BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Imidapril, one of the ACE inhibitor, has been used to treate hypertension, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus and renal disease. ACE inhibitor, however often causes dry cough and this adverse effect affects the compliance rate negatively. This report aimed to examine the incidence rate of coughing caused by Imidapril treat-ment. And we compared the results with the incidence and tendency of dry cough caused by the other ACE inhibitors. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This study enrolled 38 patients who followed up at internal medicine and took Imidapril from the period of May 9, 1997 to December 17, 1997. We tested its effectiveness, safety and tolerance. The initial dosage of it was 5mg/day and the maximum dosage according to blood pressure was 10mg/day for 8 weeks. The tendency and the incidence of dry cough have been analyzed and compared with recently published Korean reports. RESULTS: The 5 mg dosage of Imidapril showed 68.1% in lowering blood pressure rate and it went up to 81.8% during the 8 weeks treatment perriod. The blood pressure regularity rate was 36.3% after the 8 weeks treatment. The overall rate of adverse effect occurrence was 26.1% (6/23) and 8.7% of them were likely to cough. One of the patients who showed nausea stopped medication. The recent articles reported that the incidence of dry cough had been reduced: Enalapril (33.8%), Fosinopril (16%), Ramipril (15%), Imidapril (7.8 - 8.7%), Losartan (4.3%). CONCLUSION: Imidapril is as safe and effective as other ACE inhibitors. Various ACE inhibitors that were newly developed show their effectiveness in lessening incidence rate of dry cough, and Imidapril is thought to be an excellent drug for this matter. Even though Losartan shows the lowest incidence rate of dry cough, it needs to more regular usages since it is still on the stage of its medical adaptation.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; Angiotensins* ; Blood Pressure ; Compliance ; Cough* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Enalapril ; Fosinopril ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence* ; Internal Medicine ; Losartan ; Nausea ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Ramipril

Congenital pericardial defects are rare and asymptomatic for both partial and complete defects. However, some patients can experience syncope, arrhythmia, and chest pain. When a patient experiences a symptom, it may be caused by herniation and dynamic compression or torsion of a heart structure including the coronary arteries. Diagnosis of a congenital pericardial defect may be difficult, especially in old patients with concomitant coronary artery disease. The clinical importance of congenital pericardial defect has not been stressed and congenital pericardial defects are regarded as benign, but in this case, pericardial defect was responsible for myocardial ischemia. The authors report a case of partial congenital pericardial defect causing herniation and dynamic compression of the coronary arteries, presenting as an acute coronary syndrome in an old man, with an emphasis on the unique features of the coronary angiogram that support the diagnosis of partial pericardial defects.
Acute Coronary Syndrome* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Heart ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Pericardium ; Syncope

Primary Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by xerostomia and keratoconjunctivitis sicca result from lymphocytic infiltrations of salivary and lacrimal glands.It may accompany by the wide spectrums of extraglandular symptoms,such as musculoskeletal,pulmonary,renal,intestinal,hematologic,and nervous system.However,overt cardiac manifestations are very rare and are documented only a few cases sporadically. We report a patient with primary Sjogren's syndrome who developed reversible congestive heart failure as part of a myocarditis.A 39-year-old woman with primary Sjogren's syndrome developed fatigue,dyspnea,and abdominal discomfort.An echocardiography revealed global hypokinetic left ventricle with markedly decreased ejection fraction (EF=39%),abnormal restrictive filling pattern,secondary tricuspid valve insufficiency and no pericardial effusion or thickening.A myocardial biopsy disclosed myocardial degeneration with lymphocyte infiltration.Following treatment with digitalis,diuretics,ACE inhibitor and corticosteroid,the symptoms of congestive heart failure improved.A repeat echocardiography showed an improved ventricular contractility and recovered both diastolic (normalized E/A ratio)and systolic (EF=50%)functions.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca ; Lymphocytes ; Myocarditis* ; Pericardial Effusion ; Sjogren's Syndrome* ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Xerostomia

"13q-"syndrome is known to have widely variable manifestations, including retinoblastoma, mental and growth retardation, malformation of brain and heart, anal atresia, and anomalies of the face and limbs. Here we report a case of del(13)(q22) with multiple major congenital anomalies for the first time in Korea. The patient was born at 36+4 weeks of pregnancy by caesarian section. Birth weight was 1490g. On examination the following features were noted: - imperforate anus, ambiguous genitalia (bifid scrotum, penoscrotal transposition, hypospadia), syndactyly of toes, absence of thumbs, abnormal facies (dolichocephaly, telecanthus, large low set ears, saddle nose, high arched palate, micrognathia). Neurocranial ultrasonography showed atrophy of the corpus callosum and multiple calcifications. He died at 14 days. Post-mortem autopsy findings showed cholestasis and fatty metamorphosis of liver, abnormal lobulation (Rt:2, Lt:1) and lymphangiectasis of the lung, VSD, ASD, PDA of heart, and acute tubular necrosis of kidney. Cytogenetic studies was confirmed to 46,XY,del(13) (q22) by Giemsa banded chromosomes from peripheral blood lymphocytes.
Abnormalities, Multiple/*genetics ; Anus, Imperforate/*complications ; Case Report ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 13/*genetics ; Fatal Outcome ; *Gene Deletion ; Human ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Penis/*abnormalities ; Scrotum/*abnormalities

We performed callosotomy and amygdalo-hippocampectomy in medically intractable seizure patients. Symptom duration of these patients was over 2 years and seizure was not controlled with anticonvulsants in spite of high level in drug monitoring according to their seizure type. 7 patients with generalized epilepsy were treated by anterior callosotomy and 8 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy were treated by amygdalo-hippocampectomy. Anyone of these patients were not dead and discovered permanent complications. And so these methods, anterior callostomy and amygdalo-hippocampectomy seems to be relatively safety and effective methods in treatment of medically intractable seizure.
Anticonvulsants ; Drug Monitoring ; Epilepsy, Generalized ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; Humans ; Seizures*

Diffusely infiltrating primary colorectal carcinoma is a rare disease. This type of carcinoma extensively spreads beneath the mucosal layer. Clinically, it resembles inflammatory colorectal disease and metastatic carcinoma and is difficult to diagnosis. Moreover, the prognosis is extremely poor. A 66-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of lower abdominal pain. Barium enema showed circumferential long segment narrowing in the proximal sigmoid colon without definite mass or ulceration and abdominal CT demonstrated colonic wall thickening. So it was diagnosed as inflammatory condition by image study. Colonoscopic examination showed hypertrophied mucosa and luminal narrowing on the 40 cm from the anal verge, but the oral side couldn't be examined because of stenosis. Biopsy revealed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and left hemicolectomy was done. The pathology showed diffusely infiltrating adenocarcinoma with metastasis in regional lymph node and mesentry involvement.
Abdominal Pain ; Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Barium ; Biopsy ; Colon* ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Enema ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pathology ; Phenobarbital ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND: The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II model has been widely used in Korea. However, there have been few studies on the APACHE IV model in Korean intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this study was to compare the ability of APACHE IV and APACHE II in predicting hospital mortality, and to investigate the ability of APACHE IV as a critical care triage criterion. METHODS: The study was designed as a prospective cohort study. Measurements of discrimination and calibration were performed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test respectively. We also calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR). RESULTS: The APACHE IV score, the Charlson Comorbidity index (CCI) score, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and unplanned ICU admissions were independently associated with hospital mortality. The calibration, discrimination, and SMR of APACHE IV were good (H = 7.67, P = 0.465; C = 3.42, P = 0.905; AUROC = 0.759; SMR = 1.00). However, the explanatory power of an APACHE IV score >93 alone on hospital mortality was low at 44.1%. The explanatory power was increased to 53.8% when the hospital mortality was predicted using a model that considers APACHE IV >93 scores, medical admission, and risk factors for CCI >3 coincidentally. However, the discriminative ability of the prediction model was unsatisfactory (C index <0.70). CONCLUSIONS: The APACHE IV presented good discrimination, calibration, and SMR for hospital mortality.
APACHE* ; Calibration ; Cohort Studies ; Comorbidity ; Critical Care ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Hospital Mortality ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea ; Mortality* ; Prospective Studies ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; Risk Factors ; ROC Curve ; Tertiary Care Centers* ; Triage

