Two cases of female hydrocele of the canal of nuck

The processus vaginalis within the inguinal canal forms the canal of Nuck, which is a homolog of the processus vaginalis in women. Incomplete obliteration of the processus vaginalis causes indirect inguinal hernia or hydrocele of the canal of Nuck, a very rare condition in women. Here, we report 2 cases of hydrocele of the canal of Nuck that were diagnosed with ultrasonography in both cases and magnetic resonance imaging in 1 case to confirm the sonographic diagnosis. High ligation and hydrocelectomy were conducted in both patients. In 1 patient, 14 months later, the occurrence of contralateral inguinal hernia was suspected, but did not require surgery. The other patient had a history of surgery for left inguinal hernia 11 months before the occurrence of right hydrocele of the canal of Nuck. In both cases, the occurrence of an inguinal hernia on the contralateral side was noted

Successful Endourologic Management of Lower Pole Moiety Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction in a Partially Duplicated Collecting System

We present two cases of symptomatic lower pole moiety ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) in a partially duplicated collecting system that were successfully treated with minimally invasive endourologic procedures. In the first case, we performed retrograde endopyelotomy with the Acucise® ureteral cutting balloon device, and in the latter case, we performed percutaneous nephrolithotomy and antegrade endopyelotomy because of the presence of multiple renal stones. Subsequent intravenous pyelography confirmed marked resolution of the obstruction, and both patients remained asymptomatic during 1 year of follow-up

Intranasal immunization with plasmid DNA encoding spike protein of SARS-coronavirus/polyethylenimine nanoparticles elicits antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immunization with the spike protein (S) of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV) in mice is known to produce neutralizing antibodies and to prevent the infection caused by SARS-CoV. Polyethylenimine 25K (PEI) is a cationic polymer which effectively delivers the plasmid DNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, the immune responses of BALB/c mice immunized via intranasal (i.n.) route with SARS DNA vaccine (pci-S) in a PEI/pci-S complex form have been examined. The size of the PEI/pci-S nanoparticles appeared to be around 194.7 ± 99.3 nm, and the expression of the S mRNA and protein was confirmed <it>in vitro</it>. The mice immunized with i.n. PEI/pci-S nanoparticles produced significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.05) higher S-specific IgG1 in the sera and mucosal secretory IgA in the lung wash than those in mice treated with pci-S alone. Compared to those in mice challenged with pci-S alone, the number of B220⁺cells found in PEI/pci-S vaccinated mice was elevated. Co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules (I-A^d) were increased on CD11c⁺dendritic cells in cervical lymph node from the mice after PEI/pci-S vaccination. The percentage of IFN-γ-, TNF-α- and IL-2-producing cells were higher in PEI/pci-S vaccinated mice than in control mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results showed that intranasal immunization with PEI/pci-S nanoparticles induce antigen specific humoral and cellular immune responses.</p

The Effect of Early Canalith Repositioning on Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo on Recurrence

ObjectivesBenign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) can be treated using a simple repositioning maneuver. This study demonstrates the effects of early repositioning therapy in patients with BPPV, especially with regard to recurrence.MethodsWe enrolled 138 consecutive patients who had been diagnosed with BPPV in the emergency rooms and ENT out-patient clinics of Chung-Ang University Hospital and Samyook Medical Center from January to June 2009. All patients immediately underwent appropriate canalith repositioning procedures (CRPs) depending on canalith type and location. The CRPs were performed daily until the patient's symptoms were resolved. The patients were classified into two groups according to the duration between symptom onset and initial treatment: less than 24 hours (early repositioning group, n=66) and greater 24 hours (delayed repositioning group, n=72). We prospectively compared the numbers of treatments received and the recurrence rates between the two groups.ResultsFollow-up periods ranged from 8 to 14 months, 77 cases involved posterior canal BPPV, 48 cases were lateral canal BPPV (of which 20 cases were cupulolithiasis), and 13 cases were multiple canal BPPV. BPPV recurrence was found in a total of 46 patients (33.3%). The necessary numbers of CRPs were 2.3 for the early repositioning group and 2.5 for the late repositioning group, a difference that was not statistically significant (P=0.582). The early repositioning group showed a recurrence rate of 19.7%, and the delayed repositioning group showed a recurrence rate of 45.8% (P=0.002).ConclusionPerforming repositioning treatments as soon as possible after symptom onset may be an important factor in the prevention of BPVV recurrence

Nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase uses its NAD+ substrate-binding site to chaperone phosphorylated Tau.

