To study the relationship between the bone mineral density measured by DEXA and QCT methods and to study the factors influencing on the value, bone mineral density in 208 patients with low back pain were measured by the two methods and compared statistically. Ages were varied between 17 to 79(Av. 46.7) years and male and female were 86 and 122. The results of this are as follows; 1. The values of DEXA and QCT showed statistically significant relationship(γ=0.58) as a whole. And bone mineral density in L2, L3 and L4 showed no difference in both groups. 2. Bone loss by aging(per year) in male and female was 0.99% and 1.06% by DEXA, 0,99% and 1.41% by QCT. 3. Body height and weight showed no significant influence of the value in two methods. 4. In body mass index over 27.5, the value measured by QCT was influenced to be diminished while that of DEXA was not influenced. 5. The value by QCT was influenced to be diminished by the increase of age especially over 50 years old in both sex. While the value by DEXA was influenced to be lowered than expected in female over 50 years old. It is concluded that the methods of measurement of bone mineral density have their limitation depend on the age, sex and mass index.
Body Height ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density ; Female ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Male ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Narrow-band UVB phototherapy using 311+-2nm wavelength is in widespread use due to its greater efficacy and, possibly, safety compared with broad-band UVB sources. OBJECTIVE: We performed emollient narrow-band UVB(NBUVB) phototherapy to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety in Korean psoriasis patients. METHODS: Fifteen psoriasis patients received narrow-band UVB phototherapy. We categorized each patient into clearing, improvement, or failure groups based on the therapeutic efficacy, and measured the PASI score every two weeks. RESULTS: 1. Among patients who received narrow-band UVB phototherapy, clearing was shown in 40.0% and improvement in 27.7%, and failure in 33.3%. 2. The total number, duration, final and cumulative doses to achieve grade IV were 16.3, 39 days, 1,050mJ/cm2 and 12,125mJ/cm2 respectively. 3. There were some side effects of NBUVB phototherapy such as pruritus(53.3%) and mild burning(13.3%). CONCLUSION: Narrow-band UVB phototherapy is a effective treatment modality which is convenient and less erythemogenic in psoriasis. It will be used more and more and play an important role in the treatment of psoriasis.
Humans ; Phototherapy* ; Psoriasis*

There is increasing evidence that inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes can promote tumor growth. Retinoblastoma protein (pRb) is the product of the retinoblastoma gene located on chromosome 13q14. pRb negatively regulates cell growth when functioning normally. Mutational inactivation of the Rb gene has been observed in retinoblastomas, osteosarcomas and soft tissue sarcomas. Recently, several other human cancers have also been shown to carry abnormalities of the Rb gene. The potential role of the Rb gene in cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and basal cell caicinomas (BCCs), has not been determined and was the focus of this study. Immunohistochemical expression of pRb in 16 cutaneous SCCs and 17 BCCs was examined. The expression of PCNA was studied in parallel to assess the cellular proliferation rate in these lesions. The pRb and PCNA immunoreactivity were localized to the nuclei of tumor cells. A few pRb and PCNA positive cells were seen in normal squamous epithelium, sebaceous glands, sweat glands and hair follicles. The loss of expression of pRb was seen in 3 of 16 SCCs(18.8%) and 6 of 17 BCCs (35.3%). PCNA immunoreactivity was slightly high in pRb-negative or lower-positive cases. PCNA immunoreactivity was similar to that produced by pRb in some cases. These results suggest that mutational inactivation of the Rb gene may be related to the carcinogenesis of cutaneous SCC and BCC, though the frequency is relatively low.
Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cell Proliferation ; Epithelium ; Genes, Retinoblastoma ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Osteosarcoma ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Retinoblastoma Protein* ; Retinoblastoma* ; Sarcoma ; Sebaceous Glands ; Sweat Glands

Acute dystonic reactions (ADRs) are movement abnormalities characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that typically manifest after exposure to a triggering agent, such as a medication. The specific muscle groups affected determine the type of reaction. For instance, an oculogyric crisis primarily affects the ocular muscles, while oromandibular dystonia involves jaw opening and tongue protrusion. We present the rare case of a 68-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was successfully treated for an ADR. The patient was admitted with loss of consciousness due to respiratory failure. Tracheostomy was promptly performed under sedation with multiple general anesthetic agents. Immediately after tracheostomy, the patient communicated via eye-blinking without any notable abnormalities, just as before the procedure. However, the following day, he became unresponsive to verbal cues and exhibited a decreased level of consciousness, accompanied by tongue dyskinesia, deviation of both eyes to the left, and loss of visual tracking. The patient’s vital signs remained stable. Brain imaging and an electroencephalogram revealed no abnormalities. Treatment with midazolam produced initial improvement; however, due to a significant side effect of hypotension, the treatment was switched to oral diazepam. The patient’s condition gradually improved, and the medication was eventually discontinued without further ADR episodes.

Acute dystonic reactions (ADRs) are movement abnormalities characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that typically manifest after exposure to a triggering agent, such as a medication. The specific muscle groups affected determine the type of reaction. For instance, an oculogyric crisis primarily affects the ocular muscles, while oromandibular dystonia involves jaw opening and tongue protrusion. We present the rare case of a 68-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was successfully treated for an ADR. The patient was admitted with loss of consciousness due to respiratory failure. Tracheostomy was promptly performed under sedation with multiple general anesthetic agents. Immediately after tracheostomy, the patient communicated via eye-blinking without any notable abnormalities, just as before the procedure. However, the following day, he became unresponsive to verbal cues and exhibited a decreased level of consciousness, accompanied by tongue dyskinesia, deviation of both eyes to the left, and loss of visual tracking. The patient’s vital signs remained stable. Brain imaging and an electroencephalogram revealed no abnormalities. Treatment with midazolam produced initial improvement; however, due to a significant side effect of hypotension, the treatment was switched to oral diazepam. The patient’s condition gradually improved, and the medication was eventually discontinued without further ADR episodes.

