Acquired pure red cell aplasia in a hemodialyzed patient.

A 68-year-old male had end-stage renal disease secondary to hypertension. He was placed on chronic dialytic therapy and was given recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin) for renal anemia. One month later, rapidly progressing anemia was noted.

Efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in the management of chronic hemodialysis patients.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has gained wide acceptance as an effective technique for the dilatation of stenoses in the arterial tree. We evaluated the long-term results of vascular access in a group undergoing hemodialysis, in particular the effects of PTA. Twenty-four percutaneous procedures were performed on 18 patients.

[Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis with large vessel thrombosis].

A 53-year-old female was hospitalized for evaluation of swelling in the bilateral lower extremities. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen revealed bilateral hydronephrosis and features consistent with retroperitoneal fibrosis. Transfemoral venography and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) showed thrombosis of both the left common iliac vein and inferior vena cava, and filling of numerous collateral veins in the retroperitoneal area.

[Generalized tonic-clonic seizure induced by propofol in a patient with epilepsy].

A 47-year-old female was scheduled for ulnar osteotomy under general anesthesia combined with brachial plexus block. She had a history of symptomatic epilepsy due to subarachnoid hemorrhage. Immediately after giving 100 mg bolus of propofol to the patient, she developed generalized convulsion similar to a grand mal.

[Regional cerebral blood flow and oxygenation following cervicothoracic sympathetic block].

Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is considered to increase blood flow to the governing area, but recent studies have shown the decrease of common carotid arterial blood flow in the unblocked side following SGB. We investigated the influence of SGB on bilateral cerebral blood flow and oxygenation using a regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) monitor, TOS-96 (TOSTEC, Japan). The changes of blood volume (hemoglobin index: Hb I) and rSO2 were measured in twenty adult patients who underwent SGB at the transverse process of the C 6 vertebra.

[Postoperative hypoxia and hyperfibrinolysis in patients after total knee replacement].

It was revealed that postoperative hypoxia had occurred frequently in patients after total knee replacement (TKR) in our preliminary study. Since we speculated that pulmonary embolism was the cause of the hypoxia, we investigated the relationship between PaO2 and D-dimer in patients after TKR and high tibial osteotomy (HTO). A total of 13 patients with the diagnosis of osteoarthritis were studied.

[The effect of alpha-glucosidase inhibitor on burning epigastralgia in dumping syndrome: a case report].

Dumping syndrome results from a rapid passage of carbohydrate in the small intestine after gastric surgery. A 50-year-old man developed the syndrome after surgery for peptic ulcer. He often complained of burning epigastralgia after meals.

[DNA ploidy of testicular germ cell tumors in childhood; difference from adult testicular tumors].

It is well known that there are various differences in the biological characteristics and clinical behavior between prepubertal testicular germ cell tumors and adult ones. We analyzed the nuclear DNA ploidy of testicular tumors in childhood using DNA flow cytometry for clarifying those biological features and shedding some insights in the pathogenesis of testicular germ cell tumors. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of primary tumors taken from 9 boys with histological evidence of yolk sac tumors and 8 with prepubertal teratoma treated in our clinic were used for flow cytometry analysis with some modification of the Hedley's technique.