BACKGROUND: It is important for the health care provider, particularly primary care physicians as gatekeepers of health care, to understand the social interests and needs toward health care. This study was done to find ways to deal with public opinion by analyzing the contributions of health care in the newspapers. METHODS: Two hundred twenty four contributions about health care were sorted out in the three national newspapers during one calendar year from January to December, 1996. These contributions were coded by themes and subjects according the content analysis and qualitative text interpretation. RESULTS: The contributions were classified into three categories, medical insurance, and hospital services, and health care policies. Forty four contributions of medical insurance category were coded into 5 themes and 18 subject. Fifty eight contributions of hospital services category were coded into 3 themes and 31 subjects. One hundred twenty two contributions of medical insurance category were coded into 8 themes and 32 subjects. The themes and subjects were listed and findings were described qualitatively. The characteristics of public opinions about health care were diversity, conflicting interests, plentifulness of complaints and discontent, and finally, infrequency of alternative proposals for problem solving. How to deal with public opinions were discussed. CONCLUSIONS: We can recognize the public attitude of health care and complaints of patients and consumers of health care by analyzing the contributions in the newspapers. These data can be used to develop ways of primary care physicians to deal with patients' needs.
Delivery of Health Care* ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Insurance ; Periodicals* ; Patient Education as Topic ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Problem Solving ; Public Opinion

The cytogenetic analysis of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) is essential for verifying the safety and stability of MSCs. An in situ technique, which uses cells grown on coverslips for karyotyping and minimizes cell manipulation, is the standard protocol for the chromosome analysis of amniotic fluids. Therefore, we applied the in situ karyotyping technique in MSCs and compared the quality of metaphases and karyotyping results with classical G-banding and chromosomal abnormalities with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Human adipose- and umbilical cord-derived MSC cell lines (American Type Culture Collection PCS-500-011, PCS-500-010) were used for evaluation. The quality of metaphases was assessed by analyzing the chromosome numbers in each metaphase, the overlaps of chromosomes and the mean length of chromosome 1. FISH was performed in the interphase nuclei of MSCs for 6q, 7q and 17q abnormalities and for the enumeration of chromosomes via oligo-FISH in adipose-derived MSCs. The number of chromosomes in each metaphase was more variable in classical G-banding. The overlap of chromosomes and the mean length of chromosome 1 as observed via in situ karyotyping were comparable to those of classical G-banding (P=0.218 and 0.674, respectively). Classical G-banding and in situ karyotyping by two personnel showed normal karyotypes for both cell lines in five passages. No numerical or structural chromosomal abnormalities were found by the interphase-FISH. In situ karyotyping showed equivalent karyotype results, and the quality of the metaphases was not inferior to classical G-banding. Thus, in situ karyotyping with minimized cell manipulation and the use of less cells would be useful for karyotyping MSCs.
Azure Stains ; Chromosome Banding/*methods ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence/*methods ; Karyotyping/*methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells/*cytology

It has been known that dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM) is characterized by systolic dysfunction of left ventricle(LV), but there were few studies about correlation between LV systolic function, diameter and diastolic function measured by echocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography(RVG) The purpose of this study is to evaluate LV systolic and diastolic function as well as RV function using regional ejection fraction and functional images by RVG in 17 patients with DCM and to compare these variables with echocardiographic data. The results are as follows : 1) DCM showed diffuse systolic and diastolic dysfunction of LV. The systolic impairment is accounted for the diastolic impairment in DCM. 2) The increased standard deviation of phase angle of left ventricle(LVSDph) revealed LV asynchronous contraction in DCM. 3) LVSDph showed significant correlations with other RVG parameters such as LV ejection fraction, and peak ejection rate, peak filling rate and also with LV systolic and diastolic diameter measured by echocardiography. It is concluded that LVSDph may be useful in evaluation of LV systolic and diastolic function in patients with DCM as well as LV asynchronous contraction.
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Echocardiography* ; Humans ; Radionuclide Ventriculography* ; Ventricular Function, Right*

PURPOSE: Low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) is a kind of functional imaging technique and it is also an up-to-date technique for conducting electroencephalography (EEG) analysis. We tried to investigate the locations on the cerebral cortex that are activated by visually stimulated sexual arousal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three male volunteers (age range: 24.7+/-1.7 years) among all the right-handed medical students at our university were enrolled in this study. The EEGs included the segments recorded during resting, watching a music-video, intermission and watching a porno-video. The LORETA images of the cross-spectral analysis were obtained with using segments of LORETA-KEY (KEY Institute for Brain-Mind Research, Switzerland) software. RESULTS: In the statistical nonparametric maps (SnPM) of each spectrum and the delta, theta and alpha waves did not show the increased current density. The beta 1, 2 and 3 activity showed the point of maximal current densities in the anterior parahippocampal gyrus of the left limbic lobe and the superior temporal gyrus of both temporal lobes, the superior temporal gyrus of the right temporal lobe, the precuneus of the right parietal lobe, the medial frontal gyrus of the left frontal lobe, the middle occipital gyrus of the right occipital lobe, the superior temporal gyrus of both temporal lobes and the superior frontal gyrus of the right frontal lobe. CONCLUSIONS: The sexual arousal by visual stimulation may activate the anterior parahippocampal gyrus of the left limbic lobe, the superior temporal gyrus of both temporal lobes, the precuneus of the right parietal lobe, the medial frontal gyrus of the left frontal gyrus, and the middle occipital gyrus of the right occipital lobe.
Arousal* ; Brain* ; Cerebral Cortex ; Electroencephalography ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Magnets* ; Male ; Occipital Lobe ; Parahippocampal Gyrus ; Parietal Lobe ; Photic Stimulation ; Students, Medical ; Temporal Lobe ; Volunteers

Purpose: To assess patient radiation doses during diagnostic and therapeutic neurointerventional procedures from multiple centers and propose dose reference level (RL). Materials and Methods: Consecutive neurointerventional procedures, performed in 22 hospitals from December 2020 to June 2021, were retrospectively studied. We collected data from a sample of 429 diagnostic and 731 therapeutic procedures. Parameters including dose-area product (DAP), cumulative air kerma (CAK), fluoroscopic time (FT), and total number of image frames (NI) were obtained. RL were calculated as the 3rd quartiles of the distribution. Results: Analysis of 1160 procedures from 22 hospitals confirmed the large variability in patient dose for similar procedures. RLs in terms of DAP, CAK, FT, and NI were 101.6 Gy·cm2, 711.3 mGy, 13.3 minutes, and 637 frames for cerebral angiography, 199.9 Gy·cm2, 3,458.7 mGy, 57.3 minutes, and 1,000 frames for aneurysm coiling, 225.1 Gy·cm2, 1,590 mGy, 44.7 minutes, and 800 frames for stroke thrombolysis, 412.3 Gy·cm2, 4,447.8 mGy, 99.3 minutes, and 1,621.3 frames for arteriovenous malformation (AVM) embolization, respectively. For all procedures, the results were comparable to most of those already published. Statistical analysis showed male and presence of procedural complications were significant factors in aneurysmal coiling. Male, number of passages, and procedural combined technique were significant factors in stroke thrombolysis. In AVM embolization, a significantly higher radiation dose was found in the definitive endovascular cure group. Conclusion Various RLs introduced in this study promote the optimization of patient doses in diagnostic and therapeutic interventional neuroradiology procedures. Proposed 3rd quartile DAP (Gy·cm2) values were 101.6 for diagnostic cerebral angiography, 199.9 for aneurysm coiling, 225.1 for stroke thrombolysis, and 412.3 for AVM embolization. Continual evolution of practices and technologies requires regular updates of RLs.

BACKGROUND: Since the bioavailability of itraconazole capsule is influenced by patients gastric acidity, it results in treatment failure due to its low dissolution and subsequent low absorption when administered in fasting. Itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet has been lately developed in order to improve its dissolution profile. It is the first clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of itraconazole melt-extrusion tablet 400mg daily for 1 week(pulse therapy) for hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and manus. METHODS: A clinical and mycological investigation was made of 812 outpatients with hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus who had visited at 52 general hospitals under the lead of the Korean Dermatological Association from June to December, 1998. Patients confirmed by clinically and microscopically as hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus were administered 2 tablets twice a day for one week and followed up for 8 weeks from the start of the medication. RESULTS: The results were summarized as follows; 1. Clinical symptoms of hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea mauns were significantly improved at the end of study, week 8(p<0.001). 2. Clinical response rate, defined as more than 50% decrease of the sum of the clinical symptom scores, was 79.3%(512/646). 3. Mycological cure rate, dafined as both culture and KOH negative at week 8, was 78.2%(244 /312). 4. 40(5.5%) patients, of the 727 patients evaluable for drug safety evaluation, were reported to have adverse event. CONCLUSION: Itraconazole Melt-Extrusion tablet 400mg/day for 1 week (pulse therapy) is effective and safe in the treatment of hyperkeratotic type of tinea pedis and/or tinea manus.
Absorption ; Biological Availability ; Fasting ; Gastric Acid ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Itraconazole* ; Korea ; Outpatients ; Tablets ; Tinea Pedis* ; Tinea* ; Treatment Failure