorphanol has less incidence of side effects and comparable level of analgesia when compared to morphine. We conclude that butorphanol may be considered as a part of routine IV-PCA regimen, in postoperative pain management.
Analgesia ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled* ; Anesthesia, General ; Butorphanol* ; Female ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Incidence ; Morphine* ; Nausea ; Pain, Postoperative ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Patient Satisfaction ; Recovery Room

Congenital onychodysplasia of the index fingers(COIF) is a rare condition of the nails, characterized by the following : (1) congenital occurrence, (2) unilateral or bilateral index finger involvement, (3) variability in nail appearance such as anonychia, micronychia, and polyonychia, (4) possible hereditary involvement, and (5) frequently associated bone anomalies. A 7-week-old male baby with an atrial septal defect presented with micronychia of the left index finger. Roentgenogram of both hands revealed a bone defect of the left 2nd distal phalanx. To our knowledge, distal phalangeal bone defect has not been previously described in this disease. We report a case of COIF with atrial septal defect.
Fingers* ; Hand ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Humans ; Male

Background: Conventional laryngoscopy with Macintosh blade requires a movement of the head, neck and cervical spine. The Bullard laryngoscope is an anatomically shaped, potentially eliminating the need for cervical spine extension. Bullard and Macintosh laryngoscopes were compared by measuring the degree of cervical spine extension by radiological measurement. Methods: Eighteen patients requiring endotracheal intubation were studied. Anesthesia was induced in neutral head position followed by laryngoscopy. Each patients was intubated two times by Macintosh and Bullard laryngoscope in random order. Radiographic evaluation was performed to determine the degree of cervical spine extension on four occasions; before induction, during facial mask ventilation, and during Bullard and Macintosh laryngoscopy. Results: The extension of cervical spine was significantly less following Bullard laryngoscopy than Macintosh laryngoscopy for best view (p<0.05). Conclusions: The Bullard laryngoscope can be used with less cervical spine extension than Macintosh laryngoscope. It may be useful in patients in whom cervical spine movement is limited or undesirable.
Anesthesia ; Head ; Humans ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Laryngoscopes ; Laryngoscopy* ; Masks ; Neck ; Spine* ; Ventilation

BACKGROUND: Inducible heat shock protein 70s (iHSP70) are expressed by stressful stimuli that result in protein denaturation, and are thought to assist in the maintenance of cellular integrity and viability. In addition, iHSP70 is known to be a sensitive marker of neuronal injury. To my best knowledge, no previous studies have been documented on iHSP70 induction by nociceptive impulse transmission through peripheral nerves not by direct neural damage. The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that iHSP70 can be expressed in the nervous system, which is related to the dental nociceptive pathway, by tooth pulp inflammation. METHODS: The pulp of rat mandibular molars was exposed. Animals were sacrificed at 1, 4, and 7 days after pulpal exposure, and the pulps were evaluated histologically. Also, iHSP70 levels were examined in the Gasserian ganglion (GG) and the trigeminal sensory nucleus (TSN). RESULTS: At 4 days after pulpal exposure, iHSP70 was significantly more expressed in the ipsilateral GG than in the contralateral GG. In the histological study, inflammation was found in the entire pulp tissue at 4 days. There were no significant differences in iHSP70 levels between the ipsilateral TSN and the contralateral TSN. Also, there were no significant differences in iHSP70 expression of GG and TSN between both sides at 1 and 7 days after pulpal exposure. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that iHSP70 can be expressed in the GG at 4 days after pulpal exposure by nociceptive impulses due to pulpal inflammation.
Animals ; Heat-Shock Proteins* ; Hot Temperature* ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins* ; Inflammation ; Molar ; Nervous System ; Neurons ; Peripheral Nerves ; Protein Denaturation ; Rats* ; Tooth ; Trigeminal Ganglion

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Maligant pleural effusions are common and significant problems in patient with advanced malignancies. In comparison with traditional sclerosing agent, intrapleural chemotherapy has a potential advantage of treating the underlying malignancy in addition to providing local control of th effusion. This study evaluated efficacy of intrapleural chemotherapy with cisplatin and cytarabine in the management of malignant pleural effusion from lung cancer and others. METHODS: 29 patients with pathology-proven malignant pleural effusion were prospectively analyzed to estimate the effect of intrapleural chemotherapy. A single dose of cisplatin 100mg/m plus cytarabine 1200mg/m in the 250ml normal saline were instilled into the pleural space via a chest tube and drained 4 hours later. Patients were evaluated for toxicity and response at 24hours, 1st, 2nd, 3rd week, and monthly interval. No recurrence of the effusion was considered a complete response(CR). Partial responses (PR) was defined as a 75% or greater decrease in the amount of effusion on serial chest radiographs. RESULTS: The overall response rate(CR plus PR) was 93.1% (27 of 29 patients). The median length of response was 7.5 months. Among 17 patients who were assessable until they died, 14 patients(82%) maintained complete response at the last follow-up. One patient experienced reversible grade 4 myelosuppression, 3 patients had grade 3 nausea & vomiting. 2 patients had empyema, and 2 patients had wound infection. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of this trial indicated that the intrapleural chemotherapy with cisplatin and cytarabine with little treatment related mortality and morbidity.
Chest Tubes ; Cisplatin* ; Cytarabine* ; Drug Therapy* ; Empyema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mortality ; Nausea ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant* ; Prospective Studies ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Recurrence ; Vomiting ; Wound Infection

PURPOSE: To observe MR findings of vascular abnormality in Sturge-Weber syndrome and to determine the value of MRI in diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome (age : 3 months-32 years)were evaluated by MR imaging ; in six and four cases, respectively, the results were correlated with those of CT and angiography. We retrospectively analysed changes in the cortical vein and deep venous system, including the medullary and subependymal vein, as well as an largement of the choroid plexus, leptomeningeal enhancement, and changes in diploic space. RESULTS: In all cases except one, in which non-contrast enhanced study had been performed, varying degrees of leptomeningeal enhancement were seen. In nine cases the cortical vein became smaller; enlargement of the choroid plexus was seen in eight cases, change in the diploic space in seven (including three in which there was angiomatous involvement), and enlargement of the deep venous system in seven. In younger patients, collateral pathways were less developed and leptomeningeal angiomatous changes were more pronounced than in those who were older. CONCLUSION: MRI is a useful modality for the evaluationn of vascular changes in Sturge-Weber syndrome. These changes vary according to a patient's age and the duration of the disease.
Angiography ; Choroid Plexus ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome* ; Veins

Acrodermatitis enteropathica is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by alopecia, acral and periorificial dermatitis and gastro-intestinal disturbances such as diarrhea. This syndrome is caused by malabsorption of zinc. The mean serum zinc level is usually low in untreated patients and the oral administration of zinc sulfate can clear the skin lesions and other symptoms. We report a three-month-old female baby with acrodermatitis enteropathica showing a normal serum zinc level in whom diapnosis was confirmed by typical skin lesions, clinical symptoms and response to oral zinc therapy.
Acrodermatitis* ; Administration, Oral ; Alopecia ; Dermatitis ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Humans ; Skin ; Zinc Sulfate ; Zinc*

BACKGROUND: The dose-related effects of intravenous infusion of propofol on the rat EEG were evaluated quantitatively by spectral analysis of EEG recorded from the rat skull. METHODS: Propofol was infused into femoral vein at various concentrations ranging from 0 to 400 g/g body weight, and bipolar EEG was recorded from the rat skull and its spectrum were calculated by power spectrum analysis. The EEG electrodes were fixed at the right and left frontal, parieatal, and occipital bone on rat stereotaxic table. The density of each spectral bands(delta 1 3.25, theta 3.5 7.75, alpha 8 12.75, beta 13 31.75 Hz), total power density, median power frquency, and spectral edge frequency were derived from the spectra. RESULTS: In visual inspection of conventional EEG, low doses of propofol(100, 200 g/100 g) showed no significant changes except appearance of high frequency waves, but higher doses of propofol(300, 400 g/100 g) showed high amplitude with low frequency wave. In quantitative spectral analysis of EEG, low dose of propofol revealed no significant change except appearance of beta-waves in the frontal lobe especially. Significant EEG changes were identified during infusion of higher dose of propofol. 300 and 400 g/g of propofol revealed high amplitude and low frequency waves. Median power frequency and spectral edge frequency were significantly changed at 300 and 400 g/g of propofol in range 4.2Hz and 3.8Hz, and 12.4 Hz and 10.2 Hz respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings suggest that analysis of EEG parameters derived from EEG power spectrum could be applied to determine the depth of propofol anesthesia in rats.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Animals ; Body Weight ; Electrodes ; Electroencephalography* ; Femoral Vein ; Frontal Lobe ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Occipital Bone ; Propofol* ; Radio Waves ; Rats* ; Skull ; Spectrum Analysis