BACKGROUND: Bleeding peptic ulcer is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Various different endoscopic hemostatic methods were introduced to treat bleeding peptic ulcer. Many studies reported the efficacy and comparision of various methods. Endoscopic injection therapy is the most comman method among them because it is inexpensive and easy in use. Complications of injection therapy such as aggravation of bleeding, tissue neerosis and perforation were repoted rarely. Recently endoscopic hemoclipping method is considered to be safe and effective hemostatic method for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. METHODS: During the period between January 1993 and August 1996, we have conducted clinical trial and retrospective analysis among 100 patients in whom active bleeding or visible vessel was identified. RESULTS: 1) Three groups was divided, Hemoclip group 26 cases, Hypertonic Saline Epinephrine(HSE) group 59 cases, Combination group 15 cases. 2) The sources of bleeding in Hemoclip group were gastric ulcer in 23 Cases and duodenal ulcer in 3 cases, and in HSE group, gastric ulcer in 44 case, duodenal ulcer 14 cases and stomal ulcer in one case, and in combination group, gastric ulcer in 10 cases, duodenal ulcer in 3 cases and stomal ulcer in two cases. HSE and combination method were performed more than Hemoclip method in duodenal ulcer(23.7% and 20.0% versus 11.5%). 3) As the stigmata of bleeding in Hemoclip and HSE and Combination group, spurting were seen in 5 cases and 3 cases and 4 cases, and oozing in 10 cases and 17 cases and 3 cases, and nonbleeding visible vessel in 11 cases and 39 cases and 8 cases, respectively. Hemoclip method was performed more than HSE method in active bleeding state(57.6% versus 33.9%). 4) Initial hemostasis was achieved in 24 cases(92.3%) in Hemoclip group and 52 cases(88.1%) in HSE group, 13 cases(86.7%) in Combination group. 5) The rebleeding developed in 1 case(4.2%) in Hemoclip group and 8 cases(15.4%) in HSE group and 1 case(7.6%) in Combination group, the emergent operation was undewent 2 cases(7.7%) in Hemoclip group and 10 cases(17.0%) in HSE group and 1 case(6.7%) in Combination group, respectively. 6) The death was noticed in 1 cases(3.9%) in Hemoclip group and 2 cases(3.4%) in HSE group and 2 case(13.3%) in Combination group, repectively. 7) Permanent hemostasis by only endoscopic treatment was achieved in 24 cases(92.3%) in Hemoclip group and 48 cases(81.4%) in HSE group, 12 cases(80.0%) in Combination group. 8) Complication was noticed only in HSE group, aggravation of bleeding in one case and hematoma in two cases. CONCLUSION: Hemoclip method was effective hemostatic method same as HSE injection method, and safe method weth low complication in bleeding peptic ulcer. We suggest more detail selection of endoscopic hemostatic method in variously individualized endoscopic features.
Christianity ; Duodenal Ulcer ; Epinephrine* ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis ; Humans ; Peptic Ulcer* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Ulcer ; Ulcer

PURPOSE: Respiratory symptoms related with malignant airway disease have been the main causes of lowered quality of life and also sometimes may be life-threatening if not properly amanged. He authors report the short-term experiences of endobronchial brachytherapy for symptomatic malignant airway obstruction using high dose rate after-loading brachytherapy unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients with symptomatic malignant airway obstruction were treated with endobronchial brachytherapy between the period of December 1994 and March 1996 at Department of Radiation Oncology of Samsung Medical Center. Twenty-one(84%) were patients with non-small cell lung cancer, three with tracheal malignancies, and one with recurrence of esophageal cancer. Twenty patients were given elective external beam radiation therapy, while six were given endobronchial laser evaporation therapy on emergency bases in addition to endobronchial brachytherapy. Three procedures for each patients were planned and total of 70 procedures were completed. RESULTS: Improvement rates of major respiratory symptoms after endobronchial brachytherapy procedures were 88%(22/25), 96%(22/23)m 100%(15/15), and 100%(9/9) for cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis and obstructive pneumonia, respectively. ECOG Performance scores were improved in 56% of total patients group, while there was no case with worsened ECOG score. Fifteen patients died and the median interval from the start of treatment to death was 4 months (range : 1~17 months), while that of ten survivors was 9 months (range:5~19 months). There were five patients with controlled intrathoracic disease, who have survived over one year. All deaths were associated with uncontrolled local and/or distant disease. Four patients died of massive fatal hemoptysis, three of who received emergency endobrronchial laser evaporation therapy before the start of endobronchial brachytherapy. CONCLUSION: Endobronchial brachytherapy has been confirmed as an excellent palliative treatment modality improving respiratory symptoms as well as patients' general performance status. Based on the current observations, use of endobronchial brachytherapy in curative setting as a boost technique may be warranted.
Airway Obstruction* ; Brachytherapy* ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Emergencies ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Pneumonia ; Quality of Life ; Radiation Oncology ; Recurrence ; Survivors

Scleroderma (SSc) renal crisis has been reported to be associated with anti-RNA polymerase I and III (RNAP I/III) antibodies in Caucasians and the Japanese. However, no report is available for Korean SSc patients. Here, we describe the case of a 65-yr-old female SSc patient who developed renal crisis and whose serum contained anti-RNAP I/III antibodies. She was finally diagnosed as having diffuse cutaneous SSc based on skin thickening proximal to the elbows and knees. Sudden hypertension, oliguria, and pulmonary edema were features of her renal crisis. Despite the use of captopril and adequate blood pressure control, her renal function deteriorated. Subsequent renal biopsy findings showed severe fibrinoid necrosis with luminal obliteration in interlobar arteries and arterioles consistent with SSc renal crisis. Serum anti-RNAP I/III antibodies were detected by radioimmunoprecipitation. This is the first report of a renal crisis in a Korean SSc patient with RNAP I/III antibodies.
Scleroderma, Systemic/*complications/enzymology/*immunology ; RNA Polymerase III/*immunology ; RNA Polymerase I/*immunology ; Korea ; Kidney Failure, Acute/*complications/enzymology/*immunology ; Humans ; Female ; Critical Care ; Autoantibodies/*blood ; Aged