Mutation in the p53 suppressor gene is the most common genetic alteration found in human cancers including primary brain tumors. Ki-67 labeling index(LI) is known to be a marker of proliferating activity. The purpose of this study was to verify whether an immunohistochemical expression of p53 antibody and Ki-67 LI could be related to different clinicopathologic parameters including histologic grade, size, invasiveness and recurrence of the brain tumors. Materials were based on the 147 surgically resected brain tumors during the last two years. Of the 147 brain tumors, there were 35 astrocytic tumors, 35 meningiomas, 10 oligodendrogliomas, 7 craniopharyngiomas, 5 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors, 4 medulloblastomas, 5 ependymomas, 23 pituitary adenomas, 9 schwannomas, and 14 other brain tumors. The p53 expression and Ki-67 LI were higher in malignant brain tumors including astrocytic tumors, medulloblastoma, PNET and gliosarcoma. The p53 positivity was correlated with histologic grades and tumor recurrence. The brain tumors with a high Ki-67 LI(>6%) also showed a close relationship to a higher histologic grading, radiological invasiveness and recurrence. There was no evident correlation with the age and tumor size with p53 expression and Ki-67 LI. These results suggest that p53 overexpression and high proliferation potential of the tumor cells are associated with the higher histologic grade and aggressive clinical course in the central nervous system tumors.
Brain Neoplasms* ; Brain* ; Central Nervous System Neoplasms ; Craniopharyngioma ; Ependymoma ; Genes, Suppressor ; Gliosarcoma ; Humans ; Medulloblastoma ; Meningioma ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial ; Neurilemmoma ; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive ; Oligodendroglioma ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVE: To investigate employment status after spinal cord injury (SCI) and identify personal, family, and injury characteristics those affect their employment in South Korea. METHODS: Participants were 334 community-dwelling persons 20-64 years of age who had sustained SCI for more than one year. Investigators visited each participant's home to carry out the survey. Bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify personal, family, and injury characteristics that influenced employment after SCI. RESULTS: Employment rate decreased significantly from 82.5% to 27.5% after SCI. Logistic regression showed that the probability of employment was higher in men than women, and in individuals older than 45 years at the time of injury than those aged 31-45 years of age. Moreover, employment was higher in individuals injured for longer than 20 years than those injured for 1-5 years and in individuals with incomplete tetraplegia than those with complete paraplegia. Employment was lower in individuals with SCI caused by industrial accidents than those injured in non-industrial accidents. CONCLUSION: Injury characteristics are the most important predictors of employment in persons with SCI. For persons with lower employment rate, individualized vocational rehabilitation and employment-support systems are required.
Accidents, Occupational ; Employment* ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Paraplegia ; Quadriplegia ; Rehabilitation, Vocational ; Republic of Korea* ; Research Personnel ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

Acute mountain sickness is an illness caused by climbing to a high altitude without prior acclimatization. Neurological consequences, like parkinsonism following acute mountain sickness without lesion of brain MRI have been reported rarely. A healthy 56-year-old man presented with dysarthria and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed tremor of hands, limb rigidity, and bradykinesia. The symptoms developed approximately 30 days following a 3,500 m climb of the Annapurna in the Himalayas. Brain MRI did not reveal any abnormalities including globus pallidus. The parkinsonism symptoms persisted for about 3 months before a complete recovered was made. We suggest that parkinsonism can develop after climbing to a high altitude but that the symptoms can be transient if a brain MRI detects no abnormalities.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of community-dwelling spinal cord injury (SCI) persons with obesity, including diet, socioeconomic factors, weight reduction method, and frequency of body weight and abdominal circumference measurements. METHODS: We developed a questionnaire based on 'the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009'. A total of 371 community-dwelling SCI persons were enrolled in this study. Inclusion criteria were SCI persons older than 20 years with more than 1 year elapsed since the injury. Trained investigators visited SCI persons' home to complete the questionnaire and measure abdominal obesity (AO) as defined by the waist circumference. RESULTS: Prevalence of AO was 29.2% in SCI persons and 27.4% in the general population (GP), showing no significant difference. Education showed correlation with AO in both SCI persons and the GP. The injury level, type of injury and income did not show any correlation with AO in SCI persons. Only 28.8% and 48.8% of SCI persons measured their waist circumference and body weight within the past year, respectively. Also, SCI persons with AO thought that their body was less obese compared to persons with AO in the GP (p<0.001). The method of weight reduction was diet modification in 53.6% of SCI persons with AO, which was higher than 37.1% of persons with AO in the GP. CONCLUSION: In SCI persons, obesity perception as well as socioeconomic factors correlated with AO, but these were not relevant factors in the GP. Therefore, development of a specific and intensive weight control program for SCI persons is necessary.
Body Weight ; Diet ; Food Habits ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Prevalence ; Research Personnel ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Waist Circumference ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: The aim of study was to review the results of open surgical repair (OSR) of chronic juxtarenal aortic occlusion (JRAO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the results of OSR performed in 47 patients (male, 92%; mean age, 59.9+/-9.3 years [range, 44-79]) with chronic JRAO during the past 21 years. In order to reduce intraoperative renal ischemic time (RIT), we excised a portion of the occluded segment of the infrarenal aorta without proximal aortic clamping. We then performed suprarenal aortic clamping with both renal arteries clamped, removed the proximal aortic thrombus cap, confirmed both renal artery orifices, and moved the suprarenal aortic clamp to the infrarenal aorta to allow renal perfusion and standard aortoiliac reconstruction. We investigated early (<30 days) postoperative surgical morbidity (particularly renal function), operative mortality, and longterm patient survival. We conducted risk factor analysis for postoperative renal insufficiency. RESULTS: The mean intraoperative RIT was 10.7+/-5.5 minutes (range, 3-25), including 6 patients who underwent concomitant pararenal aortic thromboendarterectomy. Postoperatively, five (11%) patients had transient renal insufficiency, one had pneumonia, and one patient had an acute myocardial infarction. However, there was no operative mortality or newly developed dialysis-dependent renal failure. Postoperative follow up was available in 36 (77%) patients for a mean period of 6.3 years (range, 1 month-17 years). Kaplan Meier calculations of patient survival at 5 and 10 years after surgery were 91.2% and 83.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We have experienced short RIT, acceptable early postoperative results and long-term survival after OSR of chronic JRAO.
Aorta ; Constriction ; Endarterectomy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction ; Perfusion ; Pneumonia ; Renal Artery ; Renal Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thrombosis

Global aphasia without other focal neurologic lateralizing signs (GWLS) is an uncommon stroke syndrome. The pathogenesis of GWLS has been thought as the result of multiple cardioembolism. However, a few cases of GWLS with a single lesion have been reported. We report an unusual case of GWLS with a single left superior temporal infarction. A 73-year-old right handed man was admitted with receptive and expressive language impairment without other focal neurologic lateralizing signs. The patient's global aphasia symptom has being 4 weeks after symptom onset. Brain CT showed only one lesion of left superior temporal lobe. Our case notes that the multiple lesions of the speech area are not only necessary to produce GWLS, and it is not necessarily imply a double lesion or an embolic causes.
Aged ; Aphasia* ; Brain ; Hand ; Humans ; Infarction ; Stroke ; Temporal Lobe

BACKGROUND: There are no additional objective tools to double-check the care grades and to assess a subject's medical status except a statement of the doctor's view in the assessment of care grades in geriatric long-term care service. Thus, we designed this study to investigate whether the frailty index(FI) and the Korean version of the modified Barthel index(K-MBI) can be useful complementary assessment tools in the assessment of care grades in geriatric long-term care service. METHODS: Data for calculating care approved time, FI, and K-MBI were obtained from the interview of 114 home-residents(elderly >65 years of age) in Sungnam city by educated investigators. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between FI and care grade(Spearman correlation coefficient= 0.547, p<0.001). A significant negative correlation between K-MBI and care grade(Spearman correlation coefficient =-0.811, p<0.001) was demonstrated. The difference between the scores on the FI and K-MBI was significant between the care grades(p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The FI and K-MBI had a good correlation with care approved time in geriatric long-term care service and were significantly different between the care grades. FI and K-MBI can be useful complementary assessment tools in the assessment of care grades in geriatric long-term care service.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Frail Elderly ; Geriatric Assessment ; Humans ; Long-Term Care ; Research Personnel

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the patterns of alcohol use among community-dwelling persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and compare the results with those from general populations. METHOD: The persons with SCI living in community were recruited. They answered the self-administered questionnaire which was made based on the questionnaire of the third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for data comparisons. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about personal information, drinking duration, drinking frequency, drinking amount, and impaired control over drinking. RESULTS: Questionnaires of 340 persons with SCI from twenties to fifties were analysed. The annual and monthly drinking rates of SCI subjects were lower than those of general populations. In male, drinking frequency of SCI subjects was lower than that of general populations. In both male and female, risky drinking rates were lower than those of general populations. The degree of impaired control over drinking of SCI subjects was higher than that of general populations. CONCLUSION: Fewer persons with SCI used alcohol than general populations. But, the degree of alcohol dependence of SCI persons was higher than that of general populations.
Alcoholism ; Drinking ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries

OBJECTIVE: To identify and evaluate the outcome of consultation base rehabilitatiion program and the site of primary lesions of the hospitalized cancer patients. METHOD: Medical records of 119 hospitalized patients with cancer who received the consultation base rehabilitation program from January 1999 to December 2000, were reviewed. Karnofsky Performance Status scale (KPSS) was used as a functional measurement. RESULT: The most common primary cancer referred for the consultation base rehabilitation program was a lung cancer (16.8%), followed by brain cancer (10.9%) and hepatic cancer (9.2%). Spine was the most common metastatic site (72.7%). Strengthening (47.2%) and range of motion exercises (39.6%) were commonly prescribed rehabilitative procedures in the cancer patients with no metastasis and bracing (45.5%) was the most common cause for consultation in the cancer patients with metastasis. A significant functional improvement was observed between the initial (mean=58.4%) and final assessments (mean=65.2%) on KPSS (p<0.01) in the cancer patients with no metastasis. However, the cancer patients with metastasis did not show a significant functional improvement. CONCLUSION: Significant functional gains were observed in cancer patients who received the consultation base rehabilitation program.
Braces ; Brain Neoplasms ; Exercise ; Humans ; Karnofsky Performance Status ; Liver Neoplasms ; Lung Neoplasms ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rehabilitation* ; Spine

OBJECTIVE: To know if changes in compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of human extensor digitorum brevis (EDB) muscle can be enhanced by increase in dilution volume of botulinum toxin type A. METHOD: In 11 healthy volunteers, 2.5 U of botulinum toxin (Botox (R) , Allergen Inc.) in a volume of 0.1 ml normal saline was injected in EDB muscle and the same dose with the dilution volume of 0.5 ml was injected in the opposite side. We measured the pre- and post-injection M-wave amplitude and area of EDB muscle. RESULTS: The mean post/pre injection amplitude ratio of CMAP were 0.49+/-0.21 with the 0.1 ml of dilution volume and 0.40+/-0.12 with the 0.5 ml of dilution volume. The mean post/pre injection area ratio of CMAP were 0.51 0.18 with the 0.1 ml of dilution volume and 0.44+/-0.15 with the 0.5 ml of dilution volume. There was no significant difference between the two dilution volumes. CONCLUSION: Five fold increase in dilution volume did not enhance the paralyzing effect of botulinum toxin type A in human EDB muscles.
Action Potentials* ; Botulinum Toxins* ; Botulinum Toxins, Type A* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Muscles ; Paralysis