BACKGROUND: Recently, Doppler echocardiography has been widely used to evaluate left ventricular(LV) diastolic filling. However, There are only limited date about the influence of LV systolic function on the pattern of left ventricular diastolic filling. METHODS: To evaluate the changes of Doppler echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular filling induced by variations in left ventricular systolic function in dilated cardiomyopathy(DC) with heart failure(HF), 25 patients(M : F=14 : 11) with DC and HF, and 21 age-matched normal subjects(M : F=13 : 8) were examined by ECG, phonocardiography and echocardiography. From the Doppler recording, A2D(time from second heart sound to the onset of early diastolic mitral flow), peak velocity at early diastole(E) and late diastole(A), ratio of E to A velocity(E/A) and flow velocity integral(FVI) were measured. RESULTS: In 22 patients with DC and HF without mitral regurgitation(MR), A2D was significantly prolonged(119.5+/-12.7 vs 92.4+/-14.1msec, p<0.01), and early diastolic peak velocity and E/A velocity ratio were decreased as compared with the normal subjects(E=0.39+/-0.08 vs 0.57+/-0.12m/sec, p<0.01, E/A : 0.87+/-0.19 vs 1.33+/-0.19 vs 1.33+/-0.18, p<0.05). There were significant correlations between A2D and FVI(r=+0.73, p<0.01), and between E/A velocity ratio and FVI(r=-0.78, p<0.01). However, in 3 patients with MR, A2D(88.7+/-12.1msec), E(0.56+/-0.05m/sec), and E/A(1.32+/-0.12) were similar to those in normal subjects, despite of decreased FVI(12.0+/-0.9cm). CONCLUSIONS: These data show that a change of left ventricular systolic function in patients without MR may influence a diastolic filling pattern of left ventricle but not in patient with MR, and suggest that MR masks left ventricular distolic filling abnormalities.
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Doppler* ; Electrocardiography ; Heart ; Heart Sounds ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Masks ; Phonocardiography ; Ventricular Function, Left*

No abstract available.
Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Vessels*

E.S.T. is performed not only for the treatment but also for the diagnosis of biliary tract diseases. E.S.T. serves as a diagnostic aid for some of biliary tract diseases which require such procedures as a peroral cholangioscopy or biopsy of the biliary duct for precise diagnosis and further differential diagnosis. The diseases of our patients were diagnosed by clinical findings and such diagnostic maneuvers as abdominal ultrasonography, intravenous cholangiography, percutaneous transhepatic chorangiography(P.T.C.), endoscopic retrograde chorangiopancreatography(E.R.C.P.), In all the two cases, abdominal ultrasonography revealed dilated extrahepatic duct, but biliary trees were not visualized at E.R.C.P. In one of the two cases, P.T.C. revealed a filling defect with dilated common bile ducts(CBD) but we could not make a differential diagnosis of CBD stone from CBD cancer. In another of the two cases, on which intravenous cholangiography was done, we could not see CBD. For the purpuse of precise diagnosis and further differential diagnosis, we performed EST and then ERCP thraugh widened papillae. With those procedures, CBD stones were shown.
Bile ; Biliary Tract Diseases ; Biopsy ; Cholangiography ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Ultrasonography

Idiopathic hypertrohpic cranial pachymeningitis is rare, and is essentially a diagnosis of exclusion. A 53-year-old man presented with headache and visual loss in the right eye, first experienced a month earlier. MR images depicted a mass in the right cavernous sinus. At T1-weighted imaging, both the mass and the thickened dura mater present in both fromted lobes were isointense, while at while T2-weighted imaging, the signal intensity of both the mass and the dura mater was low. After the injection of contrast medium, pachymeningeal enhancement was observed. We report the radiologic findings in a case of idiopathic hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis, confirmed surgically and pathologically.
Cavernous Sinus ; Diagnosis ; Dura Mater ; Headache ; Humans ; Meningitis* ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: Because of the unavailability of marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood (CB) is increasingly being used. We evaluated the potential of ex vivo expansion and clonality in CD34+ cells separated from cord blood source and mobilized peripheral blood (PB) in a serum-free media. METHODS: The CD34+ cells, selected from CB and mobilized PB, were expanded with hematopoietic growth factors. They were then cultured for burst-forming units of erythrocytes (BFU-E), colony-forming units of granulocytes and monocytes (CFU-GM) and colony-forming units of megakaryocytes (CFU-Mk) at culture days 0, day 4, day 7, and day 14 with various growth factors. RESULTS: The CB-selected CD34+ cells showed significantly higher total cell expansion than those from the PB at day 7 (2 fold increase than PB). The CB-selected CD34+ cells produced more BFU-E colonies than did the PB on culture at days 7 and at day 14. Also, the CB-selected CD34+ cells produced more CFU-Mk colonies than did the PB on culture at day 4 and at day 7. CONCLUSION: The ex vivo expansion of the CB cells may be promising in producing total cellular expansion, CFU-Mk and BFU-E compared with PB for 7 to 14 days. The growth factors combination including megakaryocyte growth and development, flt3-ligand and interleukin-3 showed more expansion in the view of total cells and clonal maintenance compared with less combination.
Bone Marrow ; Culture Media, Serum-Free ; Erythrocytes ; Erythroid Precursor Cells ; Fetal Blood* ; Granulocytes ; Growth and Development ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Interleukin-3 ; Megakaryocytes ; Monocytes ; Stem Cells

