Identification of the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the elderly patient who was scheduled for surgery is vitally important. If appropriate therapeutic and preventive measures should not be instituted, tracheal intubation of the patient should be associated with a number of complications. We experienced a case of acute attack of asthma and pulmonary collapse during endotracheal intubation. A 54-year-old male who was scheduled for an emergency of primary corneo-scleral suture have had history of bronchial asthma. On the preoperative physical examination, there was no specific finding except expiratory wheezing. After endotracheal intubation with the aid of ketamine 2 mg/kg, pancuronium bromide 0.1 mg/kg and lidocaine 2 mg/kg, iv, acute asthmatic attack was appeared. Breathing sounds on the both lung fields can not be audible during manual ventilation and SpO(2) was dropped to 70% at F(1)O(2) 1.0. To relieve asthmatic attack, epinephrine(1: 1.000) 0.5 ml, sc, aminophylline 4 mg/kg, iv and methyprednisolone 1 mg/kg, iv were injected. Erosion of tracheal mucosa, blood clots and mucous plugs were found by the fibroptic bronchoscopy. After removal of blood clots and mucus, lung compliance and SpO2 were improved. The patient was discharged 7 days later without any complications or sequelae.
Aged ; Aminophylline ; Asthma* ; Bronchoscopy ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Intubation* ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Ketamine ; Lidocaine ; Lung ; Lung Compliance ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Mucus ; Pancuronium ; Physical Examination ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiratory Sounds ; Sutures ; Ventilation

A two days old female baby was transferred to our hospital from local clinic due to respiratory difficulty. The baby was born at 38 weeks gestation through cesarian section in the clinic. At birth, the body weight of the baby was 2280 grams and the Apgar score at 1 minute and 5 minute were 5 and 7. The child had frothing about the nose and mouth, and regurgitated the first feeding almost immediately. Coughing and mild cyanosis were associated with regurgitation. She was diagnosed as distal tracheo-esophageal fistula with proximal esophageal atresia and transferred to our hospital for further evaluation and corrective surgery. She had no other congenital anomaly. The most common defect consists of a blind upper esophageal pouch and a fistula between the lower esophagus and trachea. The preferred surgical approach for treatment of the newborn with this disease is ligation of the defect and primary anastomosis of the esophageal segments by an extra-pleural approach. Proper placement of the tracheal tube is critical. It should be above the carina but below the tracheoesophageal fistula. Nitrous Oxide should be used with caution in a neonate without a gastrostomy, as diffusion of this gas into the distended stomach would be undesirable. The emergency operation was done under general anesthesia. She was tolerable anesthesia and operation. Special respiratory care and continuous antibiotic administration were done. She discharged 18 days later without significant pulmonary complication or sequelae.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Apgar Score ; Body Weight ; Child ; Cough ; Cyanosis ; Diffusion ; Emergencies ; Esophageal Atresia* ; Esophagus ; Female ; Fistula ; Gastrostomy ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Ligation ; Mouth ; Nitrous Oxide ; Nose ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Stomach ; Trachea ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula*

Alveolar Process ; Alveolar Ridge Augmentation ; Bone Regeneration ; Latency Period (Psychology) ; Osteogenesis, Distraction ; Osteotomy ; Prosthodontics

In spite of relatively common references as differential diagnosis in the cases of vertebrobasilar ischemia or infartion, there are only a few reports about dissections of the vertebrobasilar artery(VBA) in Korea. We reviewed medical records and radiographic findings of the 10 patients diagnosed as having dissections of the VBA at Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul City Borame Hospitall since 1994. The 10 patients, all men ranging from 15 to 58 years, did not have the usual risk factors for stroke. In 6 cases, temporally related trauma or exercise was noted. There were also 2 cases of delayed neurologic manifestations from preceeding trauma, developed 74 days and about I year later respectively. Most subjects(9 cases) showed the ischemic symptoms of posterior circulations. Subarachnold hemorrhage was manifested in 2 cases. Magnetic resonance imaging(MRD, magnetic resonance angiography(MRA) and transfemoral cerebral angiography(TFCA) showed irregular narrowing of proximal vertebral artery(VA) with non-visualization of its distal part, thrombosed VA, intramural high signal intensity in VBA, double lumen appearance or fusiform aneurysm. Until now(mean follow up period; 15 months), them are no recurrences with anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy in the cases of vertebrobasilar ischemia. Dissections of the VBA should be included in the differential diagnosis of vertebrobasilar ischemia or infarction, especially in the young population or in the subjects without common risk factors. The diagnosis can be made on the bases of clinical features and the characteristic findings of MRI, MRA and TFCA.
Aneurysm ; Arteries* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Medical Records ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Stroke ; Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency

BACKGROUND: We have studied the 67Ga SPECT to determine the activity of pulmonary tuberculosis, especially in patients with minimal extent of the disease on chest radiographs. Because active minimal pulmonary tuberculosis is sometimes difficult to diagnose by means of initial chest X-ray, sputum examination and 67Ga planar imaging, we compared 67Ga planar imaging with SPECT to evaluate minimal pulmonary tuberculosis activity. METHODS: 67Ga planar imagings and SPECTs of 69 patients suspected of minimal pulmonary tuberculosis by the initial chest X-ray were performed and compared to each other. Active pulmonary tuberculosis was defined by a positive AFB smear and/or culture in the sputum and changes shown on the serial chest X-ray findings. RESULTS: 1)67Ga planar imaging imagings showed positive uptakes in 24 patients and no uptakes in 13 patients, which confirms active pulmonary tuberculosis. But SPECT imagings showed positive uptakes in 25 patients and no uptakes in 12 patients. 2) Patients confirmed with inactive pulmonary tuberculosis showed no up-take on 67Ga planar imaging. Only one of the 32 patients confirmed as having inactive pulmonary tuberculosis showed positive uptake on 67Ga SPECT imaging. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of our study, 67Ga planar imaging and SPECT are both sensitive in detecting the activity of minimal pulmonary tuberculosis. The difference between the two methods is not statistically significant, and the negative predictive value of the 67Ga SPECT is not higher than that of 67Ga planar imaging.
Humans ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

