OBJECTIVES: Seoul-Activities of Daily Living(S-ADL) was developed to assess elderly person's basic activities of daily living. This study aims to develop standardized ADL assessment scale and confirm the reliability and validity of the S-ADL. METHODS: It was participated in 336 controls and 145 patients diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. RESULTS: In controls, it was statistically significant to age, but not sex, education, region and presence of spouse. Also, reliability and validity were statistically significant. Principal axis factoring analysis revealed three factors that accounted for 66.67% of the total variance(1.self-care/hygiene, 2.ambulation, 3.toileting). According to each CDR stage, there were significant difference, except for CDR 0.5 and CDR 1 suggesting early dementia. Particularly, it was remarkable for functional impairment in CDR 2 and CDR 3 suggesting moderate to severe dementia. The order of the loss of function was (1) self-care/hygiene, (2) toileting, and (3) ambulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the S-ADL could be a very reliable and valid tool for the assessment of functional disabilities of Korean dementia patients. Particularly, S-ADL would be useful in assessing daily function of moderate to severe AD.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Dementia ; Education ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Spouses ; Walking

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the determinants of care burden of caregivers in patients with dementia. METHODS: 128 dementia patients and patients' caregivers participated in this study. Care burden using the BI ; cognition using the K-MMSE ; dementia severity using the CDR ; activities of daily living using the S-ADL and the S-IADL ; behaviour problems using NPI were measured. RESULTS: The results showed that care burden was related significantly with the K-MMSE, the CDR, the S-ADL, the SIADL and the NPI total score. Of the behavior problems, agitation/aggression, anxiety, disinhibition, irritability, and aberrant behavior correlated positively with care burden of caregivers. Regression analysis indicated that agitation/aggression, anxiety, the CDR contributed to care burden. CONCLUSION: Agitation/aggression, anxiety and dementia severity contributed to care burden of caregivers. The identified determinants of care burden and the stress of caregivers suggest areas of therapeutic intervention to reduce caregiver's burden so that the institutionalization can be delayed.
Activities of Daily Living ; Anxiety ; Caregivers* ; Cognition ; Dementia* ; Humans ; Institutionalization

No abstract available.
Neck* ; Posture* ; Rabbits*

The author attempted to clarify the nature of alpha-adrenoceptors in relation to the pressor response to the increased intracranial pressure(ICP) in urethane-anesthetized rabbits, using the epidural balloon method. 1) The blood pressure increased in parallel with the raised ICP which was made by gradual inflation of the balloon. 2) B-HT 920, an alpha2-agonist, which elicited depressor and bradycardiac responses in normal rabbits inhibited markedly the pressor response to the raised ICP. 3) Piperoxan, an alpha2-antagonist, potentiated the pressor response to the raised ICP. 4) Piperoxan antagonized the depressor and bradycardiac responses by B-HT 920 as well as the inhibitory effect of B-HT 920 on the pressor response to the raised ICP. 5) The pressor response to the raised ICP were not affected at all by prazosin, an alpha1-antagonist. 6) Neither the depressor and bradycardiac responses by B-HT 920 itself nor the inhibitory effect of B-HT 920 on the pressor response to the raised ICP were significantly affected by prazosin. It is inferred from these observations that the central alpha-adrenoceptors play an important role in producing the pressor response to the raised ICP and that the receptors involved here seems to be of alpha2-type.
Blood Pressure ; Inflation, Economic ; Intracranial Pressure* ; Piperoxan ; Prazosin ; Rabbits

The author attempted to clarify the nature of alpha-adrenoceptors in relation to the pressor response to the increased intracranial pressure(ICP) in urethane-anesthetized rabbits, using the epidural balloon method. 1) The blood pressure increased in parallel with the raised ICP which was made by gradual inflation of the balloon. 2) B-HT 920, an alpha2-agonist, which elicited depressor and bradycardiac responses in normal rabbits inhibited markedly the pressor response to the raised ICP. 3) Piperoxan, an alpha2-antagonist, potentiated the pressor response to the raised ICP. 4) Piperoxan antagonized the depressor and bradycardiac responses by B-HT 920 as well as the inhibitory effect of B-HT 920 on the pressor response to the raised ICP. 5) The pressor response to the raised ICP were not affected at all by prazosin, an alpha1-antagonist. 6) Neither the depressor and bradycardiac responses by B-HT 920 itself nor the inhibitory effect of B-HT 920 on the pressor response to the raised ICP were significantly affected by prazosin. It is inferred from these observations that the central alpha-adrenoceptors play an important role in producing the pressor response to the raised ICP and that the receptors involved here seems to be of alpha2-type.
Blood Pressure ; Inflation, Economic ; Intracranial Pressure* ; Piperoxan ; Prazosin ; Rabbits

