OBJECTIVES: We investigated impulsivity and sensation seeking of pathological gambling, comparing with alcoholism and normal group. METHODS: 36 pathological gamblers, who were diagnosed by DSM-IV criteria, were compared with 31 alcoholism group and 26 healthy normal group with Barratt impulsivity scale and Zuckerman sensation seeking scale. RESULTS: 1) Pathological gamblers appeared to have much more impulsivity than alcoholism group or normal group. In respect to sensation seeking, no significant differences were founded among three groups. 2) Pathological gamblers tend to have more non-planning impulsivity, cognitive impulsivity, and motor impulsivity than alcoholic group. Comparing with normal group, pathological gamblers tend to have more non-planning impulsivity and motor impulsivity, but not in cognitive impulsivity. 3) There were no differences in three sub-scales including of thrill seeking, experience seeking and disinhibition out of four sub-scales of sensation seeking scale, among three groups. However, Boredom susceptibility was higher in pathological gamblers than alcoholics and normal group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that personality of pathological gambler is most impulsive and boredom susceptible, which indicates that pathological gamblers is more serious pathological clinical disorder than alcoholism.
Alcoholics ; Alcoholism* ; Boredom ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Gambling* ; Humans ; Impulsive Behavior* ; Sensation

Osmotic diuretics are used in neurosurgical patient to decrease intracranial pressure. Mannitol produces diuresis because it is filtered by the glomeruli and not reabsorbed from the renal tubule, leading to increased osmolarity of renal tubular fluid and associated excretion of water. There are some controversies about the effect of mannitol induced diuresis on the change of serum electrolytes. But these controversies are related to the mannitol dosage and infusion speed. We studied the effect of mannitol on serum and urine e1ectrolyte change in 10 patients undergoing operation of cerebral tumor or aneurysm. Every patient was free from cardiac and renal disease. We started infusion of 20% mannitol of which dosage is 0.6-0.9gm/kg for 5 to 10 min after cranium was opened and then injected furosemide O.l mg/kg for acceleration of diuresis. We measured serum electrolyte, urine volume and urine electrolyte before and after 30, 60 and 120 min of mannitol infusion. The results were as follows. 1) Seurm sodium and chloride level decreased significantly from 133 and 102 to l30 and 100 mEq/1 respectively after 30 min, but there was no statistic significance after 60 and 120 min of mannitol infusion. 2) Serum potassium level increased slightly from 4.2 to 4.5 mEq/1 after mannitol infusion but there was no statistic significance. 3) Urine volume increased abruptly from 57 to 477 ml/hr as soon as infusion of mannitol but the degree decreased slowly following times. 4) Urine electrolytes concentration increased abruptly as soon as infusion of mannitol but the degree decrease slowly following times. With the above results, we can conclude that intraoperative mannitol and furosemide infusion in healthy patient can cause only transient change in serum electrolyte and the magnitude of change was too small to have significant clinical effect.
Acceleration ; Aneurysm ; Diuresis ; Diuretics, Osmotic ; Electrolytes ; Furosemide ; Humans ; Intracranial Pressure ; Mannitol* ; Neurosurgery ; Osmolar Concentration ; Potassium ; Skull ; Sodium

PURPOSE: To compare clinical characteristics of ganglions in hand & Foot. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen cases of ganglions located in foot and fifty-five cases in hand. Excised from Mar.1988 to Apr.2003, were included in the study. The clinical characteristics and recurrence ratio were evaluated RESULTS: The mean size of 2.2 cm in hand and 2.5 cm in foot. The most common area of ganglions are dorsum of foot and wrist. The cosmetic problem of palpable mass is the primary chief complaint of ganglions on hand and the pain is that of foot. The recurrence was found in 5 cases in hand and 4 cases in foot. The recurrence was related to incomplete excision of ganglion in foot and the large size of ganglion and incomplete excision of ganglion in hand. CONCLUSION: recurrence ratio in the cases of foot is higher than that of hand. The ganglions in foot and hand need to treated by meticulous surgical excision to prevent the recurrence.
Foot* ; Ganglion Cysts* ; Hand* ; Recurrence ; Wrist

Benign solitary schwannoma of the chest wall is a rare disease of nerve sheath origin A 43-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital for right upper quandrant pain Chest X-ray shows nonspecific finding, ultrasonography & CT scan revealed a solid tumor on the right lateral chest wall. On aspiration needle biopsy, this mass was turned out to be a schwannoma of the right lateral chest wall. This mass was excised surgically in an encapsulated state by right lateral thoracotomy. Histological section revealed a typical schwannoma, which is characterized by Antoni A and Antoni B tissues of high & low cellularity.
Adult ; Biopsy, Needle ; Female ; Humans ; Neurilemmoma* ; Rare Diseases ; Thoracic Wall* ; Thoracotomy ; Thorax* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography

Pulmonary hypertension is a frequent complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and associated with a worse survival and increased risk of hospitalization for exacerbation of COPD. However, little information exists regarding the potential role of systemic inflammation in pulmonary hypertension of COPD. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the degree of C-reactive protein (CRP) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in COPD patient with and without pulmonary hypertension. The levels of CRP and ET-1 were investigated in 58 COPD patient with pulmonary hypertension and 50 patients without pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as a systolic pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa) > or =35 mmHg assessed by Doppler echocardiography. Plasma CRP and ET-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with pulmonary hypertension than in patients without hypertension. There were significant positive correlations between the plasma ET-1 level and CRP level in the whole study groups. For COPD patients, systolic Ppa correlated significantly with plasma CRP levels and plasma ET-1 levels. These findings support a possibility that CRP and ET-1 correlate to pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients.
Aged ; Blood Pressure ; C-Reactive Protein/*analysis ; Echocardiography, Doppler ; Endothelin-1/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/*blood/complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*blood/complications

BACKGROUND: Heavy drinking may be a cause of serious health problems in hepatitis B virus carriers. The aim of this study was to reveal the degree of drinking problems in the Korean hepatitis B virus healthy carriers. METHODS: The subjects were 218 hepatitis B virus healthy carriers (124 males and 94 females) recruited from those who visited the Health Promotion Center of Chungnam National University Hospital for a general health check-up. Drinking problems of the subjects were evaluated by the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) questionnaire. RESULTS: The AUDIT scores (mean+/-SD) of the male subjects (9.6+/-7.9) were significantly (P <0.001) higher than those of the female subjects (2.7+/-5.2). The individuals with heavy drinking (more than 14 drinks in males and 7 drinks in females per week) are 24 (19.4%) in males and 5 (5.3%) in females. Alcohol use disorders were suspected in 36 (29.0%) males and 4 (4.3%) females. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that, in Korea, clinical attention in primary health care should be focused on reducing the alcohol consumption among the hepatitis B virus carriers, considering a large proportion have drinking problems and the possible harmful effect on their health by heavy drinking.
Alcohol Drinking ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Drinking* ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Primary Health Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: There are fewer patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Korea compared with Western countries. The incidence of GERD has increased in recent years however, concerning many physicians. Here, we report our early experiences of using a recently introduced method of laparoscopic antireflux surgery for the treatment of GERD in Korean patients. METHODS: Fifteen patients with GERD were treated using antireflux surgery between May 2009 and February 2012 at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center. Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication with 360degrees wrapping was performed on all patients. RESULTS: Eleven male and four female patients were evaluated and treated with an average age of 58.1 +/- 14.1 years. The average surgical time was 118.9 +/- 45.1 minutes, and no complications presented during surgery. After surgery, the reflux symptoms of each patient were resolved; only two patients developed transient dysphagia, which resolved within one month. One patient developed a 6-cm hiatal hernia that had to be repaired and reinforced using mesh. CONCLUSION: The use of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of GERD is safe and feasible. It is also an efficacious method for controlling the symptoms of GERD in Korean patients. However, the use of this surgery still needs to be standardized (e.g., type of surgery, bougienage size, wrap length) and the long-term outcomes need to be evaluated.
Deglutition Disorders ; Female ; Fundoplication ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Hernia, Hiatal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Operative Time

Paragonimiasis is a parasitic infection that occurs following the ingestion of infectious Paragonimus metacercariae, which occurs as a result of eating raw or undercooked freshwater crabs or crayfish. Pulmonary paragonimiasis is the most common clinical manifestation of this infection. Human paragonimiasis occurs sporadically. We experienced a case of pulmonary paragonimiasis in a 35-year-old woman with left lower chest pain. The patient had hypereosinophilia and a pleural effusion. The diagnosis was confirmed by positive ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) that detected Paragonimiasis westermani antibody in the serum. We treated the patient with praziquantel for two days at a daily dosage of 75 mg/kg. Left pleuritic pain and pleural effusion improved after treatment. However, similar symptoms and pleural effusion developed recurrently for the first 3 courses of treatment with praziquantel. Upon the fourth round of treatment, the patient made a full recovery.
Adult ; Astacoidea ; Chest Pain ; Eating ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Fresh Water ; Humans ; Metacercariae ; Paragonimiasis ; Paragonimus ; Pleural Effusion ; Praziquantel ; Recurrence

PURPOSE: We prospectively conducted a multi-center, open-label, randomized phase II trial to compare the efficacy and safety of docetaxel plus cisplatin (DC) and etoposide plus cisplatin (EC) for treating advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight previously untreated patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic NSCLC were enrolled in this study. The patients received cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 and either docetaxel 75 mg/m2 on day 1 or etoposide 100 mg/m2 on days 1 to 3 in the DC or EC arm, respectively, every 3 weeks. RESULTS: The objective response rate was 39.4% (15/38) and 18.4% (7/38) (p=0.023) in the DC and EC arms, respectively. The median time to progression (TTP) was 5.9 and 2.7 months (p=0.119), and the overall survival was 12.1 and 8.7 months (p=0.168) in the DC and EC arms, respectively. The prognostic factors for longer survival were an earlier disease stage (stage III, p=0.0095), the responders to DC (p=0.0174) and the adenocarcinoma histology (p=0.0454). The grades 3 and 4 toxicities were similar in both arms, with more febrile neutropenia (7.9% vs. 0%) and fatigue (7.9% vs. 0%) being noted in the DC arm. CONCLUSION: DC offered a superior overall response rate than does EC, along with tolerable toxicity profiles, although the DC drug combination did not show significantly improved survival and TTP.
Adenocarcinoma ; Arm ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Cisplatin* ; Etoposide* ; Fatigue ; Febrile Neutropenia ; Humans ; Prospective Studies