No abstract available.
Gestational Age* ; Humans ; Infant*

Acardiac twinning affects 1 in 100 monozygotic twin pregnancies and 1 in 35,000 pregnancies overall. This condition is characterized by the absence or rudimentary development of fetal heart, and associated with various anomaly. The presence of an acardiac twin requires the normal (or "pump") twin to provide circulation for itself, as well as the acardiac sibling. The acardiac malformations are uniformly fatal in the affected twin, and mortality in the co-twin is as high as 55%. The principal perinatal problems associated with acardiac twinning are pump-twin congestive heart failure, maternal hydramnios, and preterm delivery. We recently experienced a case of acardius anceps associated with a normal male infant, so present with a brief review of the literature.
Fetal Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mortality ; Polyhydramnios ; Pregnancy ; Siblings ; Twins, Monozygotic

No abstract available in English.
Clinical Study ; Dislocations ; Hip

Four patients with advanced tuberculosis of the wrist joint were treated with curettage & radial sliding graft to obtain radiometacarpal fusion. After each follow-up, their results were complete relief of pain with eradication of focus and solid union. This graft affords the stability of cortical bone combined with the osteogenesis of cancellous or trabecular bone. It furthermore affords a shape that conforms to the desirable dorsiflexion of the wrist after fusion.
Arthrodesis ; Curettage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Osteogenesis ; Transplants ; Tuberculosis ; Wrist Joint ; Wrist

When surgical treatment for symptomatic seminal vesicle cyst is deemed necessary, conventional surgery is invasive because of the deep location and dissection difficulty of the seminal vesicles in the retrovesical space. Recently, the laparoscopic approach has been advocated as an optimal yet minimally invasive technique for the surgical treatment of seminal vesicle pathology. It provides a good image and easy approach to the seminal vesicles. We report a case of a symptomatic giant cyst of the left seminal vesicle that is associated with ipsilateral renal agenesis, which was treated by transperitoneal laparoscopic excision.
Laparoscopy ; Pathology ; Seminal Vesicles*

PURPOSE: During transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy, 65% to 90% of patients reportedly have discomfort. We compared the anesthetic effects of a periprostatic injection of lidocaine under ultrasound guidance with the effects of a rectal instillation of lidocaine gel before the transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective randomized double-blind study was performed in 72 patients requiring a systematic biopsy of the prostate. Patients were randomized into two groups according to the method of anesthetic delivery that was used. Group 1 consisted of 37 patients who intrarectally received 10 ml of 2% lidocaine gel 10 minutes before biopsy, and 5 ml of normal saline was injected into the periprostatic nerve plexus just before biopsy under ultrasound guidance using an 18 gauge 16 cm needle on each side. Group 2 consisted of 35 patients who received 10 ml of sterile gel without lidocaine and a 5 ml 1% lidocaine injection using the same method as group 1. The pain score was assessed using a visual analogue scale immediately after biopsy. RESULTS: There was a statistical difference in the mean pain score between the two groups (5.1+/-1.7 in group 1 versus 3.3+/-1.5 in group 2) (p<0.001), but The complication rates were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that performing the transrectal ultrasound guided prostatic nerve blockade before biopsy significantly diminishes the discomfort associated with the procedure, which, in turn, improves patient tolerance more so than rectal instillation of lidocaine gel. In addition, this procedure is a safe, simple, and rapid technique that should be considered in all patients undergoing transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy.
Administration, Rectal* ; Anesthetics ; Biopsy* ; Double-Blind Method ; Humans ; Lidocaine* ; Needles ; Nerve Block ; Prospective Studies ; Prostate* ; Ultrasonography*

Takayasu's arteritis is an arteritis of undetermined etiology, which affects the aorta and the proximal portions of its major branches. But aortic regurgitation and coronary artery involvement were unusual manifestations in this disease. We experienced a patient of Takayasu's arteritis who represented these unusual manifestations. Aortogram revealed grade IV aortic regurgitation and proximal segment narrowing of left main coronary artery. A case of Takayasu's arteritis associated with aortic regurgitation and left main coronary artery involvement is reported with a review of literatures.
Aorta ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency* ; Arteritis ; Coronary Vessels* ; Humans ; Takayasu Arteritis*

42 patients with the clinical evidences of endocarditis were examined by echocardiography. In 28 of 42 cases(66.7%) vegetation was present, whereas in 14(33.3%) vegetation was not visualized. Alpha-hemolytic streptococcus was the most common infecting organism(47.6%) and rheumatic heart disease was the most common predisposing heart disease(47.6%). Patients with echocardiographically demonstrable vegetation had a higher incidence of congestive heart failure compared to the patients without vegetation(75.0% vs. 21.4% p<0.05). But major embolism was not significantly different in the two groups. Mortality was higher in the patients with vegetation than in the patients without it(39.3% vs. 0%, p<0.05). Among vegetation positive patients, mortality was highest in aortic valve patients.(58.3%) So patietns with aortic valve vegetation should be regarded as high risk group and early surgical intervention should be considered if indicated. The causes of mortality were congestive heart failure(45.5%), cerebral embolism(36.4%), myocardial infarction(9.1%) and ventricular tachycardia(9.1%) in decreasing frequency.
Aortic Valve ; Echocardiography* ; Embolism ; Endocarditis ; Endocarditis, Bacterial* ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Rheumatic Heart Disease ; Streptococcus

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to develop the evaluating scale of adherence to guideline 2.0 for suicide reporting declared by Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Suicide Prevention Center. METHODS: Four hundred and fifty one subjects who work in suicide prevention center or mental health center across the country participated in survey. They responded to 20 items after reading media report regarding suicide episode. Two hundred and twenty six cases of recruited data were analyzed. Reliability and validity were assessed by Chronbach-α and exploratory factor analysis. Then, confirmatory factor analysis based on another 225 data was conducted. RESULTS: The Results of exploratory factor analysis shows three factor structures. The validity of previous three factor structure based on confirmatory factor analysis was appropriate and the three factor structure consisted of 10 questionnaires with three subconcepts such as ‘glorification’, ‘lasciviousness’, and ‘providing information’. CONCLUSION: Three factor structures in the scale on media reports regarding as suicide is appropriate and this scale will contribute to evaluating suicide report on media.
Korea ; Mental Health ; Reproducibility of Results ; Suicide*

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic airway inflammation is a characteristic feature of bronchial asthma. Recent studies showed that increased production and release of eosinophils from bone marrow(BM) might be the essential step in the development of eosinophilic airway inflammation. To testify the hypothesis that increase in BM eosinophil production may be an important determinant of the severity of airway eosinophilia, their relationship was studied in a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. METHODS: BALB/c mice were sensitized with intraperitoneal ovalbumin adsorbed to aluminum potassium sulfate, followed by challenges with intranasal ovalbumin on two consecutive days. Saline was used for sensitization and challenge in control mice. Bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) was performed at 24 h after last nasal challenge, immediately followed by BM cell harvest from the femurs. The severity of airway inflammation was assessed as BAL eosinophilia, and the capacity of BM eosinophil production was assessed as BM eosinophil colony forming units(Eo-CFUs) using a semisolid culture assay. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the percentage of BAL eosinophils and lymphocytes with a resultant decrease in the percentage of alveolar macrophages in the ovalbumin- treated mice, compared with the saline-treated mice(p<0.05, respectively). Change in the percentage of neutrophils was not statistically significant. Compared with the saline-treated mice, the number of BM Eo-CFUs was significantly increased in the ovalbumin- treated mice(p<0.05). But the number of BM Eo-CFUs was not correlated significantly with the number of eosinophils in BAL fluid in the ovalbumin-treated mice. CONCLUSION: Respiratory exposure to allergen induced not only airway eosinophilia but also BM eosinophilopoiesis in this mice model of asthma. However there was no direct relationship between BM eosinophilopoiesis and airway eosinophilia, suggesting that the capacity of eosino-phil production in BM may not an important determinant of severity of airway eosinophilia.
Aluminum ; Animals ; Asthma* ; Bone Marrow* ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Femur ; Inflammation ; Lymphocytes ; Macrophages, Alveolar ; Mice* ; Neutrophils ; Ovalbumin ; Potassium