This study was undertaken to make current fetal growth curve throughout later part of pregnancy. 5,110 normal singleton deliveries at Il Shin Christian Hospital were included. The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles of birth weight were calculated from 21 to 42 weeks' gestation and the 10th, 50th, 90th percentiles of birth weight compared by fetal sex, maternal parity and height were graphed to know the potency of factors. There was a linear growth pattern between 28 and 38 weeks' gestation. During last month of prgnancy, three factors have significant effect on median birth weight but no significant differences in 10th percentiles. Maternal height & parity significantly affeect on 90th percentiles. So, these factors must be considered when diagnosing large for date.
Birth Weight* ; Female ; Fetal Development ; Gestational Age* ; Parity ; Parturition* ; Pregnancy

PURPOSE: Body mass index(BMI), skinfold thickness and arm circumference are commonly used to evaluate obesity in children. There is a need for new standards of these items on Korean children. We performed this study to provide up-to-date reference percentile values and percentile charts for these three items. METHODS: Standardized measurements of height, weight, skinfold thickness(triceps, subscapular) and arm circumference on a total of 31,188 infants and children from age 1 to 18 years during January to December 1998 were used to calculate percentile values and to develop smoothed percentile charts. RESULTS: The mean BMI increased with age and showed similar values in both sexes, but 95th percentile values were slightly higher for boys than girls. The percentile values of BMI were consistently higher than those reported previously in Korea, particularly for the 95th percetile values. Triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness showed significant increase compared with previous studies and significantly higher for females than males. Arm circumference also showed significant increase compared with the previous studies. It was significantly higher for males than females. BMI was more closely related with arm circumference than skinfold thickness. CONCLUSION: The percentile values and percentile charts of BMI, skinfold thickness and arm circumference will allow pediatricians to evaluate obesity in Korean children.
Arm* ; Body Mass Index* ; Child* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Male ; Obesity ; Skinfold Thickness*

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Various gastric and duodenal lesions with gastrofiberscopy were observed in patients with obstructive biliary disease. METHODS: A clinical analysis of the endoscopic findings was carried out on 88 patients with obstructive biliary disease, from February 1994 to January 1998, in the department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital. RESULTS: 1) In the 88 patients, sex distribution showed predominance in the males (47/41) and most of the cases involved those in their 60's. 2) The obstructive biliary diseases were included, common bile duct stones (53.4%), common bile duct cancer (18.2%), pancreatic cancer (18.2%), Klatskin tumor (4.5%) and common hepatic duct cancer (3.4%). 3) The gastroduodenal lesions involved in the obstructive biliary diseases were, erosive gastritis (22.7%), duodenal ulcer (8.0%), gastric ulcer (5.7%), and acute duodenitis (3.4%) in orders. CONCLUSIONS: Significant upper gastrointestinal lesions were found in obstructive biliary disease.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Common Bile Duct ; Duodenal Ulcer ; Duodenitis ; Gastritis ; Hepatic Duct, Common ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Klatskin's Tumor ; Male ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Sex Distribution ; Stomach Ulcer

OBJECTIVE: It is controversial whether routine or selective iron supplementation during gestation is needed. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether screening with serum ferritin during the first trimester of pregnancy could be identify women who need prophylactic iron supplementation. METHODS: According to the serum ferritin level of cut-off point of 30 microgram/L during the first trimester of pregnancy and the presence of iron supplementation during gestation, the subject was divided into 4 group that were as follows: serum ferritin level of 30 microgram/L and iron- supplemented group (n=40), serum ferritin level of >30 microgram/L and non iron-supplemented group (n=15). Maternal serum ferritin, TIBC, iron, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW) were measured before 14 weeks of gestation and after 34 weeks of gestation. RESULTS: All hematologic and biochemical markers indicated more severe anemic status in the late pregnancy than during the first trimester of pregnancy. The effect of iron supplementation was profounder on the pregnant woman whose ferritin levels were below 30 microgram/L during the first trimester of pregnancy. Regardless of iron supplementation, the group (ferritin >30 microgram/L during the first trimester of pregnancy) showed relatively higher ferritin level in late pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The screening with serum ferritin level of cut-off point of 30 microgram/L during the first trimester of pregnancy may be useful to identify women who need prophylactic iron supplementation.
Biomarkers ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Female ; Ferritins ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Iron* ; Mass Screening ; Pregnancy Trimester, First ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women

BACKGROUND: The highly developed endoplasmic reticulum (ER) structure in pancreatic beta cells is heavily involved in insulin biosynthesis. Thus, any perturbation in ER function inevitably impacts insulin biosynthesis. Recent studies showed that the expression of tribbles-related protein 3 (TRB3), a mammalian homolog of Drosophilia tribbles, in various cell types is induced by ER stress. Here, we examined whether ER stress induces TRB3 expression in INS-1 cells and found that TRB3 mediates ER stress-induced suppression of insulin gene expression. METHODS: The effects of tunicamycin and thapsigargin on insulin and TRB3 expression in INS-1 cells were measured by Northern and Western blot analysis, respectively. The effects of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TRB3 on insulin, PDX-1 and MafA gene expression in INS-1 cells were measured by Northern blot analysis. The effect of TRB3 on insulin promoter was measured by transient transfection study with constructs of human insulin promoter. RESULTS: The treatment of INS-1 cells with tunicamycin and thapsigargin decreased insulin mRNA expression, but increased TRB3 protein expression. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TRB3 decreased insulin gene expression in a dose-dependent manner. A transient transfection study showed that TRB3 inhibited insulin promoter activity, suggesting that TRB3 inhibited insulin gene expression at transcriptional level. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TRB3 also decreased PDX-1 mRNA expression, but did not influence MafA mRNA expression. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that ER stress induced TRB3 expression, but decreased both insulin and PDX-1 gene expression in INS-1 cells. Our data suggest that TRB3 plays an important role in ER stress-induced beta cell dysfunction.
Blotting, Northern ; Blotting, Western ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Insulin ; Insulin-Secreting Cells ; RNA, Messenger ; Thapsigargin ; Transfection ; Tunicamycin

Absorptiometry, Photon ; Adult ; Aged ; Bone Density ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Female ; Humans ; Ilium ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis ; Tibia ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to assess the usefulness of ultrasounddetermined testicular volume in the evaluation of the infertile men with azoospermia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A computerized search from October 2005 to June 2010 generated a list of 45 infertile men with azoospermia (mean age, 34 years; age range, 26-44 years) who underwent both scrotal ultrasound and testis biopsy. Ultrasounddetermined testicular volumes were compared between infertile men with obstructive azoospermia and those with non-obstructive azoospermia. RESULTS: Testicular volume for obstructive azoospermia ranged from 6.4 ml to 26.9 ml, with a median volume of 14.0 ml. This volume was significantly larger than that of those with non-obstructive azoospermia, which ranged from 1.0 ml to 12.8 ml, with a median volume of 6.1 ml (p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve for distinguishing non-obstructive azoospermia from obstructive azoospermia using testicular volume was 0.91. A cutoff value of less than or equal to 11.4 ml could distinguish non-obstructive azoospermia from obstructive azoospermia, with a sensitivity of 94.1% (95% CI; 71.3-99.9%) and a specificity of 73.3% (95% CI; 54.1-87.7%). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-determined testicular volume can be helpful in the differentiation of obstructive azoospermia from non-obstructive azoospermia.
Azoospermia ; Biopsy ; Humans ; Male ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Testis