No abstract available.
Computer Systems* ; General Practitioners* ; Humans

Tuberculous cavity is important in diagnosis and observation in the course of pulmonary tuberculosis. Authoranalyzed the radiologic findings of cavity and average months of negative conversion in AFB culture in 89 cases ofinitial treatment. The results were as follows: 1. The more number of cavities, the longer period in negativeconversion of AFB culture. 2. No relation between sums of diameter and thickeness of cavity and average months ofnegative conversion in AFB cultlure. 3. In the cases of cavity with air-fluid level took longer period in negativeconversion of AFB culture than those of cavity without air-fluid level, significantly. 4. No relation betweenradiologic findings of cavity and results of chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis.
Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

The reciprocal interaction between sleep and pain has been reported by numerous studies. Patients with acute or chronic pain often complain of difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings, shorter sleep duration, unrefreshing sleep, and poor sleep quality in general. According to the majority of the experimental human studies, sleep deprivation may produce hyperalgesic changes. The selective disruption of slow wave sleep has shown this effect more consistently, while results after selective REM sleep deprivation remain unclear. Patients with chronic pain have a marked alteration of sleep structure and continuity, such as frequent sleep-stage shifts, increased nocturnal awakenings, decreased slow wave sleep (SWS), decreased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and alpha-delta sleep. Many analgesic medications can alter sleep architecture in a manner similar to the effects of acute and chronic pain, suppressing SWS and REM sleep.
Chronic Pain ; Humans ; Sleep Deprivation ; Sleep, REM

No abstract available.

Sleep-related behaviors observed in parasomnias can result in serious injuries of patients and/or spouses. Parasomnia is defined as undesirable physical or behavioral phenomenon occurring during sleep. If these disorders are accurately diagnosed, effective treatments are available. Often, these disorders can be even cured. Environmental management for patient and/or spouse safety and good sleep hygiene are the most recommended for individuals behaving abnormally during sleep. The aim of this article is to review the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of several sleep-related behavior disorders.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Mental Disorders ; Parasomnias ; Spouses

OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) not only causes respiratory disturbances during sleep but also decreases the quality of nocturnal sleep through sleep fragmentation and sleep structure change. We aimed at comparing the changes in sleep fragmentation and structure between baseline (diagnostic) nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG) and nCPAP (nasal continuous positive airway pressure) titration trial. METHODS: One hundred and three patients with a baseline night of respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of 5 or greater and reduced RDI score during nCPAP titration night were retrospectively selected for the study. Sleep fragementation and sleep structure between baseline NPSG and the NPSG during nCPAP titration were compared. Sleep fragmentation index (SFI) was defined as the total number of awakenings and shifts to stage 1 sleep divided by the total sleep time in hour. SFI and other polysomnographic parameters were statistically compared between the two nights. RESULTS: SFI during baseline NPSG and nCPAP titration nights were 29.0+/-13.8 and 15.2+/-8.8, respectively, indicating a significant SFI decrease during nCPAP titration (t=9.7, p<0.01). SFI showed significant negative correlations with sleep efficiency (r=-0.60, p<0.01) and total sleep time (r=-0.45, p<0.01) and a positive correlation with RDI (r=0.28, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Use of nCPAP, even during the titration, significantly decreases sleep fragmentation and improves sleep structure in OSAS patients. We suggest that SFI may be utilized as a measure of assessing OSAS severity and nCPAP efficacy.
Humans ; Polysomnography ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Sleep Deprivation

OBJECTIVES: Chronic pain is one of the most common experiences of humans and a typical psychophysiological disorder. The aim of this study was to measure the psychophysiological responses in chronic pain patients using a biofeedback system, and to compare them with the results from normal healthy subjects. METHODS: Forty two patients with chronic pain (17 males and 25 females, average age 44.67+/-11.10 years) and 42 normal healthy controls (17 males and 25 females, average age 45.17+/-10.46 years) participated in this study. Electromyography (EMG), skin conductance (SC), and skin temperature (ST) were recorded using biofeedback system during the 3 phases (baseline, stress, and recovery) of stress reactivity test, and average values of them were calculated. Difference of values between two groups in each corresponding phase was analyzed with independent t-test, and change of values across phases of stress reactivity test was analyzed with paired t-test (all two-tailed, p<0.05). RESULTS: Compared to normal controls, chronic pain patients had higher value of EMG (baseline : 8.10+/-5.97 micronV vs 4.72+/-1.52 micronV, t=-3.56, p<0.01 ; stress : 11.25+/-6.89 micronV vs 8.49+/-4.78 micronV, t=-2.13, p<0.05 ; recovery : 7.12+/-3.77 micronV vs 4.78+/-1.59 micronV, t= -3.70, p<0.01) and SC (baseline : 1.06+/-1.0 micronS vs 0.42+/-0.29 micronS, t=-4.0. p<0.01 ; stress : 1.87+/-2.05 micronS vs 1.03+/-0.86 micronS, t=-2.47, p<0.05 ; recovery : 1.74+/-1.77 micronS vs 0.64+/-0.59 micronS, t=-3.8, p<0.01) in all the 3 phases. But, skin temperature comparison did not reveal significant differences in all the 3 phases between two groups. CONCLUSION: Psychophysiological responses of chronic pain patients in stress reactivity test were different from those of normal healthy controls. These results suggest that sympathetic nervous system is more activated in chronic pain patients.
Biofeedback, Psychology ; Chronic Pain ; Electromyography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Psychophysiologic Disorders ; Psychophysiology ; Skin ; Skin Temperature ; Sympathetic Nervous System

BACKGROUNDS: The pathophysiology of chronic airflow obstruction, such as bronchial asthma, is characterized by mucus hypersecretion, goblet cell hyperplasia(GCH), smooth muscle hypertrophy, cells infiltration. In fatal asthma patients, one findings is mucus hypersecretion due to GCH. However, the mechanisms of GCH in these hypersecretory diseases remain still unknown. In this study, a rat model was rapidly induced with GCH by instillation of TiO2 intratracheally. We intend to confirm GCH and association of concomitant inflammatory cells infiltration and to observe the effect of potent antiinflammatory agent, that is dexamethasone, on GCH with inflammatroy cells. METHODS: Twenty-one-8-weeks-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. Endotoxin-free water was instilled intratracheally in group 1(control) ; TiO2 was instilled in the group 2 ; and dexamethasone was injected intraperitoneally to group 3 before TiO2 instillation. After 120 hours, all rats were sacrificed, and trachea, bronchi, and lungs were resected respectively. These tissues were made as paraffin blocks and stained as PAS for goblet cells and Luna stain for eosinophils. We calculated the ratio of goblet cell to respiratory epithelium and number of infiltrated eosinophils from each tissue. RESULTS: (1) Fraction of goblet cells was significantly increased in group 2 than in group 1 in the trachea and in the main bronchus. (10.19±11.33% vs 4.09±8.28%, p<0.01 and 34.09±23.91% vs 3.61±4.84%, p<0.01, respectively). (2) Eosinophils were significantly increased in the airway of group 2 than that of group 1. (5.43±3.84% vs 0.17±0.47 in trachea and 47.71±16.91 vs 2.71±1.96 in main bronchi). (3) There was significant difference in the decrease of goblet cells and eosinophils(r=0.719, p=0.001). (4) There was significant difference in the decrease of goblet cells after dexamethasone infection between group 2 and group 3 (p<0.01). Also, infiltration of eosinophils was suppressed by dexamethasone. CONCLUSION: We made an animal model of TiO2-induced goblet cell hyperplasia. GCH was observed mainly in the main bronchi with concomitant eosinophilic infiltration. Both goblet cell hyperplasia and eosinophilic infiltration were suppressed by dexamethasone. This animal model may serve as a useful tool in understanding of the mechanism of GCH in chronic airway diseases.
Animals ; Asthma ; Bronchi ; Dexamethasone* ; Eosinophils ; Goblet Cells* ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Hypertrophy ; Inflammation* ; Lung ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Mucus ; Muscle, Smooth ; Paraffin ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley* ; Respiratory Mucosa ; Trachea ; Water

The author measured the value of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and phospholipid in normal Korean adults and patients with complicated hypertension. Sera obtained from 295 cases of normal Korean male and female, and also 109 cases of patients with hypertension were analysed for triglyceride, cholesterol and phospholipid. The patterns of serum lipoprotein fraction in 171 normal Korean and 109 patients with complicated hypertension including cerebrovascular diseases and ischemic heart disease were studied by agarose gelelectrophoresis. The results are summarized as follows; 1. The mean value of serum triglyceride, cholesterol and phospholipid in normal Korean were 85.4+/-20.5mg%, 187.9+/-16.7mg%, and 193.4+/-34.6mg% respectively. 2. Sex and age difference showed no statistical significance in the mean values of serum triglyceride, cholesterol and phospholipid in hypertensive patients. 3. The mean values of serum triglyceride in the patients with complicated hypertension such as cerebral thrombosis gave higher value than in the patients with other cerebral complications. 4. The mean value of alpha-lipoprotein, pre-beta-lipoprotein and beta-lipoprotein in normal Korean were 29.6+/-5.0% (142.6+/-30.1mg%), 13.0+/-4.3% (62.7+/-24.8mg%), and 57.4+/-30.1% (276.1+/-56.6mg%) respectively. 5. The alpha-lipoprotein fraction in normal Korean demonstrated the tendency of decreasing as age is progressing in both sex, but pre-beta and beta-lipoprotein fraction gave a tendency of increasing by progressing age in both sex, but was not confirmatory in nature. 6. The alpha-lipoprotein fraction in patients with hypertension gave lower value than in the normal subjects, but the value of pre-beta and beta-poprotein were elevated significantly among patients with complicated hypertension than in normal person. 7. The incidence of hyperlipidemia in normal Korean and patients with hypertension were 31.9% and 66.5% respectively. 8. The relative incidences of hyperlipidemic probable phenotypes in normal Korean were as follows: 7% of normal person had Type II (IIa 3.3%, IIb 3.7%), 3.5% had Type III, and 21.4% had Type IV.
Adult* ; Cholesterol ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension* ; Incidence ; Intracranial Thrombosis ; Lipoproteins* ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Phenotype ; Sepharose ; Triglycerides

No abstract available.
Follow-Up Studies* ; Occupational Diseases*