BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy is a very rare and poorly recognized disease in children. This study is performed to describe the clinical course and to define potential predictors of outcome. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed the medical records and diagnostic studies of 11 consecutive patients during the period from Jan.1991 to Aug. 2000. RESULTS: The age at diagnosis was 1.2-13 years (median 7 years) and the duration of follow up was 3-90 months (median 3.6 years). All except one were symptomatic (dyspnea in ten, chest pain in four). The chest pain was associated with significant ST depression on both resting and exercise ECG, suggesting myocardial ischemia. Two had complete heart block as either initial or terminal event. Cardiac catheterization was done in nine ( mean pulmonary arterial wedge pressure 23+/-6mmHg, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure 47+/-14mmHg, mean right atrial pressure 11+/-9mmHg). Echocardiographic dimensional ratio of left atrium and aorta (LA/Ao) was 2.41+/-0.58. Mitral E/A inflow ratio was 2.72+/-1.42, E wave deceleration time was 93.6+/-44.2ms. During follow up, six died. The 2 year and 5 year cumulative survival rates were 54.5% and 18.8% respectively. The predictor for nonsurvivor were pulmonary venous congestion and LA/Ao >2.5(p<0.05). Verapamil was tried in 6 cases without favorable effect in all. CONCLUSION: Considerable numbers of restrictive cardiomyopathy have myocardial ischemia associated with ST depression and chest pain. The patients with pulmonary venous congestion and severe left atrial enlargement (LA/Ao>2.5) were at risk for death, requiring prompt definitive treatment such as cardiac transplantation.
Aorta ; Arterial Pressure ; Atrial Pressure ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Cardiomyopathy, Restrictive* ; Chest Pain ; Child* ; Deceleration ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria ; Heart Block ; Heart Transplantation ; Humans ; Hyperemia ; Medical Records ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Pulmonary Wedge Pressure ; Survival Rate ; Verapamil

No abstract available.
DNA*

Male genital tract inflammatory conditions may be associated with unexplained infertility. The presence of cytokine such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was reported in the semen of infertile men. However, the effect of these cytokines on human sperm function is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in-vitro effects of TNF-alpha on human sperm motility with computer assisted sperm analysis. Washed sperm from 16 normal men were incubated without and with TNF-alpha(0.1, 10, 1000 ng/ml). The changes of parameters of sperm motility were recorded at different time intervals (0, 5, 24 hour). There was no significant change of parameters of sperm motility in the incubation with TNF-alpha. It is suggested that TNF-alpha alone does not interfere with the sperm motility and more studies are needed.
Cytokines ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Semen ; Sperm Motility* ; Spermatozoa* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

Low back pain patients an controls of shipyard workers were surveyed between June 1995 and september 1995 to identify risk factors of industrial low back pain. The patients were 17 male workers who had got medical treatment for over 3 days because of industrial back pain controls were 51 male workers who had not have musculoskeletal disorder for one year before the survey. By univariate analysis, the workers who did overtime work 4 times or more for the last 2 weeks showed odds ratio of 3.67 on low back pain with the workers who did less overtime work. Carrying heavy materials was also associated with the low back pain and the odds ratio increased with the increase of carrying weight. work space and work posture were not associated with the low back pain significantly. The welder had higher odds ratio than the other workers on low back pain. The duration of employment and job satisfaction did not affect the risk of low back pain. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that frequency of overtime work for the last 2 weeks and carrying heavy materials among the risk factors were associated significantly with the low back pain. We found that important risk factors of low back pain of shipyard workers are work intensity factors such as overtime work and carrying heavy weight.
Back Pain ; Employment ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Logistic Models ; Low Back Pain* ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Posture ; Risk Factors*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of supportive nursing intervention on the anxiety and nursing satisfaction of mothers with children undergoing open-heart surgery. METHODS: The research design involved a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest non synchronized design. The subjects consisted of 43 mothers of children who were expected to undergo open heart surgery, and were divided into two groups; an experimental group of 22 and a control group of 21. The experiment was administered to the experimental group a total of four times, following supportive nursing intervention protocols. The research tools used were Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory for anxiety and Park Jung-Eun's nursing satisfaction. The data were analyzed using the chi-square-test, and t-test with SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: Hypothes 1, 'The experimental group who are given supportive nursing intervention will have a lower anxiety score than the control group' was supported(t=5.658, p=.000). Hypothesis 2, 'The experimental group who are given supportive nursing intervention will have a higher nursing satisfaction score than the control gropu wasl supported(t=-9.549, p=.000). CONCLUSION: The supportive nursing intervention protocol was effective in reducing anxiety and increasing the nursing satisfaction of mothers with children undergoing open-heart surgery.
Anxiety* ; Child* ; Humans ; Mothers* ; Nursing* ; Research Design ; Thoracic Surgery

Necleolar organizer regions(NORs) ARE LOOPS OF DNA which transcribe to ribosomal RNA by RNA polymerase I. Since NOR-associated proteins are argyrophilic, silver staining method has been used for demonstration of AgNORs. The numbers and/or configurations of NORs may reflect the activities of cells in hyperplastic and neoplastic conditions. To evaluated the applicability of AgNORs in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, the author had performed silver staining on the routinely processed, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of 14 cases of normal liver(control), 23 cirrhotic liver, and 21 hepatocellular carcinoma. The results are summarized as follows: 1) The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus(mAgNOR) of normal liver, cirrhotic liver and hepatocellular carcinoma was 1.45+/-0.07, 2.53+/-0.38 and 5.52+/-1.63, respectively. The difference of mAgNOR between normal and cirrhotic liver, and between cirrhotic liver and hepatocellular carcinoma was statistically significant, respectively(p<0.01). 2) The percentage of nuclei showing five or more AgNORs per nucleus(pAgNOR) was 0.07% in normal liver, 7.59% in cirrhotic liver, and 60.49% in hepatocellular carcinoma. 3) AgNORs in hepatocellular carcinoma were large, pleomorphic and irregularly clumped, in addition to increase of mAgNOR and high pAgNOR. In conclusion, the increase of mAgNOR, high pAgNOR and large, irregular AgNORs are regarded as an additional helpful finding for the histopathological diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

