Brain abscess and necrotic brain tumor: discrimination with proton MR spectroscopy and diffusion-weighted imaging.

Background And Purpose: Discriminating pyogenic brain abscesses from cystic or necrotic tumors is sometimes difficult with CT or MR imaging. We compared findings of proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) with those of diffusion-weighted imaging to determine which technique was more effective for this differential diagnosis.

Methods: Fourteen patients (necrotic or cystic tumor [n = 7]; pyogenic abscess [n = 7]) who underwent 1.

Coronary artery fistulas in neonates, infants, and children: clinical findings and outcome.

Ten patients were diagnosed with coronary artery fistula (CAF) between 1991 and 1998 in our department. The ages of patients ranged from 3 days to 12 years. Five patients were male and five patients were female.

Diffusion-weighted MRI features of brain abscess and cystic or necrotic brain tumors: comparison with conventional MRI.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) can be used to distinguish brain abscesses from cystic or necrotic brain tumors, which are difficult to distinguish by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques.

Methods: Eleven consecutive patients with brain abscesses [10 pyogenic and 1 toxoplasmosis (in an AIDS patient)] and 15 with cystic or necrotic brain gliomas or metastases were enrolled in this study. None of these lesions had apparent hemorrhage based on T1-weighted image (T1WI).

Arthroscopy following total knee arthroplasty.

Conservative treatment had previously been used in our institution to treat the painful stiff knee joint following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, the result was not satisfactory. Arthroscopic surgery was then performed in 11 patients with painful knee joints with limited motion who had previously undergone TKA.

Safety and efficacy of using 0.052-inch Gianturco coil for closure of large ( > or = 4mm) patent ductus arteriosus.

Transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is now a well-established treatment alternative to surgery in many cardiology centers. Of all the methods used, transcatheter coil occlusion is the preferred therapy. For small PDA, the method using 0.

Oscillometric ambulatory blood pressure values in healthy children.

To assess the feasibility of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and establish reference values for ABPM in normal children and adolescents, 24-hour ABPM was performed in 120 normotensive, nonobese subjects, aged from 6 to 14 years (58 males, age 10.1 +/- 2.8 years; 62 females, age 9.

Intramedullary spinal cryptococcoma: a case report.

Intramedullary spinal cryptococcosis is very rare. We describe a case of intramedullary spinal cryptococcoma at the T12 level in a 60-year-old man who presented with a 3-month history of progressive bilateral lower limb weakness and no obvious immunocompromise. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed a 1.

Crown diameters of the deciduous teeth of Taiwanese.

The purposes of this study were (1) to characterize the crown diameters of the deciduous teeth of Taiwanese; (2) to compare the differences in the deciduous crown diameters between different populations. The results might provide odontometric information in making preformed stainless steel crowns of the Chinese population. Study casts of 90 children (51 boys and 39 girls) of aged 3 to 6 years were used in this study.

External biliary drainage plus bile acid feeding is not equal to internal drainage in preserving the cellular immunity following prolonged obstructive jaundice.

This study investigates the importance of intestinal bile flow in cellular immunity. Sprague-Dawley rats undergoing bile duct ligation (BDL) and sham ceiliotomy (Sham) for 14 and 21 days were investigated. Experimental animals following BDL were further divided into an external drainage (ED) group, an ED group with rat chow mixed with 2:2:1 cholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, and deoxycholic acid (ED + BF), and an internal drainage (ID) group.

Once daily isepamicin treatment in complicated urinary tract infections.

Isepamicin is a new aminoglycoside, derived from gentamicin B, which is more stable than other aminoglycosides against inactivating enzymes, and is less nephrotoxic. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a once daily isepamicin in the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), as compared with amikacin. During the period May, 1997, to January, 1998, a total of 52 patients with similar demographic and baseline characteristics were enrolled into a prospective, randomized, open-label, single-center trial at the Veterans General Hospital-Kaohsiung.

In vivo proton MR spectroscopy of chorea-ballismus in diabetes mellitus.

The most common cause of chorea-ballismus (CB) is a vascular lesion; it is also associated with nonketotic hyperglycaemia in diabetes mellitus (DM) and may be the first manifestation of this disorder. We describe the CT, MRI and proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of CB in eight patients. Six had hemichorea-hemiballismus (HC-HB) and two bilateral CB.

The long-term effects of single peritonitis episodes on peritoneal equilibration test results in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.

The present study evaluates the long-term effects of single peritonitis episodes on peritoneal equilibration test (PET) results in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. Twenty-five patients (10 men, 15 women) with a mean age of 37.4 +/- 18.

Eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis: report of 17 cases.

Purpose: To describe two outbreaks of Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, during 1998 and 1999, and to characterize the source of the outbreaks and the clinical manifestations of the disease.

Subjects And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study among Thai laborers with eosinophilic meningitis who ate raw snails (Ampullarium canaliculatus), as well as an environmental surveillance of larvae in snails.

Results: We enrolled 17 Thai laborers in whom severe headache and eosinophilia developed within 4 to 23 days after eating raw snails.

Sensitivity of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of acute lacunar infarcts.

Background And Purpose: Heightened interest in the early diagnosis and treatment of acute stroke challenges neuroimaging specialists to optimize available modalities and to develop new techniques for the evaluation of cerebrovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in detecting early small infarcts and in differentiating acute from nonacute small infarcts when conventional MR imaging demonstrates multiple small infarcts.

Methods: Thirty-eight consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of lacunar infarcts (20 men and 18 women, aged 50-79 yr) who underwent DW MR imaging within 3 days of symptom onset were enrolled in this study.

Role of endothelin in diabetic vascular complications.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a 21 amino acid peptide originally purified from conditioned medium of cultures of porcine aortic endothelial cells, is recognized as a product of many other cells as well. It is now known that there are three endothelin genes in the human genome (ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3). ET-1 and ET-2 are both strong vasoconstrictors, whereas ET-3 is a potentially weaker vasoconstrictor than the other two isoforms.

Nephrogenic adenoma associated with cytomegalovirus infection of the ureter in a renal transplant patient: presentation as ureteral obstruction.

Nephrogenic adenoma (NA), a rare benign lesion of the urinary tract, is widely accepted to be a metaplastic reaction due to urothelial injury. It mainly occurs in the urinary bladder and rarely in the ureter. Renal transplant recipients are prone to the development of NA.

Cryptococcus laurentii fungemia in a premature neonate.

Cryptococcus spp. other than Cryptococcus neoformans are generally considered nonpathogenic to humans. There are only 15 case reports of disease in humans caused by Cryptococcus laurentii infection.

Mastoiditis: a disease often overlooked by pediatricians.

Although mastoiditis can be a life threatening disease, clinicians often overlook it because it is uncommon. We reviewed the presentation and management of all children younger than 15 years of age with the discharge diagnosis of mastoiditis in our hospital from January 1994 through December 1999. Nineteen patients that fulfilled the case definition were included.

Novel penicillin-, cephalosporin-, and macrolide-resistant clones of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 23F and 19F in Taiwan which differ from international epidemic clones.

A cluster (14 of 18) of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 23F isolates that were resistant to penicillin (PEN), cephalosporin, and macrolide was found in one day care center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We analyzed the 18 isolates by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). All but one serotype 23F isolate demonstrated identical PFGE patterns, which were different from the established pattern of the internationally spread Spanish 23F clone.

Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) prevents lung neutrophil deposition and damage in burned rats.

This study was designed to investigate the role of NO and effect of iNOS inhibitor on the lung neutrophil deposition and damage after burn. In Experiment 1, specific pathogen-free (SPF) Sprague-Dawley rats underwent 35% total body surface area (TBSA) burn. On the 4th, 8th, 16th, and 24th h after burn, blood was collected for peroxynitrite-mediated dihydrorhodamine 123 (DHR 123) oxidation assay, and lung tissues were harvested for myeloperoxidase (MPO) test and histologic study.

Differential roles of iNOS and nNOS at rostral ventrolateral medulla during experimental endotoxemia in the rat.

We investigated the differential contribution of inducible and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (iNOS and nNOS) at the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) to endotoxemia induced by E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In Sprague-Dawley rats maintained under propofol anesthesia, i.

Surgical treatment of tibial plateau fracture in elderly patients.

This retrospective study involves 22 patients with displaced tibial plateau fractures who were treated surgically from July 1993 to April 1996. All the patients were over 60 years old (mean 66.3 years old, range 61-80 years).

Papulonecrotic tuberculid--a rare skin manifestation in a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Papulonecrotic tuberculid (PNT), a cutaneous manifestation of tuberculosis, is rare even in areas endemic for tuberculosis such as Taiwan. Concomitant pulmonary tuberculosis is uncommon in patients with PNT. We describe a patient with rare skin manifestations and simultaneous pulmonary tuberculosis.