Background: Many countries need help with the problem of an unbalanced distribution of physicians and hospitals. Moreover, various policies and strategies have been proposed to solve this problem. This study aimed to examine the determinants of the unbalanced distribution of physicians. Methods: From the 2020 Korean Physician Survey data, 4,181 physicians practicing in Korea were limited to the subjects of the study. We analyzed the factors influencing physicians’ choice of practice location and their willingness to change their practice location from an urban to a rural area. Results: The region of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals determined their choice of practice location. The type of affiliated healthcare organization and the location of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals affected their willingness to change their practice location from an urban to a rural area. Furthermore, the concordance rate of the regions of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals with the region of their practice location was 24.9%. Conclusion In South Korea, policies for doctors have been designed without considering why they are reluctant to work in rural hospitals. To have a balanced distribution of physicians and hospitals, it is necessary to accurately analyze the status of medical resources based on regions and identify the current and future medical demand. The social situation, such as future demographic change and regional extinction, must also be fully considered. Furthermore, policies should be implemented that encourage physicians to work in rural hospitals.

In single atrial and ventricular cells isolated from the guinea-pig and the rabbit heart, action potentials and membrane currents were recorded by using the whole cell voltage clamp technique. In rabbit atrial cells the repolarization showed two distinctive phases, referred as the early and late phases(early and late plateau phase), but in guinea-pig atrial cells there was a maintained plateau and less distinctive two phases of repolartization. Increasing intracellular sodium or reducing external sodium by replacement with lithium suppressed the late phase of the action potential in rabbit atrial cells and shortened the plateau of action potential in rabbit ventricle and guinea-pig atrial cells. Reducing external sodium decreased Ca-current and late inward current in voltage clamp. Ouabain in the concentration of 10(-5)M shortened the duration of action potential and shifted the holding current level to outward direction, decreased Ca-current and moved late inward current to outward direction. Ryanodine 10(-6)M which is known to be an inhibitor of Ca-release in the intracellular store, suppressed the late phase of action potential in rabbit atrial cells and shortened the plateau of action potential in rabbit ventricular cells. Ryanodine also decreased Ca-current and shifted late inward current to outward direction. It is concluded that an inward current activated by intracellular calcium contributes to the late Phase of the action potential in rabbit atrial cells and to the late plateau in rabbit ventricular cells and in guinea-pig atrial cells. It may be carried by the Na-Ca exchange precess and/or by calcium-activated non-specific channels but preferably Na-Ca exchange machanism.
Action Potentials* ; Calcium ; Heart* ; Lithium ; Membranes* ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; Ouabain ; Ryanodine ; Sodium

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of continuous intravenous infusion of esmolol on the heart rate and blood pressure, after ketamine induction and endotracheal intubation. METHODS: With informed consent, forty patients with ASA physical status 1 were randomly divided into two groups. Esmolol group received the continuous intravenous infusion of esmolol (at 500 microgram/kg/min for 1 minute as a loading dose and at 300 microgram/kg/min until 7 minutes after endotracheal intubation as a maintenance dose) and saline group received normal saline at the same volume-rate. 2 mg/kg of ketamine and 0.15 mg/kg of vecuronium were given at 4 minutes after the test drugs. Intubation was performed at 3 minutes after the induction. The changes of blood pressure, heart rate and rate pressure product were measured at different time intervals (preinduction, preintubation, immediately after intubation and postintubation 1, 3, 5 and 7minutes). RESULTS: In the esmolol group, the changes of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and rate pressure product were significantly attenuated when compared with the saline group. The changes in heart rate at preintubation and intubation were not statistically significant when compared with the baseline value within the esmolol group. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the infusion of esmolol attenuated the hemodynamic changes following ketamine induction and endotracheal intubation, but it is still needed to find the dosage of esmolol.
Anesthetics ; Blood Pressure* ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Infusions, Intravenous* ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal* ; Ketamine* ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; Vecuronium Bromide

Left ventricular false tendon, also called moderator bands, anomalous cords, accessory bands or false chordae tendinae, has been known as simple anatomical without clinical importance. But the possible relationship with Still's type murmur and ventricular arrhythmia were reported recently. The incidence of false tendon was known as 0.5-6.1% variably. In Korea, there are no reports about left ventricular false tendon till now. The authors examined 2,052 patients' echocaediograms and clinical manifestations retrospectively to find the incidence and potent clinical significance of false tendons. The incidence in present study was 1.02% and there was no specific relationship between false tendon and cardiovascular diseases. The authors observed Still's type musical murmur in 5 patients out of 21 and ventricular premature beats in 2 patients out of 10 without other cardiovascular diseases. One of them showed nonsustained ventricular tachycaedia during Holter ECG monitoring. The most frequent echocardiographic site of attachment was from basal inter-ventricular septum to lelft ventricular free wall and false tendon attached to papillary muscle was least frequently observed.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiac Complexes, Premature ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Music ; Papillary Muscles ; Retrospective Studies ; Tendons*

