OBJECTIVE: Because endometriosis is difficult to diagnose and has a high recurrence rate after treatment, a reliable serum marker of endometriosis is necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study is to measure the serum levels of CA125 and CA19-9 in patients with endometriosis before and after treatment and during recurrence, and to assess the usefulness of these levels in the diagnosis, clinical follow up and prediction of recurrence in endometriosis. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients who visited the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Ewha Mokdong Hospital from January 1994 to December 1998 and were diagnosed as endometriosis by laparoscopy or explo-laparotomy were enrolled as subjects. A retrospective analysis of serum CA125 and CA19-9 levels at 1 month before and 3 to 6 months after initiation of treatment was done. RESULTS: The serum CA125 and CA19-9 levels of endometriosis group(81.0+/-252.5, 36.6+/-53.4 ; mean+/-2SD, U/ml) before treatment was significantly higher than control group(11.6+/-12.8, 9.4+/-8.6)(p<0.05). Overall sensitivity rate for CA125, CA19-9 levels and both was 53.4%, 42.9% and 64.3% respectively. The sensitivity rate for endometriosis, stage 3 and 4(85.4%, 55.0%) was significantly higher than that, stage 1 and 2(p<0.05). The serum CA125 level in endometriosis group showed a significant increment according to stages(p<0.05) while the serum CA19-9 level showed an increasing trend(p=0.055) and both levels decreased significantly after treatment(p<0.05). The serum CA125 level was also higher at recurrence after treatment(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The serum CA125 and CA19-9 levels are a useful marker for diagnosing severity of disease, monitoring efficacy of treatment and predicting recurrence in endometriosis.
Biomarkers ; Diagnosis ; Endometriosis* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Obstetrics ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Our purpose was to deterrnine the efficacy of maternal corticosteroid therapy on the morbidity of premature infants between 26 and 31 weeks' gestation. METHOD: A total of 62 premature infants between 26 and 31 weeks gestation admitted to pediatric department of National Medical Center from Nov, 1990 to June 1996 were analyzed to evaluate the efficacy of prenatal corticosteroid therapy on the morbidity such as hyaline membrane disease, intreventricular hernorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, sepsis, neonatal death, days on ventilation and hospital days. RESULT: Among 62 women who delivered premature infants between 26 and 31 weeks, 22 received betamethasone before delivery and 40 did not. 1) The rate of hyaline membrane disease was less in the betamethasone group (41% vs. 70%, P<0.05). 2) The rate of intracranial hemorrhage was less in the betamethasone group (0 vs. 20%, P<0.05). 3) The days of ventilator care was less in the betamethasone group among survival cases (27+/-3.2 vs. 5.2+/-4.6, P<05). 4) Arnong 14 women who delivered at 26 to 28 weeks, 4 received betamethasone before delivery and 10 did not. The rate of neonatal death was less in the betamethasone group (o% vs. 80%, P<0.05). 5) Among 48 women who delivered at 29 to 31 weeks, 18 received betamethasone before delivery and 30 did not. The rate of hyaline membrane disease was less in the betamethasone group (39% vs. 73%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Betamethasone appears to reduce hyaline membrane disease, intraven- tricular hemorrhage, neonatal death and the morbidity significantly in premature infants between 26 and 31 weeks' gestation.
Betamethasone ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hyaline Membrane Disease ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Pregnancy ; Sepsis ; Ventilation ; Ventilators, Mechanical

PURPOSE: This survey was done to describe parenting self-efficacy and beliefs in corporal punishment as they are related to child abuse. Also demographic variables that influence child abuse were investigated. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the second week of April 2002. The 160 participants were parents of students in five elementary schools in the J area of Korea. They replied to a structured questionnaire, and 129 replies were included in the final analysis. The WIN SPSS program was used for the analysis. RESULT: Parenting self-efficacy, beliefs in corporal punishment and child abuse showed no significant differences according to gender of the children. Child abuse by parents has significantly negative correlation with parenting self-efficacy (r=-.369, p=.000), socioeconomic states of family(r=-.290, p=.001), educational level of mother(r=-.211, p=.027), educational level of father(r=-.342, p=.000), parent's age(r=-.200, p=.028). Stepwise multiple regression showed that parenting self-efficacy and beliefs in corporal punishment significantly influence child abuse in Korean parents. CONCLUSION: As parenting self-efficacy explained 49.7% of child abuse, it is the most important variable for preventing child abuse. Belief in corporal punishment was the second most important variable in preventing child abuse. These two variables explained 53.3% of variance in child abuse by parents.
Child Abuse ; Child* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Korea* ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Punishment* ; Child Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