Funder: Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003399Funder: Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010239Tau hyper-phosphorylation and deposition into neurofibrillary tangles have been found in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Molecular chaperones are involved in regulating the pathological aggregation of phosphorylated Tau (pTau) and modulating disease progression. Here, we report that nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT), a well-known NAD+ synthase, serves as a chaperone of pTau to prevent its amyloid aggregation in vitro as well as mitigate its pathology in a fly tauopathy model. By combining NMR spectroscopy, crystallography, single-molecule and computational approaches, we revealed that NMNAT adopts its enzymatic pocket to specifically bind the phosphorylated sites of pTau, which can be competitively disrupted by the enzymatic substrates of NMNAT. Moreover, we found that NMNAT serves as a co-chaperone of Hsp90 for the specific recognition of pTau over Tau. Our work uncovers a dedicated chaperone of pTau and suggests NMNAT as a key node between NAD+ metabolism and Tau homeostasis in aging and neurodegeneration

Exaggeration of wrinkles after botulinum toxin injection for forehead horizontal lines

There have been no long-term complications or life-threatening adverse effects related to botulinum toxin treatment for any cosmetic indications. Nevertheless, there are well-known, mild side effects of botulinum toxin treatment on the upper face, though most of them are self limited with time. However, excluding brow ptosis, reports about site specific side effects are few and anecdotal. We experienced cases of exaggeration of wrinkles after botulinum toxin injection for forehead horizontal lines, and report them here. In our cases, new appearance of a noticeable glabellar protrusion following botulinum toxin injection on the forehead was observed in 2 patients. Also, a new deep wrinkle on one side of the forehead just above the eyebrow appeared in another 2 patients. The exaggerated wrinkles nearly disappeared without treatment by week 4 in all subjects. These exaggerations of wrinkles may be caused by hyperactivity and overcompensation of untreated muscles. With the increasing availability of diverse botulinum toxin for cosmetic purposes, physicians and patients should be aware of this temporary change after therapeutic injections. We recommend explaining this possible effect prior to injection, for better understanding of treatment for cosmetic indications.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2011-01/102/2008000790/3SEQ:3PERF_CD:SNU2011-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:2008000790ADJUST_YN:NEMP_ID:A079501DEPT_CD:801CITE_RATE:.531FILENAME:botox and wrinkles.pdfDEPT_NM:의학과SCOPUS_YN:NCONFIRM:

Decreasing Trends of Neonatal and Infant Mortality Rates in Korea: Compared with Japan, USA, and OECD Nations

Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) are two of the most important indices reflecting the level of public health of a country. In this review, we investigated changes in NMR and IMR in Korea and compared the results with those of Japan, USA, and OECD nations. During the past 20 yr, NMR and IMR have lowered remarkably from 6.6 and 9.9 in 1993 to 1.7 and 3.2 in 2009, respectively, in Korea. It is an impressive finding that Korean IMR (3.2 in 2009) is lower than the average of OECD nations (4.7 in 2008), and USA (6.3 in 2009), although higher than Japanese IMR (2.8 in 2009). The proportion of NMR among the IMR calculation decreased from 66.7% in 1993 to 53.1% in 2009. The reason the value of Korea was higher than Japan but lower than USA was speculated to be an aspect of the health care service system. Several suggestions in perinatal, neonatal and infantile health care such as establishment of perinatal care center, research network system, regionalization, and new policies for care of pre-term and high risk pregnancy, are elucidated to achieve further improvement on NMR and IMR in Korea

Multiple births conceived by assisted reproductive technology in Korea

PurposeThe recent trends of multiple births (MBs) conceived by assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Korea were analyzed as well as the relationship with maternal age, especially advanced maternal age.MethodsData were obtained from the Korean Statistical Information Service and annual ART reports from the ART committee of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.ResultsMBs increased from the early 1990s; there was a 275% increase by 2008. The number of total live births was 448,153 and MBs accounted for 10,767; the MB rate was 24.0% in 2006. Among 2,326 deliveries conceived by ART, multiple deliveries accounted for 786 (33.8%). The total number of live births with ART was 3,125 and 1,585 (50.7%) of them were MBs. During 2006, 14.7% of the entire MBs in Korea were associated with ART. The proportion of women of advanced maternal age was much higher in the ART group than in the total live birth group.ConclusionMBs in women of advanced maternal age have been increasing in Korea with the use of ART. The results of this study showed that ART was a significant factor associated with the increase in MBs in Korea