The effect of ketanserin, serotonin antagonist, among 19 korean patients over 55 years with essential hypertension was assessed in an open clinical trial for three months. patients were given Ketanserin 20mg bid with monthly follow-up visits. Mean values of systolic/diastolic blood pressures fell from 169+/-17/104+/-10mmHg to 155+/-14/94+/-9mmHg at 2 weeks(p<0.01) and to 147+/-10/87+/-6mmHg at end of treatment 12 weeks after(p<0.001). There was no significant change in heart rate. Transient mild side effects were observed in 5 patients. We conclude that Ketanserin is an effective and safe drug for the treatment of elderly hypertensives.
Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Ketanserin* ; Middle Aged* ; Serotonin

Identification of patients with combined valvular prolapse has important clinical imlications, because such patients appear to be early surgical candidates. Detection of combined valvular prolapse became more feasible with development of 2-dimentional echocardiography and the incidence of combained mitral and valve prolapse is reported to be variable from 3% to 24%. The authors found a case of combined mitral and aortic valve prolapse detected by 2-dimensional echocardiography. This 30-years-old male patient who admitted because of peptic ulcer bleeding revealed a prolapse of anterior mitral leaflet with regurgitation and also a prolapse of the right coronary cusp into the left ventricular outflow tract but without evidence of aortic regurgutation by Doppler echocardiogram. he discharged without surgical intervention and needs further observation.
Aortic Valve Prolapse* ; Aortic Valve* ; Echocardiography ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Mitral Valve ; Peptic Ulcer ; Prolapse

No abstract available.
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Carnitine* ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP)*

No abstract available.
Folic Acid Deficiency* ; Folic Acid* ; Polyneuropathies*

BACKGROUND: Hypobetalipoproteinemia (HBL) is characterized by plasma concentration of lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol below the fifth percentile in a healthy population. It has been suggested that HBL may be associated with apolipoprotein E (apoE) and apoB polymorphisms, such as apoB 8344 and apoB EcoRI. METHODS: Patients with HBL (n=51) and age-and- sex-matched healthy controls (n=136) were compared for apoE genotyping, apoB 8344 polymorphism and apoB EcoRI polymorphism. ApoE genotyping and apoB EcoRI polymorphism were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment-length polymorphism. ApoB 8344 polymorphism was determined by the PCR-amplification refractory mutation system. We also Search truncated apoB with ECL western blotting in 23 HBL subjects. RESULTS: We could not find any truncated form of apoB. We found significant elevation of the apoE epsilon2 allele frequency of 0.147 in HBL cases compared with 0.063 in healthy controls (P=0.018). The ApoB 8344 polymorphism showed no significant difference between the HBL and the normal control groups. There were no significant apoB EcoRI allele frequency differences between the HBL and the normal groups. There were no significant apoB EcoRI allele frequency differences between the HBL and the normal groups. CONCLUSIONS: We could not find any relationship between HBL either with apoB 8344 or apoB EcoRI polymorphisms, but apoE epsilon2 allele seemed to be associated with HBL in Koreans.
Alleles ; Apolipoprotein E2 ; Apolipoproteins B ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Blotting, Western ; Cholesterol ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Hypobetalipoproteinemias ; Lipoproteins ; Plasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

The clinical trial was carried out with Bunazosin in 31 patients with essential hypertension. The results were as follows : 1) Before and after 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of medications, the overall average systolic and distolic blood pressure were 166.5+/-21.8/105.7+/-10.6, 152.7+/-17.2/99.8+/-11.1, 149.5+/-18.1/98.4+/-11.7, 148.5+/-16.9/97.3+/-11.3, 148.5+/-16.7/95.6+/-10.9 and 144.0+/-14.9/94.2+/-11.1mmHg. As a result, blood pressure significantly fell within 1week of medication, and marked and moderate degree of hypetensive effect was observed within 8weeks og medication in 45% of all cases. 2) Before and after 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8weeks of medication, the overall average heart rates were 79.7+/-10.1, 78.3+/-9.1, 79.4+/-7.4, 80.8+/-8.3, 79.2+/-8.9 and 80.1+/-8.3 beats/minute. There were no significant change in heart rates before and after medication. 3) There were no significant changes in values of complete blood counts, GOT, GDT, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and total cholesterol before and after medication. On the basis of these results, we observed that Bunazosin was effective hypertensive drug.
Blood Cell Count ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Cholesterol ; Creatinine ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension