ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to identify chromosomal loci that contribute to the pathogenesis of aortic dissection (AD) in a Korean population using array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and to confirm the results using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients with ADs were enrolled in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted from individual blood samples, and array CGH analyses were performed. Four corresponding genes with obvious genomic changes were analyzed using real-time PCR in order to assess the level of genomic imbalance identified by array CGH. RESULTS: Genomic gains were most frequently detected at 8q24.3 (56%), followed by regions 7q35, 11q12.2, and 15q25.2 (50%). Genomic losses were most frequently observed at 4q35.2 (56%). Real-time PCR confirmed the results of the array CGH studies of the COL6A2, DGCR14, PCSK6, and SDHA genes. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to identify candidate regions by array CGH in patients with ADs. The identification of genes that may predispose an individual to AD may lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of AD formation. Further multicenter studies comparing cohorts of patients of different ethnicities are warranted.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aorta , Cohort Studies , Comparative Genomic Hybridization , DNA , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Real-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Development of thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections (TAAD) is attributed to unbearable wall tension superimposed on defective aortic wall integrity and impaired aortic repair mechanisms. Central to this repair mechanisms are well-balanced and adequately functional cellular components of the aortic wall, including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells (SMCs), inflammatory cells, and adventitial fibroblasts. Adventitial fibroblasts naturally produce aortic extracellular matrix (ECM), and, when aortic wall is injured, they can be transformed into SMCs, which in turn are involved in aortic remodeling. We postulated the hypothesis that adventitial fibroblasts in patients with TAAD may have defects in ECM production and SMC transformation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adventitial fibroblasts were procured from the adventitial layer of fresh aortic tissues of patients with TAAD (Group I) and of multi-organ donors (Group II), and 4-passage cell culture was performed prior to the experiment. To assess ECM production, cells were treated with TNF-alpha (50 pM) and the expression of MMP-2 / MMP-3 was analyzed using western blot technique. To assess SMC transformation capacity, cells were treated with TGF-beta1 and expression of SM alpha-actin, SM-MHC, Ki-67 and SM calponin was evaluated using western blot technique. Fibroblasts were then treated with TGF-beta1 (10 pM) for up to 10 days with TGF-beta1 supplementation every 2 days, and the proportion of transformed SMC in the cell line was measured using immunofluorescence assay for fibroblast surface antigen every 2 days. RESULTS: MMP-3 expression was significantly lower in group I than in group II. TGF-beta1-stimulated adventitial fibroblasts in group I expressed less SM alpha-actin, SM-MHC, and Ki-67 than in group II. SM-calponin expression was not different between the two groups. Presence of fibroblast was observed on immunofluorescence assay after more than 6 days of TGF-beta1 treatment in group I, while most fibroblasts were transformed to SMC within 4 days in group II. CONCLUSION: ECM production and SMC transformation are compromised in adventitial fibroblasts from patients with TAAD. This result suggests that functional restoration of adventitial fibroblasts could well be a novel approach for the prevention and treatment of TAAD.
Subject(s)
Humans , Actins , Aneurysm , Antigens, Surface , Aorta , Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic , Azides , Blotting, Western , Calcium-Binding Proteins , Cell Culture Techniques , Cell Line , Deoxyglucose , Endothelial Cells , Extracellular Matrix , Fibroblasts , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Microfilament Proteins , Myocytes, Smooth Muscle , Tissue Donors , Transforming Growth Factor beta1 , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is no standardized tool and parameter that can accurately assess the sympathetic function before and after performing sympathectomy in patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis. We examined the effectiveness of the sympathetic skin response (SSR) study for documenting the change of sympathetic denervation before and after performing selective thoracic sympathicotomy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We prospectively investigated the SSR from 12 healthy subjects who were diagnosed with primary hyperhidrosis. Each SSR was recorded on the right palm or sole with electrical stimuli applied to the skin at the left wrist and foot and vice versa for the controlateral side. This test was performed before, 2 weeks and 1 year after selective thoracic sympathicotomy. The data was corrected for the onset latency and the amplitude of the SSR (n=24). RESULT: The mean age of the 12 patients was 24.6+/-0.4 years (range: 19~36) and the gender ratio was 1:0.7. The mean values of the preoperative, postoperative 2 weeks and postoperative 1 year onset latency and amplitude of the palmar side (n=24) were 1.46+/-0.24 msec and 6,043+/-2,339micronV, 1.63+/-0.42 msec and 823+/-638micronV, and 1.44+/-0.39 msec and 2,412+/-1,546micronV, respectively. The mean values of the plantar side (n=38) were 1.83+/-0.42 msec and 2,816+/-1,694micronV, 2.16+/-0.39 msec and 1,445+/-1,281micronV and 1.95+/-0.25 msec and 1,622+/-865micronV, respectively. Among the documented parameters, only the palmar amplitude (p=0.002) showed statistical significance in recording the change of the sympathetic system within the same individual for the pre and postoperative period. CONCLUSION: The SSR amplitude ratio may be a useful parameter for documenting the efficacy of sympathetic denervation after selective sympathicotomy.
Subject(s)
Humans , Foot , Hyperhidrosis , Postoperative Period , Prospective Studies , Skin , Sympathectomy , Sympathetic Nervous System , WristABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although acute renal failure (ARF) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is relatively rare, but devastating complication with high mortality. Our study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of early application of CRRT in patients with ARF which developed after on-pump CABG. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two hundred and eighty seven patients underwent isolated on-pump CABG between May 2002 and Feb. 2006 at our institution, of whom 15 (5.2%) needed CRRT (11 patients for postoperatively developed ARF and the remaining 4 patients with pre- existing dialysis-dependent chronic renal failure (CRF) for postoperative hemodynamic and metabolic control). Criteria for early application of CRRT were as follows; decreased urine output less than 0.5 cc/h/kg for 2 consecutive hours and elevated serum creatinine level greater than 2.0 mg/dL. RESULT: The incidence of ARF requiring CRRT after on-pump CABG was 3.9% (11/283) and the overall hospital mortality of patient with CRRT was 33.3% (5/15). Of 5 deaths, 4 were patients with postoperatively developed ARF, and 1 was a patient with pre-existing dialysis- dependent CRF patient. The mean time between the operation and the initiation of CRRT was 25.8+/-5.8 hours and the mean duration of CRRT was 62.1+/-41.2 hours. Of the 7 survivors who were not on dialysis-dependent preoperatively, 6 patients fully recovered renal function during hospital stay and 1 patient required permanent renal supportive treatment after discharge from hospital. CONCLUSION: Early application of CRRT could maintain stable postoperative hemodynamic status and make outcomes better than those of previous reports in patients with ARF which developed after on-pump CABG.
Subject(s)
Humans , Acute Kidney Injury , Coronary Artery Bypass , Creatinine , Hemodynamics , Hospital Mortality , Incidence , Kidney Failure, Chronic , Length of Stay , Mortality , Renal Replacement Therapy , Survivors , TransplantsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hamartomas are the most common form of pulmonary benign tumors, and they occur in approximately 2~5% of all pulmonary neoplasm. However, only a few reports have been published on the clinical characteristics of pulmonary hamartoma in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The charts, X-rays and pathological specimens of 37 pulmonary hamartoma patients who were diagnosed by a pathological examination from January of 2000 to May of 2005 at the Catholic Medical Center were retrospectively reviewed. RESULT: The peak incidence of the tumor occurred in the seventh decade of life (32.4%). There were 23 men (62.6%) and 14 women (37.8%), with mean age of 55.6 years. Twenty-six patients (70.3%) were asymptomatic and 11 patients (29.7%) had symptoms. A total of 29 tumors (78.4%) were parenchymal, and 8 (21.6%) were endobronchial. Twenty cases (54.1%) were in the right lung and 17 cases (45.9%) were in the left lung. The right lower lobe was most commonly involved. Thirty-two (86.5%) hamartomas were diagnosed by surgical resection, 4 cases (10.8%) were diagnosed by bronchoscopic biopsy and 1 case (2.7%) was diagnosed by a fine needle aspiration biopsy. Thirty-four hamartomas (91.9%) were managed by surgical resection without complication. No recurrence or malignant changes were seen during the follow up period. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary hamartomas are most common in males during their fifth to seventh decade and they more commonly involve the right lung. No recurrence or malignant changes were seen during the follow up period.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Biopsy , Biopsy, Fine-Needle , Follow-Up Studies , Hamartoma , Incidence , Korea , Lung , Lung Neoplasms , Recurrence , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
The majority of patients who was presented as severe mitral regurgitation can be managed with medical treatment. However, some cases of severe and acute mitral regurgitation need to rapid surgical intervention like as primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction. In this case, a patient with acute and severe mitral regurgitation presented as accelerating shortness of breath and impending multi-organ perfusion failure was dramatically recovered by rapid echocardiographic diagnosis and emergency valve replacement operation.
