Cleft lip and/or palate are the most common congenital malformations in the head and neck region throughout the world. Both genetic and environmental influences were believed to cause cleft lip and palate. This study has been undertaken in order to find the possible relationship between cleft lip and palate and drug use in early pregnancy. The data from 314 mothers of infants who have cleft deformity under 2 years old were analyzed as a case group. And the data from 312 mothers of healthy infants under 2 year old were analyzed as a control group. The data including birth weight of baby, age of mother and drug use in early pregnancy were collected through direct interview using questionnaire. The data were calculated by multivariate analysis to evaluate the possible association between drug use in early pregnancy and the occurrence of cleft deformity. There was no difference between the case and control group regarding to birth weight and the age of mother. And there was positive relations of smoking of mother and indoor smoking of father with the occurrence of cleft palate. Alcohol consumption of mother was also related with the occurrence of cleft lip and cleft lip with palate. The data showed positive relation of the drugs for common cold-including antitussives, antihistamine, NSAID-with the occurrence of cleft lip and cleft lip with palate. There was also positive relation of herb medicine with the occurrence of cleft lip and isolated cleft palate. In the case of multivitamin users, significantly decreasing cleft lip occurrence was showed. The data showed that the exposure of some kinds of drugs in early pregnancy may play some role in the development of cleft deformity. But further studies designed to focus on specific component of suspected drugs and the amount exposed in early pregnancy to reveal the causal relationship are also needed.
Alcohol Drinking ; Antitussive Agents ; Birth Weight ; Case-Control Studies* ; Child, Preschool ; Cleft Lip ; Cleft Palate ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Fathers ; Head ; Humans ; Infant ; Mothers ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neck ; Palate ; Pregnancy* ; Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking

We present an epidemiologic study of cleft lip and palate in the Republic of Korea from January 1, 1993 through December 31, 1993. In 1993, the number of total live births was 715,817. And from 1993 through 1995, a total of 1,293 new patients with cleft lip and palate who were born in 1993 were identified. The incidence of cleft lip and palate was 1.81 per 1000, that is, 1 per 554 live births. The cleft lip: cleft lip and palate: cleft palate alone ratio was 1.13:1:1.19. The male: female ratio was 2.1:1 in the cleft lip group, and 2.5:1 in the cleft lip and palate group. We could detect a male predominance in both groups. In contrast, the ratio was 0.95:1 in the cleft palate group. The left: right: bilateral ratio was 1.9:1:0.23 in cleft lip group, and the ratio was 2.2:1:1.1 in the cleft lip and palate group. This is the first nation-wide study to provide detailed data on the incidence of cleft lip and palate in the live births in the Republic of Korea.
Cleft Lip/*epidemiology ; Cleft Palate/*epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male

Alkaptonuria is an extremely rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder characterized by dark urine, ochronosis, and arthritis of the spine and major joints. We report a case of ochronotic arthritis observed during total knee replacement surgery in a 65-year-old male patient with no relevant medical history. Based on a literature review, this is the first case of ochronotic arthritis reported in Korea.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients commonly experience psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. This meta-analysis sought to compare depression and anxiety levels between IBS patients and healthy controls. METHODS: We searched major electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane library) to find comparative studies on IBS patients and healthy controls. The primary outcome was a standardized mean difference (SMD) of anxiety and depression levels; sub-group analyses were conducted according to IBS-subtypes. RESULTS: In total, 2293 IBS patients and 4951 healthy controls from 27 studies were included. In random effect analysis, depression and anxiety levels were significantly higher in IBS patients (pooled SMD = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62–0.90; P < 0.001; I² = 77.2% and pooled SMD = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.67–1.01; P < 0.001; I² = 85.6%, respectively). Both analyses’ funnel plots showed symmetry. In meta-regression analysis, heterogeneity was due to the studied region and questionnaire type for both depression and anxiety. In sub-group analyses of IBS-subtype, the pooled SMDs of depression and anxiety levels (IBS with predominant constipation: 0.83 and 0.81, IBS with predominant diarrhea: 0.73 and 0.65, and IBS with mixed bowel habits: 0.62 and 0.75; P < 0.001, respectively) were significantly higher in all IBS-subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis showed depression and anxiety levels to be higher in IBS patients than in healthy controls, regardless of IBS-subtype. However, the gender effect on psychological factors among IBS patients could not be determined and should be evaluated in prospective studies.
Anxiety* ; Constipation ; Depression* ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome* ; Population Characteristics ; Prospective Studies ; Psychology