No abstract available.
Epilepsy, Benign Neonatal*

BACKGROUND: It is known that severe infection and inflammation lead to hemostatic abnormalities. Recently, much attention is focused on the mechanisms of infection or inflammation and on how it plays a central role in effecting the coagulation system. Disseminated intravascular coagulation in particular, is a common phenomenon in patients with sepsis, but the clinical implications of this condition are not clear. Therefore we attempted to evaluate the changes of the coagulation system in patients with sepsis and studied the factors that lead to such changes. METHODS: One hundred one patients diagnosed with sepsis were enrolled in this study. The patients were clinically evaluated for underlying disease and data for inflammatory status and coagulative changes were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: The WBC count increased in 76% and decreased in 6% of sepsis patients in comparison to the reference interval. The platelet count decreased in 65.3%. Changes in coagulative tests such as prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, antithrombin III, and D-dimer were observed in 70.4%, 52.7%, 87.2% and 100% of the patients, respectively. Correlation between ESR and fibrinogen was the highest in relation to the other coagulation factors. CRP also showed the highest correlation with fibrinogen in contrast to the other coagulation factors. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed the clear activation of coagulation in patients with sepsis. Of the evaluated factors involved in coagulation and fibrinolysis, fibrinogen showed the highest correlation to indices representing the inflammatory state. However further studies on the anticoagulant pathway are necessary in elucidating this matter.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bacterial Infections/diagnosis ; Biological Markers/analysis ; *Blood Coagulation ; Blood Coagulation Tests ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation/*diagnosis/etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation/diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Count ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis/*blood/complications/diagnosis ; Statistics as Topic

BACKGROUND: M protein, as a marker for monoclonal gammopathy, has been evaluated by protein electrophoresis (PEP) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE). Recently a highly sensitive, automated immunonephelometric assay for measurement of free light chains (FLCs) in serum and urine has been developed for the identification and monitoring of patients with monoclonal gammopathy. METHODS: We measured the concentration of kappa and lambda FLCs in 120 healthy individuals aged 20 to 80 years to establish the reference range of kappa and lambda FLCs and kappa/lambda FLC ratio and in 61 serum and 14 urine samples from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) to examine the correlation between the amount of M protein indirectly calculated on PEP and the direct measurement of FLCs. RESULTS: The concentrations of kappa and lambda FLCs and the kappa/lambda FLC ratio in healthy individuals were not significantly related to age or sex. The 95 percentile reference ranges for kappa FLC, lambda FLC, and kappa/lambda FLC ratio were 8.5-23.7 mg/L, 9.5-23.5 mg/L, and 0.67-1.38, respectively. On the PEP performed with MM specimens, 18 cases did not show the evidence of M protein. But, they revealed abnormal FLC concentrations on FLC assay and a significant correlation was found between the amount of M protein and the concentration of kappa and lambda FLC. However, inconsistent results such as the concentra-tion of kappa+lambda FLCs being more than the total protein in urine or M protein in serum were found in 5 of the 14 urine and 1 of the 61 serum samples of MM patients. CONCLUSIONS: FLC assay showed a good correlation with PEP and was more sensitive and accurate than PEP. Therefore, FLC assay is useful for diagnosing and monitoring monoclonal gammopathy at an early stage of the disease and during a remission state after chemotherapy or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.
Drug Therapy ; Electrophoresis ; Humans ; Multiple Myeloma* ; Paraproteinemias ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Reference Values*

OBJECTIVE: The human MAGE 3 gene encodes tumor specific antigens that are recognized by autologue cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). The MAGE 3 gene is expressed not only in melanoma but in the other malignant tumors as well. There is, however, little information on the expression of the gene in uterine cervical carcinomas. The author thus studied the expression of the MAGE 3 gene products in uterine cervical carcinoma and discuss the possibility of specific immunologic diagnosis using MAGE 3 gene products. METHODS: The expression of MAGE 3 gene product in 17 normal tissues of the cervix, 32 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (8 CIN I, 10 CIN II, 14 CIS), and 43 invasive cervical carcinomas was studied by immunohistochemistry using anti-MAGE 3 mAb 57B in paraffin sections RESULTS: No expression of MAGE 3 gene product was detected in normal cervical tissues and in cervical intraepithelial neoplasias. The expression of MAGE 3 gene product was detected in 30.2% (13/43) of invasive cervical carcinomas. The MAGE 3 gene product was stained as a cytoplasmic protein in cancer cells. No statistically significant differences were observed between MAGE 3 gene product expression status and clinicopathologic parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The MAGE 3 gene products was expressed in invasive cervical carcinoma tissues.
Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia ; Cervix Uteri ; Cytoplasm ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Immunologic Tests ; Melanoma ; Paraffin ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic

OBJECTIVE: Mycoplasmas have been implicated in many diseases including cervicitis, urethritis, salpingitis, endometritis... and functioning as cofactors catalyzing the HIV disease state. The oncogenic potentiality of mycoplasma was only recently realized when they were shown causing chromosomal changes and in vitro cell transformations through gradual progressive chromsomal loss and translocation. Few study has been reported the prevalence of mycoplasma infection in human cancers and suggested that there was a connection between these organisms and human cancers. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between Ureaplasma urealyticum infection and cervical cancer. METHODS: The detection frequency of Ureaplasma urealyticum in 52 invasive cervical cancer tissues and 17 normal cervical tissues was studied using PCR. RESULTS: U. urealyticum DNA was detected in 8 out of 52(15.4%) invasive cervical cancer tissues and 1 out of 17(5.9%) normal cervical tissues. No statistic significance was observed between the detection frequency of Ureaplasma urealyticum and clinicopathologic parameters. The prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum in invasive cervical tissues was 15.4% and this rate was higher than 5.9% in normal cervical tissues but there was no statistic significance. CONCLUSIONS: With respect to clinicopathologic parameters of cervical cancer, there was no significant relation between U. urealyticum infection and cervical cancer. There is, however, few study and case on cervical cancer internally and externally. It is considered that more studies on the subject with much cases should be made.
Carcinogenesis ; DNA ; Endometritis ; Female ; HIV ; Humans ; Mycoplasma ; Mycoplasma Infections ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Salpingitis ; Ureaplasma urealyticum* ; Ureaplasma* ; Urethritis ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms* ; Uterine Cervicitis

Cardiac arrest (CA) is sudden loss of heart function and abrupt stop in effective blood flow to the body. The patients who initially achieve return of spontaneous circulation (RoSC) after CA have low survival rate. It has been known that multiorgan dysfunctions after RoSC are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Most previous studies have focused on the heart and brain in RoSC after CA. Therefore, the aim of this research was to perform serological, physiological, and histopathology study in the lung and to determine whether or how pulmonary dysfunction is associated with low survival rate after CA. Experimental animals were divided into sham-operated group (n=14 at each point in time), which was not subjected to CA operation, and CA-operated group (n=14 at each point in time), which was subjected to CA. The rats in each group were sacrificed at 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, and 2 days, respectively, after RoSC. Then, pathological changes of the lungs were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin staining, Western blot and immunohistochemistry for tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). The survival rate after CA was decreased with time past. We found that histopathological score and TNF-α immunoreactivity were significantly increased in the lung after CA. These results indicate that inflammation triggered by ischemia-reperfusion damage after CA leads to pulmonary injury/dysfunctions and contributes to low survival rate. In addition, the finding of increase in TNF-α via inflammation in the lung after CA would be able to utilize therapeutic or diagnostic measures in the future.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Heart ; Heart Arrest* ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Inflammation ; Lung* ; Models, Animal* ; Mortality ; Rats* ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography of suspected ileocolic intussusception performed by emergency medicine (EM) residents who participated in a 2-hour focused ultrasound training program for intussusception. METHODS: This was a 16-month retrospective, observational study. Pediatric patients with suspected ileocolic intussusception who underwent ultrasound performed by second or third year EM residents were included in the study. The gold standard was a diagnostic work-up performed by a radiologist or clinical follow-up, compared with the results of ultrasonography performed by EM residents. RESULTS: A total of 38 patients were enrolled. The sensitivity of ultrasound performed by emergency medicine residents for prediction of ileocolic intussusception was 92.86%(66.13% to 99.82%), the specificity was 91.67%(73.00% to 98.97%), the positive likelihood ratio was 11.14(2.93 to 42.34), and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.08(0.01 to 0.52). CONCLUSION: Emergency residents can identify ileocolic intussusceptions with only minimal training, which could substitute for ultrasonography performed by radiologists when they are not immediately available.
Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intussusception ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate both personal and work-related factors associated with occupational injuries of ship-building supply workers in Busan, Korea. METHODS: A self-administered, questionnaire survey, asking both personal and work-related factors associated with occupational injuries, was administered to 1,651 workers from 64 different ship-building supply companies in Busan, Korea. All occupational injuries had occurred within the previous 5 years. The workers were divided into three sub-groups: Group I, under 4 day-sick leave, Group II, 4 day-sick leave and over, and Group III, which consisted of both Groups I and II. The statistical significance of the factors associated with occupational injuries underwent cross tabulation analysis for each group. Afterwards, the relationships between the factors which had statistical significance and the occurrence of occupational injuries were analyzed through multiple logistic regression by using the SPSS 12.0 K program. RESULTS: The prevalence of occupational injuries was 4.30% in Group II and 7.57% in Group III. The work activities which had the most frequent occupational injuries were 'Fit-up' and 'Welding', and 30.0% of injured workers were covered by workers' compensation in Group II. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis results, the factors which had statistical significance in occupational injury occurrence were education level above college (OR 2.78) and high level of fatigue (OR 2.18) in Group I, sleeping less than 5 hours per day (OR 3.47), high level of fatigue (OR 2.79) and working over 56 hours per week (OR 1.53) in Group II, and education level above college (OR 1.78), sleeping less than 5 hours per day (OR 2.98), poor sleep quality (OR 1.65) and high level of fatigue (OR 2.58) in Group III. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that several factors of ship-building supply workers such as sleep hours, sleep quality, fatigue, working hours, and educational level exerted a statistical effect on the occurrence of occupational injuries. In association with occupational injuries occurrence, these factors need to be controlled by proper methods such as effective safety education, work condition modification, and life style management.
Fatigue ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Injuries ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Workers' Compensation

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate both personal and work-related factors associated with occupational injuries of ship-building supply workers in Busan, Korea. METHODS: A self-administered, questionnaire survey, asking both personal and work-related factors associated with occupational injuries, was administered to 1,651 workers from 64 different ship-building supply companies in Busan, Korea. All occupational injuries had occurred within the previous 5 years. The workers were divided into three sub-groups: Group I, under 4 day-sick leave, Group II, 4 day-sick leave and over, and Group III, which consisted of both Groups I and II. The statistical significance of the factors associated with occupational injuries underwent cross tabulation analysis for each group. Afterwards, the relationships between the factors which had statistical significance and the occurrence of occupational injuries were analyzed through multiple logistic regression by using the SPSS 12.0 K program. RESULTS: The prevalence of occupational injuries was 4.30% in Group II and 7.57% in Group III. The work activities which had the most frequent occupational injuries were 'Fit-up' and 'Welding', and 30.0% of injured workers were covered by workers' compensation in Group II. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis results, the factors which had statistical significance in occupational injury occurrence were education level above college (OR 2.78) and high level of fatigue (OR 2.18) in Group I, sleeping less than 5 hours per day (OR 3.47), high level of fatigue (OR 2.79) and working over 56 hours per week (OR 1.53) in Group II, and education level above college (OR 1.78), sleeping less than 5 hours per day (OR 2.98), poor sleep quality (OR 1.65) and high level of fatigue (OR 2.58) in Group III. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that several factors of ship-building supply workers such as sleep hours, sleep quality, fatigue, working hours, and educational level exerted a statistical effect on the occurrence of occupational injuries. In association with occupational injuries occurrence, these factors need to be controlled by proper methods such as effective safety education, work condition modification, and life style management.
Fatigue ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Injuries ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Workers' Compensation

The reactive oxygen species (ROS) is well-known for the causative factors inducing ischemia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer, amylotrophic lateral sclerosis, hypertension and aging. Catalase (CAT) is an important endogenous antioxidant enzyme against ROS because it removes H2O2 during metabolic processes. Hence, we examined the age-related changes of CAT-immunoreactivity in the main olfactory bulbs (MOB) of the Wistar and spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR) at various aging stages over 2 years periods; postnatal month 6 (PM 6), PM 12, PM 18 and PM 24. CAT immunoreactive (IR) neurons in Wistar rats were located in the glomerular layer (GL), external plexiform layer (EPL), internal plexiform layer (IPL) and granule cell layer (GCL). The number of CAT-IR neurons slightly decreased agedependently and nearly disappeared at PM 24. At PM 6 and PM 12, the CAT-IR neurons located in the EPL were morphologically identified as granule cells. However, at PM 18 and PM 24, CAT-IR neurons located in the EPL and mitral cell layer (MCL) were morphologically identified as tufted and mitral cells, respectively. CAT-IR neurons in the SHR were located in all layers of the MOB. The number of CAT-IR neurons and CAT immunoreactivity decreased agedependently and nearly disappeared especially in the GL and EPL at PM 24. These findings indicate that the decrease of CAT immunoreactivity may be one of the causative factors for increase of oxidative stress, and these damages may underlie age-related changes in the olfactory process. The early decrease of CAT immunoreactivity in the SHR than in the Wistar rat suggests that the early decreae of CAT may be associated with the cause of hypertensive neuronal damage.
Aging ; Animals ; Catalase* ; Cats ; Hypertension ; Ischemia ; Metabolism ; Motor Neuron Disease ; Neurons ; Olfactory Bulb* ; Oxidative Stress ; Parkinson Disease ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR* ; Rats, Wistar ; Reactive Oxygen Species