Cement Leakage after Vertebroplasty; Correlation with Patterns of Compression Fractures and Bone Mineral Density (BMD)

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To analyze the influence of fracture patterns and the result of bone mineral density on cement leakage after percutaneous vertebroplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Leakage of bone cement after vertebroplasty has known to be related with the direction of cortical disruption of fractured vertebral body and low bone mineral density (BMD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred eighty-two patients with osteoporotic vertebral compressions were studied from January 2009 to August 2013. The patients' fracture levels and patterns were compared. Among them, the cement leakage patterns were analyzed in 105 patients who had undergone vertebroplasty. The findings were compared with fracture patterns including cortical disruption and BMD. RESULTS: Seventy-five cases of cement leakage were observed. Among them, intradiscal leakage was the most common type of leakage. In the patient group with low BMD, there was a high incidence of lower and posterior cortical disruption in the fractures. Patients with posterior cortical disruption demonstrated a higher incidence of leakage into the spinal canal and anterior cortex. No significant correlation was observed between fracture patterns and leakage. CONCLUSIONS: A surgeon should use caution in performing vertebroplasty in patients with low BMD and posterior disruption of the vertebral cortex.

Acute Brachialis Tear and Hematoma Caused by Closed Acute Elbow Posterior Dislocation / 대한스포츠의학회지

This report was designed to investigate a rare case that brachialis tear and hematoma caused by acute elbow posterior dislocation. We studied a 20-year-old male patient with right elbow joint pain after outstretched injury. Physical examination showed instability of hright elbow joint and simple radiography indicated a posterolateral dislocation of right elbow joint. Computed tomography taken after closed reduction using Parvin technique revealed a few small bone fragment located on posterior humerus capitulum. Magnetic resonance imaging showed complete tear of brachialis and anterior articular capsule with hematoma. The patient was managed with long arm splint and hinge brace for an elbow dislocation with brachialis rupture and hematoma. The elbow joint range of motion was recovered to be in a normal range, and pain was diminished. There are few reported cases of acute elbow posterior dislocation combined with brachialis rupture and hematoma. The patient showed good clinical outcome after conservative treatment.

Bilateral Necrotizing Fasciitis around the Hips Differentiated from Fournier Gangrene: A Case Report / 대한고관절학회지

As an emergency encountered in orthopedic practice requiring prompt diagnosis and aggressive treatment, necrotizing fasciitis around the hip must be discriminated from Fournier gangrene. The current case report describes a patient who suffered from bilateral type I necrotizing fasciitis around the hips, which was alleviated by prompt surgical debridement and intensive postoperative care.

A Case of Cytomegalovirus Colitis with Nontuberculous Mycobacterium Infection in Immunocompetent Host

Cytomegalovirus(CMV) infections are common in immune compromised situations such as human immunodeficiency virus infection and organ transplantation. However CMV colitis had been rarely found in immunocompetent individuals. We experienced a case of an 83-year-old female patient, initially immune competent, who developed a massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding caused by CMV colitis. Previously, multiple antibiotics were used for nontuberculous Myco- bacterium and other bacterial infections after total knee arthroplasty. Colonoscopy revealed multiple ulcerations and mucosal congestion with hemorrhage. In spite of ganciclovir therapy, our patient did not recover.

Postnatal Changes in Left Ventricular Performance in Early Neonatal Life

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate changes in cardiac performance in early neo-natal life by observing the changes of left ventricular(LV) function and volume according to the size of ductus arteriosus. METHODS: The study group consisted of 21 full-term Cesarean section neonates who were admitted to the nursery of Korea University Hospital. We serially investigated the patency and size of the ductus at 2, 24, 120 hours after birth by two-dimensional echocardiography. The standard two-dimensional tracings of LV volume were obtained under the guidance of apical two- and four-chamber views. LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were calculated using a biplanar Simpson's method. RESULTS: LV end-diastolic volume was highest(3.44>0.4mm) at 2 hours of age(P<0.01), being constant from 24 to 120 hours. LV contractility, indicated by the mean normalized systolic ejection rate, remained constant during the whole period of investigation. The size of the ductus arteriosus was maximal at 2 hours after birth, and decreased significantly at 24 hours of age (P<0.01). The size of ductus arteriosus demonstrated a close linear correlation with the left ventricular end-diastolic volume(y=0.17x+2.92, r=0.59: P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Changes in LV end-diastolic volume soon after birth depend on changes in ductus arteriosus flow, which in turn is affected by ductal diameter. Upon patency of the ductus arteriosus, the newborn left ventricle operates at maximal performance with only a limited capacity to increase contractility.

