Total 76 patients with acute painful musculoskeletal problems were treated with piroxicam, newly developed non steroidal-anti-inflammatory drug. Patients were divided into three groups, i.e. 1) acute low back strain or sprain group, 2) acute bursitis group, and 3) acute muscle sprain or strain group. The results were as following. 1. The effect of piroxicam on the various inflammatory changes was noticed promptly with initial 40 mg dose and pain control action was most prominent. 2. The drug was very well tolerated and side effect were generally mild. Three gastrointestinal symptoms and one skin eruption were developed. Over-all results of the piroxicam on the patient were evaluated as excellent in 51.3%, and good in 38.21%.
Acute Pain ; Bursitis ; Humans ; Piroxicam ; Skin ; Sprains and Strains ; Therapeutic Uses

No abstract available.
Ankle Fractures* ; Ankle*

Penicillamine is a component of the penicillin molecule which was identified in the urine of patients with chronic liver disease who were receiving penicillin for the treament of intercurrent infections. Walshe demostrated its effectiveness as copper chelating agent and introduced it into the treatment of Wilson's disease. In addition, it has been shown to be effective in treatment of cystinuria, heavy metal poisoning, and rheumatoid arthritis. Levamisole is a three-ringed molecule which has been used as broad-spectrum antihelminthic drug. Levamisole is capable of T cell immune enhancer and has variable effects on antibody production, Since immune enhancer may affect multiple cell types, either directly or indirectly, and may operate on the adenylcyclase-cAMP-prostaglandin system, the results of treatment may be complex. Levamisole has been shown to be effective in rheumatoid arthritis by several study. We analysed the 29 rheumatoid arthritis patients who were treated at Deartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Chung Ang University Hospital from June, 1978 to June, 1982; among them 17 recieving penicillamine and 12 recieving levamisole. The results were as follows: 1. There were statistically significant improvement in ESR. But there were decrease in mean WBC and platelet counts in patients recieving penicillamine or levamisole. Hemoglobin was not affected. 2. Side effects led to withdrawal of treatment in 8(47%) patients in the penicillamine group and 5(42%) in the levamisole group. 3. In 17 patients having penicillamine treatment, one patient had complete remission(8%).
Antibody Formation ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Copper ; Cystinuria ; Hepatolenticular Degeneration ; Humans ; Levamisole ; Liver Diseases ; Orthopedics ; Penicillamine ; Penicillins ; Platelet Count ; Poisoning

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that patients with atopic dermatitis(AD) show an impaired capacity of their T cells to release of interleukin-2(IL-2) in vitro and elevated serum levels of soluble IL-2 receptor(sIL-2R). Both immunosuppressive agents, cyclosporin A(CsA) and FK-506 can block early events in T lymphocyte activation and FK-506 is 10- to 100-fold more potent in the inhibition of IL-2 and other lymphokines production. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of CsA and FK-506 on PHA-induced lymphokine and sIL-2R production and compared the effects of CsA and FK-506 on PHA-induced IL-4 production in a high IgE group and a low IgE group in patients with AD. METHODS: A total of 32 peripheral blood samples from 17 patients with AD and 15 control groups were tested. Lymphocytes were isolated from blood samples and were cultured with PHA(positive control), PHA and CsA(10 ng/ml), PHA and FK-506 (1 ng/ml), and without stimulation (negative control). The amount of cytokines such as IL-2, IL-3, IL-4 and sIL-2R were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). RESULTS: CsA and FK-506 inhibited significantly the production of IL-2, IL-3, IL-4 in PHA-stimulated lymphocytes of both the AD patients and the control groups. FK-506(1 ng/ml) inhibited cytokines production more significantly than CsA(10 ng/ml). However, CsA and FK-506 did not significantly inhibit the production of sIL-2R. There were no significant differences in the inhibitory effect of CsA and FK-506 on IL-4 production upon PHA-stimulation between AD patients with a high IgE level and with a low IgE level. CONCLUSION: Both FK-506 and CsA inhibit lymphokine production, but not the production of sIL-2R. FK-506 inhibited more significantly lymphokine production at a 10-fold lower concentration than CsA. Our data suggest that FK-506 could be more effective in the treatment of severe AD than CsA, and both these agents show their immunosuppressive activity through the suppression of lymphokine production, not via the suppression of sIL-2R production in AD.
Cyclosporine* ; Cytokines ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; In Vitro Techniques ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-3 ; Interleukin-4 ; Lymphocyte Activation ; Lymphocytes* ; Lymphokines ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tacrolimus*

