Wallerian degeneration is well known as the anterograde degeneration of axon and their accompanying myelin sheath from injury to the proximal portion of the axon or its cell body. The most common cause of wallerian degeneration is cerebral infarction. Authors experienced three patients with old hemispheric infarct with typical wallerian degeneration in the brain stem, which was demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in two cases and CT in one case. This report demonstrates the wallerian degeneration in the corticospinal tract on the MRI and CT with the brief review of the literatures.
Axons ; Brain Stem ; Brain* ; Cell Body ; Cerebral Infarction ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Myelin Sheath ; Pyramidal Tracts ; Wallerian Degeneration*

The CT findings of the acute cerebral infarction are well known. However the CT findings of early stroke within 24 hours of the onset have not been sufficiently reported. The purpose of this study is to evaluate early acute cerebral infarction on CT within 24 hours after ictus. The early and accurate CT diagnosis could lead to the appropriate therapy and improved outcome of the patients. Authors retrospectively analyzed 16 patients with early acute cerebral infarction. Acute cerebral infarction was confirmed by follow-up CT in 11 patients, SPECT in 4 patients, and MRI in 1 patient. The CT findings of early acute cerebral infarction include effacement of cortical sulci or cistern (n=16, 100%), hyperattenuation of MCA (n=3), obscuration of lentiform nucleus (n=6), loss of insular ribbon (n=6) and subtle low density in hemisphere (n=5). The most frequent findings was effacement of cortical sulci in our study, and it was though to be the most important sign of early acute cerebral infarction.
Cerebral Infarction* ; Corpus Striatum ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

No abstract available.
Pregnancy*

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

OBJECTIVE: Currently, preparation for childbirth is becoming an increasingly popular addition to patient education. Because of this interest, it seems advisable to review the evidence on the effect of prepared childbirth. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Lamaze preparation on labor and delivery. METHODS: To investigate whether prepared-childbirth courses offer measurable physical advantages, we compared the labor and delivery characteristics of 80 primiparas who had taken Lamaze-training classes with 76 control patients who had not. We reviewed retrospectively obstetrical records of 156 pregnant women delivered in Ewha Womans University MokDong Hospital from January to December, 1997. RESULT: The length of the first stage of labor in the group that attended childbirth preparation classes was 5.70 hours and 6.93 hours in the comparison group. This difference was statistically significant (P= .040). The mean duration of the second stage of labor in attenders was 42.43 minutes and 41.16 minutes in the nonattenders(P= .719). Average duration of labor in attenders was 1.07 hours shorter than in nonattenders (P= .075). The cesarean section rate in attenders was 25% compared with 36.8% in nonattenders (P= .10920). CONCLUSION: No statistical significance was found in this study. However we need to be aware that the length of first stage of labor was shorter and the rate of cesarean section was lower in prepared group. Childbirth education should be integrated into prenatal health care to be readily available for all women.
Cesarean Section ; Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Humans ; Parturition ; Patient Education as Topic ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Education ; Retrospective Studies

We evaluated MR imaging of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis degenerative spondylolisthesis and retrolisthesis in 14, 9 and 20 patients respectively. Sagittal and axial spin echo and gradient echo images were obtained with 25-30cm FOV and 5mm/0.5mm thickness/gap by using spine surface coil. Sagittal images showed defects of pars interarticularis just inside of the pedicles of spines in all the cases of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis with relatively variable signal intensity. Displaced vertebrae were commonly observed at L5 (8/14) in spondylolytic spondylolisthesis, at L4 (5/9) in degenerative spondylolisthesis and at variable locations in retrolisthesis. The mean length of displacement of vertebrae in spondylolytic spondylolisthesis was about 7mm and less displacement was onserved in degenerative spondylolisthesis and retrolisthesis. Seven, four and six cases of pseudobulging of disk at displaced level were observed in cases of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis, degenerative spondylolisthesis and retrolisthesis respectively. Seven, five and 14 cases of true disk lesions were onserved in cases of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis, degenertive spondylolisthesis and retrolisthesis respectively. Grade II neural foraminal stenoses (obliteration of one half epidural fat of neural foramen) were commonly (8/14) seen in spondylolytic spondylolisthesis, however the other two types showed less severe neural foraminal stenosis. In conclusion, MR imaging is a highly accurate method for the diagnosis and evaluation of spondylolisthesis and associated lesions of spine and disks.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Methods ; Spine ; Spondylolisthesis*

No abstract available.
Moyamoya Disease*

Secondary osteoarthritis of hip joints is a common disease and is frequently followed by chronic sublexation and dislocation. Twenty four case of the secondary osteoarthritis associated with chronic subluxation and dislocation of the hip joints were evaluated with plain radiography and computed tomography. We retrospectively analyzed 1) the ossification and calcification of the acetabular labrum, 2) the thickeness of the quadrilateral plate of the ilium, and 3) anteroposterior diameter of the acetabulum. The changes of the hip joints in subluxation (n=14) revealed ossification of the acetabular labrum in 12 cases (86%), thickening of the quadrilateral plate of the ilium in 11 cases (78%) but anteroposterior diameter of the acetabulum was not changed. The changes of the hip joints in dislocation (n=10) revealed no evidence of the ossification of the acetabular labrum, thickening of the quadrilateral plate of the ilium in 10 cases (100%) and decreased anteroposterior diameter of the acetabulum. We conclude that CT findings of subluxation and dislocation of the hip joints can be helpful in the evaluation of the secondary osteoarthritis of the hip joints.
Acetabulum ; Dislocations* ; Hip Joint* ; Hip* ; Ilium ; Joints ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteoarthritis, Hip ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Mediastinitis*

No abstract available.
Mediastinitis*