No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Coxiella burnetii* ; Coxiella* ; Korea* ; Prevalence*

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the treatment effectiveness and proper radiation dose of helical tomotherapy (HT) in spine oligometastases from gastrointestinal cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2006 to 2010, 20 gastrointestinal cancer patients were treated with HT for spine oligometastases (31 spine lesions). The gross tumor volume (GTV) was the tumor evident from magnetic resonance imaging images fused with simulation computed tomography images. Clinical target volume (CTV) encompassed involved vertebral bodies or dorsal elements. We assumed that the planning target volume was equal to the CTV. We assessed local control rate after HT for 31 spine metastases. Pain response was scored by using a numeric pain intensity scale (NPIS, from 0 to 10). RESULTS: Spine metastatic lesions were treated with median dose of 40 Gy (range, 24 to 51 Gy) and median 5 Gy per fraction (range, 2.5 to 8 Gy) to GTV with median 8 fractions (range, 3 to 20 fraction). Median biologically equivalent dose (BED, alpha/beta = 10 Gy) was 52 Gy10 (range, 37.5 to 76.8 Gy10) to GTV. Six month local control rate for spine metastasis was 90.3%. Overall infield failure rate was 15% and outfield failure rate was 75%. Most patients showed pain relief after HT (93.8%). Median local recurrence free survival was 3 months. BED over 57 Gy10 and oligometastases were identified as prognostic factors associated with improved local progression free survival (p = 0.012, p = 0.041). CONCLUSION: HT was capable of delivering higher BED to metastatic lesions in close proximity of the spinal cord. Spine metastases from gastrointestinal tumors were sensitive to high dose radiation, and BED (alpha/beta = 10 Gy) higher than 57 Gy10 could improve local control.
Disease-Free Survival ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Recurrence ; Spinal Cord ; Spine ; Treatment Outcome ; Tumor Burden

The importance of Toxoplasma gondii in human disease stimulated a number of electron microscope studies on the structure of this protozoan parasite. Gustafson et al. first studied the fine structure by means of thin sections in 1954. Many other papers havs subsequantly appeared. It is well known that Toxoplasma gondii has two stages in its life cycle-the proliferative forms and the cyst. The purpose of the electron microscopical work reported here was to study the fine structure of Toxoplasma gondii with recent techniques clarifying the correlation between the proliferative forms and cyst. RH strain and KM strain as proliferative forms on the one hand and Beverley strain as a cyst form of Toxoplasma gondii on the other hand were used throughout this study. The conoid, toxoneme, nucleus, nucleolus, osmiophilic granules, mitochondria and vacuoles were found in RH strain as wsll as in KM strain and Beverley strain. The endoplasmic reticulum was found in the cytoplasm of RH strain and KM strain. It was better developed in KM strain than in RH strain. The outside contour of the organism of Beverley strain was somewhat irregular and toxoneme of this organism was better developed than in the other two strains. Vacuoles were found in RH strain, KM strain and Beverley strain. Furthermore, tube-like bodies were observed in the vacuoles of the organism of RH strain. In KM strain, two organisms of the same size were demonstrated in the leucocytes. It was presumed that they were products of longitudinal division.
parasitology-protozoa- Toxoplasma gondii ; electron microscopy

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HIFRS), scrub typhus, murine typhus and leptospirosis have been the principal acute febrile diseases in Korea. To evaluate the seroepidemiologic patterns of acute febrile illness, sera collected from 2,423 patients in 1996 were examined for antibodies against Hantaan virus, Orientia tsutsugamushi, Rickettsia typhi, and Borrelia burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescent antibody technique (IFA) and macroscopic agglutination test for Leptospira interogans. Seropositive cases against O. tsutsugamushi, Rickettsia typhi, Leptispira interogans and Hantaan virus were 192 (7.9%), 193 (8.0%), 12 (0.5%) and 324 (13.4%), respectively. Male was more affected in HFRS and murine typhus contrasting to scrub typhus and leptospirosis in female. Most positive cases occurred during October and November for scrub typhus, and during November and December for HFRS. These results showed similar patterns with previous epidemical data for recent couple of years, and possibly implied no significant changes occurred in ecologic situations for acute febrile diseases in Korea.
Agglutination Tests ; Antibodies ; Borrelia burgdorferi ; Female ; Hantaan virus ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; Humans ; Korea* ; Leptospira ; Leptospirosis ; Male ; Orientia tsutsugamushi ; Rickettsia typhi ; Scrub Typhus ; Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne

No abstract available.
Digoxigenin* ; DNA* ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis*

Lead is a major environmental and occupational neurotoxicant. It has been shown that long-term exposure to a low level of lead impairs the development of brain. For example, it was reported that lead exposure during the childhood causes a learning difficulty and a memory deficit of children. Neurotoxic agents including the lead are believed to cause neuronal death in developing brain by two mechanisms: apoptosis and necrosis. However, the exact mechanism of neuronal death caused by lead exposure is still not known explicitly. In this study, we conducted a study to clarify a mechanism of hippocampal neuronal cell death caused by lead acetate. Hippocampal neurons were cultured for 14-16 days and treated with lead acetate of 1. 10, 100 1 microM concentrations for 12 hours. With the MTT(methyl tetrazolium test) kit, the viability of neuronal cells was measured. Next, in order to examine apoptosis caused by lead acetate, TUNEL (TdT-mediated d-UTP Nick End Labelling) assay was performed. It has been shown that lead acetate reduced the viability of neuronal cells in a dose dependent manner, especially at the concentration of 100 ~M lead acetate. TUNEL immunostain showed brownish signals in the nucleus of apoptotic cells. The proportions of apoptotic cells in the lead?acetate treated group were more higher than those in the controls and increased as lead acetate concentration increased. From above results, it may be concluded that lead in the hippocampal neuronal cells reduced cell viability and one of mechanisms in neuronal cell death by lead appears to be apoptosis.
Apoptosis* ; Brain ; Cell Death ; Cell Survival ; Child ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Learning ; Memory Disorders ; Necrosis ; Neurons*