A clinical and histologic survey was done on 71 cases of basal cel carcinoma(BCC) filed at Department of Clinical Fathology, Kang Nam, Han Kang, and Kang Dong Sacred Heart Hospital during past 13 year s from 1979 to 1991. The results were summerized as follows: 1. Of all malignant skin tumors BCC accounted for 31.6%. The frequency of BCC in the total number of outpatients visiting the Department of Dermatology was 0.06%. 2. The ratio of men to women with HCC was 1:1.03. 83.8% of the pat.ients with BCC were older than the age of l0 years with the mean age of 56.9 years. 3. 83.8% of the BCC appared in the face, especially on the nose(25.4%), eyelid(20.3%). 4. On the basis of classification of Lever et al, the solid type(66.7% ) was the most com mon histologic pattern, followed by the adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification of Farmer et al, the nodulocystic type(35.1% ) was the most common histologic pattern followed by infiltrative(31.6%), adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification on Sexton et al, in the order of decreasing frequency, liistologic subtypes were the nodular(43.9%), mixed (22.8%), infiltrative(19.3%), supeficial(3.5%), morpheic(3.5%), and micronodular(3.5%).
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Classification ; Dermatology ; Female ; Heart ; Humans ; Male ; Outpatients ; Skin

PURPOSE: This correlational study was performed to identify the impacts of maternal child rearing attitudes on the menstrual attitudes and the determinants of positive menstrual attitudes in female middle school students. METHODS: With convenience sampling, 198 middle school female students were recruited living in one major city and its surrounding areas in Korea. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire including menstrual attitudes and maternal child rearing attitudes from April 1 to July 15, 2008. RESULTS: Among the Maternal child rearing attitudes, affectionate, achievement oriented and rational attitudes had positive correlations to a positive menstrual attitude, and an autonomous attitude had a negative correlation to a negative menstrual attitude. As determinants of positive menstrual attitudes, feeling of menarche, mother's response at first menstruation, and rational maternal child rearing attitudes were delineated and their explained variance for a positive menstrual attitude was 18.5%. There was no difference on menstrual attitudes by K clustering in terms of maternal child rearing attitudes. CONCLUSION: These results support the critical role of the mother. Especially desirable maternal child rearing attitudes in relation to a positive menstrual attitude would be affectionate, achievement oriented and rational for early adolescent girls. In further studies, considerations are needed for menstruation related education and research for early adolescents and active involvement of the mother & daughter together.
Adolescent ; Attitude to Health ; Child ; Child Rearing/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Menarche ; Menstruation/*psychology ; Mother-Child Relations ; Mothers/*psychology ; Questionnaires

This study was purosed to investigate maternal and fetal clinical parameters effecting on maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein(MSAFP) levels at late normal singleton pregnancies. The subjects of this study were 171 pregnant women with gestational age of 36 to 42 weeks, and didn`t have any medical or gynecologic diseases. They delivered fetuses within three days after blood test of MSAFP. MSAFP levels were measured by enzyme-immunoassay. The analysed clinical parameters included fetal sex, fetal weight, gestatioal age, maternal age, gravidity, parity, maternal weight and maternal total weight gain during pregnancy. The results were as follows: At uncomplicated late pregnancies, 1. Male fetus bearers had higher MSAFP(mean: 191.8 ng/ml, SD: 80.8 ng/ml, n=79) than female-fetus bearers(mean 153.6 ng/ml, SD 73.0 ng/ml, n=92)(p=0.0014). 2. Multiparas had higher MSAFP(mean: 192.7 ng/ml, SD: 77.9 ng/ml, n=80) than nulliparas(mean: 152.3 ng/ml, SD 75.1 ng/ml, n=91)(p=0.0007). 3. MSAFP did not have correlation with maternal age, maternal weight, maternal total wight gain during pregnancy, gestational age, fetal weight. According to the above results, fetal sex and parity are the factors that influences MSAFP levels at uncomplicated late pregnancies. So MSAFP values should be interpreted with cautions.
Female ; Fetal Weight ; Fetus ; Genital Diseases, Female ; Gestational Age ; Gravidity ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Maternal Age ; Parity ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Weight Gain

