While there have been not a few reports on the seroepidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Korea, most of them, however, have had several limitations; operational definition of HBV infection, validity of detection methods of HBV serologic markers, size of the study population, and confirmation of the vaccination history against HBV, etc. In order to avoid such limitations, authors randomly selected 1,495 healthy adults among the 217,511 insured (target population) of Korean Medical Insurance Corporation, living in seoul, and tested HBV(HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc) of all the subjects were tested, 392(26.2%) of interview failure cases 742 nonvaccinee were excluded from the actual population. Finally, the serologic markers tested of 742 nonvaccinee (study population) only were analyzed for the seroepidemiologic observation of the natural infection of HBV. The seroepidemiological characteristics of HBV infection in Korea were as follows ; 1 Point prevalence of HBs antigenemia was 11.7(9.1-14.3)% in male, which was slightly higher than that of female, 9.5(3.7-15.3)%. This level was one of the highest among those of Asian-Pacific countries. Decreasing tendency of HBsAg prevalence after the age of 50 was observed, which seems to be due to selective attrition of HBV chronic carriers among the healthy adults and/or to the limited-lasting duration of the HBs antigenemia, in part. 2. Point prevalence of anti-HBc(78.8% in male, 50.9% in female) was higher than that of anti-HBs(65.2% in male, 46.6% in female), respectively. And both of them were higher in male than in female. Increasing tendency of the prevalence of both antibodies was observed by age, which seems to be largely due to recurrent infection in adults and to some cumulative effect, in part, of their relatively longer-lasting duration. 3. The level of HBV infection defined by positive for at least one of the 3 serologic markers of HBV by RIA method was 84.7(81.8-87.6)% in male and 61.2(51.9-70.5)% in female, which was also one of the highest among those of Asian-Pacific countries. The proportion of susceptible population to HBV infection among healthy adults was 15.3% in male and 38.8% in female. 4. The relative frequency of current or past infection and chronic carrier among HBV infected person was estimated. The currently or past infected was estimated 75.7% in male and 71.8% in female, and chronic carrier state, 13.8% in male and 14.1% in female. The analysis of the geometric mean of the antibody titer in anti-HBs positive sera indicated also to be compatible with the above findings, suggesting that active, even though inapparent, infection of HBV occur so frequently among healthy adults in Korea.
Adult* ; Antibodies ; Carrier State ; Female ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Radioimmunoassay ; Seoul* ; Vaccination

In order to define the relation between echocardiographically determined left atrial size and atrial fibrillation(AF) in rheumatic mitral valvular heart disease, 44 patients with mitral valvular heart disease with AF, 29 patients with mitral valvular heart disease without AF, 24 patients with idiopathic AF and 24 normal controls were studied. In mitral valvular heart disease with AF group, AF was more common when the absolute left atrial internal diameter(LAID) was above 50 mm(86.4%) than in mitral valvular heart disease without AF group(41.4%). In addition, although the values of LAID, LA(left atrium)/Aortic Root ratio and LA/BSA(body surface area) are higher in mitral valvular heart disease with AF group than in mitral valvular heart disease without AF group(p<0.05), there was no correlation between LAID and BSA(r=0.06). These findings suggest that an absolute value of LAID is a more important factor in the development of AF in mitral valvular heart disease than LAID considered in conjunction with BSA and that an absolute LAID of 50 mm may be used as a reliable guide to therapeutic and prophylactic intervention in AF associated with mitral valular heart disease.
Atrial Fibrillation* ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans

Nonpigmenting fixed drug eruption is a form of fixed drug eruption which heals without pigmentation. To leave no traces makes the diagnosis difficult. A 37-year-old man pressented the erythematous patches on both wrists and the left thigh. Several hours before the eruption, he had taken oral drugs for the treatment of osteomyelitis. He had had the same eruptions which were diagnosed as an allergic contact dermatitis, 8 months ago. The patch tests with medicated drugs were negative, but oral provocation with etodolac brought the same eruptions.
Adult ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Diagnosis ; Drug Eruptions* ; Etodolac* ; Humans ; Osteomyelitis ; Patch Tests ; Pigmentation ; Thigh ; Wrist

