This study was performed to identify there maternal risk factors for the low birth weight. During the period from February to June in 1991, the medical record review and questionnaire interview were conducted upon the 465 pregnant women who were admitted to and delivered a baby in 3 general hospitals and an obstetric hospital in Kwangju area. The health and other related information from women who bore the low birth weight infant was compared with those from women who bore the normal birth weight infant. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Maternal age, low body weight at term, illegitimate birth, and maintaining work activity during pregnancy were positively associated with low birth weight. 2. The positive association was revealed between low birth weight and the previous abortion, short gestational weeks, anemia, low maternal weight gain during pregnancy, the obstetric present illness and hypertension. 3. Some maternal working conditions were associated with low birth weight although statistically not significant. 4. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, gestational weeks and maternal weight gain during pregnancy were related with low birth weight.
Abortion, Induced ; Anemia ; Birth Weight ; Body Weight ; Female ; Gwangju ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Medical Records ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors* ; Weight Gain

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to document our single-center experience with pediatric acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM) and to investigate its clinical features and short-term outcomes. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of all children <18 years old who were diagnosed with AFM between October 2008 and February 2013. Data about patient demographics, initial symptoms, investigation results, management, and outcomes between survivors and nonsurvivors were collected. RESULTS: Seventeen of 21 patients (80.9%) with myocarditis were diagnosed with AFM. Eleven patients (64.7%) survived to discharge, and 6 (35.3%) died. Electrocardiography on admission revealed dysrhythmia in 10 patients (58.8%); of these, all 7 patients with a complete atrioventricular block survived. Fractional shortening upon admission was significantly different between the survivors (16%) and nonsurvivors (8.5%) (P=0.01). Of the serial biochemical markers, only the initial brain natriuretic peptide (P=0.03) and peak blood urea nitrogen levels (P=0.02) were significantly different. Of 17 patients, 4 (23.5%) required medical treatment only. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was performed in 13 patients (76.5%); the survival rate in these patients was 53.8%. ECMO support was initiated >24 hours after admission in 4 of the 13 patients (30.7%), and 3 of those 4 patients (75%) died. CONCLUSION: AFM outcomes may be associated with complete atrioventricular block upon hospital admission, left ventricular fractional shortening at admission, time from admission to the initiation of ECMO support, initial brain natriuretic peptide level, and peak blood urea nitrogen level.
Atrioventricular Block ; Biomarkers ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Child ; Demography ; Electrocardiography ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Humans ; Myocarditis* ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Survivors

To understand the mutational patterns and mechanism of short tandem repeats (STRs), 160 familial identification positive cases were checked by PAGE & silver stain. Mutations were observed in the 7 families at 6 STR loci (4 in autosomal STR loci and 2 in Y-STR loci). Alleles of each case observed mutation were re-amplified by PCR, and cloned. Each allele was sequenced by ABI 310 sequencer. There were 6 out of 7 pedigrees in which the 'new'alleles gained or lost a single repeat unit (4 gains, 2 losses). Only one pedigree (case 5-DYS464) gains one new allele. Double step mutations event or more than were not occurred. In the 5 pedigrees (autosomal locus), there were 3 pedigrees whose 'new'alleles came from fathers, 1 from mothers, 1 from either father or mother. The ratio was 4 : 1 or 3 : 2 between fathers and mothers. The mutation of 7 STR loci, except for case 4-DYS 448 ('AGAGAT'in DYS464), occurred in the long, uninterrupted tetranucleotide repeat regions ( 'AGAT'& 'AGAC'in D12S391, 'AAAG'in ACTBP2, 'ATAG'in D19S253, 'CCTT'in DYS464 and 'CTTT'in FGA). Father's age seems not to be related to occurrence of mutation event. The features of mutation in STR loci are important in forensic application such as the definition of criteria for exclusion in kinship identification case and the interpretation of DNA profiles in identification analysis.
Alleles ; Clone Cells ; DNA ; Fathers ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Mothers ; Pedigree ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Silver

Isolated Aspergillus infection originating within the sphenoid sinus is most often associated with the immunocompromised patient. A 53-year-old healthy woman presented with a 3-week history of headache and subsequent left 6th nerve palsy. Brain MRI demonstrated a space-occupying lesion within sphenoid sinus. Histological analysis through transnasal-transsphenoidal approach revealed numerous Aspergillus hyphae. Postoperatively, all symptoms resolved completely without anti-fungal treatment. Isolated Aspergillus sphenoid sinusitis should be routinely included in the differential diagnosis of patients with acute or subacute headache, even in nonimmunosuppressed patients.
Abducens Nerve Diseases ; Aspergillosis ; Aspergillus* ; Brain ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Hyphae ; Immunocompromised Host ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Sphenoid Sinus* ; Sphenoid Sinusitis*

Green nail syndrome (chromonychia) is a nail disorder characterized by onycholysis and green-black discoloration of the nail bed. This condition is often associated with chronic paronychia. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most commonly identified organism in cultures from the affected area. Despite the various treatment options available, removal of the nail is still necessary in many cases. A 35-year-old man presented with dark-greenish discoloration of the nail plate and onycholysis on the left thumbnail. He had been treated with oral antifungal and antibiotic agents for several months; however, the lesion showed no improvement. The diagnosis of green nail syndrome was established after a positive bacterial culture, and on the basis of the antibiotic sensitivity test result, tobramycin eye drop (Tobrex(R)) was then prescribed. Three weeks later, the nail discoloration almost vanished but the onycholysis remained. Herein, we recommend the application of tobramycin eye drop as an easy and safe treatment option for green nail syndrome.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Onycholysis ; Paronychia ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Tobramycin*

Diencephalic syndrome is a rare cause of failure to thrive in infancy and early childhood. The syndrome is characterized by profound emaciation with normal appetite, loss of cutaneous adipose tissue, hyperactivity, euphoria, and nystagmus. It commonly occurs in association with chiasmatic and hypothalamic gliomas. It has also been described in association with other histologic types. There is the marked increase of serum growth hormone, which may exhibit an inappropriate, even paradoxical response in stimulation test. A male infant of 12 months of age, showed markedly elevated growth hormone but he had failure to thrive findings. Evenly enhanced round mass was seen at suprasella area in brain CT. Its histological findings was "Desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma", very rare histologic type. Here we report a case of diencephalic syndrome presented by failure to thrive in association with hypothalamic tumors.
Adipose Tissue ; Appetite ; Brain ; Emaciation ; Euphoria ; Failure to Thrive ; Glioma ; Growth Hormone ; Humans ; Hypothalamic Neoplasms ; Infant ; Male

Keratosis follicularis squamosa (Dohi) is a keratinizing disorder which is a separate clinical entity from keratosis follicularis (Darier's disease). It occurs predominantly in Japanese and appears clinically as scaly patches of 3~10 mm in diameter with brownish follicular plugs in the center, which are symmetrically scattered on the trunks and thighs. Scales on the margin, slightly detached from the underlying epidermis, look like 'lotus leaves on the water'. The efficacy of minocycline has already been confirmed in many cases. In this report, we describe a case of using 1% of pimecrolimus cream for keratosis follicularis squamosa (Dohi) instead of minocycline.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Darier Disease ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Keratins ; Keratosis ; Minocycline ; Tacrolimus ; Thigh ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical results of patients with scaphoid nonunions treated with arthroscopically assisted bone grafting and percutaneous K-wires fixation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 20 patients with a scaphoid nonunions which was treated with arthroscopically assisted bone grafting and percutaneous K-wires fixation from November 2008 to July 2012. Time from injury to treatment was 74 months (range, 3-480 months) in average. Functional outcome was evaluated using the modified Mayo wrist score and visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, which were measured before operation and at the last follow up. RESULTS: All nonunions were healed successfully. The average radiologic union time was 9.7 weeks (range, 7-14 weeks). The average VAS score improved from 6.3 (range, 4-8) preoperatively to 1.6 (range, 0-3) at the last follow up. The average modified Mayo wrist score increased from 62.5 preoperatively to 85.7 at the last follow-up. CONCLUSION: Arthroscopically assisted bone grafting and percutaneous K-wires fixation is an effective treatment method for a scaphoid nonunion. It may provide more biological environment than open surgery as a minimally invasive procedure.
Arthroscopy ; Bone Transplantation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Wrist

We report a case of acute Wernicke encephalopathy in which diffusion-weighted imagings (DWI) revealed symmetrical high signal intensities in the medial thalamus, bilateral hemispheres of the cerebellum and periaqueductal gray matter. Calculation of the apparent diffusion coefficient demonstrated a mildly decreased diffusion on the affected regions. The high signal lesions were slowly resolved on the acute phase follow-up images with the administration of thimaine. We propose DWI should be included in the imaging protocols of patients suspected to suffer from Wernicke encephalopathy.
Cerebellum ; Diffusion* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Periaqueductal Gray ; Thalamus ; Wernicke Encephalopathy*