Holter ECG monitoring is a continuous tape recording of a patient's electrocardiogram during ordinary activities and picks up hidden abnormalities in rate, rhythm or conduction. The authors delineated the types and incidence rates of arrhythmia in 32 normal Koreans by utilizing medical personnels and patients without evident heart diseases or symptoms, or significant systemic illness. Tracings and analysis were performed using 24 hour Holter monitoring processor(SCM 240, Fukuda, japan), auto-analyser (SCM-25), casette recorder(SM 24) and chrome tape. Results are as follows: 1) Portable 24 houre Holter ECG monitoring was performed in 32 persons(age range of 21 to 35) without cardiovascular disease, as defined by normal clinical and noninvasive cardiovascular examination. 2) During exercise, maximal heart rates ranged from 125.0+/-12.1/min and minimal rates from 96.7+/-5.8/min. During normal activity period, maximal and minimal heart rates were, respectively, 95.4+/-16.2/min and 62.6+/-6.3/min. Maximal sleep rates were 90.3+/-26.6/min and minimal sleep rates 57.4+/-12.4/min. 3) P-R interval decreased as heart rate increased. Transient first degree AV block was noted in 3 subjects(9.4%) and Wenckebach type second degree AV block in 2 subjects(6.3%). 4) Sinus tachycardia and bradycardia were observed in all subjects and sinus arrhythmia was more frequently noted during waking periods. Three subjects had episodes of sinus pause with maximum duration of 3.24 seconds. 5) In 13 persons(40.6%) having supraventricular premature beats, the frequency was 50.01+/-49.36/hr and in 14 persons having(44%) ventricular premature beats the frequency 26.33+/-18.83/hr. Transient ventricular tachycardia of 3 seconds' duration was observed in one subject under the extreme stressful environment. 6) ST segment elevation over 1mm was noted in 5 subjects(15.6%), of whom one had a nocturnal chest pain and ST segment depression over 1mm in 2 subjects. T wave inversion was also found during exercise(3.1%) and during sleep(9.4%).
Arrhythmia, Sinus ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrioventricular Block ; Bradycardia ; Cardiac Complexes, Premature ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Chest Pain ; Depression ; Electrocardiography* ; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Incidence ; Tachycardia, Sinus ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Tape Recording

Aortopulmonary fistula is an exceedingly rare vascular malformation. It is commonly derived after chest injuly or from complication of chest operation and aortic dissection and congenital aortopulmonary fistula is only several cases combined with Tetralogy of Fallot or aortic stenosis. But a congenital aortopulmonary fistula without any hemodynamic abnormalities was not reported. A 56-year old man with exertional dyspnea was admitted. In an examination on admission, there were no abnomalities. Aortography showed an aortopulmonary fistula that branches from the ascending aorta adjacent to the right coronary artery, running to the main pulmonary artery. Transcatheter coil embolization was performed and he was discharged 7 day after embolization without complication. Exertional dyspnea disappeared and careful follow up has be performed periodically.
Aorta ; Aortic Valve Stenosis ; Aortography ; Coronary Vessels ; Dyspnea* ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Fistula* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Artery ; Running ; Tetralogy of Fallot ; Thorax ; Vascular Malformations

No abstract available.
Female ; Perinatal Mortality* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Multiple*

Left ventricular hypertrophy is a compensatory response to hemodynamic overload secondary to an increased systemic resistance. This increase, however, is not the only cause of hypertrophy, and there are other factors which can have a significant effect on its incidence. To determine whether chronic antihypertensive therapy by enalapril modifies the cellular and subcellular changes of left ventricular hypertrophy observed in spontaneously hypertensive rats(SHR), 20-weeks-old SHR were treated for 22 weeks with enalapril(2mg/kg) and compared with normotensive Wister-Kyoto rats and not-treated SHR. Systolic blood pressure in enalapril-treated SHR was significantly lowered after 22 weeks compared with that of untreated control SHR group. Myocytes were reduced in size and fibrination seen in cardiac muscle fibers of control SHR was decreased in treated SHR group. Myofibrils appeared to be irregular in shape and myofilaments are decreased in control SHR but in enalapril-treated SHR the diameter and length of the myofilament became turned to regular forms. These results suggest that, enalapril, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, may regress hypertrophy and some subcellular changes may be modified by enalapril.
Animals ; Blood Pressure ; Enalapril* ; Fibrin ; Hemodynamics ; Hypertrophy ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular* ; Incidence ; Muscle Cells ; Myocardium ; Myofibrils ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred SHR*

The incidence of atherosclerosis in Korea seems to be much increased due to diet change after national development. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is not clarified and there are many hypothesis but the most recent and reliable hypothesis is the ratio of HDL-cholesterol per total cholesterol. Under the basis of this hypothesis there have been much trials to administer the agents which has effect on lipid metabolism, so we tried pantethine on 30 patients who visited Han-Yang University Hospital Internal medicine Department, and the result as follows; 1) The mean age of study population was 50.1 years of age, mean body weight was 62kg, and mean height was 160.8cm. male was 17, and female 10. 2) The associated disease of study population was <19 with> cardiovascular disease, in 19, gastrointestinal disease 3, obesity in 1 and others in 4. 3) The undesirable effect of the drug was found on 3 patients; that is, constipation on 1 patient, dizziness on 1 patient, and skin eruption on 1 patient. 4) The mean serum lipids before and after pantethine administration(levels) are as following table. In conclusion, it seems that the effect of the drug which decreases the serum lipids is mild at initial but more increasing as the time goes by and constant, and we experience little side reaction except mild dizziness, constipation and skin eruption.
Atherosclerosis ; Body Weight ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol* ; Constipation ; Diet ; Dizziness ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Humans ; Incidence ; Internal Medicine ; Korea ; Lipid Metabolism ; Male ; Obesity ; Skin ; Triglycerides*

The authors performed this preliminary study to investigate the effect of softening E.C.T. and propofol was compared to pentothal for induction of anaesthesia for E.C.T on seizure duration. The results were follows ' 1) E.C.T. was performed in 60 psychiatric inpatients who were admitted during the study period. Of them 51.7% were diagnosed as schizophrenia, 21.6% as major depressive disorder, 16.7% as bipolar I disorder, manic and 10% of others. 2) Mean number of E.C.T. was 12.2 times a patient. 3) The most common target symptoms were persecutory delusion in schizophrenia, psychomotor retardation or agitation in major depressive disorder, and violent aggressive behavior in bipolar I disorder, manic. 4) Pre-ECT medication usually used were atropine 0.0093mg kg(-1), pentothal 2.76mg kg(-1) or propofol 1.42mg kg(-1). 5) The duration of seizure, as measured clinically, was reduced with propofol(20.5 sec) in comparison with pentothal(35.7 sec)(p<0.001). This suggest the possibility that additional treatment may be needed for the same clinical effect in psychiatric illness when propofol is used as the induction agent.
Atropine ; Bipolar Disorder ; Delusions ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Dihydroergotamine ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Propofol* ; Schizophrenia ; Seizures* ; Thiopental*

PURPOSE: To compare the corneal endothelial cell change in Femtosecond laser and microkeratome LASIK operation. METHODS: This study involved 31 eyes (16 patients) that had LASIK using a femtosecond laser (group 1). The control group comprised 32 eyes (16 patients) that had conventional LASIK using microkeratome. We measured the endothelial cell using a non-contact specular microscope preoperatively and at postoperative 1, 2 and 6 months. RESULTS: The preoperative and postoperateive 1, 2, and 6 months cell densities were, respectively: (group 1) 3039+/-335.2, 3012.9+/-373.0, 3008.2+/-240.2, 3009.1+/-250.5; (group 2) 2984.8+/-334.4, 2972.7+/-290.0, 2968+/-323.2, 2968+/-319.1. The coefficients of variation were, respectively: (group 1) 32.6+/-5.3, 33+/-7.2, 32.2+/-5.9, 31.7+/-5.8; (group 2) 32.3+/-5.3, 33.6+/-6.2, 35.5+/-4.8, 34.1+/-5.1. Respective hexagonality measurements were: (group 1) 59.2+/-11.7, 56+/-12.1 55.1+/-13.5, 57.2+/-11.6; (group 2) 57.6+/-9.8, 57.4+/-10.7, 56.5+/-11.6, 57.1+/-11.1. CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistical difference in corneal endothelial change between the two groups (p>0.05). LASIK using the femtosecond laser seemed to be a safe choice when considering corneal endothelial change.
Cell Count ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium, Corneal ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ*

Rhino-orbito-cerebral muconnycosis is an uncommon fatal fringal infection, almost exclusively seen in diabetic or other itnmunocompromised patients. Recurrent transient ischemic attacks(TIAs) as initial presenting sign of rhino-orbito-cerebral mycormycosis has not been reported to our knowledge. We report a patient with muconnycosis unusually presenting with recurrent TIAs, followed by central retinal artery occlusion, multiple cranial nerve palsies, and then cerebral infarction in the territory of middle cerebral artery.
Cerebral Infarction ; Cranial Nerve Diseases ; Humans ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Mucormycosis* ; Retinal Artery Occlusion

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Mass Screening*

The frequency of stab wounds is gradually increasing and patients with stab wounds visit the hospital through the emergency room. Management options for patients with stab wound include mandatory exploration and selective observation, but recently many authors have emphasized the importance of selective conservation with development of diagnostic procedure and controversy still exists concerning the management of patients with stab wounds. We retrospectively analysed the clinical data of 78 patients with stab wounds who visited the emergency room of St. Paul's Hospital over 5 years from January 1 1992 to December 31 1996. The following results were obtained. 1) The most prevalent age group were the twenties & the thirties(58.9% of patient) and then most patients were of young age. The male to female ratio was 2.9: 1. 2) Most injuries occurred at night between 8p.m. and 4a.m.(61.5%) and during September injuries were most frequent. 3) The most common causes of stab wound were fighting(55.1%) followed by suicide (21.8%), then accidents including traffic accidents(16.7%) and robbery(6.4%). 4) The instruments most commonly used were knives(53.8%) and broken glass(28.2%). 5) Half of patients were drunk from alcohol and in 3 cases from an antipsychotic drug. 6) In 11 cases(14.1%), there were multiple wound sites and in 8 cases(10.3%) superficial wounds into subcutaneous fatty tissue. 7) According to stab wound sites, the extremities were wounded in 36 cases(46.2%), chest in 21 cases(26.9%), abdomen in 15 cases(19.2%) and neck in 7 cases(9.0%). 8) Emergency explorations were performed in 43 cases(55.1%) under general or regional anesthesia, which included neck in 4 cases(9.3%), chest in 3 cases(7.0%), abdomen in 11 cases(25.6%) and extremity in 25 cases(58.1%). In exploratory laparotomy, negative exploration rate was 18.2%. 9) Death occurred in 2 cases(2.6%). One died due to sepsis with multiple colon perforation and the other due to hypovolemic shock with Superior Vena Cava injury.
Abdomen ; Adipose Tissue ; Anesthesia, Conduction ; Colon ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Male ; Multiple Trauma ; Neck ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Shock ; Suicide ; Thorax ; Vena Cava, Superior ; Wounds and Injuries ; Wounds, Stab*