PURPOSE: To evaluate the MR image in the differentiation of benign and malignant lesion in compression of the vertebral body. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR images of 47 benign(acute traumatic within one month:19, chronic traumatic longer than one month or nontraumatic:28) and 21 metastatic compression fractures were respectively reviewed in terms of margin of lesions, signal intensity, paraspinal mass formation, soft tissue change, and involvement of posterior element of vertebra. MR images of TI-(T1WI) and T2*-weighted gradient echo (GE T2WI) sequences were obtained on 0.5T unit in sagittal and axial orientation with 5mm section thickness. RESULTS: The margin of benign compression fracture was usually indistinct (acute fracture:90% (17/19), chronic fracture:68% (19/28)), whereas it was sharply delineated in metastatic compression fracture (92%, (12/13) (p<0.001). Paraspinal mass was seen in both acute traumatic and metastatic compression fractures (acute fracture :26% (5/19), metastatic fracture: 52% (11/21). Soft tissue change was seen only in acute cornpression fractures (58%, 11/19). Involvement of posterior element of vertebra was noted in metastatic fracture (71%, 15/21), acute fracture (32%, 6/19) and chronic fracture (7%, 2/28) CONCLUSION: On MR imaging, involvement of entire portion of a given vertebral body, sharp margin between normal and abnormal areas in partially involved cases, paraspinal mass formation, and posterior element involvement are more frequently seen in metastatic compression fractures, which are considered to be useful in differentiation between benign and malignant causes of compression fracture.
Fractures, Compression* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Spine

Corrected transposition of the great arteries is usually characterized by inverted ventricles and transposition of the great arteries. This combination without cardiac anormalies results in normal arterial oxigen content, hence the term corrected. Unfortunately, the condition rarely exists without other major cardiac anormalies. The authors report a case of situs inversus that was associated with corrected TGA, VSD, PS and ASD. The girl was admitted for evaluation of systolic ejection murmur on the both lower sternal border. Doppler echocardiography and cardiac angiography showed the diagnosis and so valvulotomy and closure operation of VSD and ASD was done.
Angiography ; Arteries ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography, Doppler ; Female ; Humans ; Situs Inversus ; Systolic Murmurs

Leiomyoma is the most common benign tumor of the esophagus, but it still occurs rarely, as compared with the incidence of cacinoma. There are no geographic or racial differences and manifestations are unusual and inconsistent. About 97% of the esophageal leiomyoma may oecur in intramural type and 1 of the tumor may be polypoid type. Considerable diagnostic problems may arise as well as problems of proper surgical management. We experienced a case of a 47-year old female with esophageal leiomyoma in the mid- point of the esophagus. The patient complained of substernal discomfort for 1 month and routine examinatian and gastrofiberscope were performed. The gastrofiberscopic finding was asmoothly protruded, round bean-sized polypoid mass in the midpoint of the esophagus which was removed by polypectomy. There were no other complications. So we reported this case with review of literature.
Esophagus ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leiomyoma* ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: There are many openings in the retrohepatic segment of vena cava, and most are variously sized-hepatic veins. The mapping and tracing of these openings may provide an important insight into the clinical anatomy. To date, small hepatic veins had less clinical importance than the major hepatic veins because they have smaller hepatic territories. These smaller veins have obtained greater clinical importance in the practic of a caudate lobectomy for hilar bile duct cancer, and in the splitting of the liver for expanding the donor pool for liver transplantations. METHODS: 3 cm-thick paracaval hepatic segments, including the hepatic hilum and the whole caudate lobe, from thirty-three livers of adult cadavers, were harvested in the central district office of the national office of scientific investigation. The hepatic vein openings in the formalin-fixed tissue were classified as large (LO), medium (MO), small (SM) and minimum (MiO). The internal wall of the retrohepatic segment of the IVC was divided into sixteen areas which were used to record the sites of the openings of the hepatic veins. RESULTS: A total of 537 ostia venae hepaticae were found, with an average of 16.27 per liver. There were 88 LO (16.39%) found, mostly in the uppermost row and the right half of the lower aspect of the wall. There were also 50 MO (9.31%), and 70 SO (13.03%) found, both mostly in the lower parts of the retrohepatic segment of the IVC. There were 329 MiO (61.27%) found scattered extensively throughout the 16 areas. CONCLUSION: The LO were found mostly in the uppermost row, whereas the MO and SO were rather scattered in the middle and lower parts. The MiO occupied 61.3% of the whole ostia, which were scattered diffusely over the entire internal wall of the retrohepatic vena cava. The data from Korean cadavers was more similar to that of the Chinese than the Brazilians.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bile Duct Neoplasms ; Cadaver* ; Hepatic Veins ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Ranunculaceae* ; Tissue Donors ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Inferior

OBJECTIVES: Laryngomicrosurgery (LMS) is used to manage most vocal fold lesions. However, the functional voice outcome of the LMS might be diverse due to the influence of various factors. We intend to evaluate the incidence and etiologic factors of persistent dysphonia after LMS for benign vocal fold disease (BVFD). METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 755 patients who underwent LMS for BVFD. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, preoperative and postoperative two onths voice studies. Postsurgical dysphonia was defined as grade 1 or above in GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain) scale. Thirty nine patients (5.2%; 25 males and 14 females; average, 42.9 years; range, 21 to 70 years) were diagnosed with postsurgical dysphonia. RESULTS: There was no correlation between the diagnosis, coexistence with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, habit of smoking, or occupational voice abuse and voice outcome. The patients with a worse preoperative acoustic parameter had aworse voice outcome. Stroboscopic findings showed excessive scarring or bowing in 21 cases, presence of lesion remnant in eight cases, prolonged laryngeal edema in five and no abnormal findings in three. CONCLUSION: Great care should be taken in patients with worse preoperative jitter. With a few exceptions, postoperative dysphonia can be avoided by the use of an ppropriate surgical technique.
Acoustics ; Asthenia ; Cicatrix ; Dysphonia ; Humans ; Incidence ; Laryngeal Edema ; Laryngopharyngeal Reflux ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vocal Cords ; Voice

The human nervus terminalis (terminal nerve) and the nerves to the vomeronasal organ (VNON) are both associated with the olfactory nerves and are of major interest to embryologists. However, there is still limited knowledge on their topographical anatomy in the nasal septum and on the number and distribution of ganglion cells along and near the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone. We observed serial or semiserial sections of 30 fetuses at 7–18 weeks (crown rump length [CRL], 25–160 mm). Calretinin and S100 protein staining demonstrated not only the terminal nerve along the anterior edge of the perpendicular lamina of the ethmoid, but also the VNON along the posterior edge of the lamina. The terminal nerve was composed of 1–2 nerve bundles that passed through the anterior end of the cribriform plate, whereas the VNON consisted of 2–3 bundles behind the olfactory nerves. The terminal nerve ran along and crossed the posterior side of the nasal branch of the anterior ethmoidal nerve. Multiple clusters of small ganglion cells were found on the lateral surfaces of the ethmoid's crista galli, which are likely the origin of both the terminal nerve and VNON. The ganglions along the crista galli were ball-like and 15–20 µm in diameter and, ranged from 40–153 in unilateral number according to our counting at 21-µm-interval except for one specimen (480 neurons; CRL, 137 mm). An effect of nerve degeneration with increasing age seemed to be masked by a remarkable individual difference.
Calbindin 2 ; Ethmoid Bone ; Fetus ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans ; Individuality ; Masks ; Nasal Septum ; Nerve Degeneration ; Neurons ; Olfactory Nerve ; Vomeronasal Organ

