No abstract available.
Child* ; Friends* ; Humans ; Saints*

PURPOSE: A febrile convulsion is a common event during childhood, its pathogenesis is not clear. But there are some hypotheses including electrolyte imbalance, neurotransmitter and metabolic change. Hyponatremia has been thought to decrease the threshold for febrile convulsion and low cerebrospinal zinc level induced by fever or infections causes low cerebrospinal gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA) which is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. We therefore carried out a prospective study to investigate whether there is an association with serum sodium levels, CSF zinc concentration and febrile convulsions. METHODS: Blood and CSF samples for sodium and zinc were taken from 37 children at Pusan Saint Benedict Hospital due to febrile illness from March 1998 to December 1998. They were divided into three groups: 11 with fever but without convulsions(Group I), 15 with aseptic(viral) meningitis(Group II), and 11 with febrile convulsions(Group III). The results were analyzed by Wilcoxon 2 Sample Test. RESULTS: The means of serum sodium, Zn level and CSF Na, Zn level in the febrile convulsion group were not significantly lower than in other groups(for serum Na : group I 143.09+/-2.84mmol/L, group II 141.60+/-2.49mmol/L, group III 142.54+/-1.80mmol/L; for CSF Na : group I 138.72+/-5.53mmol/L, group II 139.64+/-4.64mmol/L, group III 138.82+/-2.25mmol/L; for serum Zn : group I 90.38+/-9.09micro gram/L, group II 90.28+/-13.64micro gram/L, group III 97.16+/-14.54micro gram/L; for CSF Zn : group I 41.61+/-13.30micro gram/L, group II 45.80+/-12.66micro gram/L, group III 41.04+/-11.17micro gram/L). There was no statistically significant difference in serum sodium and CSF zinc between the three groups of children. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence in this study, that hyponatremia may increase the susceptability to febrile convulsion or that zinc deprivation may play a role in the pathogenesis of febrile convulsion in previous study. So, more study of pathophysiology of febrile convulsion is needed.
Busan ; Child ; Fever ; Humans ; Hyponatremia ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Prospective Studies ; Saints ; Seizures, Febrile* ; Sodium* ; Zinc*

PURPOSE: The standard treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer is a concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), and cisplatin has been used as the most popular chemotherapeutic agent. But many different doses and schedules for cisplatin administration such as daily, weekly and 3 week cycles have been proposed. We compared and analyzed the tumor response, the overall survival, the toxicity and the chemotherapy dose intensity in the patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer who were treated with CCRT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective study on 55 patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer, and they were treated with CCRT as a front-line treatment from Jan 1996 to Jun 2007 at Kangnam Saint Mary's Hospital. RESULTS: The patients had a median age of 53 years (range: 19~75 years). Of the total 55 patients, a 3-week cycle of 100mg cisplatin was administered in 31 patients and 30 mg weekly cisplatin was administered in 24 patients combined with radiotherapy. Twenty one patients had a complete response and four patients had a partial response for a response rate of 71.4% (95% CI: 59.5~83.3) after CCRT and followed by adjuvant chemo-therapy. The complete response rates for the 30 mg and 100 mg cisplatin groups were 72.7% (95% CI: 54.9~90.5) and 54.2% (95% CI: 36.7~71.7), respectively (p= 0.23). The duration of CCRT in the 100mg cisplatin group was significantly longer than that of the 30mg cisplatin group (11.1+/-2.9 weeks vs. 9.0+/-1.2 weeks, p= 0.003). The major deviation group, which was defined as prolongation of the radiotherapy duration for more than 2 weeks, had a significantly lower objective response rate than did the non-deviation group (56.3% vs 84.2%, respectively, p= 0.002). The major severe toxicities were leucopenia (49.1%), pharyngoesophagitis (49.1%), anorexia (43.6%), nausea (41.8%) and vomiting (40%). CONCLUSIONS: Weekly 30mg cisplatin-based CCRT is a practical, feasible cisplatin schedule for the patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer in regard to decreasing the interruption of radiation treatment and decreasing the treatment-related acute toxicities.
Anorexia ; Appointments and Schedules ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Cisplatin ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; Nausea ; Retrospective Studies ; Saints ; Treatment Outcome ; Vomiting

Acute appendicitis is a common disease, in general, but is rare in the elderly. This report is a clinical review of 148 patients over the age of 60 who, due to acute appendicitis, underwent appendectomies at the Department of General Surgery of Saint Columban Hospital from January 1993 to December 1995. The results are as follows: 1) The overall percentage of the patients over the age of 60 was about 16.4%. 2) The male to female ratio was 1:1.6. 3) The perforation rate was 33.1%. 4) The mean duration of symptoms were 2 days in non-perforated and 4.5 days in perforated appendicitis. 5) The chief complaints were pain (86.5%) and tenderness (88.5%) on right lower quadrant. 6) This disease occurred most frequently in spring and summer. 7) The highest incidence of leukocyte count was 10,000~15,000 per cubic mm of blood (50%). 8) The most frequent postoperative complication was wound infection as 14.2%. 9) sixty-seven cases (45.3%) were accompanied by concomitant disease, the most frequent being hypertention (14.9%). 10) The mean numbers of hospital days were 7.5 in non-perforated and 14 in perforated appendicitis.
Aged ; Appendectomy ; Appendicitis* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; Saints ; Wound Infection

This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of bone density according to age and the prevalence rate of osteoporosis I 613, middle-aged women who visited Saint Bundo Hospital in Pusan from June to December, 1997. Mean bone density of lumbar spine(L2L4), and femoral neck of 50-59 years of age was significantly lower than those of 40-49 years of age(p<0.05). At the 60years of age, mean bone density of two sites were less than those of 50-59 years of age. Mean bone density of lumbar spine tin the group of sixties were 20.7% lower than that of group aged under 40 ; For femoral neck, women in their sixties showed 22.6% lower density compared to the women aged under forty. Bone density of ward's triangle of sixties were the least, which was 34.2% lower than that of group aged under 40. Bone density in lumbar spine, femoral neck, trochanter and ward's triangle correlates strongly with each other(p<0.001). The proportion of osteoporosis was 3.6% in the group of forties, 10.9% in the group of fifties and 33.8% for the group aged over 60, which was assessed by bone density of lumbar spine. Bone density of lumbar spine, femoral neck and ward's triangle were positively correlated with height, weight and BMI(p<0.001~p<0.01), and weight showed highest correlation with the bone density. Forty-four percent of variation in lumbar spine bone density was explained by age and weight.
Bone Density* ; Busan ; Female ; Femur ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Middle Aged* ; Osteoporosis* ; Prevalence* ; Saints ; Spine ; Tin

Purpose: Although concern about the health disorders in aging men have been growing, the association has not been elucidated in relation to the late onset male hypogonadism(LOH) and metabolic syndrome(MS). In this background, we evaluated the clinical impact of MS on LOH symptoms and serum total testosterone level. Materials and Methods: 100 patients with LOH symptoms who visited to the urology clinic between May, 2004 and October, 2006 were analyzed. Of all object, 48 patients were associated with MS(Group I) and 52 patients were not(Group II), based on the NCEP-ATP III(2001) guidelines. We compared the LOH status with Saint Louis University Androgen Deficiency in Aging Males(ADAM) questionnaire, serum total testosterone level, as well as prevalence of MS components between the two groups. Results: The overall prevalence of MS was 48% among LOH patients. The average age of group I and II were 57.7+/-10.5 and 58.6+/-11.2 years, respectively. Positivity for ADAM questionnaire was 83.3% in group I and 76.9% in group II, respectively(p<0.05). Serum total testosterone level decreased according to number of components of MS(p<0.05). The obesity group had significantly decreased serum total testosterone level(3.41+/-1.34 ng/ml) comparing to control group(4.41+/-2.23 ng/ml)(p<0.05). Conclusions: MS and its risk factors were significantly associated with LOH symptoms and positively correlated with the severity of disease. The evaluation of MS are required for the diagnosis and treatment of the patients with LOH.
Aging ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Male ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Saints ; Testosterone ; Urology

