BACKGROUND: Gamma linoleic acid (GLA, Epogam) is considered a safe and effective modality in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) in which impaired function of the enzyme, delta-6-desaturase, has been reported to result in reduced levels of GLA, desaturated fatty acids. OBJECTIVE: We performed this study to observe the changes of skin surface conditions measured objectively by bioengineering methods in relation to clinical improvement after treatment with GLA (Epogam®) in children with AD. METHODS: Thirty-four children with AD were treated with GLA (Epogam®) and evaluated with clinical parameters.The changes of skin surface conditions were monitored by non-invasive experimental instruments. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and gradual improvements in clinical severity after 12 weeks of GLA (Epogam®) treatment. The change of skin surface pH was statistically significant on the antecubital fossa and abdomen except the popliteal fossa. The other parameters including skin surface hydration and skin surface lipid did not show consistent changes. CONCLUSION: Clinical improvement of AD with GLA (Epogam) seemed to be achieved by the reduction of TEWL.
Abdomen ; Bioengineering ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Fatty Acids ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Linoleic Acid* ; Linoleoyl-CoA Desaturase ; Skin* ; Water

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the validity of standardized Korean nomenclature of the Home Health Care Classification(HHCC), developed by Saba at the University of Georgetown. The four phases of the study were : (1) Two professors and 15 graduate students, who were taking a nursing intervention course, translated the HHCC into Korean. (2)12 nurses with various clinical backgrounds reviewed each nomenclature taking into consideration of the definition and activities, and the Delphi method was used to determine the best appropriate nomenclature for each term; (3)20 academic and clinical experts in nursing were given a questionnaire to rate the validity of each Korean nomenclature using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from very inappropriate to very appropriate; (4) Five members of the Korean Nurses Association Research Committee reviewed the survey results and determined the most appropriate Korean nomenclature for each term of the HHCC. Most of the nomenclatures had a score of more than 4.0, but several terms had a score lower than 4.0. They are Ambulation therapy(3.1.1), Anticipatory grieving(3.11), Sexual patterns alteration(3.17), Nursing care coordination(3. 22), Physical therapist service(3.22), Regular diet(3.33), and Instrumental activities of daily living(3.44). These research results will be included in the nursing vocabulary dictionary to be published by the Korean Nurses Association.
Classification* ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Humans ; Nursing ; Nursing Care ; Physical Therapists ; Vocabulary ; Walking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Nursing Diagnosis has evolved in the guest to define nursing and its functions. But for the application to clinical practice an unified system of terminology that help nurses to assess selected data and identify potential or actual client problems is required. Consistent terminology that captures the real meanings of the nursing diagnosis makes oral and written communication more accurate and efficient. Already we had performed to deliver a Korean -translated version of the 98 nursing diagnoses through the process of content validity tests and translations, and additionally performed to deliver a Korean-translated version of another 17 nursing diagnoses. The list of 17 nursing diagnoses were reviewed by our research team and two linguists, one specialized in Korean and the other in English. 17 diagnoses were mailed to 719 subjects to test content validity from December 10, 1997 to January 24, 1998, Among 719 questionnaires, 185 were used for analysis. Total mean score of the diagnoses was 3.72 on the 5 point likert scale. The diagnoses that acquired less than 3.50 were 'Risk for altered parent/infant/child attachment'(3.28), 'Potential for enhanced organized infant behavior'(3.40), 'Potential for enhanced community coping' & 'Risk for disorganized infant behavior'(3.49). We suggest to conduct tests for validation of related factors and characteristics of these 17 Nursing Diagnosis.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Nursing Diagnosis* ; Nursing* ; Postal Service ; Translations ; Surveys and Questionnaires

This study was done to identify the effectiveness of applying a "Nursing Process Program" to the nursing students' clinical practice. The data collection period was from September 2000 to January 2001, and the subjects of the study were 39 students who were doing clinical practice in the ICU. The results are as follows; 1. Most subjects had a personal computer, had experience in using computers for one year and usually did word processing and internet, and wanted computerization of nursing work. The average results of the questions on the need for, and the effectiveness of applying a "Nursing Process Program" to clinical practice were, on five point scales, 4.07 and 4.21 respectively . 2. There were no significant differences in the mean scores for subjects' attitudes toward computers and computer anxiety between before and after using a "Nursing Process Program". 3. The total case study frequency using a "Nursing Process Program" was 68, and "Risk for infection" was the most frequent nursing diagnosis.
Anxiety ; Data Collection ; Humans ; Internet ; Microcomputers ; Nursing Diagnosis ; Nursing Process ; Nursing* ; Weights and Measures ; Word Processing

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the validity of standardized Korean nomenclature of the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP), developed by the International Council of Nursing (ICN). The four phases of the study were: (1) Two professors and 15 graduate students translated who were taking a nursing intervention course, translated nursing phenomena and nursing action of the ICNP into Korean; (2) 12 nurses with various clinical backgrounds reviewed the nomenclature taking into consideration of the definition, and contents for each Korean nursing terminology, and the Delphi method was used to determine the best appropriate nomenclature for each terminology; (3) 20 academic and clinical experts in nursing were given a questionnaire to rate the validity of each Korean nomenclature using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from very inappropriate to very appropriate; (4) five members of the Korean Nurses Association Research Committee reviewed the survey results and determined the most appropriate Korean nomenclature for each nursing phenomena and activity of the ICNP. Most nomenclature of the ICNP had a score of more than 4.0, but four nursing phenomena had a score between 3.5 and 4.0: Unilateral neglect(3.86), Care Giver strain (3.86), Health denial(3.86), Health Adjustment (3.86) and draining(2.63) . In nursing activity 726 items, except for twelve items, had a score of over 4.0: Drainage(2.63) Weaning(3.13), Caring(3.75), Cold Wrapping(3.63), distraction Technique(3.57), drawing(3.88), Establishing Report with(3.5), Heating Wrapping(3.5), Manipulating(3.75), Performing(3.88), Reading material(3.75) and Restricting(3.75).
Caregivers ; Classification ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Nursing

The purpose of this study was to develop the computerized nursing diagnoses system for clinical application and activation of nursing diagnosis based on validity verification. In addition, our research team also performed system tests in clinical situations, to identify ways to improve the program and make it more practical. Nursing Diagnoses System will increase nurses' knowledge and experience of the application of nursing diagnoses in clinical situations and development of nursing interventions by nurses as well as the effectiveness of hospital computerized systems. We expect this system can contribute to an improvement in the quality of nursing care. Also we will continuously evaluate and revise the system related to the utilization of the program.
Nursing Care ; Nursing Diagnosis* ; Nursing*

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a life-threatening disorder with apnea and cyanosis during sleep requiring immediate endotracheal intubation during the first day of life. The PHOX2B gene has been identified as the major gene involved in CCHS. This is the first report of a Korean neonate with CCHS confirmed to have a PHOX2B mutation with expanded alleles containing 20 polyalanine repeats that is a relatively small number compared to previous cases. The patient required intermittent ventilator support during sleep only and did not suffer from any other disorders of the autonomic nerve system. He consistently needs ventilator support during sleep and remains alive. Analysis of PHOX2B gene is useful for diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic intervention of CCHS patients.
Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Genotype ; Homeodomain Proteins/*genetics ; Humans ; Hypoventilation/congenital/*genetics ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Mutation ; Peptides/genetics ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Transcription Factors/*genetics ; Ventilators, Mechanical

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a routine ultrasonography (US) is necessary for diagnosis of developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH), presenting with congenital muscular torticollis (CMT). METHODS: Cases of 133 patients (81 males, 52 females) diagnosed as CMT were reviewed, retrospectively. We reviewed the medical charts and diagnostic examination. We also assessed the coincidence of CMT and DDH, and investigated the clinical features of CMT related to DDH. RESULTS: Twenty (15.0%) patients out of 133 CMT patients were diagnosed as having DDH by US. Of whom, 8 patients were radiographically positive and 4 patients were both clinically and radiographically positive. Nine patients were treated with a harness and 1 of them needed closed reduction and casting. Out of 9 patients treated with a harness, only 4 were clinically positive. The difference and ratio of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle thickness between the normal and abnormal side was significantly greater in DDH patients (p=0.014). Further, receiver operating characteristic analysis showed when the SCM ratio is greater than 2.08 and the SCM difference is greater than 6.1 mm, the efficiency of US for the diagnosis of the DDH was found to be the best (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: To evaluate DDH, physical examination showed low sensitivity and radiologic study has limitation for the child before 4 to 6 months of age. Therefore, we recommend that hip is screened by US for the diagnosis of DDH associated with CMT when physical examination is positive or CMT patients with large SCM difference and high SCM ratio.
Child ; Hip ; Hip Joint ; Humans ; Male ; Muscles ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Torticollis

The purpose of this study was to identify nursing diagnoses and nursing interventions that are found in the home health care patients, and to establish a basis for a standardized Nursing Intervention List that would help nurses doing home health care nursing. For this study, the records of 150 home health care clients who were discharged, from the Home Health Care Center at Yonsei Medical Center, between January to July, 2001 were analyzed. Of the 43 nursing diagnoses recorded for these clients are 43, the most frequent diagnoses were in the area of Exchanging. There were 2,814 nursing interventions which is a mean of 4.73 nursing interventions per diagnosis. We confirmed that most of the interventions were related to 'education' and 'advice'. We present a Home Health Care Nursing Intervention List that was developed based on the results of this study. It has the five 5 criteria of the ICNP classification, Observing, Management, Performance, Caring, and Informing.
Classification ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Home Health Nursing* ; Humans ; Nursing ; Nursing Diagnosis

Rat bite fever is a rare, systemic illness caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis or Spirillum minus following a rat or other rodent bite. Characteristically, fever develops abruptly with maculopapular skin rash after an incubation period of two to ten days, and asymmetric migrating polyarthritis starts later in up to 50% of patients. The arthritis involves the knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, which may either be suppurative or non-suppurative. Although most cases seem to resolve spontaneously within two weeks, the mortality in untreated cases is around 10~15%. The response to antibiotic treatment is good and early diagnosis is the most important prognostic factor. We report a patient who developed arthritis with fever after biting by rat.
Animals ; Arthritis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Elbow ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Hand ; Humans ; Knee ; Moniliformis ; Mortality ; Rat-Bite Fever* ; Rats* ; Rodentia ; Shoulder ; Spirillum ; Streptobacillus ; Wrist