PURPOSE: Introduction of shock wave lithotripsy has provided an avenue for dealing with many urinary stones noninvasively. Although shock wave is known to cause pathologic changes in various organ, little is k nown about its effect on the ureter and recovery after shock wave, the target organ in SWL of injury induced by shock wave and the potential protective effect of allopurinol and nifedipine against shock wave. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total 24 rabbits were assigned to 2 groups. 12 rabbits received allopurinol(10mg.each) and nifedipine (1mg.each) that were given orally 3 times a day for 5 days starting the night before SWL. The other 12 rabbits reseived no medication. The left lower Ureter segments of 24 rabbits were removed ureter. Groups of 8 rabbits(4were medication group and 4, no medication group) were sacrificed 1, 3 and 5 days after shock wave exposure. The histomorphological alterations were examined under light and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: The epithelial cells disclosed no change after shock wave application. Histologically the muscular layer was the most affected part of ureter. There was interstitial and intracellular edema on light microscopy and made chromatin and mitochondrial changes at the subcellular level. The adventitial layer wes also edematous. This chanfes were prominent on day 1and 3 and returned to normal on day 5. The medication group showed less severe features of injury, compared with the no medication group. CONCLUSIONS: Electromagnetic shock waves produce reversible morphological changes in rabbit ureteric muscle and allopurinol and nifedipine may have its role in protecting the tissue injury produced by high energy shock waves.
Allopurinol* ; Chromatin ; Edema ; Epithelial Cells ; High-Energy Shock Waves ; Lithotripsy ; Magnets ; Microscopy ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Nifedipine* ; Rabbits ; Shock* ; Ureter* ; Urinary Calculi

Chemotherapeutic agents were evaluated for their effect on the development of urinary bladder tumors, induced by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN) in female Sprague-Dawley rats. For 16 weeks, 0.05% BBN was administered orally, and then chemotherapeutic agents (adriamycin and cisplatin) were injected intraperitoneally for 12 weeks. In our preliminary experimental series, an experimental bladder tumor model induced by BBN was useful in evaluating the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents. Cisplatin appears to be effective in inhibiting precancerous histologic changes and carcinoma in rat urinary bladder mucosa by BBN. However, the effectiveness of adriamycin was inconclusive.
Animals ; Carcinogenesis* ; Cisplatin ; Doxorubicin ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intraperitoneal* ; Mucous Membrane ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder*

No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; Ultrasonography* ; Varicocele*

OBJECTIVE: The pathogenesis of endometriosis is generally accepted that retrograde menstruation and alterations in the local pelvic immune environment. This study was performed to help elucidate what kind of role various cytokines might play in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. METHOD: Concentrations of peritoneal fluid cytokines were compared in 7 women with normal pelvic finding and 23 women with endometriosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The patterns of cytokine mRNA expression in 8 ovarian endometrioma and 12 superficial pelvic endometriosis lesions were investigated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) amplification method. RESULT: Both IL-6 and IL-10 levels in peritoneal fluid specimens with endometriosis tended to be higher than normal. However, there were no significant differences between peritoneal fluid concentrations of IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-5 of women with and without endometriosis. The levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were significantly higher in peritoneal fluid of women with severe endometriosis compared to women with mild endometriosis. IL-1beta mRNA was expressed in all of 8 deep and 12 superficial endometriosis lesions. IL-5 and IL-6 mRNA were expressed in only two black lesions respectively, however, both were not expressed in the all deep lesions. Expressions of IL-10 mRNA occurred in one red and one black lesion while this was expressed in only one of the deep lesions. TNF-alpha mRNA was expressed in one red and one black lesion of 12 superficial lesions compared with four of the deep lesions. There was the difference between kinds of increased cytokines in the peritoneal fluid and those of expressed cytokines in the endometriotic lesions of patients with endometriosis. CONCLUSION: This study supports the concept that local immunologic factors may be important in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of endometriosis. The pattern of cytokine mRNA expression of endometriotic lesions would seem to indicate that proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta and TNF-alpha are responsible for the development or progression of endometriosis.
Ascitic Fluid ; Cytokines ; Endometriosis* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-5 ; Interleukin-6 ; Menstruation Disturbances ; RNA, Messenger* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

There have been limited reports about the prevalence and its characteristics of glaucoma in Korea. To clarify further, we retrospectively analyzed the data of 1482 patients with glaucoma from January 1993 to December 1994. The prevalence of glaucoma was 0.58%. The type of glaucoma consisted of secondary glaucoma 33.9%, primary open angle glaucoma(POAG) in 33.2%, angle closure glaucoma(ACG) 28.0%, normal tension glaucoma 4.0% and congenital glaucoma 0.9%. The mean age of the patients with POAG was 55.2+/-16.5 and that of ACG was 64.7+/-9.2. In POAG, the age group over 40 years old occupied 79.7% while 99.3% was the age group over 40 years in ACG. The incidence rate of men was higher than women in POAG but in women it was 3.6 times higher than men in ACG. Secondary glaucomas due to diseases of uveal tract, neovascular glaucoma, steroid induced glaucoma, and aphakic (or pseudophakic) glaucoma were 37.0%, 18.9%, 16.5%, and 15.7% respectively.
Adult ; Female ; Glaucoma* ; Glaucoma, Angle-Closure ; Glaucoma, Neovascular ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Low Tension Glaucoma ; Male ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

Background: Vibrio vulnificus infection is a highly fatal disease resulting from the consumption of raw or undercooked seafood and exposure to seawater containing the organism. It has been a nationally notifiable disease since 2000 in Korea. The aims of this study were to assess the trends in the incidence of V. vulnificus infection and its case fatality rate and to determine the epidemiologic characteristics to effectively prevent infection and lower mortality. Methods: We analyzed the incidence trends of V. vulnificus infection by year, month, and region in 913 cases reported to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC, currently Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) by the National Infectious Disease Surveillance System from 2001 to 2016. We analyzed the number of patients with V. vulnificus infection who were under the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and whose coastal seawater temperature data were provided by the Korea Oceanographic Data Center of the National Institute of Fisheries Science. Epidemiological investigations were followed up and analyzed for 761 patients from 2003 to 2016. A total of 152 patients who were not followed up were excluded from the analysis. The case fatality rate was analyzed for 325 cases reported to the KCDC from 2011 to 2016. Results: The mean incidence of V. vulnificus infection was 0.12 per 100,000 people, and the highest incidence was reported in September (41.1%) during the study period. The incidence rate per 100,000 people was the highest in Jeonnam (8.23). The number of patients who claimed to the NHIS was the highest in September (105 patients). The average seawater temperature was the highest at 24.1°C in August, and the average seawater temperature from August to October, when many cases occurred, was 22.4°C. The male-to-female ratio was 6:1, and 96.4% of the patients were aged ≥ 40 years. Of the patients, 96.1% had underlying diseases, the most common of which was liver cirrhosis (56.3%). The case fatality rate was 48.9%. Conclusion The occurrence of V. vulnificus infection showed distinct seasonality, with a large number of cases occurring in the months when the seawater temperature was high;there were also distinct geographical characteristics. The incidence of V. vulnificus infection and mortality rates have not decreased for decades, and it is still an important public health problem with a high fatality rate.

No abstract available.
Peripheral Nerves*

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the clinicopathologic prognostic factors and overall survival in patients with uterine endometrial cancer. METHODS: From Jan, 1995 to Dec. 2000, medical records of 98 patients with endometrial cancer treated in Kosin University Gospel Hospital were reviewed and the overall survival of patients was determined by support of the death statistics of Korea National Statistical Office. Survival rate was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test was used for curve comparison, Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The median age of all patients was 53 years. The most common presenting symptom was abnormal vaginal bleeding (65.3%). The most common histological type was endometrioid adenocarcinoma. (85.1%) The overall 5 years survival rate (5YSR) for all 98 patients was 66.8%. The overall 5YSR for premenopause and postmenopause were 80% and 50%, respectively (p=0.08). The overall 5YSR for preop CA-125 level above 35 U/mL, below 35 U/mL were 40%, 80% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of stage I, stage II, stage III, stage IV were 86.8%, 76.9%, 39.4%, 14.4% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of grade 1, grade 2, grade 3 were 75%, 70%, 45% (p=0.002). The overall 5YSR of myometrium invasion of none, <1/2, >or=1/2, were 84.3%, 80.3%, 57.2% (p=0.004). The overall 5YSR of peritoneal cytology of negative, posivite were 73.4%, 23.8% (p=0.001). The overall 5YSR of lymphnode metastasis negative, positive were 80.1%, 15% (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The age (>50), preop CA-125 level, FIGO surgical stage, grade, myometrial invasion, lymph node metastasis and peritoneal cytology were significant prognostic factors of uterine endometrial cancer affecting 5YSR by univariate analysis. The myometrium invasion and grade were significant prognostic factors affecting 5YSR by multivariate analysis.
Animals ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Endometrial Neoplasms* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Mice ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myometrium ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Postmenopause ; Premenopause ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Rate ; Uterine Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) is still prevalent and remains a significant clinical problem for the elderly. However, the disease presents in many ways, and there are frequent adverse drug reactions that may prevent the early diagnosis and treatment of elderly TB patients compared to the young. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there are any differences in the clinical feature of pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) in both the diagnosis and treatment between the young (less than 64 years) and the elderly (65 years and more). METHODS: The medical records of 125 young and 70 elderly pulmonary TB patients, who were diagnosed with and treated for pulmonary TB at the Seoul Municipal Boramae Hospital from November 1991 to January 1997, were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Anorexia(12% vs. 31.4%), general weakness (20.0% vs. 54.3%), dyspnea(21.6% vs. 37.1%) and an abnormal mentality (0.8% vs. 15.7%) were more frequent presenting symptoms in elderly TB patients, whereas hemoptysis (32.8% vs. 10.0%) and fever (BT>37℃ 58.4% vs. 35.7%) were more frequent in the young. The elderly had a higher number of cardiovascular and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases as underlying illnesses. In chest PA, there were no differences in the location of the TB lesion, but the appearances were initially diagnosed more frequently as pneumonia or lung cancer (8.8% vs. 30.0%, p<0.05) in the elderly. There was no difference in the detection rate of acid fast bacilli(AFB) in the sputum between the two groups. There were no differences in the treatment response and follow-up loss. However, adverse drug reactions (13.6% vs. 45.7%, p<0.05), and changes in medication (4.9% vs. 25.7%, p<0.05) during treatment occurred more frequently in the elderly. One among the 125 young patients died from tuberculosis whereas 6 among the 70 elderly patients died from the disease. CONCLUSION: Because the clinical and radiological presentations were more atypical, a sputum AFB smear and culture should be done immediately in the elderly who are TB. The elderly experienced more frequent adverse drug reactions and mortality during treatment, but the response to treatment was good and rapid.
Aged* ; Diagnosis ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Early Diagnosis ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Lung Neoplasms ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Pneumonia ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

No abstract available.
Danazol* ; Panniculitis*