Although reports of hypoplasia or absence of the liver of left lobe are not few, descriptions of the intrahepatic vessels are rare but valuable for discussion of the pathogenesis. The present report demonstrates a case of the left surgical lobe hypoplasia that is characterized by 1) the scar-like lobe with few parenchymal tissue and dilated bile ducts, 2) no Spiegel's lobe with the portal vein stuck to the inferior vena cava, 3) unusual configurations of the right hepatic vein and the 8th segmental portal vein branch, 4) the hepatic groove on S8, and 5) the trifurcation pattern of the portal vein primary division. According to the macroscopic and histological observations, we hypothesized that the secondary abnormal peritoneal fusion occurred in utero and/or during the postnatal growth, and that it involved the left portal vein and other adjacent structures, resulting in severe atrophy of the left surgical lobe.
Cadaver ; Female ; Human ; Korea ; Liver/*blood supply/*pathology ; Middle Aged ; Peritoneum/pathology ; Portal Vein/*pathology

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between -1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene and schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population. METHODS: A sample of 184 Korean patients with schizophrenia and 96 Korean healthy normal controls and 96 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia and 96 Han-Chinese healthy normal controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism with in 5-HT2A receptor gene (promoter region, A-1438G) by Msp I Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: There was no difference in allelic frequencies and genotype frequencies of -1438A/G polymorphism between Korean schizophrenics and controls (p=0.13) and Han Chinese schizophrenics and controls (p=0.40). Also, -1438A/G polymorphism did not show ethnical difference between Korean and Han Chinese controls. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores showed no significant differences between genotypes of -1438A/G polymorphism in both of Korean and Han Chinese schizophrenics. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that -1438A/G polymorphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene is not causally related to the development of schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population, and there no ethnic difference between Korean and Han Chinese population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A* ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between -1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene and schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population. METHODS: A sample of 184 Korean patients with schizophrenia and 96 Korean healthy normal controls and 96 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia and 96 Han-Chinese healthy normal controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism with in 5-HT2A receptor gene (promoter region, A-1438G) by Msp I Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: There was no difference in allelic frequencies and genotype frequencies of -1438A/G polymorphism between Korean schizophrenics and controls (p=0.13) and Han Chinese schizophrenics and controls (p=0.40). Also, -1438A/G polymorphism did not show ethnical difference between Korean and Han Chinese controls. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores showed no significant differences between genotypes of -1438A/G polymorphism in both of Korean and Han Chinese schizophrenics. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that -1438A/G polymorphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene is not causally related to the development of schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population, and there no ethnic difference between Korean and Han Chinese population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A* ; Schizophrenia*

The ganglion cardiacum or juxtaductal body is situated along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve in the aortic window and is an extremely large component of the cardiac nerve plexus. This study was performed to describe the morphologies of the ganglion cardiacum or juxtaductal body in human fetuses and to compare characteristics with intracardiac ganglion. Ganglia were immunostained in specimens from five fetuses of gestational age 12–16 weeks and seven fetuses of gestational age 28–34 weeks. Many ganglion cells in the ganglia were positive for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; sympathetic nerve marker) and chromogranin A, while a few neurons were positive for neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS; parasympathetic nerve marker) or calretinin. Another ganglion at the base of the ascending aorta carried almost the same neuronal populations, whereas a ganglion along the left common cardinal vein contained neurons positive for chromogranin A and NOS but no or few TH-positive neurons, suggesting a site-dependent difference in composite neurons. Mixtures of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons within a single ganglion are consistent with the morphology of the cranial base and pelvic ganglia. Most of the intracardiac neurons are likely to have a non-adrenergic non-cholinergic phenotype, whereas fewer neurons have a dual cholinergic/noradrenergic phenotype. However, there was no evidence showing that chromogranin A- and/or calretinin-positive cardiac neurons corresponded to these specific phenotypes. The present study suggested that the ganglion cardiacum was composed of a mixture of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons, which were characterized the site-dependent differences in and near the heart.
Aorta ; Calbindin 2 ; Chromogranin A ; Fetus* ; Ganglia ; Ganglion Cysts* ; Gestational Age ; Heart ; Humans* ; Neurons ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I ; Phenotype ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve ; Skull Base ; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase ; Veins