No abstract available.
Dentures*

BACKGROUND: Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent that is used primarily in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Some evidences also suggest that flecainide can participate in alveolar fluid clearance and inflammatory responses. This experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of flecainide on sepsis induced acute lung injury in a rat model. METHODS: Rats were treated with subcutaneous infusion of saline or flecainide (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/hr) by a mini-osmotic pump. Subcutaneous infusion was started 3 hours before and continued until 8 hours after intraperitoneal injection of saline or endotoxin. Animals were sacrificed for analyses of severity of acute lung injury with wet to dry (W/D) ratio and lung injury score (LIS) in lung and inflammatory responses with level of leukocyte, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and inteleukin-8 (IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavages fluid (BALF). RESULTS: Flecainide markedly improved dose dependently sepsis induced acute lung injury as analysed by W/D ratio (from 2.24 ± 0.11 to 1.76 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) and LIS (from 3 to 1, p < 0.05), and inflammatory response as determined by leukocyte (from 443 ± 127 to 229 ± 95, p < 0.05), PMNs (from 41.43 ± 17.63 to 2.43 ± 2.61, p < 0.05) and IL-8 (from 95.00 ± 15.28 to 40.00 ± 10.21, p < 0.05) in BALF. CONCLUSIONS: Flecanide improve sepsis induced acute lung injury in rats by controlling inflammatory responses.
Acute Lung Injury* ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Flecainide* ; Infusions, Subcutaneous ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Interleukin-8 ; Leukocytes ; Lung ; Lung Injury ; Models, Animal ; Neutrophils ; Rats ; Sepsis*

No abstract available.
Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic*

PURPOSE: Due to its size and locatin, the liver is frequently injured in abdominal trauma. Recently, nonoperative management for liver injuries has been extended due to the development CT imaging, intensive care units, and their equipment and techniques. Herein, patients with traumatic liver injury were analyzed to evaluate its treatment and prognostic factors. METHODS: From 2001, January to 2003, July, 65 patients at our facility were confirmed to have traumatic liver injury. The operative or nonoperative managements were decided on the basis of the systolic blood pressure if no peritoneal irritation sign was noted. If the systolic blood pressure was stable, or recovered to within the normal range following hydration and transfusion at the emergency room, patients were managed nonoperatively. Hemodynamically unstable patients were managed operatively. The data were analysed using the SPSS program (Chi-squared tests and logistic regression analyses). RESULTS: 48 patients were treated nonoperatively, with 3 mortalities. The overall mortality rate was 15.8%, but only 6.4% in the nonoperative management group, compared to 67% in operative management group. In a Multivariate analysis the systolic blood pressure was found to be a reliable factor in traumatic liver injury and the mentality and ISS (injury severity score) reliable in finding complications in the nonoperative management group. The mentality was found statistically reliable for determining mortality in the operative management group, with the exception for the systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION: The systolic blood pressure was an important indicator when considering the treatment plan in traumatic liver injury. An extensive study will be required that incorporates both nonoperative and operative management groups.
Blood Pressure ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Liver* ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Reference Values

