This study was undertaken to document the effect of transforming growth factor-beta2 (TGF-beta2(TGF-beta2) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the proliferation of pig retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). Whereas bFGF increased the proliferation, TGF-beta2 showed the inhibitory effect on the proliferation The inhibitory effect of TGF-beta2 disappeared in RPE subcultured with 10ng/ml of bFGF. Both TGF-beta2- and bFGF-specific antisense oligonucleotides blocked the autocrine effect of the growth factors. PLC-71 -specific antisense oligonucleotide inhibited the effect of TGF-beta2 and bFGF. Genistein inhibited the effect of TGF-beta2 and bFGF in dose-dependent man, ner. The data suggest the involvement. of in PLC-/1 and tyrosine kinase in signalling.
Epithelial Cells* ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; Genistein ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Retinaldehyde* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta2*

Objective: : The fate of partially thrombosed intracranial aneurysms (PTIAs) is not well known after endovascular treatment. The authors aimed to analyze the treatment outcomes of PTIAs. Methods: : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 27 PTIAs treated with endovascular intervention between January 1999 and March 2018. Twenty-one aneurysms were treated with intraluminal embolization (ILE), and six were treated with parent artery occlusion (PAO) with or without bypass surgery. Radiological results, clinical outcomes and risk factors for major recurrence were assessed. Results: : The initial clinical status was similar in both groups; however, the last status was better in the ILE group than in the PAO group (p=0.049). Neurological deterioration resulted from mass effect in one case and rupture in one after ILE, and mass effect in two and perforator infarction in one after PAO. Twenty cases (94.2%) in the ILE group initially achieved complete occlusion or residual neck status. However, 13 cases (61.9%) showed major recurrence, the major causes of which included coil migration or compaction. Seven cases (33.3%) ultimately achieved residual sac status after repeat treatment. In the PAO group, all initially showed complete occlusion or a residual neck, and just one case ultimately had a residual sac. Two cases showed major recurrence, the cause of which was incomplete PAO. Aneurysm wall calcification was the only significantly protective factor against major recurrence (odds ratio, 36.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.85 to 705.18; p=0.018). Conclusion : Complete PAO of PTIAs is the best option if treatment-related complications can be minimized. Simple fluoroscopy is a useful imaging modality because of the recurrence pattern.

Objective: : The fate of partially thrombosed intracranial aneurysms (PTIAs) is not well known after endovascular treatment. The authors aimed to analyze the treatment outcomes of PTIAs. Methods: : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 27 PTIAs treated with endovascular intervention between January 1999 and March 2018. Twenty-one aneurysms were treated with intraluminal embolization (ILE), and six were treated with parent artery occlusion (PAO) with or without bypass surgery. Radiological results, clinical outcomes and risk factors for major recurrence were assessed. Results: : The initial clinical status was similar in both groups; however, the last status was better in the ILE group than in the PAO group (p=0.049). Neurological deterioration resulted from mass effect in one case and rupture in one after ILE, and mass effect in two and perforator infarction in one after PAO. Twenty cases (94.2%) in the ILE group initially achieved complete occlusion or residual neck status. However, 13 cases (61.9%) showed major recurrence, the major causes of which included coil migration or compaction. Seven cases (33.3%) ultimately achieved residual sac status after repeat treatment. In the PAO group, all initially showed complete occlusion or a residual neck, and just one case ultimately had a residual sac. Two cases showed major recurrence, the cause of which was incomplete PAO. Aneurysm wall calcification was the only significantly protective factor against major recurrence (odds ratio, 36.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.85 to 705.18; p=0.018). Conclusion : Complete PAO of PTIAs is the best option if treatment-related complications can be minimized. Simple fluoroscopy is a useful imaging modality because of the recurrence pattern.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the utility and diagnostic accuracy of the ossification grade of medial clavicular epiphysis on chest radiographs for identifying Korean adolescents and young adults under the age of majority. Overall, 1,151 patients (age, 16-30) without any systemic disease and who underwent chest radiography were included for ossification grading. Two radiologists independently classified the ossification of the medial clavicular epiphysis from chest radiographs into five grades. The age distribution and inter-observer agreement on the ossification grade were assessed. The diagnostic accuracy of the averaged ossification grades for determining whether the patient is under the age of majority was analyzed by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Two separate inexperienced radiologists assessed the ossification grade in a subgroup of the patients after reviewing the detailed descriptions and image atlases developed for ossification grading. The median value of the ossification grades increased with increasing age (from 16 to 30 years), and the trend was best fitted by a quadratic function (R-square, 0.978). The inter-observer agreements on the ossification grade were 0.420 (right) and 0.404 (left). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.922 (95% CI, 0.902-0.942). The averaged ossification scores of 2.62 and 4.37 provided 95% specificity for a person < 19 years of age and a person ≥ 19 years of age, respectively. A preliminary assessment by inexperienced radiologists resulted in an AUC of 0.860 (95% CI, 0.740-0.981). The age of majority in Korean adolescents and young adults can be estimated using chest radiographs.
Adolescent* ; Age Distribution ; Area Under Curve ; Clavicle ; Epiphyses* ; Humans ; Radiography ; Radiography, Thoracic* ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thorax* ; Young Adult*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of Mullerian remnants in young females clinically suspected of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome in a primary amenorrhea workup. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen young females underwent multiplanar T2- and transverse T1-weighted MRI at either a 1.5T or 3.0T MR imager. Two gynecologic radiologists reached consensus decisions for the evaluation of Mullerian remnants, vagina, ovaries, and associated findings. RESULTS: All cases had bilateral uterine buds in the pelvic cavity, with unilateral cavitation in two cases. The buds had an average long-axis diameter of 2.64 +/- 0.65 cm. In all cases, bilateral buds were connected with fibrous band-like structures. In 13 cases, the band-like structures converged at the midline or a paramedian triangular soft tissue lying above the bladder dome. The lower one-third of the vagina was identified in 14 cases. Fourteen cases showed bilateral normal ovaries near the uterine buds. One unilateral pelvic kidney, one unilateral renal agenesis, one mild scoliosis, and three lumbar sacralization cases were found as associated findings. CONCLUSION: Typical Mullerian remnants in MRKH syndrome consist of bilateral uterine buds connected by the fibrous band-like structures, which converge at the midline triangular soft tissue lying above the bladder dome.
Abnormalities, Multiple/*pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney/abnormalities/pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Middle Aged ; Mullerian Ducts/abnormalities/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Somites/abnormalities/pathology ; Spine/abnormalities/pathology ; Uterus/abnormalities/pathology ; Vagina/abnormalities/pathology

The superior orbital fissure syndrome is a rare condition characterized by opthalmoplegia, ptosis, and proptosis of the eye, fixation and dilation of the pupil, and anesthesia of the upper eyelid and forehead. Tumor metastasis to the orbit is uncommon and there were only 11 histologically proven cases of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma to the orbit. There was only one case of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma to the orbit with superior orbital fissure syndrome. The prognosis were poor for all reported cases, but palliative radiotherapy could be some help. We report a rare case of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma to the orbit with superior orbital fissure syndrome.
Anesthesia ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids ; Forehead ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Orbit* ; Prognosis ; Pupil ; Radiotherapy

