OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effects of opioids antagonist naltrexone and serotonin-dopamine recepter antagonist olanzapine on the reduction of alcohol consumption level of alcohol intake reinforced C57BL-6 type rat. METHODS: Small amount of alcohol and water were applied to the 28 rats for 2 hours per day during 30 days. On the 31th day, The rats were divided into four groups and given different medications by intraabdominal route 30 minutes before the alcohol consumption. For the next 35 days, the 3 subject group were applied with naltrexone 5mg/kg, olanzapine 0.1mg/kg and olanzapine 1.0mg/kg and the control group with distilled water everyday. RESULTS: In contrast to control group, naltrexone 5mg/kg group showed a significant reduction of alcohol consumption after 4 weeks. Olanzapine 0.1mg/kg group showed a decrease of alcohol consumption from 2 to 5 week period. Although olanzapine 1mg/kg group showed a momentary decrease of the consumption during the 2nd and 3rd weeks, the group did not show significant decrease afterwards. Olanzapine 0.1mg/kg was more effective in reducing the alcohol consumption than olanzapine 1mg/kg. However, it is not significantly more effective compared to the naltrexone 5mg/kg in reducing the alcohol consumption of the reinforced rats' alcohol intake. CONCLUSION: This results suggest that the low dose of olanzapine as well as naltrexone reduce the alcohol intake in C57BL-6 type rats.
Alcohol Drinking* ; Alcoholism ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Animals ; Naltrexone* ; Rats* ; Water

OBJECTIVE: This research was performed to evaluate the relation clinical symptoms and P300 in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: 25 patients with schizophenia by DSM-IV in Soonchunhyang Chunan University hospital were participated. Clinical symptoms were checked by BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale). Auditory event related potentials P300 components were obtained with "Oddball paradigm". RESULTS: P300 in T 3 was smaller and more delayed than T 4 in patients with schizophrenia. Especially, P300 on T 3 were correlated with BPRS scores and negative symptoms scores of PANSS, which were also correlated with P300 on Fz. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that P300 on frontal and left temporal lobe reflect clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Event-Related Potentials, P300 ; Evoked Potentials ; Humans ; Schizophrenia* ; Temporal Lobe

BACKGROUND: The anterior spinal artery infarction constitutes a classical syndrome of vascular myelopathy. The causes of the anterior spinal artery syndrome are various, but most episode probably occur as the result of atherosclerosis or dissection of the aorta and its branches. However, few cases reported developed with spinal structural abnormalities. CASE: A 65-year-old man presented with sudden paraparesis. There was no evidence of hypertension, diabetes and smoking. Motor weakness was more prominent on the left side and progressed. Loss of pain and temperature senses were shown at the level of 71 with preservation of touch, joint perception and vibration senses. The DTR's of legs were depressed and extensor toe signs were presented. A C-spine MRI showed high signal intensity on 72 weighted image and low signal on 71 weighted image(C6-71) with cervical spinal stenosis at the C4-C7 spinal level and mild cervical disc protrusion (C6-C7, C7-T1). After three months later, follow up cervical MRI showed somewhat decreased size of high signal intensity on 72 weighted image and more prominent low signal on 71 image. DISCUSSION: In our case, we could not find any usual cause of anterior spinal artery infarction. However only cervical spinal stenosis associated with mild cervical disc protrusion was present. In stenotic cervical canal, the anterior spinal artery can be more vulnerable to extrinsic compression and the infarction may early develop with insignificant trigger event, such as disc protrusion. We concluded that the ischemic change of anterior two thirds of cervical spinal cord might develop due to the compression of the anterior spinal artery by cervical stenosis and mild cervical intervertebral disc protrusion.
Aged ; Anterior Spinal Artery Syndrome* ; Aorta ; Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infarction ; Intervertebral Disc ; Joints ; Leg ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Paraparesis ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spinal Stenosis* ; Toes ; Vibration

By doing MRI of spinal cord and elctrophysiological studies we were going to correlate MRI and electrophysiologi-cal findings with the known pathology of tabes dorsalis. A 45 year old male patient developed gait ataxia with a tin-gling sense in hands and feet in september of 1996. Neurological examination revealed impaired position sense in his great toes and thumbs with profound instability in the Romberg test, and areflexias in his knee and ankle jerks. Serum VDRL and TPHA test results were positive. CSF revealed pleocytosis(WBC : 16/cubic mm), elevated protein level, and reactive VDRL and FTA-ABS tests. Spinal MRI showed high signal intensity in the posterior part of the entire length of the cervical cord without enhancement with Gadolinium. Follow-up spinal MRI of the cervical area, which was taken two years after penicillin treatment did not show any interval change and spinal MRI of thoracolumbar area also showed similar finding to that of the cervical cord. Nerve conduction studies before and after the penicillin trea-ment showed normal findings except absent H-reflexes. However, the somatosensory evoked potentials with posterior tibial nerve stimulation did not show any abnormalities, which were incompatible with previous report and the known pathologic abnormality. Normal somatosensory evoked potentials suggests using any other pathways than the posterior column in conducting somatosensory evoked potentials.
Ankle ; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory ; Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-Absorption Test ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Gadolinium ; Gait Ataxia ; H-Reflex ; Hand ; Humans ; Knee ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neural Conduction ; Neurologic Examination ; Pathology ; Penicillins ; Proprioception ; Spinal Cord ; Tabes Dorsalis* ; Thumb ; Tibial Nerve ; Toes

Neuromyotonia, or Isaacs' syndrome, consists of continuous muscle fiber activity caused by hyperexcitability of the peripheral nerves. Rarely, these patients also develop CNS symptoms characterized by confusion, insomnia, hallucinations, and agitation. A rare disease consisting of neuromyotonia, autonomic symptoms, and CNS dysfunction is called Morvan's syndrome. We report a 24-year-old man who presented with insomnia, malaise, anorexia, hyperhidrosis, palpitation and myokymia in both the lower extremities. The pathomechanism of Morvan's syndrome is related to the voltage-gated K+ channel (VGKC) antibodies.
Anorexia ; Antibodies ; Dihydroergotamine ; Hallucinations ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis ; Isaacs Syndrome ; Lower Extremity ; Myokymia ; Peripheral Nerves ; Rare Diseases ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Young Adult

Single or scattered sequential hamartomatous juvenile polyps are common in the large intestine, especially the rectosigmoid area, where they are usually nonfamilial. Juvenile polyps arising in the small inestine are very rare. Juvenile polyps are usually found in children aged between 1 and 10 years, the majority of cases are between 2 and 4 years of age. Bleeding is the most common symptom, but some children may suffer from autoamputation or prolapse through the anus, and rare cases are presented as intussusception. Approximately six cases of juvenile polyps in the small bowel have been reported. Jejunal intussusception arising from juvenile polyp is uncommon in comparison with the ileocolic form. It has an atypical subacute presentation. It must be better understood for its diagnosis can be made too late. Surgical exploration is the treatment of choice because of the recurrence of various clinical symptoms. We report a case of single juvenile polyp of jejunum found in a 10-year-old girl who presented with signs of intussusception.
Anal Canal ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestine, Large ; Intestine, Small ; Intussusception* ; Jejunum ; Polyps* ; Prolapse ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common neuropathies. Although pathologic studies show both segmental demyelination and axonal loss in diabetic neuropathy, the relative importance of segmental demyelination is debated. Conduction block (CB) is a physiologic hallmark of segmental demyelination. If segmental demyelination were a main pathology of diabetic neuropathy, CB should be common. We undertook this study to determine the prevalence of CB in diabetic patients. METHODS: Fifty-two consecutive diabetic patients (M=30, F=22) were referred to EMG laboratory and underwent routine nerve conduction studies (NCS). CB was defined by two methods. One was > 20% drop in peak-to-peak amplitude and < 15% change in negative-peak duration between proximal and distal stimulation sites. The other was > 50% drop in the amplitude and area. Clinical findings, electrophysiological data, and effectiveness of immunomodulating therapy for some patients with CB were reviewed. RESULTS: A total 326 nerves were studied. The criteria for 20% and 50% CB were met in 35 nerves in 19 patients and 7 nerves in 6 patients, respectively (prevalence=10.7%, 2.1%, respectively). Some patients with CB were treated with IVIG or steroid and had a good response. CONCLUSIONS: CB in diabetic neuropathy is not a common finding. The rarity of CB in diabetic neuropathy suggests that segmental demyelination is not a prominent part of the underlying pathology. The presence of CB and good responsiveness to immunomodulating therapy in diabetic neuropathy also suggest alternative or additional causes for neuropathy, such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
Axons ; Demyelinating Diseases* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Neuropathies* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Neural Conduction ; Pathology ; Polyneuropathies ; Prevalence

