BACKGROUND: Dizziness is a common complaint in patients presenting to the emergency room and that has various pathologic causes. This study investigate the clinical differences in dizziness between the central origin and the peripheral origin and to provides the clues far diagnosis and proper treatment. METHODS: We analysed 290 patients with dizziness during 12 months period prospectively, who visited in ED, Inha University Hospital from Jan. 1997 to Dec. 1997. We analysized sex ratio, characteristics of the dizziness, associated past illness, associated symptoms, severity, results of the special radiologic study, nystagmus type, and causes of central origin and peripheral origin dizziness. RESULTS: Male to female ratio was 1:1.4 in central origin(n=165) and 1:2.0 in peripheral origin(n=125). Most common age group was 11th decade in both groups. According to the characteristics of the dizziness, rotation sense was the main complaint of the peripheral origin dizziness. Most common past illness was hypertension in both groups. MRI has diagnostic priority than CT scan in central origin dizziness. Types of nystagmus has some significant differences between two groups. CONCLUSION: Dizziness may represented as a sign of significant pathological neurologic status especially in central origin. So we must precisely evaluate the patient history, neurologic examination of the inner ear and CNS, and special radiologic study incliding MRI.
Diagnosis ; Dizziness* ; Ear, Inner ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neurologic Examination ; Prospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in adult population. Whereas the association between periodontal disease and coronary heart disease (CHD) are controversial, recent studies reported the association between periodontal disease and acute myocardial infarction or prognosis of CHD. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between periodontal disease and angiographically defined CHD, and acute myocardial infarction, and the prognosis of treated CHD. Patients under the age of 60 who had undergone the diagnostic coronary angiography were enrolled in this study. Subjects were classified as positive CHD (+CHD, n=37) with coronary artery stenosis more than 50% in at least one of major epicardial arteries, and negative CHD (-CHD, n=20) without stenosis. After recording the number of missing teeth, periodontal disease status was measured by means of plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL). Positive CHD subjects were classified into acute myocardial infarction group (AMI), and non-AMI with angina pectoris and old myocardial infarction. Six months postoperatively, positive CHD subjects were followed and had undergone the coronary angiography again. Even though there was no significant difference in the periodontal parameters and status between positive CHD and negative CHD, some periodontal parameters, such as mean probing depth and proportion of sites with probing depth greater than 4mm or 6mm were significantly different between AMI and Non-AMI(p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the periodontal parameters according to in angiographically follow-up status. These results indicate that periodontal disease may be associated with the occurrence of acute myocardial infarction.
Adult ; Angina Pectoris ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease* ; Coronary Stenosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction ; Periodontal Diseases* ; Periodontal Index ; Prognosis ; Tooth

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Foreign-Body Reaction ; Granuloma ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body* ; Squalene*

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Colon* ; Colonic Polyps* ; Female* ; Humans ; Urethra*

We experienced one case of severe pituitary dwarfism in a 10 years old female girl. Magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed transection of the pituitary stalk stalk with the formation of high intensity ectopic posterior lobe located at the median eminence and agenesis of an anterior lobe of pituitary gland. The serum growth Hormone (GH) response to clonidine and L-dopa revealed severe GH deficiency. The patient had responses to TRH, normal TSH and partial prolactin response, respectively. There was not response LH and FSH to GnRH. The morning cortisol concentration and serum T4 concentration were decreased below the normal range. These findings and no hyperprolactinemia suggested the presence of a vascular connection between the pituitary gland and hypothalamus, which is not visible on MRI. Sofar, the primary cause of idiopathic pituitary dwarfism in many patients is injury to hypothalamus by perinatal insults. In this patient, there was no history of perinatal insults and postnatal head trauma but transection of the pituitary stalk. We report a case of severe pituitary dwarfism due to agenesis with brief review of related litereature.
Child ; Clonidine ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Dwarfism, Pituitary* ; Female ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Hypothalamus ; Levodopa ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Median Eminence ; Pituitary Gland* ; Pituitary Gland, Anterior* ; Prolactin ; Reference Values

Glutathione has a key role in several detoxification reactions and in the protection against injury caused by reactive oxygens. Pregnancy-induced hypertension(PIH) is associated with endothelial cell dysfunction. Such dysfunction could be caused by oxidative stress. There is evidence of increased activity of free radicals in PIH, but little is known about the part played by changes in specific antioxidants. In this study, the changes of glutathione levels were investigated in blood of patients with PIH, and cord blood of these patients was also investigated. The glutathione levels in cord blood of neonates from hypertensive pregnant women were significantly higher than in cord blood from normotensive pregnant women. The changes of gamma-glutamuylcysteine synthetase and of glutathione s-transferase in placenta were not significant, but gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity increased significantly in placenta of hypertensive pregnant women. These results suggest that the increased glutathione in cord blood of patients with PIH may be due to increased glutathione interorgan transport resulting from incerased activity of the placenta gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase.
Antioxidants ; Endothelial Cells ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Free Radicals ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Glutathione Transferase ; Glutathione* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced* ; Infant, Newborn ; Ligases ; Oxidative Stress ; Oxygen ; Placenta* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women

PURPOSE: Thyroid disease is the most common form of endocrinologic disease. Despite recent advances in diagnosis, controversy still remains concerning the surgical management of thyroid disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical distribution and the inclination of surgical treatment for thyroid disease. METHODS: The medical records from 1,743 patients who had undergone thyroid resections for thyroid diseases between January 1989 and December 1998 at Kwangju Christian Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of the 1,743 patients with thyroid diseases, 1,285 had benign diseases and 458 had carcinomas, resulting in a 26.3% prevalence of malignancy. Female patients were predominate, being 6.89 times the number of males. The peak incidence of age was the 4th decade for patients with benign diseases (29.4%) and the 5th decade for those with malignant diseases (26.0%). Both benign (39.4%) and malignant diseases (42.1%) were more prevalent on the right lobe. The incidence of carcinomas was 28.9% in solitary nodules and 29.3% in multinodular goiters. In the histopathologic study, the most common type was a papillary carcinoma (84.5%) in malignancies and an adenomatous goiter (48.8%) in benign diseases. The most commonly performed surgical procedures were a total thyroidectomy (75.4%) for malignancies and a lobectomy for benign diseases (63.3%). Postoperative complications were 3.1% in patients with benign diseases and 29.7% in those with malignancies. Regional recurrence or distant metastases appeared in 5.5% of the patients during the 10 years following treatment. CONCLUSION: The treatments of choice were a thyroid lobectomy for patients with benign diseases and a total thyroidectomy for those with malignant diseases. However, the decision to perform a surgical resection should be based on the age and the general condition of patient.
Carcinoma, Papillary ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Goiter ; Gwangju ; Hospital Distribution Systems ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Postoperative Complications ; Prevalence ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Diseases* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroidectomy

PURPOSE: The treatment of choice for well-differentiated thyroid cancer is surgical excision. However, the operation method is still controversial. Also, the operation method has been changing gradually. Thus, we reviewed the records of patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer who had received operations in our hospital to assess the trend in surgical procedure, and to determine the proper procedure, method, considering both recurrence and complications. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 452 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer who had received operations from January 1989 to December 1998. We divided the 10 years into two periods; period I was from 1989 to 1993 (254 patients) and period II was from 1994 to 1998 (198 patients). We analyzed recurrences and complications according to the operation method, including neck lymph-node dissection. The incidences and locations of lymph- node metastasis were taken into account, too. The statistical analysis was done by using the Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: In period I, 147 patients (58%) received a total thyroidectomy, and in period II, all patients received total thyroidectomy. In period I, 24 patients (9.4%) had a recurrence, and in period II, 13 patients (6.6%) had a recurrence. In period I, 55 patients (21.7%) had postoperative hypoparathyr oidism, and in period II, 38 patients (19.2%) had postoperative hypoparathyroidism. In period I, 15 patients (5.9%) had postoperative hoarseness, and in period II, 7 patients (3.5%) had postoperative hoarseness. Two hundred eighty-one patients (62.2%) had lymph-node metastasis, and the anterior neck region was the most common site of metastasis (60.2%). CONCLUSION: In the operation method for differentiated thyroid cancer, the trend is toward a total thyroidectomy away from a lobectomy. Also, a skillful and experienced surgeon can reduce the incidence of postoperative complications. Thus the best operation method for differentiated thyroid cancer is a total thyroidectomy, including a preventive anterior-neck lymph-node dissection, which is done by a skillful and experienced surgeon.
Hoarseness ; Humans ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Incidence ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Traditionally, down beat nystagmus is regarded as a sign of central nervous system dysfunction. But, several years has passed since Herdman et al reported the down beat nystagmus developed during treatment maneuvers for posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(BPPV). We undertook this study to evaluate the character and clinical analysis of the positional or positioning down beat nystagmus, to discuss the clinical significance of positional or positioning down beat nystagmus as a diagnostic criteria of superior semicircular canal BPPV, and to propose the new treatment method. MATERIALS AND METHOD:From November 1999 to March 2004, we sampled the 103 patients with positional or positioning down beat nystagmus. Of these patients, we selected 16 patients except for the patients with central nervous system dysfunction, nonspecific or artifact result, idiopathic origin. RESULTS:All of 16 patients had no sign and radiologic result of central nervous system disorder. 10 patients was reported or suspected the diagnosis of posterior semicircular canal BPPV. Fatigability was reported in 9 patients and reversibility was reported in 1 patient. Average latency was checked less than 2 seconds. CONCLUSION:Although the diagnostic criteria of superior semicircular canal BPPV that we reported was not controversial, we expect that this criteria is useful in diagnosis for patients with atypical positional or positioning down beat nystagmus. And the new treatment method that we reported will has the better results than previous method.
Artifacts ; Central Nervous System ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Semicircular Canals ; Vertigo*

Objective： To elucidate the role of bone marrow stromal cells in cooperation with exogenous cytokines in hematopoiesis. Methods： Fetal bone marrow stromal cells (FBMSC) was combined with cytokines including SCF,IL-3,IL-6,GM-CSF in a 5-day liquid culture system of adult bone marrow mononuclear cells, then we cultured bone marrow derived CD34+-enriched cells with FBMSC+SCF+IL-3+IL-6+G-CSF+EPO for 2 weeks. Results：FBMSC were in good cooperation with above mentioned exogenous cytokines. When CD34+-enriched cells from adult bone marrow were cultured with combinations of FBMSC, SCF, IL-3, IL-6, G-CSF and EPO, total nucleated cells, CFU-GM, BFU-E and CD34+ cells were increased by 119.6±30.9, 54.6±17.4, 25.2±4.4, 11.1±4.2 folds, respectively. Conclusion：FBMSC in cooperation with exogenous cytokines support the in vitro expansion of human hematopoietic progenitor cells efficiently.