No abstract available.
Colonic Neoplasms ; Pneumothorax

This study was conducted to examine the reliability, validity and clinical utility of the Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) for a Korean population. 69 dementia patients with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) stages 2 or 3 were participated in this study. The SIB, Korean version-Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), CDR, and Seoul-Activities of Daily Living (S-ADL) were administered. The validity of the SIB was confirmed by evaluating the correlation coefficients between the SIB and K-MMSE, CDR, S-ADL, which were found to be significant. Cronbach's alpha for the total SIB score and each subscale score showed high significance, and the item-total correlation for each subscale was also acceptable. The test-retest correlation for the total SIB score and subscale scores were significant, except for the praxis and orienting to name. The total SIB score and subscale scores were examined according to CDR. The results suggest that the SIB can differentiate the poor performances of severely impaired dementia patients. On the basis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), it can be concluded that the SIB is able to accurately discriminate between CDR 2 and 3 patients. The results of this study suggest that the SIB is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating severe dementia patients in Korean population.
Severity of Illness Index ; Reproducibility of Results ; ROC Curve ; *Neuropsychological Tests ; Male ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; Dementia/*diagnosis ; Cognition Disorders/diagnosis ; Cognition ; Aged ; Activities of Daily Living

PURPOSE: We report a case of successfully treating bilateral conjunctival-corneal intraepithelial neoplasia (CCIN) with surgical excision and adjunctive cryotherapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 74-year-old male visited our clinic for bilateral foreign body sensation and decreased visual acuity. His initial best corrected visual acuity was 20/50 in the right eye and 20/30 in the left eye. The right eye showed a 9 mm x 11 mm sized, gray-opaque limbal lesion from approximately the 7-o'clock position to the 11-o'clock position with spreading onto the cornea and conjunctiva. Biomicroscopy revealed a 6 mm x 7.5 mm sized minimally elevated, opaque lesion from the 3-o'clock to the 5-o'clock position extending to the central cornea in the left eye. The corneal lesion was well demarcated, opaque, and minimally elevated with bilateral focal pigmentation. Conjunctival lesions were finely vascularized and slightly elevated with melanocytic pigmentation. An excisional biopsy was performed to confirm the diagnosis and for therapeutic purposes, followed by an adjunctive cryotherapy. Postoperative corrected visual acuity improved up to 20/25 bilaterally and the patient had no recurrence 8 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral conjunctival-corneal intraepithelial neoplasia is a rare condition. We report successful treatment and control of recurrence in a patient with bilateral conjunctival-corneal intraepithelial neoplasia using conventional surgical excision and adjuvant cryotherapy rather than topical chemotherapy.
Biopsy ; Conjunctiva ; Cornea ; Cryotherapy ; Eye ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Male ; Pigmentation ; Recurrence ; Sensation ; Visual Acuity

Recently anterior spinal device in the treatment of the unstable thoraco-lumbar spine has been used. We have experienced 11 patients of the unstable thoraco-lumbar spine, which were composed of 8 patients with burst fracture and 3 patients with tuberculous spondylitis. The 11 patients with neurological deficit were treated with an one stage anterior operation consisting of anterior decompression through vertebrectomy, realignment with Kanedae device. No patient showed neurologic deterioration after surgery. The anterior spinal instrumentation with Kaneda device afford enough stability to enable early ambulation with good alignment and solid fusion.
Decompression ; Early Ambulation ; Humans ; Spine ; Spondylitis

We investigated ADAMTS13 activity as well as the ADAMTS13 gene mutation in children with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Eighteen patients, including 6 diarrhea-negative (D-HUS) and 12 diarrhea-associated HUS (D+HUS) patients, were evaluated. The extent of von Willebrand factor (VWF) degradation was assayed by multimer analysis, and all exons of the ADAMTS13 gene were PCR-amplified using Taq DNA polymerase. The median and range for plasma activity of ADAMTS13 in 6 D-HUS and 12 D+HUS patients were 71.8% (22.8-94.1%) and 84.9% (37.9-119.9%), respectively, which were not statistically significantly different from the control group (86.4%, 34.2-112.3%) (p>0.05). Five ADAMTS13 gene mutations, including 2 novel mutations [1584+2T>A, 3941C>T (S1314L)] and 3 polymorphisms (Q448E, P475S, S903L), were found in 2 D-HUS and one D+HUS patients, which were not associated with deficiency of ADAMTS13 activity. Whether these mutations without reduced ADAMTS13 activity are innocent bystanders or predisposing factors in HUS remains unanswered.
ADAM Proteins/*genetics ; Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome/*genetics ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; *Mutation ; Polymorphism, Genetic