PURPOSE: This study was done to explore factors relating to number of falls among community-dwelling elders, based on gender. METHODS: Participants were 403 older community dwellers (male=206, female=197) aged 60 or above. In this study, 8 variables were identified as predictive factors that can result in an elderly person falling and as such, supports previous studies. The 8 variables were categorized as, exogenous variables; perceived health status, somatization, depression, physical performance, and cognitive state, and endogenous variables; fear of falling, ADL & IADL and frequency of falls. RESULTS: For men, ability to perform ADL & IADL (beta32=1.84, p<.001) accounted for 16% of the variance in the number of falls. For women, fear of falling (beta31=0.14, p<.05) and ability to perform ADL & IADL (beta32=1.01, p<.001) significantly contributed to the number of falls, accounting for 15% of the variance in the number of falls. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study confirm the gender-based fall prediction model as comprehensive in relation to community-dwelling elders. The fall prediction model can effectively contribute to future studies in developing fall prediction and intervention programs.
*Accidental Falls ; Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Cognition ; Depression/pathology ; Fear ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motor Activity ; Program Development ; Sex Factors ; Somatoform Disorders/pathology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze how a nursing student recognizes PBL with simulation education and its relationship to academic achievement. METHODS: The study objects were the students in C college who learn through PBL using simulator for 15 weeks(September 2007 to December 2007). Learning element recognition was developed by Cho(2002) and three key evaluations(performance, self-evaluation, and colleague evaluation) were designed by professors. RESULTS: Learning element recognition ranged from 2.37 to 4.83 with the average at 3.94. For Learning element recognition, students who preferred discussion score 4.15. This was statistically more significant than those who do not. Students who preferred presentations show significantly higher score in colleague evaluation. For Learning element recognition and academic achievement, self-evaluation and colleague evaluation showed relationship to PBL learning element. CONCLUSION: There was definitely a relationship with PBL learning element and academic achievement after learning the PBL with simulation education.
Achievement ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Humans ; Learning ; Problem-Based Learning ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: To compare the incidence between author's first and current report on urinary tract stone in patient with spinal cord injury and to evaluate the effectiveness of recent developed in medical technology and care on in treating the patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed urinary tract stone in 257 patients with paraplegia or quadriplegia after spinal cord injury. These patients were diagnosed retrospectively by KUB and intravenous urography at the Korea Veterans Hospital during 10years from January, 1984 to December, 1993. We evaluated and compared the overall incidence, incidence of specific location of urinary tract, recurrent rate, incidence according to the level of spinal cord injury, and the duration of development in urinary tract stone. RESULTS: Total patients were 257 with 186(72.4%) paraplegia and 71(27.6%)quadriplegia. Overall incidence of the stone was 16.0% in this study and 38.1% in the first study. Incidence of the stone in individual organ ;5.5% in kidney, 1.2% in ureter, and 13.6% in urinary bladder. The recurrent rate was 29.3% in this study and 40.6% in the first study. Incidence of the stone according to the level of spinal cord injury was as follows;15.6% in cervix, 17.1% in upper thorax, 17.9% in lower thorax and 13.9% in lumbar. The stone developed during the first 4 years and between 12 to 16 years following spinal cord injury was 28.3% each. CONCLUSION: Overall incidence and recurrent rate of urinary tract stone was obviously decreased since the first study. Highest incidence of the stone occurred in urinary bladder and in patient with lower thoracic spinal cord injury, which is similar to first report. Peak incidence of the stone was in the first 4years, and another peak was in 12-16years after spinal cord injury. The decreased overall incidence of urinary tract stone maybe attributable to the development in medical technology and care, and active rehabilitation.
Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Hospitals, Veterans ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Korea ; Paraplegia ; Quadriplegia ; Rehabilitation ; Retrospective Studies* ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Thorax ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Calculi* ; Urinary Tract* ; Urography

PURPOSE: To compare the incidence between author's first and current report on urinary tract stone in patient with spinal cord injury and to evaluate the effectiveness of recent developed in medical technology and care on in treating the patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed urinary tract stone in 257 patients with paraplegia or quadriplegia after spinal cord injury. These patients were diagnosed retrospectively by KUB and intravenous urography at the Korea Veterans Hospital during 10years from January, 1984 to December, 1993. We evaluated and compared the overall incidence, incidence of specific location of urinary tract, recurrent rate, incidence according to the level of spinal cord injury, and the duration of development in urinary tract stone. RESULTS: Total patients were 257 with 186(72.4%) paraplegia and 71(27.6%)quadriplegia. Overall incidence of the stone was 16.0% in this study and 38.1% in the first study. Incidence of the stone in individual organ ;5.5% in kidney, 1.2% in ureter, and 13.6% in urinary bladder. The recurrent rate was 29.3% in this study and 40.6% in the first study. Incidence of the stone according to the level of spinal cord injury was as follows;15.6% in cervix, 17.1% in upper thorax, 17.9% in lower thorax and 13.9% in lumbar. The stone developed during the first 4 years and between 12 to 16 years following spinal cord injury was 28.3% each. CONCLUSION: Overall incidence and recurrent rate of urinary tract stone was obviously decreased since the first study. Highest incidence of the stone occurred in urinary bladder and in patient with lower thoracic spinal cord injury, which is similar to first report. Peak incidence of the stone was in the first 4years, and another peak was in 12-16years after spinal cord injury. The decreased overall incidence of urinary tract stone maybe attributable to the development in medical technology and care, and active rehabilitation.
Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Hospitals, Veterans ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Korea ; Paraplegia ; Quadriplegia ; Rehabilitation ; Retrospective Studies* ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Thorax ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Calculi* ; Urinary Tract* ; Urography