BACKGROUND: Transfusion is a choice of treatment and should be used in order to maintain patients' lives and health. In order to supply safe blood, the quality improvements of hospital blood collection centers should be periodically monitored. To establish systematic surveillance of blood management system, we would like to suggest proper program. METHODS: Twenty-nine hospital small scale blood centers, collects less than 100 units of blood collection per year, were evaluated. Qualified were selected among blood bank specialists who were eligible to simultaneously perform inspections and consultations, and who had attended inspectors' workshop. RESULTS: Among twenty-five blood collection centers, four blood collection centers were closed prior to inspections. Among them, two blood collection centers were evaluated as inadequate. Among adequate centers, some questionnaires were evaluated as "not applicable" mainly for reasons pertaining to personnel and facilities, such as blood component preparation rooms and/or center administrators. CONCLUSION: A checklist for an inspection program should be reviewed continuously. Additionally, detailed guidelines for inspection should be standardized prior to commencing of subsequent year's inspection program. Finally, guidelines for inspection should be established for every questionnaire.
Blood Banks ; Checklist ; Quality Improvement ; Referral and Consultation ; Specialization ; Surveys and Questionnaires

A total of 213 fine needle aspirations from pulmonary lesions in 193 patients performed from January, 1986 to March, 1989 were analyzed. The cytologic diagnoses were unsatisfactory in 10, negative in 60, atypical in 6, suspicious in 11 and malignant in 126 cases. The cytologic types of the malignant cases were 47 squamous cell carcinomas, 40 adenocarcinomas, 10 small cell carcinomas, 6 large cell carcinomas and 10 metastatic tumors. They were verified by the histologic confirmation in 31 cases and by the clinical data in the remainder. There were 5 false-negative cases and none was false-positive, representing 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Primary lung cancers were accurately typed in 73% of histologically confirmed case. Cell blocks, prepared in 99 cases, were helpful in tumor typing of 11 cases.
Neoplasm Metastasis ; Lung Neoplasms

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

PURPOSE: To evaluate the histological changes of the synovial membrane treated by 166Ho-Chitosan complex in collagenase induced arthritis of the knee in the rabbit. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Arthritis was induced in sixteen rabbits by intra-articular injection of 1mg collagenase II and then treated by intra-articular injection of 0.4mCi 166Ho-Chitosan complex 2weeks later. The radioisotope scan was checked in each rabbit for the distribution and extra-articular leakage of the 166Ho-Chitosan complex. The synovial tissues from the femorotibial joints were evaluated for serial histological changes 2, 4, 8, 12 weeks after the 166Ho-Chitosan complex injetion. RESULTS: Two weeks after 166Ho-Chitosan complex administration, inflammatory cells such as giant cells, lymphocytes, histiocyte, and fibroblasts appeared in the subsynovial stroma. The most synovial cells were necrotized. Four weeks after 166Ho-Chitosan complex administration, the inflammatory cells were decreased and many fibroblasts appeared on the subsynovial stroma. There was neovasculization in the synovial membrane 4 weeks after administration. The fibers of collagen were noticed in the synovial membrane and subsynovial stroma at 8 weeks. There was no synoviocyte in the synovium and the thickness of fibrosis was increased at 12weeks. There were fragmentation of the nucleoli of synoviocyte and endothelial cell on the transmission electron microscope (TEM) . CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the synovial membranes treated by 166Ho-Chitosan complex in the collagenase induced arthritis of the knee in the rabbit show early radiation damage and then subsequently develop the fibrosis, and no synovial cell regeneration was observed until 12 weeks.
Arthritis* ; Collagen ; Collagenases* ; Endothelial Cells ; Fibroblasts ; Fibrosis ; Giant Cells ; Histiocytes ; Injections, Intra-Articular ; Joints ; Knee* ; Lymphocytes ; Rabbits ; Regeneration ; Synovial Membrane

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an issue not only with regard to public health, but also in terms of economic impact. AMR surveillance has mainly been carried out in general hospitals, and not in nursing hospitals. This study was conducted to investigate the AMR rate for bacterial strains isolated from nursing hospital samples.METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results from a total of 23,518 bacterial isolates recovered from clinical specimens taken in 61 nursing hosals were analyzed. AST was conducted using Vitek 2 with AST cards specific for the bacterial strains.RESULTS: A total of 19,357 Gram-negative and 4,161 Gram-positive bacterial strains were isolated. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=6,384) and Escherichia coli (n=5,468) were the most prevalent bacterial species and, among Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (n=1,565) was common. The AMR rate was high for the following strains: cefotaxime-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, 77.4%; cefotaxime-resistant E. coli, 70.6%; imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, 90.3%; imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa, 49.3%; oxacillin-resistant S. aureus, 81.1%, penicillin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, 44.8%, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, 53.5%. AMR rate change varied by bacterial species and antimicrobial drug.CONCLUSION: AMR rates of major pathogens from nursing hospitals were higher than those from general hospitals with the exception of imipenem-resistant A. baumannii. Continuous monitoring and infection control strategies are needed.
Acinetobacter baumannii ; Enterococcus faecalis ; Enterococcus faecium ; Escherichia coli ; Gram-Positive Bacteria ; Hospitals, General ; Infection Control ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Nursing ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Public Health ; Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effect of spondylolisthesis on lumbar lordosis on the OSI (Jackson; Orthopaedic Systems Inc.) frame. Restoration of lumbar lordosis is important for maintaining sagittal balance. Physiologic lumbar lordosis has to be gained by intraoperative prone positioning with a hip extension and posterior instrumentation technique. There are some debates about changing lumbar lordosis on the OSI frame after an intraoperative prone position. We evaluated the effect of spondylolisthesis on lumbar lordosis after an intraoperative prone position. METHODS: Sixty-seven patients, who underwent spinal fusion at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of Gwangmyeong Sungae Hospital between May 2007 and February 2012, were included in this study. The study compared lumbar lordosis on preoperative upright, intraoperative prone and postoperative upright lateral X-rays between the simple stenosis (SS) group and spondylolisthesis group. The average age of patients was 67.86 years old. The average preoperative lordosis was 43.5degrees (+/- 14.9degrees), average intraoperative lordosis was 48.8degrees (+/- 13.2degrees), average postoperative lordosis was 46.5degrees (+/- 16.1degrees) and the average change on the frame was 5.3degrees (+/- 10.6degrees). RESULTS: Among all patients, 24 patients were diagnosed with simple spinal stenosis, 43 patients with spondylolisthesis (29 degenerative spondylolisthesis and 14 isthmic spondylolisthesis). Between the SS group and spondylolisthesis group, preoperative lordosis, intraoperative lordosis and postoperative lordosis were significantly larger in the spondylolisthesis group. The ratio of patients with increased lordosis on the OSI frame compared to preoperative lordosis was significantly higher in the spondylolisthesis group. The risk of increased lordosis on frame was significantly higher in the spondylolisthesis group (odds ratio, 3.325; 95% confidence interval, 1.101 to 10.039; p = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative lumbar lordosis on the OSI frame with a prone position was larger in the SS patients than the spondylolisthesis patients, which also produced a larger postoperative lordosis angle after posterior spinal fusion surgery. An increase in lumbar lordosis on the OSI frame should be considered during posterior spinal fusion surgery, especially in spondylolisthesis patients.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Intraoperative Care/*methods ; Lumbar Vertebrae/*surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications/*prevention & control ; Posture/physiology ; Prone Position/*physiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Stenosis/*surgery ; Spondylolisthesis/*surgery