Herba houttuyniae has been used as a constituent of herval medicine prescriptions for the treatment of inflammation, cancer, and other diseases. In the present study, we investigated the cellular effects of herba houttuyniae extract (HHE) and the signal pathways of HHE-induced apoptosis in HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cell line. HHE treatment caused apoptosis of cells as evidenced by discontinuous fragmentation of DNA, the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol, activation of procaspase-9 and caspase-3, and proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Pretreatment of Ac-DEVD-CHO, caspase-3 specific inhibitor, or cyclosporin A, a mitochondrial permeability transition inhibitor, completely abolished HHE-induced DNA fragmentation. Together, these results suggest that HHE possibly causes mitochondrial damage leading to cytochrome c release into cytosol and activation of caspases resulting in PARP cleavage and execution of apoptotic cell death in HL-60 cells.
Apoptosis/*drug effects ; Caspases/*metabolism ; Cytochrome c Group/*metabolism ; Enzyme Activation/drug effects ; HL-60 Cells ; Human ; Medicine, Oriental Traditional ; Membrane Potentials/drug effects ; Mitochondria/*drug effects ; Plant Extracts/*pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal/*chemistry

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate factors affecting the decision to operate in orbital fracture patients. METHODS: This study included 396 orbital fracture patients who visited an urban tertiary teaching hospital emergency room from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2005. We reviewed medical records of the patients. Data collected included a patient's sex, age, mechanism of trauma, wall fractures, associated other facial bone fracture, visual disturbance and ocular motility disturbance. The Chi-square test, t-test were applied in order to evaluate the factors associated with the decision to operate in orbital fracture cases. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to those factors which achieved significance in Chi-square test. RESULTS: As seen in other studies, orbital fractures were frequent in young males ages 10 through 40. The most common cause of orbital fractures was violence (41.0%). In the Chi-square test, medial, lateral and inferior wall fractures; skull vault fracture; nasal septum fracture; diplopia; ocular motor dysfunction; and fractures involving more than two walls were found to be statistically significant in the decision to operate compared to other factors. Diplopia, lateral wall fracture, ocular motor dysfunction, skull vault fracture, and inferior wall fracture were confirmed by multinominal logistic regression analysis as positive predictors of a decision to operate in orbital fracture. CONCLUSION: Orbital wall fracture patient with diplopia, lateral or inferior wall fracture, ocular motor dysfunction, and skull vault fracture are likely to result in surgical intervention.
Diplopia ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Facial Bones ; Forecasting ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Medical Records ; Nasal Septum ; Orbit* ; Orbital Fractures* ; Patient Education as Topic ; Skull ; Violence

Hemorrhage ; Mouth Mucosa

PURPOSE: There is increasing concern about ethical conduct of human research in the field of medicine. The purpose of this study was to assess the ethical review process by institutional review boards for human research articles published in the journal of Korean Society of Emergency Medicine. METHODS: We reviewed human research papers published in the journal of Korean Society of Emergency Medicine from the 1st edition, 1990 to the 6th edition, 2006. A checklist was used to review the articles. RESULTS: The total number of prospective clinical research paper was 250. Among them, there were 63 papers (25.2%) in which the obtaining of informed consent was described in the article. Only two studies (0.8%) published in the journal were noted to have IRB approval. Invasive techniques were employed in 134 studies (53.6%). Among the 134, only 22 (16.4%) mentioned that informed consent taken was given during the study. Studies which may have involved discrimination totaled 21 (8.4%), and the number of studies that may have violated the patients' right to privacy was 20 (8%). The number of studies that may have a conflict of interest but was not declared was 12 (4.8%). CONCLUSION: There should be greater concern about the ethical conduct of research in studies with human research subjects in the journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine.
Bioethics ; Checklist ; Conflict of Interest ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Ethical Review ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Helsinki Declaration ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Patient Rights ; Privacy ; Research Subjects

OBJECTIVE: 1) To investigate the relationship between NrCAM polymorphisms and methamphetamine abuse in an ethnically homogenous Korean population. 2) To further support our findings by investigating the association among NrCAM gene variants, certain personality traits, and addictive symptoms of methamphetamine abusers. METHODS: Thirty-seven male methamphetamine abusers (age=43.3+/-7.8) and30 non-users (16 men, 14 women; age=59.8+/-10.4) were recruited. Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NrCAM gene were assayed to compare genotype distributions between the 2 groups. Personality characteristics were measured using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the NEO Personality Inventory, Revised (NEO PI-R). Addictive symptoms were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) and reviews of the subject's medical records. RESULTS: Among the 10 SNPs in the NrCAM gene, the frequency of the TA genotype at rs1990162 was significantly lower in methamphetamine abusers compared to non-users (p=0.042). In the 3 NrCAM gene SNPs (rs381318, rs2072546, and rs6954366), the distribution of genotypes and alleles were significantly associated with some traits in the TCI and NEO PI-R. Genotypes and alleles at 5 gene SNPs (rs2142325, rs381318, rs1269621, rs1269634, and rs1990162) were associated with certain addictive symptom dimensions in the patients. CONCLUSION: These findings support the idea that NrCAM is associated with genetic susceptibility of methamphetamine abuse and is also associated with certain personality characteristics that may increase disturbed addictive behavior.
Alleles ; Behavior, Addictive ; Cell Adhesion ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Methamphetamine ; Neurons ; Personality Inventory ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Temperament