Systolic time interval measurements were made sequentially during second, third trimesters and postpartum period. Recordings were made in the supine position after bed rest for at least five minutes in order to obtain a steady state. In second trimester, pre-ejection period index (PEPI) was significantly shortened and left ventricular ejection period index(LVETI) remained normal while PEP/LVET decreased. Four possible mechanisms may be involved to account for the alterations in hemodynamic changes during this period(late stage of second trimester) : (1) increased metabolic demands of pregnancy: (2) hemodynamic effects of hypervolemia: (3) circulatory adjustments secondary to an arteriovenous shunt-like effect of the placental circulation: (4) cardiovascular effect of steroid hormone. The third trimester was characterized-by a markedly shortened LVETI, a prolonged PEPI and PEP/LVET. This findings are consistent with impaired left ventricular performance and are probably due to decreased left ventricular preload resulting from diminished venous return secondary to inferior vena caval obstruction by the large gravid uterus. In the postpartum period, the PEPI and PEP/LVET remained elevated and the LVETI shortened in the supine position. It is concluded that alterations in systolic time intervals occur normally during the course of uncomplicated pregnancy and persist into the postpartum period.
Bed Rest ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Placental Circulation ; Postpartum Period* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third* ; Supine Position ; Systole* ; Uterus

PURPOSE: To report the use of autologous Tenon's capsule graft for repair of scleral defects caused by traumatic scleral perforation. CASE SUMMARY: An 81-year-old man presented with loss of vision in his right eye after a perforating injury caused by a cow horn. Examination showed a laceration of the sclera at 12 o'clock approximately 5~6 mm in length, and a uveal tissue was prolapsed into the wound. The best corrected visual acuity was 0.1. Primary repair of the eye was insufficient because of tissue loss. The inferonasal Tenon's capsule graft was carefully dissected from the sclera and tailored to fit the defect. The graft was covered with a conjunctival flap. The scleral defect was successfully closed with the autologous Tenon's capsule graft. Three months after grafting, phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Autologous Tenon's capsule graft is an effective measure to repair traumatic scleral defects and is useful when patch grafts are unexpectedly needed.
Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Eye ; Horns ; Humans ; Lacerations ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Phacoemulsification ; Sclera ; Tenon Capsule ; Transplants ; Vision, Ocular ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the health status and nutritional condition of children living in a low-income community through anthropometric, laboratory evaluation. METHODS: A community-based survey identified children below 15 years living in a low-income community. Their weight, height, visual acuity, hearing level and dental status were measured. Blood sample were obtained on June and July, 2004. Hemoglobin, serum cholesterol, Hepatitis B antigen/antibody, AST and ALT were measured. RESULTS: A total of 285 students(M:F=141:144) aged 6 to 14 years were included in this study. The heights and weights in some grades were smaller than controls. The prevalence of obesity was 10.6 percent in males and 10.7 percent in females. The prevalence of abnormal visual acuity, hearing impairments and dental carries were 20.5 percent, 0.3 percent and 69.4 percent. The prevalence of anemia was 10.1 percent. Serum total cholesterol was over 200 mg/dL in 7 percent. They complained of abdominal pain(22.1 percent) and headache(17.1 percent). Hyperthyroidism, cataract, neurofibromatosis, severe atopic dermatitis, ventricular septal defect, strabismus and inguinal hernia were newly diagnosed. CONCLUSION: Mean heights and weights of children in the low-income community were smaller than controls. The prevalence of abnormal visual acuity, hearing impairment and dental carries were higher than in the 2003 national health survey. Additional research is needed to evaluate the health status of the low-income community.
Anemia ; Cataract ; Child* ; Cholesterol ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Hepatitis B ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Male ; Neurofibromatoses ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Strabismus ; Visual Acuity ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: Melanocytes grown in pure monolayer culure lack many of the cellular interactions that exist in vivo. This can be partially overcome by growing melanocytes together with other epidermal cells in skin equivalent models. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to grow human melanocytes in human epidermis reconstructed on dermal substrates in vitro and to examine their response to UV radiation. METHODS: The skin equivalents were prepared by seeding cultured human keratinocytes together with cultured human melanocytes(in a ratio of 5%) onto de-epidermized dermis. After 7 days of culture, they were exposed to UVB irradiation(total 150m J/cm over 5days). On day 12 of air exposure the sections of the skin equivalents were prepared for histology. The structure of the skin equivalents was studied following staining with hematoxylin and eosin. Melanocytes were characterized by DOPA staining and by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Melanocytes were localized singly within the basal layer of the reconstructs. Melanin was also visible both in the melanocytes and in neighboring keratinocytes. There was an increase in melanocyte size and dendricity following UV irradiation. Melanocytes became positive to staining with HMB-45 antibody following UV irradiation. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that melanocytes grown in reconstructed human epidermis are functional and capable of responding to UV irradiation.
Dermis ; Dihydroxyphenylalanine ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Epidermis* ; Hematoxylin ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratinocytes ; Melanins ; Melanocytes* ; Skin