PURPOSE: Previous studies have not showed consistent results for the level of expression of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) in thyroid diseases, especially malignant tumor. We undertook this study to evaluate the distribution of NIS expression in malignant thyroid diseases and compare with that in benign thyroid disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total patients were 119 cases (Men 15, 48+/-13 yrs). Total number of samples were 205 pieces. In malignant thyroid disease, there were 153 samples: 90 in papillary carcinoma, 4 in follicular carcinoma, 2 in medullary carcinoma and 57 in metastatic lymph node. In benign thyroid disease, there were 52 samples: 36 in goiter/cyst, 11 in thyroiditis and 5 in follicular adenoma. Using immunohistochemical methods, we probed 205 samples with monoclonal anti-NIS Ab. Grading of staining was scored as 0 (negative or absent), 1 (weakly positive), 2 (moderately positive) or 3 (strongly positive). Expression rate (ER) of NIS positivity in individual disease entity was expressed as percentage of total number divided by number in 2 plus 3 grade. RESULTS: ERs of malignant thyroid diseases were 63% in papillary carcinoma, 81% in metastatic lymph node, 71% in follicular carcinoma and 100% in medullary carcinoma. ERs of benign thyroid disease were 53% in goiter/cyst, 64% in thyroiditis and 40% in follicular adenoma. ER of malignant thyroid diseases was higher than benign thyroid diseases (71% vs 54%). Grading of NIS expression in papillary carcinoma or goiter/cyst was heterogeneously distributed in considerable cases. Normal tissue also showed heterogeneous distribution of NIS expression, which was not correlated with that of primary lesion. CONCLUSION: In papillary thyroid carcinoma, distribution of NIS expression was heterogeneous and increased, and not different compared with that of benign thyroid disease.
Adenoma ; Carcinoma, Medullary ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Ion Transport* ; Lymph Nodes ; Thyroid Diseases* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroiditis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present the distribution of lesions among the six categories of the pathology reporting system for thyroid core-needle biopsy (CNB), along with the range of malignancy risk of each category based on different diagnostic criteria for benignity in a clinical cohort. Methods: For 1,216 consecutive nodules (≥1 cm) of 1,125 patients who underwent CNB at two hospitals, the diagnostic results based on the six categories of thyroid CNB were analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups according to prior fine-needle aspiration (FNA) status: second-line CNB for nodules where prior FNA yielded nondiagnostic or unsatisfactory results (n=57), second-line CNB for nodules with prior FNA results of atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) (n=303), and first-line CNB (n=856). Results: The proportion of nodules in each CNB category and the range of the malignancy rate for each category was as follows, in order from category I to VI: 1.8%, 23.1%-75.0%; 57.9%, 0.7%-16.7%; 16.0%, 13.2%-46.7%; 8.8%, 53.8%-56.8%; 2.0%, 100%; and 13.5%, 100%. First-line CNB was associated with a higher rate of conclusive diagnoses (category II, IV, or VI) (725 of 856, 84.7%) than second-line CNB with prior nondiagnostic or AUS/FLUS FNA results (241 of 360, 66.9%; P<0.001). Conclusion The overall distribution of nodules across the six categories of thyroid CNB and the ranges of malignancy risk for those categories were presented in a clinical cohort. First-line CNB tended to produce a higher rate of conclusive results than second-line CNB with prior inconclusive FNA results.

Osteosarcoma is the most frequent primary malignant bone tumor with higher incidences in children and adolescents. Despite clinical evolutions, patients with osteosacoma have had a poor prognosis. There has been increasing evidence that cancer is a stem cell disease. This study sought to isolate and characterize cancer stem cells from human osteosarcoma with relevant literature reviews. Here we show that the emerging evidence suggests osteosarcoma should be regarded as a differentiation disease such as stem cell disease. Two human osteosarcoma cell lines were cultured in non-adherent culture conditions as sarcospheres. Sarcospheres were observed using histomorphology and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining. Expression of the embryonic stem cell marker was analyzed with use of reverse transcriptase-PCR. Sarcospheres could be reproduced consistently throughout multiple passages and produced adherent osteosarcoma cell cultures. Expression of stem cell-associated genes such as those encoding Nanog, octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4, sex determining region Y box 2 , c-Myc and ALP indicated pluripotent stem-like cells. These results support the extension of the cancer stem cell theory to include osteosarcoma. Understanding the cancer stem cell derived from human osteosarcoma could lead to the evolution of diagnosis and treatment for osteosarcoma patients.

Increasing importance of vaccination during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, several vaccines were developed. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines including BNT162b2 (Pfizer, New York, NY, USA; BioNTech, Mainz, Germany), mRNA-1273 (Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA) have been disclosed side effects such as thrombocytopenia, myocarditis and headache in general. In addition, adverse effects due to autoimmune responses induced by spike glycoproteins of mRNA vaccines are rarely reported such as the Guillain-Barre syndrome, autoimmune encephalitis and so on. Herein, we report a rare case of encephalitis with new-onset refractory status epilepticus after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination improved with immune therapy.