No abstract available.
Alloxan* ; Animals ; Rats*

Post-traumatic pisotriquetral osteoarthritis is an unusual condition and its diagnosis is not easy to make. This disease must be distinguished from other conditions that cause ulnar side wrist pain. We experienced a case of post-traumatic pisotriquetral osteoarthritis treated by pisiformectomy.
Diagnosis ; Osteoarthritis* ; Wrist

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by progressive fibrosis of the skin and visceral organs. Myasthenia gravis is also an autoimmune disease characterized by weakness and fatigue of skeletal muscles. The symptoms of systemic sclerosis and myasthenia gravis overlap clinically, so the recognition of disease co-occurrence may be delayed. Co-occurrence of myasthenia gravis and systemic sclerosis is very uncommon and usually diagnosed after use of D-penicillamine for treating the systemic sclerosis. We report a case of a 49-year-old female patient who complained of general weakness and was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. Four months earlier she was diagnosed with systemic sclerosis with Sjogren's syndrome and her medications did not include D-penicillamine.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Fatigue ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Penicillamine ; Scleroderma, Systemic ; Sjogren's Syndrome ; Skin

Herpes zoster oticus is a viral disease associated with otalgia, vesicular eruptions, facial paralysis, hearing disturbance, tinnitus, vertigo and other symptoms. Among cranial nerves, trigeminal and facial nerves are the most commonly affected in patients with herpes zoster oticus, but on rare occasions 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th cranial nerves are influenced as well. Authors ex-perienced a case of herpes zoster oticus involving glossopharyngeal nerve and vagal nerve without facial palsy in a 58-year-old male. We report this case with a review of literatures.
Cranial Nerves* ; Earache ; Facial Nerve ; Facial Paralysis* ; Glossopharyngeal Nerve ; Hearing ; Herpes Zoster Oticus* ; Herpes Zoster* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tinnitus ; Vertigo ; Virus Diseases

Small cell lung cancer is primarily treated with chemotherapy. For patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), systemic chemotherapy is often challenging since renal excretion of chemotherapeutic agents might be decreased due to impaired renal function, leading to increased toxicity. No consensus is made so far regarding appropriate dosage and combination of chemotherapeutic agents for patients on hemodialysis. We report two cases of chemotherapy without significant toxicity in small cell lung cancer patients who were on hemodialysis for ESRD.
Consensus ; Drug Therapy* ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Renal Dialysis* ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma*

Primary intracranial hemangiopericytoma is rare and resemble meningioma on imaging study. It shows meningeal attachment, and is usually isointense with gray matter on T1-weighted MR image with heterogeneous enhancement and prominent vascular flow voids on T2-weighted image. Cystic type of hemangiopericytoma is very rare and only 3 cases have been reported in the literature which arised in the middle fossa, cerebellum, and occipital area. Ventricular hemangiopericytomas were reported in 9 cases, and all of them were solid type. Authors experienced a peculiar case of cystic hemangiopericytoma in the 3rd ventricle and report it with review of the literature.
Cerebellum ; Hemangiopericytoma* ; Meningioma ; Third Ventricle*

BACKGROUND: Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) is a type of human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that is determined genetically. CASE REPORT: A 46-year-old woman presented with a slowly progressive ataxic gait and cognitive decline. She was alert but did not cooperate well due to severe dementia and dysarthria. High signal intensities in the cerebral cortices were evident in MRI, especially in diffusion-weighted images (DWI). A prion protein gene (PRNP) analysis revealed a P102L (proline-to-leucine) mutation in codon 102. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first reported case of GSS (confirmed by PRNP analysis) in Korea. Distinctive MRI findings are also presented.
Cerebral Cortex ; Codon ; Dementia ; Dysarthria ; Female ; Gait ; Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Prion Diseases

PURPOSE: Ethanol is the most common toxic substance encountered clinically and is becoming increasingly important in forensic medicine. Generally, pre-treatment with an alcohol disinfectant such as isopropyl alcohol for blood sampling could influence evaluations and affect legal evidence. This study was performed to determine whether isopropyl alcohol affects the serum ethanol level. METHODS: Volunteers were prohibited from drinking alcohol and taking medication for 48 hours prior to participating. Pregnant volunteers and volunteers with abnormal liver enzymes or abnormal kidney function were excluded. Enrolled subjects had their blood collected from each arm to measure the alcohol concentration, one side was disinfected with povidone iodine and the other with isopropyl alcohol. After waiting one hour, they ingested 20g of alcohol and waited. After one hour, the serum ethanol levels were measured using the same method as the first sampling. RESULTS: Ten volunteers enrolled for this study. Without the alcohol intake, all serum ethanol levels were in the nondetectable range(<3 mg/dL) for both samples with either isopropyl alcohol or povidone iodine. After drinking alcohol, the serum ethanol level varied among individuals; the mean value of the serum ethanol levels in the alcohol preparation group was 21.08+/-4.85 mg/dL, which was significantly greater than that of the povidone iodine preparation group (19.71+/-5.47 mg/dL) (p=0.006). However, the Bland-Altman analysis showed that the precision of both groups was 1.230 mg/dL, which was less than the measurement error of the equipment (3.48 mg/dL). Therefore, there was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to the measurement error. CONCLUSION: Before alcohol intake, there was no influence on the blood alcohol concentration from the alcohol disinfection, and the result was reliable. After alcohol intake, the possible influence of pre-treatment alcohol on the serum ethanol level was less than the measurement error of the equipment used.
2-Propanol ; Alcohol Drinking ; Arm ; Disinfection ; Drinking ; Ethanol ; Forensic Medicine ; Kidney ; Liver ; Povidone-Iodine

BACKGROUND: The clinical features of adverse drug reactions are various and the incidence is increasing. However, there has been no published data on the prevalence of adverse reactions to drug in Korea. METHODS: There were 301 adverse drug reactions occurring in 287 patients in Ajou University Hospital from May, 2002 through November, 2003. We analyzed the frequency of each causative drugs and clinical manifestations of adverse drug reactions. RESULTS: The most prevalent causative drug was nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (66.5%), followed by antimicrobials (17.8%), anticonvulsant (3.6%) and anti-cancer drug/immunosuppressant (3.3%). The leading clinical feature was cutaneous manifestations (83.1%), especially urticaria/angioedema, followed by respiratory manifestations (16.3%) and anaphylaxis (4.3%). The most common clinical manifestation of adverse drug reactions to NSAIDs was urticaria and/or angioedema (73.8%). Beta-lactams were the most common antimicrobials causing adverse drug reactions, and maculopapular exanthema (53.1%) was the most frequent manifestation. CONCLUSION: The most common causative drug of adverse drug reactions was NSAIDs and the leading clinical feature was cutaneous manifestations in this hospital. Further epidemiologic studies will be needed to extend the overall incidence of adverse drug reactions in this country.
Anaphylaxis ; Angioedema ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; beta-Lactams ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Exanthema ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Prevalence ; Tertiary Healthcare* ; Urticaria

PURPOSE: The separation of prescription and dispensation of drugs starting from July 2000 has led to a reduced exposure to drugs for the general population. Therefore, we hypothesize that the policy of separation the prescribing and the dispensing of drugs has decreased the actual incidence of drug intoxication from drug abuse. METHODS: Patients with acute intentional drug intoxication who were admitted to emergency centers in Seoul were retrospectively studied. The study period was subdivided into three: before, during, and after the launch of the policy of separation of prescription and dispensation, corresponding to the periods January to June, 2000; January to June 2001; and January to June 2002, respectively. RESULTS: Acute drug intoxication was associated with 0.2% of all prescriptions during the studied period. There was no significant difference in the types of intoxicating drugs whereas the most commonly abused drug was Doxylamine succinate. Prescribed medications accounted for 37.0%, 29.2%, and 32.3% of the acute drug intoxication cases in 2000, 2001, and 2002, respectively. There was no significant difference in the treatment outcomes between the three study groups although three patients died of paraquat intoxications in 2001. CONCLUSION: The launch of the policy of separation of prescription and dispension of drugs did not significantly reduce the rate of acute drug intoxication from drug abuse which questions the effectiveness of the policy in decreasing drug abuse. We suggest reassessment of sedatives, in particular, those prescribed medications, in order to decrease the incidence of acute intoxications.
Doxylamine ; Emergencies* ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Incidence ; Paraquat ; Poisoning* ; Prescriptions* ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Succinic Acid