This study is a clinical review of two groups of patients. Group I was composed of 97 patients who were submitted to negative appendectomy under the impression of acute appendicitis and, group II was 45 patients who received conservative treatment with the same impression at the department of surgery, Dae Rim Saint Mary's Hospital, from January 1, 1994 to August 31, 1996.The purpose of this study is to identify possible factors for the decision of operation or conservative treatment in the patients with suspected appendicitis and so to decrease unnecessary operation. Clinical characteristics of the patients were compared between two groups by the method of comparison of means(X test). The following results were obtained; 1) The incidences of group I and group II among the patients in the state of suspicious appendicitis were 97 of 1,004 cases(9.7%) and 45 of 1,004 cases(4.5%) respectively. 2) The number of female patients was 1.5 times more than male in both groups(p<0.05). 3) In group I the number of patients under 30 years of age was more than that of patients above 30 years of age(p<0.05) and in group II the highest incidence was shown in the patients in forth decades. 4) Symptoms over 3 days were more frequent in group I(31%) and in group II those within 12 hours were prominent(42.2%). 5) Gastrointestinal symptoms of anorexia, nausea and vomiting were more frequent in group I than group II. 6) Body temperature over 37.5 degrees C appeared in 15% of patients in group I and 11% in group II, but this difference showed no statistical significance and there was no sex difference. 7) RLQ rebound tenderness was manifested in 60% of patients in group I and 37.7% in group II, this difference has statistical significance(p<0.05). Migration pain to RLQ appeared in 12% of patients in group I aand 17.7% in group II(p>0.05) 8) Leukocytosis above 10,000/mm3 appeared in 44% of patients in group I and 53.3% in group II(p>0.05). 9) In admission route, the patients via ER was 2 times more than those of OPD in group I and in group II that was 5 times more than this.
Anorexia ; Appendectomy* ; Appendicitis* ; Body Temperature ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocytosis ; Male ; Nausea ; Saints ; Sex Characteristics ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND: The effect of pravastatin on insulin resistance (IR) is controversial and poorly studied in prediabetes. METHODS: This study was performed in hyperglycemic patients at Saint Carollo Hospital from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015. Among them, we selected 40 patients (24 prediabetes and 16 new onset diabetes [NOD]) who had been treated with pravastatin 20 mg daily for 2 or 4 months and in whom fasting insulin and fasting glucose had been measured before and after administration of pravastatin. IR was defined as a fasting insulin level ≥ 12.94 µU/mL, homeostasis model for IR (HOMA-IR) ≥ 3.04 or quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) ≤ 0.32. RESULTS: Pravastatin treatment decreased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by 25.2% and 32.3% respectively (P = 0.000 for all), but did not affect fasting insulin level, HOMA-IR, or QUICKI in total, prediabetes, and NOD groups. Prevalence of IR was significantly different between prediabetes and NOD groups both before and after pravastatin treatment (0% versus 37.5%, P = 0.001), but pravastatin treatment did not affect the prevalence of IR in the prediabetes or NOD group. Fasting glucose level was not significantly different before and after pravastatin treatment in prediabetes (106.8 ± 6.4 mg/dL versus 103.8 ± 8.4 mg/dL, P = 0.223) but was significantly different in the NOD group (171.5 ± 70.1 mg/dL versus 124.4 ± 26.7 mg/dL, P = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Pravastatin treatment did not affect IR or fasting glucose level in hyperglycemic patients. Therefore, we suggest pravastatin can be prescribed to hypercholesterolemic patients with hyperglycemia.
Cholesterol ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Lipoproteins ; Pravastatin* ; Prediabetic State ; Prevalence ; Saints

BACKGROUND: Inguinal herniorrhaphy remains one of the most common general surgical operations. Mesh repair is advocated by several specialized hernia centers. The purpose of this study was to compare results of mesh and Shouldice repair for inguinal herniae. METHODS: A clinical review was made of 73 cases of inguinal herniae treated during the 3 years from January 1993 to December 1996 at the Department of Surgery, Dae Rim Saint Mary's Hospital, and at the Department of Surgery, Eum Sung Saint Mary's Hospital. We treated 38 patients with mesh repair and 35 patients with a Shouldice procedure. Among 73 cases, 72 cases were males and only one case was a female. All except 8 cases had indirect types of hernias. RESULTS: Mesh repair required less time (80 minutes) and was an easier operative technique than the Shouldice procedure (95 minutes), but postoperative pain was similar between the two procedures. Postoperative pain was relieved after one week in 60% of the patients and after four weeks in 88% of the patients. The complications following the operations were similar between the two procedures: voiding difficulties developed in two cases, wound infection in one case, and a hematoma in two cases. There were no recurrences during the 6 month to 3 year follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Inguinal herniorrhaphy using a mesh repair technique provides is simple, rapid, less painful, and effective.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma ; Hernia ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Male ; Pain, Postoperative ; Recurrence ; Saints ; Wound Infection

BACKGROUND: Nail diseases reflect systemic diseases or other dermatologic diseases and also have many kinds of primary diseases on the nail apparatus itself. Recently, the proportion of the nail disorder is steadily increasing among many dermatologic diseases. Although there have been many studies about nail disorders, there have been no studies on the long-term observation of nail disorder in Korea. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze recent changes in the incidence of nail disorders and compare the incidence with previously reported data. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 3,384 patients with nail disorders who visited Yeouido Saint Mary's Hospital during the last 11 years (2000~2010). RESULTS: There were 1,504 patients with onycomycosis (44%) among 3,384 patients with nail disorders. Among 1,504 patients, 809 were male and 695 were female and the ratio of men to women was 1:0.86. There were 1,880 patients with various nail diseases except onychomycosis; infectious or inflammatory disease (10.1%), traumatic nail disorder (7.1%), nail involvement in dermatological disease (5.7%), pigmentary disorder (3.4%), nail tumor (3.3%), nail involvement in systemic disease (2.1%), medication-induced nail disorder (0.6%), congenital disease (0.3%), other nail disease (23.1%) including twenty-nail dystrophy (3.2%). CONCLUSION: Most results were compatible with those of other previous studies, but the ratio of onycomycosis to total nail disorder was slightly decreased, and patients with drug induced nail disease, nail tumor and twenty-nail dystrophy increased slightly. Due to increasing average life expectancy and improvements in the quality of life, patients with nail disease that visit the hospital are increasing constantly. To correspond with this tendency, more concern, and prospective and large-scale study are necessary.
Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Life Expectancy ; Male ; Medical Records ; Nail Diseases ; Nails ; Nails, Malformed ; Onychomycosis ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Saints