PURPOSE: This study analyzed QTc prolongation in patients intoxicated from over the counter (OTC) hypnotics compared with prescription hypnotics. METHODS: The medical records of intoxicated patients presented to four emergency centers from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The records of hypnotics overdose patients were selected and investigated for several features: general characteristics, vital signs, past history, ECG findings, treatment methods, ED stay time, drug category and amount, and final results. RESULTS: There were 134 patient cases of OTC hypnotic intoxication (36.9+/-15.1yrs, M:F=37:97), and 270 patient cases of prescription hypnotic intoxication (47.9+/-18.1yrs, M:F=58:212). The ECG QTc upon emergency center admission was 468.4+/-34.8 msec in the OTC hypnotic intoxication group and 449.48+/-26.2 msec in the prescription hypnotic intoxication group (p<0.05). QTc prolongation was noted in 81.3% of patients in the OTC hypnotic intoxication group and 64.1% of patients in the prescription hypnotic intoxication group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: ECG QTc prolongation was more common from OTC hypnotic intoxication than prescription hypnotics. Close monitoring is therefore recommended for patients who have ingested and overdosed from OTC hypnotics to prevent potentially lethal cardiac toxicity.
Electrocardiography ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives* ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Nonprescription Drugs ; Prescriptions* ; Retrospective Studies ; Vital Signs

PURPOSE: Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is treated by use of various protocols. We compared tamsulosin monotherapy with tamsulosin in combination with antibiotics or anti-inflammatory agents and evaluated the efficacy of these treatments in patients with CPPS. METHODS: Patients (n=107) who were younger than 55 years and diagnosed with CPPS were randomly assigned to treatment with tamsulosin at 0.2 mg (group A), tamsulosin at 0.2 mg plus anti-inflammatory drugs (group B) or tamsulosin at 0.2 mg plus antibiotics (group C) daily. We applied the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) to evaluate 100 patients who were treated for 12 weeks (7 withdrew). Scores of the three groups were compared by analysis of variance and we also evaluated subscores, which included pain, voiding and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: All three groups showed statistically significant decreases in NIH-CPSI score, IPSS and subscore scores (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups except for the QoL domain of the IPSS (group A vs. C; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Tamsulosin monotherapy for 12 weeks was effective for treating patients with CPPS, compared with combination therapy with antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs.
Academies and Institutes ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; Humans ; Pelvic Pain ; Prostate ; Prostatitis ; Quality of Life ; Sulfonamides

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was aimed to examine if FB1 induced-hepatotoxicity involves apoptosis, and cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CS) pre-treatment would selectively interfere with FB1 induced-apoptosis of hepatocytes. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were intravenousely injected with FB1 (1.25 mg/kg/day) for two days, and were sacrificed at 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after injection. Another experiment group was composed of rats with pretreatment of CS (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) before FB1 injection. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that administration of hepatotoxic dose of FB1 to Sprague-Dawley rats resulted in liver injury leading to cell death by apoptosis. FB1-induced apoptosis was preceded by early elevation in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol, and appearance of injured pre-apoptotic cells at 12 hours was followed by massive fragmentation and margination of heterochromatin at 24 hours. CS pre-treatment prior to FB1 injection ameliorated serum biochemistry and hepatic injury with apoptosis, demonstrated by histological, ultrastructural and TUNEL (terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling) methods. In addition, there was remarkable decrease in number of PCNA (proliferative cell nuclear antigen)-positive proliferating hepatocytes compared to that of FB1 treated group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that apoptosis significantly contributes to FB1-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo, and pre-exposure of rat to CS prevents FB1-induced hepatic apoptosis and proliferation.
Alanine Transaminase ; Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Biochemistry ; Cell Death ; Cholesterol ; Hepatocytes* ; Heterochromatin ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Liver* ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Adrenal pseudocysts are uncommon lesions which usually occur as a result of hemorrhage within the adrenal tissue. Adrenal hemorrhage is usually associated with severe stress, sepsis, pregnancy, syphilis, leukemia, or anticoagulant therapy but during steroid therapy, it is very rare. We report a case of adrenal pseudocyst that resulted from hemorrhage into the adrenal gland and is probably related to the exogenous administration of steroids. The patient was a 57-year-old woman who was treated with oradexon for 20 years for the treatment of a maculopapular lesion on her thigh as well as for arthritis. She underwent a right adrenalectomy due to the adrenal cystic mass. The wall of the cystic mass was composed of a thick layer of hyalinized fibrous tissue with remnants of adrenal cortical tissue on the outer aspect. The inner surface had no lining cells and the wall of the cyst contained many calcified plaques with hemosiderin pigment.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans ; Cysts

Lymphocytic hypophysitis is an autoimmune disorder of the pituitary gland which usually occurs in a woman in the postpartum period. Diabetes insipidus is not a major clinical feature of this disorder. We report a case of a 22-year-old man with lymphocytic hypophysitis which presented with diabetes insipidus and also involved his cavernous sinus. This represents the seventh reported and the youngest case of a man with lymphocytic hypophysitis. A comparative study of all six male patients is also presented. We suggest diabetes insipidus should be added to the spectrum of clinical manifestations of this disorder.
Female ; Male ; Humans

Histologic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies were performed on 6 cases of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma to study the histogenesis of the undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma, to determine the most useful markers for diagnosing these tumors and to investigate the nature of osteoclast-like giant cells rarely observed in these tumors. For the immuno-histochemical study, a panel of antibodies to epithelial (cocktailed keratin, low molecular weight keratin, CEA), mesenchymal(vimentin, desmin, actin, FVIIIRAg) endocrine(calcitonin, chromogranin), lymphocytic(LCA), histiocytic(alpha-l-ACT, alpha-1-AT, lysozyme, CD68), and Schwann cell(S-100 protein) markers were used. The following results were obtained; 1) Well differentiated carcinoma was associated with 2 cases of spindle cell type and 1 case of giant cell type of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma and a transitional zone between the well differentiated and undifferentiated lesions was observed. 2) All of the examined cases expressed keratin, and 3 tumors expressed CEA. 3) All the mesenchymal markers, LCA, S-100 protein, calcitonin, and chromogranin were not expressed. Vimentin was coexpressed with keratin in 4 cases. 4) Osteoclast-like giant cells were observed in 1 case of spindle cell type. They expressed CD68 but not keratin. 5) Ultrastructural study revealed the desmosomes between the tumor cells and non-neoplastic, follicular, thyroid epithelial cells. The above results indicate that undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma originates from follicular epithelial cell, keratin is the most useful marker for diagnosis of this tumor, and the osteoclast-like giant cells are histiocytic in nature and reactive, rather than neoplastic.

For the estimation of the proliferative activity, related to the biologic behaviour, malignant potential, and prognosis, of human thyroid tumors, PCNA(proliferating cell nuclear antigen) immunohistochemical staining was performed on paraffin-embedded sections of 9 normal thyroid tissues, 9 adenomatous goiters, 9 follicular adenomas, 4 Hurthle cell tumors, 12 papillary carcinomas, 4 follicular carcinomas, and 3 anaplastic carcinomas. The results were as follows: 1) The PCNA labeling indices in adenomatous goiter, follicular adenoma, and Hurthle cell tumor were 1.1, 1.5, and 2.4, respectively. They were significantly higher than the labeling index in normal thyroid. 2) The PCNA labeling indices in papillary carcinoma and follicular carcinoma were 3.5 and 4.4, respectively. They were significantly higher than the labeling indices in adenomatous goiter and follicular adenoma, but there was no significant difference between papillary and follicular carcinoma. 3) The PCNA labeling index in anaplastic carcinoma, 14.1, was significantly higher than those in benign and other malignant tumors. According to the results, the PCNA labeling index was well correlated with the malignant potential of a tumor. So the PCNA immunohistochemical staining is thought to be a useful method for the evaluation of the malignant potential and prognosis of a tumor.
Humans

Protective effect of human cerebrospinal fluid antioxidants against enzyme inactivation caused by metal-catalyzed oxidation systems were investigated. When purified glutamine synthetase(GS) was incubated with human cerebrospinal fluid(CSF), the enzyme was progressively inactivated. Catalase and EDTA could inhibit the enzyme inactivation by 50-80%. Small-molecular(Mr<-10,000) fraction of CSF inactivated the exogenous GS, but large-molecular(Mr>-10,000) fraction did not. The GS inactivation by the small-molecular fraction was also markedly inhibited by catalase and EDTA. These results suggested that metal-catalyzed oxidation is involved in the GS inactivation by the small-molecular fraction of CSF. Dithiothreitol(DTT)was shown to inhibit almost completely the oxidative inactivation of GS by CSF. However, DTT inhibited only partially the oxidative inactivation of GS caused by small-molecular fraction of CSF. When large-molecular fraction of CSF was separated by anion-exchange HPLC chromatography, there was a peak of antioxidant activity inhibiting the small-molecular fraction-induced GS inactivation in the presence of DTT. The antioxidant activity was neutralized by monoclonal antibodies to transthyretin. Purified transthyretin was found to efficiently inhibit ascorbate/Cu2+-induced GS inactivation in the presence of DTT. Uric acid and glucose did not shoe any protective effect on the GS inactivation in the same condition. The above results suggest that metal-catalyzed oxidation occurs normally in human CSF, and the transthyretin may play an important role as a CSF antioxidant in protecting proteins from metal-catalyzed oxidation.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antioxidants ; Catalase ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Chromatography ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Edetic Acid ; Glucose ; Glutamine ; Humans* ; Prealbumin* ; Shoes ; Uric Acid

To investigate the morphologic evidence of acute renal failure by folate, histological, histochemical (PAS), enzyme histochemical (Na-K-ATPase, G6PD, and ALP), and ultrastructural studies were performed. The results are as follows: l) Oliguria was most severe 3 hours after folate and the urine volume was 24.8% that of the control group. 2) Histologically, dilatation of tubules, degeneration and focal necrosis of the cortical tubules, and PAS(+) droplets in the tubular lumen were noted. And also frequent mitoses, mild interstital connective tissue proliferation, and neutrophilic infiltrates were observed in the late stage. 3) On enzyme histochemical examination, the activities of Na-K-ATPase and ALP were decreased, but G6PD activity was increased in comparison with the control group. 4) The ultrastructural studies revealed cytoplasmic vacuoles, apical cytoplasmic blebbing, dense bodies, mildly swollen mitochondria, dilated endoplasmic reticulum, loss bf brush border of the proximal tubules, and loss of microvilli of the thin limb of Henle's loop. Later, marked attenuation or loss of infoldings of basal plasma membrane of the cortical tubules was recognized. According to above results, the cause of acute renal failure by late is thought to be the injuries of tubular epithelial cells including sodium pump secondary to tubular obstruction.
Rats ; Animals

No abstract available.
Skin*