BACKGROUND: Elderly population in Japan was 14.5% of whole population in 1997, it is estimated 27.4% in 2025 and 32.3% in 2050. Average life span in 1995 was 76.8yrs for men, 82.5yrs for women Now Japan can be called by a society of advanced age, so there can be so many economic and welfare problems to be resolved. METHODS: Increasing of the advanced aged and the life span is calling for Japan to take a fundamental countermeasures for aging welfare policy. RESULTS: Aging welfare policy is changed from poor relief and selective one to general and universal one. For example, delivery system of welfare service is changed from one-way service supply system by administration to service utilization system by person with needs. CONCLUSION: The objects for service is focused not only at low income peoples, but also at all members of nation regardless of incomes. And medical health service is also focused not only at treatment of disease before, but also at councelling and care for improvement of health.
Aged ; Aging* ; Female ; Health Services ; Humans ; Japan* ; Male

The improved survival rate of premature infants requiring intensive care, shows an increased risk for nosocomial infections such as disseminated fungal infection. Renal candidasis usually occurs secondary to systemic disease, and can Iead to obstructive uropathy by fungus ball. A male neonate was born in week 28 of the gestational period. His birth weight was 1200gm. He required mechanical ventilation and surfactant for respiratory distress syndrome, umbilical artery and vein catheterization, percutaneous central veneous catheterization(PCVC) for parenteral nutrition, steroid, aminophylline and broad spectrum anibiotics. Hypertension developed on the 29th hospital day, but was not controlled by diuretics and antihypertensive drugs. on the 40th hospital day, he had abdominal distension, anuria, and azotemia. A Renal ultrasonogram showed that the ureteropelvic junction of the left kidney was completely obstructed with fungus balls. A percutaneous nephrostorny tube, made in a pigtail shape by hand, was inserted under fluoroscopy guidance, and the obstruction of the pelvis was resolved by wire manipulation. Parenteral amphotericin B and oral flucytocine were started, and the left renal pelvis was directly drained and irrigated by percutaneous nephrostomy tube. Candida albicans(C. albicuns) was cultured from urine and a percutaneous central venous catheter tip. His general condition improved, and follow up urine culture revealed no fungus. On follow-up renal ultrasonogram, renal cortex echogenicity and fungus ball had disappeared except for mild left renal calyectasis and pelvic thickening. This report describes a case of obstructive uropathy by fungus ball in systemic candidiasis of prematurity, and reviews the related literature.
Aminophylline ; Amphotericin B ; Antihypertensive Agents ; Anuria ; Azotemia ; Birth Weight ; Candida ; Candidiasis ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Central Venous Catheters ; Cross Infection ; Diuretics ; Fluoroscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fungi ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Critical Care ; Kidney ; Kidney Pelvis ; Male ; Nephrostomy, Percutaneous* ; Parenteral Nutrition ; Pelvis ; Respiration, Artificial ; Survival Rate ; Ultrasonography ; Umbilical Arteries ; Veins

Effects of thoracentesis on thoracic impedance and cardiac performance were studied in patients with uncomplicated unilateral tuberculous pleural effusion. The speed of the removal of the pleural effusion in thoracentesis was essentially similar to that of a generally used for therapeutic purpose in daily practice. Thoracic impedance was measured in 23 cases before, 4 and 10 minutes after thoracentesis to the amount of pleural effusion aspirated was observed. In 11 cases out of 23, the changes in cardiac performance as assessed by stroke volume, cardiac output, heart rate, heather index and ratio of pre-ejection period to left ventricular ejection time(PEP/LVET) were observed 4 minutes after 150 ml to 1,000 ml of thoracentesis. In these cases, stroke volume, cardiac output, and Heather index were determined from impedance cardiograms, and PEP/LVET from mechanocardiograms recorded simultaneously with the former. A significant increase in thoracic impedance was observed both 4 and 10 minutes after thoracentesis. There was a slight but a significant correlation between the changes in thoracic impedance and the amount of pleural fluid aspirated only 4 minutes after thoracentesis. Thoracentesis showed no consistent influence on cardiac performance as reflected to stroke volume, cardiac output, heart rate, heart index and PEP/LVET. These facts suggest that measurement of thoracic impedance may be a useful method reflecting alterations in pleural fluid volumes, particularly when it occurs in a relatively short period of time, and the effects of thoracentesis of less than one liter on the cardiac functions as determined by the above-mentioned parameters were variable.
Cardiac Output ; Electric Impedance* ; Heart ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion ; Stroke Volume

