Dermoid cysts of the posterior fossa are benign, mostly midline, congenital brain neopasm, usually located above or behind the vermis or adjacent meninges2)18)20), Dermoid lesions are slow growing and may become quite large before producing signs and symptoms12). We have recently experienced a case of dermoid which arised in cerebellar hemisphere. A 32-year old woman who had a history of chronic headache at morining was visited in our department and she was also complained of a egg-sized plapable mass which was growing nature, non-tender, soft, and movable on the right occipital area. On admission, there were no specific localizing and lateralizing neurological abnormalities. Unenhanced CT scan shows hypodense mass in the left cerebellar hemisphere and cystic mass at the right occipital scalp(Fig. 1. A). T1-weighted MR image shows hypointense mass in the left cerebellar hemisphere(Fig. 2. A). The Carotid angiography shows non-specific findings. Paramedian suboccipital approach was performed and mass was removed from the lleft cerebellar hemisphere. The cystic scalp mass was removed totally from the left cerebellar hemisphere. The cystic scalp mass was removed totally from the right occipital area. Diagnosis of dermoid cyst was confirmed pathologically by the specimens obtained from two different sites, left cerebellar hemisphere and right occipital ccalp.
Adult ; Angiography ; Brain ; Dermoid Cyst* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Headache Disorders ; Humans ; Scalp ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
HIV-1* ; Humans* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

OBJECTIVES: To develop reliable tools for measuring communication skills in schizophrenia, the present study proposed the concept of communication intelligence, consisting of conversational competence, emotional competence, and empathic competence, and explored its neurobiological underpinnings using regional gray matter volume with healthy people. METHODS: Communicative intelligence scores were obtained from 126 healthy young participants. Correlation analyses between regional volume distributions and communication intelligence subcomponents were conducted using voxel-based morphometry of structural MRI. RESULTS: The significant positive correlations between the regional gray matter volumes with conversational competence were found mainly at the ventromedial frontal gyrus while the negative correlations between the bilateral middle frontal gyrus. With emotional competence, the volume of right superior temporal gyrus was positively and that of bilateral insula was negatively correlated. With empathic competence, the volume of the left middle frontal gyrus was positively and that of the insula was negatively correlated. CONCLUSION: Each of the subcomponents of communicative intelligence scores showed distinctive neurobiological underpinnings. The regions for the subcomponents, which constitute a common network for social cognition and emotion, are highly associated with the regions of the schizophrenia pathology. In conclusion, communicative intelligence scales have neurobiological basis to evaluate social skills of patients with schizophrenia.
Cognition ; Humans ; Intelligence* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mental Competency ; Pathology ; Schizophrenia ; Weights and Measures

Hypersensitivity myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium usually related to drug allergy. The clinical manifestation may be nonspecific, and the diagnosis is seldom suspected or established during the life. So in most of the reported patients, the diagnosis was made at autopsy. Although, retrospectively, more than 90% of the patients described have had clinically recognizable cardiac involvement before death, tole clinical suspicion of hypersensitivity myocarditis is rare. The presence of nonspecific cardiac finding in a patient receiving any drug associated with hypersensitivity should alert the clinician to the possibility of drug related myocarditis. We experienced a case of hypersensitivity myocarditis accompanying allergic skin lesion in a 58 years old man with a history of taking cefadroxil. Fortunately, the outcome was favorable, therefore we do not have histologic confirmation of the diagnosis.
Autopsy ; Cefadroxil ; Diagnosis ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Middle Aged ; Myocarditis ; Myocardium ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin

It has been proven that the newborn screening programs for congenital hypothyroidism are very important for its early detection and the early treatment of congenital It has been proven that the newborn screening programs for congenital hypothyroidism are very important for its early detection and the early treatment of congenital hypothyroidism can ameliorate and possibly reverse its consequences. Treatment with L-thyroxine is started in case of suspicious hypothyroidism at the first visit. Serum concentration of total and free thyroxine become normal within 1week after start of therapy but TSH values become normal from 2 months to 6 months after L-thyroxine therapy. The possible explanations for prolonged TSH elevation in congenital hypothyroidism are poor compliance for therapy, an inadequate dose of L-thyroxine, elevated threshold for thyrotropin suppression and two novel mutations in the thyrotropin (TSH) receptor gene in a child with resistance to TSH. Authors have experienced two cases of prolonged TSH elevation with normal T3 and T4 levels till 18months and 27 months of age after optimal L-thyroxine therapy and literature were reviewed.
Child ; Compliance ; Congenital Hypothyroidism* ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Infant, Newborn ; Mass Screening ; Thyrotropin ; Thyroxine

BACKGROUND: The basal ganglia plays a major role in regulating motor, cognitive and emotional functions. In addition, it has been proposed that the functions of the basal ganglia is also related to control of sensory discrimination and sensorimotor integration. One possible way to test this hypothesis would be to investigate sensory functions in patients with various diseases affecting basal ganglia functions. Since idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) is caused by selective impairment of basal ganglia functions, it could be a good model for this purpose. METHODS: We measured the grating resolution threshold (GRT) using the JVP (Johnson-Van Boven-Phillips) dome in 52 patients with IPD and 25 age-matched healthy controls. Statistical analysis employed unpaired t-test, paired t-test and simple regression analysis. P-values less than 0.05 were considered as significant. RESULTS: Patients showed significantly higher GRT than controls (3.07 +/- 0.74 vs 2.03 +/- 0.80; p<0.05). In patients, the mean GRT was not different between symptomatically dominant and non-dominant hands (3.10 +/- 0.95 vs 2.93 +/- 0.82). In the patients with hemiparkinsonism, GRT was also significantly higher in asymptomatic hands compared with controls (3.00 +/- 0.71 vs 2.03 +/- 0.80; p<0.05). The severity of sensory dysfunction in patients was not correlated with symptom duration or to symptom severity, measured by the modified Columbia rating scale (MCRS). CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrate that spatial discrimination is impaired in IPD, suggesting the basal ganglia plays a role in sensory regulation.
Basal Ganglia ; Discrimination (Psychology)* ; Dopamine ; Hand ; Humans ; Parkinson Disease* ; Regression Analysis ; Sensation

BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is classically defined as a reversible obstruction and hypsrresponsiveness of the airway attributed to an inflammatory process. However, some individuals with asthma show an irreversible component of airflow obstruction. It may be associated with structural changes in the airway resulting from severe or long standing air- way inflammation and remodelling. OBJECTIVE: The study was undertaken to compare the clinical characteristics of patient and airway remodelling as shown in bronchial wall thickness in HRCT according to the duration of asthma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective clinical study was done on 119 patients with bronchial asthma, who had been admitted to Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital. Patients were divided to three groups according to disease duration and, clinical characteristics, pulmonary function test and HRCT were done. RESULTS: Basal FEV, and FVC was significantly lower in patient with longer duration. (p<0. 05) However pulmonary function was improved regardless of disease duration after 2 weeks steroid and bronchodilator therapy, and there was no significant difference in level changes according to the disease duration. The inner diameter of the bronchi and thickness of the bronchial wall at segmental and subsegmental bronchi increased significantly in patient with longer duration of asthma(p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings showed that airway remodelling was more extensive in patients with longer duration of disease resulting in decreased pulmonary function. These facts suggested that early anti-inflammatory therapy would be helpful for prevention of airway remodelling.
Airway Remodeling* ; Asthma* ; Bronchi ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVES: This study uses meta-analysis methodology to examine the statistical consistency and importance of random variation among results of epidemiologic studies of occupational electromagnetic field exposure and leukemia. METHODS: Studies for this meta-analysis were identified from previous reviews and by asking researcher active in this field for recommendations. Overall, 27 studies of occupational electromagnetic field exposures and leukemia were reviewed. A variety of meta-analysis statistical methods have been used to assess combined effects, to identify heterogeneity, and to provide a single summary risk estimate based on a set of simiar epidemiologic studies. In this study, classification of exposure metircs on occupational epidemiologic studies are reported for (1) job classification (20 individual studies); (2) leukemia subtypes (13 individual studies); and (3) country (27 individual studies). RESULTS: Results of this study, an inverse-variance weighted pooling of all the data leads to a small but significant elevation in risk of 11% (OR=1.11, 95% CI : 1.06~1.16) among 27 occupational epidemiologic studies. Publication bias was assessed by the 'fail-safe n' that may be not influence for all combined results exception a few categories, ie, "power station operators" and "electric utility workers" by job classification on occupational study. And all combined odds ratio results were similar for fixed-effects models and random-effects models, with slightly higher risk estimates for the random-effects model in situations where there was significant heterogeneity, ie, Q-statistic significant (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: We found a small elevation in risk of leukemia, but the ubiquitous nature of exposure to electromagnetic fields from workplace makes even a weak association a public health issue of substantial power to influence the present overall conclusion about relationship between electromagnetic fields exposure and leukemia.
Classification ; Electromagnetic Fields* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Leukemia* ; Magnets* ; Odds Ratio ; Population Characteristics ; Public Health ; Publication Bias

Gynecomastia is a proliferation of the glandular component of the male breast. Gynecomastia is the most common variant condition of the male breast and results from the effect of an altered estrogen-androgen balance on breast tissue or from the increased sensitivity of breast tissue to a normal estrogen level. We experienced a case of macrogynecomastia in a 16-year-old boy who had a normal male phenotype and was treated by reduction mammoplasty with breast tissue removal, which was effective and produced good cosmetic and psychologic results.
Adolescent ; Breast ; Estrogens ; Female ; Gynecomastia ; Humans ; Male ; Mammaplasty* ; Phenotype

An esophageal perforation is a condition requiring emergency treatment. Although previously spontaneous ruptures were the most common etiology, as endoscopic and radiologic diagnosis and treatment have developed recently, iatrogenic ruptures due to instrumentation have increased to become the most common cause of esophageal perforations. Generally, the treatment of esophageal stenosis is composed of esophageal dilatation using a Maloney or a Mercury dilator and medical treatment for reflux esophagitis. Recently, balloon-catheter dilatation of the esophagus has produced safe and excellent results, and self-expansible metallic stents has been very useful in controlling malignant strictures of the esophagus with low mortality and morbidity. We experienced an esophageal perforation after balloon dilatation and the insertion of a self-expanding silicone-covered Gianturco stent to the site of the esophageal stenosis which was due to reflux esophagitis. The abdomen was opened through an upper midline incision. There was a 3-cm-long longitudinal laceration on the distal esophagus which was closed transversely as with a Heinecke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty after a debridement. To reinforce the site of esophageal laceration and to prevent esophageal reflux, the gastric fundus was pulled and sutured over the esophageal sutures, and the second-layer mattress suture was made 1 cm proximal to the first sutures, including central ligaments of the diaphragm. To prevent bile reflux, we converted from a Billroth-II to a Roux- en-Y gastrojejunostomy. We followed up for 30 months and found no signs of any esophageal stenosis or gastroesophageal reflux.
Abdomen ; Bile Reflux ; Catheters* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Debridement ; Diagnosis ; Diaphragm ; Dilatation ; Emergency Treatment ; Esophageal Perforation* ; Esophageal Stenosis* ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; Esophagus ; Gastric Bypass ; Gastric Fundus ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Lacerations ; Ligaments ; Mortality ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous ; Stents* ; Sutures