Enhancement of Cytotoxicity of Chemotherapeutic Agents by Buthionine sulfoximine in Retinoblastoma Cell Line

This study was performed to evaluate in vitro cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic agents in established human retinoblastoma cell line, Y79 and to study the possibility of enhancing the cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic agents by administration of buthionine sulfoximine(BSO) which lowers the intracellular glutathione(GSH) level. IC50 defined as the concentration which inhibits the cell survival rates to 50% compared with control group was used to evaluate cytotoxicity. Intracellular level after 13.50 adminstration were measured and compared with the level prior to administration of BSO. Doxorubicin, cisplatin, and melphalan showed significant decrease of IC50 by administration of BSO(p0.05). Intracellular GSH level prior to the administration of BSO was 0.931nM/mg protein. After the administration of BSO, they were lowered to 0.095nM/mg protein in both BSO concentrations. Results listed above suggest that cytotoxicity of doxorubicin, cisplatin, and melphalan can be enhanced by ESO. This effect may be mediated by decreased intracellualr level of GSH by BSO.

A Clinicopathologic Study of 46 Cases of Eyelid Malignancy

We studied retrospectively 46 patients of primary malignant eyelid tumors who were histologically diagnosed in Korea Cancer Center Hospital from May, 1987 to December, 1994 and followed for 6 months or longer. 46 patients consist of, 22 cases of basal cell carcinoma(47.8%), 10 cases of squamous cell carcinoma(21.7%), 9 cases of sebaceous gland carcinoma(19.6%), and 5 cases of malignant melanoma(10.9%). Our modalities of treatment for eyelid malignancy included excision under frozen-section control, radiotherapy and cryotherapy. In case of regional lymph node metastasis we performed radiation treatment with or without excision of primary tumor and regional lymph node dissection. A case with distant metastasis underwent radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy. Following initial treatment, 4 cases showed recurrence and 3 cases developed regional or distant metastasis. In this study, we emphasize that suspected eyelid malignancy should be histologically diagnosed with biopsy and treated adequately at an early stage to reduce recurrence or metastasis.

Clinical Analysis of Retinoblastoma

We analyzed retrospectively 58 patinets of retinoblastoma for the first, ocular symptoms, gender, family history, funduscopic findings, treatment modalities and results from 1987 to 1993. Fourteen patients were bilateral, forth-four were unilateral, and seventy-two eyes were affected in sum. The average of age of the patients was 25.6 months. Their first ocular symptoms were leukocoria, squint and etc. Three patients were suspected as familial type of retinoblastoma. We claasified the patients according to the affected degree of the retina;over three-fourths of the retina was affected in 34 eyes. We treated them with enucleation, radiation, chemotherapy, episcleral plaque radiotherapy, laser photocoagulation and cryotherapy. After these treatments, orbital recurrence was observed in one case and among the ten eyes treated with eye-conserving treatments, nine eyes are maintained with periodic examination under general anesthesia and the treatment of laser photocoagulation and cryotherapy until now.

Chemosensitization to adriamycin by cyclosporin A and verapamil in human retinoblastoma cell lines

The chemosensitizing effects of cyclosporin A and verapamil on the cytotoxicity of adriamycin were investigated using MTT assay against two human retinoblastoma cell lines, Y79 and WERI-Rb-1. Y79 and WERI-Rb-1 were totally resistant to doses up to 5.0 micrograms/ml of verapamil. Cyclosporin A inhibited the survival of Y79 and WERI-Rb-1 dose-dependently, however, the maximum inhibition at the highest concentration tested (5.0 micrograms/ml) was less than 50% (% survival at 5.0 micrograms/ml of cyclosporin A: 65.6% and 66.9% in Y79 and WERI-Rb-1, respectively). Combination of cyclosporin A and verapamil did not further inhibit the survival of Y79 and WERI-Rb-1 compared with cyclosporin A alone. Adramycin inhibited the survival of Y79 and WERI-Rb-1 dose-dependently. The chemosensitizing effects of cyclosporin A and verapamil on the cytotoxicity of adriamycin were evaluated in terms of sensitizing index (SI: the ratio of IC50 to adriamycin alone to IC50 to adriamycin in the presence of cyclosporin A and/or verapamil). Cyclosporin A significantly enhanced SI and the addition of verapamil enhanced SI further: SI values at 5.0 micrograms/ml of cyclosporin A, 5.0 micrograms/ml of cyclosporin A plus 1.5 micrograms/ml of cyclosporin A plus 1.5 micrograms/ml of verapamil, 5.0 micrograms/ml of cyclosporin A plus 3.0 micrograms/ml of verapamil were 2.0, 2.6 and 2.8 in Y79 and 2.6, 5.8 and 9.7 in WERI-Rb-1, respectively. These results suggest that cyclosporin A and verapamil are promising chemosensitizers to adriamycin in the treatment of retinoblastoma.

Loss of retinoblastoma gene and amplification of N-myc gene in retinoblastoma

We have analyzed paired samples of genomic DNA from peripheral leukocyte and primary tumor tissue from nine patients with retinoblastoma (RB) and from two RB cell lines, WERI-Rb-1 and Y79, to detect the molecular alterations of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (RB-1) and N-myc gene. In Southern analysis, RB-1 deletions in tumor tissues were detected in five patients (56%), one of these revealed a total loss of RB-1. N-myc amplification was found only in one (11.1%) out of nine patients. We also observed a total loss of RB-1 in WERI-Rb-1, and a more than 100-fold amplification of N-myc in Y79. The analysis of the relationship between molecular events and clinical characteristics such as age, sex, tumor laterality did not reveal any specific correlation. These results suggest that genetic backgrounds of RB in Korean patients are quite similar to those of reported cases elsewhere. The high sensitivity of our method in detecting the RB-1 loss indicates that this method can be a useful tool for initially screening a large number of tumors.

Pathologic Findings after Recession and Resection of Extraocular Muscles in Rabbits

A study on the pathologic findings after recession and resection of extraocular muscles in rabbits was performed. Fibrosis of extraocular muscles increased with time, which showed no difference between recessed and resected muscles. Inflammation and foreign body reaction decreased with time, which showed no difference between recessed and resected muscles. Adhesions of extraocular muscles to the sclera were observed from 1 month after operation. The resected muscles showed milder adhesion to the sclera than recessed one. The operated extraoculr muscles showed atrophies at 1 month, which showed no difference between recessed and resected muscles. According to our results, when reoperation is needed, fibrosis of extraocular muscles after recession and resection should be considered in making decision of recession and resection amount of muscles.

Pathologic findings after recession and resection of extraocular muscles in rabbits

A study on the pathologic findings after recession and resection of extraocular muscles in rabbits was performed. Fibrosis of the extraocular muscles increased with time, which showed no difference between the recessed and resected muscles. Inflammation and foreign body reaction decreased with time, which showed no difference between the recessed and resected muscles. Adhesions of extraocular muscles to the sclera were observed from one month after the operation. The resected muscles showed milder adhesion to the sclera than the recessed ones. The operated extraocular muscles showed atrophies at one month, which showed no difference between the recessed and resected muscles. According to our results, when reoperation is needed, fibrosis of the extraocular muscles after recession and resection should be considered when making a decision on the amount of muscle to be recessed and resected.

The Effect of Astigmatism Correction in Myopic Astigmatism by Toric Lenses: Comparison with Hard Contact Lenses

We compared the effects of astigmatism correction by toric lenses with that by hard contact lenses performing over-refraction in 14 eyes of 8 patients. The results are as following; 1) In 10 eyes, the effects were superior by toric lenses. 2) In 2 eyes, the effects were same. 3) In 2 eyes, the effects were superior by hard contact lenses.

The Effect of Astigmatism Correction in Myopic Astigmatism by Toric Lenses: Comparison with Hard Contact Lenses

We compared the effects of astigmatism correction by toric lenses with that by hard contact lenses performing over-refraction in 14 eyes of 8 patients. The results are as following; 1) In 10 eyes, the effects were superior by toric lenses. 2) In 2 eyes, the effects were same. 3) In 2 eyes, the effects were superior by hard contact lenses.

Inferior oblique overaction

Inferior oblique myectomies or Z-myotomies were performed on 159 eyes of 121 patients who had an overacting inferior oblique muscle or muscles. The results were as follows; 1. Success rates were 95.5% in myectomy and 71.4% in Z-myotorny. 2. Recurrence rates were 2.7% in myectomy and 14.3% in Z-myotomy. 3. There were no other complications to include the adherence syndrome.

The Healing Effect of Keratocyne(R) on Corneal Diseases

Keratocyne(R) is the complex of cystine and vitamine B6. Cystine is collagenase inhibitor and vitamine B6 is essential to the metabolism of cystine. We administered Keratocyne(R) orally combined with specific topical therapy to investigate its healing effect on various corneal diseases. The results were as follows: 1. The cases which improved after Keratocyne(R) administration were 15 patients out of 22 patients. 2. No untoward side effects were observed. We concluded that Keratocyne(R) was effective on certain corneal diseases which released collagenase.

Inferior Oblique Overaction

We performed inferior oblique myectomy or Z-myotomy on 159 eyes of 121 patients who showed inferior oblique overaction. And the results were as follows; 1. Success rates were 95.5% in myectomy and 71.4% in Z-myotomy. 2. Recurrence rates were 2.7% in myectomy and 14.3% in Z-myotomy. 3. There were no complications including adherence syndrome.