BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is an important health concern among the postmenopausal women. Therefore, it is necessary to find out acceptable screening tools for osteoporotic patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Risk Index by OSTA as a screening test for osteoporosis. METHODS: The study population was 322 naturally caused menopausal women in Korea. Their was of femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD measured by DEXA. Risk Index by OSTA, based on weight and age, was calculated and the sensitivity and specificity for osteoporosis and osteopenia were evaluated. To find out the proper cut-off point for osteoporosis and osteopenia among the postmenopausal women in Korea, we also compared the sensitivity and specificity of each Risk Index value. RESULTS: The mean age and ages at menopause were 59.1(+/-6.2) and 50.7 (+/-2.7) years, respectively. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 9.6% with femoral neck BMD. For oeteoporosis, using a cut-off point of -1 yielded a sensitivity of 74.3% and a specificity of 52.2% with femoral neck BMD. Using a cut-off of -2 yielded a sensitivity of 87.3% and a specificity of 70.9%. The ROC curve showed an AUROC 0.88 for Risk Index in identifying osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: The Risk Index is an acceptable, simple and useful method in the diagnosis of osteoporosis with a Risk Index of -2 in Korean postmenopausal women.
Bone Diseases, Metabolic* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening* ; Menopause ; Osteoporosis* ; Prevalence ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spine

The introduction of microdiscectomy in lumbar spine surgery has resulted in a significant decrease in postoperative pain and length of hospital stay. Intraoperative application of long-acting local anesthetic agents and corticosteroids during lumbar discectomy have been used for the management of postoperative pain. However, the efficacy of local anesthetic agents and corticosteroids has not been reported. This study evaluated 30 patients undergoing lumbar microdiscectomy. These patients were divided into three groups. Group I(10 patients) received intramuscular Depomedrol and intravenous Solumedrol at the start of the operation. A gelfoam soaked with Depomedrol was placed over the affected nerve root following discectomy. In addition, bupivacaine was infiltrated into the paraspinal musculature at the skin incision and during closure. Group II(10 patients) received intramuscular bupivacaine and used a saline-soaked gelfoam. Group III(10 patients) acted as a control group without corticosteroids and bupivacaine. Patients in Group I had a statistically significantly shorter hospital stay(8.9 days) compared to the control group(14.9 days). Patients in Group I required less postoperative narcotic analgesia than the other groups. A larger percentage of patients in Group I reported reduction of lower back pain and radicular pain until #POD 3 compared to other groups. These results indicate that the combination of long-acting local anesthetic agents and corticosteroids can reduce postoperative discomfort and hospital stay.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones* ; Analgesia ; Anesthetics ; Bupivacaine* ; Diskectomy ; Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Low Back Pain ; Methylprednisolone Hemisuccinate ; Pain Management* ; Pain, Postoperative ; Skin ; Spine

The common bile duct normally enters the posteromedial aspect of the second part of the duodenum. However, anomalous drainage of the common bile duct into the stomach, pyloric channel, duodenal bulb and fourth portion of the duodenum has been reported in the literature. An anomalous pancreatic duct, with ectopic drainage of the common bile duct, is particularly rare. Herein, we report the case of a 69-year-old woman who showed pancreatic ductal variation and anomalous drainage of the common bile duct into the duodenal bulb. The patient required a cholecystectomy and choledochoenteric anastomosis to relieve the obstructive jaundice and abdominal pain.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Cholecystectomy ; Common Bile Duct* ; Drainage* ; Duodenum ; Female ; Humans ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Pancreatic Ducts* ; Stomach

PURPOSE: Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is treated by use of various protocols. We compared tamsulosin monotherapy with tamsulosin in combination with antibiotics or anti-inflammatory agents and evaluated the efficacy of these treatments in patients with CPPS. METHODS: Patients (n=107) who were younger than 55 years and diagnosed with CPPS were randomly assigned to treatment with tamsulosin at 0.2 mg (group A), tamsulosin at 0.2 mg plus anti-inflammatory drugs (group B) or tamsulosin at 0.2 mg plus antibiotics (group C) daily. We applied the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) to evaluate 100 patients who were treated for 12 weeks (7 withdrew). Scores of the three groups were compared by analysis of variance and we also evaluated subscores, which included pain, voiding and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: All three groups showed statistically significant decreases in NIH-CPSI score, IPSS and subscore scores (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups except for the QoL domain of the IPSS (group A vs. C; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Tamsulosin monotherapy for 12 weeks was effective for treating patients with CPPS, compared with combination therapy with antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs.
Academies and Institutes ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; Humans ; Pelvic Pain ; Prostate ; Prostatitis ; Quality of Life ; Sulfonamides

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The pattern of chromosomal gains and losses in HCC with hepatitis B in Korean patients is very complex and involves virtually every site in the genome. This study was done to know the chromosomal aberrations in hepatocellular carcinoma with HBV and relationship between these lesions and previously known oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. METHODS: DNA changes in 23 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) were analyzed by CGH technique. RESULTS: Eighteen of the 23 cases showed genetic alterations. The remaining 5 cases showed no detectable aberrations. The losses of chromosome regions 17p (74%), 4q (57%), 16p (52%), 16q (48%), 8p (43%) and 13q (43%) were detected in the order of decreasing frequency. In cases of multiple losses of chromosomes, a combination of 17p, 16p, 16q, 4q, and 8p losses was found in 5 cases (30%). On the other hand, chromosomal gains occurred on 1q (65%), 8q (52%), 20p (48%) and 20q (43%) in the order of decreasing frequency. And the simultaneous genomic gains of these 4 chromosomes were found in 9 cases (40%). Moreover, the combination of 5 genomic losses (17p, 16p, 16q, 4q, & 8p) and 4 genomic gains (1q, 8q, 20p, & 20q) was observed in 4 cases (23%). CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of chromosomal gains and losses in HCC with hepatitis B in Korean patients is very complex and involves virtually every site in the genome. This indicates a high genomic instability. This could possibly be explained either as the result of random chromosomal changes during early development of tumor, or as the highly variable and random pattern of integration of HBV in the HCC. The hepatocarcinogenesis may be the result of cumulative effects rather than those orders of occurrence of those genomic changes. The sites of cellular DNA at which HBV integrates frequently undergo rearrangements, resulting in translocations, inverted duplications, deletions, and possibly recombinational events. But, CGH only detects changes of chromosomal copy number but could not identify translocations, inversions, and other aberrations of chromosome. The chromosomal analysis of HCC with HBV in Korean patients by CGH technique confirms the presence of complex and sporadic, but nonrandom genetic changes in the chromosome. In the future, more detailed oncogenic study could be carried out on the chromosomes which showed abnormal aberrations through this study.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Chromosome Aberrations* ; Comparative Genomic Hybridization ; DNA ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Genome ; Genomic Instability ; Hand ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B virus ; Humans ; Oncogenes

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postnasal drip is a common presentation to the medical practitioner. It is a result of disturbance to the normal drainage or an increase in secretion of the paranasal sinuses. However, sometimes no underlying cause can be found and the patient has to be reassured, and that they may just have to live with it. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical manifestations of patients with postnasal drip. MATERIAL AND METHOD: There were 90 patients complaining with postnasal drip. We performed a prospective study about accompanying symptoms and physical and psychiatric evaluation. CONCLUSION: Postnasal drip is more common in females over 30 years and the duration of symptoms is usually long. Anatomical nasal abnormality and sinusitis are common. There is no correlation with postnasal drip and psychiatric problems. But several items are concerned with postnasal drip. So we need detailed history taking and physical examination on patients who complained of postnasal drip.
Drainage ; Female ; Humans ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Physical Examination ; Prospective Studies ; Sinusitis

The use of metallic plate and screws in the anterior cervical fusion has become generally acceptable and popular. Mainly, there are two different plating systems available. However, there has been few attempts to compare their clinical results with and without a plating system or between two different systems in a single series of clinical study. The authors reviewed 117 patients who underwent anterior cervical fusion during the period of January 1992 to September 1996. Simple fusion without a plating system was applied in 55 cases(group 1), a bicortical non-locked plate screw system in 25(group 2), and a monocortical locked plate screw system in 37(group 3). The average follow-up period was 13. 2 months. In group 1, twenty-two patients(40%) with fracture-dislocation or corpectomy required a rigid brace such as halo brace and Minerva cast for 3 months postope ratively and seven patients(13%) experienced graft complications, mainly graft extrusion. In group 2 and 3, the patients required only soft b races for 4 to 8 weeks and no patients experienced serious graft complications like ones in group 1 but, instead two patients with screw breakages, two back-outs and one non-union were observed. In comparison of the clinical complications such as hoarsness, there were no significant differences between the groups. In conclusion, the plating system in anterior cervical fusion appears to be safe despite the facts that mo re technical demands are required during surgery. It also provides better postoperative stability in the spine and permits earlier ambulation without a rigid brace. A monocortical locked plate screw system appears to have less hardware failures and better su rgical results than a bicortical non-locked plate screw system.
Allografts ; Braces ; Continental Population Groups ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Spine ; Transplants ; Walking

No abstract available.
Animals ; Cell Count* ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I* ; Rats* ; Thyroid Gland*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the necessity for professional urology treatment and the roles of urology in the treatment of inpatients referred to the urology department. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects were patients referred to the department of urology among the inpatients of Chosun University Hospital from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2011. The patients' sex and age, the referring department, and the disease group were extracted from the patients' medical records. Disease groups were classified as urination disorder, infection, tumor, calculus, trauma, pediatrics, andrology, and others. The urination disorder group was classified into the subcategories of neurogenic bladder, benign prostatic hypertrophy, urinary retention, urinary incontinence, and overactive bladder. RESULTS: The total number of referrals was 3,261, and males made up 54.79%. In the age distribution, 2,321 patients (71.17%) were over 60 years of age and the largest population group was patients in their 70s (32.72%). According to the department referring the patients, internal medicine (34.06%) and orthopedic surgery (16.83%) made up a high percentage. Concerning the disease group, urination disorder was the highest, being 61.26%. In the subclassification of the urination disorder group, benign prostatic hypertrophy was the highest category at 32.23%. CONCLUSIONS: In this urology cooperative behavior analysis of our hospital over 3 years, a high percentage of older patients over 60 years of age and a high percentage of urination disorders were found. Urination disorder-related diseases in persons of advanced age are expected to increase as Korea becomes an aged society, and doctors in other departments should be aware that professional treatment and management by a urologist is needed for the treatment of these disorders.
Age Distribution ; Aged ; Andrology ; Calculi ; Cooperative Behavior ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Internal Medicine ; Korea ; Male ; Medical Records ; Orthopedics ; Pediatrics ; Population Groups ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Referral and Consultation ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic ; Urinary Incontinence ; Urinary Retention ; Urination ; Urination Disorders ; Urology

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Food restriction retards aging and increases mean and maximum life span in nearly all species tested thus far. Calcium-binding proteins show a heterogenous distribution in the mammalian central nervous system and are useful markers for identifying neuronal populations. These proteins have been implicated in the buffering and transport of calcium as well as in the regulation of various enzyme systems. We investigated the change of the immunoreactivity of calcium-binding proteins in olfactory bulb of rat after food restriction. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 10 weeks old Sprague-Dawley rat were used in this study. 6 rats were killed at the beginning of the experiment. 30 rats which were restricted food only half of their normal voluntary mean food intake (12 g instead of 24 g per day) were killed at 3 days, 1, 2, 4 and 9 weeks after food restriction (n=6 per time point). Olfactory bulbs of the rats were cut into 40 micro m-thick coronal sections and immunostained. RESULTS: On the layers of olfactory nerve, glomerular, outer plexiform, granular cell and subependymal zone, immunoreactivities of parvalbumin and calbindin were increased on food restriction week 1 and 2. However, parvalbumin at olfactory nerve layer and calbindin at granule cell layer failed to increase at week 2. Calretinin increased its immunoreactivity at olfactory nerve and outer plexiform layer at week 1. After restriction week 2, immunoreactivity of calcium-binding proteins was almost same as control. CONCLUSION: The results we obtained from restricted rats indicated that parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin could be expressed by different manner and layer in olfactory bulb.
Aging ; Animals ; Calbindin 2 ; Calbindins ; Calcium* ; Calcium-Binding Proteins* ; Central Nervous System ; Eating ; Neurons ; Olfactory Bulb* ; Olfactory Nerve ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley