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Biomedical subjects

K Cho

Publications and source records attributed to K Cho.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

Gliomas of the conus medullaris.

Six patients with histologically verified gliomas of the conus medullaris (two astrocytomas, two ependymomas, two myxopapillary ependymomas) were diagnosed and studied. There were four men and two women ranging in age from 23 to 47 years. Predominant initial symptoms were back pain (four cases) and leg weakness (two cases). The most common findings on admission were flaccid paparesis with impaired sensation and bladder dysfunction. Postoperative MR images with more than 95% removal of a tumour were defined as 'subtotal removal' (noted in two of six cases), and less than 95% as 'partial removal' (four of six cases). All patients had postoperative radiotherapy, and the two patients with an astrocytoma underwent chemotherapy. During the follow up period ranging from 2 to 7 years, there was no tumour recurrence or regrowth on MR images except in a patient with a malignant astrocytoma, who indeed died from intracranial dissemination 2 years after surgery. Adjuvant therapy following the excision of a spinal glioma is also discussed.

Adult↗

Acute lung disease after exposure to fly ash.

A 48-year-old man with no history of pulmonary disease developed acute lung disease after the intensive exposure of fly ash. He subsequently had progressive worsening of shortness of breath and hypoxemia to the point of requiring mechanical ventilation. Fly ash is a compound consisting of silicon dioxide and various other substances and is used in industrial settings to generate electricity. Exposure to fly ash may cause irritation to the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and even pulmonary fibrosis in humans. To our knowledge, this is the first case report described in the medical literature of acute lung disease developing after fly ash exposure.

Accidents, Occupational↗

Altered-function mutations in the Agrobacterium tumefaciens OccR protein and in an OccR-regulated promoter.

OccR is a LysR-type transcriptional activator that controls the occQ and traR promoters of octopine-type Ti plasmids. The opine octopine converts OccR from a repressor to an activator of occQ, shortens the protein's DNase I footprint, and decreases the angle of an OccR-caused DNA bend at the occQ promoter. In this study we first localized the cis-acting DNA sequences required for regulated expression of occQ. To understand better the mechanism of activation of OccR, we isolated mutations both in the occQ promoter and in the occR gene which function differently from the wild type. An occQ promoter mutation that changes the putative -35 region of occQ from TTGACC to TTGACA increases the basal expression of occQ about 15-fold. Three mutations in occR were also identified, one of which activates occQ at fully constitutive levels in both the absence and presence of octopine. This mutation (E23G) is located in the first helix of a putative helix-turn-helix DNA-binding motif. The other two occR mutations cause the protein to detect much lower concentrations of octopine than wild-type OccR protein does. These mutations (F113L and G148D) are located in a region of the protein that is predicted to contain the ligand-binding site.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗

[Results of radiation therapy of extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma].

From January 1975 to August 1988, 40 patients with extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma were treated by external irradiation at Chiba University Hospital and the National Medical Center Hospital. Thirty-four patients (male: 20, female: 14) were evaluable. Eighteen patients were postoperative cases because the surgical margin was positive for tumor cells in the postoperative pathological examination; the other 16 were inoperable cases. Survival in postoperative and inoperable cases was not significantly different, with median survival times of 13.8 and 8.1 months, respectively. Survival in the recanalization-positive and negative-groups was significantly different (p less than 0.05) after irradiation, with median survival times of 13.5 and 6.0 months, respectively. Complications of therapy were recognized in 68% of all cases. They were mainly gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, erosive gastritis and loss of appetite, but they were not severe. Distant metastasis was recognized in only 4 patients (10%): three had bony metastasis and one had supraclavicular and pulmonary hilar lymph node metastasis. Ninety percent of all cases died from hepatic failure or peritonitis carcinomatosa due to failure to obtain local control by external irradiation. A more effective modality of treatment is necessary to cure these patients.

Aged↗