No abstract available.
Seroepidemiologic Studies*

In the last years, according to the increasing incidence of measles and other viral diseases, it have been needed to study on not only the fundamental epidemiological characteristics of mumps and measles but also judgement on the effectiveness of vaccine that meet our domestic situation. The author carried out questionnaire to obtain epidemiological characteristics and vaccine efficacy of mumps on epidemics of mumps in one primary school in Hwasung-kun, Kyonggi Do from Feb. to July, 1994. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Total students was 556, but 446(78.4%) responded to the questionnaire. Among that 446,130(29. 1%) have suffered from mumps. From 9 to 10 year old students had the high attack rates, especially 10 year olds has the highest(39. 7%). 2. From Feb. 2, 1994, first case was on, to July 6, 1994, the epidemic was continues, and attack rate was higest in May(50. 5%). 3. Among the 130 mumps patients, 5 have suffered from complication(3.8%) : encephalitis 3(2 in male, 1 in female). 4. Vaccination rate was 91%, and as ages were lowered, the rates were higher. 5. Attack rate was higher in group who had time interval after vaccination less than 5 years than total attack rate, and was higher in group who had been vaccined after 5 year old. 6. Attack rate in vaccinated group was 27.3%. 7. Vaccine efficacies, be judged by three methods of analysis according to case definition and vaccination status, were 37.4 39. 2%. 8. Factors that have significantly affected the mumps epidemic were vaccination status and vaccination age.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Encephalitis ; Epidemiologic Studies* ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Measles ; Mumps* ; Vaccination ; Virus Diseases ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Small-caliber esophagogastroduodenoscopy (scEGD) was developed to facilitate unsedated EGD, and has many advantages over sedated EGD in terms of costs and complications. This study compared the feasibility and tolerance of scEGD with unsedated conventional EGD (cEGD), and examined the effect of the endoscopic diameter on the patients' tolerance. METHODS: A total of 114 patients who were referred for a diagnostic EGD was randomly allocated to undergo either scEGD (GIF XP260, Olympus, diameter 6.5 mm; n=57) or cEGD (GIF XQ240, Olympus, diameter 9.0 mm; n=57). After EGD, the patients and endoscopists completed questionnaires on the level of discomfort, satisfaction and acceptance of the examination. RESULTS: Patients in the scEGD group reported significantly less discomfort (choking, pain and nausea) and more overall satisfaction than those in the cEGD group. Patients in the scEGD group were more willing to choose the same procedure again if medically indicated. According to multivariate analysis, the ultrathin endoscopic diameter itself was positively associated with the increased patients' satisfaction (odds ratio 3.07, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: scEGD has comparable feasibility and accuracy but is more tolerable than cEGD. scEGD may have a role in clinical practice by minimizing the level of discomfort during unsedated EGD.
Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis

KearnsSayre syndrome (KSS) is a mitochondrial DNA disorder characterized by the onset before age 20 years, progressive external opthalomoplegia, atypical retinal pigmentation and cardiac conduction disturbance. This report describes a 24-year-old woman who experienced syncope due to complete atrioventricular block complicated by KSS. At 12 years old, she was diagnosed KSS. The consecutive change of EKG shows typical progression of cardiac conduction disturbance of KSS. She was successfully treated with implantation of a pacemaker.
Atrioventricular Block* ; Child ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Kearns-Sayre Syndrome ; Pigmentation ; Retinaldehyde ; Syncope ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung(CCAM) is characterized by an excessive overgrowth of terminal bronchiolar-type structures with a lack of mature alveoli. This study was performed to evaluate the manifestation among different pathologic classification. METHODS: Seventeen patients admitted to the Samsung Medical Center from January 1995 to June 2000, were investigated for their clinical characteristics, radiologic findings, timing of treatment and post-operative outcome in each type. RESULTS: 1) Seven patients have type 1, while 9 cases were type 2. One case was diagnosed as having mixed type. Mean ages at diagnosis are 7 years 4 months. 2) 4 cases had experienced respiratory diseases that are pneumonia(3 cases), empyema(2 cases) and lung abscess(2 cases). 3) The most common clinical manifestations are fever and cough, followed by chest pain, dyspnea, cyanosis, weak crying and moaning. 4) The left lung(10 cases), especially left lower lobe(8 cases) is involved more frequently than right lung. 5) Associated anomalies are pulmonary sequestration, pectus excavatum, diaphragmatic hernia. 6) All lesions were surgically removed and all of patients survived. In our cases, there was no difference in outcome by age at operation. CONCLUSION: In this study, CCAM show various clinical manifestations, and the outcome is good irrespective of their pathologic type and age at operation. Probably this is due to few associated anomalies in our cases, but it is not clear whether this is common finding in Korea. Our findings suggest that CCAM is treated successfully by surgical removal which can be delayed unless respiratory symptoms are evident.
Bronchopulmonary Sequestration ; Chest Pain ; Classification ; Cough ; Crying ; Cyanosis ; Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation of Lung, Congenital* ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Fever ; Funnel Chest ; Hernia, Diaphragmatic ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ischemic colitis mainly occurs in elderly patients and encompasses a wide clinical spectrum from mild, transient to severe and gangrenous forms. Since life expectancy is now increasing, more often physicians will encounter patients with this disease entity. Our aim was to review the clinical features of ischemic colitis and to analyze the effect of clinical factors on the duration of hospital stay and evaluate predictive factors of poor prognosis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 294 patients diagnosed with ischemic colitis during 10 years from March 1997 to February 2007. RESULTS: The mean hospital stay was 12.4+/-6.6 days. According to the use of multiple regression analysis, age, sex, clinical symptoms, hypertension, constipation, use of laxatives or antibiotics did not affect hospital stay. Factors that significantly increased hospital stay were diabetes mellitus (p=0.007), colonic involvement of more than three segments (p=0.009) and the presence of an ulcer on a colonoscopic finding (p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes mellitus, colonic involvement of more than three segments and the presence of an ulcer on a colonoscopic finding are important predictive factors of poor prognosis in patients with ischemic colitis. In cases with one of these factors, more intensive treatment options should be adapted.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Colitis ; Colitis, Ischemic ; Colon ; Constipation ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Laxatives ; Length of Stay ; Life Expectancy ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND: Antithyroid drugs (ATDs) can lead to the development of agranulocytosis, which is the most serious adverse effect. Characteristics of ATD-induced agranulocytosis (AIA) have seldom been reported due to the rarity. In this study, we characterized the clinical features for AIA in Korean patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from patients with AIA diagnosed between 1997 and 2014 at four tertiary hospitals. Agranulocytosis was defined as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) below 500/mm3. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients (11 males, 43 females) was 38.2+/-14.9 years. Forty-eight patients (88.9%) with AIA had fever and sore throat on initial presentation, 20.4% of patients developed AIA during the second course of treatment, and 75.9% of patients suffered AIA within 3 months after initiation of ATD. The patients taking methimazole (n=39) showed lower levels of ANC and more frequent use of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor than propylthiouracil (n=15) users. The median duration of agranulocytosis was 5.5 days (range, 1 to 20). No differences were observed between the long (> or =6 days) and short recovery time (< or =5 days) groups in terms of age, gender, ATDs, duration of ATDs, or initial ANC levels. Four patients (7.4%) who were taking ATDs for less than 2 months died of sepsis on the first or second day of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The majority of AIA incidents occur in the early treatment period. Considering the high fatality rate of AIA, an early aggressive therapeutic approach is critical and patients should be well informed regarding the warning symptoms of the disease.
Agranulocytosis* ; Antithyroid Agents ; Fever ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Graves Disease ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Methimazole ; Neutrophils ; Pharyngitis ; Propylthiouracil ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND: Circulating apolipoprotein J (ApoJ) is closely associated with insulin resistance; however, the effect of exercise on circulating ApoJ levels and the association of ApoJ with metabolic indices remain unknown. Here, we investigated whether a combined exercise can alter the circulating ApoJ level, and whether these changes are associated with metabolic indices in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned into either an exercise (EXE, n=30) or control (CON, n=15) group. Participants in the EXE group were enrolled in a 12-week program consisting of a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises. At baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, body composition and metabolic parameters including homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and serum ApoJ levels were assessed. RESULTS: In the EXE group, ApoJ levels decreased 26.3% and 19.4%, relative to baseline, at 8 and 12 weeks, respectively. Between-group differences were significant at 8 and 12 weeks (P<0.05 and P<0.001, respectively). In the EXE group, 12 weeks of exercise resulted in significant decreases in body weight, percent body fat, and HOMA-IR indices. Concurrently, weight-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM/wt) was increased in the EXE group compared with the CON group. Importantly, changes in the ApoJ level were significantly correlated with changes in ASM/wt. CONCLUSION Exercise training resulted in a significant decrease in the circulating ApoJ level, with changes in ApoJ associated with an improvement in some insulin resistance indices. These data suggest that circulating ApoJ may be a useful metabolic marker for assessing the effects of exercise on insulin resistance.