No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Lung* ; Pneumocytes* ; Pneumonectomy* ; Rabbits*

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of smoking in schizophrenic patients (74-92%) is higher than that of all psychiatric patients (34-54%) or general population (30-35%). This higher smoking Prevalence is demonstrated even after controlling for known confounders, such as marital status, alcohol use, and socioeconomic status. This study was conducted to determine whether there would be any difference in nicotine intake and metabolism between schizophrenics and normal controls. METHODS: Sixteen schizophrenic patients and sixteen normal controls were collected. All subjects were supplied with a pack of cigarette a day. Urinary cotinine excretion was measured by using gas chromatographic mass spectrometric method. RESULTS: Cotinine excretion was significantly increased in schizophrenic patients compared to normal controls (p<0.05). None of variables such as age at initial smoking, the average number of cigarettes at initial smoking, pack year (packs daily smoked x smoking year), abstinence history were found to influence cotinine levels when examined via the ANOVA, even when the interaction with diagnosis was considered. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that nicotine intake and consumption are increased in schizophrenic patients compared to normal controls, which can be an attempt to improve sensory inhibition and counteract neuronal effect of antipsychotic medications.
Cotinine* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Metabolism ; Neurons ; Nicotine ; Prevalence ; Schizophrenia ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Tobacco Products

No abstract available.
Gaucher Disease* ; Humans ; Siblings*

BACKGROUND: The P50 which is the oxygen tension corresponding to 50% saturation at pH 7.40, PCO2 40 mmHg and temperature 37oC is an accepted and useful reference to characterize the oxygen affinity for hemoglobin. This study evaluated the accuracy of P50 calculated from a single measurement of pH, PO2 and SO2 compared with linear regression and sigmoid Emax model in patients undergoing general anesthesia. This study also compared P50 of just after anesthetic induction to P50 of 90 min later. METHODS: This study was conducted in 10 patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy. Just after induction of anesthesia, 20G catheter was indwelled at cephalic vein of forearm and venous return was occluded with a tourniquet. After 4 min, 6 blood samples were obtained every one minute. After 90 min, 6 blood samples were obtained with same method. All blood samples were analyzed with blood gas analyzer within 30 min after withdrawal. P50 was calculated from three methods of calculation, linear regression and sigmoid Emax model. The difference between the actural P50 and calculated P50 was evaluated. RESULTS: P50's calculated from three methods were 25.8+/-1.1, 26.1+/-1.1, 26.0+/-1.2 mmHg respectively. P50's 90min after anesthetic induction (26.1+/-1.3, 26.3+/-1.2, 26.2+/-1.2 mmHg) were significantly greater than P50's just after anesthetic induction (25.5+/-0.8, 25.8+/-1.0, 25.9+/-1.1 mmHg)(P<0.05). Difference between calculated P50 and actual P50 of 120 blood samples from 10 patients according to SO2 were -5.7+/-4.5 (SO2<20%), 0.0+/-1.9 (20%90%). Sigmoidicity of oxygen dissociation curves from 10 patients with sigmoid Emax model was 2.78+/-0.13 (mean SD). CONCLUSIONS: The method calculating P50 from a single measurement of pH, PO2, SO2 was relatively reliable to estimate the change of oxygen dissociation curve of a patient. The affinity of hemoglobin to O2 was reduced during general anesthesia.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General* ; Catheters ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Forearm ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration* ; Hysterectomy ; Linear Models ; Oxygen ; Tourniquets ; Veins

BACKGROUND: In recent years, Acinetobacter baumannii isolates acquired resistance to cefepime have increased significantly. The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of PER-1 extendedspectrum beta -lactamase (ESBL)-producing A. baumannii isolates in a University Hospital, Busan, Korea. METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibilities were tested by the disk diffusion method, and double disk synergy test was performed for screening of ESBL-production. MICs were determined by agar dilution method. The isoelectric points of beta -lactamases were determined by isoelectric focusing. Transferability of cefepime-resistance were tested by conjugation. blaPER-1 and blaPER-2 alleles were detected by PCR, and the DNA sequences of amplified products were determined by using the dideoxy-chain termination method. RESULTS: Among 51 clinical isolates of A. baumannii intermediate or resistant to cefepime, 10 isolates (19.6%) showed positive results in double disk synergy test. PCR-based experiments detected blaPER-1 gene in all the 10 isolates. All the isolates contained three beta -lactamase bands: pI 5.3, 7.9, and 9.4. MICs of ampicillin, piperacillin, cephalothin, cefoxitin, cefoperazone, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, cefepime, and aztreonam were >256 mg/L, respectively, and them of imipenem were 8-16 mg/L. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of PER-1-producing A. baumannii strains in Busan was less than that of in Seoul. But an outbreak of infection caused by this strain in an intensive care unit shows that spread of PER-1-producing A. baumannii strains can be anticipated in a near future. Prevention of hospital infection by these resistant microorganisms are needed.
Acinetobacter baumannii* ; Acinetobacter* ; Agar ; Alleles ; Ampicillin ; Aztreonam ; Base Sequence ; Busan* ; Cefoperazone ; Cefotaxime ; Cefoxitin ; Ceftazidime ; Cephalothin ; Cross Infection ; Diffusion ; Imipenem ; Intensive Care Units ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Isoelectric Point ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Piperacillin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence* ; Seoul