Charcot spine is a progressive and destructive process that affects the vertebral bodies, intervertebral discs, and posterior facets. It is the result from repetitive microtrauma in patients who have decreased joint protective mechanisms due to loss of deep pain and proprioceptive sensation, typically because of spinal cord injury. The objective of the study is to report an unusual case of Charcot spine, as a late complication of traumatic spinal cord injury, treated by a circumferential arthrodesis performed with a single staged posterolateral costotransversectomy approach.
Arthrodesis ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Joints ; Sensation ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Spine*

PURPOSE: This study was performed to describe the clinical manifestations of hospitalized children due to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection. METHODS: This study included 40 children who were hospitalized for varicella or herpes zoster at Seoul National University Children's Hospital, 2009-2012. Diagnosis of VZV infection was confirmed by VZV PCR or culture from vesicular fluid. Medical records were reviewed to collect clinical features and outcome, antiviral treatment, history of varicella vaccination, and underlying diseases. RESULTS: Sixteen patients with varicella and 24 patients with herpes zoster were included. Their median age was 10.5 years (16 days-19 years). Thirty-five (87.5%) patients had underlying diseases. Among 24 patients with herpes zoster, 11 patients had previous history of varicella and 1 had herpes zoster. Twenty patients (50%) had a history of varicella vaccination, and 19 immunocompromised patients had VZV infection despite of vaccination. Most (95%) patients were treated by intravenous or oral acyclovir, and no treatment failure of intravenous acyclovir was found. The median duration of fever was 4.4 days (1-10 days), and that of antiviral treatment was 12 days (7-23 days) in immunocompromised patients. Immunocompromised patients received longer duration of antiviral treatment than imunocompetent patients (P=0.014). Eleven (27.5%) immunocompromised patients had postherpetic neuralgia, 2 (5%) had proven co-infection by Streptococcus pyogenes and Klebsiella oxytoca, and 1 (2.5%) complicated with pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Immunocompromised children require longer duration of treatment and are at risk of severe complication associated with VZV infection. Early initiation of antiviral therapy and close monitoring are necessary for those in immunocpompromised conditions.
Acyclovir ; Chickenpox ; Child ; Child, Hospitalized* ; Coinfection ; Diagnosis ; Fever ; Herpes Zoster ; Herpesvirus 3, Human* ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Klebsiella oxytoca ; Medical Records ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seoul ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; Treatment Failure ; Vaccination

A glomus tumor is an uncommon soft tissue tumor that is most commonly found in the subungual area and a glomus originating in the trachea is extremely rare. Histologically and ultrastructurally, these tumors have been divided into three subtypes: classic glomus tumors, glomangiomas, and glomangiomyomas. Glomangiomyomas account for less than 10% of all glomus tumors and are the least common type. We report a case of a 54-year-old man with glomangiomyoma of the trachea who presented with stridor. We treated the tumor by segmental resection and primary repair via a transcervical approach.
Glomus Tumor ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Sounds ; Trachea ; Tracheal Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: The effective ventricular function during ejection and filling is likely to depend on the coordinated action of the longitudinally and circumferentially orientated myocardial fibers and the function of these longitudinal fibers has not been extensively studied. METHODS: The role of longitudinally and circumferentially orientated fibers in left ventricular wall motion was evaluated by M-mode echocardiograms of the mitral ring(whose motion reflect long axis change) and the standard minor axis(left ventricular posterior wall), simultaneous recordings of phonocardiograms and electrocardiograms on the paper (speed 100mm/sec), in 24 healty individuals, 17 patients with mitral stenosis, 11 patients with open mitral commissurotomy and 17 mitral valve replaced patients. RESULTS: In the controls long axis shortening significantly preceded minor axis shortening (phase difference between two axes : 20+/-3 msec, mean+/-SEM) during early systole, indicating left ventricle become more spherical. This phase difference was also observed in the patients with mitral stenosis and in those with open mitral commissurotomy. In patients with mitral valve replacement(MVR) whose papillary muscles had been sectioned, the onset of long axis shortening was more delayed during early systole than that of short axis(-33+/-6msec) and the end of shortening was also prolonged to early diastole more than that of normal controls (54+/-3 msec vs 90+/-8 msec, mean+/-SEM, p<0.01 by t-test). CONCLUSION: We observed the time relations between long and short axis motion in normal controls. It can be concluded that the reversed time relation in patients with MVR is one of the important factors which may effect negatively on ventricular function and long-term prognosis, thus the surgical procedures to preserve papillary annular continuity should be considered in patients with mitral valvular disease. And the controlled, prospective, clinical trials with homogenous groups of patients are needed to evaluate the potential benefits of papillary annular continuity in preserving atrio-ventricular interaction in patients undergoing mitral valvular surgery.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra* ; Diastole ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Valve Diseases* ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; Papillary Muscles ; Prognosis ; Systole ; Ventricular Function

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and management patterns of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in a secondary hospital (SH) with those in tertiary referral centers (TRC). METHODS: Data from IBD patients in SH and 2 TRCs were retrospectively reviewed. The cumulative thiopurine use rate was compared between hospitals after controlling for different baseline characteristics using propensity score matching. RESULTS: Among the total of 447 patients with IBD, 178 Crohn's disease (CD) and 269 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were included. Regarding initial CD symptoms, patients from SH were more likely to show perianal symptoms, such as anal pain or discharge (56.6% vs. 34.3%, P=0.003), whereas those from TRCs more often had luminal symptoms, such as abdominal pain (54.9% vs. 17.1%, P < 0.001), diarrhea (44.1% vs. 18.4%, P < 0.001), and body weight loss (9.8% vs. 1.3%, P=0.025). Complicating behaviors, such as stricturing and penetrating, were significantly higher in TRCs, while perianal disease was more common in SH. Ileal location was more frequently observed in TRCs. For UC, SH had a more limited extent of disease (proctitis 58.8% vs. 21.2%, P < 0.001). The cumulative azathioprine use rate in SH was significantly lower than that in TRCs in both CD and UC patients after controlling for disease behavior, location, and perianal disease of CD and extent of UC. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical characteristics and management of the IBD patients in SH were substantially different from those in TRCs. Thiopurine treatment was less commonly used for SH patients.
Abdominal Pain ; Azathioprine ; Body Weight ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Phenobarbital ; Propensity Score* ; Retrospective Studies ; Secondary Care ; Tertiary Care Centers*

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an ongoing pandemic; however, the socioeconomic burden of COVID-19 treatment in the pediatric population remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the hospitalization periods and medical costs among children with COVID-19. In total, 145 billing statements for pediatric patients receiving healthcare services because of COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 were used. The study showed that individual treatment costs for children with COVID-19 are approximately USD 2,192 under the Korean National Health Insurance Service System. This study revealed the differences in cost among age groups, determined by the type of hospital wherein admission occurred, as a trend of increasing age, increasing hospitalization time, and increasing cost was observed. Tailored COVID-19 treatment strategies by age group may lower costs and increase the effectiveness of resource allocation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of transcatheter arterial embolization(TAE) and the relationshipbetween therapeutic effect and prognostic factors after this procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-fivepatients with hemoptysis caused by pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) underwent TAE. We reviewed medical records of thehistory and activity of pulmonary TB, and the extent of treatment, and assessed plain chest PA for the extent oflesions ; we also evaluated the angiographic findings of embolized arteries, and embolic agents. The initialsuccess rate, as shown by immediate response, and recurrence during follow-up, were then observed. Using theChi-square test, differences in these findings were analysed. RESULTS: Immediate control of hemoptysis wasachieved in 46 of 55 patients(84%); 24 of 46(52.2%), experienced recurrence. Initial failure and partial responserates were higher in patients with active pulmonary TB(p<0.05) than in those in whom the condition was inactive.The recurrence rate was higher among those who had had pulmonary TB for between one and ten years (p<0.05). Therewas, however, no significant correlation between therapeutic effect and the extent of anti-TB treatment, theextent of lesions seen on plain chest PA, angiographic findings, embolized arteries, and embolic agents. CONCLUSION: The initial success rate of TAE was 84% and the recurrence rate was as high as 52.2%. Both activityand duration of pulmonary TB were prognostic factors in immediate response and recurrence.
Arteries ; Bronchial Arteries ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoptysis* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Recurrence ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*