Pneumatic colon injury following high pressure blow gun dust cleaner spray to the perineum.

Introduction: A pneumatic tool or air tool such as blow gun dust cleaner is a tool driven by compressed air and spraying of the perineum can insufflate the colon due to its high pressure and high flow rate.

Presentation Of Case: We present a case of 4 year old boy who developed sudden onset of tense abdominal distention and developed peritonitis. Patient's family initially denied a history of trauma.

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in Taiwan shows a frequent gain of ITK gene.

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is an aggressive peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) of follicular helper T-cell origin and is rare in Taiwan. There are overlapping features of AITL and peripheral T-cell lymphoma with a follicular growth pattern (PTCL-F). Around one fifth of PTCL-F exhibits t(5;9)(q33;q22)/ITK-SYK chromosomal translocation, which is essentially absent in AITL.

Predictors of 1-year outcomes in the Taiwan Acute Coronary Syndrome Full Spectrum Registry.

Background/purpose: Evidence-based guidelines have been formulated for optimal management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The Taiwan ACS Full Spectrum Registry aimed to evaluate the ACS management and identify the predictors of clinical outcomes of death/myocardial infarction/stroke 1 year post hospital discharge.

Methods: Three thousand and eighty confirmed ACS patients enrolled in this registry were followed up for 1 year at 3-month intervals.

Smoking cessation in Taiwanese male smokers with coronary artery disease: influencing factors and policy implications.

Aim: To investigate factors affecting smoking cessation in male smokers with coronary artery disease.

Design: A descriptive, correlation, cross-sectional study was conducted.

Methods: Data were collected using a questionnaire constructed by a literature review of research on smoking cessation in male smokers including demographics and smoking background, as well as psychological, interpersonal and environmental factors.

Childhood tuberculosis: epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination.

Despite the existence of a government-run tuberculosis (TB) control program, the current nationwide burden of TB continues to be a public health problem in Taiwan. Intense current and previous efforts into diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive interventions have focused on TB in adults, but childhood TB has been relatively neglected. Children are particularly vulnerable to severe disease and death following infection, and children with latent infections become reservoirs for future transmission following disease reactivation in adulthood, thus fueling future epidemics.

Outpatient visits by dentists: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan.

We conducted a cohort study of 7,760 dentists in Taiwan between 2003 and 2007 to assess the risk of outpatient visit among dentists. Control groups included physicians and other health personnel. Over the 5-yr study period, the dentist cohort made a total of 270,712 outpatient visits, representing an incidence rate of 7,038 visits /10(3) person-years.

Comparison of auditory evoked potential index and clinical signs as indicator for laryngeal mask airway insertion.

Objective: Auditory evoked potential (AEP) index is one of the several physiological parameters for assessing the depth of anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the AEP monitoring could provide a better information for assessment of anesthesia level in classic laryngeal mask airway (C-LMA) insertion than the use of clinical signs in general anesthesia with single standard dose of intravenous propofol and fentanyl.

Methods: One hundred and seventy adult patients requiring general anesthesia for minor surgery were recruited and randomized to receive AEP monitoring (group A) or judgment of clinical signs (group B) for assessment of anesthesia depth and optimal condition to insert the C-LMA.

Effect of cyclic stretching on the tensile properties of patellar tendon and medial collateral ligament in rat.

Background: Although dynamic stretching is often prescribed before exercise is undertaken, research has rarely been conducted to determine what effects dynamic stretching has on tendon and ligament injury prevention. The hypothesis is that the mechanical properties of tendon and ligament will increase in an ultimate tensile loading test after sinusoid cyclic stretching.

Methods: Ten paired rat medial collateral ligaments and patellar tendons were used with and without 150 sinusoid cyclic stretching in either side to determine the influence of cyclic stretching on the mechanical behavior of the tendons and ligaments.

Seizure precipitants in children with intractable epilepsy.

Purpose: To investigate the seizure precipitants in children with intractable epilepsy, and to determine any distinctive clinical features contributing to seizures in these patients.

Methods: A questionnaire and seizure diary prepared by the parents of the patients. Demographic and seizure data were reviewed.

Using the child behavior checklist to evaluate behavioral problems in children with epilepsy.

Background: Childhood epilepsy is commonly associated with behavioral problems. In this study, we used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to determine a behavioral profile for children with chronic epilepsy.

Methods: Fifty-six children with epilepsy and 45 aged-matched healthy controls were evaluated by analyzing the clinical variables of all study participants.

Serial changes of pulse wave velocity and correlations with hemodynamic parameters during general anesthesia.

Background: Increased pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a marker of increased arterial stiffness and is correlated with cardiovascular mortality and mortality of all causes in the elderly and in patients with essential hypertension and type 2 diabetes. There is also a positive correlation between PWV and arterial blood pressure. The changes of PWV in response to general anesthesia and surgical stimulation remain unclear.

Evaluation of the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphisms of the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and may act as an endogenous tumor promoter. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the TNF-alpha gene promoter region have been found to be associated with certain cancers. We conducted a case-control study to evaluate the association between these SNPs and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Hepatopulmonary syndrome: report of one case.

Hepatopulmonary syndrome consists of a triad of chronic liver disease, hypoxemia, and intrapulmonary vascular dilatation in the absence of primary cardiac or pulmonary diseases. Though this complication has been described in as many as 4-29% of patients with liver disease, its clinical manifestations are often subclinical. The standard diagnostic tests for hepatopulmonary syndrome are the applications of contrast echocardiography and 99mTc lung perfusion scan.

Merkel cell carcinoma in patients with long-term ingestion of arsenic.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, mostly occurring late in life on sun-exposed body parts. Little is known about the specific etiological factors in the pathogenesis of MCC. A previous report indicated that arsenic exposure might cause MCC, which might be another specific type of skin cancer associated with arsenic exposure.

Regulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in glioma cells by lead and lipopolysaccharide: involvement of common signaling pathway.

Both lead (Pb) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) damage nervous system, partly, by the induction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in glia origin. In this study, we examined the Pb- and LPS-triggered signal leading to TNF-alpha expression in a glioma cell line, U-373MG. Both Pb and LPS increased the phosphorylation of p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which depended on the activation of MAPK kinase (MEK) and protein kinase C (PKC).

Increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma associated with carriage of the TNF2 allele of the -308 tumor necrosis factor-alpha promoter gene.

Background And Aims: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a cytokine that may act as an endogenous tumor promoter. A genetic polymorphism of TNF-alpha at position -308 of the promoter region, which includes TNF1 (-308G) and TNF2 (-308A) alleles, has been found to be associated with susceptibility to various types of cancer. We conducted a study to evaluate the association between this polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Hepatic angiosarcoma presenting as hepatic rupture in a patient with long-term ingestion of arsenic.

Hepatic angiosarcoma (HAS) is a rare primary mesenchymal malignancy of liver with close association to arsenic intoxication. Although the southwest coastal area of Taiwan is well known for its prevalence of arsenic intoxication from drinking well water, few cases of HAS associated with arsenic ingestion have been reported. We report a case of HAS complicated by spontaneous hepatic rupture in a 68-year-old female farmer who presented with acute onset of abdominal pain and shock.

Effects of nitric oxide on human spermatozoa activity, fertilization and mouse embryonic development.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on human sperm activity, human sperm-oocyte fusion and mouse embryonic development. Results showed that various concentrations of NO synthase blocker, N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, did not affect sperm cell motility at 0, 1, 2 or 4 hr, respectively. In contrast, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) significantly inhibited sperm cell motility and caused apoptosis.

Congenital self-healing reticulohistiocytosis mimicking diffuse neonatal hemangiomatosis.

Congenital self-healing reticulohistiocytosis (CSRH), a rare benign variant of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), is characterized by (a). congenital skin lesions, (b). a healthy infant with no systemic involvement, (c).

Nutritional predictors of survival in terminally ill cancer patients.

Background And Purpose: Malnutrition can affect the prognosis of terminally ill patients, but over-treatment of malnutrition can worsen patients' quality of life. Decisions on nutrition and the supply of fluids to terminally ill patients are complex, and the identification of useful clinical indicators is needed. This study evaluated the relationships between various nutritional indices and survival of terminally ill cancer patients.

Phakomatosis pigmentovascularis IIb with renal anomaly.

Phakomatosis pigmentovascularis (PPV) is a rare congenital naevoid syndrome; most case reports originate in Japan. The major clinical manifestations consist of coexisting extensive naevus flammeus and pigmentary naevus with or without systemic involvement. We report an 8-year-old Taiwanese boy, who was born with extensive naevus flammeus and other anomalies comprising persistent aberrant Mongolian spot-like pigmentary patches, leg-length discrepancy, pelvic obliquity, scoliosis and bilateral melanosis oculi bulbi.

Group B streptococcal infections in children: the changing spectrum of infections in infants.

During a 9-year period from January 1988 to December 1996, 36 patients less than 18 years of age with Lancefield group B streptococcal infections were seen in the National Cheng Kung University Hospital. Among 33 infants with invasive group B streptococcal infections, 3 (9%) were early onset disease (EOD), 27 (82%) late onset disease (LOD) and 3 (9%) onset beyond the third month of life. All cases of EOD were detected during the first day of life and 2 of them were premature births.

Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma: a reappraisal of clinical features and treatment at National Taiwan University Hospital.

Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (NAF), occurring mostly in young men, is a histologically benign tumor with aggressive clinical behavior that includes repeated epistaxis and intractable nasal obstruction. This paper reviews our recent experience at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), and compares the results with those of a previous study (1955-1980) at NTUH to highlight the developments in the treatment of NAF. Fifteen patients with a diagnosis of NAF from 1984 to 1997 were included, and their clinical presentations, radiographic studies, treatments, and outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.

Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation of the phalanx: report of a case.

Bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation is a rare bone lesion. We report a case from a 47-year-old female patient who had pain and swelling of the right index finger for two months. On the basis of the frozen section diagnosis of benign lesion, probably myositis ossificans, she received tumor excision and has been free of recurrence in two years and ten months duration since.