Acute dystonic reactions (ADRs) are movement abnormalities characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that typically manifest after exposure to a triggering agent, such as a medication. The specific muscle groups affected determine the type of reaction. For instance, an oculogyric crisis primarily affects the ocular muscles, while oromandibular dystonia involves jaw opening and tongue protrusion. We present the rare case of a 68-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was successfully treated for an ADR. The patient was admitted with loss of consciousness due to respiratory failure. Tracheostomy was promptly performed under sedation with multiple general anesthetic agents. Immediately after tracheostomy, the patient communicated via eye-blinking without any notable abnormalities, just as before the procedure. However, the following day, he became unresponsive to verbal cues and exhibited a decreased level of consciousness, accompanied by tongue dyskinesia, deviation of both eyes to the left, and loss of visual tracking. The patient’s vital signs remained stable. Brain imaging and an electroencephalogram revealed no abnormalities. Treatment with midazolam produced initial improvement; however, due to a significant side effect of hypotension, the treatment was switched to oral diazepam. The patient’s condition gradually improved, and the medication was eventually discontinued without further ADR episodes.

Acute dystonic reactions (ADRs) are movement abnormalities characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that typically manifest after exposure to a triggering agent, such as a medication. The specific muscle groups affected determine the type of reaction. For instance, an oculogyric crisis primarily affects the ocular muscles, while oromandibular dystonia involves jaw opening and tongue protrusion. We present the rare case of a 68-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was successfully treated for an ADR. The patient was admitted with loss of consciousness due to respiratory failure. Tracheostomy was promptly performed under sedation with multiple general anesthetic agents. Immediately after tracheostomy, the patient communicated via eye-blinking without any notable abnormalities, just as before the procedure. However, the following day, he became unresponsive to verbal cues and exhibited a decreased level of consciousness, accompanied by tongue dyskinesia, deviation of both eyes to the left, and loss of visual tracking. The patient’s vital signs remained stable. Brain imaging and an electroencephalogram revealed no abnormalities. Treatment with midazolam produced initial improvement; however, due to a significant side effect of hypotension, the treatment was switched to oral diazepam. The patient’s condition gradually improved, and the medication was eventually discontinued without further ADR episodes.

Pseudo-kaposi's sarcoma is a vasoproliferative disorder that may resemble Kaposi's sarcoma, clinically and histologically. In most cases, it has been associated with congenital or iatrogenic arteriovenous fistula and chronic venous insuffiency. We present a 36-year-old male patient with pseudo-Kaposi's sarcoma caused by a deed vein thrombosis in the absence of any detectable underlying etiologic factors.
Adult ; Arteriovenous Fistula ; Humans ; Male ; Sarcoma ; Sarcoma, Kaposi* ; Thrombosis ; Veins ; Venous Thrombosis*

OBJECTIVE: A warfarin-baclofen interaction has been postulated, but has not been documented in the literature. The purpose of this study is to investigate the drug interaction between warfarin and baclofen in rats. METHOD: Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 gm), divided into a control and a study group were used. 0.02 mg/day of warfarin was administered intraperitoneally without baclofen for the first three days. Daily blood samples were drawn after six hours of warfarin adminstration for measurement of prothrombin time (PT) and International Normalized Ratio (INR). On the fourth day, the rats in the study group were given 0.02 mg of warfarin and 0.6 mg of baclofen intraperitoneally. For the control group, 0.02 mg of warfarin was administered on all four days. PT and INR measurements were taken at 3 hours, 6 hours, and 24 hours after the administration of warfarin with or without baclofen. RESULTS: Mean INR value was significantly increased by concomitant baclofen administration after 6 hours, resulting in 1.72 for the control group with warfarin alone and 2.74 for the study group with warfarin and baclofen (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The concomitant administration of warfarin and baclofen affects the anticoagulant effect of warfarin. Physicians should be aware of the risk for increased anticoagulant effect of warfarin when baclofen is also administered.
Animals ; Baclofen* ; Drug Interactions* ; International Normalized Ratio ; Prothrombin Time ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Warfarin*

Myotonic dystrophy (MD) is a systemic disease that affects any level of the gastrointestinal tract. Due to its rare occurrence, achalasia could be misdiagnosed due to symptoms being similar to gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). Moreover, there is no known appropriate treatment for achalasia in patients with MD. A 58-year-old man was diagnosed with type 1 MD. He complained of dyspepsia and chest pain, which showed no improvement even after administering GERD medication. Secondary achalasia was subsequently diagnosed after examining the lower esophageal sphincter by performing a video fluoroscopic-swallowing study (VFSS) and high-resolution manometry. Thereafter, the patient was successfully treated with balloon dilatation, and showed significant improvements in the symptoms. The patient remained well for 1 year. We report a rare case of secondary achalasia in an MD patient. Our study validates that VFSS might be useful for the early diagnosis of achalasia, and esophageal intervention (such as balloon dilatation) should be considered on confirmation of the affliction.