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The use of drug-eluting stent implantation for in-stent restenosis (ISR) has shown some promising results. This study investigated the clinical and angiographic results of performing sirolimuseluting stent (SES) implantation for the treatment of patients with ISR as compared with treatment with cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty one patients with ISR (43 lesions) were treated with SES implantation and they were retrospectively compared with a group of patient with matched lesions that were treated with CBA (57 patients with 61 lesions). Routine angiographic follow-up was obtained at about 6 months after treatment and the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events was evaluated. RESULTS: The baseline clinical characteristics, the patterns of ISR and the minimal luminal diameters (MLD) were not different between the two groups. There was no procedural failure and no immediate major cardiovascular adverse events (MACE) in the two groups. There were two target lesion revascularizations during the clinical follow-up in the CBA group and no MACE was found in the SES group (4% vs. 0%, respectively p<0.001). On the follow-up angiogram, the MLD and the stenosis diameter were significantly lower in the SES group than in the CBA group (2.82+/-0.33 vs. 1.80+/-0.82 mm, p<0.001; and 11.3+/-9.6 vs. 41.2+/-24.8%, p<0.001, respectively). The acute gain was significantly higher and the late loss was significantly lower in the SES group than in the CBA group (2.64+/-0.38 vs. 2.02+/-0.44 mm, p<0.001; and 0.21+/-0.28 vs. 0.71+/-0.73, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The sirolimuseluting stent was safe, feasible and highly effective for treating the patients suffering with in-stent restenosis as compared with cutting balloon angioplasty.
Angioplasty ; Angioplasty, Balloon* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Restenosis ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Phenobarbital ; Retrospective Studies ; Sirolimus ; Stents*

Applicants for care services offered by the National Long-term Care Insurance are required to submit a written docu- ment of assessments performed by a physician.These documents are used as a secondary source to determine the level of long-term care required by the applicant. Though necessary, physicians have not received evaluation or fee-dback regarding this process. We surveyed doctors, members of committees for long-term care level assessment, and long-term care team staff of the national health insurance corporation. What was considered useful information differed among the three groups. Integrating the feedback from these groups, we suggested improvements that could be made to this assessment process.
Insurance ; Insurance, Long-Term Care ; Long-Term Care ; National Health Programs

Dorsal root ganglionotomy of the S5 nerve is useful for pain around the coccyx. The S5 dorsal root ganglion lies behind the sacrum at a level 1 cm caudal to the S2 foraminal opening and approximately 2 mm lateral to the midline of the sacrum. A small burr-hole was made through the plates of the posterior sacrum to approach the dorsal root ganglion of S5 nerve. Sensory stimulation was performed at 0.3 V, 50 Hz. No motor fasciculations was noted at 0.6 V, 2 Hz. A thermal lesion was created at 75oC for 60 sec. The patient whom we report now was a 67-year-old male who suffered from the pain around the coccyx due to rectal cancer metastasis. He failed to respond to other oral and invasive conventional therapy. We experienced a successful result in the treatment of his intractable pain after the S5 dorsal root ganglionotomy.
Aged ; Coccyx ; Fasciculation ; Ganglia, Spinal ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pain, Intractable ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Sacrum ; Spinal Nerve Roots*

Because it is rare, acute small bowel obstruction due to right paraduodenal hernia is an entity with which radiologists are not entirely familiar. Its clinical importance, however, lies in the fat that delayed diagnosis leads to significantly increased morbidity and mortality rates. We report a case of small bowel obstruction due to right paraduodenal hernia in which all the known characteristic findings were demonstrated.
Delayed Diagnosis ; Hernia* ; Mortality