Background: Reporting rate of notifiable communicable diseases has been assumed to be low in Korea. To encourage timely reporting of notifiable communicable diseases and to improve the reporting process by the Infection Control Unit, a disease code-based electronic surveillance and in-house electronic reporting system was developed and implemented in February 2003. We evaluated the reporting rates of notifiable communicable diseases before and after the implementation of the electronic reporting- system. METHODS: The electronic reporting system, which was integrated to the computerized physician order entry system, was designed to monitor KCD-4 codes at the time of every order entry. Whenever the system recognized the predetermined codes of notifiable communicable diseases, it generated an alert box to recommend reporting: and then a physician could fill up an electronic report form, which was collected and faxed to the local public health authority by the Infection Control Unit. Reporting rate of notifiable communicable diseases in 2002, when the conventional paper-based reporting system was used, was assumed comparing the number of cases reported actually and that of cases identified to be reported by reviewing the medical records and electronic database. RESULTS: From March to July 2003, 181 cases with tuberculosis and 14 with other communicable diseases were reported whereas 106 and 9 cases were reported respectively for the same 5-month period in 2002. Reporting rate using the conventional reporting system in 2002 was assumed to be 61% and 39% respectively. Conclusions: Using a disease code-based electronic reporting system, reporting of notifiable communicable diseases could be improved compared with conventional paper-based reporting system.
Communicable Diseases* ; Disease Notification ; Infection Control ; Korea ; Medical Informatics Applications ; Medical Order Entry Systems ; Medical Records ; Public Health ; Tuberculosis

Cytologic findings of pleural effusion in three cases of rhabdomyosarcoma are reported. Case 1 was a pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma which had devoped at the chest wall of an elderly male patient and caused pleural effusion. The cytologic features were consistent with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma, that was, showing loose clusters, cellular pleomorphism, and abundant finely vesicular cytoplasm. Cases 2 and 3 were embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas in young adults. Primary site was the oral cavity in case 1, but unknown in case 2 and case 3. The effusion cytology was similar in these cases. Clustered or isolated small round cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and scanty cytoplasm were smeared. The cohesiveness of tumor cells was weak and the cells did not show linear arrangement or nuclear molding. Effusion cytology in a sarcoma patient would be diagnostic when the primary site and the type of sarcoma were already known.
Aged ; Cytoplasm ; Fungi ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous* ; Humans ; Male ; Mouth ; Pleural Effusion ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal ; Sarcoma ; Thoracic Wall ; Young Adult

Injuries of the cervical spine from C3 down to C7 are complex and potentially devastating injuries. The treatment of this condition is complicated and controversial. However, there is an increasing tendency to stabilize unstsble cervical spine injuries surgically with the benefit of good stability of the spine, easy nursing care, early mobilization and rehabilotation. We analysed clinically the 26 patients with unstable lower cervical spine injuries st the department of orthopaedics, National Medical Center from Jan. 1979 to Dec. 1988. The results obtained were as follows:1. The prevalent age distribution was between 20 and 50 years of age(71%), and the ratio between male and female was 6: l. 2. The most common cause of the injury was traffic accident(42%), and the most frequent mechanism of injury was distractive-flexion type(42%). 3. In the overall clinical evaluation, 73% of the patients were judged to have had excellent and good results, and the range of the motion was more limited in the patient who underwent posterior fusion due to wide level of fusion. 4. The patients with distractive-flexion injuries with minimal neurologic deficit were at risk of late instability following conservative treatment, and therefore open reduction and posterior fusion may be advisable. 5. The patients who were given posterior fusion were noted to have a few significant late changes, but the patient with anterior fusion carried a high incidence of progressive kyphotic deformity and persisting, pain. 6. When anterior fusion is used in the patient with posterior instability for the purpose of cord decompression, anterior cervical plate is valuable than the fusion with graft only in view of preventing progressive kyphotic deformity.
Age Distribution ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Decompression ; Early Ambulation ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Nursing Care ; Spine ; Transplants

OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion and infertility. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies were analyzed by Diluted Russell's Viper Venom Test (DRVVT) and solid phase enzyme immunoassay, respectively. RESULTS: In 200 patients with infertility, there were 6 cases (3%) with positive lupus anticoagulants or anticardiolipin antibodies. Of these, 3 patients (1.5%) showed positive lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies, respectively. In 120 patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion, there were 13 cases (10.8%) of positive lupus anticoagulants or anticardiolipin antibodies. Of these, one patient (1%) showed lupus anticoagulants and 12 patients (10%) showed anticardiolipin antibodies. But in two groups, there was no cases with positive lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies. CONCLUSION: Lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies are definite cause of recurrent spontaneous abortion. There has been a speculation that they might be associated with infertility and repeated IVF failures. But it was found that the role of lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies in these cases are not clear.
Abortion, Spontaneous* ; Antibodies, Anticardiolipin* ; Anticoagulants* ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Infertility* ; Pregnancy ; Prevalence ; Russell's Viper ; Venoms

We reviewed 39 consecutive cases of extracapsular cataract extraction and with or without posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation combined with trabeculectomy in 35 glucoma patients. In 26 (66.7%) of the 39 cases, intraocular lens was implanted. The mean preoperative intraocular pressure was 26.3mmHg on glaucoma medications Postoperatively, the average intraocular pressure was 15.5mmHg which was 1O.8mmHg(41.5%) lower than the preoperative level. Visual acuity improved in 37 eyes (94.9%) with an average improvement of 4.3 lines at postopertive 6 months. The postoperative complications are hyphema (5 yeyes. 12.8%), shallow anterior chamber (3 eyes, 7.7%), fibroexudative membrane (3 eyes, 7.7%) and endophthalmitis(1 eye, 2.6%).
Anterior Chamber ; Cataract Extraction ; Cataract* ; Glaucoma* ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Intraocular Pressure ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Lenses, Intraocular ; Membranes ; Postoperative Complications ; Trabeculectomy ; Visual Acuity

We reviewed 39 consecutive cases of extracapsular cataract extraction and with or without posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation combined with trabeculectomy in 35 glucoma patients. In 26 (66.7%) of the 39 cases, intraocular lens was implanted. The mean preoperative intraocular pressure was 26.3mmHg on glaucoma medications Postoperatively, the average intraocular pressure was 15.5mmHg which was 1O.8mmHg(41.5%) lower than the preoperative level. Visual acuity improved in 37 eyes (94.9%) with an average improvement of 4.3 lines at postopertive 6 months. The postoperative complications are hyphema (5 yeyes. 12.8%), shallow anterior chamber (3 eyes, 7.7%), fibroexudative membrane (3 eyes, 7.7%) and endophthalmitis(1 eye, 2.6%).
Anterior Chamber ; Cataract Extraction ; Cataract* ; Glaucoma* ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Intraocular Pressure ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Lenses, Intraocular ; Membranes ; Postoperative Complications ; Trabeculectomy ; Visual Acuity

No abstract available.
Humans

This study was conducted to determine the trend of domestic and overseas literature in microbiology and infectious diseases published by Korean researchers over the past five decades. Using 23 search terms related to microbiology and infectious diseases, domestic and overseas publications were retrieved with bibliographic databases, KoreaMed and PubMed, respectively. For all search terms, the number of Korean publications from both databases increased up to 50 times in the 2000s compared with that of the 1980s. For the majority of the search terms, the numbers of domestic literature retrieved with KoreaMed were higher than those of overseas literature retrieved with PubMed. However, for several search terms, the results obtained with PubMed outnumbered those of KoreaMed in the last decade. In summary, the number of publications related to microbiology and infectious diseases by Korean researchers have recently increased both in domestic and overseas medical journals.
Communicable Diseases ; Databases, Bibliographic

BACKGROUNDS: Korean bibliographic databases are used to search and retrieve domestic literature for research purposes. However, doubts about their accuracy, completeness, and coverage have been raised since their development and implementation. There have been controversies as to which database is best for searching domestic medical literature. This study was conducted to investigate the usefulness of Korean bibliographic databases in identifying domestic literature related to microbiology and infectious diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four bibliographic databases, including KoreaMed (www.koreamed.org), KISS (kiss.kstudy.com), KMbase (kmbase.medric.or.kr), and RISS (www.riss4u.net), were used for this study. One public bibliographic database, which discontinued its update, and other commercial database services were not evaluated. After performing searches utilizing representative terms related to microbiology and infectious diseases, numbers of retrieved results were compared. The results of bibliographic records gathered by using KoreaMed were compared with those of three other databases; only the journals published from 2001 to 2007 were taken into account. RESULTS: The number of search results retrieved by using each of the four databases ranged from 3 to 5,444 records depending on the search terms. In general, more search results were identified with KMbase and RISS than with KoreaMed and KISS. The concordance rate of the search results, utilizing the same search terms, between KoreaMed and three other databases ranged from 0% to 93.3%. Bibliographic errors including wrong order of authors, misspelled authors' names, use of the old journal title, and duplicate records were found in all databases. CONCLUSIONS: Total number of results obtained from each of the four Korean bibliographic databases using the same search terms was different and discordant. Researchers are recommended to take into account their characteristics and limitations when using Korean bibliographic databases for medical researches.
Communicable Diseases ; Databases, Bibliographic ; Medical Informatics

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections affecting women. One in four of these women will develop a recurrence. Recurrent UTIs are common among otherwise healthy women with anatomically and physiologically normal urinary tracts. These conditions have a significant effect on their quality of life and have a considerable economic impact due to health care costs. This article will review risk factors predisposing pre- and postmenopausal women to recurrent UTIs, and discuss antimicrobial prophylaxis and other non-antimicrobial preventive measures, including modification of behavioral factors, estrogen, and cranberry products.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Bacterial Infections ; Cystitis ; Estrogens ; Female ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Pyelonephritis ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Urinary Tract ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vaccinium macrocarpon