BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to compare the sensitivity of the Repetitive Nerve Stimulation Test (RNST) between the upper and lower extremity muscles in myasthenia gravis(MG) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 20 normal persons(control group) and 10 MG patients(MG group). Using Stalberg's method. RNST was systemically performed in orbicularis oculi muscle. upper extremity muscles(flexor carpi ulnaris. abductor digiti quinti), and lower extremity muscles(tibialis anterior. extensor digitorum brevis. vastus medialis). RESULTS: There were statistical differences of decremental response(mean+/-SD) in orbicularis oculi and upper extremity muscles between the control and MG groups(p<0.05 or p<0.01). However, there was no statistical difference of decremental response(mean+/-SD) to RNST in lower extremity muscles between the control and MG groups. There were highersensitivity in orbicularis oculi and upper extremity muscles than lower extremity muscles. Although positive reponse were detected in the lower extremity muscles, the positive response rates of lower extremity muscles were lower than o.oculi and upper extremity muscles. CONCLUSIONS: When the response rates of RNST in facial and upper extremity muscles are normal, may not be required RNST in lower extremity muscles.
Humans ; Lower Extremity* ; Muscles* ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; Upper Extremity

Idiopathic hypoparathyroidism is frequeutly associated with intracranial calcification and neuropsychiatric abnormalities. The most commonly recognized central nervous system manifestations of chronic hypoparathyroidism are seizure, alteration of mental function and extrapyramidal signs. We present a care of hypoparathyroidism, demonstrating extensive intracranial calcification, not only basal ganglia, but also outside the extrapyramidal system. An 58-year-old woman presented with 30 year history of seizure and memory disturbance. The physical examination and several laboratory studies disclosed normal. However hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia with hypocalciuria and decreased parathormone level were demonstrated. Clinical symptoms and signs showed improvement after supplementary calcium and Vit D3 therapy.
Female ; Humans

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of stroke on hypothalamic-pituitary axis using dexamethasone suppression test. The effects were evaluated according to age, sex, type, size, and lesion site of stroke. There tests were performed in 62 patients with stroke(cerebral infarction, 42 cases : intracerebral hemorrage, 20 cases) and 21 disabled controlled patients without intracranial diseases at Yeungnam University Hospital from June 1992 to June 1993. The results summarized as follows. 1. Cerebral infarction showed significantly higher frequency of DST non-suppression in stroke patients than control (p<0.05). 2. Patients with left hemisphere stroke showed more frequent abnormal neuroendocrine test results (p<0.01). 3. Patients with large infarction revealed strongly non-suppressed DST results(p<0.01). 4. Significantly higher basal cortisol level in patients with cerebral infarction was noted(p<0.01). 5. There are no statistical significance between DST results and sex, age, motor impairment, type of cerebral infarction.
Cerebral Infarction ; Dexamethasone* ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Infarction ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the bond strength of polycarbonate brackets can be increased through surface treatment. METHODS: One hundred polycarbonate brackets (Alice) were bonded to bovine incisors with light-cured adhesive. The bracket bases were treated with one of three methods; sandblasting, plastic conditioner application, and combined treatment with sandblasting and plastic conditioner. The brackets without any surface treatment served as the control. The shear bond strength was tested with a universal testing machine, and failure pattern was assessed with the adhesive remnant index. RESULTS: The shear bond strength in all experimental groups was higher than that of the control group (p < 0.001). The group treated with plastic conditioner after sandblasting showed statistically higher shear bond strength than the sandblasting only group (p < 0.05). The group treated with plastic conditioner after sandblasting showed higher shear bond strength than plastic conditioner only group, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The above results suggest that the surface treatments of polycarbonate bracket is mandatory to improve bond strength, and the most effective method is an application of plastic conditioner after sandblasting.
Adhesives ; Incisor ; Plastics

