No abstract available.
Animals ; Calcium* ; Mice* ; Oocytes*

Recently, it is reported that preganglionic oculomotor nerve palsies shows denervational supersensitive pupillary responses to dilute parasympathomimetic agents and this phenomenon is in inverse proportion to consciousness level. We measured pupillary diameters of 10 brain death patients(20 eyes) and 10 comatous patients (20 eyes). After we instilled 0.06% pilocarpine to patients that initial pupillary diameter is over 4.0mm(13 eyes in brain death group, 5 eyes in comatous group), we compared pupillary responses of two groups to evaluate whether this helps diagnosis of brain death. If pupillary diameter was changed over 25%(compared to initial diameter), we considered it positive. In comatous group, no one was positive. But in brain death group, 11 cases were positive(84.6%). It revealed significant difference statistically(P<0.05). Mean change of pupillary diameter to 0.06% pilocarpine was 0.46mm(9.35%) in comatous group, and 2.62mm(47.72%) in brain death group. With above results, we concluded that pupillary response to dilute parasympathomimetic agents is a useful indicator for diagnosis of brain death.
Brain Death* ; Brain* ; Consciousness ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Oculomotor Nerve Diseases ; Parasympathomimetics ; Pilocarpine*

To investigate the sleeping patterns and gastrointestinal disorders of shift workers, the auther studied 434 female workers who worked at textile industry ill Taejon city from september 1 ,1992 to september 31 ,1992. Shift pattern were divided into 3 categories; 3 shift (shifts per 8 hours), 2 shift (day and night shift) and day work. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The average sleeping hours when adjusted for the education level of the total study subjects was 6.1 hours. That of 3 shift workers was 6.1 hours, 2 shift workers was 6.0hours, but that of day workers was 6.5 hours. There were no significant difference among the shift workers. 2. For the 3 shift workers, the average physiologic adjusted duration in day shirt(2.2 days) was shorter than that or night shift(2.7 days) and there were significant difference among the rotating shift works (P<0.001). The sleeping problems in day shift was less than those of night shift (P<0.001). 3. 44.9% of 3 shift workers, 39.3% of 2 shift workers and 33.1% of day workers complained gastrointestinal symptoms when adjusted for the age, education level, job tenure, work post. And the rates of gastrointestinal symptoms complained increase with job tenures (P<0.001). 4. The most frequent gastrointestinal diseases were gastitis and gastric ulcer with 14.2 %, Irritable bowel syndrome with 3.1%, duodenitis and duodenal ulcer with 2.1% and combined gastrointestinal disease with 2.1%. Age, eating habit, amount of coffee per day, job tenure, work post and shift pattern showed no significant difference with the gastrointestinal diseases when adjusted for the age. According to the above results, the auther suggested that the shift pattern and job tenure can affect to the sleeping problem and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Coffee ; Daejeon ; Duodenal Ulcer ; Duodenitis ; Eating ; Education ; Female* ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Stomach Ulcer ; Textile Industry ; Textiles*

The major forms of amyloidosis affecting the eye are primary systemic and localized amyloidosis. Primary Amyloidosis localized to the conjuctiva is relatively rare, especially involved to bulbar conjunctiva and corn eo scleral limbus and is consiccered to be in the differential diagnosis of other conjunctival diseases. We diagnosed a amyloidosis in which the biopsy from the superior bulbar conjunctiva and superior cornea of the left eye of 68-year-old woman showed histopathologic findings of amyloidosis. There were no evidences of amyloid deposit except conJuntiva and cornea on physical and other systemic examination, including immunelectrophoresis, and cornea on physical and other systemic examination, including immunelectrophoresis, and no evidences of underlying disease that can cause amyloidosis. So we concluded that it was primary localized amyloidosis of bulbar conjunctiva and cotnea.
Aged ; Amyloidosis* ; Biopsy ; Conjunctiva* ; Conjunctival Diseases ; Cornea* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Plaque, Amyloid ; Zea mays

The major forms of amyloidosis affecting the eye are primary systemic and localized amyloidosis. Primary Amyloidosis localized to the conjuctiva is relatively rare, especially involved to bulbar conjunctiva and corn eo scleral limbus and is consiccered to be in the differential diagnosis of other conjunctival diseases. We diagnosed a amyloidosis in which the biopsy from the superior bulbar conjunctiva and superior cornea of the left eye of 68-year-old woman showed histopathologic findings of amyloidosis. There were no evidences of amyloid deposit except conJuntiva and cornea on physical and other systemic examination, including immunelectrophoresis, and cornea on physical and other systemic examination, including immunelectrophoresis, and no evidences of underlying disease that can cause amyloidosis. So we concluded that it was primary localized amyloidosis of bulbar conjunctiva and cotnea.
Aged ; Amyloidosis* ; Biopsy ; Conjunctiva* ; Conjunctival Diseases ; Cornea* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Plaque, Amyloid ; Zea mays

