No abstract available.

Ulnar tunnel syndrome by anomalous muscles has not been reported in Korea because it is asymptomatic in most cases. The most common anomalous muscles are the accessory abductor digiti minimi and palmaris longus. This is a case report of a patient with ulnar tunnel syndrome at the wrist by the accessory abductor digiti minimi muscle. For patients with ulnar tunnel syndrome, it is important to consider that anomalous muscles can cause ulnar tunnel syndrome.

Primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease of unknown origin. The small and medium sized intrahepatic bile ducts are destroyed by an inflammatory process, which, it has been suggested, is of the autoimmune type. It is strongly associated with the presence of antimitochondrial antibodies, predominantly IgM and IgG. The liver changes are classified into four stages, of which stage IV represents the development of cirrhosis, which required orthotropic liver transplantation in the longrun. The prevalence rates was reported 128 per millon in Sweden , but the disease is relatively rare in Oriental area. In medical treatment, long-term administration of ursodeoxycholic acid improves both clinical and biochemical signs, slows the progression of the disease and reduces the complication requiring liver transplantation. We report two cases of PBC, one with histologically proven cirrhosis, and the other with bile duct destruction consistent with stage III and hypothyroidism.
Antibodies ; Bile Ducts ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Fibrosis ; Hypothyroidism ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary* ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation ; Prevalence ; Sweden ; Ursodeoxycholic Acid

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate to effect of adrenal insufficiency on the results of TKA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 89 patients (89 knees) treated with TKA from March, 2008 to October, 2008 were enrolled in this study. Levels of serum cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were checked preoperatively. Hydrocortisone 50~75 mg was injected to adrenal insufficient group at 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM on operative day and the following day. We evaluated the range of motion, the knee society knee score and function score at preoperatively and 2 years follow up, and compared the results between non-adrenal insufficiency group (NAI) and adrenal insufficiency group (AI). RESULTS: Cortisol and ACTH levels were reduced in 36 of 89 patients. All of 36 patients of low cortisol level do not stimulated in ACTH stimulation test. In the adrenal insufficiency group the knee society score (KSS) improved from 49.8 to 86.8 and the knee society functional score (KSFS) from 42.6 to 89.5 at 2 years follow-up. In the control group KSS rose from 51.9 to 84.3 and KSFS from 49.4 to 88.6 during the same period. In adrenal insufficient patients, there were no postoperative complication to include mortality, infection, periprosthetic fracture except skin lesions during operation or postoperatively. There was a case of rupture of quadriceps tendon on the 10th postoperative day which was treated with primary repair. CONCLUSION: Based on our study, there was no increased operative and postoperative complications except skin lesions and 1 case quadricepse tendon rupture in patients with adrenal insufficiency group.
Adrenal Insufficiency ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Arthroplasty ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Knee ; Periprosthetic Fractures ; Postoperative Complications ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rupture ; Skin ; Tendons

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to assist in early diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: We analyzed clinical statistics of 401 patients, who visited Masan Samsung Hospital from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2002, received treatment under diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, and were comfirmed by histopathologic examination. RESULTS: During the index period, the occurrence rate of ectopic pregnancy was 1:16.5, with peak age of occurrence between 30 to 34 year-old (34.4%). Previous history of artificial abortion was noted in 76.1%, previous cesarean delivery in 17%, previous pelvic inflammatory disease in 15.7% and history of previous ectopic pregancy in 9.5%. Concerned to clinical manifestations, lower abdominal pain was reported in 93.3%, amenorrhea in 86.5%, and vaginal bleeding in 69.3%. Onset of clinical manifestation was 6-8 weeks from the last menstrual period in 39.7%, being the most common. As the implantation site, fallopian tube was affected in 95.3%, ovary in 3%, and cervix of the uterus in 1%. Total amount of intraperitoneal hemorrhage was less then 500 mL in 45.6%. As an operative treatment, salpingectomy of the affected side was conducted in 76.8%. Average lengths of hospital stay for laparoscopy versus laparotomy were 3.4 and 5.2 days, respectively. CONCLUSION: Ectopic pregnancy, as a common emergent disorders, requires continuous attention for women in reproductive age. With the aid of various diagnostic modalities, early diagnosis and treatment can reduce mortality and morbidity rates, and enhance future fetility.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Amenorrhea ; Cervix Uteri ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Fallopian Tubes ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Laparotomy ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Ovary ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic* ; Salpingectomy ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Uterus

Fowl typhoid (FT) reported since 1992 in Korea is a septicemic disease of domestic birds caused by Salmonella gallinarum (S. gallinarum). The purpose of this study was to investigate the biochemical characteristics and antimicrobials susceptibility of field isolates of S. gallinarum isolated by year in Korea. A total of 258 isolates of S. gallinarum from 1995 to 2001 showed the same pattern in the majority of biochemical test such as IMViC (indole, methyl red, Voges-Proskauer and citrate utilization), carbohydrate fermentation and amino acid decarboxylation, and these results were almost in accordance with the traditional biochemical characteristics of S. gallinarum strain. When the antimicrobial susceptibility test against 258 isolates of S. gallinarum was performed by the disk diffusion method using 12 antimicrobial agents, all isolates from 1995 appeared to be susceptible to all of the antimicrobial agents tested except for tetracycline and oxytetracycline, whereas the vast majority of isolates from 2001 showed the reduced susceptibility to ampicillin (13.0%), gentamicin (43.4%), kanamycin (69.6%), enrofloxacin (6.5%), ciprofloxacin (10.9%), norfloxacin (52.5%) and ofloxacin (82. 6%). The prevalence of the prevalence of completely resisyany isolates resistant isolates to one or more drugs rapidly increased from 0% in 1995 to 93.5% in 2001. The minimal concentrations range of the majority of antimicrobial agents to inhibit 50% (MIC50s) against S. gallinarum isolates increased from 0.06 -- 8 microgram/ml in 1997 to 2 -- 256 microgram/ml in 2001. Especially, MIC50s for gentamicin and fluoroquinolones of isolates from 2001 increased over 10-fold than those of isolates from 1997. Therefore, our results indicate that sorbitol fermentation and arginine decarboxylation showed the diversity by isolates and the vast majority of isolates from 2001 showed the reduced susceptibility to antimicrobials tested.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology ; Chickens ; Korea ; *Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Poultry Diseases/microbiology ; Salmonella/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; Salmonella Infections, Animal/microbiology

Although cleft lip and palate are one of the most common craniofacial malformation, little is still known about the mechanism of the palate formation. Retinoic acid (RA) is known a teratogen, and cleft palate is induced by retinoic acid administration in the secondary palate formation stage. Many growth factors and their receptors are involved in the formation of the secondary palate. Here, we investigated the expression of PDGFR-alpha, and PDGFR-beta during palatogenesis after retinoid acid administration in mice by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. At E15.5, the opposing palatal shelves fused with one another in the control group, but the palatal shelves were not elevated and cleft palate was induced in the RA-treated group. In RT-PCR, PDGFR-beta was downregulated during palatogenesis after RA administration. In immunohistochemical experiment, PDGFR-alpha and PDGFR-beta were reduced in RA-induced group. Taken together, we suggest that PDGF receptors may be molecules involved in palate formation.
Animals ; Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Mice ; Palate ; Receptors, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor* ; Tretinoin*

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of consolidation therapy with hexamethylmelamine (HMM) in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Patients treated at our hospital between January 1997 and November 2006 and in documented clinical complete response from advanced ovarian cancer following front-line platinum-based therapy were retrospectively analyzed. The patients treated with HMM were compared to the patients of matched counterpart without consolidation therapy. Of 102 patients enrolled, 49 were treated with HMM and 53 received no consolidation treatment. For patients with HMM and observed patients, the mean age were 54.6 and 55.6 yr; the distribution of stage was similar (P=0.977); the optimal surgery was performed in 36 (73.5%) and 44 (83%) (P=0.336); the recurrence rate were 27 (55.1%) and 33 (62.3%) (P=0.463); and the median progression-free survival were 38 months and 21 months for patients with HMM and observed patients (P=0.235). No treatment-related adverse events were reported during the follow-up period. Although this study failed to show the significant survival benefit of consolidation therapy with HMM in patients with advanced EOC, we consider that our study can contribute data to investigate the effectiveness of consolidation therapy in epithelial ovarian cancer.
Altretamine/*therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating/*therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial/*drug therapy/mortality ; Ovarian Neoplasms/*drug therapy/mortality ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine which clinicopathological factors have the significance in proportion of regulatory T lymphocytes in patients with cervical cancers. METHODS: Blood samples were collected preoperatively from 17 patients with uterine cervical cancers (stage: IB, IIA) diagnosed at Asan medical center from May 2006 to October 2006. Patients were limited to who never been treated after diagnosis. We analyzed phenotypes of lymphocytes through flow cytometry by using anti CD3 antibodies, anti CD4 antibodies, anti CD25 antibodies and anti Transcription Factor Foekhead Box P3 (FoxP3) antibodies. Following analysis by flow cytometry, it was determined the relation between the proportion of regulatory T lymphocytes and clinicopathological factors of patients, including age, height, weight, BMI, maximum tumor diameter, lymphovascular tumor emboli, parametrial invasion, and lymph node metastasis. RESULTS: Among many clinicopathological factors in patients with cervical cancer, only maximum tumor diameter was significantly correlated with the proportion of CD4+CD25+(high)FoxP3+ regulatory T lymphocytes (p=0.012, Spearman's rho Correlation Coefficient=0.593). CONCLUSION: This is the first report to document the relation between uterine cervical cancer and the proportion of regulatory T lymphocytes in peripheral blood. In terms of positive correlation between the primary tumor size and the proportion of regulatory T lymphocytes in peripheral blood, we suggest that the spread mechanism of uterine cervical caner, especially direct invasion, will be related with the anti-tumor immune tolerance state. Further studies are necessary to explain the specific spread mechanisms and systemic antitumor immunity in cervical cancer.
Antibodies ; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Diagnosis ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immune Tolerance ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphocytes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Phenotype ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory* ; Transcription Factors ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is an extremely rare malignancy of the female genital tract with a poorer clinical outcome than squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. We report a case of pure basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. A 70-yr-old woman with vaginal bleeding was referred to our institute. A basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage Ib1, was diagnosed by a loop electrosurgical excision procedure cone biopsy. A radical hysterectomy was performed, along with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic lymph node dissection, and para-aortic lymph node sampling. Pathologic findings were consistent with a basaloid squamous cell carcinoma confined to the cervix without an extracervical tumor. No further treatment was administered and there was no clinical evidence of recurrence during the 12 months of follow-up. Follow-up for the patient is ongoing. Although basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is thought to behave aggressively, accumulation of data on these rare tumors is necessary to determine whether their behavior differs significantly from that of conventional cervical squamous cell carcinoma of similar clinical stage. These data would be useful for defining the best diagnosis and treatment for these rare tumors.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Colonoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery