OBJECTIVE: Adult onset Still s disease is an acute systemic inflammatory disorder. There are no pathognomonic symptoms or specific laboratory abnormalities. In recent reports, serum ferritin concentration is increased in active disease phase and decreased after defervescence. Our purpose was to determine the clinical significance of serum ferritin as an indicator for disease activity. METHODS: Seven patients who were diagnosed as adult onset Still s disease at Samsung Medical Center between October 1994 and March 1997, were reviewed. In these patients we checked leukocyte count, ESR, CRP and serum ferritin concentrations at the time of diagnosis and during follow-up periods and recorded febrile events during follow-up periods. RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis and during febrile periods, the concentrations of ferritin were extremely high(927ng/ml to 96,650ng/ml normal 10-290.8 ng/ml). The values were unrelated to other manifestations of the disease or laboratory findings. The ferritin concentrations decreased rapidly after adequate treatment. Eleven febrile reattacks happened in 7 patients. Serum ferritin concentrations were increased in 8 febrile attacks, while leukocyte count, ESR, and CRP were increased in 5, 5, 6 febrile attacks respectively, There were 10 events of increased serum ferritin concentrations in 7 patients during follow-up periods and 8 events were related with fever. The increases of other laboratory tests were similar. CONCLUSIONS: In all patients, serum ferritin concentrations were increased at the time of diagnosis and closely related to fever. During follow-up periods, serum ferritin concentrations are helpful in monitoring disease activity and guiding decisions about treatment.
Adult* ; Diagnosis ; Ferritins* ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leukocyte Count ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset*

No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Humans

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a connective tissue disease which can affect every organ system. Neurologic abnormalities are common, occuring in approximately half of all patients at some time during the course of their illness. But symptoms of nervous system as the sole presenting symptoms occur in less than 1% of lupus patients. In patients initially presenting with neurologic symptoms and signs, differential diagnosis is difficult and sometimes it may be misdiagnosed. Therefore extensive laboratory investigations should be carried out in all patients with unusual neurological symptoms, since early diagnosis of lupus can help in providing effective treatment. We report a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who presented with dysarthria and dysphagia resembling multiple sclerosis.
Connective Tissue Diseases ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dysarthria ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Multiple Sclerosis* ; Nervous System ; Neurologic Manifestations

Appendicitis is a common disease in children. But left lower abdominal pain in acute appendicitis is a rare clinical feature. A 6 year-old-girl complained of left sided abdominal pain for 2 days. Past medical history was not contributory. Abdominal tenderness and guarding in left lower quadrant were noticed. Abdominal sonography and abdominal computed tomography scan demonstrated reversed position between superior mesenteric artery and vein, and a mass in the left lower quadrant abdomen suggesting appendicitis. Acute appendicitis in left lower quadrant, associated with intestinal malrotation, was found at laparatomy.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Appendicitis* ; Child* ; Humans ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior ; Veins

BACKGROUND: The incidence of female breast cancer has been increasing during last 10 years. There are many risk factors in breast cancer. We evaluated the relative risk of breast cancer in relation to obesity and body composition. Also we evaluated the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) for estimating the obesity. MATERIALS AN METHODS: The data were collected as a case-control study from September 1, 1997 to August 31, 1998. Cases were selected from newly diagnosed and treated breast cancer patients at Breast Clinic of Gil Medical Center, Gachon Medical College. Control group was randomly selected form women with benign breast disease or women in screening rest. All suspected risk factors including obesity indices and body composition were checked. Especially body fat percent, total body water and lean body mass were checked by BIA. RESULTS: There was no association between the relative risk of breast cancer and education, smoking, drinking, oral contraceptives use, reproductive factors and breast feeding factors. Data analysis showed the high possibility of positive relationship between early menarche factors( < or =14 years old) & late menopause ( > or =51 years old ) and the brest cancer, however there was no statistical significance. There was a statistical significance between risk group and control group in fat percent (p=0.0187) and WHR (waist-hip ratio) (p=0.0174) among obesity indicies. BMI & obesity (In the classification if Obesity by Japan Society for Study of Obesity) were associated with relative risk of breast cancer by menopausal status. In premenopausal women, breast cancer risk decreased in high BMI & obese group, however the increase was shown in postmenopausal women contrarily. . CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that there I a significant difference in the relationship between the obesity index and the relative risk of breast cancer between Korean and Western women. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis is a available method for estimating of obesity in relative risk of breast cancer women. Further studies will be needed for evaluating the role of BIA and the relationship of obesity with staging & prognosis of breast cancer.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Body Water ; Breast Diseases ; Breast Feeding ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Case-Control Studies ; Classification ; Contraceptives, Oral ; Drinking ; Education ; Electric Impedance* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Japan ; Mass Screening ; Menarche ; Menopause ; Obesity* ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Statistics as Topic

Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) is a relatively common entity. A number of studies for the postoperative feeding schedule has been studied to allow for earlier hospital discharge and improve cost-effectiveness in the treatment of HPS. The purpose of this study was to compare 3 feeding-methods and to evaluate the usefulness of ad lib feeding for HPS. The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 116 patients who underwent pyloromyotomy for HPS from 1995 to 2004. Three cases were excluded because of the duodenal perforation during pyloromyotomy. Three feeding-methods were defined as: Conventional feeding (>10 hours nothing by mouth and incremental feeding every 2 hours, C), Early feeding(for 4 to 8 hours nothing by mouth and incremental feeding every 2 hours, E), and Ad lib feeding (for 4 hours nothing by mouth and ad lib feeding, A). Time to normal feeing in C, E and A were 51+/-24, 34+/-12 and 24+/-6 hours, respectively. Hospital-stay in C, E and A were 72+/-17, 55+/-13 and 43+/-12 hours, respectively. There were statistically significant differences according to the method of feeding. Frequency of postoperative emesis in C, E and A were 38%, 47% and 53%, but was not significant statistically. Ad lib feeding decreased time to normal feeding and hospital stay, and did not increase postoperative emesis. We conclude that ad lib feeding is recommended for patient with pyloromyotomy in HPS.
Appointments and Schedules ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Mouth ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Pyloric Stenosis, Hypertrophic* ; Retrospective Studies

Liver function tests before treatment showed abnormalities of liver function tests during treatment, while 15(68. 2%) of 22 patients who had abnormal liver function tests before treatment showed abnormalities during treatment. In 12 of the 25 patients who showed abnormalities of liver function tests during treatment with allopurinol, allopurinol was stopped and all patients showed improvement of liver function tests. In remaining 13 patients, 10 patients were improved and other 2 patients showed only mild abnormalities of liver function tests despite of continuing allopurinol and 1 patient was lost during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Abnormalities of liver function tests were common during treatment with allopurinol. Most patiensts who had mild abnormalities of liver functions tests during treatment with allopurinol were improved regardless of continuing allopurinol.
Allopurinol* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gout* ; Humans ; Liver Function Tests* ; Liver*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Ethanol* ; Metabolism* ; Phenobarbital* ; Rats* ; Trichloroethylene*

Animal experiment was carried out to measure the physiologic changes of thoracic or thoracolumbar spine that occurred as a result of electrical stimulation, and to evaluate the usefulness of electrical stimulation as a possible treatment for scoliosis. Unilateral electrical stimulations were applied to the back muscle of immature rabbits.They were subgrouped into medial, intermediate, and lateral muscle stimulated groups in order to observe the effects of various electrode placements. The radiograms were taken every other week to observe the changes of the spinal curvatures for the period of 12 weeks. The histological studies of the muscles, which were obtained from the stimulated(right) and the nonstimulated(left) sides at the same level, also were carried out to determine the response of the muscles to the electrical stimulation. The results were as follows. l. A significant scoliotic curvature was observed two weeks after electrical stimulation, and those curvatures did not change more for the next six weeks in spite of prolonged stimulation. 2. Scoliotic curvature induced by electrical stimulation for eight weeks remained unchanged for another four weeks after stopping stimulation. 3. There were no statistical differences in the induced scoliotic curvature among the three groups stimulated at different sites of the medial, intermediate, and lateral regions respectively. 4. A prolonged unilateral electrical stimulation could induce the scoliosis, and may be used as a method for treatment of scoliosis.
Animal Experimentation ; Back Muscles ; Electric Stimulation ; Electrodes ; Methods ; Muscles ; Scoliosis ; Spinal Curvatures ; Spine

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the direct medical expenses of a vertebral fracture cohort (VC) and a matched cohort (MC) over 5 years preceding and following the fracture, analyze the duration of the rise in medical expenses due to the fracture, and examine whether the expenses vary with age group, utilizing a national claims database. Methods: Subjects with vertebral fractures and matched subjects were chosen from the National Health Insurance Service Sample cohort (NHIS-Sample) of South Korea. Patients with vertebral fractures were either primarily admitted to acute care hospitals (index admissions) or those who received kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty during the follow-up period (2002–2015). A risk-set matching was performed using 1 : 5 random sampling to simulate a real-world situation. Individual-level direct medical expenses per quarter were calculated for 5 years prior and subsequent to the vertebral fracture. In this analysis using a comparative interrupted time series design, we examined the direct medical expenses of a VC and an MC. Results: A total of 3,923 incident vertebral fracture patients and 19,615 matched subjects were included in this study. The mean age was 75.5 ± 7.4 years, and 69.5% were women. The mean difference in medical expenses between the two groups increased steadily before the fracture. The medical expenses of the VC peaked in the first quarter following the fracture. The cost changes were 1.82 times higher for the VC than for the MC (95% confidence interval, 1.62–2.04; p < 0.001) in the first year. Subsequently, there were no differential changes in medical expenses between the two groups (p > 0.05). In the < 70-year subgroup, there were no differential changes in medical expenses between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, in the ≥ 80-year subgroup, the cost changes for the VC were higher than those for the MC up to 5 years after time zero. Conclusions Based on our study results, we suggest that health and medical policies for vertebral fractures should be designed to last up to approximately 1 year after the fracture. Health policies should be differentiated according to age group.