The results of 16 cases of herpes simplex keratitis treated by cryogenic method are presented. The cryoapplicators(2 mm and 4 mm in diameter of tip) were applied on the lesions 5-7 seconds and antibiotics and atropine solutions were instilled. No complication by cryogenic treatment was happened. The new vessels in the cornea were faded after cryocautery for the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Atropine ; Cornea ; Herpes Simplex* ; Keratitis, Herpetic

The aim of this study was to assess the degree of association between individual stress and the amount of smoking among male senior students of a medical college. The questionnaire survey was conducted twice for collecting the data on stress level in terms of BEPSl score, smoking amounts, alcohol intake, and residence type in 1992 and 1993. Among the 223 responders, 39.9% were smokers. In the smokers, the association between stress level and smoking amount was significant after controlling for alcohol intake and residence type (P < 0.l). Especially in the group of living without family, the association was more significant (p=0.06). Therefore, it is recommendable that the stress management program is called upon for the student smokers to reduce smoking amount.
Humans ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke* ; Smoking*

While there have been not a few reports on the seroepidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Korea, most of them, however, have had several limitations; operational definition of HBV infection, validity of detection methods of HBV serologic markers, size of the study population, and confirmation of the vaccination history against HBV, etc. In order to avoid such limitations, authors randomly selected 1,495 healthy adults among the 217,511 insured (target population) of Korean Medical Insurance Corporation, living in seoul, and tested HBV(HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc) of all the subjects were tested, 392(26.2%) of interview failure cases 742 nonvaccinee were excluded from the actual population. Finally, the serologic markers tested of 742 nonvaccinee (study population) only were analyzed for the seroepidemiologic observation of the natural infection of HBV. The seroepidemiological characteristics of HBV infection in Korea were as follows ; 1 Point prevalence of HBs antigenemia was 11.7(9.1-14.3)% in male, which was slightly higher than that of female, 9.5(3.7-15.3)%. This level was one of the highest among those of Asian-Pacific countries. Decreasing tendency of HBsAg prevalence after the age of 50 was observed, which seems to be due to selective attrition of HBV chronic carriers among the healthy adults and/or to the limited-lasting duration of the HBs antigenemia, in part. 2. Point prevalence of anti-HBc(78.8% in male, 50.9% in female) was higher than that of anti-HBs(65.2% in male, 46.6% in female), respectively. And both of them were higher in male than in female. Increasing tendency of the prevalence of both antibodies was observed by age, which seems to be largely due to recurrent infection in adults and to some cumulative effect, in part, of their relatively longer-lasting duration. 3. The level of HBV infection defined by positive for at least one of the 3 serologic markers of HBV by RIA method was 84.7(81.8-87.6)% in male and 61.2(51.9-70.5)% in female, which was also one of the highest among those of Asian-Pacific countries. The proportion of susceptible population to HBV infection among healthy adults was 15.3% in male and 38.8% in female. 4. The relative frequency of current or past infection and chronic carrier among HBV infected person was estimated. The currently or past infected was estimated 75.7% in male and 71.8% in female, and chronic carrier state, 13.8% in male and 14.1% in female. The analysis of the geometric mean of the antibody titer in anti-HBs positive sera indicated also to be compatible with the above findings, suggesting that active, even though inapparent, infection of HBV occur so frequently among healthy adults in Korea.
Adult* ; Antibodies ; Carrier State ; Female ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Radioimmunoassay ; Seoul* ; Vaccination

No abstract available.
Hand* ; Thoracic Outlet Syndrome*

The Marfan's syndrome is a collagenous hereditary disorder affected by the long bone, heart and eyes. Two cases of Marfan's syndrome are presented. Both two cases showed upward dislocation of lenses. We performed extraction of lenses on 4 eyes among the two cases by means of Cryo-extractor. The results of surgical treatment are described.
Collagen ; Dislocations ; Heart ; Marfan Syndrome*

Persistent remnants of the pupillary membrane are extremely common, but well-formed membrane which was covering almost entire pupil is very rare. We experienced one case a 15 year-old boy who had extensive dense persistent pupillary membrane with visual disturbance in left eye and optical iridectomy was performed with improvement of vision.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Iridectomy ; Male ; Membranes* ; Pupil

Among 334 thoracolumbar spinal injury patients who were admitted to this hospital from June 1972 to June, 1982, 66 patients with fracture and fracture dislocation of thoraco-lumbar spine which were defined as unstable clinically and radiologically were treated with surgical measures. The ratio between male and female was 7.3:1, the majority was found in third and fourth decade (46 cases, 69%), and the most common cause of injury was falling from a height (38 cases, 58%). The most common site of the injury was lumbar spine (29 cases, 44%) and the most common mechanism of injury was flexion-rotation (29 cases, 44%). Our surgical measures were Harrington rod instrumentation with either anterior or posterior fusion (25 cases, 38%), posterior wiring and fusion (14 cases, 21%), anterior decompression and anterior fusion (14 cases, 21%), posterior fusion (4 cases, 6%), anterior fusion and posterior fusion (3 cases, 5%) and etc. The average correction of displacement was 65% and the average correction of kyphotic deformity was 50%. The most remarkable correction was found at the cases of Harrington rod instrumentation (71%, 74%). Neurological deficit had already developed in 43 cases(65%) prior to operation, and the recovery was observed in 18 cases(42%). Most excellent recovery of neural deficit was found also at the cases of Harrington rod instrumentation (11 cases, 52%). We have analysed the results of these treatment and obtained following conclusions. 1. For the unstable fracture and fracture-dislocation of thoraco-lumbar spine with or without neural involvement, immediate surgical treatments were valuable to expect restoration of anatomical reduction and promotion of every possible recovery of neural function with spinal stability and fewest complication. 2. Fixation with Harrington rod instrumentation appears to provide better reduction and stability with neural improvement than other methods, and therefore early undertaking of rehabilitation activities is possible. 3. For the patients who are seriously compromised or require anterior decompression, immediate posterior reduction and fixation with Harrington rod instrumentation followed anterior decompression and anterior fusion of the involved segments at the eariest feasible time, we feel, is the treatment of choice.
Accidental Falls ; Clinical Study ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Decompression ; Dislocations ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mortuary Practice ; Rehabilitation ; Spinal Injuries ; Spine

There was increasing tendency to stabilize unstable cervical spine injuries surgically with the benefit of good stability of the spine, easy nursing care, early mobilization and therefore early rehabilitation. A clinical study was performed on 47 patients with fractures and dislocations of the cervical spine treated at the department of orthopedic surgery, Inje Medical College, Paik Hospital from Jan. 1975 to Dec. 1981. Following is the summery of the our findings. 1. The prevalent age distribution was between 3rd and 6th decade and the ratio between males and females was 10:1. The most common cause of injuries was automobile accident (70%). 2. The most common site of the injuries was C5-6 (34%) and the most frequent mechanism of injury was flexion-rotation type (47%). 3. In overall patients, neurologic damage was found at first examination in 73% and among these, complete paralysis below the injured level in 26%, incomplete paralysis in 11% and nerve root injury in 35%. 4. Among 47 patients, conervative treatment was performed on 9 patients, anterior spinal fusion on 8 patients, anterior spinal fusion with Halo application on 4 patients, posterior wiring with posterior spinal fusion on 16 patients and posterior wiring with anterior spinal fusion on 8 patients. 5. In the several methods of treatment, the posterior wiring with anterior spinal fusion revealed the best results, the correction rate of displacement was 92%, the correction rate of angular deformity 98% and neural recovery rate 72%. 6. The posterior wiring with posterior spinal fusion revealed good results in correction of displacement and angular deformity but required rigid external support for a long time. The anterior spinal fusion revealed poor results in correction of displacement(67%) and angular deformity(38%) and required rigid external support for a long time and had increasing tendency of kyphotic angle after operation. 7. In the treatment of unstable cervical spine injury, we thoughy that early posterior reduction with posterior wiring and followed anterior spinal fusion was ideal for accurate reduction, rigid stability and early mobilization with simple external support.
Age Distribution ; Automobiles ; Clinical Study ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Dislocations ; Early Ambulation ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing Care ; Orthopedics ; Paralysis ; Rehabilitation ; Spinal Fusion ; Spine

OBJECTIVES: Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) had been used widely as cold remedies or appetite suppressants. However, products containing PPA were withdrawn in sequence in the US, Japan, and Korea due to the increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke. The purpose of this paper was to review safety issues related with the PPA use and hemorrhagic stroke in view of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Researches conducted for evaluating the association between the PPA use and hemorrhagic stroke in other countries were reviewed, which involved case reports, case series, case-control studies, and cohort studies. RESULTS: In terms of pharmacologic and clinical features, PPA may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke through increased blood pressure, heart rate, or vasculitis. The association between the PPA use and hemorrhagic stroke among young women was suggested by case reports from spontaneous adverse events reporting systems or medical journals. The cohort study, using the large prescription database in the US and published in 1984, failed to reveal the association in the population aged below 65. The case-control study conducted as the Yale Hemorrhagic Stroke Project, published in 2000, was the first study to find the association between the PPA as appetite suppressants and hemorrhagic stroke among women ages 18-49 years by well-designed analytic epidemiological research. It led to withdrawal of all products containing PPA in the US and many other countries since 2000. However, the association between PPA and cerebral hemorrhage could not be confirmed by the case-control study conducted in Mexico due to inappropriate recruitment of control group. CONCLUSIONS: During several years case reports have suggested that hemorrhagic stroke could be induced by PPA, and the Yale Hemorrhagic Stroke Project revealed the association by case-control study and provided a useful model for pharmacovigilance. Nevertheless, their finding could not be applied to other population such as elderly women and male population. And they could not provide any evidence on the association between PPA and stroke when PPA was used as cold remedy taken daily dose below 100mg.
Aged ; Appetite Depressants ; Blood Pressure ; Case-Control Studies ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Male ; Mexico ; Pharmacoepidemiology ; Pharmacovigilance ; Phenylpropanolamine* ; Prescriptions ; Stroke* ; Vasculitis

Methanol poisoning is a rare disease but may cause blindness and, in severe cases, results in death. It may develop lesions in optic nerve and retina, which may be accompanied with permanent visual damage. We report a case of Methanol poisoning in a 20 year-old male patient, which is followed by optic atrophy and loss of vision.
Blindness ; Humans ; Male ; Methanol* ; Optic Atrophy* ; Optic Nerve ; Poisoning* ; Rare Diseases ; Retina ; Young Adult