BACKGROUND: Serum uric acid has been suggested as a predictor for development of the metabolic syndrome, but retrospective cohort studies in Korean population is scarce. Therefore, we investigated the association between serum uric acid levels and the incidence of the metabolic syndrome in Korean people. METHODS: The study population consisted of 9,746 Korean male employees, 30 to 59 years of age, without cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, who underwent health checkups from 2002 to 2006. We analyzed incidence of metabolic syndrome according to serum uric acid levels and odds ratio of metabolic syndrome using logistic regression. RESULTS: As a quartile of serum uric acid increased, 4 year follow-up incidence of the metabolic syndrome increased. After adjustment sex, age, alcohol drinking status, and smoking status, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and high sensitive C-reactive protein, odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for incidence of metabolic syndrome comparing the lowest uric acid quartile to the upper quartiles were 1.0 (reference), 1.15 (0.96-1.39), 1.52 (1.29-1.80), 2.00 (1.68-2.37), respectively. After futher adjustment of metabolic components, this association remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that increasing levels of serum uric acid predicted an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome. Physicians should be observant regarding future development of metabolic syndrome among patients with increasing concentration of serum uric acid.
Alcohol Drinking ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Uric Acid

A retrospective study was designed to determine the diagnostic contribution of oblique view in 740 consecutive lumbar spine examinations done in adults. In 12 cases (1.62%) there was a change in the radiographic interpretation when the oblique views were used for diagnosis. Considering the significant gonadal radiation, additional cost, and limited diagnostic value, the authors feel that the oblique view should not be a routine part of the initial lumbar spine examination in adults.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Gonads ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

Cholangiocarcinoma is synonymous with bile duct carcinoma, and can originate in a small intrahepatic bileduct(peripheral type), a major intrahepatic duct including the hepatic hilus, an extrahepatic duct, or near thepapilla of Vater(central type). In a sense bile duct carcinoma of the peripheral type is cholangiocarcinoma of theliver; it has the same gross configuration as hepatocellular carcinoma, resulting in difficulty to differentiateon the CT. The authors studied CT findings of 14 cases of pathologically proven peripheral type cholangiocarcinomaof the liver during the last 4 years. The results were as follows: 1. Of 14 cases, 8 were female and 6 were male,and the age ranged from 5th to 7th decades. 2. Preoperative clinical diagnosis were as follows: hepatoma 8 cases,abscess 5 cases and metastasis 1 case in order of frequency. 3. Diagnosis were confirmed by hepatic lobectomy in 7cases, wedge resection in 5 cases and needle biopsy in 2 case. 4. Labratory findings were not specific, but therewere only 2 cases with elevated alpha-fetoprotein level. 5. Associated diseases were gallstones in 1 case,intrahepatic duct stones, in 1 case, extrahepatic duct stones in 2 cases, acute or chronic cholecystitis in 5cases and CS in 3 cases. 6. Angiographic and scintigraphic findings were helpful in differential diagnosis fromhepatoma but ultrasonography was non-specific. 7. The number of tumor were solitary in 12 cases and multiple in 2cases. Among solitary cases, the site of involvement of the liver were right lobe in 8 cases and left lobe in 4cases. 8. Common CT features of the intrahepatic peripheral cholangiocarcinoma of the liver were irregular,inhomogeneous, occasionally peripherally enhancing, low density liver mass, frequently accompained by diffuse orsegmental dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct. If there were normal alphafetoprotein level, positive skinand/or stool examination for CS and difuse or segmental dilatation of the intrahepatic duct in low density livertumor on the CT, one should consider peripheral cholangiocarcinoma of the liver than hepatoma.
alpha-Fetoproteins ; Bile Ducts ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Biopsy, Needle ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Cholecystitis ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dilatation ; Female ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Liver ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.
Humans*

BACKGROUND: Gallstones are associated with insulin resistance but the relation between gallstone disease and the risk of developing diabetes mellitus (DM) is unclear. We examined if gallstones are associated with an increased incidence of DM compared to no gallstones. METHODS: A cohort study was performed in 41,518 Koreans aged 30-59 without DM, who underwent a health checkup during 2005-2006 and then were followed annually or biennially until December 2011. Throughout the study period, gallstones were defined as ultrasound-documented gallstones by standard criteria and DM was defined as fasting serum glucose > or =7.0 mmol l-1, A1c > or =6.5%, or use of DM medications. RESULTS: During 192999 person-years of follow-up, 2,232 participants developed DM (incidence rate 11.6 per 1,000 person-years). The incidence of DM was higher in subjects with gallstones or cholecystectomy than in those without gallstones for women but not for men. In multivariate-adjusted models, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for DM comparing gallstones and cholecystectomy vs. no gallstones were 0.95 (0.63-1.42) and 1.13 (0.53-2.38), respectively, in men and 1.64 (1.13-2.40) and 2.04 (1.01-4.11), respectively, in women. These associations did not differ significantly between relevant subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: In an apparently healthy population, gallstones were independently and modestly associated with increased incidence for DM in women but not in men. Women with gallstones should be provided with adequate measures for preventing DM.
Blood Glucose ; Cholecystectomy ; Cohort Studies* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Fasting ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gallstones* ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Insulin Resistance ; Male

BACKGROUND: Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) has been suggested as a predictor for development of the metabolic syndrome in non-Korean population, but studies in Korean population are scarce. Therefore, we examined the association between serum GGT levels and the incidence of the metabolic syndrome in Korean male office workers. METHODS: The study population consisted of 32,692 office workers who underwent health checkups in both 2005 and 2009. A total of 17,583 with elevated GGT levels, the presence of metabolic syndrome, medication history at baseline, and female office workers were excluded. Finally, 15,109 subjects were included in the final analysis. We measured serum GGT levels and individual metabolic components. RESULTS: As a quartile of serum GGT increased, 4-year follow-up incidence of the metabolic syndrome increased. After adjustment for age, alcohol drinking status and smoking status in 2005, logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for incident metabolic syndrome in 2009 compared to the lowest quartile and upper quartiles were 1.00 (reference), 1.57 (1.24-2.00), 2.73 (2.17-3.43), 3.78 (3.02-4.74), and statistically significant (P < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSION: These results showed that the higher serum GGT predicted the future development of metabolic syndrome. In Korean male office workers without the metabolic syndrome, the serum GGT levels despite normal levels were associated with an increased risk of incident metabolic syndrome.
Alcohol Drinking ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Smoke ; Smoking

Although conventional barium study has been used for diagnosis of gastrointestinal lymphoma, CT is superior tobarium study in the evaluation of its extent and relationship to the bowel, lymph node enlargement, and distantmetastasis. The authors analyzed CT features of 21 cases of pathologically proven gastrointestinal lymphoma forrecent 5 years. The results were as follows: 1. In a total 21 cases of gastrointestinal lymphomas, 13 cases wereprimary gastrontestinal lymphoma and others were secondary. But there was no difference in CT featurs betweenthem. 2. Male predominates over female(17:4), and type age ranged from 5 to 73 years old, most common
Abdominal Pain ; Barium ; Colon ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Male ; Mesentery ; Methods ; Omentum

Ninety nine strains of Escherichia coli isolated from clinical urine specimens in Taegu area were tested for the antimicrobial susceptibility to 20 drugs and studies for molecular and genetic characterization of R-plasmid. All strains were susceptible to amikacin (Ak), moxalactam(Mx), norfloxacin(Nf), ciprofloxacin(Cf) and ofloxacin(Of). One-6.1% of the strains were resistant to tobramycin(To). nalidixic acid(Na), enoxacin(Ex), pefloxacin(Pf) and rifampin(Rf), 17.2-31.3% to gentamicin(Gm), cephalothin(Ct) and cephamandole(Cfm), and 59.6-84.4% to kanamycin (Km), streptomycin(Sm), a.mpicillin(Ap), chloramphenicol(Cm), tetracycline(Tc), sulfisomidine (Su) and trimethoprime(Tp). MIC90 of Ak, Mx, Ex, Nf, Cf, Of and Pf were below the aritimicrobial concentration tested. In multiple drug resistance patterns, resistance to 7 drugs (CmTcSmSuAp TpKm) were most frequently encountered. Except Na and Rf in 66.4 % of resistant strains, most or drug resistance were co-transferred to recipient E.coli RG488 or RG176, indicating that multiple drug resistance was R-plasmid mediated phenomenon. Plasmid profiles for molecular characterization of R-plasmids from B. coli strains were studied through the methods of alkaline SDS lysis and agarose gel electrophoresis. R-plasmids were 40.9-122.3 mega dalton in molecular size. Pst I restriction enzyme digestion patterns of R-plasmid DNAs were examined. R-plasmids with different molecular weights and phenotype markers showed different restriction patterns. pDE9l58 and pDE 9055, which have same molecular weight and phenotype marker except Cfm, showed identical restriction pattern.
Amikacin ; Daegu ; Digestion ; DNA ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Microbial* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Kanamycin ; Molecular Weight ; Phenotype ; Plasmids ; Sulfisomidine

CD44 is a glycoprotein expressed in a wide variety of cell types. Recently expression of some alternatively-spliced variants of CD44 transcripts (CD44v) has been suggested to play a potential role in tumor metastasis and the detection of CD44v containing exon 6 to 11 may be helpful for the diagnosis of cancers. Expressions of CD44v containing exon 6 to 11 were investigated in 20 human colorectal cancer samples, peripheral blood leukocytes isolated from colorectal cancer patients, and 4 colorectal cancer cell lines using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis. The standard form of CD44 transcripts was expressed in all samples tested. CD44v containing exon 6 to 11 was expressed in 18 cases of colorectal cancers (sensitivity = 90%), 3 out of 4 cell lines, and one normal tissue (specificity = 95%). These results suggest that the expression of CD44v containing exon 6 to 11 can be regarded as tumor specific and that this marker may be helpful for the early diagnosis of colon cancers, if specimens from the early stage are available.
Adenocarcinoma/*genetics ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD44/*genetics ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Southern ; Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis/*genetics ; DNA Primers ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; Feces/chemistry/cytology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic/genetics ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA Splicing/*physiology ; RNA, Messenger/analysis ; Tumor Cells, Cultured/*physiology ; Tumor Markers, Biological

BACKGROUND: Hydrofluoric acid_(HF) is widely used in many industrial and domestic settings such as etching glass, and polishing metals. HF is one of the most corrosive inorganic acids and can produce progressive and serious tissue necrosis with severe pain. Since HF chemical burns can be asymptomatic for the first few hours, it is crucial to understand its toxicity and the early use of antidote. CASE: A 37-year-old man presented with erythematous lesion and pain on his face, anterior neck, both forearms, both thighs, and left ankle after injury resulting from a chemical burn caused by HF. He showed normal vital signs and dyspnea, but complained of a sore throat. Liquid form of HF had splashed on his face and anterior neck first and run down his forearms and thighs while working at HF supply tanks. Some of the HF was splashed into his mouth. He immediately removed his clothes and showered with abundant water. A 4.5% calcium gluconate jel was applied to the involved area. He was given subcutaneous injection of 10% calcium gluconate solution. During 17 days of admission he didn't show any signs of systemic intoxication or deep tissue defects. CONCLUSIONS: Immediate cleansing of the affected area with running cold water is the first critical treatment for a chemical burn due to HF. Applying calcium gluconate gel within one hour was very effective for preventing further damage to the injured area as well as systemic injury. In order to reduce the risk of accident and perform first-aid treatment quickly, it is imperative to provide workers with safety education and establish safety facilities.
Adult ; Animals ; Ankle ; Burns, Chemical ; Calcium Gluconate ; Cold Temperature ; Dyspnea ; Forearm ; Glass ; Gluconates ; Humans ; Hydrofluoric Acid ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Metals ; Mouth ; Neck ; Necrosis ; Pharyngitis ; Running ; Thigh ; Vital Signs ; Water