No abstract available.
Meningitis, Cryptococcal*

The second case of this serial reports under the title of unusual cutaneous manifestations of connective tissue diseases is a woman with primary idiopathic dermatomyositis who developed cutaneous ulcerations on her arms and legs, which is thought to b a rare manifestation of adult dermatomyositis. These multiple ulcerations are about bean sized, polymorphous, and grouped on the poikilodermatous lesional skin. In this patient these ulcerative lesions became regressive and healed with disfiguring scars after the activity of the disease has controlled by prednisolone and methotrexate.
Adult ; Arm ; Cicatrix ; Connective Tissue Diseases* ; Connective Tissue* ; Dermatomyositis* ; Female ; Humans ; Leg ; Methotrexate ; Prednisolone ; Skin ; Ulcer*

The Palmaris longus tendon is important not because of its function but because of its usefulness as a donor tendon. Variations in the palmaris longus muscle ar elfrequent and the most common variation of the muscle is its absence. The incidence of absence of this muscle varies in different racial groups. Reinmann and his coworkers found the palmaris longus muscle absent in 12.9% of in their 1,600 limbs surgery. We have experiened 307 cases of palmaris longus graft surgery and found that there were 4 cases of absence of the palmaris longus tendon. We examined 2,000 limbs of Korean to see the presence of the palmaris longus muscle. Among 1,000 persons, the muscle was absent bilaterally in 11 persons(1.1%). It was absent unilaterally in 32 persons(3.2%). The probability that the muscle is absent in any single limb is 2.7%. There was no significant differences in the incidence of absence by sex or right and left side.
Extremities ; Humans ; Incidence ; Tendons ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Background/Aims: Frailty is mainly due to an age-related decrease in the physiological reserves needed to maintain biological homeostasis, but it can also occur as a result of chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify illnesses associated with frailty in Korean community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that included 2,936 older adults aged between 70 and 84 years who had completed both interviews and physical function assessments for the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study. Current illnesses diagnosed by physicians were included in the analysis. The definition of frailty was derived from the Fried frailty phenotype. Results: The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), arthritis, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, and lung disease (including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic bronchitis) was higher in the frail group (p < 0.05). After adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, education, and presence of a spouse, the odds ratios for DM and urinary incontinence in frailty were 1.51 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10 to 2.01; p = 0.01) and 1.88 (95% CI, 1.11 to 3.18; p = 0.02). Conclusions In Korean community-dwelling older adults, DM and urinary incontinence were associated with frailty after adjusting for various factors. In the future, the list of comorbid diseases that are appropriate for Korean population- specific frailty assessment should be inventoried.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic disease that can involve the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and biliary system. Symptomatic pancreatic involvement, however, has rarely been reported. It may be part of the primary disease process, such as vasculitic or autoimmune etiology, or associated with drug therapy, in particular corticosteroid. We report here a lupus patient who developed severe pancreatitis within 30 hours of initiation of corticosteroid therapy; we also discuss the relation between pancreatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Biliary Tract ; Drug Therapy ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Liver ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Pancreatitis*

BACKGROUND: Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP)is well known for its hemodynamic benefit but still has its own complications.Proper use of IABP is the best way t o obt ai n maximum benefit with low complication rate. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Twenty one(men 10,female 11) patients were included in this study among the 100 consecutive adult cardiac surgery patients in our hospital.Eighteen(85.7%)were ischemic heart disease patients.They all received IABP therapy due to postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock according to the well-known indications.Their preoperative conditions,intraoperative factors including hemodynamics, postoperative conditions and IABP-related complications were analyzed. RESULT: Nineteen patients(90.5%)were successfully weaned from IABP.There were 2 patients of operative death and the mortality rate was 9.5%.Duration of IABP use was 40.7+/-24.3 hours.There were 2 cases(9.5%)of IABP-related vascular complications that required surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: We concluded that IABP could be used effectively and safely for postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock patients with low complication rate.
Adult ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Shock, Cardiogenic* ; Thoracic Surgery

Most health promotion and disease prevention programs to reduce mortality and morbidity in adults are effective in the elderly. In elderly people, these programs must also be targeted towards increasing quality of life and decreasing functional disability. Moreover, programs to prevent geriatric syndromes such as frailty, sarcopenia, and falls must be considered. When planning the screening of cancers that are common in the elderly, it must be taken into consideration that the complication rate of screening tests is high in the elderly and that life expectancy is important in deciding when to stop the screening. Life expectancy must be individually evaluated by considering the comorbidity and disability of each individual.
Accidental Falls ; Adult* ; Aged ; Comorbidity ; Health Promotion* ; Humans ; Life Expectancy ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Quality of Life ; Sarcopenia

Physical frailty is a state in which the functional capacity of various organs in the body drops below a certain level, making an individual vulnerable to a variety of stresses; as a result, frail individuals are more likely to experience geriatric diseases, falls, decreased activities of daily living, disability, hospitalization, and mortality. Comprehensive assessments for frail patients are needed, but a simple and rapid screening test such as the FRAIL (fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illness, and loss of weight) scale can be used in busy outpatient clinics. Physical frailty can be reversible and preventable. Frailty can potentially be prevented or treated with specific modalities, such as exercise, protein-calorie supplementation, vitamin D, and reducing polypharmacy.
Accidental Falls ; Activities of Daily Living ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Polypharmacy ; Vitamin D ; Walking

No abstract available.
Borrelia burgdorferi* ; Borrelia* ; Ixodes* ; Korea* ; Lyme Disease* ; Ticks*

Postoperative colonoscopy is an effective tool for management of colonic adenomas. Authors analyzed the pattern of colonic adenomas detected during follow-up colonoscopy after colorectal cancer surgery and evaluated the characteristics of adenornas, risk groups, and effective fo1low-up schedule. Study group were 222 patients and colonoscopy was performed 389 times. Patterns of adenornas were analyzed by variables as age, sex, preoperative serum CEA level, location of primary colorectal cancer, Borrmann type, Duke's stage, histologic differentiation, DNA ploidy, recurrence and histology. Metachronous adenomas were detected in 79 patients(35.6%) and both metachronous and syachronous adenomas were observed in 29 cases(13.1%). High risk variables for adenomas were male, old age and presence of synchronous adenoma. There were 2 patients with maligant change of adenomas. Yearly follow-up by complete colonoscopy over 3 years or more is recommended and follow-up interval should be shortened in the high risk groups.
Adenoma* ; Appointments and Schedules ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Ploidies ; Recurrence