No abstract available.
Erythropoietin* ; Humans* ; Renal Dialysis*

No abstract available.
Anti-Bacterial Agents* ; Dysentery, Bacillary*

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensory and motor nerve block achieved by epidural anesthesia using 0.475% ropivacaine and 0.75% ropivacaine. METHODS: Fifty-six patients undergoing cesarean section were randomly allocated to group I (0.75% ropivacaine) or group II (0.475% ropivacaine). We assessed changes in sensory and motor block using the Bromage scale over 180 minutes after epidural anesthesia. The incidence of nausea, vomiting and the total dosage of ephedrine used were also recorded. Sensory changes, motor blockade and the total dosage of ephedrine used were compared using the t-test (P < 0.05). RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the two groups at the sensory block level except at 30 and 60 minutes after epidural anesthesia. However, the motor blockade of group I was significantly more intense than that of group II at 15, 20, 25, 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after epidural anesthesia. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in the incidences of nausea, vomiting or the total dosage of ephedrine used. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 0.475% ropivacaine instead of 0.75% ropivacaine in epidural anesthesia for cesarean section did not reduce the incidence of nausea, vomiting or the total dosage of ephedrine used. The sensory block achieved using 0.75% ropivacaine was similar, but the motor blockade achieved using 0.475% ropivacaine was less intense with a shorter duration and an earlier recovery to normal than that of 0.75% ropivacaine. These results suggest that 0.475% ropivacaine may be more useful in epidural anesthesia for cesarean section than 0.75% ropivacaine.
Anesthesia, Epidural* ; Cesarean Section* ; Ephedrine ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Nerve Block* ; Pregnancy ; Vomiting

The Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, which affects mainly males in the late teens or in the early twenties, is a rare inherited disorder characterized by bilateral rapid loss of central vision. Leber's disease undergoes like optic neuritis in acute stage, but in late stage it results in optic atrophy with severe impairment of visual acuity and absolute central scotoma. Recently the authors have experienced two cases of Leber's optic neuropathy in a family. We observed a patient whose visual acuity of right eye was 0.8 at first examination, but reduced to 0.04 by 2 months after onset in spite of medical treatment, So we described the characteristic clinical findings of Leber's disease with brief review of the literatures.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Male ; Optic Atrophy ; Optic Atrophy, Hereditary, Leber* ; Optic Neuritis ; Scotoma ; Siblings* ; Visual Acuity

We report 23 cases of silicone stents intubation for obstruction of lacrimal drainage system in 23 patients with tearing and mucopurulent material discharge from January 1985 to April 1988. The success rate of silicone stents intubation was 47.4% and the most common site of obstruction was nasolacrimal duct(56.5%). 30.3% of patients had complications related to silicone stents, conjunctivitis, punctal erosion etc. With these results, we consider that congenital dacryostenosis, partical and complete nasolacrimal duct obstruction is mainly indicated for silicone stents intubation and better results will be gained if be done with acryocystorhinostomy to prevent complications related to silicone stents.
Conjunctivitis ; Drainage* ; Humans ; Intubation* ; Nasolacrimal Duct ; Silicones* ; Stents

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to analyze the present conditions of hypertensive diseases in pregnancy so as to examine the differences between the urban and rural communities in the southwest region of Chonnam about prenatal care from 1996 to 2000. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical characteristics of only 251 out of 13,296 pregnant women who were hospitalized to be delivered in Department of obstetrics and gynecology in the Mokpo Catholic Hospital for the past five years from 1996 to 2000. RESULTS: The incidence of hypertensive diseases in pregnancy was 1.89% of the total deliveries: mild preeclampsia (55.4%), severe preeclampsia (38.2%), eclampsia (1.2%) and chronic hypertension (5.2%). Hypertensive diseases in pregnancy was common in the age group of 25-29 years (45.9%) and in gestational age of 37-40 weeks was 67.3%. The rate of vaginal delivery was 49.0%: spontaneous delivery (33.5%), induced labor (15.5%) but the rate of cesarean section was 51%. As a maternal complications, anemia (55.7%) and postpartum hemorrhage (11.4%) were developed and fetus and neonatal complication due to intrauterine growth restriction showed a considerably high rate of 12.2%. Seen from the interrelation between a residential district and the frequency of prenatal care, 40.6% of pregnant women were undergone an prenatal care at most one time, especially 53.4% of reside in rural area (p<.05). The correlation between the frequency of prenatal care and the seriousness of an illness took up 52.1% of preeclampsia and 66.7% of eclampsia out of 102 women who were got the prenatal care at most one time. This is of great statistical significance (p<.05). The interrelation between the seriousness of an illness and residential district made little difference (p>.05). CONCLUSION: Not only a study of the cause and early diagnosis of hypertensive diseases in pregnancy, but also prenatal care, early checkup and education with keeping in close contact with an executive agency will lead to decrease newborn infant mortality and hypertensive diseases in pregnancy.
Anemia ; Cesarean Section ; Early Diagnosis ; Eclampsia ; Education ; Female ; Fetus ; Gestational Age ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Jeollanam-do* ; Labor, Induced ; Mortality ; Obstetrics ; Postpartum Hemorrhage ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Care ; Rural Population

We report a rare case of spindle cell/pleomorphic lipoma of the oropharynx. A 45-year-old woman presented with a 9-month history of a lump in 2001. A well demarcated polypoid, rubbery mass was found in the left vallecula and was surgically removed. The mass was diagnosed as a spindle cell lipoma. She revisited with the same complaint in 2008. Examination revealed another polypoid mass at the left aryepiglottic fold, near the previous excision site. The excised mass histologically consisted of mature fat cells, numerous bizarre giant cells, and bland spindle cells, features of a typical pleomorphic lipoma. This is the first case of recurrent oropharyngeal spindle cell/pleomorphic lipoma, showing histologic changes during the recurrence. Complete removal and follow-up are necessary for the treatment of this uncommon neoplasm.
Adipocytes ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Giant Cells ; Humans ; Lipoma ; Middle Aged ; Oropharynx ; Recurrence

Surface electromyogram in the lumbar paraspinal muscles was studied to evaluate back muscle impairment in twenty chronic low back pain patients and twenty control subjects. Turns-amplitude and power spectrum analysis of electromyographic signals were performed at different force levels during fatigue from sustained isometric contraction and recovery from fatigue in trunk extensor muscles. Results indicated that with increasing force level mean amplitude and Root Mean Square (RMS) values were increased, but mean and median frequencies increased initially until 20% Maximal Voluntary Contraction (MVC) and decreased tendency after then. Turns, mean amplitude, RMS, mean and median frequencies were all higher in control subject than those of low back pain patients. During sustained isometric contraction at 70% MVC, mean and median frequencies were linearly decreased, and the slopes were steeper in the patients group. Mean amplitude and RMS value showed decreased tendency during fatigue. During recovery from fatigue turns, mean and median frequencies increased especially in the first 3 minutes and nearly completely recovered in the 7~8 minutes in both patients and control groups. Therefore the mean amplitude and RMS value could be used as indicators of the level of muscle contraction and the mean and median frequencies reflect well the muscle fatigue in paralumbar muscle. These results validate the use of surface EMG spectral parameters as an objective measure of back muscle impairment in chronic low back pain patients.
Back Muscles* ; Back Pain ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Isometric Contraction ; Low Back Pain* ; Muscle Contraction ; Muscle Fatigue ; Muscles ; Paraspinal Muscles ; Spectrum Analysis

Background: Health disparity is defined as a difference in the accessibility of medical resources among regions or other factors. In South Korea, there might be a disparity because of the low proportion of public medical institutions. This study aimed to investigate the geographic distribution of rehabilitation treatment and examine the factors associated with the rates of rehabilitation treatment in Korea. Methods: We used administrative claims data in 2007, 2012, and 2017 from the National Health Insurance Database in Korea. We defined physical therapy and occupational therapy as rehabilitation treatments and analyzed the rate of rehabilitation treatments for administrative districts in 2007, 2012, and 2017. Interdecile range and coefficient of variation were used to investigate the geographic distribution of rehabilitation treatment over time. We applied multiple random intercept negative binomial regression to examine the factors associated with rehabilitation treatment. A total of 28,319,614 inpatient and outpatient claims were submitted for 874 hospitals that provided rehabilitation treatment in 2007, 2012, and 2017. Results: The increase in the mean rates of physical therapy inpatients and outpatients was greater than those for occupational therapy inpatients and outpatients from 2007 to 2017. Both physical therapy and occupational therapy were concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area and other large urban areas. More than 30% of the districts received no rehabilitation treatment. The interdecile range and coefficient of variation for physical therapy declined more than those for occupational therapy from 2007 to 2017. The deprivation index was negatively correlated with physical therapy inpatients, physical therapy outpatients, occupational therapy inpatients, and occupational therapy outpatients. Furthermore, a 1-unit increase in the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people was associated with 1.42 times higher physical therapy inpatient, 1.44 times higher physical therapy outpatient, 2.14 times higher occupational therapy inpatient, and 3.30 times higher occupational therapy outpatient treatment. Conclusion To reduce the geographic inequality in rehabilitation treatment, it is necessary to narrow the gap between the supply and demand of rehabilitation services. Providing incentives or direct provisions from the government might be an alternative.

No abstract available.
Pneumoconiosis* ; Welding*