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an uncommon heritable disorder of elastin characterized by cutaneous, ocular and vascular abnormalities. Typical skin lesion shows yellowish papules and redundant skin folds on the neck, axilla and groin due to degeneration and calcification of elastic fibers in deep dermis. As in all heritable disorders of connective tissue, no curative therapy is presently know. Redundant and unsightly skin folds about the neck can be improved by surgery, but irregular papular lesion on skin does not improved by surgery. A-44-year-old female who had a skin lesion and angioid streak was treated as follows: Skin folds on the neck were excised successfully without any significant problem such as intraoperative bleeding, wound dehiscence or hypertrophic scar formation. To evaluate whether we could smooth the irregular skin surface due to multiple papules, laserbrasion with a SLT contack Nd:YAG laser system was performed experimentally on a limited area which was located on the right supracla-vicular area about 2 x 3cm in size. An acceptable aesthetic appearance was achieved with surgical excision 12 months after the operation. Biopsy of the laserbrasion site revealed disappearance of the calcium deposit. This study emphasizes the possibility of using laserbrasion in solving troblesome skin lesion of the PXE.
Angioid Streaks ; Axilla ; Biopsy ; Calcium ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Connective Tissue ; Dermis ; Elastic Tissue ; Elastin ; Female ; Groin ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Neck* ; Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum ; Skin ; Wounds and Injuries

A possible therapeutic effect of acetyl-L carnitine (ALCAR) on peripheral nerve injuries and the expression of Jun, the protein products of immediate-early genes(IEGs), in the spinal cord were investigated after sciatic nerve injury in Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental animals were divided into 3 groups: intact sciatic nerve as a control group, surgical repair alone, and surgical repair with ALCAR treatment. Toe-spreading response, pinprick response, and compound action potential were measured to evaluate the recovery of sciatic nerve injury. Recovery of behavioral function and electrophysiological function both improved in the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group. Weak basal expression of Jun was shown in the ventral horn the of spinal cord in the control group. In the surgical repair alone group or the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group, Jun expression persisted until 28 days after injury in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Moreover, the surgical repair with ALCAR treatment group showed more increased expression of Jun than the surgical repair alone group. These results suggest that ALCAR facilitates the functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury.
Acetylcarnitine ; Action Potentials ; Animals ; Carnitine* ; Horns ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sciatic Nerve* ; Spinal Cord

Ambulatory BP monitoring was performed in a patients with pheochromocytoma before and after removal of the tumor. Before surgery, it did not show any significant diurnal variation. But, after surgery the diurnal variation was restored.
Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory* ; Blood Pressure* ; Humans ; Pheochromocytoma*

Pyogenic arthritis remain a difficult problem, despite the availability of a wide range of powerful modernantibiotics. Early and correct diagnosis is imperative to assure the prompt initiation of an effective therapeuticregimen and the prevent of late sequela. Careful clinical, laboratory and roentgenological analysis arefundamental to early and precise diagnosis. Therefore, plain roentgenogram shold not be overlooked. A radiologicaland clinical observation was made in 51 cases of pyogenic arthritis admittted to Chosun University Hospital duringthe period from January 1976 to Dec. 1983 and following results were obtained. 1. Among the 51 cases, 36 cases(70.6%) were male and 15 cases(29.4%) were females. The most prevalent age was 5 to 9 (27.6%). 2. Symptom durationless than 5 days was in 21 cases (41.2%) and more than 31 days was in 6 cases (11.7%). 3. The most common symptomon admission was pain around the involved joint and others are limitation of motion, swelling, tenderness, fever,local heating and erythema. 4. The underlying causes were composed of unknown in 21 cases(41.2%), trauma in 18cases(35.3%), infections focus in 8 cases (15.7%) and iatrogenic reasone 4 cases(7.8%) 5. The msot commonlyaffected joint was hip joint (45.1%). The other affected sites in order of frequency were knee, ankle, shoulder,S-I and elbow joint. In infants and children, hip and knee joint are commonly affected; In adults, knee joint ismost commonly affected. 6. In laboratory findings, the number of W.B.C and E.S.R were increased in 56.9%. Symptomduration more than 31 days in 5 cases were increased E.S,R only. Causative microorganism was isolated in 31 cases;the most common microorganism was Staphylococcus auterus in 22 cases. Others are B-hemolytic Streptococcus,Enterobacteriaceae species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 7. In 26 cases(50.9%) of the patients, roentgenographicfinding was negative. The most common radiological findig was soft tissue swelling and the others are include inorder of frequency: joint space widening, small erosions in articular cortex, subchondral osteoporosis. The comonradiological findings of symptom duration more than 31 days in 6 cases were lost of entire cortex, ankylosis andjoint space narrwoing.
Adult ; Ankle ; Ankylosis ; Arthritis ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Elbow Joint ; Erythema ; Female ; Heating ; Hip ; Hip Joint ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Infant ; Joints ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Osteoporosis ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Staphylococcus

BACKGROUND: Desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) may improve hemostasis in congenital or acquired disorders of coagulation and reduce operative blood loss in patients undergoing surgical procedures. The effects of DDAVP on coagulation in hemorrhagic shock were studied in rabbits subjected to severe hemorrhage. METHODS: 20 rabbits were bled to shock and infused lactated Ringer's solution simultaneously so that the mean arterial pressure were maintained above 50 mmHg. Animals were randomly received DDAVP 0.3 ug/kg (group Dl), 3 ug/kg (group D10) or saline (group S) over 15 minutes. Bleeding time and factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C) were measured before, after shock and 45 minutes after DDAVP or saline infusion. RESULTS: After shock, bleeding time was not changed but FVIII:C was decreased significantly in all groups. After saline or DDAVP infusion, bleeding time was not changed in group S and group Dl, whereas shortened in group D10 from 107.5+/-11.3 second to 87.5+/-17.5 second (P<0.05). After saline or DDAVP infusion, FVIII:C was decreased in group S and group Dl (P<0.05), but not changed in group D10. CONCLUSIONS: Infusion of DDAVP 3 ug/kg shortens bleeding time and causes an increase of FVIII:C than other groups in rabbits resuscitated from hemorrhagic shock.
Animals ; Arterial Pressure ; Bleeding Time ; Deamino Arginine Vasopressin* ; Factor VIII ; Hemorrhage ; Hemostasis ; Humans ; Pharmacology ; Rabbits* ; Shock ; Shock, Hemorrhagic*

Repairing of lacrimal canalicular laceration has some controversies on the golden time of surgery, the suture method, and the materials for stent. Recently, intubation of silicone tubes has become popular for repair of lacrimal canalicular injuries. Thirty-two cases of injured lacrimal canaliculi were repaired with use of silicone tube stents. The surgery can be done with monocanalicular(10 patients) or bicanalicular(22 patient) methods. The follow-up period was from two to eighteen months(mean ten months). Seven cases using the monocanalicular method and nineteen cases using the bicanalicular method were successful. Three cases of monocanalicular method had epiphora with canalicular obstruction due to early loss of the silicone tube. In monocanalicular method, postoperative complications were punctal granuloma(1 case), punctal slits(2 cases), and early loss of the silicone tube(3 cases). In bicanalicular method, postoperative complications were persistent epiphora during the period of intubaion(4 cases), conjunctival irritation sign(3 cases) and loop retraction(1 case). In conclusion, the success rate of bicanalicular stents were higher than that of monocanalicular stents for canalicular laceration. But the bicanalicular stent had some complications including cosmetic problem, possibility of injuries to the normal canaliculus during intubation, conjuntival irritation sign, and loop retraction.
Follow-Up Studies ; Intubation* ; Lacerations ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Postoperative Complications ; Silicones* ; Stents ; Sutures

No abstract available.
Aortic Stenosis, Supravalvular*