We evaluated the results of twelve total elbow arthroplasties that had been performed from Feb. 1986 to Mar. 1993 in ten patients. The duration of follow-up averaged three years two months(range, one year to seven years one month). There were six females and four males. Two females had bilateral procedures. The average age at the time of the operation was 35.3 years(range, 22 to 53). Five patients had severe rheumatoid arthritis, four patients had fracture sequelae around elbows and one patient had sequele of tuberculous arthritis. Total elbow arthroplasty had been performed for improving the range of motion and relief of pain. Total elbow arthroplasties had been performed in six cases of total ankylotic elbows and in six cases who complained severe painful limitation of motion of the elbow joints. Preoperatively, ankylotic group were fixed by 30 degrees of flexion on an average. In painful elbow group, the average total range of motion was 68 degrees. The prosthesis which were used in total elbow arthroplasties were semiconstrained type in nine cases and noncostrained in three cases. Most of the patients had relief of pain. Postoperative complications were permanent ulnar nerve palsy in one case, superficial infection in one case and dislocation in one case. Total gain of range of motion(ROM) was 17 degrees in painful elbow group and 102 degrees in ankylotic elbows. Total elbow arthroplasty was effective method for improvement of range of motion in ankylotic elbows and relief of pain in elbows which had painful limitation of motion.
Ankylosis ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthroplasty ; Dislocations ; Elbow Joint ; Elbow ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Postoperative Complications ; Prostheses and Implants ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Ulnar Neuropathies

BACKGROUND: The cardiac troponin I (cTnI), one of the subunits of the troponin regulatory complex, binds to actin and inhibits interactions between actin and myosin. cTnI is highly sensitive and specific marker for myocardial injury and is useful in diagnosis and detection of reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, we measured the serum concentration of cTnI according to serial time after chest pain in patients with AMI and compared serum concentration of cTnI with CK-MB and echocardiographic data to evaluate the significance of measuring serum concentration of cTnI in AMI. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study was carried out on 16 patients with first attack of AMI within 6 hours of chest pain. All patients were performed thrombolytic therapy and reperfusion was confirmed by coronary angiography. Blood samples for measuring of CK-MB and cTnI were collected at 4-h intervals during the first 24 h, 12-h intervals until 48 h, and 24-h intervals until fourth days after hospitalization. Echocardiography were performed before thrombolytic therapy in all patients. RESULTS: 1) The mean age of subjects was 63.6+/-11.5 years (range:44 - 84 years) and 11 patients were men and 5 patients were women. The site of infarction was anterior in 11 patients and inferior in 5 patients. 2) The peak concentrations of CK-MB and cTnI were reached from 4-h to 12-h after admission in all patients (7.3+/-2.6-h, and 9.0+/-3.1-h, respectively), but there was no significant difference in peak time. 3) Serum concentration of CK-MB was normalized at 72-h after admission, but cTnI was remained in increased state until 96-h after admission. The numbers of the patients with above cutoff value of CK-MB and cTnI at different time after admission were significantly different after 72-h (p<0.05). 4) The peak cTnI and sigma cTnI level were significantly correlated with peak CK-MB and sigma CK-MB level, respectively (r 2 =0.7955, p<0.0001 and r 2 =0.6378, p=0.0002, respectively). 5) The ejection fraction was not correlated with peak cTnI concentration (r 2 =0.0948, p=0.2461) and sigma cTnI (r 2 =0.1867, p=0.0946). 6) The wall motion score index was not correlated with peak cTnI concentration (r 2 =0.2135, p=0.0716), but significantly correlated with sigma cTnI (r 2 =0.2540, p=0.0465). CONCLUSION: The serum concentration of cTnI was useful in late diagnosis of AMI and cTnI release in patients with AMI was correlated with myocardial infarct size.
Actins ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Angiography ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Infarction ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myosins ; Reperfusion ; Thrombolytic Therapy ; Troponin I* ; Troponin*

Inverted papilloma of the urinary tract is a unique and rare tumor. Although it is generally considered a benign lesion, the tumor has the possibility of malignant change. The most commonly associated clinical symptoms are hematuria and obstruction of urinary tract. We report a case of ureteral inverted papilloma which was proved histologically with the review of literature.
Hematuria ; Papilloma, Inverted* ; Ureter* ; Urinary Tract

Inverted papilloma of the urinary tract is a unique and rare tumor. Although it is generally considered a benign lesion, the tumor has the possibility of malignant change. The most commonly associated clinical symptoms are hematuria and obstruction of urinary tract. We report a case of ureteral inverted papilloma which was proved histologically with the review of literature.
Hematuria ; Papilloma, Inverted* ; Ureter* ; Urinary Tract

PURPOSE: This study was performed in order to determine the changes over time in preventable and potentially preventable traumatic death rates, and to assess the factors that affected the deaths of trauma patients which occurred in Korean pre-hospital and hospital settings. METHODS: All trauma deaths occurring either in the emergency department (ED) or after admission at twenty Korean hospitals between August 2009 and July 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The deaths were initially reviewed by a team of multidisciplinary specialists and classified into non-preventable, potentially preventable, and preventable deaths. Only preventable and potentially preventable deaths were the subject of our analysis. Structured data extraction included patient demographics, vital signs, injury severity, probability of survival, preventability of mortality, reported errors in the evaluation and management of the patient, and classification of error types (system, judgment, knowledge). RESULTS: During the study period, 446 trauma victims died in the ED or within 7 days after admission. The mean age was 52 years, 74.1% were men and the mean time from injury to death was 35.6 hours. The most common cause of death was head injury (44.7%) followed by hemorrhage (30.8%) and multi-organ failure (8.0%). The rates of preventable/potentially preventable deaths were 35.2% overall and 29.8% when limited to patients surviving to admission. Of all death classifications, 31.2% were potentially preventable and 4.0% were preventable. Errors leading to preventable death occurred in the emergency department (51.2%), pre-hospital setting (30.3%) and during inter-hospital transfer (60.8%). Most errors were related to clinical management (48.4%) and structural problems in the emergency medical system (36.5%). CONCLUSION: The preventable death rates for Korean trauma victims were higher than those found in other developed countries, possibly due to poorly established emergency medical systems for trauma victims in pre-hospital and hospital settings. A system wide approach based on the emergency medical system and well-developed in-hospital trauma teams should be adopted in order to improve the quality of care of trauma victims in Korea.
Cause of Death ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Demography ; Developed Countries ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Judgment ; Korea ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Specialization ; Vital Signs