Reduction of hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerence on oxidative injury by xanthine and xanthine oxidase in isolated rat lungs.

Unlabelled: The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether some fullerenols could effectively reduce direct damages of free radicals produced by xanthine/xanthine oxidase (X/XO) in isolated rat lungs.

Methods: Female Wistar rats (205 +/- 4 g) were used in studies in pulmonary vascular response to the challenge of xanthine/xanthine oxidase by an isolated-perfused lung method. Free radicals were determined by chemiluminescence (CL) to confirm the release of free radicals after X/XO treatment.

Enhancement of superoxide dismutase activity in rat lungs after hypoxic preconditioning.

Ischemic preconditioning has been proved to reduce tissue damages and benefit subsequent organ transplantation. Chronic hypoxic preconditioning was found to increase the levels of lung antioxidants. This study was to test the hypothesis that levels of lung antioxidants might increase after hypoxia which may counteract the insults of free radicals.

Cardiac autonomic dysregulation in patients with acute hepatitis.

Background: Autonomic dysfunction is common in patients with chronic liver disease, but it is still unclear whether acute hepatitis coincides with alterations in autonomic functions.

Methods: We evaluated the heart rate variability (HRV) of 10 patients with acute hepatitis (6 males, 4 females; mean age, 44.0 y; range, 20-69 y).

Correlation between the bone marrow blood perfusion and lipid water content on the lumbar spine in female subjects.

Purpose: To assess the marrow lipid water ratio (LWR) and spectral line width (LW) of lumbar vertebra by proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) and correlate with the marrow blood perfusion (MBP) by contrast-enhanced dynamic MRI (dMRI) in female subjects.

Materials And Methods: A total of 50 female subjects were included. Single-voxel (1)H MRS was measured at the L3 vertebrae.

A left MCA territory infarction during intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy for right MCA territory ischaemic stroke.

An 81 year old man with a history of hypertension received intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for right middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction. He had not had stroke or arrhythmia previously. The initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 8.

Prevalence of HFE mutations and relation to serum iron status in patients with chronic hepatitis C and patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Taiwan.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of the two mutations, C282Y and H63D of HFE gene, in healthy subjects, patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), and patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Taiwan and to explore the contribution of the HFE mutation on serum iron stores in CHC and NAFLD groups.

Methods: We examined C282Y and H63D mutations of HFE gene in 125 healthy subjects, 29 patients with CHC, and 33 patients with NAFLD. The serum iron markers, including ferritin, iron, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC), were assessed in all patients.

Peritumoral fat-spared area is well correlated with the presence of temporal peritumoral enhancement in hepatic hemangioma in fatty liver.

Purpose: To assess the relationship between temporal peritumoral enhancement and peritumoral focal fat sparing adjacent to hepatic hemangiomas.

Materials And Methods: On the basis of MRI and sonographic imaging follow-up, 51 hepatic hemangiomas were identified in 37 patients, who had both hepatic hemangiomas and focal fat-sparing areas in fatty liver. Among them, 36 tumors were associated with peritumoral focal fat spares.

Toll-like receptor 4 gene C119A but not Asp299Gly polymorphism is associated with ischemic stroke among ethnic Chinese in Taiwan.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Most stroke patients are classified as having ischemic stroke. The causes of ischemic stroke are very diverse.

Basal core-promoter mutant of hepatitis B virus and progression of liver disease in hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B.

Background/aims: The long-term outcomes in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B are distinct from those in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis. However, the molecular virological factors that contribute to the progression of liver disease in this special clinical setting remain largely unknown. We thus investigated the association of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes as well as precore/basal core-promoter mutations with the clinical and virological characteristics of patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B in Taiwan.

Metastases from gastric carcinoma to colon in the form of multiple flat elevated lesions: a case report.

Gastric carcinoma is a common malignancy worldwide. Advanced stages of the disease may result in metastases to many other organs of the body. However, colonic metastases are rare.

Relationship between vertebral bone marrow blood perfusion and common carotid intima-media thickness in aging adults.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between vertebral marrow blood perfusion and common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in aging adults.

Materials And Methods: An age- and sex-matched case control study was conducted. Subjects were contacted and enrolled voluntarily according to a database containing 2,258 cases that received carotid ultrasonography examination at our hospital in the previous two years.

MRI of angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma.

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma is a rare soft tissue tumor of low-grade malignancy. We present the case of a 32-year-old man who complained of soreness and numbness over his left arm and hand over the previous 2 months and of having a palpable mass over his left upper back for 4 years. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an intramuscular soft tissue mass in the left scapular region.

Evolution of hepatitis B virus precore/basal core promoter gene in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients receiving lamivudine therapy.

Aim: Lamivudine is effective in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B, but the relapse rate after cessation of treatment is high. The evolution of viral genome may contribute to the viral replication under antiviral pressure of lamivudine. We therefore determined the evolution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore/basal core promoter and polymerase genes in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patient during lamivudine therapy.

Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report and literature review.

A case of spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma is reported and compared with the reports published in the English literature. Spontaneous regression of a histologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma was observed in a 42-year-old male patient with chronic hepatitis B. The patient refused to receive any medical therapy.

Esophageal varices as a rare complication of central venous dialysis tunneled cuffed catheter.

Long-term complications of tunneled cuffed catheters include infection and catheter and venous thrombosis. We present a case of a central venous dialysis tunneled cuffed catheter complicated with esophageal varices resulting from superior vena cava obstruction.

Carbon dioxide-enhanced sonographically guided percutaneous ethanol injection: treatment of patients with viable and recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Viable portions of tumors can persist and recurrent tumors sometimes appear in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have undergone transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, percutaneous ethanol injection, or a combination of the two. Some of these tumors are difficult to treat or do not respond to additional treatment using the same protocol. In this article, we examine the use of carbon dioxide (CO(2))-enhanced sonographically guided percutaneous ethanol injection to treat patients with such tumors.

Temporal peritumoral enhancement of hepatic cavernous hemangioma: findings at multiphase dynamic magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence rate of temporal peritumoral enhancement associated with hepatic cavernous hemangiomas and to correlate that with the speed of intratumoral contrast enhancement and tumor volume.

Methods: Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 69 consecutive patients with 136 hemangiomas was reviewed for peritumoral enhancement. Tumor volume was estimated by the largest diameter on T2-weighted images.

Simple methods to elevate pulmonary arterial pressure by pre- and post-tricuspid shunts in rats.

Background: Arteriovenous shunt in the rat is an extremely useful experimental animal model for investigating cardiac hypertrophy as well as the hemodynamics and endocrine aspects of chronic heart failure.

Aims: The present study was to develop 2 pre-tricuspid and 1 post-tricuspid models of arteriovenous shunt to induce right ventricular hypertrophy and increase pulmonary blood flow in growing rats.

Methods: In the first model, an arteriovenous shunt was created from the common iliac artery to the inferior vena cava (ICS).

MR cholangiopancreatography: prospective comparison of 3-dimensional turbo spin echo and single-shot turbo spin echo with ERCP.

Background And Purpose: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is a non-invasive technique for examination of the biliopancreatic tract. Respiratory-triggered 3-dimensional turbo spin echo (3DTSE RT) and breath-hold thick slab single-shot turbo spin echo (ssTSE BH) are both useful MRCP techniques. The purpose of this study was to compare these 2 sequences with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with biliary tract disease.

Long-term survival of Taiwanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after combination therapy with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and percutaneous ethanol injection.

Background And Purpose: Several studies have shown a superior effect of combination therapy with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) compared with either monotherapy for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but there have been no reports on combination treatment from Taiwan. This study investigated the long-term survival and prognostic factors of HCC patients treated with TACE/PEI combination therapy.

Methods: A total of 153 consecutive HCC patients, with tumor sizes between 2 and 3 cm in 47 patients, between 3 and 5 cm in 66 patients, and between 5 and 13 cm in 40 patients, who received TACE/PEI combination therapy were included in this retrospective study.

Comparison of subjective visual acuity with visual acuity predicted from C-scan topography.

Purpose: To compare the capability of objective measures of visual acuity (potential visual acuity from C-scan) to predict subjective visual acuity (best spectacle-corrected visual acuity [BSCVA]).

Methods: Patients with BSCVA > or = 20/20 were enrolled in four groups (Group 1: normal [33 eyes]; Group 2: < -7.00 D myopia [43 eyes]; Group 3: > or = -7.

Partial and complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.

Purpose: To analyze MR direct and indirect signs for knees with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) partial or complete tear.

Material And Methods: According to documented MR direct and indirect signs for ACL tear, we retrospectively reviewed the incidence of those signs in 15 partial ACL tear and 17 complete ACL tear patients. The findings were also compared with duration of injury (less or more than 6 weeks, as acute or chronic stages).

Intravenous contrast-enhanced Doppler sonography and intra-arterial carbon dioxide-enhanced sonography in the assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma vascularity before and after treatment.

Purpose: To compare i.v. contrast-enhanced sonography (CEUS), power Doppler sonography (PDUS) and i.

Hepatitis B genotypes and precore/basal core promoter mutants in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B.

Background: Mutations in the precore stop codon (G1896A) and the basal core promoter (A1762T and G1764A) are frequently found in hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B. However, the clinical significance of these mutations remains controversial. We therefore investigated the influence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes, as well as precore/basal core promoter mutants, on the clinical and virological features of patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B.