OBJECTIVE: To obtain clinically useful data regarding prenatal diagnosis, proper antepartum counseling and obstetric management in pregnancies with fetal dysplastic kidney disease. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 13 cases of MCDK(Multicystic dysplastic kidney) and PCDK(Polycystic dysplastic kidney), diagnosed by antenatal ultrasound and delivered from June 1994 through July 1999 at Ajou University School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with regard to prenatal ultrasonographic findings, perinatal outcomes, maternal complications and associated fetal anomalies. RESULTS: The incidence of MCDK and PCDK was one in 1,066 and one in 2,398 births, respectively. Of the 9 cases of MCDK, one case was terminated due to severely associated anomaly, and 6 cases were delivered by spontaneous labor or pitocin induction at term, of which 1 case was delivered by pitocin induction at 36 weeks gestation due to intrauterine fetal death. Two cases were delivered by cesarean section. There were no neonatal deaths in 7 cases of MCDK and they have been followed up to date, and alive. Of the 4 cases of PCDK, 3 cases were terminated by induced abortion or induced vaginal delivery, and 1 case was delivered by cesarean section, which was combined with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the baby died within 24 hours after birth. Perinatal complications consisted of small for gestational age, urinary tract infection, hydronephrosis, acute respiratory failure, acute renal failure, periventricular hemorrhage and laryngomalacia in the neonatal period. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that antenatal ultrasonography and genetic analysis to evaluate accurate diagnosis and associated anomalies should be performed to manage and councel properly the pregnancies with fetal dysplastic kidney disease.
Abortion, Induced ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Cesarean Section ; Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Death ; Gestational Age ; Gynecology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Incidence ; Kidney Diseases* ; Kidney* ; Laryngomalacia ; Obstetrics ; Oxytocin ; Parturition ; Pregnancy* ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Tract Infections

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of self-help management program which strengthens self-efficacy for post stroke elders who attend day care center in Chongju. One group pretest-posttest design was used, and the subjects were 7 post stroke elders with hemiparesis. The self-help management program consisted of 5 sessions and each session included group education on stroke. ROM exercise. recreation and self-care strategies. Those strategies for encouraging and reinforcing self-efficacy provided verbal persuasion. performance accomplishment and vicarious experience. All subjects were questioned before and after the program about ADLs, IADLs. self-efficacy. self-care behavior and depression. The analysis of data revealed that the program was effective to increase the IADLs. self-efficacy and self-care behavior. However. there was no significant difference between pre and post ADLs and depression. The results indicated that this program may be adopted to improve the physical and psychological function of post stroke elderly patients in community settings.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged* ; Day Care, Medical ; Depression ; Education ; Humans ; Paresis ; Persuasive Communication ; Recreation ; Self Care ; Stroke*

The records of 15 cirrhotic patients with ascites and groin hernias(14 inguinal and one femoral) were retrospectively reviewed. Fifteen patients underwent repair of their groin hernias. All patients were performed herniorrhaphies electively. No major and one minor(wound infection) postoperative complications occurred. There were no perioperative deaths or ascitic leak. All patients were available for follow-up. In this group, 7 deaths occurred after herniorrhaphy, 5 of 7 were Child's Class B and 2 of 7 were Child's Class C. In this same group of patients, mean alive duration were 25.7 month(4-89 months). From this retrospective study, it appears that serious complications from groin hernias in cirrhotics are not common, and elective repair can usually await control of ascites. Additionally, for appropriately selected patients with ascites, elective inguinal hernia repair can be performed safely, with an acceptable rate of recurrence.
Ascites* ; Fibrosis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Groin ; Hernia ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver* ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the changes induced in the pharyngeal airway space by orthodontic treatment with bodily retraction of the mandibular incisors and mandibular setback surgery without extraction. METHODS: This retrospective study included 63 adult patients (32 men and 31 women). Thirty-three patients who had been treated via four-bicuspid extraction and bodily retraction of the mandibular incisors (incisor retraction, IR group) were compared with 30 patients who had been treated via mandibular setback surgery (MS group) without extraction. Lateral cephalograms were acquired and analyzed before (T1) and after treatment (T2). RESULTS: The superior pharyngeal airway space did not change significantly in either group during treatment. The middle pharyngeal airway space decreased by 1.15 ± 1.17 mm and 1.25 ± 1.35 mm after treatment in the IR and MS groups, respectively, and the decrease was comparable between the two groups. In the MS group, the inferior pharyngeal airway space (E-IPW) decreased by 0.88 ± 1.67 mm after treatment (p < 0.01). The E-IPW was larger in the MS group than in IR group at T1, but it did not differ significantly between the two groups at T2. No significant correlation was observed between changes in the pharyngeal airway space and the skeletal and dental variables in each group. CONCLUSIONS: The middle pharyngeal airway space decreased because of the posterior displacement of the mandibular incisors and/or the mandibular body. The E-IPW decreased only in the MS group because of the posterior displacement of only the mandibular body.
Adult ; Humans ; Incisor* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

Floating-Harbor syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that presents with short stature, facial dysmorphism, significantly delayed bone age, skeletal abnormalities, speech and language problems, and intellectual disabilities. Although short stature is one of the main clinical manifestations, use of growth hormone therapy in Floating-Harbor syndrome patients has been limited. Only a few reports have investigated the response to growth hormone therapy with regard to final adult height. We report the case of a 7-year-old girl with FloatingHarbor syndrome and a heterozygous mutation, c.7330C > T (p.Arg2444*), in the SRCAP gene. The patient exhibited dysmorphic facial features, severe intellectual disabilities, obsessive-compulsive and aggressive behaviors, and short stature without growth hormone deficiency. Her height standard deviation score improved after 55 months of growth hormone therapy.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to determine the optimum radiotherapy technique for internal mammary node (IMN) irradiation after breast-conserving surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected ten cases of early stage partial mastectomy for plan comparison. Five of the patients were treated to the right-side breast and the rest of the patients were treated to the left-side breast. For each case, four different treatment plans were made to irradiate the entire breast, IMNs and supraclavicular lymph nodes (SCLs). The four planning techniques include a standard tangential field (STF), wide tangential field (WTF), partially wide tangential field (PWT) and a photon-electron mixed field (PEM). We prescribed a dose of 50.4 Gy to the SCL field at a 3 cm depth and isocenter of the breast field. RESULTS: The dose distribution showed clear characteristics depending on the technique used. All of the techniques covered the breast tissue well. IMN coverage was also good, except for the STF, which was not intended to cover IMNs. For the cases of the left-side breasts, the volume of the heart that received more than 30 Gy was larger (in order) for the WTF, PWT, PEM and STF. For radiation pneumonitis normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), the PWT showed the best results followed by the STF. CONCLUSION: Despite the variety of patient body shapes, the PWT technique showed the best results for coverage of IMNs and for reducing the lung and heart dose.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Heart ; Humans ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Planning Techniques ; Radiation Pneumonitis

BACKGROUND: Topical steroid treatment induces diverse local Wand systemic adverse effects. Several approaches have been tried to reduce the steroid-induced adverse effects. Simultaneous application of physiological lipid mixture is also suggested. OBJECTIVE: Novel vehicles for topical glucocorticoids formulation were evaluated for the efficacy of reducing side-effects and the drug delivery properties of desonide, a low potency topical steroid. METHODS: Transcutaneous permeation and skin residual amount of desonide were measured using Franz diffusion cells. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using murine model. RESULTS: Topical steroids formulation containing desonide, in either cream or lotion form, were prepared using multi-lamellar emulsion (MLE), and conventional desonide formulations were employed for comparison. MLE formulations did not affect the anti-inflammatory activity of the desonide in phobol ester-induced skin inflammation model, compared with conventional formulations. While the penetrated amounts of desonide were similar for all the tested formulations at 24 hours after application, the increased lag time was observed for the MLE formulations. Interestingly, residual amount of desonide in epidermis was significantly higher in lotion type MLE formulation. Steroid-induced adverse effects, including permeability barrier function impairment, were partially prevented by MLE formulation. CONCLUSION: Topical desonide formulation using MLE as a vehicle showed a better drug delivery with increased epidermal retention. MLE also partially prevented the steroid-induced side effects, such as skin barrier impairment.
Desonide ; Diffusion ; Epidermis ; Glucocorticoids ; Inflammation ; Permeability ; Retention (Psychology) ; Skin ; Steroids

BACKGROUNDS: Katz index of ADL and Barthel index of ADL have been used to evaluate the function of disabled elderly in Korea. But no ADL scale reflecting Korean's own language expression and culture has been developed and verified yet. METHODS: Descriptions of basic activities which needed others' help were collected from 190 Korean disabled elderly. The collected results were categorized into basic activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living, and then in each domain such as bathing, shopping, etc. Preliminary instrument items were selected by the judgement of the expert committee, considering the frequency of the responses and the importance of each item. A preliminary questionnaire was developed based on the selected items. The preliminary questionnaire was pretested twice, and corrected by the results. Finally a scholar on Korean literature verified the questionnaire on the grammar and context. RESULTS: A total of 408 basic activities of daily living and 242 instrumental activities of daily living were collected. The activities were categorized into 7 domains of ADL(dressing, washing face and hand, bathing, eating, transfer, toileting, continence) and 10 domains of IADL(decorating, housework, preparing meals, laundry, outgoing for a short distance, using transportation, shopping, handling money, using telephone, taking medicine) CONCLUSIONS: We developed a Korean Activities of Daily Living(K-ADL) scale and Korean Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(K-IADL) scale reflecting Korean elderly's own language expression and culture.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Baths ; Eating ; Hand ; Housekeeping ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Telephone ; Transportation

BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) continues to be a major problem, because PONV is associated with delayed recovery and prolonged hospital stay. Although the PONV guidelines recommended the use of 5-hydroxy-tryptamine (5-HT3) receptor antagonists as the first-line prophylactic agents in patients categorized as high-risk, there are few studies comparing the efficacies of ondansetron, ramosetron, and palonosetron. The aim of present study was to compare the prophylactic antiemetic efficacies of three 5HT3 receptor antagonists in high-risk patients after laparoscopic surgery. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, double-blinded trial, 109 female nonsmokers scheduled for elective laparoscopic surgery were randomized to receive intravenous 4 mg ondansetron (n = 35), 0.3 mg ramosetron (n = 38), or 75 microg palonosetron (n = 36) before anesthesia. Fentanyl-based intravenous patient-controlled analgesia was administered for 48 h after surgery. Primary antiemetic efficacy variables were the incidence and severity of nausea, the frequency of emetic episodes during the first 48 h after surgery, and the need to use a rescue antiemetic medication. RESULTS: The overall incidence of nausea/retching/vomiting was lower in the palonosetron (22.2%/11.1%/5.6%) than in the ondansetron (77.1%/48.6%/28.6%) and ramosetron (60.5%/28.9%/18.4%) groups. The rescue antiemetic therapy was required less frequently in the palonosetron group than the other groups (P < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the order of prophylactic efficacy in delaying the interval to use of a rescue emetic was palonosetron, ramosetron, and ondansetron. CONCLUSIONS: Single-dose palonosetron is the prophylactic antiemetics of choice in high-risk patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Anesthesia ; Antiemetics ; Benzimidazoles ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Isoquinolines ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Nausea ; Ondansetron ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Prospective Studies ; Quinuclidines

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma, a type of sarcoma, is a malignant neoplasm with uncertain origin that arises in both the soft tissues and the bone. The occurrence of primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the pleura is extremely rare. We report a case of a 65-year-old Korean man who is being diagnosed with primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the pleura.
Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous ; Pleura ; Sarcoma