PURPOSE: This study was to prepare the basic data for prevention of colo-rectal cancer and protection against its spread. METHOD: The subjects for the study were 204 patients with colo-rectal cancer from the G.S. wards of five general hospitals in Busan for the period of June 1 to September 1, 2001. The instrument used was a questionaire which was developed by Junho Shin(1995). The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, McNemar test, x2 test, paired t-test, and ANOVA. RESULT: 1. 57% of the studied subjects were male, 42.7% were more than 60 years old, 54.9% were of standard physique, 49.5% were the Buddhists, 50.5% were the middle or high school graduates, 83.8% were city dwellers, 48% were jobless, 69.6% had no-history of alimentary disease, 44.1% had no-family history of cancer, 82.8% were married. 2. Constipation(x2=36.45, p=0.0001) in clients showed a significant positive association for the pre- diagnosed, but diarrhea(x2=3.947, p=0.047) showed a significant positive association for the post-diagnosed. The preference for high seasonings(t=6.23, p=0.0001) and animal fat (t=8.35, p=0.0001) was higher significantly in the pre-diagnosed, but physical activities(x2= 30.22, p=0.0001), an eutrophic or tonic medicine(x2=30.22, p=0.0001), was of and vegetables(t=-6.20, p=0.0001) was higher significantly in the post-diagnosed. 3. There were significant differences in the life style of the pre-diagnosed according to the general characteristics except religion. CONCLUSION: Results of the above study reveal we should be very sensitive to the change of defecation styles and consider the necessity of improving life styles as regards eating habits. When an education program is developed, the general characteristics of the subjects need to be considered.
Animals ; Busan ; Defecation ; Eating ; Education ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Male ; Middle Aged

Coronary restenosis is still regarded as Achilles' Hill of interventional cardiology despite relentless efforts of many investigators. Recent experimental and clinical studies have suggested that both gamma and beta radiation can be reduce restenosis after angioplasty. Currently, intracoronary brachytherapy for the prevention of restenosis has become a new evolving treatment modality in interventional cardiology. This report discusses a physical aspect of gamma and beta radiation, initial clinical results and delivery systems used in intracoronary brachytherapy. We shall take a brief overview of methods and their advantages in intracoronary brachytherapy. Future work should provide further insight for the best way of treating restenosis.
Angioplasty ; Beta Particles ; Brachytherapy ; Cardiology ; Coronary Restenosis ; Humans ; Research Personnel

With the development of body sensor technology, wearable health monitoring systems have been an emerging information technology in the 'ubiquitous health care' system. Wearable sensors enable long-term continuous physiological monitoring important in health promotion and management of many chronic disorders. In this paper, we present several wearable health monitoring systems developed by different countries and discuss emerging opportunities, as well as, existing challenges such as standardization, administration, validation, and discrepancy issues between technology and clinical implication.
Health Promotion ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Telemedicine

Spontaneous rupture of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is rare due to its abundant fibrous stroma. We report our experience in a case of spontaneous rupture of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a pregnant patient. In our case, multiple hepatic masses with intratumoral hemorrhage were noted on post-delivery computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and they caused hemoperitoneum. A right hemi-hepatectomy was carried out to control the bleeding and the diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with metastasis was performed.
Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Cholangiocarcinoma* ; Diagnosis ; Hemoperitoneum ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pregnancy ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous*

Huntington's chorea is a rare hereditary disorder of the nervous system. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder and is characterized by progressive chorea, dementia and psychiatric disturbances. The best anesthetic technique is yet to be established for these patients with increased risk of aspiration due to involvement of pharyngeal muscles and an exaggerated response to sodium thiopental and succinylcholine. The primary goal in general anesthesia for these patients is to provide airway protection and a rapid and safe recovery. We report the anesthetic management of a 51-year-old patient with Huntington's chorea admitted for an emergency operation.
Anesthesia, General ; Bronchoscopes ; Chorea ; Dementia ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Huntington Disease ; Intubation ; Nervous System ; Pharyngeal Muscles ; Sodium ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental

Purpose: The effects of dexmedetomidine on locomotor function and thermal hyperalgesia in sciatic nerve crush injury (SNCI) were investigated using rats. Methods: After exposing the right sciatic nerve, the sciatic nerve was crushed for 1 minute by a surgical clip. One day after nerve injury, dexmedetomidine (5, 25, and 50 µg/kg) was directly applied to the injured sciatic nerve once a day for 14 days. Walking track analysis was used to assess locomotor function and plantar test was conducted to assess thermal pain sensitivity. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression of c-Fos in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Western blot was used to evaluate the expression level of nerve growth factor (NGF) and myelin basic protein (MBP) in the sciatic nerve. Results: SNCI resulted in deterioration of locomotor function and increased thermal pain sensitivity. The level of c-Fos expression in the PVN and vlPAG was increased and the level of NGF and MBP expression in the sciatic nerve was enhanced by SNCI. Dexmedetomidine treatment improved locomotor function and upregulated expression of NGF and MBP in the sciatic nerve of SNCI. Dexmedetomidine treatment alleviated thermal hyperalgesia and downregulated expression of c-Fos in the vlPAG and PVN after SNCI. Conclusions Dexmedetomidine may be used as a potential new treatment drug for recovery of locomotion and control of pain in peripheral nerve injury.