Subject(s)
Humans , Angioplasty , Diagnosis , Dyspnea , Echocardiography , Emergencies , Mitral Valve Insufficiency , Mitral Valve , Myocardial Infarction , PerfusionABSTRACT
A 68-yr-old man complaining of sudden, postprandial chest pain visited the emergency room. His symptom had been aggravated during the preceding two days. Upper gastrointestinal contrast study with gastrographin showed leakage of dye from the epiphrenic diverticulum in the lower third of the esophagus. The primary repair was urgently carried out. Upper gastrointestinal contrast study 14 days after operation revealed an esophageal leakage which was small and confined. The patient was managed with conservative treatments such as intravenous hyperali-mentation and broad-spectrum antibiotics. Forty-two days after the operation, a gastrographin swallow study showed the absence of leaks. This is the first report-ed case of a perforated epiphrenic esophageal diverticulum repaired by delayed primary repair in Korea.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Male , Diverticulum, Esophageal/complications , Esophageal Perforation/diagnosis , Esophagectomy/methods , Time Factors , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Tricuspid regurgitation has been considered as a secondary lesion when it is combined with left valvular heart diseases. However, there have been some reports which show that tricuspid regurgitation keeps going and results in congestive heart failure even after a successful operation for left valvular heart disease. So far, there are no definite operation indications and predictive factors for the tricuspid regurgitation which is resulted from the left sided valvular heart disease. We designed this study to evaluate the effects of pulmonary artery pressure and left ventricular ejection fraction on the prognosis of tricuspid regurgitation, and to make an operation indication for the patients with secondary tricuspid regurgitation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent surgery for the left sided valvular heart disease with tricuspid regurgitation and were followed for more than 1 year with echocardiograms. There was a total of 114 cases. We compared the grades of tricuspid regurgitations and pulmonary artery pressures and left ventricular ejection fractions on the basis of echocardiograms which were checked preoperatively and on the last follow up. RESULT: There were 43 cases of tricuspid annuloplasty. In these patients, the grades of tricuspid regurgitations were improved in 42 cases (97.7%). But in 71 cases without annuloplasty, 29 cases (41%) were improved, 32 cases (45%) had no change, and 10 cases (14%) were aggravated. This finding shows significant differences in the prognoses of tricuspid regurgitations between the two groups (p0.05). The improvements of tricuspid regurgitations are not statistically related to the changes of pulmonary artery pressures or left ventricular ejection fractions. CONCLUSION: This study shows that it is impossible to predict the prognoses of tricuspid regurgitations with preoperative pulmonary artery pressures or left ventricular ejection fractions. Also, the excellent results of tricuspid annuloplasty is proven in controlling the secondary tricuspid regurgitations. Therefore, when tricuspid regurgitation is detected preoperatively, the procedures to correct the tricuspid regurgitation at the time of the operation for the left-sided valvular heart disease must be considered positively, regardless of the grades of tricuspid regurgitations, to prevent significant tricuspid regurgitation that may develop later.
Subject(s)
Humans , Follow-Up Studies , Heart Failure , Heart Valve Diseases , Medical Records , Prognosis , Pulmonary Artery , Stroke Volume , Tricuspid Valve InsufficiencyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular accidents after coronary bypass surgery(CBS) are serious and responsible about 10% for postoperative mortality. Recently, the rate of cerebrovascular complication after CBS has increased with increasing number of the operations for high risk patients with old age, hypertension, diabetics and etc. This study was intended to identify the risk factors of cerebrovascular accident after CBS by reviewing the medical records of the patients who underwent CBS. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We reviewed the medical records and statistically analyzed the data of 185 patients who underwent CBS between March 1991 and July 1999. RESULT: The rate of cerebrovascular complication was 7.5%(14 patients) of which there were 5 deaths. Total number of postoperative death was 11 during the same period, and 45.5% of postoperative deaths were associated with cerebrovascular complication. Postoperative arrhythmia(p=0.0064), history of previous CVA(p=0.0090), bypass time(p= 0.0181), atherosclerosis of aorta(p=0.03575) and diabetics(p=0.0452) were statistically related with the development of postoperative cerebrovascular complication. Two patients underwent carotid endarterectomy concomitantly with CBS, neither of them developed cerebrovascular complications. The 3 patients over 75 years did not develop cerebrovascular complication after CBS. CONCLUSION: Risk factors associated with the development of postoperative cerebrovascular complication after CBS were postoperative arrhythmia, history of previous stroke, bypass time, atherosclerosis of aorta and diabetics.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aorta , Arrhythmias, Cardiac , Atherosclerosis , Cerebrovascular Disorders , Coronary Artery Bypass , Endarterectomy, Carotid , Hypertension , Medical Records , Mortality , Postoperative Complications , Risk Factors , StrokeABSTRACT
