OBJECTIVES: To examine emotional and psychological characteristics associated with suicide attempts in depressed patients. METHODS: A sample of 37 inpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder or depressive disorder NOS was divided into two groups : lifetime suicide attempters(N=15 ; 40.54%), non-attempters(N=22 ; 59.46%). Beck Depression Scale(BDI), Beck Anxiety Scale(BAI), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale(HARS), and MMPI-2 were used to evaluate symptoms severity and psychological characteristics. RESULTS: Suicide attempters scored higher on the BDI though there were no group differences on the HDRS and on the both anxiety scales. Also they showed higher scores on the F, Fb, Pa, RC1, DEP, HEA, PK, AAS among MMPI-2 subscales. Our findings suggest that suicide attempters among depressed patients undergo more severe subjective distress and difficulties in adjustment than non-attempters. Also they were more hostile to others and showed lower trust. Lastly, they showed more somatic complaints and substance related problems. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that suicide attempters among depressed patients have distinct emotional and psychological characteristics. MMPI-2 would be helpful to assess suicidal risk of depressed patients.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Pyrrolidines ; Suicide ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the CT features and pathogenesis of the electric brain injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the CT scans of 3 patients injured by high-voltage electricity. We evaluated the findings early and delayed periods in each patients. RESULTS: The early CT findings were diffuse brain edema, scalp swelling, and focal hemorrhagic contusion. The findings of delayed period were cerebral infarction, pneumocephalus, brain abscess, and pneumatocele. CONCLUSION: CT was useful to correlate the pathogenesis and variable features of electric brain injuries.
Brain Abscess ; Brain Edema ; Brain Injuries ; Brain* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Contusions ; Electric Injuries* ; Electricity ; Humans ; Pneumocephalus ; Scalp ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Metanephric adenoma is a rare renal epithelial tumor. Its light microscopic features are very characteristic, and immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies are not critical to the diagnosis. The literature indicate that, to date, the tumor has behaved in a benign fashion, and predominantly but not exclusively occurred in middle-aged women. It occurs in a wide range up to 11 cm and is usually an incidental finding but may be symptomatic with hematuria or flank pain. Recently, we have experienced a case of renal tumor showing distinctive adenomatous features, which is incidentally found in a 52-year-old female. This tumor is confined to the renal cortex and is well-circumscribed with a characteristic uniform and orderly proliferation of compact well-differentiated small tubules lined by bland oval cells with a very low level of mitotic activity. The term metanephric adenoma is appropriate for this tumor because it accurately describes its bland proliferation of tubules and reflects the embryonic architectural and cytological appearance of this proliferation. The pattern of the tumor, with its occasional papillary glomeruloid- like bodies and foci of elongated tubules, is reminiscent of the fetal metanephric kidney.
Adenoma* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Kidney* ; Middle Aged

No abstract available.
Meningitis, Aseptic*

OBJECTIVE: The tripartite model categorizes symptoms of depression and anxiety into three groups: 1) non-specific general distress that is shared between depression and anxiety, 2) depression-specific symptoms that include low positive affect and loss of interest, and 3) anxiety-specific symptoms that include somatic arousal. The Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ) was developed to measure these three factors of depression and anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MASQ (K-MASQ) in adolescents. METHODS: Community-dwelling adolescents (n=933) were randomly assigned to two groups. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted in each group to identify the factor structure of the K-MASQ. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were also evaluated. RESULTS: Our results support the three-factor structure of the K-MASQ in adolescents. However, we found that the specific items of each factor differed from those of the original MASQ. That is, the depression-specific factor was only related to low positive affect and not loss of interest, and the anxiety-specific factor included more items related to general somatic symptoms of anxiety. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were found to be satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The K-MASQ supports the tripartite model of depression and anxiety and has satisfactory reliability and validity among Korean adolescents. The K-MASQ can be used to distinguish unique symptoms of depression and anxiety in Korean adolescents.
Adolescent* ; Anxiety* ; Arousal ; Depression ; Humans ; Korea ; Psychometrics ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Reproducibility of Results

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the opinions of Gyeongsangbuk-do residents on out-of-hours (OOH) pharmacies and to examine the operating experiences of pharmacists who are operating OOH pharmacies in other areas. Methods: Cross-sectional survey was carried out for 1,000 Gyeongbuk residents employing a questionnaire via online or face-to-face, and 82 pharmacists who currently operate OOH pharmacies employing a postal questionnaire. Out of eighty-two, 46 pharmacists replied (response rate 56.1%). Results: As for the necessity of introducing OOH pharmacies in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 84.9% answered more than necessary.86.1% favored the local government support for OOH pharmacies. The necessity of OOH pharmacies was highly evaluated among participants who experienced to be unable to use medicines or services in out of service hours, regardless of their characteristics or health condition. County residents consistently put a positive opinion for the necessity of OOH pharmacies if they have elderly family member(s), while city residents had significant differences across subgroups depending on their conditions (family members, household economics, health status, etc.). Almost all (95.7%) pharmacist participants highly evaluated the necessity of OOH pharmacies and the majority of them (63.0%) felt satisfied. However, 60.9% of participants have ever considered closing their OOH pharmacy business due to private, business management and professional reasons. Conclusion This study made suggestions to address anticipated issues for the Gyeongbuk-style OOH pharmacy model.

This study is to verify the protective ability against experimental Naegleria meningoencephalitis by immunization with Naegleria fowleri in mice. Naegleria fowleri, strain 0359, and Naegleria gruberi, strain EGB, were used in this study, and cultured in CGVS medium axenically. Inbred BALB/c mice, weighing about 20 g, were immunized by three intraperitoneal injection of 1 x 10(6) N. fowleri trophozoites at the interval of one week. This N. fowleri trophozoites antigen was fixed with 5 percent formaldehyde. N. fowleri trophozoites from culture were homogenized with sonicator at 4C as monitored by phase contrast microscopy, and their membrane and cell content preparations were made for the immunization of mice. Their inoculation dose in volume was equivalent to the 1 x 10(6) trophozoites in each injection for immunization. And N. gruberi trophozoites, which was fixed with 5 percent formaldehyde, were also used for immunization. Mice were inoculated intranasally with 5 x 10(4) N. fowleri trophozoites in a 5 microliter suspension under anesthesia by as intraperitoneal injection of about l mg secobarbiturate. Nervousness, rotation or sluggish behaviour were observed in the mice which were infected with N. fowleri. Necrotic lesion was demonstrated in the anterior portion of brain, especially in the olfactory lobe. The inflammatory cell infiltration with numerous N. fowleri trophozoites was noticed. This pathological changes were more extensive in the control than in the experimental groups. Mice were dead due to experimental primary amoebic meningoencephalitis that developed between 8 days and 23 days after inoculation. Mortality rate of the mice was low in the immunized experimental group. Mean survival time, which is the survival duration of mice from the infection to death, was prolonged significantly in the immunized mice except in the mice immunized with N. fowleri membrane. Even in the mice immunized with N. gruberi, survival time was delayed. In summary, the effectiveness of immunization is demonstrated in terms of protective immunity against Naegleria meningoencephalitis in mice.
parasitology-protozoa ; Naegleria fowleri ; meningoencephalitis ; immunology ; mouse ; brain

Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis is an externally rare tumor arising from the serosal surface of the pleural, pericardial, peritoneal cavities. The pathologic diagnosis was based upon the clinical, gross and microscopic findings and immunohistochemical studies. Appropriate treatment of malignant mesothelioma consists of inguinal orchiectomy with close follow up. Treatment of locally recurrent and distant metastasis have not been standardized. We report a case of metastatic malignant mesothelioma from the tunica vaginalis of the right spermatic cord with coincident finding of left renal cell carcinoma, that was metastasis to the abdominal wall, 17months after right radical orchiectomy and left radical nephrectomy.
Abdominal Wall ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Mesothelioma* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nephrectomy ; Orchiectomy ; Spermatic Cord*

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice and has been a major public health problem. The prevalence of AF globally has been reported to range from 0.4% to 2% in the adult population; however, the prevalence widely varies depending on the study population. Although AF prevalence in Asian population is about 1% lower than that in European and North American population, the number of AF patients in Asia is rapidly increasing concomitant with the increased aging of the population. However, previous studies that reported AF epidemiology in the Korean population are limited. According to a recent report based on the national health claims database, prevalence of AF in 2015 was 0.7% in the entire Korean adult population and showed a continuous increase with population aging. Additionally, among patients with AF, mean CHA2DS2-VASc score was significantly increased and the number of high thromboembolic risk patients has increased over time. Although oral anticoagulation (OAC) prescription in AF patients increased from 35% to 51%, especially after introduction of non-vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants, a substantial proportion of Korean patients with AF still remain undertreated. In this review, we aimed to summarize temporal changes in the prevalence and incidence of AF and to evaluate the thromboembolic risk in patients with AF. In addition, we also discussed the utilization of OAC therapy in patients with AF in Korean population.
Adult ; Aging ; Anticoagulants ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Atrial Fibrillation* ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prescriptions ; Prevalence* ; Public Health ; Stroke

Recently, several studies have shown that the H2-receptor blockers can cause inhibition of cholinesstrase and neuromuscular blockade which suggest involvement of ion-chennel block in relatively large experimental dose. We investigated the effect of three H2-receptor blockers cimetidine, ranitidine, and famotidine on antagonism of vecuronium neuromuscular blockade. Forty ASA class 1 or 2 adult patients were studied. All patients were premedicated with hydroxyzine 1.5mg/kg and glycopyrrolat 0.2mg IM, 1hour before induction. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium 5~6 mg/kg, succinylcholine 1mg/kg and was maintained with 02-N20(50%)-enflurane. Intraoperative muscle relaxation was maintained below 5% of control twitch height on TOF stimulation by combined bolus IV(0.08mg/kg) and contino=uous infusion(0.08mg/kg/hour) of vecuronium. Patients were divided into four groups according to use of H2-receptor blocker just after stop of vecuronium infusion as follows: Control group (n=10): no use of H2-receptor blocker, Cimetidine group (n=10): cimetidine 200mg IV, Rantitidine group (n=10): rantidine 50 mg IV, Famotidine group (n=10): famotidine 50 mg IV. Reversal of neuromuscular blockade with neostigmine(0.04mg/kg) was performed at 10% recovery of first twitch height (T1) in all cases. The recovery of T1 and T4 ratio after reversal was measured at 1min, interval for 20 min. The results were as follows: 1) The recovery of twitch height after administration of neostigmine was prolonged in all three H2-receptor blocker groups as compared to control group, but statistical significance was noted only in Famotidine group (p<0.05). 2) The changes of heart rate and mean arterial pressure after administration of neostigmine were similar in all groups.
Adult ; Anesthesia ; Arterial Pressure ; Cimetidine ; Famotidine ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hydroxyzine ; Muscle Relaxation ; Neostigmine ; Neuromuscular Blockade* ; Ranitidine ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental ; Vecuronium Bromide*