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Enophthalmos is a common sequelae of orbital fracture. Moreover, it is difficult to treat secondarily. We assessed the effect of filling up the orbital volume defect with implants on the correction of late posttraumatic enophthalmos. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Based on patients' clinical data, we retrospectively reviewed 11 patients who had an operation because of late posttraumatic enophthalmos from July 2001 to December 2005. To correct late posttraumatic enophthalmos, porous polyethylene (Medpor(R)), Medpor(R) enophthalmos wedge implant, absorbable mesh, bone graft particulate, rib cartilage, auricle cartilage, and maxilla anterior wall were used. RESULTS: Among 11 patients, 6 patients were men and 5 patients were women. The average age was 33.2 years with the follow-up period of 21.8 months. Five patients had orbital floor fracture, 1 patients had medial orbital wall fracture, 4 patients had a combination of orbital floor and medial orbital wall fractures, and 3 patients had zygoma fracture. Excellent results were obtained in all 5 patients with diplopia. The amount of enophthalmos corrected was between 1 and 5 mm (mean 2.5 mm). There was no case of visual loss, infection, migration, or exposure of implant, but we carried out re-operation on 1 case due to over reduction. CONCLUSION: Filling up the volume defect with proper implants is a relatively simple, safe and efficient technique in correcting late posttraumatic enophthalmos.
Absorbable Implants ; Cartilage ; Diplopia ; Enophthalmos* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Maxilla ; Orbit ; Orbital Fractures ; Polyethylene ; Retrospective Studies ; Ribs ; Transplants ; Zygoma

Ocular complications of HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis are reasonably common, but complete binocular blindness as the first manifestation of HIV is extremely rare. A 58-year-old man presented with binocular blindness. He experienced blurred vision for 3 days before the blindness. Mild pleocytosis was present in the cerebrospinal fluid, from which Cryptococcus neoformans was cultured. Serology revealed positivity for HIV antibody. He was treated with antifungal and antiretroviral therapy. This case indicates that HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis should be taken into consideration when determining the cause of unexpected sudden binocular blindness.
Blindness* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; HIV ; Humans ; Leukocytosis ; Meningitis, Cryptococcal* ; Middle Aged ; Telescopes*

Tick paralysis is caused by a neurotoxin secreted by female tick. Characteristic initial manifestation is bilateral flaccid ascending paralysis similar to Guillain-Barr? syndrome. The predominant electrophysiological abnormality is a reduction in complex muscle action potentials. Here, we present a 62-year-old man who initially experienced a sudden biting pain on his scalp. Subsequently he developed bilateral lower extremity paralysis that ascended symmetrically involving the upper extremities. Within 2 weeks, the patient showed a full recovery without treatment.
Action Potentials ; Bites and Stings ; Female ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Middle Aged ; Muscles ; Paralysis ; Scalp ; Tick Paralysis ; Ticks ; Upper Extremity