Is superselective embolization of the brain AVMs, the possibilities of adjacent normal brain tissue damage necessitates preembolic evaluation. The authors performed the Sodium Amytal test on 15 patients with brain AVMs. In the AVM patients with negative Amytal test(30 cases), all patients showed normal pattern on EEG and neurologic examinations after embolization Among the five patients with positive Amytal test, three cases showed neurologic deficit and the others two didn't. In eleven patients. Repeated embolization without the Amytal test were done. Among them, 5 cases showed neurlogic deficit and the others were quite normal. In conclusion, the Amytal test is a useful method of evaluation of the risk to damage normal brain tissue which are supplied by superselected feeding vessels. Combining the EEG with this test is a sensitive and objective method in evaluating patients following the Amytal test. And it is essential to performed the Amytal test for repeat embolization procedures.
Amobarbital* ; Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Brain* ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Methods ; Neurologic Examination ; Neurologic Manifestations

Diabetic macular edema is the leading cause of decreased vision from diabetic retinopathy. The most promising treatment for diabetic macular edema has been photocoagulation and we have reviewed 18 cases, 25 eyes, of macular edema which were treated either by focal laser photocoagulation or grid-pattern photocoagulation between January 1988 to December 1990 and followed for at least 4 months. Visual acuity improved in 8 eyes(57.1%) of 14 eyes treated with focal laser photocoagulation and 4 eyes(36.4%) of 11 eyes treated with grid-pattern photocoagulation. Visual acuity was stable in 6 eyes(42.9%) treated with focal laser photocoagulation and 4 eyes(36.4%) treated with grid-pattern photocagulation. Of 3 eyes(27.3%) with diffuse macular edema was worsened visual acuity although treated with grid-pattern photocoagulation.
Diabetic Retinopathy ; Light Coagulation* ; Macular Edema* ; Visual Acuity

Diabetic macular edema is the leading cause of decreased vision from diabetic retinopathy. The most promising treatment for diabetic macular edema has been photocoagulation and we have reviewed 18 cases, 25 eyes, of macular edema which were treated either by focal laser photocoagulation or grid-pattern photocoagulation between January 1988 to December 1990 and followed for at least 4 months. Visual acuity improved in 8 eyes (57.1 %) of 14 eyes treated with focal laser photocoagulation and 4 eyes (36.4%) of 11 eyes treated with grid-pattern photocoagulation. Visual acuity was stable in 6 eyes (42.9%) treated with focal laser photocoagulation and 4 eyes (36.4%) treated with grid-pattern photocagulation. Of 3 eyes (27.3%) with diffuse macular edema was worsened visual acuity although treated with grid-pattern photocoagulation.
Diabetic Retinopathy ; Light Coagulation* ; Macular Edema* ; Visual Acuity

OBJECTIVE: Currently, preparation for childbirth is becoming an increasingly popular addition to patient education. Because of this interest, it seems advisable to review the evidence on the effect of prepared childbirth. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Lamaze preparation on labor and delivery. METHODS: To investigate whether prepared-childbirth courses offer measurable physical advantages, we compared the labor and delivery characteristics of 80 primiparas who had taken Lamaze-training classes with 76 control patients who had not. We reviewed retrospectively obstetrical records of 156 pregnant women delivered in Ewha Womans University MokDong Hospital from January to December, 1997. RESULT: The length of the first stage of labor in the group that attended childbirth preparation classes was 5.70 hours and 6.93 hours in the comparison group. This difference was statistically significant (P= .040). The mean duration of the second stage of labor in attenders was 42.43 minutes and 41.16 minutes in the nonattenders(P= .719). Average duration of labor in attenders was 1.07 hours shorter than in nonattenders (P= .075). The cesarean section rate in attenders was 25% compared with 36.8% in nonattenders (P= .10920). CONCLUSION: No statistical significance was found in this study. However we need to be aware that the length of first stage of labor was shorter and the rate of cesarean section was lower in prepared group. Childbirth education should be integrated into prenatal health care to be readily available for all women.
Cesarean Section ; Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Humans ; Parturition ; Patient Education as Topic ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Education ; Retrospective Studies

Retinoid, Ro l0-9359 is an aromatic analog of vitamin A acid or retinoic acid. The orally administrable retinoid has a therapeutic effect on the treatment of psoriasis, ichthyosis, Darier's disease, pustulosis palmoplantaris and skin cancer. However, some results have been reported previously, indicating that oral retinoid alone does not clear psoriatic lesions although some improvement may he noted. Morcover, promising results of combination treatment of psoriasis with the retinoid and local dithranol or PUVA have been reported. In the present study we report the clinical results obtained in 16 psoriatics after oral retinoid treatment, with and without the addition of topical cotricosteroid. We employed a new retinoid regimen orally in 16 adults with widcspread psoriatic lesions, Most of them bad been treated earlier with topical corticosteroids without beneficial effect. Of 16 cases 8 were treated with retinoid alone and the other 8 patients with topical corticosteroids in addition to the oral regimen, The results are summarized as follows: 1. Complete to good clearing of the lesions was seen in 5 of 8 patient with retinoid alone and in 7 of 8 patients using the combination treatment. 2. Side-effects appeared in all patients, the most prominent being dryness of the mouth or cheilitis in cases and pruritus in 10 cases. However, there were no abnormalities shown in liver function tests during or after treatment. From the above results the combination treatment with topical corticosteroids seems to be more effective than retinoid alone in the treatment of psoriasis. It is considered that the oral retinoid could be an alternative on the treatment of psoriasis.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Adult ; Anthralin ; Cheilitis ; Darier Disease ; Humans ; Ichthyosis ; Liver Function Tests ; Mouth ; Pruritus ; Psoriasis* ; Skin Neoplasms ; Tretinoin

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a rare hereditary disease that undergo malignant change and recent reports have described a very high incidence (87.5%-100.0%) of congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE) in Gardner's syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis. Recognization of CHRPE lesion in ophthalmological screening test for the familial members with FAP is helpful not only in prediciting the presence of adenomatous polyposis and malignant carcinoma but also in genetic counselling. Authors have examined and report 2 female patients with similar CHRPE lesions in both fundus and thus diagnosed FAP following surgical examination.
Adenomatous Polyposis Coli* ; Female ; Gardner Syndrome ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; Humans ; Hypertrophy* ; Incidence ; Mass Screening ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium* ; Retinaldehyde*

OBJECT: This study was carried out to investigate the effect of pentoxifylline on in vitro fertillization and developmen of preimplantation stage of mouse embryos. MATERIAL AND METHODS:F1 hybrid mice was superovulated with PMSG/hCG and mouse oocytes were recruited. After the normal sperms were incubated with PTX before in vitro fertilization, it was observed whether the fertilization and embryo development was affected or not by the sperm preparation(washing, dilution and no washing or no dilution). And after 1-cell and 2-cell stage of mouse embryos were incubated with PTX, the development to hatching blastocyst was also observed. RESULTS: When in vitro fertilization was revealed by using the washed normal sperms after 0, 3.6 and 7.2 mM PTX incubation, the fertilization rates were 92.5%, 48.8%, 36.8%, respectively. So 3.6 and 7.2 mM groups presented significantly low fertilizatin rate, but the development rates were 93.9%, 85.0%, 95.2%, respectively. Therefore, there were no significant difference between each group. When in vitro fertilization was revealed by using the diluted normal sperms after 0, 3.6, and 7.2 mM PTX incubation, the fertilization rates were 58.6%, 5.4%, 9.4%, respectively. So 3.6 and 7.2 mM groups presented significantly low fertilization rate. The developmental rates were 88.2%, 100%, 100%. And there were no significant difference between each group. When in vitro fertilization was revealed by using the not washed and not diluted normal sperms after 0, 3.6 and 7.2 mM PTX incubation, the fertilizatin rates were 61.2%, 5.7%, 3.8%, respectively. 3.6 and 7.2 mM group presented significantly low fertilization rate. The development rates were 73.3%, 0%, 0%, respectively. So 3.6, 7.2 mM group presented significantly low developmental rate. After 1-cell stage of mouse embryos were incubated in 0, 5, 10, 50 nM of PTX, the development rates were not significantly different among them. After 2-cell stage of mouse embryos were incubated in 0, 5, 10, 50 nM of PTX, the development rates were not significantly different among them. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, when PTX is used in in vitro fertilization program with normal sperms, it may affect the fertilization and embryo development in high concentration. And if PTX concentration is very low, the developmental rate would not be affected. So PTX must not be used to normal sperms and where use of PTX is indicated, it is recommended that remainder PTX must be removed as completely as possible.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Mice* ; Oocytes ; Pentoxifylline* ; Pregnancy ; Spermatozoa*

BACKGROUND: The VDRL is used as a screening test for syphilis worldwide. In addition, reactive rates of the VDRL test are used to estimate the incidence of syphilis. The prevalence of syphilis reported in Korea varies according to the study population, district and time. Reports on prevalence of syphilis indicate that reactive rates of the serologic test for syphilis showed an increasing tendency in the 1960s and has steadily decreased in the 1990s. We have already reported VDRL positive rates periodically since the late 1970s in similar areas with similar population groups and methods in order to standardize the results for accurate analysis of the prevalence of syphilis in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed utilizing the VDRL test in order to find out if the decreasing trend of syphilis prevalence is still continuing. METHODS: The ser ologic tests for syphilis were carried out on 13,426 apparently normal adults aged twenty-years-old or over(8,250 blood donors in the Seoul area, 2,461 physical examinees examined at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University and 2,715 pregnant women at delivery at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University ) from January to December 1995. We hve performed the VDRL quantitative test in VDRL-reactive persons among blood donors and pregnant women. RESULTS: The reactive rate of the serum VDRL test was 0.2% in 13,426 healthy adults(blood donors.0.2%, physical examinees:0,2%, pregnant women:0.3%). There was a statistically decreasing tendency compared to 0.4% in 1990(p<0.001). The VDRL quantitative test resulted in levels below the 1:2 titer in 92% of the VDRL-reactive physical exarninees and pregnant women. CONCLUSION: From the comparison of VDRL reactive rates for syphilis in an apparently normal Korean population obtained by the present author group since 1977, i.e., 2.5% in 1977, 1.1% in 1981, 0.6% in 1986, 0.4% in 1990 and 0.2% in 1995, it is clear that the prevalence of syphilis has been rapidly decreasing since the mid 1970s in Korea.
Adult ; Blood Donors ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Population Groups ; Pregnant Women ; Prevalence* ; Seoul ; Serologic Tests ; Syphilis*

Pseudoxanthoma. elasticum is a rare, heritable, systemic disease of connective tissue characterized by degeneration of elastic tissue and mainly affecting the skin, eyes and blood vessels. Recently, according to Pope (1974), it can be inherited as an autosomal dominant or recessive trait. We presented a study of 5 cases of pseudoxanthoma elasticum of autosomal recessive inheritance, which showed typical peau d'orange skin lesions. Two among the 5 cases were associated with angioid streaks, a case with myopia and broderline mental retardation, and 2 cases without any other systemic disturbances.
Angioid Streaks ; Blood Vessels ; Connective Tissue ; Drug-Induced Liver Injury* ; Elastic Tissue ; Intellectual Disability ; Myopia ; Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum ; Skin ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome* ; Wills

Pseudoxanthoma. elasticum is a rare, heritable, systemic disease of connective tissue characterized by degeneration of elastic tissue and mainly affecting the skin, eyes and blood vessels. Recently, according to Pope (1974), it can be inherited as an autosomal dominant or recessive trait. We presented a study of 5 cases of pseudoxanthoma elasticum of autosomal recessive inheritance, which showed typical peau d'orange skin lesions. Two among the 5 cases were associated with angioid streaks, a case with myopia and broderline mental retardation, and 2 cases without any other systemic disturbances.
Angioid Streaks ; Blood Vessels ; Connective Tissue ; Elastic Tissue ; Intellectual Disability ; Myopia ; Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum ; Skin ; Wills