No abstract available.
Atherosclerosis* ; Hyperuricemia* ; Risk Factors*

Mutation of p53 tumor suppressor gene is now recognized as the most frequent genetic alteration in human neoplasms. Although meningiomas are common intracranial tumors, little is known about the clinical significance of p53 abnormalities in meningiomas. We studied 31 cases of meningioma to investigate the significance of p53 protein expression in meningiomas and its relationships with histological and clinical parameters and proliferative activity. Classical and atypical meningiomas were 16 (51.6%) and 15 cases (43.4%), respectively. p53 protein expression was detected in 4 (25.0%) of 16 classical, and 12 (80.0%) of 15 atypical meningiomas. p53 protein expression was correlated with Ki-67 staining index, atypical type, high histologic score, sheet pattern of the neoplastic cells, vascular proliferation, and male patient (p<0.05). In conclusion, immunohistochemical evaluation of p53 protein and histologic score of meningiomas are useful in assessing the prognosis.
Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Male ; Meningioma* ; Prognosis

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Female ; Ovary* ; Teratoma*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39). METHODS: Cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to the international guidelines: forward and backward translation, focus group meeting, and a field test. With Korean consensus translation produced, validation was assessed by evaluating reliability and validity. Ninety-three outpatients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 89 healthy aged controls were recruited. Internal consistency reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. Validity was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis, t test, factor analysis, and analysis of variance with Duncan's multiple range tests. RESULTS: In the PD group, mean age was 65.13 +/- 9.84 years, and mean duration of PD was 42.41 +/- 37.01 months. Ceiling and floor effects ranged 1.1%-2.2% and 1.1%-15.1%, respectively. Cronbach's alpha of eight dimensions ranged from .70 to .97. All dimensions were correlated with each other, except for the stigma dimension. PD patients had significantly lower quality of life than healthy aged controls did, except for the bodily discomfort dimension. Eight dimensions of Korean PDQ-39 loaded on one factor. PD patients with a Modified Hoehn and Yarh Staging score of 4 had the worst quality of life. The relationships among the eight dimensions of Koran PDQ-39 and the Modified Hoehn and Yarh Staging is fair to good, except for the stigma and social support dimension. CONCLUSION: The Korean PDQ-39 was proved to be reliable and valid. Our results suggest that Korean PDQ-39 could be used in clinical research to assess and evaluate the disease process and its impacts on health-related quality of life in Korean PD patients.
Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease/*psychology ; Psychometrics/*standards ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires/*standards ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea ; Translations

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effects of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) on distressed married couples. METHODS: We conducted 5 to 19 EFT sessions once a week with 10 couples from Yongin Mental Hospital who were experiencing marital conflict. We assessed participants before and after EFT, using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90R), and Korean Marital Satisfaction Inventory (K-MSI). The EFT consisted of 3 stages comprising 9 steps. Every couple followed this EFT structure. RESULTS: After completing the EFT sessions, the inventories showed the couples experiencing significant improvements in various psychological symptoms and marital satisfactions. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that EFT could be applied to distressed couples in a clinical setting and could effectively reduce psychological symptoms and improve marital satisfaction. Further study of the generalizability of these results and of the process variables are needed.
Checklist ; Depression ; Equipment and Supplies ; Family Characteristics ; Family Conflict ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Pilot Projects

BACKGROUNDS: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSA) can divided into two groups, positional (PP) and non-positional(NPP) obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, according to the body position while sleeping. In this study, we evaluated the differences of anthropometirc data and polysomnographic recordings between the two types of sleep apnea syndrome. MATERIALS: Fifty patients with OSA were divided two groups by Cartwright's criteria. The supine respiratory disturbance index (RDI) was at least two times higher than the lateral RDI in the PP group, and the supine RDI was less than twice the lateral RDI in the NPP group. This patients underwent standardized polysomnographic recordings. The anthropometirc data and polysomnographic data were analyzed, statistically. RESULTS: Of all 50 patients, 30% were found to be positional OSA. BMI was significantly higher in the PP group(p<0.05). Total sleep time was significantly longer in the PP group (350.6±46.0min, p<0.05). Sleep efficiency was high in the PP group(89.6± 6.4%, 85.6±9.9%, p<0.05). Deep sleep was significantly higher and light sleep was lower in the PP group than in the NPP group but no difference was observed in REM sleep between the two groups. Apnea index(AI) and RDI were significantly lower(17.0±10.6, 28.5±13.3, p<0.05) and mean arterial oxygen saturation was higher in the PP group(92.7 ±1.8%, p<0.05) than in the NPP group. CONCLUSION: Body position during sleep has a profound effect on the frequency and severity of breathing abnormalities in OSA patients. A polysomnographic evaluation for suspected OSA patients must include monitoring of the body position. Breathing function in OSA patients can be improved by controlling their obesity and through postural therapy.
Apnea ; Humans ; Obesity ; Oxygen ; Polysomnography ; Respiration ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* ; Sleep, REM

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

No abstract available.
Estradiol* ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Ectopic* ; Progesterone*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the conduction velocity of sympathetic skin response(SSR) in normal adults. METHOD: The latency of SSR was measured in 41 normal healthy subjects by the simultaneous recordings from three sites of the hand. And we also measured the distance and conduction time between the recording sites of the hand. The conduction velocity of SSR was calculated by dividing the distance by conduction time. RESULTS: The SSR was obtainable in all subjects from three sites of the hand. The mean latencies of SSR recorded from wrist, midpalm and index finger were 1.29, 1.40 and 1.54 seconds respectively. And the mean latency showed a significant increase from wrist to index finger(p<0.05). The conduction velocity of the SSR from wrist to index was 0.57 m/sec, and segmental conduction velocities from wrist to palm and palm to index were 0.62 and 0.66 m/sec respectively. The conduction velocity of SSR in the distal segment was slightly faster than in the proximal segment with no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The conduction velocity of SSR by the simultaneous recordings at two or more sites of the hand can be easily obtained and offers a useful parameter along with the amplitude and latency of SSR.
Adult* ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Skin* ; Wrist

Thyroid disorder is a common disease. Graves' disease is the most frequent cause of thyrotoxicosis and pharmacological treatment is current trends worldwide. Because of the severe adverse effects of propylthiouracil, methimazole or carbimazole should be selected as the drug of choice except for special situations such as women in the first trimester of pregnancy, thyroid storm, or in patients with severe side effects to methimazole. Treatment should continue for 12 to 18 months, but duration can be adjusted depending on the patient. For hypothyroidism, synthetic levothyroxine is the mainstay of treatment. In order to avoid overtreatment, the dosage of levothyroxine should be determined in consideration of the patient's age, sex, bodyweight, general condition, and comorbidities. In subclinical hypothyroidism, thyroid hormone replacement is suggested in patients with thyroid stimulating hormone concentrations >10 mIU/L. For non-elderly patients with high titers of thyroid autoantibodies, patients with dyslipidemia, pregnant patients, and women with infertility or ovulatory dysfunction, treatment with levothyroxine can be considered.
Antithyroid Agents ; Autoantibodies ; Carbimazole ; Comorbidity ; Dyslipidemias ; Female ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Hypothyroidism ; Infertility ; Methimazole ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, First ; Propylthiouracil ; Thyroid Crisis ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Thyrotoxicosis ; Thyrotropin ; Thyroxine