BACKGROUND: The chronic disease patients have various psychological problems during the treatment. Therefore, it is needed about understanding and support for chronic disease patients. The main purposes of this study are to identify the psychometric characteristics. METHODS: To evaluate the psychometric characteristics of chronic disease patients-liver cirrhosis, chronic pulmonary disease, etc. -a questionnaire(SCL-90-R) survey was performed toward 100 chronic disease patients in admission to 2 general hospital. 100 persons without any disease were investigated by the same questionnaire for comparison. The survey was performed from June to August 1996. RESULTS: The disease history among the patients, 31% of patients suffered from liver disease, 19% of patients suffered from chronic respiratory disease. 30% of patients reported that they were not expected a recovery from the disease. The patients have a significant higher score in the somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism than normal control (p<0.05). Most of the psychometric characteristics were associated with expectancy of the recovery, education about the disease, number of admission, duration of admission and type of disease(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The chronic disease patients showed higher score psychological symptoms in various characteristics than normal control. Therefore it will be needed that is an proper treatment and psychological support continuously.
Anxiety ; Chronic Disease* ; Depression ; Education ; Fibrosis ; Hospitals, General ; Hostility ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Lung Diseases ; Psychometrics* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: The chronic disease patients have various psychological problems during the treatment. Therefore, it is needed about understanding and support for chronic disease patients. The main purposes of this study are to identify the psychometric characteristics. METHODS: To evaluate the psychometric characteristics of chronic disease patients-liver cirrhosis, chronic pulmonary disease, etc. -a questionnaire(SCL-90-R) survey was performed toward 100 chronic disease patients in admission to 2 general hospital. 100 persons without any disease were investigated by the same questionnaire for comparison. The survey was performed from June to August 1996. RESULTS: The disease history among the patients, 31% of patients suffered from liver disease, 19% of patients suffered from chronic respiratory disease. 30% of patients reported that they were not expected a recovery from the disease. The patients have a significant higher score in the somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism than normal control (p<0.05). Most of the psychometric characteristics were associated with expectancy of the recovery, education about the disease, number of admission, duration of admission and type of disease(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The chronic disease patients showed higher score psychological symptoms in various characteristics than normal control. Therefore it will be needed that is an proper treatment and psychological support continuously.
Anxiety ; Chronic Disease* ; Depression ; Education ; Fibrosis ; Hospitals, General ; Hostility ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Lung Diseases ; Psychometrics* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: We tested recent evidences that IP triggers selective activation of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes using isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit heart with PKC activator, phorbol ester (PMA, 0.01 nM) or inhibitor (calphostin C, 200 nM). METHODS: After stabilization of baseline hemodynamics, the hearts were subjected to 45 min global ischemia (I) followed by 120 min reperfusion (R) with IP (IP group, n=18) or without IP (ischemic control group, n=16). IP was induced by single episode of 5 min I and 10 min R. In the PMA-treated group (n=19) and calphostin C-treated preconditioned group (n=15), PMA and calphostin C was given for 5 and 15 min before 45 min I, respectively. Myocardial cytosolic and membrane PKC activities were measured by 32P- -ATP incorporation into PKC-specific pepetide: PKC isozymes were analyzed by Western blot with monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: IP significantly increased the recovery of the LV function including LVDP and coronary flow (p <0.05):however, enhancement of the functional recovery disappeared by calphostin C or PMA treatment. Cytosolic PKC activity decreased to 82-76% in the IP and PMA-treated group (p <0.05): membrane PKC activity increased to 218-272% (p <0.01). However, both fraction of PKC activity was not changed in the calphostin C-treated preconditioned group. In addition, Western blot revealed that PKC- alpha and epsilon, especially epsilon, were selectively translocated during subsequent sustained ischemia after IP or PMA administration. IP and PMA also reduced infarct size (frim 38 to 10-20%, p <0.05). However, calphostin C blocked infarct reduction effect of IP. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that in isolated rabbit heart model, cardioprotective effect of IP may be related, at least in part, to trigger selective translocation of PKC, especially epsilon isotype.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Blotting, Western ; Cytosol ; Heart ; Hemodynamics ; Ischemia ; Ischemic Preconditioning* ; Isoenzymes ; Membranes ; Protein Kinase C* ; Protein Kinases* ; Reperfusion

