Plant dermatitis can be classified as primary irritant dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, phytophotodermatitis and pseudophytophotodermatitis. Among these, allergic contact dermatitis is seen most freguently. It is generally known that dermatitis causing plants have various characteristics depending on the habitat af different plants. Until now we have had great difficulty in finding the causative factors in plant dermatitis in Korea. This is due to the fact that we do not have anr comprehensive reports regarding domestic or imported timbers concerned in contact dermatiti. The purpose of this thesis is to gather the basic materials necessary to discover the cauae of plant contact dermatitis. All kinds of trees, flowers, and grasses in Korea and imported timbers concerned with contact dermatitis were considered in this study. We strove to ascertain whether the species in our country are the same as found in foreign countries or other different speceies are in our country under the sarne genus found in foreign countries. The basis for our study is several Korean plant books as well as interviews with several native botanists. Vie also discussed major families af plants causing or possible causing plant dermatitis in Korea.
Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Dermatitis, Contact* ; Dermatitis, Irritant ; Ecosystem ; Flowers ; Humans ; Korea ; Plants ; Poaceae ; Trees

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of job stress, state of sleep, and depression and to identify factors influencing depression of emergency medical technicians. METHODS: The research was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Data collection were done using self-report questionnaires with 162 emergency medical technicians working in hospitals who agreed to participate in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN 18.0 Program. RESULTS: Depression had significant negative correlations with state of sleep, (r=-482, p<.001) and positive correlations with job stress (r=.196,p=.013). State of sleep had significant negative correlations with job stress (r=-.168, p=.033). The variance for life satisfaction was 23.7% (F=25.964, p<.001). Variable of state of sleep significantly predicted depression of emergency medical technicians. CONCLUSION: Considering these results, for emergency medical technicians' job stress, state of sleep, and depression, further studies are needed. Furthermore, there is a need to develop and implement new strategies to improve depression among emergency medical technicians.
Data Collection ; Depression ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Technicians ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The brief report of Zeisler (1922) of a pregnant woman with scattered telangiectasia in a unilateral distribution is perhaps the first recorded case of this syndrome. The syndrome has been described in association with pregnancy, puberty, alcoholisrn and cirrhosis, hormonal therapy and congenital status. The authors observed in a 17-year-old male unilateral telangiectatic lesions over the left C, C, C, Tl and T, dermatomal regions. The lesions developed at first at his puberty on the anterior part of the chest as speckled bright red discoloration. Thereafter, the lesion has been progressed to involve the left upper extremity, sholder, upper middle part of the chest, eventually. Family history was negative and physical, lahoratory and X-ray examination were all negative or within normal limit. No mucous membrane involvement was observed. On histopathologic examination of the skin lesion, thin walled ectatic vessels lined with single layer of endothelial cells were observed in the upper dermis. The lesions were partly dermabrased with favorable result.
Adolescent ; Dermis ; Endothelial Cells ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Puberty ; Skin ; Telangiectasis* ; Thorax ; Upper Extremity

Over the past 30 years, there has been an increase in the incidence of multifetal pregna-ncies, primarily because of the introduction of ovarian stimulants for ovulation induction and assisted reproductive technology ( ART ) in infertile patients. It is well established that multifetal pregnancies are associated with an increased frequency of the maternal complications and gre-ater perinatal morbidity and mortyality. The adverse outcome of multifetal pregnancies is dire-ctly proportional to the number of fetuses, primarily as an consequence of prterm delivery. Re-duction in the number of fetuses in multifetal pregnancies has been proposed as a way to impr-ove the perinatal outcome in this situation. Therefore, selective fetal reduction ( SFR ) is sugges-ted as a therapeutic option for continuation of pregnancy with fetuses mature enough to survi-ve. In this paper, we report our infertility clinic experiences with 6 patients who carried mult- ifetal pregnancies including 1 quintuplet, 1 quadruplet, and 4 triplets. from January, 1991 to May, 1996, transabdominal SFR was accomplished by fetal intrathoracic KCl injection at 9~10 weeks of gestation. After the prcedure, 4 patients remained as twin pregnancies, and 2 patients as single pregnancy. There have been 3 sets of twin deliveries and the 2 sets of single delivery. One case was aborted. Two patients were delivered after 37 weeks of gestation, 2 patients were at 35 weeks, and 1 patient at 24 weeks. All babies have been healthy after birth in patients after 35 weeks gestation. There was no fetal anomaly related to the procedure in the 6 cases. We concluded that transabdominal SFR is a rather safe and useful procedure that may improve the outcome of multifetal pregnancies.
Fetus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infertility ; Ovulation Induction ; Parturition ; Pregnancy Reduction, Multifetal* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Twin ; Quadruplets ; Quintuplets ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Triplets ; Twins

