Multicystic ovary was first described by Silver in 1958 as a rare case feature of acquired primary hypothyroidism. In 1980, Lindsay reported four girls with hypothyroidism associated with multicystic ovary diagnosed by pelvic ultrasonography. The mechanism of ovarian cyst formation and pseudoprecocious puberty in severe hypothyroidism in childhood are unknown. Increased ovarian sensitivity to GnRH and increased TSH level which acts on FSH receptor is one of the mechanism explained. We report a case of a girl with primary hypothyroidism presented with pseudoprecocious puberty and giant follicular ovarian cyst with torsion.
Adolescent ; Female ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism* ; Ovarian Cysts* ; Ovary ; Puberty ; Receptors, FSH ; Silver ; Ultrasonography

Background: Reporting rate of notifiable communicable diseases has been assumed to be low in Korea. To encourage timely reporting of notifiable communicable diseases and to improve the reporting process by the Infection Control Unit, a disease code-based electronic surveillance and in-house electronic reporting system was developed and implemented in February 2003. We evaluated the reporting rates of notifiable communicable diseases before and after the implementation of the electronic reporting- system. METHODS: The electronic reporting system, which was integrated to the computerized physician order entry system, was designed to monitor KCD-4 codes at the time of every order entry. Whenever the system recognized the predetermined codes of notifiable communicable diseases, it generated an alert box to recommend reporting: and then a physician could fill up an electronic report form, which was collected and faxed to the local public health authority by the Infection Control Unit. Reporting rate of notifiable communicable diseases in 2002, when the conventional paper-based reporting system was used, was assumed comparing the number of cases reported actually and that of cases identified to be reported by reviewing the medical records and electronic database. RESULTS: From March to July 2003, 181 cases with tuberculosis and 14 with other communicable diseases were reported whereas 106 and 9 cases were reported respectively for the same 5-month period in 2002. Reporting rate using the conventional reporting system in 2002 was assumed to be 61% and 39% respectively. Conclusions: Using a disease code-based electronic reporting system, reporting of notifiable communicable diseases could be improved compared with conventional paper-based reporting system.
Communicable Diseases* ; Disease Notification ; Infection Control ; Korea ; Medical Informatics Applications ; Medical Order Entry Systems ; Medical Records ; Public Health ; Tuberculosis

Open heart surgery is itself a difficult and risky procedure, so patients who receive surgery experiences severe stress and anxiety from physiological and psychological sources. These stresses increase workload of heart and oxigen consumption so that increased pulse rate, blood pressure, arithmia can being a harmful effect to the patients. Thus, nursing intervention should be given in order to reduce these stresses. The purpose of this study was to define "caring touch" which could relieve a patient's anxiety and reinforce his immune reactions. This study examined how "caring touch" could be a easy and useful way of nursing care. Finally, this research attempted to find out when it is appropriate to begin this caring touch compared effect of caring touch given before and after operation. This study was designed using a quasi-experimental approach with non-equivalent control groups and non-synchronized design. The study subjects consisted of 65 adult patients who have undertaken open heart surgery in the two general hospitals of K. and S. located in Inchon and Buchon from the 4th of Jannuary to the 28th of May in 1998. Group A was a study group consisting of 22 patients who were given caring touch twice a day from the day before the operation untill the 7th day after the operation. Group B was a study group consisting of 20 patients who received the care from the 1st day after the operation to the 7th day in the same manner as Group A. The control group consisted of 23 patients who were not given this care. This study used two measuring instrument: Visual Analogue Scale Anxiety which was developed by Cline(1922), and Trait and State Anxiety by Spielberger(1970). Measuring items were blood pressure, pulse rate, cortisol level, percentages of T-lymphocyte, and natural killer cell in the blood. Data collected were analyzed by SAS program for x2 test, ANOVA, Repeated measures of ANOVA, Pearson-correlation, Scheffe multiple comparison, and Profile multiple comparison methods. The results of the study are as follows: 1. Emotional stress reaction Level of VAS anxiety and State anxiety of group A and B showed a significant decline compared to the control group(P<.o5). The anxiety of group A and B showed significant lower level on the 1st day after operation than the day before operation, and the anxiety level was also lower on the 7th day after operation than 1st day after operation(P<.001). 2. Physiological stress reaction Systolic BP measured in groups A and B showed significant higher difference between before and after receiving caring touch compared to control group(P<.05). Systolic BP measured on the 1st day after the operation was lower than the day before and the 7th day after operation(P<.01). The control group however, showed no difference. Diastolic BP measured in group A showed signigicant higher difference between before and after receiving caring touch than control group(P<.05). However, there was no significant difference in it on the three points of measurings. Pulse rate measured in group A showed significant higher difference between before and after receiving caring touch than control group(P<.05), and the pulse rates measured on the 1st day after operation were significantly lower than the day before operation and the 7th day after operation(P<.01). But these was no difference in the control group. The cortisol level of all three groups showed no significant difference, and the level of cortisol measured on 1st day after operation was significantly higher than the day before operation and 7th day after operation(P<.01). 3. Immune reactions T-lymphocyte of group B was found higher rates than the control group(P<.05), and the T-lymphocyte measured on the day befor operation and 7th day after operation were significantly higher than the 1st day after operation(P<.001). NK-cell rate of all three groups revealed no significant difference and NK-cell measured on the 1st day after operation showed higher rates than the 7th day after operation(P<.001). Based on above mentioned results, it is found that emotional and physiological stress of open heart surgery patients can be relieved by giving caring and which was identified on the measured items of VAS Anxiety, State anxiety, BP, and pulse rate. And those measurings were markedly decreased on the 1st day after opertion. Especially group A, which began caring touch before undergoing operation showed less anxiety compared to group B, which received caring touch from the 1st day after operation. Thus, the most appropriate time for giving caring touch was a day before the operation. And also it was found that caring touch increased the T-lymphocyte rate, and immune reactions when anxiety level decreased. Therefore caring touch was proved to be a way of emotional nursing intervention to relieve anxiety and increse immune reaction.
Adult ; Anxiety ; Blood Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Heart* ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Incheon ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Nursing ; Nursing Care ; Stress, Physiological ; Stress, Psychological ; T-Lymphocytes ; Thoracic Surgery*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Dietary Fats* ; Rats*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR*

OBJECTIVES: Acrylamide is a neurotoxin inducing central-peripheral distal axonopathy. The authors evaluated several neurologic tests to screen the early effect of occupational acrylamide exposure. METHODS: Fifty-two males working either in the production of acrylamide monomer or in the handling of acrylamide in Ulsan, Korea, were selected and subcategorized into the high-exposure group (n=10, mean age of 30. 4 years) and the low-exposure group (n=42, mean age of 28.9 years). Twenty-three males (mean age 29.4 years) from medical professionals and students were chosen as a non-exposed reference group. Symptom questionnaire, neurologic examination, electrodiagnostic test, vibrotactile threshold test, and Lanthony desaturated 15 panel test (LD-15D) were done. RESULTS: The high-exposure group showed more number of specific symptoms on questionnaire and more abnormal two point discrimination test. High-exposure group showed a significant difference in the median motor conduction velocity, peroneal nerve motor latency, sensory amplitude of median nerve action potential, and sensory latency of sural nerve. The vibrotactile threshold of the high-exposure group was significantly higher in both hands and feet than that of the low-exposure group and the reference group. Average color confusion index on the LD-15D was significantly higher in the high-exposure group (median 22.7, range 0-135.7) than in the reference group (median 2.4, range 0-33.2). CONCLUSIONS: The symptom questionnaire, vibrotactile threshold test, and color discrimination test are sensitive in detection of the early acrylamide-induced neuropathy, and the combination of these tests would further facilitate the effectiveness of the screening.
Acrylamide* ; Action Potentials ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Median Nerve ; Neurologic Examination ; Peroneal Nerve ; Questionnaires ; Sural Nerve ; Ulsan

No abstract available.
Cisplatin* ; Sodium*

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of taping therapy on activities of daily livings (ADL). hand function and range of motion in poststroke-hemiplegic patients. Sample were selected from 20 poststroke-hemiplegic patients at public health center in the period from September 5 to November 21, 2001. The research design was one group pretest-posttest design. The hemiplegia period of the participants was from one year to five years The pretest and posttest included measuring activity of daily livings(ADL). instrumental activity of daily livings(IADL), hand function, range of motion. quality of life. In this research design, a treatment were to expose taping therapy who were received self-help management program. This self-help management program was cor:1Posed of five sessions and each session had health education on stroke. diet. risk factor. ROM exercise and recreation. 20 patients were treated with kinesio taping(Nippon Sigmax Co.. Ltd.. Benefact(r). width 50mm). Tapes were applied to the Deltoid. Supraspinatus. Infraspinatus, Brachioradialis with paralyzed upper extremity. The taping therapy was performed once a week for 5 weeks. SPSS Win 8.0 was used for the data analysis. The results of this study were as follows: 1) The score of BADL was increased from 30.5 to 33.95 after program, and that was statistically significant(p = .019). 2) The score of IADL was increased from 11.6 to 12.75 after program. but that was statistically insignificant(p = .161). 3) The score of hand function was increased from 17 to 20.35 after program. and that was statistically significant(p = .026). 4) The shoulder's ROM(p=.000) and wrist's ROM(p= .004) were significantly increased. According to the results of this study, taping therapy is effective for improving ADL. hand function. ROM. quality of life. However. this study found no significant differences in IADL Consequently. these findings showed that the taping therapy was effective in improvement of physical aspects(BADL, hand function, upper extremity's ROM) in poststroke-hemiplegic patients.
Activities of Daily Living* ; Diet ; Hand* ; Health Education ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Public Health ; Quality of Life* ; Range of Motion, Articular* ; Recreation ; Research Design ; Risk Factors ; Statistics as Topic ; Stroke* ; Upper Extremity

This study was done to evaluate the quality of clinical nursing care using the variables of structure, process, and outcome and to analyze the relationship between the variables. This study also explored which variables are validating indicators to evaluate the quality of nursing care. The results analyzed by multiple regression showed that, generally structural variables did not contribute to the variance in outcome scores, but process variables of nursing care contributed significantly to the outcome variable of patient satisfaction. A combination of structure and process variables more than structural variables alone. Also, patient satisfaction and hospital preference were significantly related to each other. Therefore, if nursing quality evaluation relies solely upon on structural variables such as number of available nurses and workload, it would be inaccurate because process variables of nursing care are strongly related to outcome variables and the two categories of structure and process variables helped to strengthen the relationships. Thus, it is important to focus on variables of structure, process, and outcome together in evaluating nursing care quality.
Nursing Care* ; Nursing* ; Patient Satisfaction

Clinical studies were performed that the patient with angina pectoris having no responses to Ca++ antagonist and beta-blocker had been taken nicorandil 5mg bid daily with, beta-blokade and Ca++ antagonists for 3 weeks. The results after the use of nicorandil were as follows; 1) The clinical symptoms after the use of nicorandil were improved in 20(80%) of 25 patients, specially marked improved in 16 of 25 patients. There was no significant changes of BP and heart rate after the use of nicorandil. 2) The results of CBC, urinalysis, serum chemistry exa. and chest P-A were within normal range before and after the use of nicorandil. 3) After the use of nicorandil, ST segments depressed in 13 of 25 patients before use of nicorandil was elevated in 8(61.6%) of 13 cases after the use of that. QT interval, P-R interval and T wave in 25 cases were within normal range before and after the use of that. The M mode echocardiography showed the decreased movement of ventricular septum in 19 of 25 patients before the use of Nicorandil, and there was no changes after the use of that. 4) The adverse effects after the use of nicorandil to 25 patients were as follows: headache in 3(12%), nausea and vomiting 2(8%), palpitation 1(4%), upper abdominal discomfort 1(4%), and facial flushing 1(4%).
Angina Pectoris* ; Chemistry ; Echocardiography ; Flushing ; Headache ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Nausea ; Nicorandil* ; Reference Values ; Thorax ; Urinalysis ; Ventricular Septum ; Vomiting