Tetanus is a neurologic disease which features the muscle spasm as the hallmark. It is an infectious disease with high mortality rate triggered by tetanospasmin produced by Clostridium tetani. This report concerns incidence of tetanus consequent to oriental medical care such as acupuncture and moxibustion. Although the tetanus occurrence has shown a remarkable decline since nationwide vaccinations in some of the developed countries, including Korea, it still remains to be an important issue, to be dealt within Korea, as the majority of the patients are old aged and Korean population is rapidly becoming an aging society. Furthermore, since more elders are coming to rely on Oriental medicine in Korea, the Korean elders are at a higher risk than elsewhere. The lack of medical experiences, including those in oriental medical field, has been hindering early diagnosis of Tetanus. This study aims to encourage rapid and accurate decisions in diagnosis and treatment through reviewing symptoms particularly specific to tetanus, and also to arouse attention to the riskiness of invasive procedures involving skin puncture.
Acupuncture ; Aged ; Aging ; Clostridium tetani ; Communicable Diseases ; Developed Countries ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Metalloendopeptidases ; Moxibustion ; Punctures ; Skin ; Spasm ; Tetanus ; Tetanus Toxin ; Vaccination

No abstract available.
Gestational Age* ; Mortality

PURPOSE: To describe the MR features of intraspinal cysticercosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records and MR images of four cases of intraspinal cysticercosis were retrospectively reviewed. The MR findings were described with regard to the location and signal intensity of the lesions, contrast enhancement, presence or absence of associated intracranial cysticerci, and other findings. RESULTS: There were three cases of subarachnoidal form and one case of intramedullary form. Cysticerci of subarachnoidal form in three cases were located in retromedullary space at C2 level, anterior to cord at C1 -C6 levels, and lumbosacral area, respectively. The signal intensities of the lesions were same as those of CSF. Localized arachnoidal enhancement was found in all three cases. In one case there was a large area of high signal intensity within the spinal cord on T2 weighted image suggesting either ischemia secondary to vascular compromise or inflammatory edema. All of these three cases accompanied intracranial cysticercosis. Intramedullary cysticercosis in one case was shown as a single I cm cystic lesion at C2 level, which showed hypointense signal on T1 weighted image, hyperintense signal on T2-weighted image, and signet-ring-like enhancement. This lesion did not accompany intracranial cysticerci. CONCLUSION: lntraspinal cysticercosis manifested as single or multiple cysts within either spinal cord or subarachnoid space, and were frequently associated with arachnoiditis.
Arachnoid ; Arachnoiditis ; Cysticercosis* ; Edema ; Ischemia ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord ; Subarachnoid Space

PURPOSE: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) generally varies depending on its diagnostic definition, and many different definitions inevitably lead to substantial confusion and lack of comparability between studies. Despite extensive research, there is still no gold standard for the definition of MetS, which continues to be a matter of debate. In this study, we investigate whether and to what extent its individual components are related to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data from the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is a nationally representative survey of the noninstitutionalized civilian population. The study sample consisted of 1,406 Korean adults (587 men, 819 women) who were diagnosed with MetS based on the revised National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria. Central obesity is defined as a waist circumference cutoff point reported in Asia-Pacific criteria for obesity based on waist circumference by the World Health Organization. CVD was defined as presence of stroke, myocardial infarction, or angina pectoris on a medical history questionnaire. RESULTS: The CVD prevalence among the subjects was 6.8% for men and 8.6% for women. Besides age, the components of MetS showing a significant difference in the number of CVD events were high fasting glucose (FG) in men and high blood pressure (BP) and high FG in women. After adjusting for gender and age, high FG was shown to yield a significant difference (odds ratio: unadjusted 2.08, adjusted 1.81), alone among all MetS components. However, after adjusting for only age, no significant difference was found. CONCLUSION: Fasting glucose level is the highest predicting factor for CVD in Korean patients with MetS based on the revised NECP definition.
Age Factors ; Blood Glucose/analysis ; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology/*etiology ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Hypertension/complications/epidemiology ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/complications/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors

No abstract available.
Addison Disease*

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The authors investigated the clinical significance of the C-reactive protein(CRP) in recurrence, metastasis and prognostic factors of renal cell carcinoma(RCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 1994 to April 1998, a total of 48 patients (confirmed as the RCC by pathology after radical nephrectomy) underwent a study that made a correlation between the CRP and stage, tumor size, grade, cell type, patient`s age and sex. The CRP was measured preoperatively and postoperatively at an interval of 3 months by the rate nephelometry (quantitatively). RESULTS: The mean of preoperative CRP(mg/dL) were 1.29 at stageI, 0.50 at II, 3.67 at III, 0.50 at IV. The mean of preoperative CRP in tumor size were 1.07 at<5cm, 1.62 at 5-10cm, 1.60 at >10cm. With regard to grade, the mean of preoperative CRP were 0.50 at grade I, 0.62 at II, 0.86 at III, 4.04 at IV, but there was no statistical significance(p=0.24). The mean of preoperative CRP were 1.44 at clear cell type, 0.76 at granular cell type, 0.50 at mixed type. With regard to age, the mean of preoperative CRP were 1.15 in the 4th decade, 0.98 in the 5th, 1.93 in the 6th, 0.97 in the 7th and 0.50 in the 8th decade. The mean of preoperative CRP were 1.18 in men, 1.52 in women. There were 5 patients who had distant metastasis during the follow up interval. The preoperative average of the CRP in this group was 0.50 and 0.74 at the time of distant metastasis; however, it was not statistically significant(p=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: The CRP was not a significant prognostic factor in the RCC as compared with the stage, grade, tumor size, cell type, age and sex.
C-Reactive Protein* ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Cell Size ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; Pathology ; Recurrence

MR finding of melanoma shows peculiar signal intensity based on paramagnetic effect of melanin or intratumoral hemorrhage, which displays decreased T1 and T2 relaxation times in many cases. Authors report MR findings in two cases of intracranial metastatic melanoma, which is pathologically confirmed by operation.
Hemorrhage ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Melanins ; Melanoma* ; Relaxation

No abstract available.
Doxorubicin* ; Membrane Potentials* ; Membranes* ; Papillary Muscles*

No abstract available.
Fallopian Tubes* ; Female