To get a better insight into the clinical differentiation between vertigo of cerebrovascular origin and of aural origin, we investigated radiologically proven stroke patients who presented with vertigo as an initial clinical manifestation. Of 154 stroke patients, 30 patients with vertigo (20%) had the relevant lesion, demonstrated with the initial computerized tomographic scan (13 patients) or the follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study (17 patients) of the brain. Every lesion was in the vertebrobasilar arterial territory; 19 in the cerebellum, 8 in the pons, and 3 in the medulla oblongata. Although 12 of the 30 patients (40%) presented with vertigo in isolation at the onset of stroke, eight patients (27%) developed additional neurologic abnormalities from four hours to seven days later. Patients with isolated vertigo (13%) had the small lesion exclusively in the cerebellum of the PICA medial branch territory. The most frequent accompanying neurological sign was swaying in the cerebellar and medullary lesion, and dysarthria in the pontine lesion. The direction of nystagmus or swaying did not match the lesion side in some patients. Our findings suggest that cerebellar stroke may commonly manifest isolated vertigo or vertigo with swaying mimicking labyrinthine disorder, particularly at the onset of the disease. MRI study and tests for truncal ataxia and lateropulsion may be crucial for the detection of vertigo of cerebrovascular origin.
Adult ; Cerebrovascular Disorders/complications/*radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Human ; Male ; Nervous System Diseases/etiology ; Nystagmus, Pathologic/etiology ; Prospective Studies ; Sensation Disorders/*diagnosis ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vertigo/complications/*radiography

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in stroke therapies require patients to be treated very early after the onset of symptoms. To reduce the delay in time upon stroke and arriving at the hospital, we assessed the time delay, stroke recognition, and awareness before and after a public education program designed to increase recognition and awareness. METHODS: Prospective standardized and structured interviews were performed in 155 patients with ischemic stroke who were admitted to the Severance hospital before and after the public education program. The educational program included local newspaper articles, distribution of pamphlets, and lectures to 119 emergency care teams. Time delay, variable factors, stroke recognition, and stroke awareness of patients were then assessed (75 pre-education and 80 post-education groups). RESULTS: 52% of the pre-education group and 52.5% of the post-education group arrived at the hospital within 24 hours. Those who arrived within 3 hours were only 21.3% and 15% respectively. A direct visit to the hospital and a cardioembolic infarction appeared to be associated with a shorter time delay. About half of the patients recognized their symptoms as a stroke before a diagnosis was made by a doctor. Most of them had known that a stroke should be treated urgently. However, the stroke recognition and awareness was not associated with an early arrival, which suggests that their knowledge was not solid. The efforts to inform the public using local newspaper articles and pamphlets geared towards the local residents for the limited time period was not effective in shortening arrival times. CONCLUSIONS: Many of the stroke patients did not arrive within the therapeutic time window. Our findings suggest that extensive and multi-directional campaigns should be performed to reduce the time delay. Our findings also suggest that educational aims should include the need for the rapid treatment of stroke and a therapeutic time window as well as stroke recognition.
Cerebral Infarction ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Emergency Medical Services ; Humans ; Infarction ; Lectures ; Periodicals ; Pamphlets ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Stroke onset is known to vary by several factors. Although it has been known that stroke may develop most frequently in the morning, its association with the type of activity has quite rarely been described. METHODS: We prospectively investigated by interview the time of and the activity during or before the onset of stroke in patients with acute cerebral infarction from Aug. 1995 to Mar. 1996. The activities were subdivided into basal metabolic rate state, sedentary, light, moderate, and heavy movements based on the caloric expenditure. RESULTS: One hundred-twenty five patients were enrolled. The time of day when ischemic stroke most frequently occurred was from 8:00 AM to noon. The type of activity was significantly associated with stroke onset in that it developed most commonly during and just after sleep or resting. The relationship between the onset of stroke and such patterns of onset time and the activity was found only in the atherothrombotic infarction, but not in the other stroke types. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that stroke has clear diurnal variation. Our observations also suggested that the activity may be significantly associated with stroke onset. These findings may be useful for better understanding of the pathogenesis and prevention of ischemic stroke.
Basal Metabolism ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Infarction ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke

PURPOSE: We wanted to report the our early experience with performing nephron-sparing radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of renal tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three percutaneous RFAs were performed under combined computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonogram guided, and two intraoperative ultrasonograpy-guided laparoscopic RFAs were performed since June 2004. The treatment indications were localized, small (<4cm), solid renal masses in elderly patients and also the same type masses in the patients with comorbid conditions. The follow-up studies included physical examination, CBC, serum creatinine, urine analysis and kidney CT, and these were performed at day 1, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after ablation, and then semi-annually thereafter. The mean follow-up duration was 8.8 months (range: 5-12 months). RESULTS: All five patients underwent successful RFA without any serious events. One patient had a mild perinephric hematoma and another patients had mild gross hematuria postoperatively. With a mean follow-up of 8.8 months, none of the patients showed any residual tumor on follow-up contrast-enhanced CT after the final tumor ablation. Complete tumor ablation was achieved after a single treatment session in 80% of the patients and in 20% of patients after the subsequent ablation sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous or laparoscopic RFA is a promising nephron-sparing treatment for selected patients with small renal mass. Contrast-enhanced CT performed immediately after ablation is a reliable method to exclude residual viable tumor. The ultimate role for this modality will continue to evolve and this warrants further studies.
Aged ; Catheter Ablation* ; Creatinine ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Kidney ; Laparoscopy ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Nephrons ; Physical Examination ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography

Hemintaxia-hypesthesia in thalamic stroke has been rarely reported. We experienced six patients who has hemiataxia-hypesthesia with or without transientweakness due to thalamic stroke. Upon reviewing the pattern of sensory deficits and the presence of weakness m our cases and those in previously reported thalamic stroke patients with hemiataxiahypesthesia with or without transient weakness, hemiataxia-hypesthesia has a localizing value of the thalamic lesion, particularly in case of presenting with pain sensory loss and of no weakness.
Humans ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: The associations between preterm labor or premature rupture of membrane (PROM) and urogenital infections of pregnant women are reported. Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis are well known as important pathogens of urogenital infections in pregnant women. In routine clinical laboratory, conventional culture for these microorganisms has not been made generally because of the requirements for strict growth condition. MYCOFAST(R) Evolution 2 is an easy and rapid liquid microculture method using metabolism of these microorganisms. Author investigated the relationship between U. urealyticum or M. hominis infections and preterm labor or PROM by MYCOFAST Evolution 2 and PCR. Also it was reviewed that the possibility of substitution of MYCOFAST Evolution 2 for conventional culture method by comparing with PCR methods. METHODS: This study was done on 91 pregnant women. They were composed of two groups; group I(n=48) had full-term delivery and group II(n=43) had preterm labor or PROM before the 37th week.Two cervical swabs were made each time. One was used for MYCOFAST(R) Evolution 2 and the other for PCR. RESULTS: The positivity of U. urealyticum was 39.6% in group Iand 58.1% in group IIby MYCOFAST Evolution 2 and 39.6% and 58.1% by PCR method, respectively. The positivity of M. hominis was 4.2% in group Iand 11.6% in group IIby MYCOFAST Evolution 2 and 4.2% and 7.0% by PCR method, respectively. The positivity of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in group IIwas higher than that in group Ibut was not significant statistically. The concordance rates between two methods were 86.8% for U. urealyticum and 97.8% for M. hominis. It showed good correlation between two methods (U. urealyticum, r=0.736; M. hominis, r=0.835). CONCLUSIONS: The infections of U. urealyticum and M. hominis were related to preterm labor or PROM. Considering vertical transmission to fetus or neonates resulting in perinatal morbidity or mortality, the detection of these microorganisms is important. MYCOFAST(R) Evolution 2 was an easy, rapid and reliable method substituting conventional culture method.
Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Membranes ; Metabolism ; Mortality ; Mycoplasma hominis* ; Mycoplasma* ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women* ; Rupture ; Ureaplasma urealyticum* ; Ureaplasma*

A carotidynia is a syndrome of vascular neck pain or tenderness arising from one or both carotid artery which is frequently associated with various forms of extracranial vascular headache, Carotidynia is a common but infrequently recognized syndrome. Careful history taking, physical examination and appropreate Lab(ex: CT scan of neck) may be indicated for accurate diagnosis and adequate management. We experienced a case of carotidynia which was believed to be related to a carotid arteritis evidenced by elevated ESR, abnormalities of neck CT, angiogram, and good response to steroid.
Arteritis ; Carotid Arteries ; Diagnosis ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; Physical Examination ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vascular Headaches

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Infection is one of the common complications of acute stoke. However, it's characteristics and prognostic significance have not yet been sufficiently studied. METHOD: We prospectively investigated the frequency of infection and the conditions prone to develop it, and the influence of infection on patients prognosis in acute stroke. We assessed each patient with modified National Institute of Health (NIH) stroke scale immediately after the admission(NIH-0), at the hospital day 1(NIH-1), 3(NIH-3), 7(NIH-7), at the discharge(NIH-d). The degree of improvement was evaluated by improvement ratio([NIH-0-NIH-d]/NIH-0). RESULT: One hundred and twenty five patients were enrolled. Twenty-eight patients (22.4%) were infected during admission. Pneumonia(23), UTI(10), sepsis(4), URI(2), aseptic meningitis(1) and FUO(1) were developed in that order of frequency. Using indwelling instruments and poor initial neurological status were factors prone to develop infection. Mean NIH-0 score was 26.50 in patients with infection, and 8.13 in those without infection(p<0.05). There were significant differences in the improvement ratio between infected and non-infected patients both at the 7th hospital day(-0.64 vs. 0.28) and at the discharge (-0.016 vs. 0.27). CONCLUSION: About one fifth of acute stroke patients were infected during their admissions. Infection, especially pneumonia, was significantly correlated with the poor prognosis. The prevention and the appropriate control of infection may improve neurologic outcomes in stroke patients.
Humans ; Pneumonia ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke*

Retrocaval ureter is a rare congenital anomaly that causes symptomatic hydronephrosis. Despite difficulties in the intracorporeal suturing, a retrocaval ureter is thought to be a good candidate for laparoscopic surgery, especially from the cosmesis. Laparoscopic ureteroureterostomy has advantages compared to conventional open surgery in terms of less pain, decreased blood loss, smaller operative wound and shorter hospital stay. Herein, we report our initial experience of laparoscopic ureteroureterostomy in a patient with a retrocaval ureter.
Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Retrocaval Ureter* ; Sutures ; Ureter ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: Allogeneic or autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) has been settled a modality of treatment in hematologic malignantdisorders or solid tumors. Because engraftment or not was important for the direction of treatment and prognosis of the patients, various methods, judging it early were groped. Instead of an absoluteneutrophil count (ANC) or platelet count in PB, we used reticulocyte parameters as early predictors of hematopoietic engraftment. METHODS: We measured the ANC with reticulocyte parameters daily in 25 patients receiving allogeneic BMT or PBSCT (n=17, 30.82+/-9.97 years old) and autologous PBSCT (n=8, 30.63+/-8.55 years old) from January 2002 to February 2003 in Kyungpook National University Hospital. Wedefined erythroid engraftment as the first day of a mean corpuscular volume of reticulocyte (MCVr)>or=105 fL and immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF) >or=10% in the second rising peak and myeloid engraftment as the first day of ANC >or=500/microL. RESULTS: The erythroid engraftment occurred after a mean time of 16.24+/-4.16 days in allogeneic graft and 14.00+/-3.55 days in autologous graft and the myeloid engraftment occurred 17.94+/-3.23 days and 15.00+/-2.78 days, respectively. In the allogeneic graft, the erythroid engraftment occurred earlier than the myeloid engraftment (P=0.03). In the autologous graft, the erythroid engraftment preceded the myeloid engraftment; however, it was not statistically significant (P=0.47). Among 3 cases, wherein the erythroid engraftment occurred later than the myeloid engraftment in allogeneic graft, 2cases were ABO-incompatible PBSCT. CONCLUSIONS: Considering that the successive increase of immature reticulocytes preceded that of ANC in most cases, we concluded that as an early indicator of hematopoietic engraftment, reticulocyte parameters such as IRF and MCVr were useful especially observing them simultaneously.
Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Platelet Count ; Prognosis ; Reticulocytes* ; Stem Cell Transplantation* ; Transplants