Paranasal sinus CT is known as the most effective imaging modality in the evaluation of inflammatory sinonasal diseases and can depict the distribution, causative lesions obstructing main drainge route, and associated findings. Recently, functional endoscopic sinus surgery has been widely used for the evaluation and treatment. Before operation, PNS CT has been routinely used to evaluate the paranasal sinuses and mucociliary drainage route. The authors analyzed the PNS CT findings of 3156 cases in 1578 patients with chronic sinusitis symptoms. Sinonasal inflammatory diseases were categorized into 5 patterns according to the obstruction sites. They were 1) infundibular (10%, 316/3156), 2) ostimeatal unit (41%, 1294/3156), 3) sphenoethmoidal recess (12%, 379/3156), 4) sinonasal polyposis (30%, 946/3156) , and 5) unclassifiable (6%, 190/3156) patterns. The main causes for infundibular obstruction in order of frequency were inflammatory mucosa, enlarged ethmoidal bulla and Haller's cell. With respect to the middle meatus obstruction, is main causes in the order of frequency were polypoid lesion, inflammatory mucosa and medially deviated uncinate process. In particular, sinonasal polyposis showed one or more of the characteristic associated findings of infundibular enlargement, air-fluid level, ethmoidal sinus was bulging and bony deossification or sclerosis as well as sinonasal polypoid change. In conclusion, the inflammatory sinonasal diseases were classified into five patterns, and the causative lesions or anatomic variations were efficiently detected by the PNS CT. Furthermore, it could provide a guidance for proper management of the sinusitis including functional endoscopic sinus surgery.
Drainage ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Sclerosis ; Sinusitis

No abstract available.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast*

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop and test validity and reliability of on instrument for predicting nursing intention for SARS patient care. METHOD: The psychometric properties of a SARS patient care attrition prediction tool, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, were examined in this study. The Three-phase design involved a) salient beliefs generated from clinical nurses (n=43) b) content validation by expert panel evaluations(n=5) c) face validation by plot testing (n=10) d) and instrument validation in a cross sectional survey (n=299). Psychometric analysis of survey data provided empirical evidence of the construct validity and reliability of the instrument. RESULT: Principal component analysis verified the hypothesized 6-factor solution, explaining 68.2% of variance, and Alpha coefficients of .7538 to .9389 indicated a high internal consistency of the instrument. CONCLUSION: The instrument can be used by nurse administrators and researcher to assess clinical nurses' salient beliefs about caring for SARS patients, guide tailored intervention strategies to effective caring, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome/*nursing ; Reproducibility of Results ; *Questionnaires ; Nursing Methodology Research ; Nursing Care ; Nurses/*psychology ; Humans ; Female ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Adult

BACKGROUND: Currently, the incidence of hepatitis A is on the increase in Korea. Although there is emphasis on contact precautions, the nosocomial outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in healthcare personnel has increased within endemic areas because these workers inevitably come in close contact with patients and work under suboptimal hygiene conditions. In this study, we evaluated the necessity of immunization against HAV for healthcare personnel. METHODS: We investigated the seropositivity of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-HAV antibody (Ab) in 672 healthcare personnel on the basis of their age-group, sex, and occupation in Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital and Soon Chun Hyang University Bucheon Hospital. RESULTS: The subjects were divided into 6 groups on the basis of their ages to identify differences among the various age groups in the number of cases with HAV Ab seropositivity. Significant intergroup differences were noted in this respect: 21-25 years, 2/152 (1.3%); 26-30 years, 33/245 (13.5%); 31-35 years, 70/148 (47.3%); 36-40 years, 52/79 (65.8%); >40 years, 44/48 (91.7%). CONCLUSION: The number of seropositive cases was low among young healthy personnel: low seropositivity is an emerging risk for vulnerable population. With the increase in the incidence of hepatitis A, healthcare personnel have become a risk population for hepatitis A, as are community residents. Therefore, for healthcare personnel working in hospitals, immunization against HAV should be recommended for personnel younger than 30 years, and serological testing for older personnel.
Delivery of Health Care ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis A ; Hepatitis A Antibodies ; Hepatitis A Vaccines ; Hepatitis A virus ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Immunization ; Immunoglobulin G ; Incidence ; Korea ; Occupations ; Serologic Tests ; Vulnerable Populations

No abstract available.
Epidemiologic Studies* ; Mumps*

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of periodontitis in Korean adults and to examine the associations between periodontitis and known risk factors. METHODS: Using Korean National Oral Health Survey 2006 data, a total of 4,263 people who had taken oral examination, interviewed by questionnaire, and aged 18 or older were sampled. The prevalence of periodontitis measured by Community Periodontal Index (CPI) was calculated and the differences in prevalence according to known risk factors (age, sex, monthly income, education, residential area, tooth-brushing frequency, regular dental visit, smoking, and diabetes) were examined with chi-square test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to see the effects of each risk factor on the risk of having periodontitis. All statistical approaches were reflected national sampling design using Survey procedures in SAS 9.1. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of periodontitis in Korean adults was 10.3%. There existed statistically significant differences in crude prevalence for periodontitis according to the all risk factors. In logistic regression, older age groups (O.R.:2.94-3.71), people living in rural area (O.R.:1.87), and current smokers (O.R.:1.77) were significantly prone to have periodontitis. People who earned monthly income of more than 2 million Korean won (O.R.:0.64) and brushed their teeth two or more times per day (O.R.:0.60-0.62) had significantly lower risk of having periodontitis. CONCLUSIONS: About 10% of Korean adults had periodontitis in 2006. People who were older, living in rural region, in lower income status, smoking, less tooth brushing were more likely to have periodontitis.
Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Oral ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Periodontal Index ; Periodontitis ; Phenothiazines ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tooth

OBJECTIVE: Recently some behavioral features and affective traits are considered important for the phenotype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The purpose of this study was to assess some specific behavioral, temperamental, emotional features of OCD patients and to investigate if there is any change in patterns of temperament-character after 4-month pharmacotherapy. METHODS: Fifty-six patients with OCD and 70 normal controls were enrolled in this study. Four self-report questionnaires were employed to assess temperamental characteristics and affective traits: The behavioral inhibition system and behavioral activation system scale, the Baratt impulsiveness scale, state-trait anger expression inventory, emotional intelligence inventory. Among 56 OCD patients, 21 subjects started pharmacotherapy and 4 months later, they repeated 4 self-report tests as the same above and Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (Y-BOCS). And then we investigated the changes from initial results. RESULTS: Patients with OCD showed significantly greater expression of behavioral inhibition system (p<0.0001), more cognitive impulsiveness (p<0.0001), motor impulsiveness (p=0.0067) and increased level of state anger (p<0.0001), trait anger (p<0.0001) than healthy controls. Compared to the controls, the OCD patients also expressed significantly lower level of emotional intelligence for using to facilitate thinking (p<0.0001) and managing emotions (p<0.0001). After 4-month pharmacotherapy for 21 OCD patients, Y-BOCS scores significantly decreased while self-report tests showed no meaningful differences from baseline assessments. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that patients with OCD may have some differences in behavioral and affective tendencies including behavioral inhibition, impulsiveness, anger experiences, and emotional patterns. And short term pharmacotherapy during 4 months improved the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms but didn't influence these traits. These results provide some perspectives about possible vulnerability or trait markers of OCD. Further research is needed to examine the effects of long term treatment and other investigation might be helpful to assess the relationships between these behavioral and affective aspects and clinical phenotypes of OCD.
Anger ; Emotional Intelligence ; Humans ; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ; Phenotype ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Temperament ; Thinking

BACKGROUND: Outbreaks of carbapenem resistant P. aeruginosa give rise to significant therapeutic challenges for treating nosocomial infections. In this study, we analyzed carbapenem resistance mechanisms in carbapenem resistant and clonally different P. aeruginosa strains. We analyzed chromosomal alterations in the genes of OprD and efflux system regulatory proteins (MexR, NalC, NalD, MexT, and MexZ). We also investigated chromosomal alterations in the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) for quinolone resistance mechanisms. METHODS: Twenty-one clonally different P. aeruginosa strains were isolated by repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR). PCR and DNA sequencing were conducted for the detection of beta-lactamase genes and chromosomal alterations of efflux pump regulatory genes, oprD, and QRDR in gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE. RESULTS: Only one (P28) of the 21 strains harbored bla VIM-2. Two isolates had mutations in nalD or mexZ that were associated with efflux pump overexpression. Chromosomal alterations causing loss of OprD were found in 4 out of 21 carbapenem resistant P. aeruginosa strains. Nine of 10 imipenem and ciprofloxacin resistant strains had alterations in gyrA and/or parC. CONCLUSION: Carbapenem resistance in P. aeruginosa was mediated by several mechanisms, including loss of the OprD, overexpression of efflux systems, and production of carbapenemase. Resistance to quinolone is frequently caused by point mutations in gyrA and/or parC.
Bacterial Proteins ; beta-Lactamases ; Ciprofloxacin ; Cross Infection ; Disease Outbreaks ; Genes, Regulator ; Imipenem ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteins ; Pseudomonas ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

BACKGROUND: There were debates on the relationship between peak expiratory flow (PEF) and oil spill cleanup activity. The aim of this study was to compare the distinction of PEF among pre-works and post-works in Hebei Spirit oil. METHODS: The study subjects were participators of cleanup works. The questionaire on symptoms was done. And PEF was measured. The subjects were sampled on random basis. We then used a logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effects of cleanup works on PEF. RESULTS: Only 66 (35.3%) participants versus 121 showed with low values in PEF before cleanup works. But, 78 (80.1%) participants versus 20 significantly showed with low values in PEF after cleanup works (P = 0.002). On our analysis, measuring their own PEF after cleanup works (Odds ratio [OR], 2.328; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.218 to 6.624), female gender (OR, 5.841; 95% CI, 3.571 to 9.557), the number of working days on cleanup activities (OR, 2.760; 95% CI, 1.364 to 7.900), and residents (OR, 4.610; 95% CI, 2.488 to 8.544) were shown to be significant risk factors for low value of peak expiratory flow. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that exposure to petroleum in cleanup works are associated with a significant low value in PEF. But, the heterogeneity of pre-works and post-works groups is a limitation of the study.
Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Petroleum ; Petroleum Pollution ; Population Characteristics ; Risk Factors

Acinetobacter baumannii is an important microorganism responsible for a number of nosocomial outbreaks, in particular, in intensive care units (ICUs). We investigated a nosocomial infection caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Korea. A. baumannii isolates were characterized using Etest (AB Biodisk, Sweden), two multiplex PCR assays, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme. PCR and PCR mapping experiments were performed for detecting and characterizing the determinants of antimicrobial resistance. Eight strains isolated from an NICU belonged to European (EU) clone II and revealed only one sequence type (ST), namely, ST357. All the isolates were susceptible to imipenem but were resistant to amikacin, gentamicin, ceftazidime, cefepime, and ciprofloxacin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a nosocomial infection in an NICU in Korea caused by ST357 MDR/carbapenem-susceptible A. baumannii strains. This result demonstrates that nosocomial outbreaks of MDR/carbapenem-susceptible strains as well as MDR/carbapenem-resistant isolates may occur in NICUs.
Acinetobacter Infections/diagnosis/*microbiology ; Acinetobacter baumannii/drug effects/genetics/*isolation & purification/metabolism ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Cross Infection/*microbiology ; DNA, Bacterial/analysis ; *Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Humans ; Imipenem/pharmacology ; Infant, Newborn ; *Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Multilocus Sequence Typing ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Republic of Korea