A clinicopathological study was made on 17 case with leukemia cutis diagnosed in a period of 10 years frorn 1980 to 1989 in Seoul Xational University I-lospital. The results were summarized as follows : 1. There were 4 cases with acute lyrnphocytic leukernia, 7 with acute myelocytir. leukemia (AML), 5 with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML), 1 with eosinophilic leukemia. 2. The clinical appearance of leukemia cutis included nodules (88.2%), papules, macules, plaques and ulcerative lesions. Leukemia cutis dis not show any discernible clinical qppearance with each different type of leukemia. 3. Leukemia cutis showed a wide spectrum of histopathologic features, diffuse infiltration, patchy infiltration with linear infiltration between collagen bundles, perivascular and peridnexal involvement, perivascular involvement, and mainly subcutaneous tissue involvement. There was no distinctive histopathologic pattern with each different type of leukemia. 4. The demonstration of intracytoplasmic chloroacetate esterase and lysozyme was helpful to refine the diagnosis of leukemia cutis.
Collagen ; Diagnosis ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Muramidase ; Seoul ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Ulcer

OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of electrodiagnostic studies with the severity of disc herniation, measured digitally by picture archiving and communication system (PACS) from the images of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: MRI images were reviewed from thirty two patients who were diagnosed electrodiagnostically as unilateral S1 radiculopathy. Areas of herniated disc and spinal canal were measured and the ratio of disc herniation was calculated from the axial images stored and analyzed by PACS. The radiologic measurements were compared with the results of electrodiagnostic studies. RESULTS: The presence of abnormal spontaneous activities in needle EMG and no response in H reflex were associated with larger disc herniation (p<0.05). There was no other single electrodiagnostic study that showed correlation with any of radiologic measurements. With increasing number of abnormal electrodiagnostic tests, area of disc herniation grew larger (p<0.05). Area of spinal canal and the ratio of disc herniation did not show difference between normal and abnormal groups in most of electrodiagnostic studies. CONCLUSION: There were limited correlations between electrodiagnostic results and severity of disc herniation. The size of disc herniation, regardless of the size of spinal canal, was associated with abnormal results of electrodiagnostic tests.
Electromyography ; H-Reflex ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Needles ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Canal

The myofascial pain syndrome patients usually have characteristic personalities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological characteristics of myofascial pain syndrome patients. We reviewed medical records of fifty-four patients with myofascial pain syndrome for their Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Visual Analogue Scale, and psychological interview notes. On MMPI profile, the patients scored high in hypochondriasis, hysteria and depression scales, which are the triad of neurosis. According to stress factors and occupations, the psychologic responses were different. We have compared the severity of pain according to different life stress and occupations. VAS scores of the student group were higher statistically in the occupation comparison and of the marital problem group were higher in the life stress comparison. It is suggested that psychologic intervention on myofascial pain syndrome patients should be stressed for the management of pain.
Depression ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Hysteria ; Interview, Psychological ; Medical Records ; MMPI ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes* ; Occupations ; Psychology ; Rehabilitation ; Stress, Psychological ; Weights and Measures

Purpose: Advancements in surgical and nonsurgical care for congenital heart disease (CHD) have enabled an increase in survival into adulthood of these children with CHD, thereby contributing to the growth of the aging population, it is important to evaluate these functional outcome measures in adults with CHD. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the subjective and objective assessments of physical activity (PA) and exercise capacity (EC) in adults with CHD and age-matched, healthy controls. Methods: Forty-six adults with CHD (male, 26; age, 20.6±1.3 years) and forty-six healthy controls (male, 24; age, 21.2±1.6 years) underwent an assessment of subjective and objective PA levels using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and the accelerometer device (GENEActiv) worn on the wrist for seven consecutive days, respectively.EC was directly measured by peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2 ) during a graded exercise test. Results: Subjectively and objectively measured of moderate to vigorous PA in adults with CHD were lower than those with healthy controls (p=0.008, p=0.004), while the majority of adults with CHD have achieved the recommended levels of PA (150 min/wk). In addition, peak VO2 was lower in adults with CHD than in healthy controls (30.8±8 mL/kg/min vs. 46.7±10 mL/kg/min, p＜ 0.001). Conclusion Although the majority of adults with CHD meet the recommended levels of PA, their overall PA levels and EC are still lower than those of age-matched, healthy adults without CHD.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to compare inter-fragmentary compression pressures after fixation of a simulated type II odontoid fracture with the headless compression Herbert screw and a half threaded cannulated lag screw. METHODS: We compared inter-fragmentary compression pressures between 40- and 45-mm long 4.5-mm Herbert screws (n=8 and n=9, respectively) and 40- and 45-mm long 4.0-mm cannulated lag screws (n=7 and n=10, respectively) after insertion into rigid polyurethane foam test blocks (Sawbones, Vashon, WA, USA). A washer load cell was placed between the two segments of test blocks to measure the compression force. Because the total length of each foam block was 42 mm, the 40-mm screws were embedded in the cancellous foam, while the 45-mm screws penetrated the denser cortical foam at the bottom. This enabled us to compare inter-fragmentary compression pressures as they are affected by the penetration of the apical dens tip by the screws. RESULTS: The mean compression pressures of the 40- and 45-mm long cannulated lag screws were 50.48±1.20 N and 53.88±1.02 N, respectively, which was not statistically significant (p=0.0551). The mean compression pressures of the 40-mm long Herbert screw was 52.82±2.17 N, and was not statistically significant compared with the 40-mm long cannulated lag screw (p=0.3679). However, 45-mm Herbert screw had significantly higher mean compression pressure (60.68±2.03 N) than both the 45-mm cannulated lag screw and the 40-mm Herbert screw (p=0.0049 and p=0.0246, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results showed that inter-fragmentary compression pressures of the Herbert screw were significantly increased when the screw tip penetrated the opposite dens cortical foam. This can support the generally recommended surgical technique that, in order to facilitate maximal reduction of the fracture gap using anterior odontoid screws, it is essential to penetrate the apical dens tip with the screw.
Polyurethanes

Varicella zoster virus (VZV)-induced brachioplexitis is a rare disease, characterized by exacerbating ipsilateral upper extremity pain, muscular weakness, and delay in recovery. We report a 54-year-old female patient who made an early recovery from VZV-induced brachioplexitis via the treatment with stellate ganglion blocks, which may have prevented pain sensation, vasoconstriction, and nerve scarring during the early treatment period.
Cicatrix ; Female ; Herpesvirus 3, Human ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness* ; Rare Diseases ; Sensation ; Stellate Ganglion ; Upper Extremity ; Vasoconstriction