No abstract available.
Spina Bifida Occulta*

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin(BCG) is widely used in the therapy of superficial bladder tumors. Clinical and animal studies suggest that immunological responsiveness to BCG antigens correlates with anti-tumor activity. But its mode of action is unclear. In this studies, we evaluated the changes of nitric oxide(NO) metabolite and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) in the urine of patients with superficial bladder tumors after BCG immunotherapy. Both NO and TNF-alpha in the urine specimens of patients treated with BCG were analyzed prior to BCG instillation and 4, 8 and 24 hours afterwards. After 6th BCG instillation. urinary NO increased significantly and showed a maximum of secretion at eight hours(p<0.05). After 6th BCG instillation, urinary TNF-alpha increased and showed a maximum of secretion at eight hours but had no statistical significance. These results suggest that intravesical BCG therapy increased the urinary NO and TNF-alpha secretion which may be related to the anti-tumor activity.
Animals ; Bacillus ; Humans ; Immunotherapy* ; Mycobacterium bovis* ; Necrosis ; Nitric Oxide* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

No abstract available.
Facial Nerve* ; Paralysis* ; Transplants*

BACKGROUND: The drug abuse has become one of social problems especially in the adolescents. It has been well known that the drug abuse is concerned with interaction of biopsychosocial factors and farnily relation factors. So I have studied the general characteristics and rearing attitude and family state of the adolesents who were in a jail because of drug abuse and have intended to give some help for establishing effective strategies for family education and therapy. METHODS: The study was done for adolescents who were in a jail because of violation the illegal drug control law. The group was total 55 men and the age distribution was frorn 15 to 20 years. The Questionnaire was used in Mar 1996 for study and I analyzed 53 cases excluding 2 cases because they were nearly illiterate. The FACES III(Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales), family APGAR score and PBI(Parental Bonding Instrument) were used for evaluating the characteristics of family function and the parental rearing attitude. Statistical management with SAS was executed for data analysis. RESULTS: The average age of the group was 6.9+/-1.4. 48.1% of them lived in the metropolitan area, 40.4% lived in the middle-sized cities and 11.5% lived in the small country towns. The education level of 91.8% was under middle-school graduate. They have use drugs since the age of 14.6+/-1.8, they began to use glue sniffing at the first time in 78.8% and butane gas inhalation in 17.3%. The state of family showed the death of father in 28.9% and the death of mother in 13.5 % and 76.9% of deaths occured before they have become 13 years. Their parents divorced in 25 %. The mean APGAR score was 4.56+/-2.6, which means moderately dysfunctional state of family. In FACES III adaptability score was 20.3+/-5.7 and cohesion score was 26.2+/-6.9. According to the family type by FACES III, there were 5 cases(9.4%) in balanced, 19 cases(35.9%) in midrange, and 29 cases(54.7%) in extreme. In PBI mother overprotection score was 16.24+/-4.59, mother care score was 22.5+6.8, father overprotection score was 16.71+/-5.1 father care was 21.94+/-6.24. CONCLUSIONS: The drug abused adolescents in a jail were in hadicapped family because of deaths and divorce of parents. Their family function score was low and more than half of them had the extreme type of family. Therefore it is wise for us to have a concern for the family problem when understanding and managing drug abused adolescents.
Adolescent* ; Age Distribution ; Apgar Score ; Divorce ; Drug and Narcotic Control ; Education ; Fathers ; Humans ; Inhalant Abuse ; Inhalation ; Jurisprudence ; Male ; Mothers ; Parents ; Social Problems ; Statistics as Topic ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: In the Summer 1996, there was an outbreak of aseptic meningitis without sequele. 116 cases who were admitted to our Department during a six month period from May to October, 1996. Therefore, we report epidemic of aseptic meningitis in 1996 and analyze and compare it with a epidemic of aseptic meningitis in 1993. METHODS: We studies about clinical manefestation and laboratory finding by retrospective study on 116 patients diagnosed as aseptic meningitis who had been admitted at Department of Pediatrics, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University. RESULTS: 1) Aseptic meningitis affected mostly children between the ages of 1 to 5 in 1996. Male-to-female ratio was 1.2 : 1 in aseptic meningitis in 1996. 2) The outbreak of aseptic meningitis was from middle to late August in 1996.3) Common chief complaints were fever, headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, upper respiratory tract infection, diarrhea, and irritibility in order. On physical examination, pharyngeal injection, neck stiffness, Kernig's sign were detected in decreasing frequency. 4) Values of WBC on peripheral blood were 5000-10,000/mm3 (60 cases, 51.7%) and values of ESR were more than 20mm/Hr (70 cases, 60.3%) and values of CRP positivity were 58 cases (50.0%) in 1996. In comparision with its in 1996, more than 10,000/mm3 in values of WBC and less than 20mm/hr in values of ESR and negativity in CRP values were detected mostly in 1993. 5) 176 cerebrospinal fluid studies were done. WBC count in cerebrospinal fluid were 6-75,000/mm3 (754+/-2351/mm3) and peaked on eighth days of onset of illness and decreased afterwards. Pleocytosis of cerebrospinal fluid were had of mean value 27.2% and peaked on first days of onset of aseptic meningitis. On virus culture, six cases were cultured in that one case of coxsakie virus, two cases of echo virus and six cases of nonspecific enterovirus and on enterovirus PCR, the positivity were 49 cases (41.0%). 6) 76 cases of who were diagnosed as aseptic meningitis were treated with antibiotics and 18 cases treated with mannitol for severe headache. None cases reported with seizure or decreased consciousness. The disease course mostly were three to seven days. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the causative agents of outbreak of aseptic meningitis in our hospital in 1996 were enterovirus and on virus culture, echo virus 9 and coxsackie virus A24 were cultured. Recently in our state, outbreak of aseptic meningitis epidemically in summer season and the causative viruses are cultured variably and various clinical symptoms and signs are manafested as well as.
Abdominal Pain ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Child ; Consciousness ; Diarrhea ; Echovirus 9 ; Enterovirus ; Enterovirus B, Human ; Fever ; Headache ; Heart ; Humans ; Leukocytosis ; Mannitol ; Meningitis, Aseptic* ; Neck ; Pediatrics ; Physical Examination ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Seizures ; Vomiting

No abstract available.
Ectopia Cordis* ; Hernia, Umbilical*

Sonography is quite sensitive screening method for th detection of renal mass lesions, but the specificity isrelatively low. Authors analized the sonographic findings of the confirmed 67 cases of renal masses excludingsimple cyst for possible differential points between each other. The results were as follows: 1. Among the 67cases, 44 cases(65.7%) were tumorous lesions and majority were malignant tumors. 2. Iso or hyperechoic lesions arerelatively specific finding suggestive of the tumorous lesions. 83.3% of isoechoic lesions and 85.0% ofhyperechoic lesions were tumor. 3. Tumor echogenecity of the renal cell carcinoma was variable. Of the 23 renalcell carcinomas, 10 were isoechoic, 8 were hypoechoic and 5 were hyperechoic lesions. 4. In hypoechoic lesions,findings of acoustic enhancement and wall echo were suggestive of nontumorous lesion. 5. There was no directcorrelation between echogenecity of the mass and tumor vascularity. 6. IVP findings were not sensitive andnonspecific for renal mass lesions, so ultrasound could be the initial step of diagnostic modality for evaluationof the renal mass.
Acoustics ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Diagnosis ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated lung function in workers exposed to dusts, fumes and noxious gases at small foundries. METHODS: Lung function was measured in 148 male workers from 12 small foundries and 202 unexposed male workers. Pulmonary function tests performed included: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), percent of FEV1/FVC (FEV1/FVC%), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and forced expiratory flow at 25, 50, and 75% of expired FVC (FEF25, 50, 75). RESULTS: Mean values of all ventilatory indices except FEF25 of foundry workers were significantly lower than those of controls. Specifically, following stratification by smoking habits, all ventilatory indices except FEF25 of foundry workers were significantly lower than those of controls who smoked; however, there were no significant differences observed in any ventilatory indices between nonsmoking exposed workers and controls. The results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated work duration as a significant predictor of a decrease in FVC%. CONCLUSIONS: This research indicates that combined occupational exposure to dust, fumes, and gases in small foundries is associated with a reduction in lung function. Smoking may also contribute to respiratory abnormalities. These results suggested that foundry workers should be required to undergo periodic lung function tests and-in addition to not smoking, efficient use of personal protection equipment while at work is recommended.
Dust ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Gases ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Lung ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vital Capacity

The authors analyzed the mental evaluation reports for 5 years from 1995 to 1999, done in the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital for the schizophrenic patients who were prosecuted for homicide. The survey was done for the schizophrenics' sex, age, marital status, job, the first or second offense, a residential status, offense place, weapons used, chief motive for homicide, whether he or she was drunken at the time of commission of homicide, the victims' characteristics, the age of the onset of disease, previous psychiatric treatment history, previous criminal history, the duration of schizophrenic disease. In the age of onset of disease, 20-29 years old were the most, 30 cases of 67%. In the psychiatric treatment history for the chronic cases, there's statistical significance. For the chronics, it can be said that the experiences of psychiatric treatment were statistically significant. For the chief motive of homicide, delusion and hallucination were of 44%, but angers were 18 cases(40%) and excitements were 3 cases. What is specially noteworthy is the angers and excitements, consisting of 46.7% of all. And for the chronic cases, delusion and hallucination were the major motive with statistical significance.
Age of Onset ; Anger ; Criminals ; Delusions ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Hallucinations ; Homicide* ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Schizophrenia* ; Weapons

The authors report a case of frontal gliosarcoma. The characteristic of this tumor is that it is composed of mixed glial and sarcomatous elements. The sarcomatous elements are thought to derive from the neoplastic transformation of mesenchymal cells in or adjacent to the tumor. This transformation usually has the appearance of a fibrosarcoma or angiosarcoma. A 24-year-old man had a 1-month history of headache, dizziness followed by blurred vision. At admission, there was no focal neurological deficit except bilateral papilledema. Brain CT and MRI revealed a heterogeneously enhancing mass containing cystic portion in the right frontal lobe with considerable peritumoral edema and shift of the midline structures. A craniotomy was performed with gross total resection of the tumor. Postoperative course was uneventful with resolution of his symptoms. The histologic, immunohistochemical and electron microscopy studies revealed bimorphic pattern, a characteristic feature of gliosarcoma.
Brain ; Craniotomy ; Dizziness ; Edema ; Fibrosarcoma ; Frontal Lobe ; Gliosarcoma* ; Headache ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Microscopy, Electron ; Papilledema ; Young Adult