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LLC) is a rare cancer that presents with a unique histologic pattern that is characterized by poorly differentiated malignant cells infiltrating the background stroma along with massive lymphocyte infiltration. Many studies have shown that gastric LLC is associated with better prognosis than other gastric malignancies. However, the reason for better prognosis has not been clarified and the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Therefore, we attempted to determine the clinical characteristics of gastric LLC and identify its prognostic factors related to improved survival. METHODS: A total of 18 patients were diagnosed with gastric LLC after resection from 2005 to 2012 at Department of Gastroenterology in Chungnam National University Hospital. The data of these patients were compared with 36 age- and sex-matched patients with poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma who also underwent resection during the same study period. RESULTS: Postoperative recurrence or metastasis tended to occur less frequent in gastric LLC than in poorly-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. Among prognostic factors, only the number of lymph node metastases showed significant difference, with gastric LLC being associated with a smaller number of lymph node metastases. Regarding the disease free and overall survival rate, both were higher for gastric LLC than for poorly-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma, albeit not statistically significant (p=0.089 and p=0.159, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma was associated with a higher number of lymph node metastases at diagnosis than gastric LCC. Other potential factors affecting prognosis were not significantly different between the two cancer types.
Adenocarcinoma/*diagnosis/mortality/pathology ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma/diagnosis/mortality/pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/mortality/pathology ; Survival Rate

We report herein a case of gastric undifferentiated carcinoma with focal yolk sac tumor and hepatoid carcinoma differentiation. A 57-year-old man was referred after a gastroscopy for anemia evaluation. Gastroscopy revealed an approximately 3 cm ulcerofungating mass occupying the greater curvature of stomach body. Biopsy results revealed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Left gastric lymph node was enlarged, but there were no evidence of distant metastasis on the abdominal CT. He underwent a radical subtotal gastrectomy and gastroduodenostomy with dissection of the enlarged lymph nodes. Postsurgical histological examination revealed an undifferentiated carcinoma with focal yolk sac tumor and hepatoid carcinoma differentiation. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the tumor cells were focal positive for AFP, anti-hepatocyte antibody.
Adenocarcinoma ; Anemia ; Biopsy ; Carcinoma ; Endodermal Sinus Tumor ; Gastrectomy ; Gastroscopy ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Stomach ; Yolk Sac

Several growth factors and polypeptides are not commonly yet used for regenerators of bone tissue or alveolar bone because of the insufficiency of studies on their side effects, genetic engineering for mass production and stability for clinical application. Recently, many natural medicines, which have advantage of less side effects and possibility of long-term use, have been studied for their capacity and effects of anti-bacterial, antiinflammatory and regenerative potential of periodontal tissues. Olibanum, Myrrha, Phlomis Radix, and Cimicifugae Rhizoma have been traditionally used as a drug for treatment of bone disease in oriental medicine. The objective of this study was to examine the ability of alkaline phosphatase(ALP) synthesis of rat calvarial osteoblast(MC3T3-E1) when several natural medicines were supplemented. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured with alpha-MEM(negative control), dexamethasone(positive control), and each natural medicines for 3 and 5 days. And then ALP synthesis was measured by spectrophotometer for enzyme activity and by naphthol AS-BI staining for morphometry. All of the natural medicines induced higher activity of ALP synthesis than the negative controls. Especially Olibanum induced the higher activity than the positive controls(p<0.05). In the aspects of culturing time, except Cimicifugae Rhizoma, the natural medicines induced higher activity of ALP synthesis at 5 days than at 3 days(p<0.05). In morphometry, all of the natural medicines showed statistical significance compared to the negative control(p<0.05). Myrrha and Phlomis Radix showed larger positively stained area at 5 days than at 3 days, whereas the others did not showed the difference between at 5 and at 3 days(p<0.05). These results indicate that several natural medicines have an inducing ability of ALP synthesis in MC3T3-E1 cells.
Rats ; Animals

A 24-year-old man was admitted due to an incidentally detected mass in his left testis, which showed radiopaque calcification on plain X-ray film. Left orchiectomy was performed, and the resected testis contained a well-demarcated, hard mass measuring 1.1 cm. Histological analysis revealed that the tumor was composed of neoplastic cells, fibrotic stroma, and laminated or irregularly shaped calcific bodies. The individual cells had abundant eosinophilic or clear cytoplasm with round nuclei, each of which contained one or two conspicuous nucleoli. They were arranged in cords, trabeculae, clusters, and diffuse sheets. There were several foci of intra-tubular growth patterns, with thickening of the basal lamina. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells were positive for S-100 protein and vimentin, focally positive for inhibin alpha, and negative for cytokeratin, CD10, and Melan-A. In addition to reporting this rare case, we also review the relevant literature regarding large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumors.
Basement Membrane ; Cytoplasm ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Inhibins ; Keratins ; MART-1 Antigen ; Orchiectomy ; S100 Proteins ; Sertoli Cell Tumor* ; Testis* ; Vimentin ; X-Ray Film ; Young Adult

Pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy is accepted as the standard antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C regardless of HCV genotype. This combination therapy achieves higher response rates than previous therapy, but, nevertheless, a large proportion of patients suffer from treatment failure or adverse events. Recent clinical studies of viral kinetics during antiviral treatment have led to the introduction of response-guided therapy, the concept of 'customized therapy depending on viral response', which focuses on modulation of the treatment period depending on the viral response to create a sustained viral response without unnecessary medication and costs. New upcoming direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) maximize response rate, and triple therapy including DAAs along with pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy could soon be the standard therapy. In this article, we reviewed the factors affecting treatment, response guided treatment, retreatment after failure of standard treatment, management of adverse events during treatment, and new treatment options.
Anemia, Hemolytic/drug therapy/etiology ; Antiviral Agents/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Erythropoietin/therapeutic use ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Individualized Medicine ; Interferon-alpha/adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Polyethylene Glycols/adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Protease Inhibitors/therapeutic use ; RNA, Viral/analysis ; Recombinant Proteins/adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Ribavirin/adverse effects/therapeutic use

PURPOSE: We examined patient satisfaction with treatment outcomes after shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) and ureteroscopic removal of stone (URS) for proximal ureteral stones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 224 consecutive patients who underwent SWL (n=156) or URS (n=68) for a single radiopaque proximal ureteral stone. Stone-free rates, defined as no visible fragment on a plain X-ray; complications; and patient satisfaction were compared. Patient satisfaction was examined through a specifically tailored questionnaire that included overall satisfaction (5 scales) and 4 domains (pain, voiding symptoms, cost, and stone-free status). RESULTS: The stone-free rates after the first, second, and third sessions of SWL were 36.5%, 65.4%, and 84.6%, respectively. The overall stone-free rate of URS was 82.4%, which was comparable to that of the third session of SWL. Complications were similar between the two groups except for greater steinstrasse in the SWL group. Overall satisfaction and voiding symptoms, cost, and stone-free status showed no significant difference between the groups. In the pain domain, the SWL group had a relatively lower satisfaction rate than did the URS group (p=0.05). Subanalysis showed that the satisfaction rate of the URS group with stone-free status was significantly lower than that of the SWL group in patients with > or =10 mm stones (p=0.032). CONCLUSIONS: Overall treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction were not significantly different between SWL and URS. However, patients undergoing URS for > or =10 mm proximal ureteral stones had lesser satisfaction with stone-free status, because of relatively lower stone-free rates due to upward stone migration. We suggest that factors regarding the subjective satisfaction of patients be included in counseling about treatment options for proximal ureteral stones.
Counseling ; Humans ; Lithotripsy ; Patient Satisfaction ; Shock ; Ureter ; Ureteral Calculi ; Ureteroscopy

Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) is widely used in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Its common complications are right upper quadrant pain, nausea, vomiting, and rare complications include focal pancreatic necrosis, gastric ulcer, renal failure, DIC, biliary tree necrosis and splenic infarction and so on. It has been reported that hepatobronchial fistula could develop as a pleuropulmonary complication of liver abscess. We report a case of hepatobronchial fistula caused by complicating liver abscess in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma who was treated with TAE.
Biliary Tract ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Dacarbazine ; Fistula* ; Humans ; Liver Abscess ; Nausea ; Necrosis ; Renal Insufficiency ; Splenic Infarction ; Stomach Ulcer ; Vomiting