No abstract available.
Humans ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

Arotinolol, a now alpha and beta bloking agent, was administered orally in 32 hypertensive patients for 8 weeks in order to evaluate the antihypertensive effects and side effects. The doses were from 20mg to 30mg a day. The serum chemistries and chest X-ray were taken before and after Arotinolol administration. The results were as follows; 1) Blood pressure which was measured in sitting, supine and standing position was 176.37+/-4.73/116.54+/-4.34, 170.14+/-5.35/103.12+/-3.67, 156.37+/-7.54/104.31+/-3.34mmHg in control and 144.63+/-2.78/94.41+/-2.87, 146.47+/-5.41/89.12+/-4.34, 140.71+/-4.47/89.73+/-3.71mmHg in the treatment group. The differences between both blood pressure were statistically significant(P<0.001). 2) There was no significant change in pulse rate before and after medication. 3) There was no significant change in the laboratory findings such as CTR, GOT, GPT, alkaline phosphatase, CPK, creatinine, BUN, uric acid, cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and triglyceride before and after treatment. 4) The side effects of arotinolol were observed in 6 of 32 cases(18.7%), which were not required discontinuing the medication or decreasing the dose.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Creatinine ; Fasting ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Thorax ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid

PURPOSE: To report the clinical outcome of children with unilateral high myopic anisometropic amblyopia who were treated with contact lenses (CL). METHODS: Patients who had myopic anisometropia greater than -7 diopters and was treated with contact lenses combined with occlusion therapy during the period between 1998 and 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-seven patients who were followed up for more than 1 year after treatment were included in the study. Initial and final best corrected visual acuities (BCVA) were compared and factors which influence the visual outcome were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 10 out of 27 patients (37%) acquired visual improvement of more than 2 lines. At the final examination, 6 patients (22.2%) had BCVA better than logMAR 0.3 and 10 patients (37.0%) had BCVA better than logMAR 0.7. Medullated nerve fiber and strabismus were the most commonly associated ocular pathologies among the patients. Patients without strabismus or medullated nerve fiber acquired greater visual improvement than patients with these comorbidities. Patients with lower initial refractive error (spherical equivalent) in the amblyopic eye acquired a better final vision. Poor compliance to CL wearing or occlusion therapy adversely affected the final vision. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study of children with unilateral severe myopic anisometropic amblyopia treated with CL combined with occlusion therapy, a third of the patients acquired visual improvement of more than 2 lines. The absence of medullated nerve fiber or strabismus was determined to be a good prognostic factor.
Amblyopia ; Anisometropia ; Child ; Comorbidity ; Compliance ; Contact Lenses ; Eye ; Humans ; Nerve Fibers ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies ; Strabismus ; Vision, Ocular ; Visual Acuity

A 76-year-old woman with a history of chest pain and palpitation, was diagnosed with bilateral coronary to pulmonary artery fistulae with a concomitant saccular aneurysm, which is quite rare. Suture closure of the fistular vessels around the pulmonary artery root, the removal of a saccular aneurysm, and the transpulmonary closure of coronary to pulmonary artery fistulae were performed. The patient was well at 4 months after surgery.
Aged ; Aneurysm* ; Chest Pain ; Female ; Fistula* ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery* ; Sutures

A 47-year-old male with hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heavy smoking, but no anginal symptoms, presented with claudication of the lower extremities. Extremity angiography with coronary angiography revealed peripheral arterial lesions including a left subclavian artery occlusion with coronary artery disease. The patient underwent an initial off-pump coronary artery bypass with an ascending aorto-axillary bypass. The right internal mammary artery was anastomosed to the left anterior descending coronary artery. The greater saphenous vein graft was connected from the ascending aorto-axillary bypass graft to the diagonal branch. At postoperative day 18, femorofemoral and bilateral femoropopliteal bypasses were performed. We report a case of the combined repair of coronary artery disease and a left subclavian artery occlusion.
Angiography ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Extremities ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Mammary Arteries ; Middle Aged ; Peripheral Vascular Diseases ; Saphenous Vein ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Subclavian Artery* ; Transplants

Hypoglycemic effects of exo-biopolymers (EBP) produced by submerged mycelial cultures of Coriolus versicolor, Cordyceps sinensis, Paecilomyces japonica, Armillariella mellea, and Fomes fomentarius were investigated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The rats from each experimental group were orally administered with EBPs (100 mg/kg BW) daily for 2 weeks. Though the hypoglycemic effect was achieved in all the cases, however, C. versicolor EBP proved as the most potent one. The administration of the C. versicolor EBP substantially reduced (29.9%) the plasma glucose level as compared to the saline administered group (control). It also reduced the plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels by 9.22, 23.83, 16.93, and 27.31%, respectively. The sugar and amino acid compositions of this EBP were also analyzed in detail.
Agaricales ; Alanine Transaminase ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Cholesterol ; Cordyceps ; Coriolaceae ; Glucose ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Paecilomyces ; Plasma ; Rats ; Streptozocin

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the detectability and usefulness of automated whole breast ultrasound (AWUS) and to compare it with handheld breast ultrasound (HHUS) in cases with suspicious microcalcifications identified by mammography. METHODS: Forty-two patients with 43 suspicious microcalcifications (25 malignant and 18 benign) detected by mammography underwent AWUS, HHUS, and histol-ogic examination. With knowledge of the mammographic findings, HHUS was performed to assess the visibility of the microcalcifications and the presence of associated masses or ductal changes. Two radiologists reviewed the AWUS images in consensus using the same methods employed for HHUS. Detectability of AWUS was compared with that of HHUS and was correlated with histologic and mammographic findings. RESULTS: Of the 43 lesions, 32 (74.4%) were detectable by AWUS and 31 (72.1%) by HHUS. No significant differences in sensitivity were found between the two methods (p=0.998). AWUS detected 96% (24/25) of malignant microcalcifications and 44.4% (8/18) of benign microcalcifications. AWUS was more successful in the detection of malignant vs. benign lesions (96.0% vs. 44.4%, p=0.002), lesions >10 mm vs. ≤10 mm in size (86.7% [26/30] vs. 46.2% [6/13], p=0.009), lesions with a fine pleomorphic or linear shape vs. a round or amorphous or coarse heterogeneous shape (94.7% [18/19] vs. 58.3% [14/24], p=0.021), and lesions associated with a mass or architectural distortion vs. without obvious changes on mammography (100% [19/19] vs. 54.2% [13/24], p=0.022). CONCLUSION: Detectability of AWUS was comparable to that of HHUS in cases where suspicious microcalcifications were identified on mammography. Therefore, AWUS might be helpful in the performance of ultrasound-guided percutaneous procedures for highly suspicious microcalcifications.
Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Calcinosis ; Consensus ; Humans ; Mammary Glands, Human ; Mammography* ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography*

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at determining whether a regular follow-up of patients with colorectal cancer can lead to improved re-resectability, and which test is useful for detecting a resectable recurrence. METHODS: The medical records of 397 consecutive patients, who underwent a curative resection for colorectal cancer between January 1996 and December 2000, with a mean follow-up of 36 months, were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: The overall recurrence rate was 19.6%, with 22.5% and 7.8% in the regular and irregular follow-up groups (P=0.002), respectively. There was a significant difference in the asymptomatic recurrence detection rate (68.1 vs. 16.7%; P=0.021), but a curative intent reoperation was possible in 21 (29.1%) of those patients with a cancer recurrence in the regular follow-up group, and in 1 (16.7%) inform the irregular follow-up group, which was not significantly different (P= 0.454). Careful history taking and a physical examination were beneficial in the detection of a resectable recurrence. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen determination and endoscopy were useful for detecting a recurrence (14 cases and 5 cases, respectively), and of these 4 (28.6%) and 5 cases (100%) could be treated with a curative intent reoperation, respectively. Abdominal CT, or MRI, and a chest radiography were also useful for detecting a recurrence (22 cases and 8 cases, respectively), but the curative intent reoperation rates were slightly low (3 cases (13.6%) and 1 case (12.5%), respectively). CONCLUSION: A regular follow-up after a curative resection for colorectal cancer, although facilitating detection of recurrence before symptoms developed, was unlikely to succeed in increasing the rate of a curative reoperation.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Endoscopy ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medical Records ; Physical Examination ; Radiography ; Recurrence ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is highly prevalent in hospitals in Korea. The overall rate of MRSA in hospitals in Korea was estimated over 60%. Recently hospital infections caused by MRSA are getting increased and problematic in Korea, Our hospital Seoul Paik Hospital, has been trying to solve this problem. We had not applied exact methods for hospital infection control. Therefore, we adapted strict methods under the control of hospital infection control committee (HICC) and assessed the effectiveness of these methods. METHODS: Every month, the number of MRSA isolates was collected and analyzed; the results of the analysis were reported to every ward. All wards were supplied with Microshild(R) (Johnson & Johnson, Australia), Clean N' Fresh(R) (Carroll, USA), and standard paper towels. Health care workers were regularly educated for hospital infection control. The use of antibiotics was controlled by the HICC. We compared MRSA isolation rate between before and after applying the strict infection control methods under the regulation of HICC. Mann-Whitney U test, one-way ANOVA, and Chi-square test were used for statistical analysis of the results. RESULTS: After restricting the uses of antibiotics, glycopeptides and carbapenems were prescribed 15% less (20.3 vs 17.3 DDD /1000 patient-days) and 35% less (9.3 vs 6.0 DDD /1000 patient-days) respectively, compared to before restricting antibiotics. Methicillin resistance rate was decreased from 78% to 69% compared to before the methods(p=0.02). The isolation rate of MRSA was reduced by 31-42% from 2.33 to 1.35-1.60/1000 patient-days compared to before adapting strict infection control methods (p=0.04-0.07). CONCLUSION: This study showed that applying the strict infection control methods in the hospital can be effective to reduce the isolation rate of MRSA.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Carbapenems ; Cross Infection* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane ; Glycopeptides ; Infection Control ; Korea ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin* ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Seoul ; Staphylococcus aureus* ; Staphylococcus*

PURPOSE: A scoring system could be clinically useful in determining cases in which a throat culture may be omitted or in cases whether antibiotics may be initiated or not. We propose to make a clinical guideline of antibiotics administration in patients with pharyngitis. METHODS: From Apr. 1996. to Mar. 1997, throat cultures were taken from 321 cases (72 cases from Kyung-Hee Medical Center, 249 cases from 3 local pediatric clinics). On the first day of visit, 9 clinical items on a score-card were checked and a tentative diagnosis for streptococcal or non-streptococcal infection was made. These clinical scores were compared with the results of the throat swab cultures. RESULTS: Of 321 cases with pharyngitis, 55 cases (17%) proved to have group A streptococci by throat culture. The positive culture rate of group A streptococci was 18.5% from 3 local pediatric clinics, and 12.5% from Kyung-Hee Medical Center. The positive culture rate of group A streptococci were 40% in above 31 points of score, 31.5% in 29 to 30 points, 20.5% in 27 to 28 points. The sensitivity and specificity of the scoring system using a score at least 28 above points were 71% and 67%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The clinical diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis indicates that patients age 5 to 10 years, findings of abnormal pharynx, high fever and no past history of antibiotics use. Further modification of the scoring system for diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis should be made to prevent antibiotics abuse and correct diagnosis of pharyngitis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Diagnosis* ; Fever ; Humans ; Pharyngitis* ; Pharynx ; Sensitivity and Specificity