Trichinellosis is a parasitic zoonosis of public health importance. It is caused by Trichinella spiralis which has a wide host range including humans. In the present communication, the ELISA technique was employed on a total of 803 blood samples from 7 selected pig breeding farms in 1996 for diagnosis and surveillance of trichinellosis. Out of the entire 803 samples, nine were found to be suspected while one was positive by ELISA. But western blot analyses employed for further confirmation have shown that all of 10 samples did not react to larval excretory-secretory product antigens. These results indicate that pig breeding farms included in the present study are free from trichinellosis. However, it does not mean Korea is free from trichinellosis since human trichinellosis has recently been reported. The necessity of continued surveillance for trichinellosis in both pigs and wild animals was discussed.
Animals ; *Animals, Domestic ; Antibodies, Helminth/*blood ; Biological Markers/blood ; Blotting, Western ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Trichinella spiralis/*immunology ; Trichinosis/*diagnosis/epidemiology/*veterinary

After pantethine in doses of 540 mg per day was administered for 8 weeks in 20 patients with hyperlipidemia, the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol were compared with the pretreatment level. The serum level of total cholesterol decreased to 240+/-52 mg%[mean+/-standard deviation] after 4 weeks and 223+/-41 mg% after 8 weeks from the pretreatment level of 293+/-38 mg%(p<0.01). The serum triglyceride level also decreased to 254+/-109 mg% after 4 weeks and 239+/-114 mg% after 8 weeks from the pretreatment level of 375+/-126 mg%(p<0.01). But, there was no significant change in the serum levels of HDL-cholesterol before and after treatment (56+/-27 mg% beforAfter pantethine in doses of 540 mg per day was administered for 8 weeks in 20 patients with hyperlipidemia, the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol were compared with the pretreatment level. The serum level of total cholesterol decreased to 240+/-52 mg%[mean+/-standard deviation] after 4 weeks and 223+/-41 mg% after 8 weeks from the pretreatment level of 293+/-38 mg%(p<0.01). The serum triglyceride level also decreased to 254+/-109 mg% after 4 weeks and 239+/-114 mg% after 8 weeks from the pretreatment level of 375+/-126 mg%(p<0.01). But, there was no significant change in the serum levels of HDL-cholesterol before and after treatment (56+/-27 mg% before treatment, 56+/-18 mg% after 4 weeks and 59+/-22 mg% after 8 weeks). Pantethine was well tolerated in most patients.
Cholesterol ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias* ; Triglycerides

We report a case of coronary arteriovenous fistula in a female adult confirmed by aortography. The fistulous communication was between right coronary artery and right ventricle. This is the first case report of adult patient with coronary arteriovenous fistula in Korea.
Adult ; Aortography ; Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Coronary Vessels ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Korea

While cardiac myxoma is a rare cause of stroke, it needs to be considered so that it can be detect promptly. We report the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of three patients who were histologically confirmed as cardiac myxoma. MRI revealed multiple infarctions in bilateral hemispheres and hemorrhagic transformation including microbleeds and macrobleeds. If either petechial hemorrhage or microbleeds along the cortical border zone are identified in MRI of acute stroke patients, the possibility of cardiac myxoma should be considered.
Cerebral Infarction ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Intracranial Embolism* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Myxoma* ; Stroke

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the annual socioeconomic costs of stroke in Korea in 2005 from a societal perspective. METHODS: We identified those 20 years or older who had at least one national health insurance (NHI) claims record with a primary or a secondary diagnosis of stroke (ICD-10 codes: I60-I69, G45) in 2005. Direct medical costs of the stroke were measured from the NHI claims records. Direct non-medical costs were estimated as transportation costs incurred when visiting the hospitals. Indirect costs were defined as patients' and caregivers' productivity loss associated with office visits or hospitalization. Also, the costs of productivity loss due to premature death from stroke were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 882,143 stroke patients were identified with prevalence for treatment of stroke at 2.44%. The total cost for the treatment of stroke in the nation was estimated to be 3,737 billion Korean won (KRW) which included direct costs at 1,130 billion KRW and indirect costs at 2,606 billion KRW. The per-capita cost of stroke was 3 million KRW for men and 2 million KRW for women. The total national spending for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke was 1,323 billion KRW and 1,553 billion KRW, respectively, which together consisted of 77.0% of the total cost for stroke. Costs per patient for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke were estimated at 6 million KRW and 2 million KRW, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke is a leading public health problem in Korea in terms of the economic burden. The indirect costs were identified as the largest component of the overall cost.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; *Health Care Costs ; *Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Insurance Claim Review ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Stroke/*economics ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of syncope is related to the severity of the underlying disease, including cerebral disease, rather than of the syncope itself. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical factors related to the cerebral comorbidity confirmed on brain imaging of syncope patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who were diagnosed as syncope and underwent brain magnetic resonance [MR] imaging between January 2011 and December 2014. An abnormal MR lesion was defined as the presence of one or more of the following: (1) ischemic lesion, (2) major cerebral artery occlusion or stenosis over 50%, (3) cerebral aneurysm or vascular abnormalities, and (4) other traumatic or parenchymal lesion. The findings of electroencephalography and clinical factors that might be related to abnormal lesions in brain MR images were investigated. RESULTS: Of 347 (mean age 50.5 years, 48.1% females) patients, abnormal imaging findings were observed in 48 (13.8%). The clinical factors related to abnormal findings were age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease. Independent factors for an abnormal MR lesion were age (odds ratio=1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.08, p <0.001) and hypertension (odds ratio=2.73, 95% CI 1.34-5.60, p=0.006). Abnormal electroencephalography findings were noted in 52 (20.3%) of 256 investigated patients. Generalized or focal slowing was observed more frequently in elderly patients (p<0.001) and in the presence of abnormal brain MR lesions (p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: In syncope patients with hypertension or who are elderly, a brain MR image may be helpful for detecting comorbid brain lesions.
Aged ; Brain ; Cerebral Arteries ; Comorbidity ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medical Records ; Neuroimaging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Syncope*

PURPOSE: The healthy worker effect is an important issue in occupational epidemiology. This study was conducted to propose a new method to test the relation between exposure and mortality in the presence of the healthy worker effect. METHODS: In this study, the healthy worker hire effect was assumed to operate as a confounding variable of health status at the beginning of employment and healthy worker survival effect as a confounding and intermediate variable of employment status. In addition, the proposed method reflects the length bias sampling caused by changing of an employment status. Simulation studies were also carried out to compare the proposed method with Cox's time dependent covariates models . RESULTS: The theoretical development of the healthy worker survival effect is based on the result that an observation with change of an employment status requires that the survival time without intermediate event exceeds the waiting time for the intermediate event. According to our simulation studies, both the proposed method and Cox's time dependent covariates model which includes the change of employment status as time dependent covariates seem to be satisfactory at 5% significance level. However, Cox's time dependent covariates models without or with the change of employment status as time fixed covariate are unsatisfactory. The proposed test is superior in power to tests based on Cox's model. CONCLUSIONS: The healthy worker effect may not be controlled by classical Cox's proportional hazards models. The proposed method performed well in the presence of healthy worker effect in terms of level and power
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology) ; Employment ; Epidemiology ; Healthy Worker Effect* ; Mortality ; Proportional Hazards Models

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to estimate the annual socioeconomic burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Korea in 2005, using the National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data. METHODS: A prevalence-based, top-down, cost-of-treatment method was used to assess the direct and indirect costs of CHD (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision codes of I20-I25), angina pectoris (I20), and myocardial infarction (MI, I21-I23) from a societal perspective. RESULTS: Estimated national spending on CHD in 2005 was 2.52 billion dollar . The majority of the spending was attributable to medical costs (53.3%), followed by productivity loss due to morbidity and premature death (33.6%), transportation (8.1%), and informal caregiver costs (4.9%). While medical cost was the predominant cost attribute in treating angina (74.3% of the total cost), premature death was the largest cost attribute for patients with MI (66.9%). Annual per-capita cost of treating MI, excluding premature death cost, was 3183 dollar, which is about 2 times higher than the cost for angina (1556 dollar). CONCLUSIONS: The total insurance-covered medical cost (1.13 billion dollar) of CHD accounted for approximately 6.02% of the total annual NHI expenditure. These findings suggest that the current burden of CHD on society is tremendous and that more effective prevention strategies are required in Korea.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angina Pectoris/economics/epidemiology ; Coronary Disease/*economics/epidemiology ; *Cost of Illness ; Female ; Health Care Costs/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Insurance, Health/statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/economics/epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Sex Factors ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Transient global amnesia (TGA) might be related to an ischemic event with characteristic findings in diffusion-weighted images (DWIs). However, acute lesions are uncommon. The aim of this study was to identify any clinical or radiological differences between TGA patients with and without acute lesions. METHODS: From January 2010 through March 2015, we identified retrospectively TGA patients with DWIs within 7 days from onset. According to the presence of an acute lesion in the hippocampus, clinical features, vascular risk factors, electroencephalography (EEG) findings, and the regional perfusion status in single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) images were compared. RESULTS: Of 57 TGA patients (mean age=60.5 years; 40 females), 19 patients (33.3%) had acute focal lesions in the hippocampus (3.53±0.74 mm, mean±SD). In terms of clinical features, the symptom duration was shorter in the lesion-negative group than in the lesion-positive group (mean=5 hours, interquartile range [IQR]=2-9 hours vs. mean=8 hours, IQR=5-13.5 hours; p=0.072). However, there were no differences between TGA patients with and without DWI lesions in cerebrovascular risk factors, laboratory results, or EEG findings. In 6 of 22 patients who underwent cerebral SPECT (2 of 9 DWI lesions and 4 of 13 without lesions), mild perfusion defects were exhibited without significant differences in both medial temporal regions and in the left frontal and left frontotemporal regions. CONCLUSIONS: Symptom duration was the only clinical difference-including perfusion defects and epileptic evidence-between TGA patients with and without DWI lesions. This suggests that there is a low probability of hypoperfusion or focal seizure in TGA patients without acute lesions.
Amnesia, Transient Global* ; Electroencephalography ; Hippocampus* ; Humans ; Perfusion ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seizures ; Temporal Lobe ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

PURPOSE: To determine the malignant potential in clinically localised small renal cell carcinoma (RCC) (≤4cm) in patients using postoperative pathologic outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 2,085 patients in 7 urology centres with clinical T1a RCC who underwent nephrectomy. The pathologic upstaging group (PUG) was defined by pathologic T3a after the operation. Multivariate analyses were used to examine predicting factors for the risk of PUG. Next, Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to examine the PUG for worse recurrence-free survival during the follow-up period. RESULTS: The PUG had 73 patients (3.5%); they were older and had a larger tumour size than the other patients (all p<0.001). After adjusting for clinical characteristics, age (odds ratio [OR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–1.06) and tumour size greater than 3 cm (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.21–3.11) were found to be independent predictors for the PUG after nephrectomy. Furthermore, the PUG had worse recurrence-free survival during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: In this multi-institution analysis, RCC 3 cm or greater in older patients had a high malignant potential compared to relatively small tumours in younger patients. These results may be helpful for stratifying patients to manage small renal masses.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nephrectomy ; Retrospective Studies ; Urology