Pretibial myxedema is a condition in which there is loeal thickening of the skin by a mucin-like deposit; it is nearly always asosciated with ophthalmopathy and thyrotoxicosis, not infrequently becomes more pronounced after treatrnent of thyrotoxicosis. The precise cause of pretibial myxedema is not known, but it appears that IgG LATS represents an autoantibody against a thyroid antigen, retroorbital tiesue and tbe skin, so, pretibial myxedema is presumed to be the result of a local antigen-antibody tissue reaction. A 57-year-old man had the history of diabetes since 1964 and Graves disease since May 1980, he was treated with metimazole for 1 month, with improving thyrotoxicosis but developed the pretibial myxedema. The histologic findings showed considerable amount of mucin, especially hyaluronic acid with toluidin blue stain at PH 3.0. The lesions were improved by local application of 0.01 x fluocinolone acetonide ointment with occlusive dressing technique.
Fluocinolone Acetonide ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Immunoglobulin G ; Long-Acting Thyroid Stimulator ; Middle Aged ; Mucins ; Myxedema* ; Occlusive Dressings ; Skin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyrotoxicosis

No abstract available.
Cesarean Section* ; Cicatrix* ; Endometriosis* ; Female ; Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: Palindromic rheumatism refers to the intermittent, relatively brief episodes of arthritis and/or inflammation of the soft tissue around the joint. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical features, laboratory findings and prognosis of patients with palindromic rheumatism. METHODS: Study group was forty-nine consecutive patients that enrolled as palindromic rheumatism at Gwangmyung Sungae General Hospital between January 1996 and December 2000 by retrospective chart review. Follow up durations of all cases were more than 2 years and mean follow up duration was 59+/-21.8 months. RESULTS: There were 14 males and 35 females and sex ratio was 1:2.5. The mean age was 43.9+/-5.8 years. The attacks usually lasted less than 2 days and the most common attack pattern was monoarticular. In all cases, the most common affected site was proximal interphalangeal joints followed by wrist joint. But in males, the most common affected joint was knee. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 34.7%. Two patients were progressed to suspected rheumatoid arthritis and three patients were progressed to rheumatoid arthritis definitely. CONCLUSION: This study showed similar results with other previously reported studies, but showed more knee joint involvement in males and less progression to rheumatoid arthritis than other studies. But compared with previous Korean studies, patient's age was older in this study and progression to rheumatoid arthritis was similar in both studies. The number of patients in this study was limited, large-scale epidemiologic study will be necessary for further investigation.
Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Joints ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Rheumatic Diseases* ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Sex Ratio ; Wrist Joint

The fibrous dysplasia, divided into 3 categories of the monostotic, polyostotic and extraskeletal forms, is a relatively rare disease which was first reported by Well in 1922 and shows a characteristic findings replacing the medullary cavity of noe or more bones by the pathologically proliferating fibrous connective tissues. In a consequence, the structural integrity of the diseased bone becomes weakened and suffers frequent episodes of pathologic fracture and deformities of the bone, which are most common around the hip. Various operative methods and instruments have been tried to manage the pathologic fracture around the hip recently. The authors report a satisfactory resnlt of total hip replacement for the pathologic fracture in a patient of the fibrous dysplasia involving the proximal half of the right femur.
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Connective Tissue ; Femur ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Hip ; Humans ; Rare Diseases

BACKGROUND: The spectrum of bacteria causing diarrhea is highly affected by geographic area, sanitation, travel, food consumption, and previous antibiotic use. A nationwide databank for stool cultures is undeveloped. The aim of our study was to investigate the current prevalence of gastroenteritis bacterial pathogens in Korea. METHODS: We requested microbiological data via questionnaire emails sent to 98 hospitals. The frequency of each pathogen was acquired from 32 institutes. Numbers of stool cultures performed ranged from 193 to 14,296 (mean 2,724, SD 3,261) in 2015. RESULTS: Among 86,744 requested stool specimens, 917 (1.06%, range 0-4.59%, 95% confidence interval 0.63-1.48%) were positive. Salmonella was most prevalent (59.0%), followed by Candida (12.4%), Campylobacter (4.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (4.0%), Vibrio (4.0%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.75). Yersinia (0.3%) and Shigella (0.2%) were rarely isolated. CONCLUSION: As the positive rate of the stool cultures is very low (1.06%), more effort and concern should be provided to enhance the isolation of pathogens. Salmonella was the most prevalent pathogen and Campylobacter and Vibrio were relatively common pathogens causing bacterial gastroenteritis in Korea.
Academies and Institutes ; Bacteria* ; Campylobacter ; Candida ; Diarrhea ; Electronic Mail ; Gastroenteritis ; Korea* ; Prevalence* ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Salmonella ; Sanitation ; Shigella ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Vibrio ; Yersinia

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the basophil histamine releasability in response to IgE- and non- IgE-mediated stimuli in children with atopic asthma. Met: Basophil histamine releasability was measured in Dermatophagoides farinae (D. farinae)-sensitive atopic asthmatics, D.farinae-sensitive healthy atopics, non-atopic asthmatics, and healthy non-atopics. Basophils were stimulated with D.farinae, goat antihuman IgE antibody, formyl-Met-Leu-Phe(fMLP), and Calcium ionophore A23187. Histamine was measured by automated fluorometric technique. RESULTS: Sponianeous histamine release was higher in atopic asthmatics compared to healthy non-atopics. Histamine release by D.farinae and by anti-IgE antibody was higher in atopic asthmatics compared to the other groups. There was no difference in histamine release by fMLP among all groups. Histamine release by Calcium ionophore was higher in healthy atopics and non-atopic asthmatics compared to healthy non-atopics. The atopics showed correlation between histamine release by D.farinae, by anti-IgE antibody and total serum IgE levels. CONCLUSIONS: Spontaneous and IgE-mediated histamine release were related to the presence of both atopy and asthma, whereas non-IgE mediated histamine release was different depending on the stimuli.
Asthma* ; Basophils* ; Calcimycin ; Calcium ; Child* ; Dermatophagoides farinae ; Goats ; Histamine Release ; Histamine* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E

In order to study the relations between attentional deficits and social functioning of the schizophrenia, 83 stable outpatients with DSM-IV schizophrenia and matched 60 normal controls were examined for their sustained attention, sensory register, and social functioning by means of Continuous performance test(CPT), Span apprehension task(SPAN), and Korean version of Social Adjustment Scale II-Revised Version(KSAS II-RV) respectively. Psychopathology was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS). The results were as follows. 1) Schizophrenic patients showed a significant deficit in the sustained attention and sensory register as manifested in the data of CPT and SPAN, compared with the matched normal controls. Schizohrenic patients also showed a significantly poor social functioning in measure of KSAS II-RV compared with the matched normal controls. 2) There was no correlation between three type of symptoms(positive/negative/general) and total scores of social functioning. But negative symptoms was correlated with the social leisure subarea of KSAS II-RV. 3) CPT was correlated with total scores of social functioning including the instrumental role and friend relation subareas of KSAS II-RV, whereas SPAN was only correlated with the instrumental role subarea of social functioning. 4) In the relations between attention and symptoms, CPT was correlated with negative symptoms. These results suggest that the deficit of the sustained attention may be a predictive factor of social functioning in the schizophrenic outpatients.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Friends ; Humans ; Leisure Activities ; Outpatients* ; Psychopathology* ; Schizophrenia ; Social Adjustment

No abstract available.
Ascitic Fluid* ; Ferritins*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the usefulness of CT features of appendiceal mucocele in the diagnosis and evaluation of complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed CT findings and compared with operative findings in 7 cases of pathologically proven appendiceal mucocele. CT findings such as location and extent of the lesion, Issue density, thickness or calcification of the wall, presence of adjacent inflammatory infiltration, and visualization of normal vermiform appendix were analyzed. RESULTS: Appendiceal mucocele was found as homogeneous low density cystic mass adjacent to the cecum, which has no surrounding inflammatory infiltration except in one case of perforation and one case of intussusception. Mean CT number measured in 4 cases was 21 Hounsfield unit. Thin curvilinear calcifications were noted along the cystic wall in 2 cases. Normal vermiform appendix couldn't be demonstrated in all cases. CONCLUSION: Appendiceal mucocele is characterized by homogeneously low density and thin walled cystic tumor adjacent to cecum without surrounding inflammatory infiltration, and absence of normal vermiform appendix on CT. Therefore, CT is valuable in preventing operative complications of appendiceal mucocele.
Appendix ; Cecum ; Diagnosis ; Intussusception ; Mucocele* ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: After discharge from the hospital, very low birth weight infants require care consultation, information, and interaction and so forth, due to sequelae, different growth and developmental pattern; which increase the burdens and the worries of patients in nurturing them. With the counseling of experts in the related fields, the authors and the Food for the Hungry have run a department of childcare for a year, emphasizing on more family support than extreme early detection of disabilities. This study reports on relieving child care anxiety, promoting growth and development, educating parents on home treatment of sequelae, finding and coping with minor disabilities. METHODS: The subjects were chosen among infants under 1,500 g of birth weight and younger than a corrected age of 6 months. Meetings were held once in a month for a year. Infant care support classes were taught by experts in their fields including a music therapist (with play program), neonatologist, a children's nurse, a child-care director, a clinical psychologist, a rehabilitation therapist, a social worker and, a nutritionist. Within the self-dependent groups, the families were able to share their concerns and experiences on child-caring. Second home visits were carried out to monitor home oxygen therapy, tube feeding, cerebral palsy signs, and to find neglect or abuse in suspected cases. RESULTS: Fifty-one infants participated; the average weight was 1,060 g, the average gestational age was 27 weeks and 2 days. Eighteen were boys and 23 girls. The average age of the mothers was 33.4, and there were 26 appropriate for gestational age, 8 small for gestational age, and, 5 large for gestational age. Twenty three were first-born, 13 were second-born, 1 was third-born, and twins were 4 pairs. Home visits were done in 33 families, and secondary visits were done in 6 families. The depression score of mothers in the attendant group decreased from 10.47+/-5.18 to 8.18+/-5.87 (P=0.080). CONCLUSION: The depression score of mothers in the attendant group decreased after infant care support classes.
Anxiety ; Birth Weight ; Cerebral Palsy ; Child ; Child Care ; Counseling ; Depression ; Enteral Nutrition ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Gestational Age ; Growth and Development ; House Calls ; Humans ; Infant Care ; Infant* ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight* ; Mothers ; Music ; Nutritionists ; Oxygen ; Parents ; Psychology ; Rehabilitation ; Social Workers ; Twins