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify menstrual discomfort and dietary habits, and factors related to the menstrual discomforts. METHOD: Participants were 320 female middle school students in G city. The Menstrual Discomfort Questionaire(MDQ) and dietary habit lists were used as tools. RESULTS: Factors related to MDQ were found to be the VAS scores (r=.361, p=.002), a mount of menstrual bleeding (r=.131, p=.019), height (r=.134, p=.016), adequacy of meal time (t=7.19, p=.008), consumption of milk & milk products (F=3.20, p=.042) and, hot, salty & irritant foods (F=8.01, p=.000), eating more than 3 kinds of side-dishes with each meal (F=8.32, p=.000), and various protein foods (F=5.15, p=.006). In stepwise regression, 4 variables (VAS scores, height, hot, salty & irritant foods, more than 3 kinds of side-dishes with each meal) explained 20.3% of the variance in the total MDQ scores. CONCLUSION: Reduction of hot, salty & irritant foods and having more than 3 side-dishes with each meal would be effective in menstrual discomfort management. As well, good and, balanced dietary habits should be encouraged for early adolescent girls. To keep up with the ideal dietary habits, nutritional education & counseling should be continued. In a further study, a replication study with larger samples and more specified nutritional assessment are recommended.
Adolescent* ; Counseling ; Eating ; Education ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Meals ; Milk ; Nutrition Assessment ; Child Health

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy, and to investigate the prognostic factors for FIGO stages IB-IIB cervical cancer patients who were treated with simple hysterectomy, or who had high-risk factors following radical hysterectomy and pelviclymph node dissection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 1986 and December 1998, 58 patients, with FIGO stages IB-IIB cervical cancer were included in this study.The indications for postoperative radiation therapy were based on the pathological findings, including lymph node metastasis, positive surgical margin, parametrial extension, lymphovascular invasion, invasion of more than half the cervical stroma, uterine extension and the incidental finding of cervix cancer following simple hysterectomy.All patients received external pelvic radiotherapy, and 5 patients, received an additional intracavitary radiation therapy.The radiation dose from the external beam to the whole pelvis was 45 50 Gy.Vagina cuffirradiation was performed, after completion of the external beam irradiation, at a low-dose rate of Cs-137, with the total dose of 4488 4932 chy (median:4500 chy)at 5 mm depth from the vagina surface.The median follow-up period was 44 months (15 108 months). RESULTS: The 5-yr actuarial local control rate, distant free survival and disease-free survival rate were 98%, 95%and 94%, respectively.A univariate analysis of the clinical and pathological parameters revealed that the clinical stage (p=0.0145), status of vaginal resection margin (p=0.0002)andparametrial extension (p=0.0001)affected the disease-free survival.From a multivariate analysis, only a parametrial extension independently influenced the disease-free survival.Five patients (9%) experienced Grade 2 late treatment-related complications, such as radiation proctitis (1 patient), cystitis (3 patients)and lymphedema of the leg (1 patient).No patient had grade 3 or 4 complications. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that postoperative radiation therapy can achieve good local control and survival rates for patients with stages IB-IIB cervical cancer, treated with a simple hysterectomy, as well as for those treated with a radical hysterectomy, and with unfavorable pathological findings.The prognostic factor for disease-free survival was invasion of the parametrium.The prognostic factor identified in this study for treatment failure can be used as a selection criterion for the combined treatment of radiation and chemotherapy.
Cervix Uteri* ; Cystitis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Incidental Findings ; Leg ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphedema ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pelvis ; Proctitis ; Radiotherapy ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Failure ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Vagina

OBJECTIVES: Parents of child neuropsychiatic patients may have many stresses due to their children's illness. Characteristics and severity of diseases will influence to the stresses of parents. The authors investigated various factors and parents' social support having an effect on the parenting stress. METHODS: Children and parents in outpatients interviewed and completed measures assessing children's problem behaviors, parenting stress, general social support, and support related to parenting by Child Behavior Checklist, Parenting Stress Index, Medical Outcomes Study's Social Support Scale, and Parenting Support Scale. RESULTS: We could not find the differences in the total scores of CBCL, Social Support Scale, and Parenting Stress Index among major diagnostic groups. In the same diagnosis, no difference of parenting stress was found according to general social support. Parenting stress highly correlated with severity of problem behaviors measured by CBCL. CONCLUSION: Severity of problem behaviors perceived by parents most predicted parenting stress. Parenting stress correlated with support to parenting, but not with general social support. Managing of children's problem behaviors is the most immediate and effective method to diminish the parental stress of child neuropsychiatric patients.
Checklist ; Child Behavior ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Outpatients* ; Parenting* ; Parents*

Leiomyorrw is the mest cunmon in the uterine hunor. Smooth muscle tumors of the female genital taact arise mostly from the uterine myometrium and only rarely from the broad ligament. We experienced a cases of huge leiomyoma of the broad ligarnent with secondary cystic degeneration. In the respect of rarity, we report this case with a brief review.
Animals ; Broad Ligament* ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma* ; Mice ; Myometrium ; Round Ligaments ; Smooth Muscle Tumor