PURPOSE: We evaluates if the administration of tamsulosin increases the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the patients with upper ureteral stones and if this decreased the use of analgesic drugs after the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 45 patients with stones 6-12mm in size that were located in the upper ureter were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 (n=23) received 3 times a day oral treatment of 20mg caroverine (a spasmolytic drug). Group 2 (n=22) received one time a day oral therapy of 0.2mg tamsulosin. All the patients received oral treatment for 14 days. Both groups of patients were allowed to use 30mg ketorolac trimethamine intramuscular injections on demand. The endpoint of the study was the stone expulsion rate, the use of analgesics and the drug adverse effects during treatment. RESULTS: The average stone size was 7.9+/-2.79mm for group 1 and 8.2+/-3.14mm for group 2. No statistical difference between the two groups was found for the stone size, age and gender distribution. The expulsion rate was significantly higher in group 2 (90.9%) compared with group 1 (65.2%) (p=0.038). The average number of pain control injections was 0.78 for group 1 and 0.23 for group 2, and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p=0.042). CONCLUSIONS: The use of tamsulosin proved to be effective and safe, as demonstrated by the increased stone expulsion rate and the lesser need for pain control than that when using just a spasmolytic drug for ESWL of upper ureter stones.
Analgesics ; Humans ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Ketorolac ; Lithotripsy* ; Shock* ; Ureter* ; Urinary Calculi

No abstract available.
Ameloblasts* ; Fibroma*

No abstract available.
Ameloblasts* ; Fibroma*

We experienced a complication of brachial plexus palsy secondary to operative position during thoracoscopic thoracic sympathectomies. His general health was excellent and no previous histories vulnerable to peripheral nerve systems were observed. The thoracic sympathectomies were done under general anesthesia. The patient was placed left lateral position with his right arm abduced 150o on padded arm board. An operation was lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes at this position because of severe right apical lung adhesion. The controlateral side was performed same procedure and lasted 20 minutes. After the patient recovered from the anesthesia, the patient had a complete paralysis of right arm. There was also slightly diminished sensation to pinprick on the arm and hand. Neurologic examination and EMG study revealed brachial plexus palsy. Nerve blocks and physiotherapy were performed to treat brachial plexus injuries. His motor functions were improved day by day and he was discharged with a complete range of motion against gravity on 14th. postoperation day. However, there were loss of muscle powers against some resistances and tingling sensations of fingertips. Two months later, he was recovered completely and there was no residual disabilities.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Arm ; Brachial Plexus* ; Gravitation ; Hand ; Humans ; Lung ; Nerve Block ; Neurologic Examination ; Paralysis* ; Peripheral Nerves ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Sensation ; Sympathectomy*

BACKGROUNDS: Rheumatoid factor (RF) is common serological marker for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but its sensitivity and specificity are not satisfactory for the diagnosis of RA. Therefore, we investigated the diagnostic performance of a new antifilaggrin antibody test by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in RA. METHODS: Recombinant human filaggrin was deiminated in vitro by peptidylarginine deiminase and used as the coating antigen for ELISA. We performed the RF and the antifilaggrin antibody for 324 RA patients, 251 non-RA patients (rheumatic diseases other than RA), and 286 normal individuals and evaluated the sensitivities and specificities of RF and antifilaggrin antibody. Optimal cut off values were calculated as mean+2SD in 95% confidence interval except 3SD for 286 normal individuals. Optimal cut off values of antifilaggrin antibody and RF were 9.6 U/ml and 12 U/ml, respectively. RESULTS: The sensitivities and specificities of antifilaggrin antibody were 44.8% and 89.2% at optimal cut off values. The sensitivity and specificity of RF were 75.0% and 83.3%. Combination of "antifilaggrin antibody and RF" showed significantly high specificity of 95.2% and that of "antifilaggrin antibody or RF" showed slightly high sensitivity of 79.3% at optimal cut off values. Antifilaggrin antibody was positive in 17.3% among 81 sero-negative RA patients. CONCLUSION: We considered that antifilaggrin antibody could be used a supplementary test of RF for the diagnosis of RA, because "antifilaggrin antibody and RF" had higher diagnostic specificity than RF alone and antifilaggrin antibody test was easy, convenient ELISA method in performance.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology. We studied the diagnostic performances of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibody (anti-CCP) assay and recombinant anti-citrullinated filaggrin antibody (AFA) assay by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with RA in Korea. Diagnostic performances of the anti-CCP assay and AFA assay were compared with that of rheumatoid factor (RF) latex fixation test. RF, anti-CCP, and AFA assays were performed in 324 RA patients, 251 control patients, and 286 healthy subjects. The optimal cut off values of each assay were determined at the maximal point of area under the curve by receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve. Sensitivity (72.8%) and specificity (92.0%) of anti-CCP were better than those of AFA (70.3%, 70.5%), respectively. The diagnostic performance of RF showed a sensitivity of 80.6% and a specificity of 78.5%. Anti-CCP and AFA showed positivity in 23.8% and 17.3% of seronegative RA patients, respectively. In conclusion, we consider that anti-CCP could be very useful serological assay for the diagnosis of RA, because anti-CCP revealed higher diagnostic specificity than RF and AFA at the optimal cut off values and could be performed by easy, convenient ELISA method.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies/*diagnostic use/immunology ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*diagnosis/immunology ; Comparative Study ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods ; Female ; Humans ; Intermediate Filament Proteins/*immunology ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptides, Cyclic/*immunology ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Rheumatoid Factor/immunology ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Lymphangioma is a congenital malformation of the lymphatic system that easily expands into surrounding tissue similar to malignancies. Surgical excision has been the treatment of choice, but the results of surgical resection have been unsatisfactory due to incomplete resection, fluid collection and recurrence after surgery. Intralesional injection of OK-432(lyophilized incubation mixture of group A. streptococcus pyogenes of human origin) was employed in treating 24 patients with lymphangiomas between 1992 and 1997. The therapy was used as a primary therapy in 21 patients. Also it used in 3 patients with unresectable or recurrent lymphangioma. The results of intralesional injection of OK-432 were excellent in 8 patients (33.3%), good in 7 patients (21.8%) and poor in 7 patients (21.8%). The side effects were fever under 39.0degrees C and a local inflammation, however, were subsided in a few days without serious complications. These data suggest that intralesional injection of OK-432 is safe and effective for lymphangioma as a primary therapy and unresectable or recurrent lymphangioma as a secondary therapy.
Child* ; Fever ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Injections, Intralesional ; Lymphangioma* ; Lymphatic System ; Picibanil* ; Recurrence ; Streptococcus pyogenes

BACKGROUND: The Rheumatoid Factor (RF) is the only serological marker in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but its sensitivity and specificity are not satisfactory for the diagnosis of RA. Therefore, we investigated the diagnostic performance of a new anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies test (anti-CCP) by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in RA. METHODS: A cyclic peptide variant that contains citrulline was used as an antigenic substrate in ELISA. We performed the RF and anti-CCP in 324 RA patients, 251 non-RA patients (rheumatic diseases other than RA), and 286 normal individuals. Diagnostic performances such as sensitivity and specificity were evaluated by the receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve at optimal cut-off values. The optimal cut-off values were determined at the maximal point of the area under the curve. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP were 72.8% and 92% at 3.8 U/mL. The sensitivity and specificity of RF were 80.6% and 78.5% at 9 U/mL. The sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP and RF were 67%, 95.2% and 63.3%, 90% at 8.4 U/mL, 20 U/mL, respectively. A combination of anti-CCP with RF increased the sensitivity and specificity to 79.3%, 96.4%, respectively. Anti-CCP was positive in 23.8% among 63 sero-negative RA patients. CONCLUSIONS: We considered that the anti-CCP might be useful as another new serological marker for the diagnosis of a RA combination with RF, or not, because the anti-CCP has a higher diagnostic specificity than the RF and was an easy, convenient ELISA method in performance.
Antibodies* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Citrulline ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: The prevalence of osteoporotic sacral fractures is increasing. Traditionally, conservative treatment is the 1st option, but it can increase the risk of comorbidity in the elderly. To reduce the complications and allow early mobility, iliosacral screw fixation with cement augmentation will be one of the treatment options for patients with osteoporotic sacral fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study reviewed 25 patients (30 cases) who had undergone percutaneous iliosacral screw fixation with cement augmentation for osteoporotic sacral fractures from July 2012 to December 2018 with a minimum follow up of six months. The clinical outcomes were assessed using the measures of pain (visual analogue scale [VAS] score), hospital stay and the date when weight-bearing started. All patients were evaluated radiologically for pull-out of screw, bone-union, and cement-leakage. RESULTS: Bone union was achieved in 30 cases (100%). The mean duration of the hospital stay was 24 days (4–66 days); weight-bearing was performed on an average nine days after surgery. The VAS scores immediately (3.16) and three months after surgery (2.63) were lower than that of the preoperative VAS score (8.3) (p<0.05). No cases of cement-leakage or neurologic symptoms were encountered. Two patients (6.7%) experienced a pulling-out of the screw, but bone-union was accomplished without any additional procedures. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous iliosacral fixation with cement augmentation will be an appropriate and safe surgical option for osteoporotic sacral fractures in the elderly in terms of early weight-bearing, pain reduction, and bone-union.
Aged ; Comorbidity ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Osteoporotic Fractures ; Prevalence ; Sacrum ; Weight-Bearing

Purpose: To compare improvement of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). Methods: The medical records of 437 patients who underwent TURP or HoLEP at a tertiary referral center from January 2006 to January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 71 patients had type 2 diabetes. Patients in the diabetic mellitus (DM) and non-DM groups were matched 1:1 according to age, baseline International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and ultrasound measured prostate volume. Changes in LUTS were assessed at 3 months after surgery using IPSS and evaluated by categorizing patients according to prostatic urethral angulation (PUA; <50° vs. ≥50°). Medication-free survival after surgery was also investigated. Results: No significant differences were noted between the DM and non-DM groups in baseline characteristics except for comorbidities (i.e., hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease, P=0.021, P=0.002, and P=0.017, respectively) and postvoid residual urine volume (115±98 mL vs. 76±105 mL, P=0.028). Non-DM patients showed significant symptomatic improvement regardless of PUA, while DM patients demonstrated improvement in obstructive symptoms only in those with large PUA (≥51°). Among patients with small PUA, DM patients had worse medication-free survival after surgery compared to controls (P=0.044) and DM was an independent predictor of medication reuse (hazard ratio, 1.422; 95% confidence interval, 1.285–2.373; P=0.038). Conclusions DM patients experienced symptomatic improvement after surgery only in those with large PUA. Among patients with small PUA, DM patients were more likely to reuse medication after surgery.