Catatracts are an infrequent but well-known complication of electrical injury, remains poorly understood. We report two cases of electric cataract with maculopathy experienced recently. The first case was a 58-year-old man who had exposed to 22000 voltage current and sustained third degree, 15% burn. 54th day after burn, the lenticular changes showed total opacity of both eyes and the intraocular pressure of left eye was 28 mmHg. 65th day after burn, extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation on left eye was performed. After the operation, naked vision was 1.0, but hard exudates were showed in macular area. The second case was a 23-year-old man who had exposed to 54000 voltage current and sustained third degree, 20% burn. 82th day after burn, the lenticular changes showed moderate opacities in the anterior and posterior subcapsular area of both eyes. 137th day after burn, extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation on right eye was performed. The final corrected visual acuity was 0.5 on 7th week after the operation due to lamellar macular hole.
Male ; Humans

Spontaneous pneumothorax is a known, but relatively rare complication of pulmonary metastases of sarcoma. A 19-year-old man was presented with chest pain and dyspnea for three days and was diagnosed as left pneumothorax. After bleb resection, microscopic examination revealed metastatic osteosarcoma forming subpleural fistula and dystrophic calcification. Four years ago, he had had limb salvage operation and chemotherapy for osteosarcoma of left femur. After two and a half years he had a bleb resection for right pneumothorax without any evidence of metastasis. Six months later, he was found to have a 4x3cm sized lung mass in the right lower lobe. After lobectomy, he was diagnosed as pulmonary metastasis of osteosarcoma. Pneumothorax is the common complication of metastatic osteosarcoma to the lung and it may be presented before the pulmonary metastasis is clinically evident. It is important to recognize a pneumothorax of the patients with osteosarcoma as a possible sign of metastases.
Blister ; Chest Pain ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspnea ; Femur ; Fistula ; Humans ; Limb Salvage ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Osteosarcoma* ; Pneumothorax* ; Sarcoma ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The present study was conducted to develop a mild vascular cognitive impairment (MVCI) assessment tool for patients with stroke and to examine its validity, reliability, and clinical adequacy. METHODS: Items of this tool were developed based on previously verified cognitive assessment tools. Face, content, and criterion (concurrent) validities, optimal cut-off score for differentiation of MVCI and normal cognitive function, clinical adequacy, internal consistency, and inter-rater reliability of the assessment tool were determined in 60 stroke patients at a university hospital located in Incheon, South Korea. RESULTS: The devised MVCI assessment tool contains 20 items which were designed to assess seven cognitive domains: orientation, memory, language, attention, reasoning/abstraction, visuospatial perception, and executive function/problem solving. Content, face, and construct validities were well supported. Clinical adequacy testing revealed that the overall probability of correctly discriminating MVCI using the MVCI assessment tool for stroke was 90.0%, which was statistically significant. Furthermore, a score of 23 was found to be the optimal cut-off score for MVCI. Internal consistency and inter-rater reliability were also well supported. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that the developed MVCI assessment tool for stroke could serve as a clinically useful tool for detecting MVCI and for properly assessing degree of cognitive impairment in stroke patients.
Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Mild Cognitive Impairment/complications/diagnosis ; Neuropsychological Tests/*standards ; Psychometrics/*methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stroke/*complications

OBJECTIVE: To understand the difference of defecation physiology between postpartum and postoperative women. METHODS: Between July 1998 to April 1999, we performed defecogram and pudendal nerve motor latency to 31 women, who were 8 postoperative women, 9 post cesarean-section state women, and 14 normal vaginal delivery-state women. RESULTS: According to the defecogram results, only squeezing angles of the anorectal angle were significantly increased(96.0 vs 72.3, 74.9 degree) in normal vaginal delivery-state women compared to post cesarean-section state and postoperative women, but rest and evacuation angles were not. And to pudendal nerve latency, there were no statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the pudendal plexus was damaged during labor, therefore its ability to control puborectalis muscle was damaged. So, the anorectal angles of squeezing of postpartum women were significantly increased, compared to those of post cesarean section women or postoperative women.
Cesarean Section ; Defecation* ; Female ; Humans ; Physiology* ; Postpartum Period* ; Pregnancy ; Pudendal Nerve*

No abstract available.
Granulomatous Disease, Chronic* ; Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Combination

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to test criterion-related validity of the Critical Patients' Severity Classification System (CPSCS) developed by the Hospital Nurses' Association by examining relationships with brain injury severity measured by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), recovery state measured by Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), and days of stay in ICU of brain injury patients. METHODS: Prospective correlational research design was adopted by including 194 brain injury patients admitted to ICU of one university hospital. RESULTS: The score of CPSCS appeared to significantly discriminate the severity of brain injury. Among nursing activities in CPSCS, Respiratory therapy, IV Infusion and Medication, Monitoring, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Treatment and Procedure were significant to discriminate the severity of brain injury. Respiratory therapy, Vital Signs, and Monitoring appeared to significantly discriminate the recovery states of 1- and 3-months. Nursing activities significantly contributed to predict the days of ICU stay were Respiratory therapy, ADL, and Teaching and Emotional Support. CONCLUSION: CPSCS developed by the Hospital Nurses Association appeared to be valid to discriminate or predict brain injury severity, recovery states, and days of stay in ICU for brain injury patients.
Activities of Daily Living ; Brain Injuries ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Research Design ; Respiratory Therapy ; Vital Signs

Granular cell tumor is an uncommon benign tumor derived from Schwann cells. The most common location is the tongue, followed by striated muscle bundles at other sites, and the skin. About 6-8% of granular cell tumors occur in the breast. We report the sonographic findings of a case of graunlar cell tumor occurring at that site.
Breast* ; Granular Cell Tumor* ; Muscle, Striated ; Schwann Cells ; Skin ; Tongue ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study investigated the role of Na,K-ATPase, the local renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) system in the pathogenesis of renal tubular dysfunction and hypertension in rats with two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) hypertension. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were made 2K1C hypertensive for 4 weeks. The renal expression of Na,K-ATPase was determined by immunoblotting. The mRNA expression of renin, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2), mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), and the ANP system were determined in the kidney using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The blood pressure was increased in the 2K1C rats, compared with controls. The plasma renin activity and serum aldosterone concentrations were increased, as were the urine output and fractional excretion of sodium. The expression of Na,K-ATPase protein was decreased in the clipped kidney, as compared with the control kidney, while it remained unchanged in the contralateral kidney. The mRNA expression of renin, ACE1, CYP11B2, and MR was increased in the clipped kidney, but unchanged in the non-clipped kidney. The mRNA expression of ACE2 did not differ between the groups. The expression of ANP mRNA was increased in both clipped and non-clipped kidneys, as compared with control kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: The enhanced activity of the local RAAS may result in to ischemic tubular injury and the development of hypertension in 2K1C rats. The downregulation of Na,K-ATPase associated with tubular injury in the clipped kidney may account for the impaired tubular sodium reabsorption in 2K1C hypertension.
Adult ; Aldosterone ; Aldosterone Synthase ; Animals ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; Blood Pressure ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Renovascular ; Immunoblotting ; Kidney ; Male ; Plasma ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Mineralocorticoid ; Renin ; Renin-Angiotensin System ; RNA, Messenger ; Sodium

PURPOSE: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) can stimulate a variety of tumors including prostatic carcinoma. Research has recently shown that IL-6 may act to stimulate the progression of prostatic cancer. IL-6 is elevated in the sera of patients with metastatic prostatic cancer and it has been shown to be a candidate marker of disease activity. To date, little work has been performed to characterize the nature of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the expression of IL-6. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of GM-CSF on the expression of IL-6 in PC-3 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bone-derived PC-3 cell line was used in this study. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to detect the GM-CSF and also the IL-6 mRNA expression. The IL-6 protein was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after treatments with the hGM-CSF. RESULTS: hGM-CSF was expressed in the PC-3 cell line. Our data indicated that the IL-6 mRNA expression was not increased at 4, 8 and 12 hours by the hGM-CSF in comparison to the control group, but it was slightly increased at 24 and 48 hours. The expression of IL-6 protein was increased at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 hours after hGM-CSF treatment, in comparison with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The IL-6 mRNA expression was slightly increased by hGM-CSF at 24 and 48 hours in comparison to the control group. Yet the IL-6 protein expression increased before the IL-6 mRNA expression. Therefore, hGM-CSF may modulate the post-transcription pathway of the IL-6 expression in prostate carcinoma cells. Our data suggest that GM-CSF may have a possible IL-6 mediated pathophysiologic role in prostate cancer.
Cell Line* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Granulocytes* ; Humans ; Interleukin-6* ; Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor* ; Macrophages* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Neoplasms* ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to estimate muscle defect by ultrasonography in the patients with secondary deformities of the lip. We investigated the association between the muscle defect in the repaired cleft lip and the philtral appearance not only at resting state but also maximal puckering. METHODS: From December 2006 to November 2007, 52 children were evaluated after primary or secondary cheiloplasty. Digital photographs were taken both from the front and both three quarter views in repose and at maximal pucker. Video clips were also taken in repose and at maximal pucker. A panel of four, scored the philtral ridge and dimple seen on these photographs and videos by using two visual analog scales. Eminence of the philtral ridge was scored by a 5 point grading scale, from "conspicuous groove" to "normal philtral ridge" and the philtral dimple was scored by 3 point grading scale, from "no dimple" to "prominent dimple". Ultrasound images of the upper lip were made using a linear array transducer at the resting position of the lip and evaluated by a single radiologist. RESULTS: The philtral ridge eminence scored 2.79+/-0.54 and 1.40+/-0.53 at resting and maximal pucker, correlating with "flat" and "conspicous groove". The philtral dimpling scored 1.44+/-0.53 and 2.27+/-0.66 at resting and maximal pucker, correlating with "no dimple" and "slight dimple". Ultrasound imaging showed the average muscle dehiscence to be 3.78+/-2.14mm at resting position. Correlation between the muscle defect in ultrasound imaging and philtral ridge eminence at rest was statistically significant (p<0.050), but was not significant(p=0.756) at maximal pucker using Spearman's rank correlation. Correlation between the muscle defect in ultrasound imaging and philtral dimpling was not statistically significant both at rest (p=0.920) and at maximal pucker(p=0.815) using Spearman's rank correlation. CONCLUSION: Quantitative assessment of the muscle defect using ultrasonography correlates with the static philtral appearance, but does not correlate with the dynamic appearance. Also, the size of the muscle defect does not show any correlation with the philtral dimpling. Our findings reveal that ultrasound imaging partially reflect static appearance of philtrum but cannot reflect dynamic appearance and suggest the need for further research to evaluate dynamic appearance.
Child ; Cleft Lip ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Humans ; Lip ; Muscles ; Transducers ; Weights and Measures