PURPOSE: Currently, there are many developmental tests of scale and screening for infants and children. However, it has been questioned about the discriminating power and the correlation among developmental tests of scale and screening. So we comprared the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II(BSID-II) and Korean Infant and Child Developmental Test(KICDT) in terms of correlations and agreement. METHODS: Seventy two infants were studied, who visited the pediatric outpatient clinic at Cheonan Soonchunhyang University Hospital between December 2002 and September 2003. They were classified into three groups, group A of 24 full term infants, group B of 24 preterm infants, and group C of 24 disabled full term infants. We performed both tests to the all infants. RESULTS: The mean scores of mental and psychomotor developmental indices of BSID-II of group A were higher than those of group B and group C, which was statistically significant. Also, the mean scores of personal-social, language and cognitive- adaptive fields of KICDT of group A were much higher than those of group B and group C. The correlation coefficients between BSID-II and KICDT were high in many indices. The kappa coefficient by Cohen between BSID-II and KICDT is 0.45(0.24-0.66). CONCLUSION: There was a reasonable corrrelation between BSID-II and Korean infant and child developmental test in infants younger than 12 months. The kappa coefficient by Cohen between BSID-II and KICDT is not so good in this study. Further study is needed to standardize the items of KICDT.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Child ; Child Development* ; Child* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Mass Screening ; Weights and Measures*

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of telomerase activity in gestational trophoblastic disease and the association of telomerase activity in complete hydatidiform mole and subsequent development of persistent gestational trophoblastic tumor. By using the standard telomerase repeat assay, we examined telomerase activity in 2 normal placentas, 31 complete hydatidiform moles, 7 invasive moles, 5 choriocarcinoma tissues and choriocarcinoma cell line (JEG-3). Telomerase activity was detected in 13 of 15 (86.7%) complete hydatidiform mole patients who eventually had chemotherapy for the treatment of persistent gestational trophoblastic tumor. All of the 9 patients with metastatic disease (FIGO Stage III) had telomerase activity in their initial molar tissue. In contrast, telomerase activity was evident in only two of 16 (12.5%) complete hydatidiform mole patients with spontaneous remission. While telomerase activity was not detected in normal placentas, high level of telomerase activity was detected in all of 7 invasive moles, 5 choriocarcinoma tissues and choriocarcinoma cell line (JEG-3). The presence of telomerase activity in a complete hydatidiform mole is associated with the development of persistent gestational trophoblastic tumor, such as invasive mole and choriocarcinoma.
Cell Line ; Choriocarcinoma ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Gestational Trophoblastic Disease* ; Humans ; Hydatidiform Mole ; Hydatidiform Mole, Invasive ; Molar ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Remission, Spontaneous ; Telomerase* ; Telomere ; Trophoblastic Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity of several muscles in repetitive nerve stimulation test (RNST) for myasthenia gravis (MG) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 39 MG patients classified by modified Ossermann's classification. Using Stalberg's method, RNST was systematically performed in facial (orbicularis oculi and nasalis) and upper extremity (flexor carpi ulnaris, abductor digiti quinti and anconeus) muscles. RESULTS: The significant electrodecremental response of RNST were noted in orbicularis oculi (58.9%), nasalis (51.3%), flexor carpi ulnaris (42%), anconeus (41%) and abductor digiti quinti muscles (27%). Among the 3 muscles of upper extremity (abductor digiti quinti, flexor carpi ulnaris and anconeus), the positive electrodecremental response of anconeus muscles was significantly higher than other two muscles (p<0.05) in type IIa, IIb and there were no statistical differences of the positive electrodecremental response between orbicularis oculi and nasalis muscles. The facial muscles showed more prominent decremental responses than upper extremity muscles in type I MG(p<0.05). In type IIa MG patients, there were no significant statistical differences between facial and upper extremity muscles but significant statistical differences among upper extremity muscles. In type IIb MG patients, there were no significant statistical differences in all tested muscles in spite of the increased positive electrodecremental response of RNST. CONCLUSION: On the basis of this study, RNST would be initially performed for the orbicularis or nasalis in type I MG and for the anconeus in type IIa or IIb MG.
Classification ; Facial Muscles ; Humans ; Muscles* ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; Upper Extremity

PURPOSE: We evaluated allele frequencies and distribution of surfactant protein A2(SP-A2) in Korean neonates in order to estimate the prevalence of RDS, to find out new SP-A alleles, and to establish new steroid therapy. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from 71 neonates and served as a template in PCR for genotype analysis. SP-A gene-specific amplications and gene-specific allele determinations were performed using PCR-cRFLP methods. RESULTS: The distribution for the alleles of the SP-A2 gene in the study population was 1A, 1A0, 1A1, 1A2, 1A3, 1A5, 1A6, 1A7, 1A8, 1A9, 1A11, 1A12. The specific frequencies for the alleles of the SP- A2 gene in the study population were : 1A=11.3%, 1A0=38%, 1A1=12.7%, 1A2=9.2%, 1A5=15.5%, 1A7= 2.9%, 1A8=4.9%, 1A9=2.2%, others=3.3%. CONCLUSION: The frequency of 1A0 was higher than the other SP-A2 alleles in Korean neonates. This finding suggests that the prevalence of RDS in Korea may be low compared with other countries. However, this finding also suggests that Korean neonates have a high risk of infection.
Alleles* ; DNA ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence

PURPOSE: Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome is caused by the deficiency of lung surfactant in premature babies. For the treatment of RDS at present surfactants such as Surfacten (Tokyo-Tanabe Co., Japan) and Exosurf (Wellcome Co., USA) are used. As awarded the grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology for a model research project of Medium-Technology program, we have modified (supplemented) the bovine lung extracts to get YY-38, for which we have performed physical and biological activities. METHODS: For physical properties, we performed stable microbubble test (SMR) and measured surface tension lowering activity using a pulsating bubble surfactometer. Minimum and maximum surface tensions measured at 1 and 5 minutes gave surface tension-surface area diagrams, from which compressibility at surface tension 10mN/m was also calculated. As to the biological activity, we used premature rabbit fetuses as a model for the study of pressure-lung volume relationship. The lung pathology was examined on the lung tissues subsequently obtained, and aerated area ratios were calculated based on the area measured by an image analyzer. RESULTS: The minimum surface tensions of YY-38 at 1 and 5 minutes for all different concentrations were low at 10mN/m, while the maximum surface tensions ranged from 33.01mN/m to 41.07mN/m. The surface tension-surface area curve showed a definite hysteresis at 1 and 5 minutes for all concentrations, and the surface tension fell below 10mN/m with 20% surface area compression. The compressibilities at surface tension 10mN/m at 5minutes for all concentrations were all below 0.02. In animal experiments, the mean lung volume of premature rabbit fetuses was inflated to 80.9ml/kg at maximum 30cmH2O, while the lung volume was maintained at 38.3mg/kg when the lung was deflated to 5cmH2O. The overall aerated area ratio was 45.4%. CONCLUSIONS: YY-38 formed sufficient amount of stable microbubbles and had a surface tension low enough to maintain alveolar stability and to exhibit a good hysteresis curve. In animal experiments it helped the expansion of premature lungs during inspiratory phase and was effective in the prevention of collapse during expiratory phase.
Animal Experimentation ; Awards and Prizes ; Fetus ; Financing, Organized ; Lung* ; Microbubbles ; Pathology ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn ; Surface Tension ; Surface-Active Agents

Purpose: To evaluate allergen sensitization in Koreans and assess regional differences in it using Geographic Information System (GIS)-based modeling techniques. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed multiple allergen simultaneous test (MAST) results collected from 2,017 clinics and hospitals nationwide between 2018 and 2020. The AdvanSure™ AlloScreen (LG Chem, Seoul, Korea) was used to test for 47 allergens. Then, we created maps to visualize the sensitization prediction rate by using the ordinary kriging method. Results: The total number of participants were 196,419; 104,371 (53.1%) were sensitized to one or more allergens. The most frequent allergen causing sensitization was Dermatophagoides farinae (34.0%), followed by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (32.3%), house dust (26.2%), cat dander (13.6%), Acarus siro (12.5%), rye grass pollen (8.8%), and birch tree pollen (8.2%), respectively. Perennial allergens, such as mites and cat dander, were more common than seasonal allergens. Sensitization rates to grasses were generally higher than those to tree and weed allergens. The sensitization rates to Hymenoptera venoms were 4.8% in honey bee and 2.2% in yellow jacket. The sensitization prediction rate against Dermatophagoides farinae calculated by GIS-based mapping showed geographical differences even within the same administrative district. Conclusion Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were found to be the most prevalent sensitizing allergens throughout Korea. GIS-based spatial pattern analysis using MAST revealed different sensitization patterns between geographic areas and at the subdistrict level. These data could assist in prevention and management of allergic diseases and provide valuable evidence for environmental and public health policymakers.