BACKGROUND: House dust mites have been reported to play an aportant role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis(AD). In fact a high positive rate for house dust mites in the skin prick test was observed in patients of AD. However, it is quite difficult to determine the clinical relevance of positive immediate hypersensitivity to mite antigen by clarical history alone because AD patients are nearly always exposed to these antigens in their daily lives. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinical. singficance of a positive immediate hypersensitivity reaction by observing the proliferative respons of peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) to mite antigen in the AD. METHODS: The proliferative response of PBMC separated from Dermatopkagoides farinae(Df) positive AD patients to Df antigen was compared with that from Df negative normal controls, Df positive normal controls and Df negative AD patients. RESULTS: PBMC from Df positive AD patients showed signinc not proliferation in response to Df antigen evaluated by comparing stimulation indices(SI) among different experiment groups. CONCLUSION: Significant correlation between responses of PBMC and immediate hypersensitivity of skin to Df antigen in AD was found, and it was suggested the Df may be a real aggravating factor in the Df positiv AD patients. SI may be used as ar objective criteria to select patients for hyposensitization therapy after doing a skin test.
Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity, Immediate* ; Mites* ; Pyroglyphidae ; Skin Tests ; Skin*

Myoclouns is a complicated and poorly-understood phenomenon caused by many pathological conditions. Myoclonus which is triggered by sensory stimuli has been termed reflx myoclonus and divided into cortical, reticular and spinal types depending on the generator sites. Segmental myoclonus of spinal origin consists of synchronous rhythmical jerks confined to a group of muscles supplied by either one segment or several contiguous segments of the spinal cords. We present two cases of spinal reflex myoclonus. One was 50 years old female who showed complex myoclonic jerks involving the abdominal wall and paraspinal muscibs resembling 'belly dance'. The other was 26 years old male who showed intermittent synchronous upper cervical axial muscle contractions. In both cases, jerks were increased with certain stimuli, but disappeared during sleep. They showed normal EEGs and absence of enhancement of SSEPS.
Abdominal Wall ; Adult ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscles ; Myoclonus* ; Reflex ; Spinal Cord

Demodex is a common ectoparasite in human eyelash. However the occurrence rate and pathogencity are still controversial. The purpose of this study were to investigate the occurrence rate and classification of Demodex from eyelashes and its relationship with blepharitis. We selected 28 blepharitis patients and 132 patients without blepharitis(control group) who vistied St. Family's Hostital from March 1992 to July 1992. The following results were obtained. Demodex was observed in 17 out of 28 blepharitis patients(60.7%) and in 32 out of 132 control group(24.2%). This difference was stastically significant(p<0.05). In blepharitis patients. Demodex index was 19.6 and lash index was 12.2. In control group. Democlex index 7.4 and lash index 5.3.
Blepharitis* ; Classification ; Eyelashes ; Humans ; Incidence*

Conjunctival goblet cells are thought to be the main source of tear mucin, and it is believed that this mucin plays an important role on increasing the tear film stability and the wettability of the ocular surface. The measurement of the conjunctival goblet cell density is useful for the differential diagnosis among the various ocular surface diseases, and for the evaluation of the efficacy of the treatment. This method can be checked simply and rapidly, but the normal conjunctival goblet cell density in Korean has not been reported. We examined the goblet cell density in the 68 eyes (57 patients) of normal subjects using an impression cytological technique on the palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva. The results were as follows: 1. Normal goblet cell density was 1316.9 +/- 491.7 cells/mm2 in the inferior palpebral conjunctiva, 57.9 +/- 67.9 cells/mm2 in the superor bulbar conjunctiva. 2. There was no significant difference in goblet cell density according to sex and age ( p>0.05, t-test). 3. The goblet cell density was increased as a rise of break-up time(BUT), but was not correlated with BUT(r=0.24, 0.05). Also there was no correlation between the goblet cell density and Schirmer test value (r=-0.10, 0.09), (r=regression coefficient). It is suggested that the above findings would aid in the diagnosis of the dry eye syndrome and allow differential diagnosis among the various ocular surface diseases.
Conjunctiva ; Cytological Techniques ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dry Eye Syndromes ; Goblet Cells* ; Mucins ; Tears ; Wettability

Conjunctival fibroblastic proliferation with contracting scar formation has been implicated as a possible cause of glaucoma filtering surgery failure. The inhibitory effect of plasma coagulation factor XIII deficiency on the healing following trabeculectomy of the eyes in rabbits was studied. The plasma coagulation factor XIII deficiency was induced by two successive intravenous injections of anti-rabbit plasma coagulation factor XIII-goat immunoglobulin. Grossly, artificially prepared filtering bleb was well preserved on plasma coagulation factor XIII ddicient groups compared with control groups. Histologically. wound healing following trabeculectomy was delayed and the size of the scar was reduced on plasma coagulation factor XIII deficient groups compared with control groups. The above findings suggest that plasma coagulation factor XIII deficiency inhibit the healing precess following traheculectomy.
Blister ; Blood Coagulation Factors* ; Cicatrix ; Factor XIII* ; Fibroblasts ; Filtering Surgery ; Glaucoma ; Immunoglobulins ; Injections, Intravenous ; Plasma* ; Rabbits* ; Trabeculectomy* ; Wound Healing

We report the case of a 78-year-old female patient with dementia with Lewy bodies accompanying severe psychotic and parkinso-nian symptoms. The patient's symptoms did not improved with various antipsychotics, and cardiac and pulmonary side effects pre-vented adequate doses of the drugs from being administered. As an alternative approach, we performed electroconvulsive therapy, which can be conducted relatively safely in elderly patients with underlying medical conditions. The patient received 10 sessions of electroconvulsive therapy across a 4-week period. Remarkable improvements in psychotic and parkinsonian symptoms proven with validated scales were observed following the repeating electroconvulsive therapy sessions. This is the first case report describing the use of electroconvulsive therapy in a patient with dementia with Lewy bodies in Korea. This case report may help to establish new guidelines for the treatment of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, which is still considered a difficult disease to treat.

There have been controversies on the effect of albumin in treating edema in nephrotic syndrome patients. We evaluated the additive diuretic effect of coadministration of furosernide with albumin in the six patients with nephrotic syndrome. We administered 160mg of furosemide intravenously for 1 hour with 100rnl of 20% albumin or 5% dextrose by random cross-over design. The urine and plasma furosemide concentrations were measured by HPLC. After the administration of furosemide alone, urine volume, urinary excretions of sodium and chloride were increased significantly compared to those of basal state (P<0.05). But, coadministration of furose-mide with albumin did not increase significantly the urine voume (2285+/-445ml vs. 3023+/-715ml), urinary excretions of sodium (194+/-58rnmol/day vs. 282+/-85 mmol/day) and chloride (213+/- 54mmoVday vs. 286+/- 74mmoVday) comparing to those of furosemide only cases. Addition of albumin to furosemide did not significantly changed pharmacokinetic parameters such as AUC (28.3+/-5.5ug/ml hr vs 36.0+/-6.7ug/ml hr), total plasma clearance (115+/-30mVmin vs 108+/-41ml/min), volume of distribution (0.13+/-0.02L/kg vs 0.10+/- 0.01L/kg), elirnination half life (1.4+/-0.3hr vs 1.5+/-0.3hr), and urine furosemide excretion (44+/-8% vs 43+ 10%). We concluded that albumin infusion did not enhance the diuretic action of furosemide pharmacodynamically and pharmacokinetically in patients with nephrotic syndrome.
Area Under Curve ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cross-Over Studies ; Diuretics ; Edema ; Furosemide* ; Glucose ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Nephrotic Syndrome* ; Pharmacokinetics ; Plasma ; Sodium

OBJECTIVES: Neurotensin (NT), of which functions are evoked by its interaction with neurotensin receptors (NTR), coexists with mesolimbic dopamine and regulates endogenous dopamine release. Recent studies have shown that NT with NTR exerts neuroleptic-like activity within the central nervous system and may play an important role in the pathogenesis and in the treatment of schizophrenia. We have examined the genetic association between schizophrenia and tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism in the 3'-flanking region of the NTR gene to investigate the possible contribution of the NTR gene to the schizophrenia susceptibility. METHODS: Among 23 alleles identified, the subjects were 120 patients (male 91, female 29) with schizophrenia and 106 normal healthy controls (male 84, female 22). They were unrelated native Korean. PANSS was used to determine positive or negative subgroup in the schizophrenic patients.Using polymerase chain reaction and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism (CCTT and CTTT) in the 3'-flanking region of NTR gene was observed. For a comparison of NTR gene's allelic frequencies between patients with schizophrenia and normal healthy controls, chi-square test and Bonferroni's correction was performed. RESULTS: The frequency of A10 allele (base pair size=399) was significantly higher in normal healthy controls than schizophrenia (x2=16.4902, df=1, p<.000). In the comparison between schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms and normal controls, the frequency of A10 allele was significantly higher in normal healthy control subjects than patients with schizophrenia (x2=21.33, df=1, p<0.001). In the case of male, the frequency of A10 allele of schizophrenia was significantly higher than normal controls (x2=13.71, df=1, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: NTR gene was negatively associated with schizophrenia. NTR gene's tetranucleotide repeat polymorphism may provide some protective function against schizophrenia.
Alleles ; Central Nervous System ; Dopamine ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Neurotensin* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Neurotensin* ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVE: New antidepressant, nefazodone is classified as a serotonin -2 antagonist/reuptake inhibitor like old antidepressant, trazodone. Nefazodone, however, differs from trazodone in that it lacks anti-histaminergic properties and in that it has some norepinephrine reuptake inhibitory properties. These differences may account for the differences between the two drugs in the side effect profiles. This study was conducted to compare the acute effects of nefazodone on the psychomotor performance with those of trazodone. METHODS: The subjects were 12 healthy male volunteers aged between 20-40 years. A single, oral starting dose of nefazodone or trazodone was administered in a double-blind, randomized latin-square design with a 1-week interval between each drug switch. Psychomotor performances were assessed at 1 hour before and at 2 hours after administration of nefazodone 50 mg, nefazodone 100 mg or trazodone 50 mg. The measures of psychomotor performance included Vienna Determination Unit for complex choice reaction time, Critical Flicker Fusion Test, and Grooved Pegboard Test. RESULTS: In the Vienna Determination Unit, when 'within drug effect' (pre- vs. post-medication) was analyzed, nefazodone 100 mg decreased complex choice reaction time in both subtest 2 and subtest 3. Nefazodone 50 mg also decreased the reaction time in subtest 3 but not in subtest 2 which was more difficult and demanding task than subtest 3. On the other hand, no significant changes in the reaction time were observed with trazodone 50 mg in either subtest 2 or subtest 3. When 'between drug effect' was analyzed, however, the differences between drugs were not found to reach statistically significant level. No significant 'between drug effect' or 'within drug effect' was observed in Critical Flicker Fusion Test and Grooved Pegboard Test. CONCLUSION: Although the differences between nefazodone and trazodone did not reach statistically significant level, the results on the complex choice reaction time suggest that al least a single starting dose of nefazodone up to 100 mg does not impair psychomotor performances and it might have a less detrimental effect than trazodone on the psychomotor performance.
Administration, Oral* ; Flicker Fusion ; Hand ; Healthy Volunteers* ; Humans ; Male ; Norepinephrine ; Psychomotor Performance* ; Reaction Time ; Serotonin ; Trazodone* ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of death among cancer patients in Korea. Over the last three decades, the overall survival rate of patients with rectal cancer has remained unchanged in Western countries, although somewhat improved in adjuvant trials. Meanwhile, although the use of extended lymphadenectomy, widely applied in Japan from the middle 1970s to the early 1980s, has significantly improved the survival rate following surgical treatment for advanced low rectal cancer, this kind of wide resection has resulted in a high incidence of urinary and sexual dysfunction. Therefore, lateral pelvic node dissection is still controversial. The use of lateral pelvic node dissection is currently a highly debated topic. The purpose of this study was to assess the significance of lateral pelvic node dissection in pelvic node metastasis. METHODS: The study group was comprised of 524 rectal cancer patient who had undergone operation between 1985 and 1999 at the Department of Surgery, Chonnam National University Hospital, Of these patient, 26 presented with metastasis to the pelvic lymph node, 23 with metastasis to the inferior mesenteric lymph node, and 8 with metastasis to the paraaortic lymph node. Lymphadenectomy was not performed in 24 cases due to distant metastasis. Of the remainder, 133 cases exhibited pararectal lymph node metastasis around the primary tumor and 310 cases displayed no lymph node metastasis. RESULTS: 1) The age and sex distribution of patients with rectal cancer was similar in all the groups. 2) In 96.2% ofpatient in the pelvic node positive group, the primary presenting tumor was localized in the lower rectum. 3) There was no statistically significant difference between the pelvic node group and the other groups in term of local recurrence. The patients of the pelvic node positive group had a higher survival rate than both the IMA node positive group and the paraaortic node positive group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Lateral pelvic node dissection may indeed provide significant benefits contributing toward an increased survival rate in rectal cancer patients.
Cause of Death ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Incidence ; Japan ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Rectal Neoplasms* ; Rectum ; Recurrence* ; Sex Distribution ; Survival Rate