We studied about 437 patients(620 hips) who were diagnosed osteoncrosis of the femoral head in Kyung Hee University Hospital during last 15 years and analysed the epidemiologic distribution and relation with other diseases. In 437 patietns, nontraumatic femoral head necrosis(NTFHN) were 340 patients(77.8%) and traumatic femoral head necrosis(TFHN) were 97 patients(22.2%). The male was more affected in ratio of 4:1, especially higher in NTFH about 4.6:1. The peak incidence of age distribution was 4th and 5th decades. The most frequent probable etiologic factors in NTFN was idiopathic(137 patients, 40.3%) and followed by alcoholic(124 patients, 36.5%), steroid induced(53 patients, 15.6%). The cases of bilateral involvement in NTFHN were 182 patient(53.5%). The steroid induced cases(69.8%) were higher than other cases in bilaterality. Liver disease was the most frequent associated disease and it was followed by diabetes mellitus and renal disease. In steroid induced cases, the underlying causes of its medication were nephrotic syndrome(12 patients), arthralgia(8 patients) and dermatologic diseases(7 patients), etc. The abnormal findings of selologic studies in NTFN were hyperlipidemia(28.1%), hyperuricemia (17.0%) and increased transmainase(18.5%) and there was contact relationship between hyperilipidemia and increased transmainase. Marked declination of Harris score was found between stage II and stage III in the course progression of NTFHN. The annual incidence of femoral head osteoncerosis increased gradually
Age Distribution ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Epidemiology ; Head ; Humans ; Hyperuricemia ; Incidence ; Liver Diseases ; Male ; Osteonecrosis

The early diagnosis of osteonecrosis of the femoral head is difficult because the radiologic change usually appears after some pregression of the disease process. The value of bone marrow pressure measurement for esily detection of the osteonecrosis has been studied by many authors. We measured bone marrow pressure in avascular femoral head and compared with patient's age, stage of osteonecrosis and radiological types. And also we measured bone marrow pressure in osteoarthritic hip. The results were following:l. In 95% of osteonecrosis of the femoral head, BMP is increased. 2. There is no correlative change between BMP and radiological stage. 3. In steroid induced osteonecrosis, BMP increase is predominent after provocative test. 4. Radiological type seems to influence more significant BMP change than radiological stage. 5. The diagnostic accuracy of the early stage of osteonecrosis of the femoral head is 97% in average. 6. Osteoarthritic hip also shows increased BMP. 7. Baseline pressure is highest in greater trochanteric area, but subchondral area shows most sensitive change. 8. The provocative pressure is lower than baseline pressure in the necrotic center of the head. The increase of the BMP of the femoral head osteonecrosis not specific butvery sensitive. But the measurement of BMP of the femoral head is very useful method for early detection of AVN of the femoral head.
Bone Marrow ; Early Diagnosis ; Femur ; Head ; Hip ; Methods ; Osteonecrosis

The funding acknowledgment in this article was omitted as published.

PURPOSE: A recent study demonstrated that exertional desaturation is a predictor of rapid decline in lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, the study was limited by its method used to detect exertional desaturation. The main purpose of this study was to explore whether exertional desaturation assessed using nadir oxygen saturation (SpO2) during the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) can predict rapid lung function decline in patients with COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 57 patients with moderate to very severe COPD who underwent the 6MWT. Exertional desaturation was defined as a nadir SpO2 of <90% during the 6MWT. Rapid decline was defined as an annual rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) > or =50 mL. Patients were divided into rapid decliner (n=26) and non-rapid decliner (n=31) groups. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in exertional desaturation was observed between rapid decliners and non-rapid decliners (17 vs. 8, p=0.003). No differences were found between the groups for age, smoking status, BODE index, and FEV1. Multivariate analysis showed that exertional desaturation was a significant independent predictor of rapid decline in patients with COPD (relative risk, 6.8; 95% CI, 1.8 to 25.4; p=0.004). CONCLUSION: This study supports that exertional desaturation is a predictor of rapid lung function decline in male patients with COPD.
Aged ; Anoxia/diagnosis/etiology ; Exercise/*physiology ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume/physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*physiopathology ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVES: The extracapsular spread (ECS) of metastatic lymph nodes is associated with aggressive tumor behavior, and is regarded as a major risk factor for local recurrence in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, the significance of ECS of metastatic lymph nodes has not been well established in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to examine this question. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 335 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who underwent total thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection from April 2001 to December 2009. We analyzed various clinical characteristics, pathologic factors, and the size, number, and ECS of foci in metastatic lymph nodes. RESULTS: On pathologic review, 201 of the patients (56.6%) had lymph node metastasis. This was significantly related to age and tumor size. ECS was noted in 64 of these 201 patients (31.8%), and was significantly related to male gender, tumor size, presence of extrathyroidal extension, metastatic lymph node size, and focus size. Recurrence occurred in 13 patients (3.9%), and the presence of ECS was significantly related to recurrence. CONCLUSION: ECS of metastatic lymph nodes is an important prognostic factor for loco-regional recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Head ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes* ; Male ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy

PURPOSE: The mortality and the amputation rates due to vascular trauma remain high despite advanced vascular surgical techniques and supportive management. The clinical features of patients with vascular trauma have not been well studied in the Korean population. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with vascular trauma and to develop a database and guidelines for improving the outcomes of treatment. METHODS: The medical records of 37 patients with traumatic vascular injuries who had visited in an emergency center between January 2002 and December 2006 were retrospectively reviewed and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age was 37.8 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 5.2 : 1. The mechanism of vascular trauma was penetrating in 18 patients and blunt in 19 patients. Upper extremities were most frequently injured (39.4%). The treatment methods were primary repair in 21 patients, exploratory laparotomies in 7, radiological interventions in 3, resections and graft interpositions of the pseudoaneurysm in 3, observations in 3 and a bypass graft in 1. Four out of the 37 patients died, and three of these who died had injuried abdominal vessels. Twenty-five of the patients recovered completely, four expired, seven had neuropathy in the course of treatement, one had his limb amputated, and one experienced wound necrosis. CONCLUSION: Peripheral vessel injuries are commonly accompanied by nerve, muscle, or tendon injuries. Patients without associated fractures or compartment syndrome had good prognosis. Although the time intervals from hospital arrival to definite treatment were the shortest among patients with blunt abdominal vascular injuries, three expired. Therefore, we offer a 'critical pathway' to improve the outcomes of patients with blunt abdominal vascular injury.
Amputation ; Aneurysm, False ; Compartment Syndromes ; Critical Pathways ; Emergencies ; Emergency Treatment ; Extremities ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Medical Records ; Muscles ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tendon Injuries ; Transplants ; Upper Extremity ; Vascular System Injuries

BACKGROUND: There are a few reports with conflicting results regarding the potentiation of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) by repeated hypoxic challenges. The aim of this study was to determine if preoperative one lung ventilation (OLV) in the lateral position (LP) for a short time decreases the development of arterial hypoxemia and improves the level of arterial oxygenation via the potentiation of HPV in patients undergoing thoracic surgery with OLV. METHODS: Forty patients were randomly divided into two groups according to presence or absence of preoperative OLV. Preoperative OLV in LP was achieved for 10 minutes with 100% O2 in group P (n = 20). Thereafter, the two lungs were again ventilated with 50% O2 until OLV with 100% O2 had been achieved. In group C (n = 20), the two lungs were continuously ventilated with 50% O2 until OLV with 100% O2 was achieved. The arterial blood samples were obtained 15 minutes after the two lung ventilation in the supine position (baseline) during preoperative OLV in LP, before pulmonary vein ligation, as well as before and after pulmonary artery ligation. The development of arterial hypoxemia (peripheral blood oxygen saturation in pulse oximetry < 95%) in patients undergoing thoracic surgery with OLV was also recorded. RESULTS: Arterial hypoxemia during OLV was observed in 2 cases in group C and 3 cases in group P. There was a similar level of arterial oxygen tension during OLV between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the preoperative OLV in LP for 10 minutes neither potentiated the HPV response during OLV nor decreased the frequency of arterial hypoxemia during OLV.
Anoxia ; Humans ; Ligation ; Lung ; One-Lung Ventilation* ; Oximetry ; Oxygen* ; Pulmonary Artery ; Pulmonary Veins ; Supine Position ; Thoracic Surgery ; Vasoconstriction ; Ventilation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an uncommon disease that is usually found in the advanced stage becuase its anatomical location makes early detection difficult. Radiation therapy or concurrent chemoradiation therapy is mainstay for treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We evaluated clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and assessed prognostic factors related to survival. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 87 patients who were treated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma from 1994 to 2013. Clinical characteristics, pathologic type, stage, treatment modality, recurrence and survival were investigated. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 66.7 (12-232) months. Recurrence rates were not significantly different between the radiation therapy group and combined chemoradiation groups in the early stage (27.3% vs. 21.6%, p=0.644) and the advanced stage (21.4% vs. 31.3%, p=0.496). Five-year overall survival and disease free survival rate was 74.0% and 58.9%, respectively. Five-year overall survival rate of the combined chemoradiation therapy group was significantly lower than that of the radiation therapy group (64.4% vs. 94.1%, p=0.001). Distant metastasis was significantly correlated with survival in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: In this study, the five-year overall survival rate was better in the radiation therapy group than in the combined chemoradiation group. This might be related to the fact that advanced stage disease was more common in the combined chemoradiation group. Further studies with larger study samples and longer follow-up are necessary to verify these results and determine optimal modalities for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: Mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer can be markedly improved by FDG-PET scan, but the problem of false staging of mediastinal nodes by PET scan in non-small cell lung cancer has not yet been overcome. The aim of this study was to identify the mechanism underlying the false staging of mediastinal nodes by FDG-PET in the case of non-small cell lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To evaluate the factors determining the FDG uptake in mediastinal nodes, FDG-PET was performed preoperatively, and mediastinal dissection with pulmonary resection was performed in 62 patients with NSCLC. GLUT-1 expression was studied by immunohistochemistry of the mediastinal nodes (n=111, true positive 31, true negative 41, false positive 27, false negative 12) using the anti-GLUT-1 antibody. The size, percentage of tumor (tumor ratio), labeling index (rate of stained tumor), staining intensity of the tumor, level of follicular hyperplasia, and staining intensity of the follicle center in the mediastinal node were also studied. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in size among the 4 nodal groups (TP, TN, FP, FN), nor in the tumor ratio of the metastatic nodes between the TP and FN groups. The labeling index and staining intensity of the TP group were higher than those of the FN group (Mann-Whitney test, p=.001, p=.007) in the case of the metastatic nodes. The level of follicular hyperplasia of the FP group was higher than that of the TN group in the case of the non-metastatic nodes (p=.000). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that in mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer by FDG-PET, the FN node is associated with low uptake of FDG due to low expression of GLUT-1, and that the FP node is associated with a high level of follicular hyperplasia as a result of there being a reactive change to an inflammatory and/or immune reaction. This is the first report on the mechanism underlying the false results that are sometimes obtained, and which constitute a major problem in the clinical application of FDG-PET to the mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Immunohistochemistry ; Positron-Emission Tomography

Low molecular weight GTP-binding proteins are molecular switches that are believed to play pivotal roles in cell growth, differentiation, cytoskeletal organization, and vesicular trafficking. Rab proteins are key players in the regulation of vesicular transport, while Rho family members control actin-dependent cell functions, i.e. the regulation of cytoskeletal organization in response to extracelluar growth factors and in dendritic neuron development. In this study, we have examined the regulation of small GTP-binding proteins that are implicated in neurosecretion and differentiation of neuron during ageing processes. Comparison of small GTP-binding proteins from the synaptosome and crude synaptic vesicles (LP2 membranes) of 2 months and 20 months old rat brain respectively showed no difference in the level of Rab family proteins (Rab3A and Rab5A). However, Rho family proteins such as RhoA and Cdc42 were elevated in LP2 membranes of the aged brain. The dissociation of Rab3A by Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) from SV membranes was not changed during aging. Ca2+/CaM stimulated phosphorylation of the 22 and 55-kDa proteins in SV membranes from the aged rat brain, and inhibited phosporylation of 30-kDa proteins. GTPgammaS inhibited phosphorylation of the 100-kDa proteins and stimulated phosphorylation of the 70 kDa in LP2 membranes from both the young and aged rat brains, whereas GDPbetaS caused just the opposite reaction. These results suggest that protein phosphorylation and regulation of Rho family GTPases in rat brain appears to be altered during ageing processes.
*Aging ; Animal ; Brain/metabolism ; Calcium/pharmacology ; Cattle ; Comparative Study ; GTP-Binding Proteins/*metabolism ; Guanosine 5'-O-(3-Thiotriphosphate)/metabolism ; Molecular Weight ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Synaptic Membranes/*metabolism ; Synaptosomes/*metabolism ; cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein/biosynthesis/metabolism ; rab3A GTP-Binding Protein/metabolism ; rab5 GTP-Binding Proteins/metabolism ; rhoA GTP-Binding Protein/biosynthesis/metabolism