No abstract available.
Chlamydia* ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect*

No abstract available.
Liver Abscess* ; Liver*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although the only therapy of proven benefit for chronic hepatitis C is interferon alpha, the rate of sustained response after treatment with interferon is less than 25%. A 6-month course of combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin was associated with higher rate of long-term response than either interferon or ribavirin alone. Pilot studies suggested that combination of interferon and ursodeoxy-cholic acid (UDCA) resulted in higher biochemical response than interferon alone. We investigated the rates of end of treatment response(ETR) and sustained response(SR) of combination therapy of interferon e2a, ribavirin and UDCA and compared it with interferon a 2a alone. METHODS: Ninty-five naive patients with chronic hepatitis C who have been positive for anti-HCV by 3rd generation EIA and HCV RNA by RT-PCR and had elevated level of ALT over 6 months were included. They were assigned to three groups. Thirty seven patients in group 1 were treated with interferon a 2a (3MU thrice weekly) in combination with ribavirin (600mg/day) and UDCA (600mg/day) for 6 months. Twenty nine patients in group 2 were treated with the same dose of interferon a 2a alone for 6 months. Changes of ALT and HCV RNA were observed over 12 months (average 3029 mos) after the end of treatment in both groups. Twenty nine patients in group 3 were observed over 12 months without antiviral treatment. HCV genotypes were tested by Innop-Lipa in 24 patients in group 1. RESULTS: In group 1, not only ETR (68%) but also 12 month SR rate (54%) was significantly higher than group 2(31%, 21% respectively). There was no difference in relapse rate between two groups. The level of ALT became normalized and HCV RNA negative within 1 month after treatment in most responders in group l. Genotype 1b was associated with lower ETR and SR than non-lb, although not significant stastistically. CONCLUSION: Both the ETR and 12 month SR rate were significantly higher after combination treatment of interferon a 2a, ribavirin and UDCA than interferon e 2a alone in chronic hepatitis C. It is suggested that this combination is preferable to interferon alone in the treatment of naive patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Genotype ; Hepatitis C, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha* ; Interferons* ; Recurrence ; Ribavirin* ; RNA

Milk of calcium located in the breast is typically a benign entity. However, carcinoma may incidentally arise adjacent to or even within milk of calcium. Consequently, the characteristics of all observed calcific particles should be carefully analyzed. In this study, we report a case of carcinoma presented as malignant microcalcifications mixed within milk of calcium in a breast.
Breast Neoplasms/*chemistry/radiography ; Calcium Carbonate/*analysis ; Carcinoma, Ductal/*chemistry/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Mammography ; Middle Aged

The accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the lymph node was investigated through a review of 176 FNAC cases and the corresponding biopsies. We chose 157 FNAC cases after the exclusion of 19 inadequate ones. Sensitivity of malignancy was 94.0%, specificity 100%, false negativity 6.0%, and false positivity 0.0%. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 96.8%. Sensitivity of metastatic carcinoma was 98.0% and that of malignant lymphoma was 87.9%. False negative cases included one metastatic carcinoma and four malignant lymphomas. The aspirates of metastatic carcinoma with false negativity exhibited a diffuse smear of keratin debris without viable cells, which led to the difficulty in differentiation from benign epithelial cyst. The cases of malignant lymphoma with false negative diagnosis were two Hodgkin diseases, one Lennert's lymphoma, and one peripheral T cell lymphoma in the histologic sections. On the analysis of 39 cases of tuberculosis, 17 cases (43.6%) were diagnosed as tuberculosis, 4 (10.3%) as granulomatous lymphadenitis, 3 (7.7%) as necrotizing lymphadenitis, and 15 (38.5%) as reactive hyperplasia or pyogenic inflammation. Sensitivity of tuberculosis was 53.9%. In conclusion, lymph node FNAC is an excellent non-invasive diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma. The diagnostic accuracy of malignant lymphoma could be improved with flow cytometry or polymerase chain reaction for antigen receptor genes. For the FNAC diagnosis of tuberculosis, AFB stain, culture, and PCR would be helpful as adjuvant techniques.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnosis ; Flow Cytometry ; Hyperplasia ; Inflammation ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Antigen ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tuberculosis

No abstract available.
Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis*

We observed 240 cases ranging in age from 3 months to 15 years seen by gastrofiberoscopy in the department of pediatrics of Seoul Red Cross Hospital from March 1990 to October 1992 and following results were obtained. 1) The male to female ratios in total cases and in 89 patients complaining of abdominal pain for more than one month were 0.94:1 and 1.02:1 respectively. The most prevalent age group was 10~12 years in both groups. 2) The indication in the order of frequency were chronic abdominal pain (37.1%), acute abdominal pain (32.5%), vomiting (7.9%), hematemesis and melena (5.4%), follow-up study (6.3%), further evaluation (3.8%), chest discomfort (2.5%), foreign body removal (2.1%), nausea (1.2%), dysphagia (0.8%) and abdominal mass (0.4%). 3) The common endoscopic findings in the 225 cases excluding follow-up ones were gastritis (34.7%), duodenitis (14.2%), ulcer (11.6%), esophagitis (7.6%) and foreign body (2.2%). 4) The common endoscopic findings in cases of chronic abdominal pain were gastritis (42.7%), duodenitis (16.9%) and ulcer (7.9%). 5) There was no complication except mild sore throat.
Abdominal Pain ; Deglutition Disorders ; Duodenitis ; Esophagitis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foreign Bodies ; Gastritis ; Hematemesis ; Humans ; Male ; Melena ; Nausea ; Pediatrics ; Pharyngitis ; Red Cross ; Seoul ; Thorax ; Ulcer ; Vomiting

Background: : The purpose of this study was to identify the degrees of cultural empathy, cultural competence and nursing professionalism and to investigate the mediating effect of cultural competence between cultural empathy and nursing professionalism in nursing students. Methods: : A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. A total of 139 participants was surveyed using a self-report questionnaires including general charactericis, a cultural empathy questionnaire, a cultural competence scale, and a nursing professionalism scale. The descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and a mediating effect analyses were used for data analysis. Results: : The average score of cultural empathy, cultural competence, and nursing professionalism were 3.86, 3.59, and 4.00, respectively. Positive correlations among cultural empathy, cultural competence, and nursing professionalism were noted. Cultural competence showed a significant mediating effect on the relationships between emotional empathy and nursing professionalism and the relationship between cognitive empathy and nursing professionalism. Conclusion : Nursing students must recognize the necessity of multicultural nursing through multicultural education. Nursing students should have a nursing professional intuition capable of assessing and solving problems in subjects with diverse cultural backgrounds by encouraging cultural empathy and cultural competence for multiculturalism.

No abstract available.
Cryptorchidism* ; Humans ; Infant* ; Male

No abstract available.
Nevus, Blue*