STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy is used instead of Ti-6Al-4V alloy that was known to have toxicity. PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate the effect of electrolyte concentration on the surface characteristics of anodized and hydrothermally-treated Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Discs of Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy of 20 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness were polished sequentially from 300 to 1,000 SiC paper, ultrasonically washed with acetone and distilled water for 5 min, and dried in an oven at 50 degrees C for 24 hours. Anodizing was performed at current density 30 mA/cm2 up to 300 V in electrolyte solutions containing beta-glycerophosphate disodium salt hydrate (beta-GP) and calcium acetate (CA). Hydrothermal treatment was conducted by high pressure steam at 300 degrees C for 2 hours using a autoclave. All samples were soaked in the Hanks' solution with pH 7.4 at 36.5 degrees C for 30 days. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results obtained were summarized as follows; 1. After hydrothermal treatment, the precipitated HA crystals showed the dense fine needle shape. However, with increasing the concentration of electrolyte they showed the shape of thick and short rod. 2. When the dense fine needle shape crystals was appeared after hydrothermal treatment, the precipitation of HA crystals in Hanks' solution was highly accelerated. 3. The crystal structures of TiO2 in anodic oxide film were composed of strong anatase peak and weak rutile peak as analyzed with thin-film X-ray diffractometery. 4. The Ca/P ratio of the precipitated HA layer was equivalent to that of HA crystal in Hanks' solution.
Acetone ; Alloys* ; Calcium ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Needles ; Steam ; Water

BACKGROUND: The relationship between thrombosis and atherosclerosis has long been recognized. It is important to diagnose them earlier and utilize thrombolytic agents earlier in the clinical diseases associated with thrombosis and atherosclerosis. So we measured the thrombus precursor protein (TpP) in these diseases and intended to investigate the changes after heparin therapy. METHODS: TpP concentration was measured in 17 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 7 patients with unstable angina (UA), 2 patients with aortic dissection (AD), 10 patients with other chest pain, and 9 patients with cerebral infarction and 18 healthy controls. We divided AMI into two groups, early presenters (n=10) who presented to the emergency room (ER) within 6 hours and late presenters (n=7) who presented to the ER after 6 hours of the onset of chest pain. Among the patients, in 24 patients treated with unfractionated heparin, the level of TpP was measured from plasma at 8 hours after therapy. We used the microtiter plate ELISA procedure. RESULTS: TpP was significantly increased in AD (mean+/-SD; 51.21+/-8.08 microgram/mL), AMI (12.07+/-9.62 microgram/mL), early AMI (11.39+/-9.25 microgram/mL), late AMI (13.05+/-10.78 microgram/mL), cerebral infarction (7.34+/-4.67 microgram/mL), and UA (7.05+/-4.72 microgram/mL) compared with healthy controls (3.03+/-1.48 g/ mL). Abnormal concentrations of TpP were observed in 2 of 2 patients (100%) with AD, 12 of 17 patients (70.6%) with AMI, 8 of 10 patients (80.0%) with early AMI, 4 of 7 patients (57.1%) with late AMI, 5 of 9 patients (55.6%) with cerebral infarction, 3 of 7 patients (42.9%) with UA, and 2 of 10 patients (20.0%) with other chest pain. Among the 24 patients following heparin therapy, the level of TpP did not show significant decrease after heparin therapy in the group of UA and AMI with increased TpP above the upper limit of normal (n=14). CONCLUSTIONS: TpP appears to be a sensitive marker of the clinical diseases associated with thrombosis and atherosclerosis. But, TpP measurement does not allow for the accurate monitoring in the treatment with unfractionated heparin.
Angina, Unstable ; Atherosclerosis ; Cerebral Infarction ; Chest Pain ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; Heparin* ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; Plasma ; Thrombosis*

BACKGROUND: There are highly-polymorphic DNA markers in the human genomic DNA, known as the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR). The VNTR markers can be used to evaluate the engraftment of stem cells. We evaluated the discrimination power of 3 types of long-tandem repeat (LTR) and tried to predict underlying disease relapses by DNA chimerism. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients were transplanted with allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) and their related donors were tested. We used the three long-tandem repeats (LTR) D1S80, D1S111, and YNZ22 for VNTR-PCR. The informative test was performed before transplantation. The chimerism analysis was performed on days +30, +60, +90, and +180 after transplantation. RESULTS: The most informative marker was D1S80 with 55.2% discrimination potential. The power of discrimination was 79.3% in the combination of 3 LTRs. Twenty-two cases were tested for DNA chimerism analysis. When the complete chimerism was represented, the engraftment was more successful and when the mixed chimerism was represented, the underlying disease relapse rate increased. CONCLUSTIONS: DNA chimerism analysis was useful to evaluate the marrow status of patients. It also served as an indication for donor lymphocyte infusion. However, compared to unrelated allogenic PBSCT, the discrimination potential for the combination of 3 LTR loci was lower in the related allogenic PBSCT. Therefore, it is thought that additional short-tandem repeats and DNA sequencing are required for more discrimination power especially in related transplantation cases.
Bone Marrow ; Chimerism ; Discrimination (Psychology)* ; DNA ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Recurrence ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stem Cells* ; Tissue Donors

Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) has some benefit effects as graft-versus-leukemia effect, reducing the relapse of leukemia and inducing of a complete remission. But it has also a graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) effect. So it is required a proper marker test when DLI is performing. The DNA chimerism analysis can be a marker test in DLI. Variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) are highly polymorphic DNA markers in the human genomic DNA and used as primers of DNA chimerism analysis. A 43-year-old male who had been diagnosed acute myelogenous leukemia was transplanted with allogeneic peripheral blood stem cells. The initial chimerism analysis showed complete chimerism but it changed to mixed chimerism after 7 months of transplantation. We predicted the relapse of leukemia and performed DLI. The patient could obtain the complete chimerism after DLI. We report a case of chimerism analysis which was useful to predict the relapse of leukemia and perform the DLI.
Adult ; Chimerism* ; DNA* ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Lymphocytes* ; Male ; Minisatellite Repeats ; Recurrence ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors*

PURPOSE: The present study investigated the dynamics and prognostic role of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression responsible for 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in FDG positron emission tomography (PET) and radioactive iodine (131I) uptake in whole-body radioactive iodine scans (WBS) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The primary and processed data were downloaded from the Genomic Data Commons Data Portal. Expression data for sodium/iodide symporter (solute carrier family 5 member 5, SLC5A5), hexokinase (HK1–3), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and glucose transporter (solute carrier family 2, SLC2A1–4) mRNA were collected. RESULTS: Expression of SLC5A5 mRNA were negatively correlated with SLC2A1 mRNA and positively correlated with SLC2A4 mRNA. In PTC with BRAF mutations, expressions of SLC2A1, SLC2A3, HK2, and HK3 mRNA were higher than those in PTC without BRAF mutations. Expression of SLC5A5, SLC2A4, HK1, and G6PD mRNA was lower in PTC without BRAF mutation. PTCs with higher expression of SLC5A5 mRNA had more favorable disease-free survival, but no association with overall survival. CONCLUSION: Expression of SLC5A5 mRNA was negatively correlated with SLC2A1 mRNA. This finding provides a molecular basis for the management of PTC with negative WBS using 18F-FDG PET scans. In addition, higher expression of SLC5A5 mRNA was associated with less PTC recurrence, but not with deaths.
Disease-Free Survival ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Genome* ; Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative ; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase ; Hexokinase ; Humans ; Iodine ; Ion Transport ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Recurrence ; RNA, Messenger* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

Actinomycosis is a rare form of disease that is caused by Actinomyces such as A. israelii and A. bovis, which may take the form of chronic, purulent inflammation of deep tissue evolves with necrosis, formation of sinuses and fibrotic mass. This disease arises in the head and neck area mainly in 55% and other places like that chest and the gastrointestinal tract occurs in 45%. Actinomycosis can present in a variety of forms and may mimic other infections or even neoplasms. Our case was 44-year-old man having painful indurated mass in his left TMJ area, otorrhea in his left ear and trismus. He was treated with surgical excision and biopsy confirmed actinomycosis. And after that, he was cured successfully with antibiotic therapy. We report this case of actinomycosis that developed in the left TMJ area with review articles.
Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Ear ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Head ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Neck ; Necrosis ; Temporomandibular Joint* ; Thorax ; Trismus

Hyponatremia associated with the use of both a sodium phosphate (NaP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution for colonoscopy preparation has been reported in patients with impaired renal handling of water. A PEG solution is believed to affect serum electrolytes less than NaP, but the use of a PEG solution can lead to nausea, vomiting, intestinal hyperactivity and dehydration, often resulting in a raised plasma antidiuretic hormone (ADH) concentration. Non-osmolar stimuli such as pain, stress, nausea, and vomiting can stimulate ADH release. We report a case of severe hyponatremic encephalopathy after sulfate-free PEG ingestion for a colonoscopy in a healthy middle-aged woman. We think that physicians should be familiar with the medical history and current medication schedule of patients prior to bowel preparation. The levels of serum electrolytes should be checked in patients with impaired ability to excrete free water and any mental aberrations before undertaking colonoscopy procedures.
Appointments and Schedules ; Colonoscopy ; Dehydration ; Eating ; Electrolytes ; Female ; Handling (Psychology) ; Humans ; Hyponatremia ; Mortuary Practice ; Nausea ; Phosphates ; Plasma ; Polyethylene ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Sodium ; Vomiting

Intestinal tuberculosis is a common disease of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and should be differentiated from the inflammatory bowel diseases and malignancy such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, amebic colitis, and colon cancer. Most frequently involved sites (75% of cases) are the terminal ileum and cecum. Other sites of involvement, in order of frequency, are ascending colon, jejunum, appendix, duodenum, stomach, esophagus, sigmoid colon, and rectum. Intestinal tuberculosis simultaneously involving the stomach and colon has been very rarely reported. Recently, we experienced a case of synchronous gastric and colonic ulcers with granulomatous inflammation. Although we did not find acid fast bacilli and the culture test was negative, empirical anti-tuberculosis therapy resulted in dramatic clinical and endoscopic improvement. We report a rare case of multifocal gastrointestinal tuberculosis with a review of literature.
Colonic Diseases/*diagnosis/pathology ; Colonoscopy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Diseases/*diagnosis/pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal/*diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology

BACKGROUND: Drowning represents the third most common cause of all accidental deaths worldwide. Although few studies of submersion injury were done in Korea, the subjects were mainly pediatric patients. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical feature of submersion injury in adults. METHODS: The medical records of 31 patients with submersion injury who were >15 years of age and admitted to Kyungpook National University Hospital from July 1990 to March 2003 were retrospectively examined. RESULTS: The most common age-group, cause, and site of submersion accidents in adults were 15-24 years of age, inability to swim, and river followed by more than 65 years of age, drinking, and public bath respectively. The initial chest radiographs showed bilaterally and centrally predominant distribution of pulmonary edema at lung base in about 90% of patients with pulmonary edema represented by submersion injury but at only upper lung zone in 10%. Eventually, 25 patients (80.6%) survived without any neurologic deficit and 2 patients (6.5%) with significant neurologic deficit, and 4 patients (12.9%) died. Age, arterial gas oxygenation, and mental status among baseline variables showed significant difference for prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: More than 65 years of age, drinking, and occurrence in public bath were relatively important in submersion injury of adults, and the successful survival of 80.6% of patients suggests that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be intensively done in even adults.
Adult* ; Baths ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Drinking ; Drowning ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Immersion* ; Korea ; Lung ; Medical Records ; Near Drowning ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Oxygen ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Edema ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Retrospective Studies ; Rivers

The application of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) is considered essential when evaluating focal liver lesions (FLLs) using ultrasonography (US). Microbubble UCAs are easy to use and robust; their use poses no risk of nephrotoxicity and requires no ionizing radiation. The unique features of contrast enhanced US (CEUS) are not only noninvasiveness but also real-time assessing of liver perfusion throughout the vascular phases. The later feature has led to dramatic improvement in the diagnostic accuracy of US for detection and characterization of FLLs as well as the guidance to therapeutic procedures and evaluation of response to treatment. This article describes the current consensus and guidelines for the use of UCAs for the FLLs that are commonly encountered in US. After a brief description of the bases of different CEUS techniques, contrast-enhancement patterns of different types of benign and malignant FLLs and other clinical applications are described and discussed on the basis of our experience and the literature data.
Contrast Media/chemistry/*diagnostic use ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/radiography/*ultrasonography ; Liver Neoplasms/radiography/*ultrasonography ; Phospholipids/chemistry/diagnostic use ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Sulfur Hexafluoride/chemistry/diagnostic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed