BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue is a common symptom in primary care setting in Korea and classified into medically explained and unexplained according to the precipitating factors. The medically explained chronic fatigue may be associated with many well-known physical and psychological conditions and the medically unexplained chronic fatigue is classified into chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic chronic fatigue. The chranic fatigue syndrome is an illness that has unknown etiology and severe disabling fatigue and has been known to most physicians and public since mid-1980's. Many researches are ongoing in developed countries, although the pathophysiology and treatment of this syndrome are controversial. But in Korea, the researches for chronic fatigue and the chronic fatigue syndrome are very rare. Our goal was to assess the clinical characteristics of chronic fatigue and the chronic fatigue syndrome in Korea. METHODS: The study subjects were chronic fatigue patients visiting the chronic fatigue clinic in Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from Feb. 1. 1998 to Aug. 31. 1998 After medical history, physical examination, laboratary tests and questionnare(including fatigue, anxiety and depression scales), the study subjects were classified into the medically explained(psychological disorder and physical disorder group) and unexplained chronic fatigue patient groups(the chronic fatigue syndrome group and idiopathic chronic fatigue group). RESULTS: The final study subjects were 97 patients(psychologicsl disorder(20), physical disorder(20), idiopathic chronic fatigue(27), chronic fatigue syndrome(30)). Compared to the explained chranic fatigue group, uraxphined chronic fatigue group had higher female ratio, lower body mass index, lower blood pressure, higher fatigue scale scores, and the higher prevalence of anxiety and insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: From aur results, unexplained chronic fatigue patients had higher fatigue severity and higher prevalence of anxiety and insomnia than the explained chronic fatigue patients. Although there are limitations to generalizing the results of this study(selection bias), it is significant in that it is the first study of the chronic fatigue syndrome in Korea.
Anxiety ; Body Mass Index ; Depression ; Developed Countries ; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic* ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea* ; Physical Examination ; Precipitating Factors ; Prevalence ; Primary Health Care ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

BACKGROUND: The intravenous injection of rocuronium bromide is often painful, and different methods have been used to minimize the incidence and severity of this pain. This study determined the effective dose of alfentanil to minimize the injection pain of rocuronium and the cardiovascular response after endotracheal intubation. METHODS: Eighty ASA physical status 1 and 2 adult patients were divided into four groups. Sixty seconds before administering rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg, the groups were given 10 ml of intravenous normal saline or alfentanil 10, 15, and 20microgram/kg. Pain was assessed after rocuronium injection. The mean arterial pressure and heart rate were measured before induction and before and after intubation. RESULTS: Both 15 and 20microgram/kg alfentanil minimized the rocuronium injection pain, although 20microgram/kg alfentanil caused an undesirable decrease in the mean arterial pressure. CONCLUSIONS: A 15microgram/kg bolus of alfentanil may be useful for minimizing the rocuronium injection pain and blunting the cardiovascular response after endotracheal intubation.
Adult ; Alfentanil ; Androstanols ; Arterial Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Incidence ; Injections, Intravenous ; Intubation, Intratracheal

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the femoral head's size has an impact on dislocation rates following total hip arthroplasty (THA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundreds forty-three THA performed using a posterolateral approach in our hospital and followed up more than 6 months were included in this study. We evaluated dislocation rates based on the size of femoral head (28 mm vs. over 32 mm) and further investigated the dislocation rates classified into primary and revision surgery. Patient-related and surgical factors were reviewed to evaluate risk factors impacting dislocation rates. RESULTS: Dislocation occurred in 9.6% of cases (n=52; 32 males and 20 females). Of this dislocation group, 36 were treated with femoral heads 28 mm in diameter (9.8% of all patients treated with 28 mm femoral heads) and 16 were treated with femoral heads 32 mm and over (9.1% of all patients treated with femoral heads of at least 32 mm). The percentages of patients experiencing dislocation were not significantly different among the two groups (i.e., 28 mm vs. ≥32 mm). However, after revision surgery, the dislocation rate in the 28-mm group was significantly higher than the ≥32-mm group (P<0.05). In a case-control study comparing dislocation and non-dislocation groups, the risk of dislocation was 6 times higher in patients with habitual alcohol intake, and 9.2 times higher in patients with a neuropsychiatric disorder (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Patient factors are considered to have a more significant impact on dislocation rates following THA than the size of femoral head.
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* ; Case-Control Studies ; Dislocations* ; Head* ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors

STUDY DESIGN: A case report. OBJECTIVES: To report a case of indirect repair of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage after cervical anterior foraminotomy using Surgicel® and fibrin glue. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: There is no single modality that is best practice for this type of case because it is difficult to apply primary repair for a case of CSF leakage after cervical anterior decompression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 49-year-old female patient was diagnosed with CSF leakage on the second day after cervical anterior foraminotomy. We performed coverage with Surgicel® and fibrin glue at the CSF leak site. RESULTS: The patient was treated with indirect repair of CSF leakage without any complications. The clinical and radiological outcomes were excellent upon follow-up 1 year postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Indirect repair using Surgicel® and fibrin glue is an effective treatment for postoperative CSF leakage after cervical anterior foraminotomy.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Decompression ; Female ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foraminotomy* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Practice Guidelines as Topic

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress distribution and displacement of various craniofacial structures after nonsurgical rapid palatal expansion (RPE) with conventional (C-RPE), bone-borne (B-RPE), and miniscrew-assisted (MARPE) expanders for young adults using three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D FEA). METHODS: Conventional, bone-borne, and miniscrew-assisted palatal expanders were designed to simulate expansion in a 3D FE model created from a 20-year-old human dry skull. Stress distribution and the displacement pattern for each circumaxillary suture and anchor tooth were calculated. RESULTS: The results showed that C-RPE induced the greatest stress along the frontal process of the maxilla and around the anchor teeth, followed by the suture area, whereas B-RPE generated the greatest stress around the miniscrew, although the area was limited within the suture. Compared with the other appliances, MARPE caused relatively even stress distribution, decreased the stress on the buccal plate of the anchor teeth, and reduced tipping of the anchor teeth. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that the incorporation of miniscrews in RPE devices may contribute to force delivery to the sutures and a decrease in excessive stress on the buccal plate. Thus, MARPE may serve as an effective modality for the nonsurgical treatment of transverse maxillary deficiency in young adults.
Finite Element Analysis* ; Humans ; Maxilla ; Skull ; Sutures ; Tooth ; Young Adult*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) placement for surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women. METHODS: A retrospective study of 38 cases with SUI underwent the TVT procedure underlying local anesthesia at Daedong and Sewoong Hospital from March 2000 to December 2000, followed up more than six months who included in the study. RESULT: Operation times ranged from 20 to 53 minutes with a mean of 37.5 minutes. The mean blood loss was 90 mL. One major complication was encountered -bladder perforation (2.5%) and urinary retention was developed in 4 cases (10.5%). Length of hospital stay ranged from 0.8 to 11.3 days with a mean of 1.8 days. On postoperative follow-up from 6.1 to 17.5 months, thirty-three patients (87%) were cured, four (10.5%) were significantly improved and one was failed (2.5%). CONCLUSION: Althouth the follow-up period was short, the TVT procedure seemed to be a safe and effective method for the treatment of stress urinary incontience.
Anesthesia, Local ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Retrospective Studies ; Suburethral Slings* ; Urinary Incontinence ; Urinary Retention

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates cell adhesion through binding to extracelluar matrix molecules such as hyaluronan. Multiple isoforms of CD44 are generated by alternative splicing of 10 separate exons (v1-v10). Some of them have been noted as markers for tumor metastasis and prognosis in several studies. We investigated whether CD44s, v3 and v6 may be a useful markers in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Paraffin embedded tissue sections, which was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck from 41 patients were stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal Ab of CD44s, v3 and v6. The results were compared with the primary tumor status, lymph node metastasis, histopathologic differentiation and survival. RESULTS: Various levels of immunoreactivities of the CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were detected dominantly in cancer cell membrane. The positive rate of CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were 59%, 66%, 71%, respectively. The decreased expression of CD44s and CD44v6 was significantly correlated to lymph node metastasis but was not affected by T-stage, histopathologic differentiation and survival. CD44v3 had no correlation with the T-stage, N-stage, pathologic differentiation nor survival. CONCLUSION: The expression of CD44s and CD44v6 in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma may be a biologic marker for lymph node metastasis.
Alternative Splicing ; Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Membrane ; Exons ; Glycoproteins ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head* ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; Lymph Nodes ; Neck* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis ; Protein Isoforms

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: The prognosis of cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) depends on both residual liver function and tumor characteristics. The aims of this study was to construct a new prognostic index for HCC patients: the modified CLIP score, and to compare its discriminatory ability and predictive power with those of the CLIP score that is currently the most commonly used integrated staging score in patients of HCC. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 237 cases of HCC diagnosed at Dong-A university hospital was performed. Prognostic analysis was performed for single variables by estimating survival distributions with the Kaplan-Meier's method, and statistically compared by the log-rank test. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 57.5 years and were predominantly males (79.7%). The overall median survival period was 25.7 months. It was correlated to ascites, portal vein thrombosis, AFP, tumor size, and Child-Pugh classification. The median survival period was 41.0, 25.2, 13.8, 13.4, and 6.5 months for CLIP scores 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 to 6, respectively (P<0.001), and 42.1, 34.0, 25.7, 14.0, and 6.8 months for modified CLIP scores 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 to 6, respectively (P<0.001). The Kaplan-Meier's curve showed that the modified CLIP score had additional explanatory power above that of the CLIP score. CONCLUSIONS: The modified CLIP score, compared with the CLIP score, particularly in the score 2- to 3- patient groups of HCC, had greater discriminant ability and survival predictive power, but was not able to discriminate 4- to 6- patient group.
alpha-Fetoproteins/analysis ; Venous Thrombosis/complications ; Survival Analysis ; Prognosis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Liver Neoplasms/complications/mortality/*pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications ; Humans ; Female ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/complications/mortality/*pathology ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged ; Adult

Objective: We aimed to predict the risk of postoperative adjuvant therapy using preoperative variables in young patients with early stage cervical cancer. The predicted risk can guide whether ovarian transposition should be performed during surgery. Methods: In total, 886 patients with stage IB1-IIA cervical cancer aged 20-45 years who underwent modified radical or radical hysterectomy between January 2000 and December 2008 were included. Preoperative variables, preoperative laboratory findings, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage, tumor size, and pathological variables were collected. Patients with high risk factors or those who met the Sedlis criteria were considered adjuvant therapy risk (+); others were considered adjuvant therapy risk (-). A decision-tree model using preoperative variables was constructed to predict the risk of adjuvant therapy. Results: Of 886 patients, 362 were adjuvant therapy risk (+) (40.9%). The decision-tree model with four distinct adjuvant therapy risks using tumor size and age were generated. Specifically, patients with tumor size ≤2.45 cm had low risk (49/367; 13.4%), those with tumor size ≤3.85 cm and >2.45 cm had moderate risk (136/314; 43.3%), those with tumor size >3.85 cm and age ≤39.5 years had high risk (92/109; 84.4%), and those with tumor size >3.85 cm and age >39.5 years had the highest risk (85/96; 88.5%). Conclusion The risk of postoperative adjuvant therapy in young patients with early stage cervical cancer can be predicted using preoperative variables. We can decide whether ovarian transposition should be performed using the predicted risk.

Purpose: We aimed to develop and validate individual prognostic models in a large cohort of cervical cancer patients that were primarily treated with radical hysterectomy. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 1,441 patients with early-stage cervical cancer treated between 2000 and 2008 from the Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group multi-institutional cohort: a train cohort (n=788) and a test cohort (n=653). Models predicting the risk for overall survival (OS), disease- free survival (DFS), lymphatic recurrence and hematogenous recurrence were developed using Cox analysis and stepwise backward selection and best-model options. The prognostic performance of each model was assessed in an independent patient cohort. Model-classified risk groups were compared to groups based on traditional risk factors. Results: Independent risk factors for OS, DFS, lymphatic recurrence, and hematogenous recurrence were identified for prediction model development. Different combinations of risk factors were shown for each outcome with best predictive value. In train cohort, area under the curve (AUC) at 2 and 5 years were 0.842/0.836 for recurrence, and 0.939/0.882 for OS. When applied to a test cohort, the model also showed accurate prediction result (AUC at 2 and 5 years were 0.799/0.723 for recurrence, and 0.844/0.806 for OS, respectively). The Kaplan-Meier plot by proposed model-classified risk groups showed more distinctive survival differences between each risk group. Conclusion We developed prognostic models for OS, DFS, lymphatic and hematogenous recurrence in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Combining weighted clinicopathologic factors, the proposed model can give more individualized predictions in clinical practice.