Increase of AST and ALT is a common biochemical finding in patients with multiple trauma. So it is difficult to make a decision for appropriate operation timing and to predict prognosis with consideration of parenchymal liver disease. We studied patients with multiple trauma who admitted to orthopedic department with increased AST & ALT and patients who had hepatitis from Jan. 1993 to Dec. 1993. The patients were checked AST & ALT on admission day and followed by the 3rd, 5th, 9th day, second and third week. We checked the relation of changed level of these enzymes and severity of injury, combined abdominal trauma, head trauma and the presence of HBs Ag/Ab. We concluded as followed: 1) Traumatized patients had high AST than ALT during first 3 days but hepatitis patients had higher ALT than AST during throughout admission days. High ALT in hepatitis patients had statistically significance compare to traumatized patients. 2) Traumatized patients with high AST were decreased more rapidly than ALT and showed normalized enzymatic level by 3rd week. 3) The AST level was higher in severely injured patients and it was statistically significant within first 3 days. But ALT was not correlated with the severity of injury. 4) In patients with abdominal injury, AST was higher than ALT and AST had significance but ALT had none. 5) There is no specific correlation between these enzyme level in neurosurgical problem and the presence of HBsAg/Ab.
Abdominal Injuries ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Multiple Trauma ; Orthopedics ; Prognosis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of using Keratome in endonasal Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). METHODS: The authors used 3.0mm keratome, designed for cataract surgery, to incise medial wall of the lacrimal sac during endoscopic endonasal DCR in 11 patients with nasolacrimal duct obstruction. RESULTS: Surgical success rate was 90% with fast recovery time of nasal mucosa without specific complication. CONCLUSIONS: Lacrimal sac incision using keratome was more effective and non-invasive than using nasal forceps, with advantages such as shorter operation time and less nasal mucosa injury with rapid recovery time.
Cataract ; Dacryocystorhinostomy* ; Humans ; Nasal Mucosa ; Nasolacrimal Duct ; Surgical Instruments

Pet turtles are known as a source of Salmonella infection to humans when handled in captivity. Thirty four turtles purchased from pet shops and online markets in Korea were examined to determine whether the turtles and their environment were contaminated with Salmonella spp. Salmonella spp. were isolated from fecal samples of 17 turtles. These isolates were identified as S. enterica through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The isolation rate of Salmonella spp. from the soil and water samples increased over time. We concluded that a high percentage of turtles being sold in pet shops were infected with Salmonella spp., and their environments tend to become contaminated over time unless they are maintained properly. These results indicate that pet turtles could be a potential risk of salmonellosis in Korea.
Genes, rRNA ; Humans ; Korea ; Prevalence* ; Salmonella Infections ; Salmonella* ; Soil ; Turtles* ; Water

Krukenberg tumor of the primary breast carcinoma is rare and this is almost invasive lobular carcinoma. They are usually bilateral and frequent in premenopausal women. Diagnosis of symptomatic Krukenberg tumor is reported to be 1 or 2 year after the diagnosis of primary neoplasm. But sometimes it is discovered prior to the detection of the primary breast carcinoma. Unexpected ovarian micrometastasis was recognized after oophorectomy of normally appearing ovaries in breast cancer patients. Existence of Krukenberg tumor means advanced primary disease and possible metastasis to other organs, and have a poorer prognosis. We report a case of Krukenberg tumors occurred 3 years after the diagnosis of primary ductal type breast carcinoma.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Lobular ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Krukenberg Tumor* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; Ovariectomy ; Ovary* ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVE: Rapid and effective hemostasis at femoral puncture sites minimizes both the hospital stay and patient discomfort. Therefore, a variety of arterial closure devices have been developed to facilitate the closure of femoral arteriotomy. The objective of this prospective study was to compare the efficacy of two different closure devices; a collagen plug device (Angio-Seal) and a suture-mediated closure device (the Closer S). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 28, 2003 to August 31, 2004, we conducted a prospective study in which 1, 676 cases of 1, 180 patients were treated with two different types of closure device. Angio-Seal was used in 961 cases and the Closer S in 715 cases. The efficacy of the closure devices was assessed, as well as complications occurring at the puncture sites. RESULTS: Successful immediate hemostasis was achieved in 95.2% of the cases treated with Angio-Seal, and in 89.5% of the cases treated with the Closer S (p < 0.05). The rates of minor and major complications occurring between the two groups were not significantly different. In the Closer S group, we observed four major complications (0.6%), that consisted of one massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage (surgically explored) and three pseudoaneurysms. In the Angio-Seal group, we observed three major complications (0.3%) that consisted of one femoral artery occlusion, one case of infection treated with intravenous antibiotics and one pseudoaneurysm. CONCLUSION: The use of Angio-Seal was found to be more effective than that of the Closer S with regard to the immediate hemostasis of the femoral puncture sites. However, we detected no significant differences in the rate at which complications occurred.
Treatment Outcome ; *Sutures ; Prospective Studies ; Postoperative Complications ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Humans ; Hemostatic Techniques/*instrumentation ; Femoral Artery/*surgery ; Female ; *Collagen ; Aged ; Adult ; Adolescent

Protein identification by peptide mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of fight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) can analyze unambiguously identity of the spots from a 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel. This study developed a technique for 2-DE of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. enteritidis) by improving the dissolution conditions by 2-DE using a pH 4 - 7 immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strip. This report examines the protein components from the patterns of the S. enteritidis protein. The most abundant protein displayed a great number of clusters within the pH 4.5 - 7 range with a molecular mass ranging from 35-80 kDa. Some of these spots were identified as metabolic related enzymes. The protein fraction was also analyzed using an immobilized pH gradient strip. Different proteins were identified on the spot according to the elongation factors. In addition, this study showed that the 2-DE analysis of S. enteritidis provides useful information regarding the S. enteritidis proteome, and this approach might provide a strategy for identifying bacterial proteins using a proteome technology.
Bacterial Proteins/analysis/*chemistry/isolation & purification ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Enzymes/chemistry/genetics/isolation & purification ; Molecular Weight ; Salmonella enteritidis/*chemistry/growth & development ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

BACKGROUND: Endobronchial tuberculosis is one of the serious complications of pulmonary tuberculosis. Without early diagnosis and proper treatment of endobronchial tuberculosis, bronchostenosis can leave and lead to the collapse of distal lung parenchyme, bronchiectasis, and secondary pneumonia accompanied with moderate to severe dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis, and localized wheezing. Therefore steroid therapy has been tried to prevent bronchostenosis. But the effect of steroid therapy on the endobronchial tuberculosis is not definite at present. We tried to elucidate the effect of steroid on the treatment of endobronchial tuberculosis for prevention of bronchoste- nosis. METHODS: We observed the initial and sequential bronchoscopic findings, pulmonary function tests and simple chest roentgenograms in 58 patients diagnosed as endobronchial tuberculosis and admitted to Chung-Ang university hospital from 1988 to 1992. The patients in nonsteroid group (n=39) were treated with anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy only and steroid group(n=17) with combined steroid therapy. Sequential bronchoscopic findings, pulmonary function tests, and chest roentgenograms were comparatively analyzed between the two groups. RESULTS: 1) The endobronchial tuberculosis was highly prevalent in young females especially in third decade. 2) Both actively caseating type and the stenotic type without fibrosis was the most common in the bronchoscopic classification. 3) The sequential bronchoscopic findings in steroid group 2 months after treatment showed no significant improvements compared with nonsteroid group. 4) There was no significant difference between the two groups in the sequential bronchoscopic improvements according to bronchoscopic types. 5) We did not find any significant difference in improvements on follow-up pulmonary function tests and simple chest roentgenograms between the two groups 2 month after treatment. 6) There was no significant adverse effect of steroid during the treatment. CONCLUSION: Combined steroid therapy provably would not influence outcome of the treatment of endobronchial tuberculosis.
Bronchiectasis ; Classification ; Cough ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspnea ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Lung ; Pneumonia ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Respiratory Sounds ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous pneumothorax have been managed with a variety of methods. The technique most frequently used is chest tube drainage. Small caliber catheters were first used in the management of pneumothorax complicating the percutaneous needle aspiration lung biopsy, and the try to treat spontaneous pneumothorax also has been reported. However, the value of small caliber catheters in spontaneous pneumothorax has not been fully evaluated. So, we tried to elucidate the efficacy of 8 French catheter in the management of spontaneous pneumothorax. METHOD: From January, 1990, to April, 1994, 44 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax treated at Chung-Ang university hospital were reviewed. The patients were sub-divide into 8 French catheter insertion group (n=21) and chest tube insertion group (n=23). We compared the presence of underlying lung disease, the extent of the collapse, the duration of indwelling catheter and complication between two groups. RESULTS: 1) The duration of indwelling showed no significant difference between 8 French catheter group and chest tube. But, complication after insertion as subcutaneous emphysema was developed in only chest tube group. (p<0.05) 2) In the primary spontaneous pneumothorax, all case of the pneumothorax of which size was less than 50% showed complete healing with 8 French catheter insertion. Whereas the success rate in patients with large pneumothorax (more than 50%) was tended to be dependent on the age. 3) In the patients with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax who were managed with 8 French catheter, the success rate was trended to be high if the underlying disease of pneumothorax was not COPD and if the patient was young. CONCLUSION: These results show that 8 French catheter insertion probably was effective in the pneumothorax less than 50%, the primary spontaneous pneumothorax, young age or secondary pneumothorax not associated with COPD.
Biopsy ; Catheters* ; Catheters, Indwelling ; Chest Tubes* ; Drainage ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Needles ; Pneumothorax* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Thorax*

OBJECTIVES: Although DSCG protects against the stimuli of various bronchoconstictor, such as exercise, it is not effective to all patients. There seems to be no therapeutic predictor that determines effectiveness of DSCG on bronchial asthma. Although it is commonly assumed that children with predominantly allergic asthma have a better response to DSCG therapy than adult patient, this has not been convincingly demonstrated, and even adult with late onset nonallergic asthma may benefit. In this study, we evaluated the factors that potentially influenced the ability of DSCG to reduce bronchial hyperresponsibility. METHODS: The treatment groups were sub-divide into effective group(n=14) and ineffective group(n=6) on the basis of significant improvement of followedup PC20 after long term therapy of DSCG. We compared clinical and laboratory data and pulmonary function test between two groups. RESULTS: 1) Disease durtion and pre-treatment pulmonary function (FEV1% predicted, FVC% predicted value) may play a role in determining effectiveness of DSCG on bronchial asthma(p<0.05). 2) Allergic rhinitis history seems to have been associated with effectiveness of DSCG(p<0,05). But this findings was not clearly demonstrated the association of atopic status because skin test, eosinophil count, serum IgE level were not significant difference between two groups(p>0.05). CONCLUSION: These results show that DSCG is effective in adult chronic asthma and early administration of DSCG, good pulmonary function test and allergic rhinitis history may lead to more favorable outcome.
Adult ; Asthma* ; Child ; Cromolyn Sodium ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Rhinitis ; Skin Tests

Pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm (PAP) is a rare complication of septic pneumonia. It is potentially fatal because of the risk of massive hemoptysis. Treatment of PAP involving massive hemoptysis is by embolization or surgery. However, the progression of PAP after embolization has not been reported. A 59-year-old male who was recovering from septic pneumonia experienced massive hemoptysis. Computed tomography (CT) revealed PAP of the right pulmonary artery with surrounding consolidation, suggesting active hemorrhage. The patient was successfully treated with embolization of the right pulmonary artery. During outpatient follow-up, the amount of radiopaque embolized material gradually decreased on chest radiography. At 14 months after embolization, both the PAP and embolized material had disappeared on chest CT.
Aneurysm, False ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoptysis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; Pneumonia ; Pulmonary Artery ; Thorax