Supravalvular aortic stenosis is an uncommon congenital narrowing of the ascending aorta that may be localized or diffuse, originating at the superior margin of the sinuses of Valsalva just above the level of the coronary arteries. The most common complication of supravalvular aortic stenosis is early onset of intimal hyperplasia and atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. The coronary arterial lesions of supravalvular aortic stenosis are dilatation or coronary artery ostial obstruction. We experienced a case of supravalvular aortic stenosis combined with right coronary artery ostial obstruction. A 21 year-old female patient was admitted because of exertional dyspnea and chest pain for 2 months. Cardiac catheterization showed a narrowing of ascending aorta with prominent calcification in the lesion and moderate aortic valve insufficiency. The peak to peak left ventricular-supravalvular aortic pressure gradient was 54 mmHg. Selective coronary angiography revealed as a complete obstruction of the ostium of the right coronary artery. Surgical correction was performed successfully. Postoperative left ventricular-supravalvular aortic pressure gradient was decreased to 22 mmHg. Postoperative clinical course was favorable and she was discharged with good condition. We present a case of supravalvular aortic stenosis combined with right coronary artery ostial obstruction with a review of literatures.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Young Adult , Aorta , Aortic Stenosis, Supravalvular , Aortic Valve Insufficiency , Arterial Pressure , Atherosclerosis , Cardiac Catheterization , Cardiac Catheters , Chest Pain , Coronary Angiography , Coronary Vessels , Dilatation , Dyspnea , HyperplasiaABSTRACT
From January 1988 to December 1995, 27 patients, 11 men and 16 women, underwent surgical intervention at our institution for prosthetic valve dysfunctions. The mean age was 43.5+/-12.2 years. Seventeen (63.0%) patients had the mitral valve replacement, 8 (29.6%) the aortic valve, 1 (3.7%) the aortic composite graft, and 1 (3.7%) the tricuspid valve. Mean follow-up period was 49.5+/-30.9 months. In 12 bioprostheses, mean interval between the previous valve replacement and the reoperation was 104.9+/-34.9 months. The causes of redo surgery were structural deterioration of the prosthetic valve (12/12, 100%), paravalvular leak (2/12, 16.7%), and prosthetic valve endocarditis (1/12, 8.3%). In 15 mechanical prostheses, the mean interval was 55.2+/-43.7 months. The causes of redo surgery were pannus formation (8/15, 53.3%), paravalvular leak (4/15, 26.7%), and valve thrombosis (3/15, 20.0%). Posto-perative complications occurred in 7 patients (25.9%). There was no intraoperative death. But one patient, who received mechanical aortic valve replacement died on the 3rd postoperative day due to low cardiac output and multiorgan failure.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Aortic Valve , Bioprosthesis , Cardiac Output, Low , Endocarditis , Follow-Up Studies , Heart Valve Prosthesis , Heart Valves , Mitral Valve , Prostheses and Implants , Reoperation , Thrombosis , Transplants , Tricuspid ValveABSTRACT
From January 1990 to March 1994, 61 patients with thoracic esophageal cancer were treated at our institute. We analyzed the medical records retrospectively to find any prognostic factors of esophageal cancer surgery. The age ranged from 36 years to 74 years and the mean age was 58.3 years. The sex ratio of men to women was 14:1. The mean duration of dysphagia was 3.8 months and they mostly suffered from the dysphagia of grade IV. Tumors were staged postoperatively; 2 stage I, 23 Stage II, 27 stage III, 9 stage IV, and the resectability was 78.7%. Fortynine patients underwent curative esophageal resection and 5 patients permitted palliative esophagogastrostomy with incomplete tumor resection. Five patients underwent feeding gastrostomy and 2 patients were managed with Celestin tube. The most common complication was atelectasis and pneumonia, and early mortality rate was 5.6%. There were 9 cases of identified local recurrence or distant metastasis. Estimated overall actuarial survival rate d uring the follow-up was 73.4% in 1 year, 54.7% in 2 years, and 23.1% in 4 years. The tumor stage higher than II(p = 0.02) was confirmed as a poor prognostic factor.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Deglutition Disorders , Esophageal Neoplasms , Esophagus , Follow-Up Studies , Gastrostomy , Medical Records , Mortality , Neoplasm Metastasis , Pneumonia , Pulmonary Atelectasis , Recurrence , Retrospective Studies , Sex Ratio , Survival RateABSTRACT
Fungal infection of intracardiac pacing wire is very rare. We experienced a case of patient with functioning transvenous pacemaker lead, inserted 3 years previously, which was completely encased in a large thrombus infected with aspergillus. The lung biopsy also confirmed aspergillus infection.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aspergillosis , Aspergillus , Biopsy , Lung , Pacemaker, Artificial , ThrombosisABSTRACT
No abstract available.