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinomal(HCC) has been considered to be relatively radioresistant. The role of radiotherapy(RT) in the treatment of HCC is controversial. But RT has a role in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma as a single or combination modalities. The effect of radiotherapy on HCC was evaluated. Patients and METHODS: From January 1984 through January 2000, a total of 18 patients with unresectable HCC underwent radiotherapy alone or in conjunction with transarterial embolization(TAE). We reviewed the medical ecords of patients treated with RT and measured the tumor size using measured the tumor size using planimetry method. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival rate. RESULTS: The RT patients were 15 men and 3 women. The mean age was 51 years. four(22.2%) of them were accompanied with ascites. Eleven(61.1%) of them were accompanied with liver cirrhosis and their functions were 6, 3, 2 in each Child-Pugh A, B, C, respectively. A partial response(PR) was observed in 2 patients(11.1%), minimal response(MR) in 4 patients (22.2%) and no change(NC), in 11 patients(61.1%), whereas progressive disease(PD) was seen in 1 patients(6%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although the radiotherapy in HCC did not improve the survival rate. it decreased the tmor size. Radiotherapy strengthens the therapeutic efficacy when combined with TAE, but more studies are needed.
Ascites ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Male ; Radiotherapy* ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVES: The pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS) is not obvious, but many promising theories involve dopaminergic deficiency and genetic causes. The RLS is presumed to occur more frequently among schizophrenic patients who take antipsychotics, most of which blocks the dopamine receptors. This study aimed to investigate whether dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) 40 base pair (bp) variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism is associated with the antipsychotic-induced RLS in schizophrenia. METHODS: We determined the diagnosis of RLS among the 190 Korean schizophrenic patients by the diagnostic criteria of the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG). Genotyping was performed for the 40bp VNTR in DAT1 gene using polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: We separated the schizophrenic patients into 44 patients with RLS and 146 patients without RLS. The genotype and allele frequencies did not differ significantly between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that DAT1 gene 40bp VNTR is not associated with the antipsychotic-induced RLS in schizophrenia. To confirm these results, larger-scale association study is needed in the future.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Base Pairing ; Dopamine ; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Receptors, Dopamine ; Restless Legs Syndrome ; Schizophrenia ; Tandem Repeat Sequences

No abstract available.

A 25 year old patient who had low back pain and sciatica was diagnosed as having a lumbar intraspinal extradural synovial cyst adjacent to a facet joint between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. The extradural defects defined with positive contrast myelography and postmyelographic computed tomographic scanning were posterolateral to the dural sac. Biopsy revealed the findings compatible with synovial cyst. Treatment consisted of laminectomy and surgical excision of the cyst.
Biopsy ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Low Back Pain ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Myelography ; Sciatica ; Synovial Cyst ; Zygapophyseal Joint

Cardiac tamponade with pleural and pericardial effusion is a rare but life-threatening complication of umbilical venous catheterization in the newborn. It requires a timely diagnosis and urgent treatment, such as pericardiocentesis, to save lives of affected patients. Recently, we experienced a 7 day-old, very low birth weight infant, who developed a cardiac tamponade with pleural and pericardial effusions complicated by umbilical venous catheterization. The patient was successfully treated with pleural and pericardial drainages. Here, we report this case with a review of literature, since there has been no such previous case reported in Korea.
Cardiac Tamponade* ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Korea ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Pericardiocentesis ; Pleural Effusion