Purpose: Granular corneal dystrophy type 2 (GCD2) is a hereditary disease that features granular and lattice stromal deposits in the cornea. There are homozygotes and heterozygotes and the opacities are exacerbated by corneal trauma or surgery, such as laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). As there is individual variability in GCD2 phenotypes, we investigated various corneal features of GCD2 patients in their twenties, the main age group for refractive surgery. Methods: From genetically confirmed GCD2 patients who had an R124H mutation of the transforming growth factor β induced (TGFBI) gene at age 20 to 29 years, we chose representative patients: one homozygote; one compound heterozygote; one simple heterozygote with a severe phenotype with many granular deposits; one common heterozygote; and four heterozygotes with normal corneas. The corneas of all patients were subject to slit-lamp examination and photographed. Results: The homozygote had confluent granular deposits covering the cornea. The compound heterozygote had granular and lattice deposits covering the center of the cornea. The patient with a severe phenotype had more than 30 granular deposits in one eye, but was a simple GCD2 heterozygote, verified by full-sequencing of the TGFBI gene. In the four patients with normal corneas, a single small lesion was subsequently detected during follow-up in two, at 3 weeks and 6 months, respectively. Both corneas were judged clear at chance examinations. Conclusions Among Koreans in their twenties, GCD2 patients have various phenotypes, from clear corneas to severe confluent opacities. There are GCD2 heterozygotes with nearly clear corneas, so caution must be taken when choosing patients for refractive surgery.

The Marcus ankle arthrodesis was carried out in 16 patients at department of orthopaedic surgery of Korea Veterans Hospital from January 1989 to December 1993. All of patients were reviewed and evaluated with subjective and functional rating scales according to the Mazur scoring system. The average follow up was 23 months, ranging from 12 months to 60 months. The Marcus ankle arthrodesis involves a chevron osteotomy, tibial onlay graft medially, internal fixation with staples and screws. According to the Mazur score, the results were 6 cases of Excellent, 7 cases of Good. The average Mazur score was 75.1. There were 4 cases of complication, a non-union, a superficial wound infection, a bursitis, and a tendon injury. In summary the Marcus ankle arthrodesis by chevron osteotomy seems to be a good procedure, which gives solid bony union with short duration, relief of pain, normal looking ankle configuration without leg length discrepancy and good function with few complications.
Ankle ; Arthrodesis ; Bursitis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospitals, Veterans ; Humans ; Inlays ; Korea ; Leg ; Osteotomy ; Tendon Injuries ; Transplants ; Weights and Measures ; Wound Infection

No abstract available.
Classification* ; Female ; Hydatidiform Mole* ; Pregnancy

No abstract available.
Cytomegalovirus* ; Humans* ; Immunoassay*

Although intracranial dural metastasis of Ewing's sarcoma is a very rare finding, its imaging characteristics are similar to those of its primary form in the central nervous system. Thus, this tumor must be considered in the differential diagnosis of extra-axial dural masses.
Adult ; Dura Mater/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Sarcoma, Ewing's/diagnosis/*pathology/surgery ; Skull Neoplasms/diagnosis/*secondary/surgery ; Spinal Neoplasms/diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical safety and efficacy of Pamiray(R) 300 (Iopamidol; Dongkook Pharm., Seoul, Korea) as a nonionic contrast medium for cerebral angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred patients undergoing cerebral angiography were randomly assigned to receive Pamiray(R) 300 after written consent had been obtained. Patients with adverse reactions were divided into two groups. One group consisted of patients with minor adverse events such as heat sensation and pain, and the other group consisted of patients with major adverse events such as dyspnea, laryngeal edema and shock. The qualities of the radiographic images were stratified into five grades by three independent radiologists. RESULTS: No abnormality induced by Pamiray(R) 300 was seen by a physical and neurological examination, blood pressure measurement, electrocardiogram, respiration rate measurement and partial fraction of arterial oxygen recording. No major and severe adverse events occurred throughout the study. Patient sex, age, disease category, underlying disease and administered contrast dosage showed no statistical significance with regards to the occurrence of adverse events. The opacification of blood vessels in all patients was 'good' or 'excellent'. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, Pamiray(R) 300 is a safe, efficacious and well-tolerated contrast medium for use in cerebral angiography. Thus, Pamiray(R) 300 can be used as a competitive medium in cerebral angiography.
Angiography ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Vessels ; Cerebral Angiography* ; Dyspnea ; Electrocardiography ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Iopamidol* ; Laryngeal Edema ; Neurologic Examination ; Oxygen ; Respiratory Rate ; Sensation ; Seoul ; Shock

The endovascular treatment goal of vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) is to occlude the shunt. We present a case of successfully treated mural type VGAM by transarterial coil embolization of the ectatic venous pouch, followed by additional transarterial coil and glue embolizations of the ectatic vein and shunt due to recurrence.
Adhesives* ; Aneurysm* ; Cerebral Veins* ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Fistula* ; Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations ; Recurrence ; Veins*

In order to investigate the risk factors of preterm delivery, we reviewed 1,676 birth cases excluding still-birth and multiple birth delivered at Seoul National University Hospital in 1995. The logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between preterm birth and risk factors. The distribution of birth weight showed 9.7 % in low birth weight(< 2.5 kg), and 4.8 % in macrosomia(>or= 4.0 kg). The rate of preterm delivery was 9.2 %(155/1,676). The incidence of preterm delivery in maternal ages under 25(15.6 %) and above 35(14.3 %) was higher than that in 25~34 years old(7.9 %). There was a significant association between preterm birth and previous history of preterm birth, spontaneous abortion and induced abortion. There was no association between preterm birth and fetal sex or birth order. The risk for preterm birth was higher in nulliparous women aged 35 or older(OR : 2.521, 95% CI : 1.387-4.584, p < 0.001). There was a significant increase in preterm birth in women with following risk factors : previous history of preterm birth(OR : 3.616, CI : 2.138 - 6.118, p < 0.0001), history of spontaneous abortion(OR : 1.861, CI : 1.296-2.671, p < 0.0001), irregular menstrual cycle (OR : 2.174, CI : 1.469 - 3.215, p < 0.0001), and previous history of pregnancy complications(OR : 5.296, CI : 3.709 - 7.561, p < 0.0001). There was no significant increase in preterm birth in women with history of induced abortion(OR : 1.250, CI : 0.830 - 1.881, p = 0.2846).
Abortion, Induced ; Abortion, Spontaneous ; Birth Order ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Menstrual Cycle ; Multiple Birth Offspring ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Risk Factors* ; Seoul

A recent study showed that comparative sequence analysis of rpoB DNAs could reveal natural relationships in genus Mycobacterium [J Clin Microbiol. 37 (6). 1999]. rpoB DNAs showed interspecies variation and intraspecies conservation, Based on these data, we developed polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) protocols which enable species differentiation in genus Mycabacterium. When this assay was applied to 24 clinical isolates identified as M. avium complex (MAC) by biochemical test, these were successfully differentiated into M. avium and M. intracellulare. These results were concordant with those obtained by 16s rDNA analysis. It is the first report that PCR-SSCP analysis of rpoB DNA could be used for species differentiation of MAC strains.
DNA* ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Mycobacterium avium Complex* ; Mycobacterium avium* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational* ; Sequence Analysis

BACKGROUND: Pain is recognized as a cognitive phenomenon, which involves the processing of information. Given that human information processing is largely restricted to a number of simultaneous tasks, many interventions and techniques have been used to modify pain perception by distracting the cognitive processing of pain. This study tested the hypothesis that the pain threshold to electrical stimuli is increased as a result of distraction using a ReliefBand(R). METHODS: Twenty volunteers were enrolled in this study. After attaching surface electrode to the medial plantar nerve territory of left foot, electrical stimuli were delivered to obtain baseline pain threshold and temporal summation threshold. After 15 minutes, while distracting with ReliefBand(R), the same parameters were obtained. RESULTS: Pain threshold and temporal summation threshold before distraction were 7.9+/-2.2 mA and 7.0+/-2.1 mA respectively. During distraction pain threshold and temporal summation threshold were increased to 9.0+/-2.4 mA and 7.8+/-2.2 mA respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pain and temporal summation threshold to electrical stimuli were increased during distraction with ReliefBand(R). Although we applied a technique with weak distracting ability, this distracted the processing of pain perception significantly. Further research about various distraction technique will be required.
Electrodes ; Foot ; Mental Processes ; Pain Perception ; Pain Threshold* ; Tibial Nerve ; Volunteers