Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (C.A.A) is characterized by the extracellular amyloid protein deposition in the vessel walls of the brain and meninges. It has been estimated to account for 5 to 10% of all primary, nontraumatic brain hemorrhage. We report two cases of C.A.A causing nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage in the frontal lobe. The first case was a 60-year-old female who was admitted for the left hemiplegia and dysarthralgia. Brain CT revealed right frontal lobe hemorrhage. The second case was a 72-year-old male who was admitted for amnesia and gait disturbance. Clinical impression was Alzheimer's disease. Brain MRI revealed multifocal small hemorrhage in the right frontal lobe. Microscopically, both cases showed dilated small arteries of superficial cortex and meninges with hyalinization. Some vessels showed microaneurysm and fibriniod necrosis. Congo-red stain also exhibited birefringence under polarized light. There was no evidence of Alzheimer's disease.
Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Amnesia ; Amyloid ; Arteries ; Birefringence ; Brain ; Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy* ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Female ; Frontal Lobe ; Gait ; Hemiplegia ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Meninges ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis

No abstract available.
Hypopigmentation*

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is the most common cause of fatal poisoning in the United States and may be the most common worldwide cause of fatal poisoning. CO poisoning can affect the entire body and usually causes neurologic or cardiac injury. While not common, rhabdomyolysis, skeletal muscle necrosis, and renal failure can also occur. We report on a suicidal 22-year-old man who inhaled CO gas from a burning briquette. His case was complicated by compartment syndrome (CS). Finally, he had to undergo fasciotomy and removal of necrotic muscle. A CO poisoned patient who is unconscious cannot describe symptoms and moderate swelling or tenderness might be neglected. Though CS rarely appears in CO poisoning, delayed diagnosis may result in fatal consequences. Therefore, in the case of an unconscious patient, the entire body must be examined closely to identify early signs related to CS (tenderness, swelling, redness). If the diagnosis is uncertain after the clinical evaluation, the pressure within the compartment should be measured.
Burns ; Carbon Monoxide ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning* ; Compartment Syndromes* ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Necrosis ; Poisoning ; Renal Insufficiency ; Rhabdomyolysis ; United States ; Young Adult

Some individuals may demonstrate a secondary phase nystagmus (SPN) following the caloric irrigation. It has been stated that if a SPN begins prior to 140 seconds after the onset of caloric stimulation and if the magnitude of the slow phase velocity is greater than 6 degrees/sec, then a premature reversal caloric nystagmus (PRCN) is said to exit. Thus far, there have been no reports describing PRCN in Korea. We described a typical PRCN in a patient with medulloblastoma within the 4th ventricle. The patient had a gaze-evoked horizontal and upbeating nystagmus. However, there was no indication of spontaneous nystagmus. A monothermal caloric test was administered. The initial left beating primary phase nystagmus was subsided at 60 seconds after right cold water stimulation and at 110 seconds, a right beating SPN with 14 degrees/sec of slow phase velocity was appeared and was continuous for 240 seconds. Although the precise mechanism of PRCN is unknown, vestibular nuclei damage may be related.
Caloric Tests ; Humans ; Korea ; Medulloblastoma ; Nystagmus, Physiologic* ; Vestibular Nuclei ; Water

No abstract available.
Breast* ; Mucinoses*

Due to unknown underlying biochemical disorders, the delineation of Dejerine-sottas disease has been subject to recent controversy. This is a case of a 9 year-old Korean female with the clinical manifestations of sporadic occurence, chronic severe and symmetrical motor sensory polyneuropathy, thickened palpable peripheral nerves, facial diplegia, areflexia and abnormal pupillary reactivity to light. The electrophysiological studies are indicative of chronic demyelination neuropathy showing markedly slowed motor NCV, low and dispersed CMAPs and extreme dispersion of a SNAP. The pathology of the sural nerve reveals prominant hypomyelination and onion bulbs characterized by whorling concentric proliferations of the cytoplasmic processes of Schwann cells. The nosological problems of hypertrophic neuropathy in childhood are discussed.
Axons/pathology ; Case Report ; Child ; Demyelinating Diseases/pathology ; Facial Paralysis/*pathology ; Female ; Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathies/*pathology ; Human ; Sural Nerve/pathology

Abdominal lymphangiomas are uncommon angiomatous tumor occurring mainly in childhood. This is a retrospective clinicopathologic study of 17 cases of abdominal lymphangioma. The patients included are five children and 12 adults, with a mean age at initial presentation of 30.7 years (age ranges 3-63). The locations of the tumors were mesentery (5), retroperitoneum (4), colon (3), omentum (3), mesocolon (1) and gallbladder (1). Infiltrative growth was more common pattern than entirely circumscribed pattern. Masses were mostly multilocular cysts and contained chyle or serous fluid. On immunohistochemical staining, 16 cases were reactive for either CD31 or factor VIII-related antigen. These fact would suggest that intra-abdominal lymphangiomas simulate the immunohistochemical features of collecting lymphatics. Follow up was possible in 12 cases for 3-50 months (mean 19 months) and only one patient showed local recurrence. Although abdominal lymphangiomas are rare in adulthood and correct preoperative diagnosis is difficult, awareness of such a possibility in adulthood will contribute to make a correct preoperative diagnosis.
Abdominal Neoplasms/physiopathology ; Abdominal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Abdominal Neoplasms/metabolism ; Adult ; Antigens, CD31/biosynthesis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Factor VIII/biosynthesis ; Female ; Human ; Lymphangioma/physiopathology ; Lymphangioma/pathology* ; Lymphangioma/metabolism ; Male ; Middle Age ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate the relationship of family function, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and general characteristics to loneliness in community dwelling Korean elders and identify factors affecting loneliness. METHOD: With a cross-sectional causal-relationship design and a convenience sample, 205 elders residing in three districts of the city of Seoul, S. Korea were recruited. Participants were assessed using the Family APGAR Score, Self-Esteem Scale, Life-Satisfaction Scale, and Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. RESULTS: The mean score for degree of loneliness (Mean=39.61, SD=10.09) was just below the mean for the scale (Possible range 20-80). Loneliness had significant negative correlations with family function (r= -.400, p<.001), self-esteem (r= -.399, p<.001), and life satisfaction (r= -.644, p<.001). Other general characteristics that had significant or nearly significant relationships with loneliness were perceived current financial and health status, whether doing any exercise or physical activities, degree of close relationship with family members, and length of living in current residence. Among variables, life satisfaction (Standardized beta = -.589, p<.001) and length of living in current residence (Standardized beta = -.136, p<.05) significantly predicted degree of loneliness. CONCLUSION: Findings of this study allow a comprehensive understanding of loneliness and related factors among community dwelling elders in Korea. However, further studies with a larger random sample from various living environments are necessary.
Apgar Score ; Humans ; Korea ; Loneliness* ; Motor Activity ; Seoul

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare prescription patterns and clinical features according to clinical departments in sedative-hypnotic intoxication. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of histories, substances of poisoning, acquisition routes, clinical courses, and outcomes of patients treated for acute intoxication in a single emergency medical center from January, 2011 to December, 2013. RESULTS: A total of 769 patients were treated for acute intoxication, 281 patients ingested sedative hypnotics during the study period. Among 281 patients, 155 patients were prescribed by psychiatric department and 80 patients were prescribed by non-psychiatric department. Benzodiazepines were more likely to be prescribed by psychiatrists, and zolpidem was preferred by non-psychiatrists (p<0.001). Non-psychiatrists were more likely to prescribe short acting benzodiazepines than psychiatrists (p<0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the clinical outcomes, including prevalence of admission to ICU, ventilator care, and length of stay in ICU. In patients prescribed by non-psychiatrists, there were more patients prescribed without psychiatric diagnosis and diagnosed as major depression disorder after hospitalization. CONCLUSION: To promote rational prescribing of sedative hypnotics, proper psychiatric evaluation should be performed before prescribing, and educational programs including the contents of interactions and side effects of sedative hypnotics are needed.
Benzodiazepines ; Depression ; Emergencies ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Length of Stay ; Mental Disorders ; Poisoning ; Prescriptions* ; Prevalence ; Psychiatry ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventilators, Mechanical

BACKGROUND: IS6110 DNA fingerprint is a very useful tool for investigating the transmission of tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to identify the epidemiological situations within a given area (one province). METHODS: The 681 Mycbobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients, who were registered at health centers in Gyeonggi Province from May to December in 2004, were subjected to IS6110 DNA fingerprinting. Patients belonging to clusters were interviewed by health-workers to determine their previous contacts or household TB history. RESULTS: The number of IS6110 copies of the 681 isolates showed diverse fingerprint patterns from 0 to 21 of which the most prevalent copy number was 10 from 120 isolates (17.6%). Thirty-three isolates (4.8%) belonged to the K strain, and 128 isolates (18.8%) belonged to the K family. There were 180 (26.4%) isolates belonged belonging to fifty clusters, of which two clusters were within household transmission. Forty-three (23.9%) out of 180 patients resided in an area under the same health center control. The rate of clusters in those aged 60-70 was higher than in any other age group ( 95% CI of RR : 1.072 ~ 1.988). CONCLUSION: This is the first report of an epidemiological survey based on a whole province using a DNA fingerprinting technique for M. tuberculosis. These results will be helpful in developing a program or policies to prevent the transmission of TB.
Dermatoglyphics ; DNA Fingerprinting* ; DNA* ; Epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Tuberculosis