We report a case of calcific tendinopathy of the gluteus medius initially misdiagnosed as a lumbar herniated intervertebral disc. It was successfully treated with barbotage under ultrasonographic guidance finally. A 56-year-old woman was referred to interventional pain clinic for right hip pain due to an L5-S1 disc herniation. Serial L5 and S1 spinal nerve root blocks and epidural steroid injections were administered. However, pain relief was sustained only for a very short period. Plain radiography of the right hip revealed a solid calcific nodule at adjacent to the insertion site of the gluteus medius tendon. Physical modalities and extracorporeal shock wave therapy failed to improve the pain. Therefore, we attempted ultrasound-guided barbotage of the calcification. Barbotage was performed twice serially and her pain was considerably improved. At 6-month follow-up, the calcification was completely resolved.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Middle Aged ; Pain Clinics ; Radiography ; Shock ; Spinal Nerve Roots ; Tendinopathy* ; Tendons

Dysphagia and voiding difficulty after hypoglycemic encephalopathy (HE) are not well described in the literature. Additionally, the effect of rehabilitation on outcomes of HE has not been discussed enough. Here we report two cases of HE, who underwent comprehensive rehabilitative management. A 76-year-old man with HE had cognitive dysfunction, dysphagia, poor standing balance, and voiding difficulty. After rehabilitation for about 20 days, the patient's swallowing, gait, and voiding function was improved remarkably, and he could eat a tolerable diet, walk independently, and void without catheterization. However, the cognitive function changed a little. A 75-year-old woman with HE had cognitive dysfunction, impaired gait, dysphagia, and voiding difficulty. After rehabilitation for one month, the patient made progress in swallowing and gait. However, the cognitive function changed a little. After rehabilitation, the recovery of swallowing and locomotor function was rapid and satisfactory in two cases, however, the progress of cognitive function was not definite.
Aged ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders* ; Diet ; Female ; Gait ; Humans ; Rehabilitation*

Even the antituberculous drugs could cure the disease itself, it might not prevent progressive kyphosis and its sequelae. Therefore, radical curettage and anterior arthrodesis with autogenous strut bone graft has been used to prevent this deformity. From May 1982 to May 1989, twenty four cases of spinal tuberculosis treated with anterior arthrodesis were analysed about the progression of postoperative kyphosis. These cases were followed up for more than 1 year at least, and the following results were obtained; 1. Lumbar spine was most commonly involved. There was involvement of one disc space in 12 cases, only narrowing of disc space in 7 cases, and two disc spaces in 5 cases. 2. The degree of vertebral loss was under 1 in 15 cases, 0 (disc space narrowing only) in 7 cases, and over 1 in 2 cases. 3. Compared with immediate postoperative kyphotic angle, there was increase of kyphotic angle in 15 cases but most of them were under 10 degress. 4. Preoperative degree of vertebral loss of 15 incerased cases was 0.5 and that of 9 decreased of maintained cases was 0.2 in average. 5. Preoperative vertebral involvement of 15 increased cases was 1.3 and that of 9 decreased or maintained cases was 1.2 in average.
Arthrodesis ; Clinical Study ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Curettage ; Kyphosis ; Spine ; Transplants ; Tuberculosis, Spinal

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, characterized by the production of autoantibodies and high cholesterol levels. HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors have exhibited anti-inflammatory effects in several clinical trials. We conducted this study to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin on inflammatory responses in lupus-prone mice. Methods: MRL/lpr mice were intraperitoneally injected with rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg, n=4) or vehicle (2% dimethyl sulfoxide, n=4) five times a week from 13 to 17 weeks of age. The serum levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and autoantibodies were measured, as well as the urine levels of albumin. Renal tissues were stained for histopathological analysis. Concentrations of key inflammatory cytokines were measured in the serum, and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in target organs (kidney, spleen, and lymph nodes) were evaluated. Results: Rosuvastatin treatment significantly decreased serum LDL cholesterol concentration in MRL/lpr mice. However, the clinical manifestations and autoantibody titres did not improve with rosuvastatin treatment. In addition, serum inflammatory cytokines and proteinuria did not change. Histopathological analysis of the kidneys revealed no improvement. When assessing the expression of mRNA, treatment with rosuvastatin decreased tumor necrosis alpha and interleukin-17 concentration in spleen and kidney tissue and in the kidneys and lymph nodes of MRL/lpr mice, respectively. Conclusion Although it can decrease inflammatory cytokines in the lymphoid organs and kidneys of MRL/lpr mice, treatment with rosuvastatin is insufficient to alleviate SLE.