As B.C.G. vaccination is being given extensively to uninfected children in this country. It has become important for pediatricians, general practitioners and public health people to differentiate natural conversion of response to tubercle bacilli from B.C.G. conversion. The authors have investigated this problem by studying 993 pupils in a primary school in Seoul. In our investigation, the difference between the convesion rate with 1/2,000 O.T. and 1/10,000 O.T. at various intervals after B.C.G. vaccination in the B.C.G.- converted group is statistically significant, whereas in the naturally converted group, the difference between the two groups is not statistically significant. There also is a difference in local reaction between the naturally converted group and the B.C.G.-converted group, although it is hard to distinguish with a single reaction whether it is due to natural conversion or to B.C.G. conversion. From both the results of our study and a some of the previous articles on this matter, the authors conclude that natural conversion to tuberculosis may be differentiated from B.C.G. conversion by using both 1/2,000 O.T. and 1/10,000 O.T. at the same time rather than using 1/2,000 O.T. alone, as practiced until now in this country, in order that the reaction may not be erroneous1y read as a naturally-converted positive reaction always.
Child ; Follow-Up Studies* ; General Practitioners ; Humans ; Public Health ; Pupil ; Seoul ; Tuberculin Test* ; Tuberculin* ; Tuberculosis* ; Vaccination*

Telepathology systems will be common systems in hospitals. The two systems were designed and implemented in web environments for test. One was implemented with the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) technique. The other system was implemented in the form of ActiveX. The histopathological materials were stained by Hematoxylin and Eosin. By the Donpisha CCD camera attached to an Olympus BX-51 optical microscope 180 color images come to be acquired. For evaluation of the systems, transmission times and telediagnosis concordance rates were measured. Image processing ability was tested using two telepathology systems. For the local area test, system I using CORBA had measured image transmission times of 0.1 s, 0.2 s, and 0.4 s at the file sizes of 100 K byte, 900 K byte and 3.6 M byte respectively. Transmission times for system II using Component Object Model (COM) were slightly slower, ranging from 0.02 s to 0.05 s. In the long distance area test, system II transmission times were 0.5 s, 0.8 s, and 2.0 s. The overall concordance rate of telediagnosis for the 180 images was 78.3%. In this study, we compared our systems about image transmission, and processing for the further development of system configurations.
Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Hematoxylin ; Internet* ; Telepathology*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to characterize the distribution of posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) aneurysm, the computed tomography (CT) patterns of hemorrhage, and the clinical presentation thereof. METHODS: We reviewed the records 1050 patients with intracranial aneurysms treated at our institution between January 1999 and November 2003. Upon clinical review of radiological data and postoperative reports, we found 20 patients with PICA aneurysms. RESULTS: The incidence of PICA aneurysms was 1.9% of all intracranial aneurysms. The location of PICA aneurysms varied. Of the 20 PICA aneurysm cases, ruptured aneurysms accounted for 18 cases. Review of only these ruptured cases resulted in the following observations : Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was presented in 94.4% of cases. Isolated infratentorial and supratentorial SAH was present in 7 cases (38.9%) and 2 cases (11.1%), respectively. SAH involving the infratentorial and supratentorial region was present in 8 cases (44.5%). Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) with or without associated SAH was seen in 77.8% of cases, whereas isolated IVH was seen in only one case. Perimedullary large hematoma was present in 50% of cases, while the hematoma was consistently thicker on the aneurysm side. Hydrochephalus was present in 16 cases (88.9%). Although patients' postoperative outcomes were excellent or good in 70% of the above cases, initial angiograms failed to reveal ruptured PICA aneurysms in 3 cases. CONCLUSION: PICA aneurysm is rare in most aneurysm cases. However, awareness of a possibility of PICA aneurysm and its features are still nonetheless important. IVH and hydrocephalus are commonly presented with a ruptured PICA aneurysm and complete vertebral angiography is a required to recognize this condition.
Aneurysm* ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Angiography ; Arteries* ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Incidence ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Pica ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

The major clinical advantages of dialyzer reuse are improved biocompatibility and a decrease in the frequency of the first use syndrome. Dialyzer reuse has made it possible to use biocompatible high flux membranes of the high price. Although dialyzer reuse in chronic hemodialysis patients is commonly practiced in the United States, it is not widely accepted in Korea. At Ajou University Hospital, we have reprocessed dialyzers since March 2000, and here we report our clinical experience for the 1st 8 weeks. We used high flux dialyzers with reprocessing practice in 24 chronic hemodialysis patients. Dialyzer reprocessing was performed by an automated machine(Renatron) using Renalin. We limited reuse upto 20 times, and we were able to reuse dialyzers upto this number in 17 patients. During the study period, no significant complication was observed as a result of the reuse program. Kt/Vurea and urea reduction ratio(URR) were not different between high and low flux dialyzers(1.41+/-0.29 vs 1.61+/-0.41 for Kt/Vurea and 66.70+/- 6.40% vs 65.69+/-5.63% for URR). In contrast, beta2-microglobulin(beta2M) reduction ratio and clearance were greater in high flux dialyzers than low flux dialyzers(p<0.001, -9.52+/-20.28% vs 42.00+/-8.61% for beta2M reduction ratio and 9.54+/-11.71mL/min vs 48.54+/-14.33mL/min for beta2M clearance). Kt/Vurea, URR, beta2M reduction ratio and beta2M clearance did not deteriorate with the increasing number of reuse. The predialysis values of beta2M decreased by 51% after 19 uses(p<0.001, 37.04+/-13.39 to 18.98+/-3.41mg/L). In summary, during the short pilot study period of 8 weeks, no significant clinical complication was encountered as a result of dialyzer reuse, and our results confirmed the effects of high flux dialyzers on removal of beta2M.
Humans ; Kidneys, Artificial* ; Korea ; Membranes ; Pilot Projects ; Renal Dialysis ; United States ; Urea

The major clinical advantages of dialyzer reuse are improved biocompatibility and a decrease in the frequency of the first use syndrome. Dialyzer reuse has made it possible to use biocompatible high flux membranes of the high price. Although dialyzer reuse in chronic hemodialysis patients is commonly practiced in the United States, it is not widely accepted in Korea. At Ajou University Hospital, we have reprocessed dialyzers since March 2000, and here we report our clinical experience for the 1st 8 weeks. We used high flux dialyzers with reprocessing practice in 24 chronic hemodialysis patients. Dialyzer reprocessing was performed by an automated machine(Renatron) using Renalin. We limited reuse upto 20 times, and we were able to reuse dialyzers upto this number in 17 patients. During the study period, no significant complication was observed as a result of the reuse program. Kt/Vurea and urea reduction ratio(URR) were not different between high and low flux dialyzers(1.41+/-0.29 vs 1.61+/-0.41 for Kt/Vurea and 66.70+/- 6.40% vs 65.69+/-5.63% for URR). In contrast, beta2-microglobulin(beta2M) reduction ratio and clearance were greater in high flux dialyzers than low flux dialyzers(p<0.001, -9.52+/-20.28% vs 42.00+/-8.61% for beta2M reduction ratio and 9.54+/-11.71mL/min vs 48.54+/-14.33mL/min for beta2M clearance). Kt/Vurea, URR, beta2M reduction ratio and beta2M clearance did not deteriorate with the increasing number of reuse. The predialysis values of beta2M decreased by 51% after 19 uses(p<0.001, 37.04+/-13.39 to 18.98+/-3.41mg/L). In summary, during the short pilot study period of 8 weeks, no significant clinical complication was encountered as a result of dialyzer reuse, and our results confirmed the effects of high flux dialyzers on removal of beta2M.
Humans ; Kidneys, Artificial* ; Korea ; Membranes ; Pilot Projects ; Renal Dialysis ; United States ; Urea

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite of increasing numbers of reports on intraductal papillary mucinous tumor (IPMT), there is still difficulty in its' diagnosis, treatment and prediction of prognosis. The purpose of this multicenter study was to evaluate the clinico-pathological features of IPMT in Korea and suggest the prediction criteria of malignancy in IPMT. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinico-pathological data of 208 patients who underwent operations with IPMT between 1993 and 2002 at 28 institutes in Korea. RESULTS: Of the 208 patients with a mean age of 60.5+/-9.7 years, 147 were men and 61 were women. 124 patients underwent pancreatoduodenectomy, 42 distal pancreatectomy, 17 total pancreatectomy, 25 limited pancreas resection. Benign cases were 128 (adenoma (n=62), borderline (n=66)) and malignant cases were 80 (non-invasive (n=29), invasive (n=51)). A significant difference in 5-year survival was observed between benign and malignant group (92.6% vs. 65.3%; p=0.006). Of the 6 factors (age, location, duct dilatation, tumor appearance, main duct type, and tumor size) that showed the statistical difference in univariate analysis between benign and malignant group, we found three significant factors (tumor appearance (p=0.009), tumor size (p=0.023), and dilated duct size (p=0.010)) by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Although overall prognosis of IPMT is superior to ordinary pancreatic cancer, more curative surgery is recommended in malignant IPMT. Tumor appearance (papillary), tumor size (> or =30 mm) and dilated duct size (> or = 12 mm) can be used as preoperative indicators of malig-nancy in IPMT.
Academies and Institutes ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Mucins* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pancreas* ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies