Takayasu's arteritis is an uncommon arterial inflammatory disease, which causes obliteration of branches of aortic arch and pulmonary artery. It is characterized by absence of pulsation in the upper extremities and associated with ocular, cerebral, and cardiovascular occlusive complications. It affects mainly young Asian females and its etiology is unknown. The authors have experienced a case of Takayasu's arteritis which is associated with Takayasu's retinopthy in a 18 years old female. The fluorescein angiography shows partial delay in filling of choroidal fluorescence, dilated veins, microaneurysm, microemboli, and multiple leakage of retinal vessels.
Adolescent ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Choroid ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Fluorescence ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; Retinal Vessels ; Takayasu Arteritis* ; Upper Extremity ; Veins

We tried extracapsular cataract extraction and PCL implantation with Ocutome-FragmatomeII System and Disposable Two-Way Needle. 160 eyes were operated with this method, 101 eyes were followed up over 2 months period. Clinical results were not significantly different from previous reports of ECCE and PCL implantaion. Corrected visual acuity 0.5 or better after 2 months of surgery were 95%. No serious intra-operative and post-operative complications were noted. We suggest Ocutome-FragmatomeII System and Disposble Two-Way Needle could be used for ECCE and PCL implantation in case of absence of I and A system.
Cataract Extraction* ; Cataract* ; Needles* ; Visual Acuity

This experiment developed the methodology of double staining for senescence associated-beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-gal) activity and keratin 10 (K10) or involucrin. To prove the usefulness of the double staining, the author investigated the relationship between senescence and differentiation in monolayer and organotypic cultured keratinocytes. The results were as follows: K10 and involcrin together with SA-beta-gal were doubly stained in most of monolayer cultured keratinocyte. This fact indicated that the senescence and differentiation had simultaneously occurred in the same keratinocyte. In spite of the advantages to preserving structures, the paraffin specimen was not suitable for double staining because of the limitation of SA-beta-gal reactivity. Although the cryosectioned specimen did not have the morphology as good as the paraffin specimen, it was suitable for double staining due to the goodness of SA-beta-gal reactivity. Double staining well reflected the disturbances of senescence and differentiation which could be caused by deranged organizations of the organotypic cultured skin. The organotypic cultured skin which showed deranged organizations such as stratified basal layer, no typical cell features in each epdermal layer, and wide intercellular spaces had SA-beta-gal activity in epidermis and K10 or involucrin reaction in basal cell. But the skin which showed well arranged organizations resembling in vivo skin had no SA-beta-gal activity and no K10 or involucrin reaction in basal cells. In conclusion, it might be suggested that the double staining for SA-beta-gal activity and K10 or involucrin could be used for detecting the extent of senescence and differentiation in the same cell.
Aging* ; Epidermis ; Extracellular Space ; Keratin-10* ; Keratinocytes* ; Paraffin ; Skin

The throat swabs obtained from 1,098 adults and 432 children patients with respiratory diseases were examined for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection detected by culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial susceptibilities of the resulting 60 M. pneumoniae isolates were evaluated by testing minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of erythromycin, minocycline, tetracycline, josamycin, sparfloxacin, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin by a broth micro-dilution method. In a preliminary screening, the detection rate of M. pneumoniae by PCR was 29.2% (277/948) for the adults and 28.3% (90/318) for the children. In the second survey, the isolation rate of M. pneumoniae by culture was 29.3% (44/150) for the adults, and 14.0% (16/114) for the children. The PCR detection rate was 36.7% (55/150) for the adults and 23.7% (27/114) for the children. The MIC90s of the M. pneumoniae isolates were 0.015 mg/ml for erythromycin, lower than 0.03 mg/ml for josamycin, 0.06 mg/ml for sparfloxacin and minocycline, 0.12 mg/ml for tetracycline, 0.5 mg/ml for ofloxacin and CFC-222, and 1.0 mg/ml for ciprofloxacin. The isolates were susceptible to erythromycin, josamycin, sparfloxacin, minocycline, tetracycline, and ofloxacin, but the 63.3% of them was resistant to ciprofloxacin. These results indicate that the PCR method has a significant potential as a rapid and sensitive method for early detection of M. pneumoniae infection in clinical specimens as compared with the culture method, but the PCR method could not provide any information concerning the biological chracteristics of M. pneumoniae strains. Erythromycin, josamycin, sparfloxacin, minocycline, and tetracycline could be recommended as the antimicrobial agents of choice in Korea.
Adult ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Child ; Ciprofloxacin ; Erythromycin ; Humans ; Josamycin ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Minocycline ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae* ; Mycoplasma* ; Ofloxacin ; Pharynx ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tetracycline