PURPOSE: We performed this study to identify the clinical characteristics of delirium tremens in Korea. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of patients suffering from delirium tremens who visited the Emergency Department of Keimyung University Hospital during the period of Jan. 2001 through Jun. 2002. RESULTS: All patients were mail, and the number was 28. The age distribution was 40~49, and the most common duration of drinking (15 cases) was between 11 and 20 years. The abstinence period before development of Delirium Tremens was, in most cases, less than 4 days, and the average period of symptoms of Delirium Tremens was less than 6 days. Various abnormal laboratory finding were noted: increased bilirubin level in 50%, prolonged pro-thrombin time in 14.3%, increased amylase level in 19.9% and electrolyte imbalance in 25%. CONCLUSION: During the study period, there was no mortalities. The author believes that sufficient vitamins and fluid supplement contributed to the results.
Age Distribution ; Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium* ; Amylases ; Bilirubin ; Delirium* ; Drinking ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Korea ; Mortality ; Postal Service ; Seizures ; Vitamins

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the health-related quality of life of caregivers for demented elders. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 170 pairs of demented elders and their caregivers. Socio-demographic characteristics of the demented elders and the caregivers, Barthel index and SF-36 were used in this study. Data analysis procedure included t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: The score of overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was 288.62 in norm-based scoring. The major factors that affect HRQoL of the demented elders' caregivers were burden, the age of the caregiver, ADL and gender of the demented elder, and these factors explained 34.5% of HRQoL. CONCLUSION: The factors significantly affecting the caregivers' HRQoL were burden, the age of the caregiver and ADL. The effective social support system should be considered in respective nursing interventions to decrease the level of burden and to increase HRQoL in demented elders' caregivers. Further studies and efforts will be needed to investigate preceding factors of burden and HRQoL.
Activities of Daily Living ; Caregivers ; Dementia* ; Humans ; Nursing ; Quality of Life* ; Statistics as Topic

PURPOSE: There has been an increase in the number of nontraumatic prehospital cardiac arrests due to increases in both cardiovascular diseases and the average age of the population. We performed this study to identify the proper resuscitation technique to be used to increase the survival rate in nontraumatic, prehospital cardiac arrest. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of patients with nontraumatic, prehospital cardiac arrest who visited our Emergency Department of Keimyung University Hospital during the period of May 2001 through April 2002. RESULTS: Out of 60 cases of nontraumatic, prehospital cardiac arrest, 27 (45%) experienced no ROSC, 15 (25%) experienced transient ROSC, 6 (10%) died after 24 hours, and 12 (20%) alived and were discharged. Among those discharged, 10 had visited our emergency department for cardiac causes and 2 for non-cardiac causes. EKG findings were VF in 8, PEA in 2, and bradycardia in 2. In the discharged survival cases, the cardiac arrest had been witnessed. CONCLUSION: We failed to find significant statistical survival differences based on the causes of cardiac arrest, the initial EKG monitoring, or the method of visit. Witnessed cases of cardiac arrest had a higher survival rate than nonwitnessed cases (p<0.05).
Bradycardia ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Electrocardiography ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Peas ; Resuscitation ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: Since 2002, Department of Surgery, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine attempted to revise the evaluation method of surgical clerkship program. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect after change of evaluation method. METHODS: Major changes in current revisions were summarized as follows; (1) multiple evaluator, (2) student's attitude evaluated by rating scale method, (3) attendance and procedure evaluation were measured in numbers according to the fixed criteria, (4) addition of clinic-based items such as problem-solving items in the final written examination. We compared the measurement of revised evaluation at 2002 with those at 1999. And the correlation or simple linear regression analysis between score of clerkship and student academic grade score were taken. RESULTS: The clerkship score of students at 2002 showed more powerful discrimination between high performance group and poor group than that of 1999's. Even though the subject score of clerkship was significantly correlated with grade score regardless of evaluation method of clerkship, the subject score of clerkship at 2002 was more closely correlated with a grade score than 1999's. The score of knowledge-based items from final written examination is not correlated with clerkship score, but on the other hands, there was significant correlation between score of clinic-based items and clerkship score. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, variable measurements under the exact guideline and principle are more reliable method in evaluation of surgical clerkship.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Gangwon-do ; Hand ; Humans ; Linear Models

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has achieved impressive success since the development of the Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib mesylate. Nevertheless, resistance to imatinib has been observed, and a substantial number of patients need alternative treatment strategies. METHODS: We have evaluated the effects of deferasirox, an orally active iron chelator, and imatinib on K562 and KU812 human CML cell lines. Imatinib-resistant CML cell lines were created by exposing cells to gradually increasing concentrations of imatinib. RESULTS: Co-treatment of cells with deferasirox and imatinib induced a synergistic dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation of both CML cell lines. Cell cycle analysis showed an accumulation of cells in the subG1 phase. Western blot analysis of apoptotic proteins showed that co-treatment with deferasirox and imatinib induced an increased expression of apoptotic proteins. These tendencies were clearly identified in imatinib-resistant CML cell lines. The results also showed that co-treatment with deferasirox and imatinib reduced the expression of BcrAbl, phosphorylated Bcr-Abl, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and beta-catenin. CONCLUSIONS: We observed synergistic effects of deferasirox and imatinib on both imatinib-resistant and imatinib-sensitive cell lines. These effects were due to induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest by down-regulated expression of NF-kappaB and beta-catenin levels. Based on these results, we suggest that a combination treatment of deferasirox and imatinib could be considered as an alternative treatment option for imatinib-resistant CML.
Antineoplastic Agents/*pharmacology ; Apoptosis/drug effects ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/metabolism ; Benzoates/*pharmacology ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/*drug effects ; G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints/drug effects ; Humans ; Imatinib Mesylate/*pharmacology ; Iron Chelating Agents/*pharmacology ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/*drug therapy/metabolism ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors/*pharmacology ; Signal Transduction/drug effects ; Triazoles/*pharmacology

The biological interpretation of two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis experiments is a key step toward understanding the functions of biological systems. We here present a web-based integrated database, called 2DSpotDB, for the management of proteome data derived from several pathogens. The 2DSpotDB was established as a part of the management of a pathogen proteome project at the Korea National Institute of Health. The goals of the 2DSpotDB implementation are to store and define important pathogen genes, retrieve information obtained by 2D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, and create an integrated system to provide pathogen proteome information for biological scientists. This database currently contains 14 gels and information on 387 protein spots, among which 329 proteins were identified and annotated.
Acrylic Resins ; Data Mining ; Electrophoresis ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Gels ; Korea ; Mass Spectrometry ; Proteins ; Proteome

Classic causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO) are infections, neoplasms, collagen vascular diseases and drugs. However, large studies of FUO have consistently reported that a considerable proportion of patients with FUO remain undiagnosed. We report a patient with a prolonged course of FUO and progressive pulmonary nodules in whom extensive clinical and laboratory evaluation did not reveal specific diagnosis. The patient had recurrent episodes of fever for more than three years, and the pulmonary nodules gradually progressed in size and number despite administration of antibiotics including antifungal and antituberculosis agents. Several pathologic examinations demonstrated an organizing pneumonia or non-neoplastic lung parenchyma with lymphoplasmacytic infiltration only. After a protracted course of disease, we thought that this patient might have lymphoproliferative disorder, possibly EBV-associated, and started anti-cancer chemotherapy. He was successfully treated with eight cycles of chemotherapy including cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone (CHOP).
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Collagen ; Cyclophosphamide ; Diagnosis ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy* ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Lung ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Pneumonia ; Prednisolone ; Vascular Diseases ; Vincristine

With increasing life expectance and improvement of the overall health of the elderly, the understanding of geriatric disease becomes an important aspect of medical services. In the elderly, the frequencies of hypertension, DM, & anemia are increased according to aging and renal function is decreased progressively. As screening test for cervical cancer Papanicolaou smear is recommended due to its cost-effective benefits in females. In age-adjusted elderly male and female study populations, authors investigated the alterations of the above diseases, hypercholesterolemia, liver disease, obesity, & proteinuria distributions. METHODS: This study included 1,181 aged 40 years (600 males, 581 females) visitors between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 1997 in National Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea. Authors divided these populations into two large groups such as group A and B. Group A was composed of 40-59 years, group B 60 years and older. Group A and B were subdivided into 4 subgroups each other, such as A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4, B-1, B-2, B-3 and B-4 by means of age-adjusted dividing scale. We used our inclusion criteria to define each disease. RESULTS: Hypertension was the most common disease in males of group B, but obesity was in females. The age-adjusted frequencies of hypertension, anemia, obesity & proteinuria were increased according to aging in the elderly aged 60 years and older. Though hypercholesterolemia revealed non-specific distribution in each group, increased frequency was observed in females compared to males in group B. With increasing their age, abnormal findings of Papanicolaou smear were found in females of group B. CONCLUSIONS: As the frequencies of hypertension, anemia, obestiy, proteinuria & abnormal findings of Papanicolaou smear were increased in the elderly aged 60 years and older as increasing their age. Much more attentions and follow up plans for these disease should be needed in the elderly.
Aged* ; Aging ; Anemia ; Attention ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Obesity ; Papanicolaou Test ; Proteinuria ; Seoul ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Objectives: . We evaluated changes in income levels in a hearing-impaired population. Methods: . The study subjects were selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort data from 2002 to 2015 of Koreans ≥40 years old. In total, 5,857 hearing-impaired subjects were matched with 23,428 comparison participants. Differences between the initial income level and income levels at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years post-enrollment were compared between the hearing-impaired and comparison groups. The interaction of time and hearing impairment/comparison was estimated. Results: . Both the hearing-impaired group and the comparison group showed increased income levels over time. In the hearing-impaired group, the income levels at 4 and 5 years post-enrollment were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). In the comparison group, the income levels of all the participants after 1–5 years were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). The interaction of time and hearing impairment was statistically significant (P=0.021). Conclusion . The increase in income over time was relatively lower in the hearing-impaired adult population; therefore, the income gap widened between this population and the normal-hearing population.

Objectives: . We evaluated changes in income levels in a hearing-impaired population. Methods: . The study subjects were selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort data from 2002 to 2015 of Koreans ≥40 years old. In total, 5,857 hearing-impaired subjects were matched with 23,428 comparison participants. Differences between the initial income level and income levels at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years post-enrollment were compared between the hearing-impaired and comparison groups. The interaction of time and hearing impairment/comparison was estimated. Results: . Both the hearing-impaired group and the comparison group showed increased income levels over time. In the hearing-impaired group, the income levels at 4 and 5 years post-enrollment were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). In the comparison group, the income levels of all the participants after 1–5 years were higher than the initial income level (each P<0.001). The interaction of time and hearing impairment was statistically significant (P=0.021). Conclusion . The increase in income over time was relatively lower in the hearing-impaired adult population; therefore, the income gap widened between this population and the normal-hearing population.