Strumal carcinoid of ovary is an unusual form of monodermal ovarian teratoma with thyroid-like follicles admixed with typical carcinoid tumor pattern. Most of them arise in dermoid cyst or in mature solid teratoma. Recently we experienced a case of strumal carcinoid postoperatively and report this case with a brief review of the concerned literatures.
Carcinoid Tumor* ; Dermoid Cyst ; Female ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Ovary* ; Teratoma

No abstract available.
Humans ; Nephritis, Interstitial* ; Nephrotic Syndrome*

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop an evidence-based nursing clinical practice guideline for Moisture associated skin damage (MASD) prevention and management for patients in Korea. METHODS: The guideline adaptation process was used and conducted according to the guideline adaptation manual developed by the Korean Hospital Nurses Association. It consists of three main phases and 9 modules including a total of 24 steps. RESULTS: The adapted MASD clinical practice guideline consisted of 4 sections, 8 domains and 28 recommendations. The number of recommendations in each section was: 7 on MASD assessment, 14 on MASD prevention and management, 4 on education, and 3 on organizational policy. Of the recommendations, 3.6% were marked as A grade, 28.6% as B grade, and 67.8% as C grade. CONCLUSION: This MASD clinical practice guideline is the first to be developed in Korea. The developed guideline will contribute to standardized and consistent MASD prevention and management. The guideline can be recommended for dissemination and utilization by nurses nationwide to improve the quality of MASD prevention and management. Regular revision is recommended.
Dermatitis, Irritant ; Education ; Evidence-Based Nursing ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Intertrigo ; Korea ; Organizational Policy ; Skin Care ; Skin

The elevation and fusion of palatine are essential processes in the completion of the palatal development. It is believed that the mesenchyme plays a major role in the ascent of the palatal process, and that the palatal epithelium is involved in its fusion. The mechanism of fusion requires several different morphologic and molecular changes prior to the completion of the mesenchymal continuity between different palatine processes. The mechanism of removing the epithelial cells from the fusion zone could include either programmed cell death, epithelial-mesenchymal transformation or migration to adjacent epithelia. Retinoic acid has been known to induce cleft palate by disturbing mesenchymal growth and/or epithelial fusion. The effect of retinoic acid on the epithelium of the palatine process was studied in the fetus of the Sprague- Dawley rat with feeding 100 mg/kg of retinoic acid mixed in olive oil on the 10th day of fetal age and controlled with feeding pure olive oil. The epithelium of the palatine process was examined by PAS reaction and electron- microscopy on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th day of fetal age. The obtained results were as follows: 1. In the control group, glycogen was plentiful at the entire epithelium of the palatine process during the pre-fusion period(14th and 15th day), but it diminished in contact epithelium at the fusion stage(16th day). On the contrary, in the experimental group treated with retinoic acid, glycogen was plentiful and did not change from the 14th to 18th day of gestation. 2. In the control group at fusion stage(16th and 18th day), PAS-positive cells increased in the nasal and oral epithelium adjacent to the fusion site, and in the mesenchyme around the fusion site. 3. As a result of electronmicroscopic findings, the epithelium in the experimental group with retinoic acid seemed to be injured by retinoic acid; RER was composed of flattened cisternas and ribosomes were detached, mitochondrial crista and membrane were destructed and sacculated, and Golgi complex was extremely atrophied. According to the results, it seems that apoptosis as well as cell migration and transformation happen in the mechanism of cleaning the epithelium at the contact site, and that retinoic acid injures directly intracytoplasmic organelles and disturbs apoptosis, a sort of normal developmental process. More studies should be done to verify relations between apoptosis and large-sized glycogen granule in superficial epithelium.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cell Death ; Cell Movement ; Cleft Palate ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Epithelium* ; Fetus* ; Gestational Age ; Glycogen ; Golgi Apparatus ; Membranes ; Mesoderm ; Microscopy ; Olea ; Organelles ; Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Rats* ; Ribosomes ; Tretinoin* ; Olive Oil

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the association between skeletal maturation and adrenal androgen levels in obese children and adolescents. METHODS: Fifty-three children and adolescents (aged 7–15 years) diagnosed as obese or overweight were investigated. Anthropometric measurements, bone age (BA) determination, serum biochemical analyses, and hormonal measurements were performed. The difference between BA and chronological age (BA–CA, dBACA) was calculated and used to represent the degree of advanced skeletal maturation. RESULTS: Thirty-one subjects were classified into the obese group and 22 subjects into the overweight group. Insulin resistance as calculated by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was significantly higher in the obese group than in the overweight group (4.03±2.20 vs. 2.86±1.11, P=0.026). The skeletal maturation of the obese group was advanced, but the dBACA did not differ between the obese and overweight groups statistically (1.43±1.35 vs. 0.91±1.15, P=0.141). Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels were significantly higher in subjects with dBACA>1 compared to those with dBACA≤1 (104.3±62.2 vs. 59.6±61.0, P=0.014). Correlation analyses demonstrated that dBACA was positively correlated with body mass index standard deviation scores (r=0.35, P=0.010), fasting insulin (r=0.36, P=0.009), HOMA-IR (r=0.30, P=0.031), and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (r=0.331, P=0.028). In multivariate linear regression analysis, HOMA-IR (P=0.026) and serum DHEA-S (P=0.032) were positively correlated with the degree of advanced skeletal maturation. CONCLUSION: Advanced skeletal maturation is associated with increased insulin resistance and elevated DHEA-S levels in obese children and adolescents.
Adolescent* ; Age Determination by Skeleton ; Androgens ; Body Mass Index ; Child* ; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate ; Fasting ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance ; Linear Models ; Obesity ; Overweight