No abstract available.
Crohn Disease*

No abstract available.
Scrub Typhus*

PURPOSE: The osmolar gap increases in proportion to the ethanol level. Some previous studies have shown that the correlation between the osmolar gap and the ethanol level is weak in trauma patient by using an indirect comparison with other patients. We conducted a direct comparison of the correlation of the osmolar gap to the ethanol level between trauma patients and non-trauma patients. We also analyzed the accuracy of the estimated ethanol level between the two groups. METHODS: The research candidates were adult patients who had visited the emergency department of our hospital from December 2003 to November 2008. By using a retrospective chart review, we classified them into three subgroups: non-trauma without shock, trauma without shock, and trauma with shock. In each group, we compared the correlation between the osmolar gap and the measured ethanol level, and we analyzed the accuracy of the estimated ethanol level by using Lin's concordance correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Four hundred forty-seven patients were enrolled in this study. For correlation of the osmolar gap and the measured ethanol level, Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.916 in all patients, 0.939 in non-trauma without shock patients, 0.917 in trauma without shock patients, and 0.844 in trauma with shock patients. In the analysis of the accuracy of the estimated ethanol level by using Lin's concordance correlation coefficient, the accuracy in trauma with shock patients was lower than that in non-trauma without shock patients. CONCLUSION: We found that the correlation between the osmolar gap and the measured ethanol level in the patient group with trauma was lower than it was in the patient group without trauma. Moreover trauma patients with shock had a lower accuracy of the estimated ethanol level than non-trauma patients.
Adult ; Emergencies ; Ethanol ; Humans ; Osmolar Concentration ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the morphometric characteristics of the pituitary gland and diaphragma sellae in Korean adults. METHODS: Using the 33 formaline fixed adult cadavers (23 male, 10 female), the measurements were taken at the diaphragma sellae and pituitary gland. The authors investigated the relationship between dura and structures surrounding pituitary gland, morphometric aspects of pituitary gland and stalk, and morphometric aspect of central opening of diaphragma sellae. RESULTS: The boundary between the lateral surface of pituitary gland and the medial wall of cavernous sinus was formed by the thin dural layer and pituitary capsule. The pituitary capsule adherent tightly to the pituitary gland was observed to continue from the diaphragma sellae. Mean width, length, and height of the pituitary gland were 14.3 +/- 2.1, 7.9 +/- 1.3, and 6.0 +/- 0.9 mm in anterior lobes, and 8.7 +/- 1.7, 2.9 +/- 1.1, and 5.8 +/- 1.0 mm in posterior lobes, respectively. Although all dimensions of anterior lobe in female were slightly larger than those in male, statistical significance was noted in only longitudinal dimension. The ratio of posterior lobe to the whole length of pituitary gland was about 27%. The mean thickness of pituitary stalk was 2 mm. The diaphragmal opening was 5 mm or more in 26 (78.8%) of 33 specimen. The opening was round in 60.6% of the specimen, and elliptical oriented in an anterior-posterior or transverse direction in 39.4%. CONCLUSION: These results provide the safe anatomical knowledge during the transsphenoidal surgery and may be helpful to access the possibility of the development of empty sella syndrome.
Adult ; Cadaver ; Cavernous Sinus ; Diaphragm ; Empty Sella Syndrome ; Female ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Male ; Pituitary Gland

No abstract available.

The arteriovenous fistula and cirsoid aneurysm, characterised by abnormal arterial and venous connections with grossly dilated and expansile mass of vessels, may predispose to dramatic complications. Cirsoid aneurysms of the scalp have been reported to be difficult to remove. Multiple treatment schemes have been described and, as yet, no standard form of therapy exists. Three cases of cirsoid aneurysms of the scalp are presented. Each of them was treated with embolization and total excision after ligation of the feeding arteries. All of them were well cured.
Aneurysm* ; Arteries ; Arteriovenous Fistula ; Ligation ; Scalp*

OBJECTIVE: Maternal anemia is one of the most common hematologic disorders of the child-bearingmothers. However the role of maternal anemia in the etiology of preterm delivery and adverse pregnancyoutcomes remains a source of controversy. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternalanemia on the preterm birth and the adverse pregnancy outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 1,010 women aged 19~44 years, who admitted to our hospitalfor the delivery between December 1994 and October 1995, were recruited into a hospitalbaed case-control study design. 259 women complicated by maternal anemia(cases) werecompared with 751 women without maternal anemia(controls). Multiple logistic regressionanalyses were performed to control for the effects of other potentially confounding factors,including maternal age, body mass index, previous term delivery, previous preterm deliveryand previous abortion. In all logistic regression analyses odds ratio and 95% confidenceintervals were calculated. RESULTS: The prevalence of maternal anemia(hemoglobin<10g/dl) was 25.6%. Therewas a positive linear relationship between the prepartum hemoglobin concentration and thepostpartum concentration. There was no significant differences of the incidence of pretermbirth and the neonatal morbidity, such as poor Apgar scores, fetal distress, congenitalanomaly, birth trauma, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, resuscitation and sepsisbetween case and control groups. Small for gestational age and low birth weight were associatedwith an somewhat decreased risk of maternal anemia and large for gestational age, notmacrosomia, was associated with an 70% increased risk of maternal anemia at the time ofdelivery. Maternal anemia was associated with 6.5 fold increases in the risks of postpartumbleeding, 8.5 fold increases in the postpartum transfusion and 80% increases in the puerperalfever respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal anemia was not associated with increased risks of preterm birthand the neonatal morbidty. However there was a significant relationship between maternalanemia and postpartum maternal morbidity, such as postpartum bleeding, postpartum transfusionand puerperal fever.
Abortion, Induced ; Anemia* ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies* ; Female ; Fetal Distress ; Fever ; Gestational Age ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Odds Ratio ; Parturition ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy* ; Premature Birth* ; Prevalence ; Resuscitation

No abstract available.

Cerebral hemorrhage is one of the most common causes of dysphagia. In many cases, dysphagia gets better once the acute phase has passed. Structural lesions such as thyromegaly, cervical hyperostosis, congenital web, Zenker's diverticulum, neoplasm, radiation fibrosis, and retropharyngeal abscess must be considered as other causes of dysphagia as well. Retropharyngeal abscess seldom occur in adults and if it does so, a search for a prior dental procedure, trauma, head and neck infection is needed. The symptoms may include neck pain, dysphagia, sore throat, and in rare cases, dyspnea accompanied by stridor. We present a case and discuss a patient who had dysphagia and neck pain after a cerebral hemorrhage. Testing revealed a retropharyngeal abscess. The symptoms were successfully treated after the administration of antibiotics.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Deglutition Disorders ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Hyperostosis ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; Pharyngitis ; Radiation Pneumonitis ; Respiratory Sounds ; Retropharyngeal Abscess ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Zenker Diverticulum

BACKGROUND: Glutathion S-transferase P1 (GSTP1), the abundant isoform of glutathione S-transferase in lung epithelium, plays an important role in cellular protection against oxidative stress and toxic foreign chemicals. GSTP1 (Ile105Val) polymorphism has been reported to be associated with asthma related phenotypes such as atopy and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Therefore we investigated whether this polymorphism may be associated with the development of aspirin-intolerant asthma (AIA). METHODS: GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism was determined using a single based extension method in 88 AIA subjects and compared to 154 aspirin-tolerant asthma (ATA) subjects and 119 normal healthy controls (NC) recruited from the Korean population. RESULTS: No significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of the GSTP1 Ilel105Val polymorphism were observed in the three groups (p> 0.05). However, minor G allele frequency of the GSTP1 Ilel105Val polymorphism in AIA group (16.5%) tended to be lower than in the NC group (20.6%). CONCLUSION: These results suggest a lack of association of the GSTPI Ilel105Val gene polymorphism with AIA phenotype in the Korean population [word count: 159].
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Male ; Korea ; Isoenzymes/*genetics ; Humans ; Glutathione S-Transferase pi/*genetics/*metabolism ; Glutathione/*metabolism ; Genotype ; Female ; Case-Control Studies ; Asthma/*chemically induced/enzymology/*genetics ; Aspirin/*adverse effects ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/*adverse effects ; Alleles ; Adult