No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate the burden of disease through an analysis of Years of Life Lost due to premature deaths, one component of the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY). In addition, the cause of death statistics were adjusted to improve validity, and the results were compared with those of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD). METHODS: In closely following the approach taken in the original GBD study, most of the explicit assumptions and the value judgments were not changed. However, the statistics for some problematic concerns such as deaths of infants or those due to senility, were adjusted. Deaths, standard expected years of life lost (SEYLL), and potential years of life lost (PYLL) were computed using vital registration data compiled by the National Statistical Office. RESULTS: The burden for males is 1.8 and 2.3 times higher than that for females, according to SEYLL and PYLL, respectively. The proportions of deaths due to Group I, II, and III causes are 5.4%, 80.4%, and 14.3%, respectively, for PYLL, but in a major shift from Group II to III they are 6.3%, 66.2%, and 27.5%, respectively, for SEYLL. The proportion of Group III causes in Korea, 27.5%, is extremely high when compared to 10.1% for the world, 7.6% for developed countries, and 10.7% for developing countries. CONCLUSIONS: Estimation results showed that the total burden due to premature deaths is smaller than that for the entire world but larger than that for developed countries. The disease structure of Korea has changed to resemble that of developed countries. Also, an overly large portion of the total burden in Korea stems from injuries arising from car accidents.
Cause of Death ; Cost of Illness ; Developed Countries ; Developing Countries ; Female ; Health Transition ; Humans ; Infant ; Judgment ; Korea* ; Life Expectancy ; Male ; Mortality, Premature*

A 23-year-old medical student showed a positive reaction on a skin test for Paragonimus westermani, and two Tarsonemus floricolus mites were subsequently found by sputum examination and identified morphologically. Our report is the first human case of Tarsonemus floricolus in Korea.
Adult ; Animals ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mite Infestations/*parasitology ; Pyroglyphidae/anatomy & histology/*growth & development ; Sputum/*parasitology

No abstract available.
Leukemia, Monocytic, Acute* ; Leukemic Infiltration* ; Lymphatic Diseases* ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Echocardiography*

In 2000, Korea Health Industry Development Institute(KHIDI) made a plan for sharing electronic patient records between health care institutions which reflects the advance of information technology. The implementation of the plan is believed to have a number of desirable effects such as direct and indirect medical cost savings, the increase in patient satisfaction, the rationalization of health care institution management, and the improvement of health care delivery system. At the same time, however, it requires a great amount of resources for building the system at first and maintaining it since then nationwide. Therefore, the economic evaluation is required for the plan to be undertaken. This paper assessed the plan from economic perspective. In particular, cost-benefit analysis was performed and the result showed that the present value of net benefit, or the social profit is 3,046.3 billion won over the period of 2000-2030. Also, the benefit-cost ratio turned out to be 1.25. The results of cost-benefit analysis confirmed that the benefits of the plan justify the costs.
Cost Savings ; Cost-Benefit Analysis* ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Korea ; Patient Satisfaction ; Rationalization

No abstract available.
Rhytidoplasty*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn*

Lymphocytic hypophysitis is an autoimmune disorder of the pituitary gland which usually occurs in a woman in the postpartum period. Diabetes insipidus is not a major clinical feature of this disorder. We report a case of a 22-year-old man with lymphocytic hypophysitis which presented with diabetes insipidus and also involved his cavernous sinus. This represents the seventh reported and the youngest case of a man with lymphocytic hypophysitis. A comparative study of all six male patients is also presented. We suggest diabetes insipidus should be added to the spectrum of clinical manifestations of this disorder.
Female ; Male ; Humans

Tamoxifen is an selective estrogen receptor antagonist widely used in the management of patients with breast cancer for more than 30 years. It was thought to act primarily through occupying the estrogen receptor sites in ER positive breast cancer cells and directly on cancer cell proper. These inhibitory effects, which have been shown to be independent of the ER, highlight new mechanism of therapeutic action of tamoxifen. The purposes of this study were to identify ER in oral carcinoma cell lines and to evaluate ER independent cytotoxic effect of tamoxifen. KB(SCC), HSC-3(SCC) and A253(ACC) cell line were used and capacity of cell proliferation, apoptosis, in vitro invasion and gelatin zymography were tested. ER expression of each cell line were detected by RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. Dose dependent inhibition of cell proliferation and inhibition of gelatinolytic activity were observed in all oral carcinoma cell lines and significant difference of apoptotic index were observed in A253 and KB. Tamoxifen inhibited in vitro invasion in all experimental groups. ER expression was detected in KB and A253. These data suggest that tamoxifen may play a role in management of oral carcinoma by independent cytotoxic effect and more advanced research must processed confirming ER-dependent cytotoxicity.
Apoptosis ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Estrogens ; Gelatin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mouth Neoplasms* ; Tamoxifen*