No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Flow Cytometry*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

BACKGROUNDS: A splenectomy is often performed simultaneously with a total gastrectomy for lymph node dissection in gastric cancer. The therapeutic value of a splenectomy in a curative total gastrectomy is controversial. The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the impact of a splenectomy combined with a total gastrectomy on the survival and the postoperative morbidity in gastric cancer. METHODS: From among 343 patients with total gastrectomy for gastric cancer between September 1983 and December 1996, we analyzed 237 patients who underwent a curative resection : 107 patients with a splenectomy and 130 patients without a splenectomy. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the patients with and without a splenectomy with regard to type of cancer, tumor size, and depth of invasion. In those who underwent a splenectomy, the tumor was larger, Borrman type III lesions were more frequent, the depth of invasion was greater, and an advanced stage was more frequent. The 5-year survival rate of the patients with a splenectomy was insignificantly less than that of those without splenectomy (50.6% vs. 57.7%, P> 0.05). There was no significant difference in the survival time according to the stage. Postoperative complications occurred more commonly in the patients of a splenectomy than those without a splenectomy (22.4% vs. 14.6%). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a splenectomy did not affect the prognosis for patients with gastric cancer and that efforts should be made to preserve the spleen during a gastrectomy. A prospective study should be done to better define the relationship between a splenectomy and the survival time of patients with gastric cancer.
Gastrectomy* ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spleen ; Splenectomy* ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: Tuffier's line, which connect the two iliac crests, is the often used landmark in determining the level for the needle insertion into lumbar intervertebral space for the spinal and/or epidural blocks. However, the level of Tuffier's line varies depending on the observer. METHODS: Two methods were used to measure the level of Tuffier's line was measured on a simple abdominal X-ray taken in the supine position (study 1). Second, the level of Tuffier's line was also measured on fluroscopy of students in the sitting position (study 2). RESULTS: Overall, the level of Tuffier's line was most frequently observed along the L4-5 intervertebral space and second most frequently observed along the lower one-third of L4. In study 1 using abdominal X-ray, the level of Tuffiers line was most frequently observed along the L4-5 intervertebral space, however, the second most frequently observed level varied depending on the ages of the volunteers. In study 2 using fluoroscopy, the level of Tuffier's line was most frequently observed along the L4-5 intervertebral space and second most frequently observed along the upper one-third of L5. CONCLUSIONS: The level of Tuffier's line was most frequently observed along the L4-5 intervertebral space both in the supine and sitting positions. Further, the level of Tuffier's line went higher with age for women but stayed constant independent of age for men in the supine position.
Adult* ; Female ; Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Male ; Needles ; Supine Position ; Volunteers

No abstract available.
Blood Flow Velocity* ; Pregnancy* ; Umbilical Arteries*

As gastroduodenoscopy performed more frequently, case reports of human echinostomiasis are increasing in Korea. A Korean woman presented at a local clinic with complaints of abdominal pain and discomfort that had persisted for 2 weeks. Under gastroduodenoscopy, two motile flukes were found attached on the duodenal bulb, and retrieved with endoscopic forceps. She had history of eating raw frog meat. The two flukes were identified as Echinostoma hortense by egg morphology, 27 collar spines with 4 end-group spines, and surface ultrastructural characters. This report may prove frogs to be a source of human echinostome infections.
Animals ; Duodenal Diseases/*parasitology ; Duodenum/*parasitology ; Echinostoma/*isolation & purification ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND: Involuntary movement is a rare symptom of stroke. The pathophysiologic mechanism is poorly understood. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 1547 stroke patients who have been admitted to the Seoul National University Hospital from March, 1988 to March, 1997. RESULTS: We found 18 patients with involuntary movements. Dystonia was observed in 10 patients, ballism or chorea in 8 patients and tremor in 5 patients. Anatomical structures responsible for dystonia were thalamus, lenticular nucleus, caudate nucleus and midbrain. Ballism-chorea was associated with lesions of subthalamic nucleus, thalamus, and lenticular nucleus. Tremor was associtated with lesions of thalamus, lenticular nucleus and midbrain. Ballism-chorea was present in the onset of stroke in 6 cases, 2 months after stroke in 1 case, and 21 months after in 1 case. But only 1 case of dystonia was present in the onset of stroke, 2 cases within 7 days, 5 cases in one week to one month, and 2 cases after one month. The involuntary movements subsided in 5 cases of hemiballism-chorea and in 3 cases of dystonia In most of the improved cases, the symptoms subsided in a month. CONCLUSIONS: Basal ganglia and thalamus were the main areas involved where lesions associated with involuntary movements were reported. The nature of involuntary movements was variable. However, lesions in subthalamic nucleus resulted only in ballism-chorea. The presence of only ballism chorea, but not any other involuntary movements, due to subthalamic nucleus lesions indicates that an indirect pathway may play a role in the pathogenesis of ballism-chorea. The latency between the onset of stroke and involuntary movements was longer in dystonia than ballism-chorea. The course of ballism-chorea was generally better than dystona.
Basal Ganglia ; Caudate Nucleus ; Chorea ; Corpus Striatum ; Dyskinesias* ; Dystonia ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Mesencephalon ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Stroke* ; Subthalamic Nucleus ; Thalamus ; Tremor

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to compare and quantify the expressions of RANK and RANKL in the gingival tissues of non-periodontitis patient and patients with chronic periodontitis, in order to understand the contribution of these proteins to periodontal destruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Gingival tissue samples were obtained during periodontal surgery or tooth extraction. According to the patient's systemic condition & clinical criteria of gingiva, each gingival sample was divided into two groups. Group 1 (n=8) is clinically healthy gingiva without bleeding and no evidence of bone resorption or periodontal pockets, obtained from non-periodontitis patients. Group 2 (n=8) is inflammed gingiva from patients with chronic periodontitis. Tissue samples were prepared and analyzed by Western blotting. The quantification of RANK and RANKL were performed using a densitometer and statistically analyzed by Student's t-Test. RESULTS: The expression of RANK were similar in group 1 and 2. The difference between group 1 and 2 was not statistically significant. And the mean amount of RANKL was more increased in group 2 than group 1. The difference between group 1 and group 2 was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The expression level of RANK didn't show any significant difference between healthy tissue from non-periodontitis patients and inflamed tissue from chronic periodontitis, but the expression level of RANKL in inflammed tissue from chronic periodontitis showed significantly increased tendency compared to healthy gingiva from non-periodontitis patients. Threrefore, characteristics of RANK and RANKL in progress of chronic periodontitis would be basis of further studies in diagnostic method and treatment index of the disease.
Blotting, Western ; Bone Resorption ; Chronic Periodontitis* ; Gingiva ; Hemorrhage ; Humans* ; Periodontal Pocket ; Tooth Extraction

Many researches have been reported that collagen as cellular stroma, matrix of grafting materials, mediator of agents for the purpose of promoting healing process in vivo, but the responses in vivo were seen various. The goal of this experiment is to assess the effect of collagen on bony healing, through histological evaluation of implanted collagen on the calvarial defect in rats. 2-month-old Sprague-Dawley, 24 rats were used and 12 rats assigned to each group of control and test. Defect of 5mm in diameter was made on the calvarial bone with trephine bur. Following thorough saline rinse, defect of control group was left in empty and that of experimental group was filled with fibrillar collagen(COLLATAPE(R), COLLA-TEC. INC. U.S.A.) soaked in saline. 3 rats in each group were sacrificed at 3, 7, 14, 21 days after operation respectively, and the tissue blocks were prepared for light microscope with H-E for evaluation of overall healing, with TRAP(tartrate resistant acid phosphatase) for evaluation of osteoclastic activity and with immunohistochemical staining for macrophages. The results were as follows: 1. In the control group, inflammatory responses were disappeared at day 14, but, in the experimental group inflammatory infiltrates were reduced at day 21. Thus, the experimental group showed more severe soft tissue inflammation than control group. 2. Both control and experimental group showed slight appositional growth at day 7 and gradual bony growth to 21th day. But, complete bony healing of the defect was not shown. There was no significant difference in bony healing between control and experimental group 3. Specific response of macrophages for implanted collagen was observed at day 14 in the experimental group. In conclusion, although fibrillar collagen caused inflammation of soft tissue during initial healing period, inflammatory responses by fibrillar collagen didn't inhibit bony regeneration and implanted collagen was biodegradaded by macrophages. Thus, we expect that fibrillar collagen can be used for useful mediator of graft materials or growth factors.
Animals ; Collagen ; Fibrillar Collagens* ; Humans ; Infant ; Inflammation ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Macrophages ; Osteoclasts ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration ; Transplants