The Effects of Hand Massage in Patients Who Underwent Transradial Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the effect of hand massage in patients who underwent transradial percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group and non-synchronized design. The study included 30 patients in the experimental group and 30 in the control group. Hand massage was performed 2 times for 5 minutes each in the experimental group and the control group only received usual nursing interventions. Pain, level of discomfort, and vital signs were defined as key outcome measures, and the data were analyzed using the chi-square test, an independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, repeated-measures analysis of variance, and Friedman test. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed between the 2 groups in the pain score (F=7.91, p=.003), discomfort score (F=18.15, p < .001), pulse (F=12.92, p < .001), and respiration rate (χ2=19.35, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Hand massage can be a helpful nursing intervention for transradial percutaneous coronary intervention by reducing pain and discomfort to a considerable degree.

A Rat Model of Striatonigral Degeneration Generated by Simultaneous Injection of 6-Hydroxydopamine into the Medial Forebrain Bundle and Quinolinic Acid into the Striatum

A double toxin-double lesion strategy is well-known to generate a rat model of striatonigral degeneration (SND) such as multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type. However, with this model it is difficult to distinguish SND from Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we propose a new rat model of SND, which is generated by simultaneous injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the medial forebrain bundle and quinolinic acid into the striatum. Stepping tests performed 30 min after intraperitoneal L-dopa administration at 6 weeks post-surgery revealed an L-dopa response in the PD group but not the SND group. Apomorphine-induced rotation tests revealed no rotational bias in the SND group, which persisted for 2 months, but contralateral rotations in the PD group. MicroPET scans revealed glucose hypometabolism and dopamine transporter impairment on the lesioned striatum in the SND group. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunostaining in the SND group revealed that 74.7% of nigral cells on the lesioned side were lost after lesion surgery. These results suggest that the proposed simultaneous double toxin-double lesion method successfully created a rat model of SND that had behavioral outcomes, multitracer microPET evaluation, and histological aspects consistent with SND pathology. This model will be useful for future study of SND.

Enhanced Efficacy of Human Brain-Derived Neural Stem Cells by Transplantation of Cell Aggregates in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease

OBJECTIVE: Neural tissue transplantation has been a promising strategy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, transplantation has the disadvantages of low-cell survival and/or development of dyskinesia. Transplantation of cell aggregates has the potential to overcome these problems, because the cells can extend their axons into the host brain and establish synaptic connections with host neurons. In this present study, aggregates of human brain-derived neural stem cells (HB-NSC) were transplanted into a PD animal model and compared to previous report on transplantation of single-cell suspensions. METHODS: Rats received an injection of 6-OHDA into the right medial forebrain bundle to generate the PD model and followed by injections of PBS only, or HB-NSC aggregates in PBS into the ipsilateral striatum. Behavioral tests, multitracer (2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]-FDG) and [18F]-N-(3-fluoropropyl)-2-carbomethoxy-3-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane ([18F]-FP-CIT) microPET scans, as well as immunohistochemical (IHC) and immunofluorescent (IF) staining were conducted to evaluate the results. RESULTS: The stepping test showed significant improvement of contralateral forelimb control in the HB-NSC group from 6-10 weeks compared to the control group (p<0.05). [18F]-FP-CIT microPET at 10 weeks posttransplantation demonstrated a significant increase in uptake in the HB-NSC group compared to pretransplantation (p<0.05). In IHC and IF staining, tyrosine hydroxylase and human beta2 microglobulin (a human cell marker) positive cells were visualized at the transplant site. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the HB-NSC aggregates can survive in the striatum and exert therapeutic effects in a PD model by secreting dopamine.

A Case of Congenital Lobar Emphysema

Congenital lobar emphysema has the clinical features of an air block' syndrome with- out the evidence of pulmonary infection or intrabronchial foreign body. The hyperinflated lung causes a compression of uninvolved lobes creating respiratory distress, cyanosis within the first weeks of life. We experienced a case of congenital lobar emphysema diagnosed incidentally by chest reontgenogram in an infant with frequent upper respiratory infection within a few weeks of life. Chest X-ray revealed extensive emphysematous changes in the left upper lobe, shifting of heart and medistinum to the right and compression of the right lung. Respiratory distress, cyanosis and chest wall retraction ensued and left upper lobe Lobectomy was performed successfully.

A clinical study of congenital anomalies in births associated with hydramnios

A study was made in the congenital anomalies in 137 babies born to 120 mothers with hydramnios, delivered at Ilsin Christian Hospital between Jan. 1st 1981 and Dec. 31th 1990. The results were as follows; 1) The incidence of hydramnios was 1.6/1000 deliveries, 120 cases in total 73, 129 deliveries. 137 infants was born and of these 71 (51.8%) had congenital anomalies. 2) Hydramnios was assiciated with a high incidence of prematurity and low birth weight infant. 3) The incience of multiple anomalies was 54.9% (39 out of 71 infants). The most common system involved with the congenital anomalies was the musculoskeletal system, 28.9% (39 cases out of 135) and the most frequent anomaly was anencephaly, 15 cases. 4) The perinatal mortality rate was 759/1000 total (104 cases) and of these 45 cases, 43.3% were associated with congenital anomalies. 53 of the live birth had congenital anomalies and of these 27 cases (50.9%) died in the neonatal period.