PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of a technetium-99m mercaptoacetyltriglycine (Tc-99m MAG3) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) performed on transplanted kidney. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty renal transplant patients were included in this study. Planar scan was performed for 30 minutes using 555 MBq Tc-99m MAG3. A post-voiding SPECT scan was acquired on the third, seventh, fourteenth and twenty eighth day after transplantation. RESULTS: SPECT scan showed interpretable image quality in 26 of 30 patients (86.7%) and 84 in 120 scans (70%). Fourteen of 26 patients with interpretable SPECT image showed decreased or increased radioactivity, but only 5 had abnormal findings on the planar scan. Focal SPECT defects were seen in allografts with normal function (n=3), acute tubular necrosis (n=3), and acute rejection (n=2). The defects are thought to reflect focally underperfused renal parenchyme or, in normal allografts, an artifact from uneven radioactivity distribution. Four of 10 patients with renal arterial variation showed focally decreased radioactivity and SPECT helped guide further studies that confirmed the exact cause. Five of 10 patients with acute tubular necrosis or acute rejection showed focally decreased radioactivity, but its relation to the patients' clinical course was not clear. Focally increased radioactivity was observed in 5 allografts with normal function and 1 with double ureter in which local clearance delay was observed. CONCLUSION: Tc-99m MAG3 SPECT renal scan can detect additional focal abnormalities compared to planar scan. Further study is necessary to elucidate the exact clinical significance of the SPECT findings.
Allografts ; Artifacts ; Humans ; Kidney* ; Necrosis ; Radioactivity ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon* ; Ureter

This study was performed to find the prevalence and the associated risk factors with low back pain(LBP) of the staffs in a university at Kwang-ju city. The data were collected by a questionnaire including SDS(Self-rating depression Scale) battery from September 1st to October 15th, 1996. The results were as follows; 1. The prevalence rate of LBP during lifetime was 73.1%, 53.1% for the last one year, and 23.6% for the last one week. 2. Statistically significant factors related to LBP during lifetime were sex and satisfaction with job. Sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, occupation, work posture, forward bending of trunk and satisfaction with job were selected as significant factors related to LBP during the last one year. The significant determinants related with LBP during the last one week were sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, occupation, forward bending of trunk and satisfaction with job. 3. Through the analysis of self-rating depression scores according to LBP during lifetime were selected to be female(OR=2.63, 95% CI: 1.08~6.40), dissatisfaction with job(OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.16~4.15), those for the last one year were chosen to be female(OR=2.30, 95% CI: 1.03~5.12), forward bending of trunk(OR=2.18, 95% CI: 1.26~3.79), dissatisfaction with job(OR=1.84, 95% CI: 1.06~3.21), and those for the last one week were female(OR=3.00, 95% CI: 1.17~7.69), forward bending of trunk(OR=2.85, 95% CI: 1.38~5.88). In conclusion, for effective prevention of the LBP at work site, appropriate improvement of work posture and various psychological factors should be considered.
Alcohol Drinking ; Depression ; Gwangju ; Low Back Pain* ; Occupations ; Posture ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Workplace

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship of serum uric acid to cardiovascular risk factors in Korean male workers. METHODS: We screened 522 male workers at an electrical manufacturing company by a periodic health examination and a questionnaire survey in 2000. We collected data relating to age, smoking status, alcohol drinking status, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, serum lipid, fasting blood glucose and serum uric acid. The data were analyzed using a variety of methods, including ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multivariate regression analyses, to examine the association between uric acid and cardiovascular risk factors with a cross-sectional study design. RESULTS: The concentration of serum uric acid showed positive associations with BMI, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol; it was also significantly correlated to systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Life-style characteristics, such as smoking and alcohol drinking showed no significant association. From the multivariate regression analyses, BMI, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose levels were found to be independent positive predictors of uric acid; while age, blood pressure and smoking status give no independent contribution explaining the variability of serum uric acid levels. Conclusions : This study demonstrates that serum uric acid level have a significant association with cardiovascular risk factors, such as BMI, total cholesterol and blood glucose in some Korean male workers.
Alcohol Drinking ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Fasting ; Humans ; Male* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid*

To evaluate the health risk of the workplace environment of a general hospital toward the hospital workers, a questionnaire survey on the perception of risk at the workplace environment and environmental measurements at 27 locations with 240 workers in the hospital were made from October 25th, 1993 to October 30th, 1994. The results were as follows; 1. By the environmental measurements, 86 workers(36%) were found to be exposed to poor or harmful degree of general illumination, 193 workers(80%) were exposed to poor or harmful local illumination, 34 workers(14%) were exposed to poor or harmful degree of thermal condition and l80 workers(75%) were exposed to poor or harmful noise level, but nobody was exposed to poor or harmful dust and toluene concentration. Also nobody was exposed to poor or harmful level of radiation or anticancer/antibiotic agents. 2. The subjective perceptions on the environmental conditions felt by the workers were different from the objective findings by the environmental measurements. The workers underscored the poor illumination state and overscored the dust concentrations. Also workers oversensitized about the thermal condition, the noise level, the radiation level, the toluene concentration and anticancer/antibiotic agents. 3. The sources of noise were the dialogue(179 workers) and the office instruments(131workers). The sources of dust came from the clothes(108 workers) and the building materials(79 workers). 4. The questionnaire survey showed that the 28 workers were exposed to poor or harmful level of the antibiotics, 10 workers to alkali or acid and 6 workers to drug dust in the pharmacy but the above findings could not be proved by the environmental measurements.
Alkalies ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Dust ; Hospitals, General* ; Lighting ; Noise ; Pharmacy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Toluene

To get basic data for the development of health care toward the staff of a university, an evaluation study of the risk factors for the cardiovascular disease utilizing data from questionnaire and health examination performed in 1994 for 1233 staff of Chosun University and its affiliated Hospital. The results are as follows: 1. The mean values of systolic blood pressure was 122.0+/-14.7mmHg for the male and 111.8+/-12. lmmHg for the female. The mean values of diastolic blood pressure was 82. 5+/-12.0mmHg for the male and 73.7+/-10.0mmHg for the female. The mean values of serum total cholesterol was 185.6+/-33.4mg/dl for the male and 173.5+/-32.6mg/dl for the female. The mean values of body mass index(BMI) was 23. l+/-2.4kg/m2 for the male and 21.5+/-2.3kg/m2 for the female. The smoking rate of the male was 47. 6% and that of the female was 0.4%. 2. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels increased with age in both sexes. Under 55 years of age the mean blood pressures of the male were higher than that of the female, but the levels of both sexes at 55-64 year old group did not show any big difference. The mean values of serum total cholesterol and BMI also increased with age in both sexes. Under 45 years of age, the serum cholesterol and BMI levels of the male were higher than that of the female, but on the contrary, levels of the male were lower than that of the female at 55-64 year old groups. The mean cholestrol and BMI levels of both sexes at 45-54 year old group was similar. As the age increases, the rate of exsmoker increased and the rate of current smoker decreased among the male. 3. The additive cardiovascular risk scores were calculated considering the values of blood pressure, serum total cholesterol level and the smoking status. The distribution curve of risk scores for the male showed 39. 1% under 4 points and 60.9% above 4 points with the peak at 4 points. 61.7% of the female showed that the risk scores were under 4 points and the rest was more than 4 points with maximum 9 points. As a whole the risk scores of the female were lower than that of the male. 4. By the analysis of association between the risk score of cardiovascular disease and the subjective symptom under the stratification of age and sex, the prevalence of exertional dyspnea was significantly higher at 35-44 year male group and prevalence of dizziness was significantly higher at 45-64 year male group as the risk score of cardiovascular disease increased. Among 25 34 year and 45-64 year female group persons with lower risk score of cardiovascular disease showed higher prevalence of dizziness than persosns with higher risk score.
Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dizziness ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Carcinosarcoma is a rare malignant neoplasm consisting of both epithelial and nonepithelial components, that is, carcinoma and sarcoma in the same tumor. Since Queckenstedt reported the case of carcinosarcoma of the stomach in 1904, only 30 cases have been reported. We present a case of carcinosarcoma and adenocarcinoma of the stomach in 63-year-old man with the review of the literature.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Carcinosarcoma* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Sarcoma ; Stomach*

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to find the association between the depression and perception of obesity by adolescent girls in Jung Eup City, Chollapukdo. The data were collected by questionnaire from July to October, 1996. RESULTS: 1. While the obesity rate of the girls by BMI criteria was 6.0%, 41.1% of girls perceived that they were obese. 2. Forty-eight percent of respondents tried weight control already, and as the method of weight control 33.3% tried exercise, 27.2% reduced food, 23.6% avoided snack before going to bed. 3. while 39.3% among those whose BMI was lower than 20 and 54.2% among those with BMI 20-24 tried weight control, only 5.1% among those who perceived their bodies as slim tried weight control. 4. By the analysis of self-rating depression scale (SDS) only 14.8% was normal without depression and the rest showed high SDS scale; 36.9% as mild, 38.5% as moderate, and 9.7% as severe state of depression. 5. While no statistically significant difference of SDS scores by the size of BMI was shown, significant different of SDS scores was shown among groups with different perception of their obesity and practice of weight control. 6. As a result of stepwise multiple regression analysis, dieting, perceived body image, and body mass index were significantly associated with depression of the adolescent girls. CONCLUSION: Adolescent girls who perceived themselves overweight regardless of actual weight were more likely to diet than other girls. And these characteristics had an influence on the depression of the adolescents. It is suggested that appropriate education should be required to prevent thoughtless weight control of the adolescents and to maintain mental health of the adolescents.
Adolescent* ; Body Image ; Body Mass Index ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Depression* ; Diet ; Education ; Female* ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Obesity* ; Overweight ; Snacks

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to assess the association between the social support and blood pressure(BP) in a rural community. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey, comprising a health examination including BP, height and weight and a questionnaire-based interview which investigated social support, demographic factors, smoking, drinking, and etc. was performed between February 10th and March 5th, 1998. The survey included 318 persons who were over than 30-year-old in the rural community of Kwangju, Republic of Korea. We excluded persons who taking antihypertensive medications or who provided incomplete information; we subsequently analyzed the data from 284 persons. In order to test the hypothesis of an association between BP and social support controlling confounders such as age, educational level, working time, body mass index, smoking and drinking, the data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The subjects were composed of 109(38.4%) males and 175(61.6%) females with mean ages of 62.0 years and 61.1 years, respectively. The hypertension prevalence was 41.3% among males and 45.1% among females. In the correlation analysis, higher total social support scores correlated significantly with lower systolic BP in both males and females. The hypertension prevalence increased significantly with the decreasing of the social support in males. In multiple regression analysis, systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a negative association with social support in both males and females, although this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Larger and broader studies are required in the future in order to identify the association between the social support and BP.
Adult ; Blood Pressure* ; Body Mass Index ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Demography ; Drinking ; Female ; Gwangju ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Linear Models ; Male ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Rural Population ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation using radiofrequency energy has been established as the most important mode of treatment in patients with accessory pathway. However the ablation of midseptal accessory pathways had been recognized as being more difficult to ablate than other located pathway because of the low incidence and the difficult localization of ablation site. This paper describes the electrophysiologic characteristics of successfully ablated midseptal accessory pathway using radiofrequency energy. METHOD: Routine electrophysiologic studies were performed in 13 patients with midseptal accessorypathway. Guided by the recording of VA interval, the ablation catheter was positioned in all patients in an area bounded anteriorly by the tip electrode of the His bundle catheter and posteriorly by the coronary sinus ostium. Local electrograms during orthodromic atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia or right ventricular apical pacing were compared for 13 patients with midseptal accessory pathway and consequent 13 patients with posteroseptal accessory pathway. RESULT: 13 patients with midseptal accessory pathway; eight with constant Wolff-Parfinson-White syndrome, one with intermittent Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and four with concealed bypass track underwent attempts at ablation of their pathway using radiofrequency energy. 11 accessory pathways were successfully ablated without complication during the firstsession. A second attempt at ablation was made in two patients with success(one; recurred case, the other one; failed case at the first session). In the surface 12-Lead ECG, all eight patientswith constant Wolff-Pakinsin-White syndrome had not shownen Qrs complex at lead 3. Two patient with midseptal accessory pathway had transient left bundle branch block during orthodromic tachycardia. The VA interval during left bundle branch block was not change compared to that during narrow complex tachycardia in both. In all patients with midseptal accessory pathway, the VA interval in his bundle electrogram were almost similar to that in the coronary sinus ostial electrogram, which was not observed in the patients with posteroseptal accessory pathway. CONCLUSION: We suggest that VA interval during orthodromic tachycardia and right ventricular apcial pacing is the most reliable market for identifying midseptal accessory pathway, especially distinguishing from posteroseptal accessory pathway.
Bundle of His ; Bundle-Branch Block ; Catheter Ablation ; Catheters ; Coronary Sinus ; Electrocardiography ; Electrodes ; Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac ; Humans ; Incidence ; Tachycardia ; Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

The antiphospholipid antibody syndrome is cha- racterized by antibodies directed against either phos-pholipids or plasma proteins bound to anionic phos- pholipids. These antibodies have been characterized by lupus anticoagulants and anticardiolipin antibodies. Patients with the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome may display a constellation of clinical features including venous and arterial thrombosis, recurrent fetal losses, and thrombocytopenia. Although the majority of patients reported have a thrombotic microangiopathy, some have also seen membranous nephopathy as well as IgA nephropathy in a patient with anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome accompanying glo-merulonephritis. Authors experienced a 37-year-old male patient who presented with generalized edema at the moment of follow-up for primary antiphos-pholipid syndrome accampanying systemic thrombotic events. Anticardiolipin antibody-IgM positivity was detected by seroligic test but no evidence for systemic lupus erythematosus was found. Kidney biopsy showed mesangial IgA deposition without th throm-botic microangiopathy of gomerular capillaries and was diagnosed finally as primary antiphospholipid syndrome with IgA nephropathy. Patient's symptom was relieved with steroids and anti platelete agents and now he is being follow-up to out patient department. This case suggests some possibility that anticardiolipin antibody may induce the IgA nephropathy. Therefore clinician should have concern about the relationship between antiphospholipid antibody and immune mediate glomerulonephritis.
Adult ; Antibodies ; Antibodies, Anticardiolipin ; Antibodies, Antiphospholipid* ; Anticoagulants ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome* ; Biopsy ; Blood Platelets ; Blood Proteins ; Capillaries ; Edema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glomerulonephritis ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Kidney ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Male ; Steroids ; Thrombocytopenia ; Thrombosis ; Thrombotic Microangiopathies