Motor cortex stimulation in a patient with intractable complex regional pain syndrome type II with hemibody involvement. Case report.

The authors describe the effectiveness of motor cortex stimulation (MCS) in a patient with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) Type II, formerly known as causalgia, with hemibody allodynia. During MCS, a subjective sensation of warm paresthesia developed in the painful hand and forearm and spread toward the trunk. Pain and allodynia in the areas associated with this sensation were alleviated significantly.

Role of surgery for maintaining urological function and prevention of retethering in the treatment of lipomeningomyelocele: experience recorded in 75 lipomeningomyelocele patients.

Object: The authors tried to reveal some unique features of lipomeningomyelocele (LMMC), including clinical presentation, factors precipitating onset of symptoms, pathologic entities of LMMC associated with tethered cord syndrome, and surgical outcome in LMMC patients.

Methods And Results: Seventy-five patients with LMMC were enrolled in this study. Neuro-imaging and intraoperative findings allowed classification of LMMC into three types: type I, type II, and type III.

Meniscal tear configurations: categorization with MR imaging.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of MR imaging for categorizing the configuration of meniscal tears of the knee.

Materials And Methods: Fast spin-echo MR images obtained at 1.5 T from 110 patients who had meniscal tears identified at arthroscopy were retrospectively and independently classified by two reviewers into five configurations: horizontal, longitudinal, radial, oblique, and complex.

Measuring corneal power for intraocular lens power calculation after refractive surgery. Comparison of methods.

Purpose: To find a more accurate and predictable method for intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation in eyes after refractive surgery.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Effect of middle-ear effusion on otoacoustic emissions.

Because otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are transmitted from the cochlea to the ear canal via the middle ear, the transmission properties of the middle ear directly influence OAEs' characteristics. In general, middle-ear effusion (MEE) reduces measured emission amplitudes and sometimes eliminates the response entirely. The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the conduction of the middle ear and OAEs' properties and to elucidate the effect of middle-ear effusion on detecting OAEs.

Instillation of normal saline before suctioning in patients with pneumonia.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a no saline, a 2 ml and a 5 ml saline instillation prior to endotracheal suctioning on oxygen saturation in patients with pneumonia. The subjects in this study were 16 pneumonic patients with a tracheotomy tube, who had been admitted to the neuro-surgical intensive care unit at a university hospital in Seoul Korea. All three (0, 2 and 5 ml) saline instillation methods were applied to the 16 patients.

Regional cerebral blood flow changes in patients with intractable obsessive compulsive disorders treated by limbic leukotomy.

The object of this study is to assess the changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) following stereotactic limbic leukotomy in patients with medically intractable Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Technetium-99-Hexa Methyl Propylene Amine Oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) data obtained before and after limbic leukotomy were subjected to image fusion with MRI images. Eight samples were obtained from healthy voluteers.

Acute interstitial nephritis due to nicergoline (Sermion).

We report a case of acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) due to nicergoline (Sermion). A 50-year-old patient admitted to our hospital for fever and acute renal failure. Before admission, he had been taking nicergoline and bendazac lysine due to retinal vein occlusion at ophthalmologic department.

Review of long-term results of stereotactic psychosurgery.

Stereotactic psychosurgery is an effective method for treating some medically intractable psychiatric illnesses. However, it is unfamiliar and the long-term clinical results have not been reported in Asia. The long-term results of psychosurgery are evaluated and the neuroanatomical basis is discussed.

Metabolic alterations in Parkinson's disease after thalamotomy, as revealed by 1H MR spectroscopy.

Objective: To determine, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) whether thalamotomy in patients with Parkinson's disease gives rise to significant changes in regional brain metabolism.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients each underwent stereotactic thalamotomy for the control of medically refractory parkinsonian tremor. Single-voxel 1H MRS was performed on a 1.

Vim thalamotomy for Holmes' tremor secondary to midbrain tumour.

Holmes' (rubral or midbrain) tremor is an unusual combination of 2 Hz to 5 Hz rest, postural, and kinetic tremors of an upper extremity. This tremor has been considered to result from the lesions in the vicinity of the red nucleus in the midbrain. There has been no systematic analysis of the surgical target in the Holmes' tremor so far of nucleus ventrointermedius (Vim) or globus pallidus interna.

Colchicine suppresses osteopontin expression and inflammatory cell infiltration in chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity.

Background: Colchicine (Col) is beneficial to renal injury because of its anti-inflammatory effect, but its mechanism has yet to be elucidated. The present study was designed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of colchicine on osteopontin (OPN) expression and the macrophage accumulation in chronic cyclosporine (CsA) nephrotoxicity in rats.

Methods: Male adult Sprague-Dawley rats on a low salt diet (LSD, 0.

Superior mesenteric artery syndrome due to an aortic aneurysm in a renal transplant recipient.

Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is a rare disease in which the third portion of the duodenum is compressed by SMA. There are many causes leading to the SMA syndrome, however it's extremely rare that aortic aneurysm causes a SMA syndrome. We report a case of a successfully treated SMA syndrome due to an abdominal aortic aneurysm in a renal transplant recipient.

Sentinel node biopsy as an indicator for pelvic nodes dissection in early stage cervical cancer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of sentinel node frozen biopsy to minimize the extensive pelvic lymph nodes dissection in early stage cervical cancer patients on the basis that the risk of skip metastasis to the paraaortic area is negligible. Twenty-six patients with early stage cervical cancer were enrolled in this study. Technetium-99m colloid albumin (Tc(99m)) was injected intradermally around the tumor for allowing preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative hand-held gama probe detection of seninel nodes.

Prostaglandin E2 suppresses nuclear factor-kappaB mediated interleukin 15 production in rheumatoid synoviocytes.

Objective: Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has a wide range of regulatory action in diverse cell types. To investigate the role of PGE2 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we tested the effect of exogenous PGE2 on the production of cytokines in synoviocytes.

Methods: Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) were prepared from the synovial tissue of patients with RA and cultured in the presence of PGE2.

Cyclosporine inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor production in rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts.

Objective: To determine the antiangiogenic effect of cyclosporin A (CSA) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We investigated the effect of CSA on the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) were prepared from the synovial tissues of RA patients, and cultured in the presence of CSA.

Cyclosporine withdrawal and mycophenolate mofetil treatment effects on the progression of chronic cyclosporine nephrotoxicity.

Background: Recent clinical trials of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) demonstrated that the dose of cyclosporine A (CsA) is one of the critical factors in determining graft function in CAN, but the effect of MMF on chronic CsA nephropathy is undetermined. We undertook this study to evaluate the effect of MMF on CsA-induced nephrotoxicity in an animal model of chronic CsA nephropathy.

Methods: In the first experiment, Sprague-Dawley rats on a low-salt diet were treated with CsA (7.

Association of MICA polymorphism with HLA-B51 and disease severity in Korean patients with Behcet's disease.

The HLA-B51 allele is known to be associated with Behcet's disease (BD) in many ethnic group. However, it has not yet been clarified whether the HLA-B51 gene itself is the pathogenic gene related to BD or whether it is some other gene in linkage disequlibrium with HLA-B51. Recently, the Triplet repeat (GCT/AGC) polymorphism in transmembrane region of the MHC class I chain-related A (MICA) gene was identified.

Alterations of HLA class I and class II antigen expressions in borderline, invasive and metastatic ovarian cancers.

In an effort to understand whether HLA class I and II plays any role in the process of tumorigenesis and metastasis, we have immunohistochemically examined expression of HLA class I and II antigen by using the monoclonal antibodies (mAb) L368 (for beta2m of HLA class I), HC-10 (for HLA-B, C heavy chains), and LGII-612.14 (for HLA class II heavy chain) in 5 borderline serous malignancy (BSM), 20 serous adenocarcinomas (SA), 15 borderline mucinous malignancy (BMM), and 10 mucinous adenocarcinomas (MA) of human ovary tumor case tissues. In BSM, the distribution and intensity of HLA expressions failed to reach statistical significance.

Antiphospholipid antibodies induce monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in endothelial cells.

The presence of antiphospholipid Ab is associated with increased risk of thrombosis. The monocyte-endothelial cell interaction has been suggested to play a key role at the site of vascular injury during thrombosis. Therefore, we tested the effect of anticardiolipin Abs (aCL) on the production of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in HUVEC.

Gamma-interferon and soluble interleukin 2 receptor in tuberculous pleural effusion.

To analysis the difference between systemic and local pleural T cell response in pulmonary tuberculosis, we analyzed interferon (IFN)-gamma and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) culture supernatants and in pleural effusion (PE). We also investigated the association of pleural INF-gamma and sIL-2R levels with development of residual pleural thickening (RPT). The subjects in this study included patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis with or without PE (n = 46), those with nontuberculous PE (n = 32), and healthy tuberculin reactors (n = 20).

Paraglottic space in supracricoid laryngectomy.

Background: Paraglottic space (PGS) is a connective tissue compartment of the larynx and is important in the extension of laryngeal cancer. It communicates with the preepiglottic space superiorly and with the extralaryngeal region inferiorly through the gap within the cricothyroid membrane. Transglottic cancer of the larynx, which spreads within PGS, is characterized by a high incidence of laryngeal skeleton invasion and of cervical metastasis.

Change of hyperexcitability of hippocampus by cyclosporin A and its modulatory action by fentanyl.

Cyclosporin A is used to treat patients with immune-mediated diseases, chronic diseases requiring organ transplantation, or malignancies. These conditions often require higher cyclosporin A doses, which may be toxic to the central nervous system. Fentanyl is also used in clinical conditions that have a risk of hypoxic neurosusceptibility, which suggests that the drug may be a neuroprotective agonist against brain ischemic injury.

Low-level resistance to glycopeptides amongst staphylococcus species: surveillance in a university hospital and evaluation of a vancomycin screening agar.

The prevalence of low-level resistance to glycopeptides (teicoplanin MIC > or = 8 microg/mL and vancomycin MIC > or = 4 microg/mL) among staphylococci was investigated over a 15 month period. A total of 2,279 isolates (1,519 S. aureus, 760 coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CNS)) were screened using inoculum of 10(6) CFU/mL and Mueller-Hinton agars supplemented with 8 microg/mL of teicoplanin.

Pharmacological preconditioning with low-dose cyclosporine or FK506 reduces subsequent ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat kidney.

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the early posttransplant period is closely associated with delayed recovery of graft function, increased acute rejection, and late allograft dysfunction. Pharmacological preconditioning with low-dose cyclosporine (CsA) or FK506 was performed to induce ischemic tolerance in rat kidney with I/R injury.

Methods: Low-dose CsA (3 mg/kg, administered i.