No abstract available.
Stents* ; Ureter*

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

Fahr's disease (FD) is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by the symmetric and bilateral intracerebral calcification in a patient. We describe the case of a 65-year-old woman who presented with gait disturbance, abnormal mentality, and visual field defect. The result of a brain computerized tomography showed spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage in the right parieto-occipital area, and also showed the incidence of symmetric and bilateral intracerebral calcification. Moreover, laboratory studies indicated characteristic hypoparathyroidism. This brings us to understand that additionally, one of her sons also presented with similar intracerebral calcification, and was subsequently diagnosed with FD. Thus, her case was consistent with that of a patient experiencing FD. The patient had hypertension, which we now know might have caused the intracerebral hemorrhage. However, this patient's brain lesions were in uncommon locations for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, and the lesions were noted as occurring away from the identified heavily calcified areas. Thus, it seemed that the massive calcification of cerebral vessels in the basal ganglia, the most common site of intracerebral hemorrhage, might have prevented a hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. Eventually, an intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in an uncommon location in the patient's brain.
Aged ; Basal Ganglia ; Brain ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Female ; Gait ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Incidence ; Intracranial Hemorrhage, Hypertensive ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Nervous System Diseases ; Visual Fields

No abstract available.
Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Skin*

BACKGROUND: The relationship between viral hepatitis and lichen planus (LP) remains as a matter of controversy. Geographical variations are suggested to be a major factor influencing such association. Reliable figures from Korean patients are still lacking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in Korean patients with lichen planus (LP) and to compare it with patients without LP. METHODS: The retrospective study was performed on 45 LP patients and 45 controls with matching age and gender. We examined for serological evidences of hepatic disease, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and anti-HCV seropositivity. Statistical analysis was calculated by using an unpaired t-test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: No significant differences between the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were observed between the two groups. The prevalence of HBsAg in LP patients (4.4%) was not significantly higher (p>0.05) than those of the control subjects (2.2%). None of the patients with LP nor the control subjects had Anti-HCV. CONCLUSION: Korean patients with LP did not have any significant associations with liver diseases or HBV, and HCV infections. Although a large-scale multicenter study is needed to support our results, it is not advisable for Korean patients with LP to be tested for liver functions or HBV, and HCV infections as part of a routine screening test.
Alanine Transaminase ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Lichen Planus* ; Lichens* ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Function Tests* ; Liver* ; Mass Screening* ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

The original article contained an error in Figure and Figure legend.

BACKGROUND: The causes of hemolytic disease of the newborn are discrepancies of ABO group, Rh(D) or other RBC antigens. The discrepancies of Rh subgroups except Rh(D) and K typing can be seen rarely. The clinical symptoms of those types are mild and most clinicians have no interest in them. However, there exist some serious cases that need exchange transfusion. For that, we detected Rh subgroup phenotyping and Kell typing in blood obtained from cord and pregnant women and the frequency of discrepancy. METHODS: We examined the cord and mother's blood collected from 317 pregnant women from May to November, 1997. Rh(D) typing was done using slide method with anti-D (Dade, USA), and other Rh subgroup phenotyping using column agglutination test on MicroTyping system with Rh-K gel card (DiaMed, Switzerland). Irregular antibody screening was done in the cases of discrepancy. RESLUTS: The most frequent phenotype of Rh subgroup was CDe (41.3%) and then CcDEe (39.3%), but the K typing showed 0%. 90 cases of 317 pair-samples (28.4%) showed discrepancies between pregnant women and their neonates. The most frequent type of Rh discrepancy was c+E (50%) and then C or E (11.1%). 62 cord samples which obtained from neonates of Kyungpook and Chonnam provinces showed discrepancies, were all negative in the irregular antibody screening test. CONCLUSIONS: Rh subgroup phenotyping and irregular antibody screening in cord blood by column agglutination test is thought to be helpful in early diagnosis and treatment of hemolytic disease of the newborn, as a sufficient amount of cord blood can be collected easily rather than neonatal blood.
Agglutination Tests ; Blood Group Antigens* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Jeollanam-do ; Mass Screening ; Phenotype ; Pregnant Women*

No abstract available.
Neurofibroma* ; Neurofibromatoses*

No abstract available.
Neurofibroma* ; Neurofibromatoses*

Chitosan, hydroxycitrate and L-carnitine have been known to be antiobesity components. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined effects of chitosan, hydroxycitrate and L-carnitine mixture as a potential antiobesity supplement in overweight women. Pre-menopausal healthy females who were overweight (percent ideal body weight >110) were included in this study. Forty-nine subjects randomly received a placebo (n=25) or antiobesity-supplement (n=24), which was a mixture of chitosan, hydroxycitrate, and L-carnitine. Before and after the eight-week experimental period, anthropometric parameters, blood components and computerized tomography were measured. At baseline, the two groups were well matched in terms of age, body mass index and lipid profile. After the eight weeks of potential antiobesity supplementation, the subjects' body fat percent had decreased significantly (p<0.001) by 5.6% (39.1+/-1 vs 36.9+/-1%) while lean body mass increased (p<0.01). Vsceral fat area at the L4 vertebra decreased significantly (p<0.01) by 8.6% in the supplemented group and the total fat area at the L4 vertebra showed a tendency to decrease (p=0.051) by 2.4%. Also, in the group given the antiobesity-supplement rather than the placebo, the fasting triglyceride level decreased significantly (p<0.05) by 10.0%. In addition, serum total cholesterol levels in the antiobesity-supplement group showed a tendency to decrease (p=0.159) by 2.7% (194+/-6 vs 189+/-6 mg/dl). No side effects were found in either group during the intervention. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that taking a mixture of chitosan, hydroxycitrate, and L-carnitine as a potential antiobesity supplement for eight weeks produced advantageous changes in the weight and visceral fat accumulation of overweight women without any side effects.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Mass Index ; Carnitine ; Chitosan ; Cholesterol ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Ideal Body Weight ; Intra-Abdominal Fat* ; Overweight* ; Spine ; Triglycerides ; Weight Loss*