OBJECTIVE: The involvement of IGF system in hyperandrogenism and abnormal follicular development is controversial. This study is to assess whether IGF system contribute to it in the women with polycystic ovary(PCO). METHODS: Baseline serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), androstenedione (ADD), prolactin, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free insulin-like growth factor(IGF)-I, free IGF-II, insulin-like growth factor binding protein(IGFBP)-1, and IGFBP-3 were measured in twelve healthy regularly cycling volunteers and forty-two women with PCO then, the changes of baseline serum levels were evaluated after laparoscopic ovarian electrocauterization in nine PCO patients. In addition, the expression pattern of IGF-I and IGF-II was examined in the ovary of control and PCO group. RESULTS: Baseline levels of LH, ADD, free IGF-II, and IGFBP-3 were significantly higher in PCO group. However, there were no significant differences in the levels of free IGF-I and IGFBP-1, although free IGF-I showed decreasing tendency in PCO group. And there was a significant positive correlation between the LH and free IGF-II level in the PCO(P=0.011, r2=0.3899), but not in the control. After ovarian electrocauterization, LH, T, and ADD levels decreased, and free IGF-I and IGFBP-3 level increased. While free IGF-II and IGFBP-1 level showed no significant changes. In the ovary, expression of both IGFs showed similar pattern in normal and PCO ovaries. CONCLUSIONS: The elevated IGFBP-3 level may alter the bioavailability of IGF(s) in the PCO. The change in IGF-I level and resumption of ovulation after electrocauterization, suggest a possible role of IGF system in the impairment of follicular development in the PCO.
Androstenedione ; Biological Availability ; Carrier Proteins* ; Estradiol ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Humans ; Hyperandrogenism ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor II ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Ovary* ; Ovulation ; Prolactin ; Somatomedins* ; Testosterone ; Thyrotropin ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: The main reasons for overcrowding of the Emergency Department (ED) in Korea were delay in the department's decision making and entrance of non-emergency patients. The purpose of this study is to determine how primary care and in-hospital triage by board certified emergency physician can shorten the patients's length of stay and relieve overcrowding in the ED. METHODS: A prospective analysis of patients who visited the ED of a 700-bed tertiary care teaching hospital during holidays from April 2, 2006 to October 3, 2006 was done. We differentiated patients into a fast tract group and a non-fast tract group. Data compared were lengths of stay, decision time, number of unscheduled returns, and patient disposition. RESULTS: The patients in the fast track group have significantly shorter decision time than the 1,159 patients in the non-fast track group (p<0.01). The disposition decision time of the fast track group was shorter than the non-fast track group by an average of 29 minutes. The total residence time of the fast tract group was shorter by an average of 26 minutes than the non-fast tract group. The difference in decision time (disposition decision time and residence time) was larger in the patients that were discharged from the ED. There was no unscheduled return. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that setting up a fast track system run by a board certified emergency physician could be one of the solutions in minimizing ED being crowding by patients with non-emergency problems. Fast track system could shorten total residence time about 26 minutes.
Crowding ; Decision Making ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Holidays ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Primary Health Care ; Prospective Studies ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Track and Field ; Triage

It is suggested that evaluation of diet quality may be a great indicator of nutritional assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diet quality of children and adolescents based on nutrient and food group intake and Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I). This survey was conducted through questionnaires and diet record survey to 477 students (elementary school students; n = 131, middle school students; n = 136, and high school students; n = 210). The results showed that high school students were significantly more often to skip breakfast compared with the other groups. The middle and high school students consumed significantly higher intakes of food and energy compared to the elementary school students. Also the number of nutrients in Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) < 1.0 of high school students were significantly higher than that of elementary and middle school students. The Korean's dietary diversity score (KDDS) of elementary school, middle school and high school students were 4.1, 4.4 and 4.3 respectively. The average DQI-I of elementary school, middle school and high school students were 66.7, 65.5, and 63.7, respectively and there was significant difference. Also, middle school students showed to have higher score in variety and adequacy category compared with the other groups, and elementary school students appeared to have higher score in moderation category. In conclusion, high school students appeared to have unhealthy dietary habits in terms of high frequency of skipping breakfast and lower INQ and DQI-I score compared to the elementary school and middle school students. Therefore, the proper dietary management should be needed for high school students.
Adolescent ; Breakfast ; Child ; Diet ; Diet Records ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritive Value ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

Recent studies have suggested that natural agents such as isoflavones, resveratrol, and anthocyanin have beneficial effects on metabolic syndrome-related disorders. The objective of this study was to evaluate dietary isoflavone intake, urinary isoflavone level, and their relationship with the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Korean postmenopausal women. The subjects included 46 MetS and 60 controls. The MetS risk score was determined by adding the number of risk factors such as waist circumference, blood pressure (BP) and levels of triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol, and glucose. Dietary isoflavone intake was not significantly different between the MetS and control groups; however, the urinary daidzein level was significantly higher in the MetS subjects compared to that of the controls. Subjects with high TG had higher urinary daidzein and isoflavone (daidzein + genistein) levels than those without such abnormalities. But, the MetS risk score showed no significant correlation with urinary daidzein, genistein, and isoflavone excretions.
Anthocyanins ; Blood Pressure ; Female ; Genistein ; Glucose ; Humans ; Isoflavones ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference