We used argon laser peripheral iridoplasty to reduce intraocular pressure[IOP] in acute angle-closure glaucoma[ACG] which is unrelieved by medical and physical treatments and could not be treated by peripheral iridotomy due to edematous cornea and turbid aqueous. Eight of 16 eyes [16 patients] were successfully treated. These successfully treated eyes had a mean duration of angle closure of 4.1 days and 8 unsuccessfully treated eyes 9.2 days. The 6 eyes of 8 eyes with successful reduction of IOP after argon laser peripheral iridoplasty were treated peripheral iridotomy at average 1.7 day later and had deep anterior chamber. After a mean follow-up period of 2 months, 7 of these 8 successfully treated eyes had an IOP less than or equal to 21mmHg. Argon laser pripheral iridoplasty may be successful in treating ACG which is unrelieved by medical and physical treatments and could not be treated by pripheral iridotomy, especially in cases that are recognized and treated soon after onset.
Anterior Chamber ; Argon* ; Cornea ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma, Angle-Closure*

Purpose: This study sought to investigate the associations between personality traits and medication adherence and to identifypredictors of good medication adherence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 207 RA patients using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs were invited for an interviewand questionnaire study. Medication adherence was measured using the Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR).Personality traits were analyzed with the five-factor model of the Korean version of the Big Five Inventory 10. Psychological factorswere assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and British Columbia Cognitive Inventory.Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and functional disability were evaluated with the EuroQoL-5 dimension questionnaireand Health Assessment Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate predictorsof good medication adherence. Results: Nonadherence to medication was reported by 66.7%. The number of daily prescribed pills was higher in the medicationadherence group than in the nonadherence group. Concomitant oral glucocorticoid doses were associated with medication adherence.A high level of conscientiousness and diabetes mellitus comorbidity were associated with better medication adherence[odds ratio (OR), 2.11; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01–4.38 and OR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.12–8.07, respectively]. There were no significantdifferences in psychological factors or HRQoL between medication adherence and nonadherence groups. Conclusion The personality trait of conscientiousness was associated with medication adherence among the five personalitytraits evaluated. Patients with diabetes mellitus also showed higher medication adherence than those without this comorbidity.

OBJECTIVES: Cholesterol interacts with serotonin and it has been found to be associated with some clinical symptoms of mood disorders. There is a paucity of data on first onset bipolar patients and from Asian population. In this study, we compared the total choelsterol (TC) level between the bipolar I patients with a single manic episode (BPSM) and the normal controls, and investigated the relationship between the TC level and treatment response in the BPSM. METHODS: Twenty-five BPSM and thirty normal controls were enrolled in this study. The pretreatment and posttreatment TC levels in the BPSM were measured and comapred to that of normal controls. Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) was used for assessing symptom severity in the BPSM. RESULTS: The TC level was significantly lower in the BPSM than in the controls. There were negative correlations between the YMRS scores and the pretreatment TC level in the BPSM. The posttreatment TC level was significantly higher than the pretreatment TC level in the BPSM. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the TC level can be changed after treatment in bipolar manic patients, although more studies involving different ethnic groups will be needed. Further longitudinal studies will be needed to examine the change of total cholesterol level according to the clinical course of bipolar disorder.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bipolar Disorder ; Cholesterol* ; Ethnic Groups ; Humans ; Mood Disorders ; Serotonin

Post-menopausal women experience variable biological and psychological changes. The effect of reduced levels of estrogen can effect on post-menopausal depression. Estrogen triggers physiological responses by binding to the estrogen receptor (ER). Two subtypes of ER, ERa and ERb are now known. We investigated the significance of ERa and ERb polymorphisms and post-menopasal depression in this study. Forty three women with post-menopausal depression and 63 post-menopausal women without depression as normal controls were recruited. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was used to investigate genotypes of ERa and ERb polymorphisms. Genotypes of PvuII and XbaI polymorphism of ERa receptor were significantly different in patients with post-menopausal depression comparing with controls. Genotypes of ERb did not show association with post-menopausal depression. Our study showed that ERa receptor polymorphism had an association with depression in post-menopausal women. It suggests that investigation of ER genes and their functions might be important for understanding pathophysilogical mechanism of post-menopausal depression.
Depression ; Estrogens ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Menopause

OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to test the association between the coding sequence functional polymorphism (I105 V) of glutathione S-transferase P gene (GSTP1) and schizophrenia. METHODS: Two hundred fourteen (214) patients with schizophrenia according to the DSM-IV criteria and one hundred ten (110) healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Patients and controls were biologically unrelated age and sex- matched native Koreans. Genotyping for the GSTP1 polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: Genotype and allele distributions of the GSTP1 polymorphism in patients with schizophrenia were not significantly different from those of the controls. Comparisons of clinical variables also were not different according to genotype and allele distribution. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that the GSTP1 polymorphism may not confer susceptibility to development of schizophrenia, at least in the Korean population.
Alleles ; Clinical Coding ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Genotype ; Glutathione Transferase* ; Glutathione* ; Humans ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVE: Despite numerous atypical antipsychotics (AAP) available, many patients with schizophrenia still experience lack of efficacy and persistent side-effects. Switching from one AAP to another with a different side-effect profile has become a common clinical strategy. We aimed to investigate effect of switching to amisulpride in patients who showed suboptimal effect and/or tolerability to current antipsychotics treatment. METHODS: This was a 6-week, prospective, multicenter, open-label, flexible-dose study in patients with schizophrenia. Switching to amisulpride was achieved using cross-titration within 7 days (day 1: 300 mg on day 1 then flexibly dosed 400–800 mg/day). The primary end-point measure was proportion of patients achieving improvement in clinical benefit at week 6 based on Clinical Global Impressions-Clinical Benefit (CGI-CB). Secondary endpoints included change in scores in CGI-CB, CGI-Severity (CGI-S), Subjective Satisfaction Scores (SSS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and Simpson and Angus Rating Scale. RESULTS: Among 37 patients switched to amisulpride, 76% completed study and 56.8% had clinical benefit measure by CGI-CB. CGI-CB and CGI-S scores showed significant improvement at week 6 compared to baseline (mean changes of CGI-CB and CGI-S scores: −1.7+1.0, p<0.0001 and −0.6±0.0, p=0.001, respectively). SSS scores also improved significantly (mean change: 2.1±2.6, p<0.0001). Mean weight of patients significantly lowered compared to baseline (mean change: −1.2±2.0, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Patients with schizophrenia who showed suboptimal efficacy or tolerability with their current antipsychotics and thereby switched to amisulpride resulted in clinical benefit in terms of both improved efficacy and tolerability. The small sample size limits generalizability of the study results.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Sample Size ; Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of aripiprazole in a large number of patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and schizoaffective disorder in Korea. METHODS: This was an open-label, multi-center, single-arm, 52-week study of patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and schizoaffective disorder. Korean patients (N=300) experiencing either a first episode or recurrence participated in this study. The primary efficacy measure was the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score. Secondary efficacy measures included the PANSS positive and negative subscales, and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness (CGI-S). Safety was evaluated prospectively by recording treatmentemergent adverse events; measuring extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), vital signs, and body weight; and performing laboratory tests. RESULTS: Overall, 55 (18.33%) of the patients completed the entire 52-week study. Treatment with aripiprazole provided rapid and significant improvement in all of the efficacy measures. Comparing PANSS total scores, PANSS positive subscale scores, and CGI-S scores, first-episode patients showed significant improvement than the patients who had experienced at least one recurrence. There were no significant differences in the mean change of EPS during the study, except for akathisia at week 8 and a significant decrease in serum prolactin level in patients experiencing first and recurrent episodes. At the end of the study, the mean weight gain was 2.40 kg. CONCLUSION: Aripiprazole is effective and safe for patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and schizoaffective disorder during a long-term, 52-week treatment. The result may be associated with the unique mechanism of aripiprazole. We have extended the findings of previous studies in the United States and other countries and demonstrated a similar effectiveness of aripiprazole for Korean patients.
Humans ; Piperazines ; Prolactin ; Prospective Studies ; Psychomotor Agitation ; Psychotic Disorders ; Quinolones ; Recurrence ; Schizophrenia ; United States ; Vital Signs ; Weight Gain ; Aripiprazole