No abstract available.
Korea* ; Moyamoya Disease*

No abstract available.
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome*

No abstract available.
Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome*

Anti-N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis, recently recognized as a form of paraneoplastic encephalitis, is characterized by a prodromal phase of unspecific illness with fever that resembles a viral disease. The prodromal phase is followed by seizures, disturbed consciousness, psychiatric features, prominent abnormal movements, and autonomic imbalance. Here, we report a case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis with initial symptoms of epilepsia partialis continua in the absence of tumor. Briefly, a 3-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital due to right-sided, complex partial seizures without preceding febrile illness. The seizures evolved into epilepsia partialis continua and were accompanied by epileptiform discharges from the left frontal area. Three weeks after admission, the patient's seizures were reduced with antiepileptic drugs; however, she developed sleep disturbances, cognitive decline, noticeable oro-lingual-facial dyskinesia, and choreoathetoid movements. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis was confirmed by positive detection of NMDAR antibodies in the patient's serum and cerebrospinal fluid, and her condition slowly improved with immunoglobulin, methylprednisolone, and rituximab. At present, the patient is no longer taking multiple antiepileptic or antihypertensive drugs. Moreover, the patient showed gradual improvement of motor and cognitive function. This case serves as an example that a diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis should be considered when children with uncontrolled seizures develop dyskinesias without evidence of malignant tumor. In these cases, aggressive immunotherapies are needed to improve the outcome of anti-NMDAR encephalitis.
Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis* ; Antibodies ; Anticonvulsants ; Antihypertensive Agents ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Child* ; Child, Preschool ; Cognition ; Consciousness ; D-Aspartic Acid ; Diagnosis ; Dyskinesias ; Encephalitis ; Epilepsia Partialis Continua* ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunotherapy ; Korea* ; Methylprednisolone ; Rituximab ; Seizures ; Virus Diseases

Tibialis anterior muscle hernia is the most common hernia among lower extremity muscles. This condition can be diagnosed by physical examination and radiologic findings, especially by dynamic ultrasonography. There are surgical methods of treatment for muscle hernia, including direct repair, fasciotomy, fascial patch grafting using autologous fascia lata or synthetic mesh. We report a case of tibialis anterior muscle hernia treated with local periosteal rotational flap. Because there are several advantages to the local periosteal rotational flap, such as lack of donor site morbidity, lack of skin irritation, low cost, simplicity, and an easy approach, this technique could be an option for tibialis anterior muscle hernia.
Fascia Lata ; Hernia ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscles ; Physical Examination ; Skin ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Objective: The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of Korean elderly by translating the Hayling Test, a test that measures semantic inhibition ability among executive functions. Methods: Total 91 participants were recruited in accordance with inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria for each group. Within them, 34 were normal from Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 29 were mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from clinics located in Seoul, and 28were Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from clinics located in Seoul, respectively. The one-way analysis of covariance, the Bonferroni veri-fication, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and the Brain Imaging analysis of voxel-based morphometrywere conducted in order to compare and analyze performance of demographics characteristics of each group, Hayling Test results, and The Continuous Performance Test-X (CPTX) results. Results: The comparison analysis showed the Hayling Test is more valid methodology than the CPTX test in discriminating nor-mal, MCI, and AD. Furthermore, ROC curves between normal and AD groups also demonstrated higher sensitivity (88%) and specificity (73%) of Hayling Test, and confirmed its diagnostic validity. In line with the above, brain imaging analysis displays sig-nificant positive correlation between temporal & frontal brain regions through the Hayling Test scores, however, this correlationwas not found for CPTX. Conclusion It is expected that the Haling Test, which measures language inhibition function, can be used simply and usefully in diagnosing dementia.

A previously healthy 52-year-old man presented to the emergency room with acute onset left hemiparesis and dysarthria. Brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance examinations revealed acute cerebral infarction in the right middle cerebral artery territory and a sphenoid ridge meningioma encasing the right carotid artery terminus. Cerebral angiography demonstrated complete occlusion of the right proximal M1 portion. A computed tomography perfusion study showed a wide area of perfusion-diffusion mismatch. Over the ensuing 48 hours, left sided weakness deteriorated despite medical treatment. Emergency extracranial-intracranial bypass was performed using a double-barrel technique, leaving the tumor as it was, and subsequently his neurological function was improved dramatically. We present a rare case of sphenoid ridge meningioma causing acute cerebral infarction as a result of middle cerebral artery compression.
Brain ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebral Angiography ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Dysarthria ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Meningioma* ; Middle Aged ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Paresis ; Perfusion

BACKGROUND: We are continually exposed to low-dose radiation (LDR) in the range 0.1 Gy from natural sources, medical devices, nuclear energy plants, and other industrial sources of ionizing radiation. There are three models for the biological mechanism of LDR: the linear no-threshold model, the hormetic model, and the threshold model. OBJECTIVE: We used keratinocytes as a model system to investigate the molecular genetic effects of LDR on epidermal cell differentiation. METHODS: To identify keratinocyte differentiation, we performed western blots using a specific antibody for involucrin, which is a precursor protein of the keratinocyte cornified envelope and a marker for keratinocyte terminal differentiation. We also performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We examined whether LDR induces changes in involucrin messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels in calcium-induced keratinocyte differentiation. RESULTS: Exposure of HaCaT cells to LDR (0.1 Gy) induced p21 expression. p21 is a key regulator that induces growth arrest and represses stemness, which accelerates keratinocyte differentiation. We correlated involucrin expression with keratinocyte differentiation, and examined the effects of LDR on involucrin levels and keratinocyte development. LDR significantly increased involucrin mRNA and protein levels during calcium-induced keratinocyte differentiation. CONCLUSION: These studies provide new evidence for the biological role of LDR, and identify the potential to utilize LDR to regulate or induce keratinocyte differentiation.
Blotting, Western ; Cell Differentiation ; Keratinocytes* ; Molecular Biology ; Nuclear Energy ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Radiation, Ionizing ; RNA, Messenger

OBJECTIVES: To compare the quality improvement of the abstracts of original articles, according to the revised manuscript format, of the Korean Journal of Preventive Medicine (Korean J Pre Med) was adopted in 1999. METHODS: A total 63 abstracts for 1997, and 49 for 2001, were selected as the original articles from the Kor J Pre Med. This study was carried out by the separate-sample pretest-posttest design. The quality of the abstracts was measured by a checklist of Narine' evaluation criteria, and the other information related to the articles were also surveyed by e-mail and fax or telephone using a self-made questionnaire. From the response rate, a total of 62 abstracts for 1997 and 49 for 2001 were finally analyzed. RESULTS: The mean number of words in an abstract decreased from 285 in 1997, to 250 by 2001. The mean number of key words per abstract decreased from 3.9 in 1997, to 3.6 by 2001. The mean number of inappropriate usage of key words per abstract, by the MeSH standard, decreased from 1.9 in 1997, to 0.4 by 2001. Also, the overall mean score of abstract quality increased from 0.54 in 1997 to 0.61 by 2001. The range of scores for the abstract quality was better in 2001 (0.40~0.77) than in 1997 (0.20~0.81). From the multiple regression analyses of the 1997 and 2001 databases, the intervention of the manuscript format's revision, and the number of English words to the quality score of the abstract, were the only statistically significant factors. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the quality of abstracts in the Kor J Pre Med has improved since the revised manuscript format was adopted in 1999. The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine will continuously recommend proposals for more informative abstracts in their journal, and will evaluate the abstracts' content with quality criteria. Future studies should address these issues, and compare the quality of abstracts between different international and domestic journals.
Checklist ; Electronic Mail ; Preventive Medicine* ; Quality Improvement* ; Telephone

PURPOSE: Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is divided into acute and chronic forms. Unfortunately, there have been no known specific laboratory or clinical predictors for the diagnosis of chronic ITP. This study was performed to elucidate the prognostic significance of various clinical and laboratory parameters, including reticulated platelet percentage. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 60 patients who were diagnosed as ITP at the Department of Pediatrics, Wonju Christian Hospital from January, 1989 to January, 2001. Various kind of clinical parameters such as age, sex, symptom duration, prior URI history, response to treatment, and laboratory parameters like platelet count at initial presentation, lowest platelet count, duration of thrombocytopenia, initial reticulated platelet percentage, antiplatelet antibody IgG and IgM, antinuclear antibody (ANA), direct and indirect Coombs' test were compared between acute and chronic ITP. RESULTS: Fifteen % of patients (9/60) was chronic ITP. The peak age incidence was from 1 to 3 year of age in both acute (29.4%) and chronic ITP (22.2%). The acute ITP was prevalent in spring season, May and June. There was no difference in the incidence of prior URI history between acute and chronic ITP. Higher proportion of chronic ITP patients (5/9; 55.5%) than acute ITP patients (7/51; 13%) had symptom duration longer than 1 month (P <0.05). Increased initial reticulated platelet percentage (more than 8%) was noted in 55.3% (21/38) of acute ITP and in 40% (2/5) of chronic ITP. There were no significant differences in initial platelet count, lowest platelet count, antiplatelet IgM, antiplatelet IgG, ANA and Coombs' test between two groups. The response to initial treatment were excellent in acute and chronic ITP. Six cases of acute ITP relapsed within 1 month from initial presentation. Eight cases of chronic ITP relapsed, among them 5 cases relapsed after 2 months from initial presentation. CONCLUSION: We suggest that patients with > or =1 months duration of presenting symptoms and relapse after 2 months from initial presentation have the propensity of developing chronic ITP. Reticulated platelet percentage could not discriminate acute and chronic ITP. A more accurate detection method should be developed for reticulated platelets.
Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Blood Platelets* ; Coombs Test ; Diagnosis ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Incidence ; Pediatrics ; Platelet Count ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Thrombocytopenia