OBJECTIVE: The rat middle cerebral artery thread-occlusion model has been widely used to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of stroke and to develop therapeutic treatment. This study was conducted to analyze energy metabolism, apoptotic signal pathways, and genetic changes in the hippocampus of the ischemic rat brain. METHODS: Focal transient cerebral ischemia was induced by obstructing the middle cerebral artery for two hours. After 24 hours, the induction of ischemia was confirmed by the measurement of infarct size using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. A cDNA microarray assay was performed after isolating the hippocampus, and was used to examine changes in genetic expression patterns. RESULTS: According to the cDNA microarray analysis, a total of 1,882 and 2,237 genes showed more than a 2-fold increase and more than a 2-fold decrease, respectively. When the genes were classified according to signal pathways, genes related with oxidative phosphorylation were found most frequently. There are several apoptotic genes that are known to be expressed during ischemic brain damage, including Akt2 and Tnfrsf1a. In this study, the expression of these genes was observed to increase by more than 2-fold. As energy metabolism related genes grew, ischemic brain damage was affected, and the expression of important genes related to apoptosis was increased/decreased. CONCLUSION: Our analysis revealed a significant change in the expression of energy metabolism related genes (Atp6v0d1, Atp5g2, etc.) in the hippocampus of the ischemic rat brain. Based on this data, we feel these genes have the potential to be target genes used for the development of therapeutic agents for ischemic stroke.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain ; Brain Ischemia* ; Energy Metabolism ; Gene Expression* ; Hippocampus* ; Ischemia ; Ischemic Attack, Transient ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Oxidative Phosphorylation ; Rats* ; Signal Transduction ; Stroke

Esmolol is a cardioselective beta-blocker with a very rapid onset of action and a short half-life. Labetalol is a combined alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor blocking agent. It is a nonselective antagonist at beta-adrenoceptors and a competitive antagonist of postsynaptic alpha 1-adrenoceptors. A 51 year old female patient was transferred to the operating room for performing spinal fusion under general anesthesia. She had no operation and medication history. The initial heart rate was 150 beats/min. Despite administering several bolus injections of esmolol, the heart rate was not decreased to under 130 beats/min. But the heart rate was decreased to 100 beats/min after the administration of labetalol 5 mg and this rate was maintained without an additional injection. The vital signs were stable until the operation was finished and the patient recovered uneventfully in the recovery room. The postoperative laboratory findings revealed that she had hyperthyroidism. We report here on an anesthetic experience of effective labetalol treatment for esmolol-resistant tachycardia in a patient who was under general anesthesia.
Anesthesia, General ; Female ; Half-Life ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Labetalol ; Operating Rooms ; Propanolamines ; Recovery Room ; Spinal Fusion ; Tachycardia ; Vital Signs

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Implant inclination and cantilever loading increse loads distributed to implants, potentially causing biomechanical complications. Controversy exists regarding the effect of the intentionally distal-inclined implant for the reduction of the cantilever length. PURPOSE: This study investigated the stress distribution at the bone/implant interface and prostheses with 3D finite element stress analysis by using four different cantilever lengths and implant inclinations in a mandibular implant-supported bar overdenture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four 3-D finite element models were created in which 4 implants were placed in the interforaminal area and had four different cantilver lengths(10, 6.9, 4 and 1.5mm) and distal implant inclinations(0degrees, 15degrees, 30degrees and 45degrees) respectively. Vertical forces of 120N and oblique forces of 45N were applied to the molar area. Stress distribution in the bone around the implant was analysed under different distal implant inclinations. RESULTS: Analysis of the von Mises stresses for the bone/implant interfaces and prostheses revealed that the maximum stresses occurred at the most distal bone/implant interface and the joint of bar and abutment, located on the loaded side and significantiy incresed with the implant inclinations, especially over 45degrees. CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of this study, it was suggested that too much distal inclination over 45 degrees can put the implant at risk of overload and within the dimension of the constant sum of a anterior-posterior spread and cantilever length, a distal implant inclination compared to cantilever length had the much larger effect on the stress distribution at the bone/implant interface.
Denture, Overlay* ; Finite Element Analysis* ; Intention ; Joints ; Molar ; Prostheses and Implants

PURPOSE: Although obesity has been associated with imbalances in cardiac autonomic nervous system, it is unclear whether there are differential relationships between adiposity measures and heart rate variability (HRV) measures. We aimed to examine differences in the relationship between adiposity measures and HRV indices in a healthy Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 1409 non-smokers (811 males, 598 females) without known histories of cardiovascular (CV), endocrine, or neurological diseases underwent adiposity measurements [(body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat mass (PBF), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)], the HRV assessment (SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, LF/HF, and pNN50), and examination for CV risk factors (fasting glucose, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, hs-CRP, and blood pressure). RESULTS: Compared with BMI and PBF, WHR was more strongly correlated with each HRV index and more likely to predict decreased HRV (<15 percentile vs. > or =15 percentile of each HRV index) in ROC curves analysis. In linear regression analysis, all adiposity measures were inversely associated with each HRV measure before adjusting for age, gender, and CV risk factors (p<0.05). After adjusting for the covariates, WHR was inversely related to RMSSD, LF, and pNN50; PBF with RMSSD, HF, and pNN50; BMI with RMSSD (p<0.05). The inversed association between HRV indices and the gender-specific WHR tertile was significant for subjects with BMI > or =25 kg/m2, but not for those with BMI <25 kg/m2. CONCLUSION: WHR and PBF appear to be better indicators for low HRV than BMI, and the association between abdominal adiposity and HRV may be stronger in overweight subjects.
*Adiposity ; Adult ; Female ; Heart/physiopathology ; Heart Diseases/complications/diagnosis/ethnology ; Heart Rate/*physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Statistical ; Obesity/*complications/*diagnosis/ethnology ; Overweight/complications/diagnosis/ethnology ; ROC Curve ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors