No abstract available.
Humans ; Hydronephrosis* ; Radioisotope Renography*

PURPOSE: Although alpha-fetoprotein is one of the most commonly used tumor markers in Korea, most of the radioimmunoassay kits for alpha-fetoprotein have been imported from foreign countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a recently developed domestic immunoradiometric kit for alpha- fetoprotein (Riakey AFP IRMA CTR, Sin-Jin Medics, Seoul, Korea). MATERALS AND METHODS: We evaluated intra- and inter-assay precision, recovery rate, parallelism, and sensitivity of serum alpha-fetoprotein measurement using Riakey AFP IRMA CTR kit. The values of alpha-fetoprotein measured by Riakey AFP IRMA CTR kit were compared with those measured by two foreign commercial kits (alpha-fetoproteina of Radim and alpha-feto.riabead of Abbott). RESULTS: Intra-assay coefficients of variation on three different levels were 5.3% for 18.9 ng/ml, 3.4% for 133 ng/ml and 1.6% for 330 ng/ml. Inter-assay coefficients of variation were 9.7% for 20.9 ng/ml, 3.2% for 137 ng/ml and 4.1% for 330 ng/ml respectively. Recovery rate tests on all three different levels showed within 100+/-10%. Parallelism was also good and the sensitivity was 0.63 ng/ml. There was strong correlation between the measurement of alpha-fetoprotein by Riakey AFP IRMA CTR and that by two foreign commercial kits(r=0.98). CONCLUSION: The first Korean domestic immunoradiometric kit for alpha-fetoprotein, Riakey AFP IRMA CTR, performed well for clinical use.
alpha-Fetoproteins* ; Fetal Proteins ; Immunoradiometric Assay* ; Korea ; Radioimmunoassay ; Seoul ; Biomarkers, Tumor

No abstract available.
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections* ; Teicoplanin*

No abstract available.
Herpes Zoster* ; Psoriasis*

PURPOSE: The carcinogenesis of gastric cancer has not been fully elucidated, but several molecular biologic alterations have been found to be related with it. TGF-betaRII mutation, which is one such alteration, has been well documented in gastric cancer, but its expression patterns in cancer and preneoplastic conditions are rarely reported. For that reason, we investigated the roles of TGF-betaI and TGF-betaRII in gastric carcinogenesis by comparing the difference of expression patterns in carcinomas and adenomas of the stomach and intestinal metaplasia by using immunohistochemical staining. METHODS: Twenty-six (26) cases of intestinal metaplasia with chronic atrophic gastritis, 21 cases of the gastric adenoma, and 51 cases of gastric cancers (28 cases of the intestinal type and 23 cases of the diffuse type) were enrolled in this study. All samples were paraffin-embedded and an immunohistochemical staining was performed using the polyclonal antibody to TGF-betaI and TGF-betaRII. Their clinicopathologic features were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: In normal gastric tissue and intestinal metaplasia, only the basal portion of the gastric foveola was strongly reactive to TGF-betaRII. In adenomas and well-differentiated intestinal type cancer, all tumor cells were strongly positive to TGF-betaRII, but the tumor cells of poorly differentiated intestinal-type and signet ring cell (diffuse type) cancer showed unresponsive to TGF-betaRII. The TGF-betaI expressions in normal and carcinomatous lesions were similar andshowed a weak positive reaction. TGF-betaI and TGF-betaRII responsive gastric cancer showed less invasive gastric-wall infiltration. In gastric cancer, a significant correlation was present between tumor depth and response to TGF-betaI & TGF-betaRII. CONCLUSION: It is presumed that TGF-betaRII plays an important role in cell differentiation and aggressiveness in gastric cancer and that it may be useful as a prognostic factor.
Adenoma* ; Carcinogenesis ; Cell Differentiation ; Gastritis, Atrophic ; Immunohistochemistry ; Metaplasia* ; Precancerous Conditions ; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta* ; Transforming Growth Factors*

BACKGROUND: A long-term objective is to understand the pathogenesis of neurologic injuries associated with cardiac surgery, cardiopulmonary bypass, and circulatory arrest. Our specific aims are to establish a dose of air which results in moderate to severe neurologic defects in normothermic (37degrees C) rabbits. METHODS: To first establish a dose of air which would cause unequivocal neurologic impairment, anesthetized rabbits received either 0, 50, 100 or 150 microgram l/kg of air into the internal carotid artery(n=5 in each group). One hour later, anesthesia was discontinued and animals were recovered. Animal were neurologically evaluated at 24 hours using a zero(normal) to 97(coma) point scale. RESULTS: There was a clear relationship between the dose of air injected and the severity of neurologic impairment at 24 hours, p=1.1x10(-7). Rabbits receiving 50 micrograml/kg of air were minimally affected and were difficult to distinguish from controls. In contrast, rabbits receiving 150 micrograml/kg of air were uniformly and unequivocally impaired. CONCLUSION: we recommend for future cerebral air embolism studies, 150 microgram l/kg as the optimal dose of air which would reliably produce viable subjects for 24 hours with marked unequivocal, neurologic impairment.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Brain ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Embolism ; Embolism, Air* ; Rabbits ; Thoracic Surgery

CD44 is a cell-surface glycoprotein postulated to play a role in tumor cell metastasis. Aberrant expression of the cell adhesion molecule CD44 has been detected in human tumors and the expression of specific isoforms(splice variants) has been shown to be associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in human malignancies. We used variant exon sequence-specific monoclonal antibody to epitope encoded by exon v6 of human variant CD44 to study the expression of CD44 splice variant by immunochemistry in fifty nine samples of human cervical cancer. twenty seven tissue samples of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) and normal cervix were included in this study. CD44v6 was stained positive in the basal and parabasal layer of normal epithelial cells homogenously but was absent in the stromal cells. The intensity of CD44v6 staining was the strongest in invasive squamous cell carcinoma followed by normal cervical epithelium, CIN, adenocarcinoma. In the malignant samples, heterogeneity in staining intensity among different clusters of tumor cells was observed. Furthermore the intensity of staining was stronger in proportion to stage, depth of invasion, lymphovascular invasion(p<0.05), and lymph node metastasis(p=NS). This study suggest that the expression of CD44v6 adhesion molecule may be useful value in predict the high stage, depth of invasion, lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis probably.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Adhesion ; Cervix Uteri ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Exons ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; Humans ; Immunochemistry ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Population Characteristics ; Prognosis ; Stromal Cells ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Congenital anomalies of the spine are frequent and variable. Some are restricted to skeletal structures, while others involve combined neural tube defects or are associated with other multi-systemic disorders. Structural spinal anomalies can be classified according to their location: 1) the vertebral body, 2) the articular process, 3) the lamina with spinous process, 4) the pars interarticularis, 5) the facet joint, 6) the pedicle, or 7) other. Because of similarities between these congenital anomalies and (a) secondary changes involving infection or joint disease and (b) deformities resulting from trauma and uncertain tumorous conditions, significant confusion can occur during diagnosis. Moreover, since the anomalies often give rise to both functional impairment and cosmetic problems, appropriate treatment relies crucially on accurate diagnosis. The authors illustrate the pathogenesis and radiologic findings of the relatively common spinal anomalies confined to skeletal structures.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Diagnosis ; Joint Diseases ; Neural Tube Defects ; Spine* ; Zygapophyseal Joint

BACKGROUND: In several studies, failure of some of the previously developed anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 ELISA tests to detect HIV-1 group O infected blood had been reported. All of the anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 ELISA tests made by Korean manufactures have limitation in detecting HIV-1 group O infected blood. Newly developed LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus is the first Korean made product to overcome this limitation. METHODS: Sensitivity and specificity of LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus (LG Life Science, Seoul, Korea) and Enzygnost Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus (Dade Behring, Marburg, Germany) were evaluated using 82 Anti-HIV 1 positive samples, 2 Anti-HIV 1 group O positive samples, 25 Anti-HIV 2 positive samples and commercial BBI (Boston Biomedica, Inc., MA, USA)) Anti-HIV panels and 382 Anti HIV negative samples (300 healthy donors, 13 alcoholics sera, 20 end-stage renal disease sera, 20 HBsAg positive sera, 22 anti-HBs antibody positive sera, 7 anti-HCV positive sera) respectively. Seroconversion window was evaluated using 2 BBI(R) seroconversion panel. Intrapersonal and interpersonal reproducibility of the test were evaluated also. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity of both tests were 100%. Analysis of window period using commercial seroconversion panel showed no difference between both tests. CONCLUSION: LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus LISA showed excellent sensitivity and specificity in tested samples including HIV-1 group O infected sera. It can be concluded that LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus ELISA is capable of detecting most of the HIV-1, HIV-2 type and it could be used in screening donated blood.
Alcoholics ; Biological Science Disciplines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; HIV ; HIV-1 ; HIV-2 ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seoul ; Tissue Donors

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the MR imaging appearance of the dural ligaments which is connected between the anterior dura mater and the posterior longitudinal ligament. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 10 cadavers with formalin fixation, the dural ligaments were evaluated and photographed after removal of the posterior element of the spinal canal. MR studies of 12 patients who had distinct dural ligaments were evaluated. Spin-echo MR images were obtained on a 1. 5T unit. RESULTS: In seven of the ten cadavers, the midline dural ligament was observed; the lateral dural ligament was observed in 3 cadavers. On MR, the dural ligaments were imaged as thin lines of low signal intensity between the anterior dural margin and the posterior longitudinal ligament. Dural ligaments were well-visualized at the level of the lower lumbar spine which had a more prominent anterior epidural space than that of the upper level of the spine. Eight of 12 cases had well developed midline dural ligaments. Two cases showed distinct lateral dural ligaments and the remaining 2 cases had distinct midline and lateral dural ligaments. CONCLUSION: MR images of the dural ligament demonstrate a thin low signal line at the anterior epidural space.
Cadaver* ; Dura Mater ; Epidural Space ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Longitudinal Ligaments ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Spinal Canal ; Spine