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective evaluation. PURPOSE: To compare quality of life in postmenopausal women with osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs) who underwent vertebroplasty (VP) or kyphoplasty (KP). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Patient with OVFs who do not respond to conservative treatment can be treated with VP or ballon KP for faster pain relief. There are controversies on which procedure is more effective. METHODS: Five hundred twenty-eight postmenopausal women in nationwide hospitals with age of 50 years or older who underwent VP of KP for OVFs were enrolled in this study. Health related quality of life was measured using the European Quality of Life 5 Domains (EQ-5D) and visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS: In the VP group, average EQ-5D dimension was 1.95 in mobility, 1.86 in self care, 2.02 in usual activity, 2.19 in pain, 1.69 in anxiety or depression. In the KP group, average EQ-5D dimension was 1.83 in mobility, 1.78 in self care, 1.98 in usual activity, 2.03 in pain, 1.55 in anxiety or depression. Quality of life of KP group was significantly better than that of the VP group in mobility (p=0.016), pain (p=0.001), and anxiety or depression (p=0.008). Average EQ-5D index of the VP and the KP group was 0.353 (+/-0.472) and 0.485 (+/-0.357), respectively. The EQ-5D index of the KP group was significantly (p<0.001) higher than that of the KP group. The difference of VAS between VP and KP group was not statistically significant (p=0.580). CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life in patient with OVFs who underwent KP was significantly better than that of patients who underwent VP.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty* ; Quality of Life* ; Retrospective Studies ; Self Care ; Vertebroplasty*

We report a case of herpes zoster in a 9-month-old female infant, who showed multiple, grouped, erythematous papulovesicles on the right upper chest, axilla and upper back along the T4 dermatome. The patient had no history of varicella or varicella vaccination, and her mother had no contact history with varicella during pregnancy. However, the mother had been infected with the herpes zoster virus about 3 years before. Multinucleated, giant cells were shown on a Tzanck smear, and histopathologic findings were consistent with the herpes viral infection. Laboratory findings revealed that the anti-Varicella-Zoster virus IgG was positive and IgM was negative. The patient was treated with acyclovir for 7 days and papulovesicles healed without sequelae.
Acyclovir ; Axilla ; Chickenpox ; Female ; Giant Cells ; Herpes Zoster* ; Herpesvirus 3, Human ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Infant* ; Mothers ; Pregnancy ; Thorax ; Vaccination

Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is associated with hypokalemia and occurs sporadically and usually in young adult males. We report ten cases with TPP ; all were males, mean onset age was 32.4 years old. The duration of attack. Varied from 10 to 18 hours. The distribution of paralysis was confined to limb muscles; more severe in proximal limbs and lower extremities. Potassium levels during acute attack correlated with the severity of paralysis and ECG changes, but not with the severity of decrease in TSH level. In all cases, administration of potassium salts was successful in treatment of acute attack. A patient had further attack in spite of euthyroid state under the treatment of thyrotoxicosis for one year. Another patient was free from paralytic attacks by chronic administration of the potassium salt and acetazolamide without treatment of thyrotoxicosis.
Acetazolamide ; Age of Onset ; Electrocardiography ; Extremities ; Humans ; Hypokalemia ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Muscles ; Paralysis* ; Potassium ; Salts ; Thyrotoxicosis ; Young Adult

The constricted ear was suggested by Tanzer for the purpose of obviating the confusion involving lop ear, cup ear and prominent ear as defect whose helix turns down, and scapha and fossa triangularis are narrowed. The constricted ear has a spectrum of severity and therefore, requires a graded surgical approach. Tanzer has described the degree of deformities of the constricted ear as falling into three groups. For the correction of constricted ear, there are numerous techniques but we have had difficulties in adopting these techniques in various type. We also describe the various constricted ear as the Tanzer's classification and adopted three methods to each type, banner flap(group I), concha cartilage graft (group II) and rib cartilage graft(group III) for reducing postoperative deformity and confusion in correcting the ear deformities. Constricted ear repairs must be individualized to accomodate each specific deformity. We corrected 22 cases of constricted ear in 20 patients using each optimal method described above according to the degree of deformities. Mild deformities need only reshaping and adjusting of existing tissues, moderate deformities need additional skin and severe deformities require a cartilage graft. For correction of constricted ear, accurate identification of the severity of deformity is essential. The results were satisfactory and we report our experience with relative literatures.
Cartilage ; Classification ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Ear* ; Humans ; Ribs ; Skin ; Transplants