A 19-year-old man noticed a very slowly spreading erythematous macular lesion on his cheek when he was 5 years old. This asymptomatic and well circumscribed patch was covered with fine scales. He sought first medical attention at the age of 12 years and diagnosis was cutaneous tuberculosis was made by skin biopsy. Seven years after the second biopsy was made and it revealed a few spores within giant cells in the upper dermis. By mycologic study, it was identified as Paecilomyces lilacinus. The patient was put on the treatment of topical and oral antifungal agents. The skin lesion showed signs of improvement after 12 weeks of treatment.
Antifungal Agents ; Biopsy ; Cheek ; Child, Preschool ; Dermis ; Diagnosis ; Giant Cells ; Humans ; Paecilomyces* ; Skin ; Spores ; Tuberculosis, Cutaneous ; Weights and Measures ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the perception of physicians and nurses on family presence during invasive procedures. METHODS: The study population consisted of 100 physicians and 100 nurses from five hospitals which have more than 500 beds in B city. Data collection was done from August 20 to September 19, 2007. The Family Presence During Resuscitation (FPDR) Inventory developed by Fulbrook, Albarran and Latour (2005) was used as the study instrument. The collected data was analyzed by t-test, ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test using SPSS/WIN 14.0 version. RESULTS: Nurses had more positive attitudes to allowing family members to be present during invasive procedures than physicians did. However, compared to physicians, nurses had more concern about problems of confidentiality, arguing with medical team, and increased rate of legal action if family members were present during invasive procedure. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that educational programs and policy for family presence be required within the hospital to enhance the perception of physicians and nurses to the family presence.
Adult ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Data Collection ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; *Family ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing Staff/*psychology ; Organizational Policy ; *Perception ; Physicians/*psychology ; Professional-Family Relations ; Punctures ; *Resuscitation

PURPOSE: Recently, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have become one of the major nosocomial pathogens in Korea. However, there have been few studies on the epidemiology of VRE colonization among neonates. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of VRE colonization, risk factors for VRE, and how to control the spread of VRE infection in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 192 neonates who were admitted to the NICU of PNUH from March 2006 to March 2007. Surveillance cultures from rectal swabs for detecting VRE were obtained weekly during the study period. We analyzed the prevalence of VRE and various risk factors. RESULTS: The rate of VRE colonization among NICU patients was 25% (48/192). Thirty five of these VRE colonized patients were transferred to the NICU from other local hospitals. Compared with the non-VRE group, the risk factors associated with VRE colonization were lower birth weight, congenital heart disease, applied mechanical ventilation, use of a central venous catheter, chest tubing, a history of surgery, and use of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: VRE colonization among patients admitted to the NICU is rapidly increasing. Monitoring and managing premature neonates from the beginning of the birth process, avoiding many invasive procedures, avoiding antibiotics such as vancomycin and third generation cephalosporin are important for preventing the emergence and spread of VRE colonization in the NICU.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Birth Weight ; Central Venous Catheters ; Colon ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Parturition ; Prevalence ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thorax ; Vancomycin ; Vancomycin Resistance

Inflammatory pseudotumor, originally described in the lung, is a relatively rare tumor-like lesion that occurs in various organs and tissues. It is usually well demarcated from the surrounding tissue, however it can be unfortunately resected as a malignant tumor. A few inflammtory pseudotumor in the kidney have been reported in English literature, but there have been no reports in Korea. We report a case with inflammatory pseudotumor of the kidney. A 48 year old woman had an intermittent flank pain on the right side. An ultrasonographic study suggested a renal cell carcinoma and a nephrectomy was done. Grossly, there were two separate masses with a well demarcated yellowish appearance, measuring 2.3 cm and 1.3 cm in diameter, respectively. Histologically, they were composed of smooth muscle actin positive spindle cells and a large number of foamy histiocytes, lymphocytes, and plasma cells in the fibrotic backgound.
Actins ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Granuloma, Plasma Cell* ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Kidney* ; Korea ; Lung ; Lymphocytes ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; Nephrectomy ; Plasma Cells

Most of the malignant tumors of the pancreas are adenocarcinomas arising from the ductal epithelium. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the pancreas, even though it is the most common sarcoma of the pancreas, is very rare. We present a case of leiomyosarcoma of the pancreas, probably primary, with metastases to the stomach, lymph nodes, and abdominal wall. A 52-year-old woman visited the hospital with vague right upper abdominal pain and weigh loss of 6 kg for 2 months. The radiological and endoscopic examination revealed that she had a large heterogeneous mass, 11 cm in size, in the pancreatic body and tail, a 4 cm-sized mass in the paraaortic area, and a 3 cm-sized polypoid mass in the stomach. Histologically, they were all similar to one another and composed of markedly pleomorphic cells. Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies showed definite smooth muscle differentiation of the tumor cells. Two months later, the patient underwent an excision of a new 3 cm mass in the right lower abdominal wall, showing features of well differentiated leiomyosarcoma.
Abdominal Pain ; Abdominal Wall ; Adenocarcinoma ; Epithelium ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Lymph Nodes ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas* ; Sarcoma ; Stomach

Nickel is widely known throughout the world as a common source of contact dermatitis. Korea is one of the rapidly developing countries where the use of nickel and nickel by-products is on the rise. Lacking in ore, Korea imports most of its nickel. In the last ten years, in relation to rapid industrial development, the amount of nickel imported has increased over 1, 000 times. Nickel dermatitis is becoming an increasing problem in the patch test clinic. With regards to this, we have tried the dimethylglyoxime spot test to all materials mentioned in the textbooks which are regarded as nickel sources in other industrialized societies, so as to make an up-to-date list of nickel sources applicable to Korea. In addition, we have also included traditional nickel sources such as acupuncture needles, fire pot, old and new coins and chest of drawers etc. We also have analyzed data concerning nickel imports to Korea during the past 10 years.
Acupuncture ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Developing Countries ; Fires ; Korea* ; Needles ; Nickel* ; Numismatics ; Patch Tests ; Thorax