The authors estimated and analyzed the carpal angle, metacarpal sign and sesamoid index in the roentgenogram of both hands of healthy 180 male and 180 female Koreans. The results were as follows. 1. The mean value of carpal angle was 133.3°±5.8° in the right hand and 133.5°±5.1° in left hand. 2. The negative metacarpal sign were seen in 93.9 percent of normal subject. 3. The mean value of sesamoid index was 19.6±5.4 in male and 18.2±4.9 in female.
Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Male

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with initiation and continuation of breastfeeding among Korean women in relation to their employment status. METHODS: Data were collected using a web-based self-administered questionnaire from 1,031 Korean mothers living in Seoul with babies younger than 24 months. Demographic characteristics, education on breastfeeding, rooming in, breastfeeding during hospital stay, and breastfeeding knowledge were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with initiation and continuation at 1, 6 and 12 months according to mothers' employment status. RESULTS: Breastfeeding initiation rates were similar regardless of mothers' employment status. Continuation rates decreased for both groups of mothers, but were significantly lower among employed mothers at all duration points. Unemployed mothers who were able to keep their babies in the same room during the hospital stay were more likely to initiate breastfeeding. The factor that was consistently associated with breastfeeding continuation for all duration points among unemployed mothers was whether the mother breastfed during the hospital stay. Higher knowledge scores and having an infant with atopic dermatitis were also associated with breastfeeding continuation at 6 months and 12 months, respectively for unemployed mothers, and receiving education on breastfeeding was associated with 12-month continuation for employed mothers. CONCLUSION: These results emphasize the significant roles of hospitals for breastfeeding initiation and continuation, with rooming-in, initial breastfeeding practice and education during hospital stay as important practices. In addition, for working mothers to continue their breastfeeding, significant support from the workplace is crucial.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Breast Feeding/*statistics & numerical data ; Dermatitis, Atopic/pathology ; *Employment ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Internet ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mothers/psychology ; Odds Ratio ; Republic of Korea ; Social Support ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Workplace

BACKGROUND: In Korea, there has been a few medical studies on the relationship between religion and health. In future, active research is anticipated in this area. However, the validity and methods of performing religious inquiry should be tested beforehand. This study was designed to look into the attitudes of patients about religious inquiries by their physicians and to suggest better methods of religious approach to aid future researches on the effect of religion on health. METHODS: A survey was performed on the religious attitude among 177 patients among which 92 were randomly selected from an outpatient clinic of tertiary teaching hospitals and 85 from two local family practice offices on August, 2002. x2 test was used to verify the difference of results between the subgroups. RESULTS: As a whole, more than half of patients disagreed with religious inquiries by their physicians regardless of medical situation; however, there was a trend that a critical health reasons produced a higher percentage of patients accepting religious inquiry than in ordinary patients. There was no significant difference in answer between the two practice settings but a significant difference among the subgroups with strong religious belief and among those with a particular type of religion existed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study may be used as data on the method of approaching patients with religious inquiries for future studies on the relationship between religion and health, and also should encourage active researches on this subject.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Family Practice ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Korea ; Religion

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the management of patients with extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma, histologic diagnosis is crucial to determine therapeutic modalities, to predict their outcomes, and to avoid an unnecessary operation. Though various methods were developed, none of them yielded satisfactory results. A combination of those methods was reported to yield superior sensitivity and specificity to a single method. To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy, endoscopic transpapillary biopsy (ETPB) and exfoliative bile aspiration cytology (BAC) was performed in 40 patients with extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma. METHODS: After visualization of the biliary tree and the lesion by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), ETPB (n=40) and BAC (n=28) was done in one session with or without endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) and the results of two methods were analyzed. RESULTS: The final diagnoses were made by surgical pathology and by clinical follow-ups of more than a year. The locations of the 40 bile duct carcinomas were in the upper area in 25, the middle in 14 and the lower in 1. ETPB was performed in all patients and BAC in 28 patients. The overall sensitivity of the ETPB was 65.0% (26/40). According to the morphology and location, the sensitivity of ETPB was 65.6% (11/32) for sclerotic, 60.0% (3/5) for papillary, and 66.7% (2/3) for the protruding type, and 68.0% (17/25) for the upper bile duct lesion, 64.3% (9/14) for the middle, and 0% (0/1) for the lower. The overall sensitivity of the BAC was 71.4% (20/28). According to the morphology and location, the sensitivity of BAC was 80.0% (16/20) for sclerotic, 20% (1/5) for papillary, and 100% (3/3) for the protruding type, and 82.4% (14/17) for the upper bile duct lesion and 54.5% (6/11) for the middle bile duct lesion. When the two tests were combined, the sensitivity rose to 96.4% (27/28). CONCLUSIONS: A combination of ETPB and BAC is useful in making a histologic diagnosis in patients with bile duct carcinoma.
Bile Duct Neoplasms* ; Bile Ducts* ; Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic ; Bile* ; Biliary Tract ; Biopsy* ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Pathology, Surgical ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Long term results of an endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) have still been poorly estimated. The aim of this study was to assess late complications of EST. METHODS: The rate of late complications were retrospectively evaluated in with 91 patients (mean age, 59.1 years; range, 28~86 years; M:F, 44:47), who underwent EST for choledocholithiasis. RESULTS: Forty six patients (50.5%) had their gallbladder in situ, and 45 patients (49.5%) underwent cholecystectomy. Early complications (<30 days) such as hemorrhage, pancreatitis, and perforation occurred in 7 patients (7.7%). During a mean period of 53.4 months (range, 24~134 months), 26 patients (28.0%) developed late complications, including a recurrence of CBD stones in 20 patients (22.0%) (8-gallbladder in situ, 12-cholecystectomized). An univariate analysis of risk factors for stone recurrence revealed dilated ducts, stone sizes, and stone numbers which were not related with stone recurrence. The history of choledocholithotomy with cholecystectomy was significantly related to stone recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: After EST for bile duct stones, late complications occurred in a significant proportion of patients and it was determined that a history of choledocholithotomy with cholecystectomy was significantly correlated with stone recurrence.
Bile Ducts ; Cholecystectomy ; Choledocholithiasis ; Gallbladder ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Pancreatitis ; Recurrence* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic

Spontaneous hemorrhage in the patients undergoing hemodialysis is the ralatively common problem, but spontaneous mediastinal hemorrhage in such patients reported only few cases. We experienced a case of spontaneous mediastinal hemorrhage in chronic hemodialysis patient who complained of continuous pleuritic chest pain and mild dyspnea. The diagnosis was made dy chest computed tomography,magnetic resonance imaging and percutaneous fine needle aspiration of liquified dark reddish old blood material guided by ultrasonography. Treatment is usually conservative, with blood volume replacement and intensive hemodialysis using regional heparinization. We report on a patient undergoing hemodialysis due to endstage renal disease who developed spontaneous mediastinal hemorrhage.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Blood Volume ; Chest Pain ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Hemorrhage* ; Heparin ; Humans ; Renal Dialysis* ; Thorax ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: IS6110 DNA fingerprint is a very useful tool for investigating the transmission of tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to identify the epidemiological situations within a given area (one province). METHODS: The 681 Mycbobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients, who were registered at health centers in Gyeonggi Province from May to December in 2004, were subjected to IS6110 DNA fingerprinting. Patients belonging to clusters were interviewed by health-workers to determine their previous contacts or household TB history. RESULTS: The number of IS6110 copies of the 681 isolates showed diverse fingerprint patterns from 0 to 21 of which the most prevalent copy number was 10 from 120 isolates (17.6%). Thirty-three isolates (4.8%) belonged to the K strain, and 128 isolates (18.8%) belonged to the K family. There were 180 (26.4%) isolates belonged belonging to fifty clusters, of which two clusters were within household transmission. Forty-three (23.9%) out of 180 patients resided in an area under the same health center control. The rate of clusters in those aged 60-70 was higher than in any other age group ( 95% CI of RR : 1.072 ~ 1.988). CONCLUSION: This is the first report of an epidemiological survey based on a whole province using a DNA fingerprinting technique for M. tuberculosis. These results will be helpful in developing a program or policies to prevent the transmission of TB.
Dermatoglyphics ; DNA Fingerprinting* ; DNA* ; Epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a key molecule in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, which are important inflammatory mediators in human airway inflammatory diseases. This study was designed to investigate the effects of several COX inhibitors on the interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-mediated COX-2 expression in human airway epithelial cells. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We observed the effects of anti-inflammatory drugs such as budesonide, triamcinolone, dexamethasone, NS-398, indomethacin, salicylate and resveratrol on the IL-1beta-induced COX-2 expression in cultured human airway NCI-H292 epithelial cells. The levels of COX-2 mRNA and COX-2 protein were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot. RESULTS: NS398, reveratrol and three corticosteroids strongly suppressed the IL-1beta-mediated COX-2 expression. However, indomethacin and salicylate did not inhibit or inhibited only weakly. CONCLUSION: The extent of IL-1beta-induced supression of COX-2 expression in the cultured human airway NCI-H292 epithelial cells depended on the kinds of anti-inflammatory drugs.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Blotting, Western ; Budesonide ; Cyclooxygenase 2* ; Dexamethasone ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans* ; Indomethacin ; Interleukin-1* ; Interleukin-1beta ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; Prostaglandins ; RNA, Messenger ; Triamcinolone

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to prepare medical staff in order to prevent medical malpractice litigation through analysis of litigation cases related to the department of surgery in Korea. METHODS: A total of 94 litigation cases related to the department of surgery, where a certain amount of payment was ordered to the defendant between 2005 through 2010, were analyzed. We examined time of occurrence, amount claimed and awarded in damages, plaintiff claims, and court opinion. RESULTS: An average of 3.2 years was spent from the date of the incident occurring to the end of the litigation procedures. The average amount awarded in judgments for damages was 59,708,983 ± 67,307,264 (range, 1,700,000–365,201,482) Korean won. Cases were found involving the following opinion of the court: violation of duty of care (49 cases), violation of informed consent (7 cases), violation of duty of care and informed consent (5 cases), and settlement, reconciliation, and others (32 cases). By analyzing defendants' negligence in court opinions, diagnosis (30.8%) was the most common, followed by post-operation management (27.7%). CONCLUSION: Physicians have to conduct treatment and surgery based on exact diagnosis and be careful to observe patients' conditions and symptoms after surgery. It is essential to identify the current status and characteristics of medical litigation for reducing further litigation and improving patient safety. In order to create a safe medical environment, national efforts should be made not only by individuals but also at the national level.
Awards and Prizes ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Judgment ; Jurisprudence ; Korea* ; Malpractice ; Medical Staff ; Patient Safety