Endothelin(ET), is the most potent endogenous vasoconstrictor. Myocardial ischemia and chemical stimuli including calcium ionophores are known to release ET-1. Recently, halothane has been shown to block calcium channel. Thus, halothane might attenuate coronary endothelial ET-1 production during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. To test this hypothesis, we measured plasma ET-1 level continuously in open chest dogs subjected to 15 min of left anterior coronary arterial occlusion and 1 hour of reperfusion during fentanly(n=8) or halothane(n=7) anesthesia. The results were as follows. I) Baseline ET-1 levels of both femoral artery and great cardiac vein in the halothane group were lower than in the fentanly group(NS). 2) ET-1 level of femoral artery and great coronary vein in both halothane and fentanyl group remained unchanged 10 min into ischemia. 3) Coronary blood flow increased by 325, 250% in the halothane group and by 315, 258% in the fentanly group 2, 5 min into reperfusion, respectively. 4) ET-1 production increased from baseline of -2.9+/-1.7 pg/min to 66.0+/-21.5(p<0.05), 20.8+/-5.1 (p<0.01), 13.2+/-6.2(p<0.05) pg/min 5, 15, 30 min into reperfusion, respectively in the fentanyl group, but it remained unchanged from baseline of 0.8+/-3.1 pg/min in the halothane group. These findings suggest that ET-1 production or release is diminished by halothane during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. Thus, halothane provides an advantage over fentanyl in patients with myocarial ischemic episodes.
Analgesics ; Anesthesia* ; Anesthetics ; Animals ; Calcium Channels ; Calcium Ionophores ; Coronary Vessels ; Dogs* ; Endothelin-1* ; Endothelins ; Femoral Artery ; Fentanyl* ; Halothane* ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Plasma ; Reperfusion ; Thorax ; Veins

No abstract available.
Poland Syndrome* ; Poland*

Angiodysplasia is an important vascular lesion of the gastointestinal tract , located at the site of ectasia of intestinal submucosal veins and overlying mucosal capillaries. It is a major cause of morbidity from gastrointestinal bleeding in old age, but rather rare in children. Its cause is still unknown, though is mostly considered to be acquired as a result of a degenerative process associated with aging. We experienced a case of colonic angiodysplasia in 14-year old boy, diagnosed by colonoscopy. The patient had a history of repeated hematochezia for a year. This report summarized our case and reviewed the literature.
Aging ; Angiodysplasia ; Capillaries ; Child ; Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Dilatation, Pathologic ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Veins

Background: The purpose of this study is to search for reports on the clinical effectiveness of FLS being implemented worldwide through the systematic review, analyze the roles of coordinators in each study, and provide basic data for the development of future coordinator education programs. Methods: A systematic search of the literature using the Medline, PubMed, and EMBASE databases and the Cochrane Library was conducted for using the following keywords: ‘osteoporosis’ AND ‘fractures’ AND ’secondary prevention’. Finally, 65 studies are included in this study. Results: At the coordinator-based fracture liaison service (FLS) center, the coordinator (often a nurse) acts as a central player in the establishing of patient connections, orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, and attending physicians. Coordinators help bridge the nursing gap by supporting identification, investigation, initiation of treatment, and patient follow-up. Medics has opened the way to effectively manage patients at high risk of developing another fracture. In addition, nurses are in a unique and important role as nurses responsible for enhancing their daily lives by building relationships with patients and families. Conclusions The coordinator in the FLS program plays an important role in the multidisciplinary management of vulnerable fractures, as well as in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and in maintaining continuity of treatment. In the future, the broader role of coordinators should be systematically organized and developed into accredited educational programs.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was conducted to assess the disease burden of pneumonia according to age and presence of underlying diseases in patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: We performed a retrospective, observational study and collected data targeting patients with CAP (> or = 50 years) from 11 hospitals. Disease burden was defined as total per-capita medical fee, severity (CURB-65), hospital length of stay (LOS), and mortality. RESULTS: Of the 693 enrolled subjects, elderly subjects (age, > or = 65 years) had a higher mean CURB-65 score (1.56 vs. 0.25; p < 0.01) and higher mortality than nonelderly subjects (4.4% [n = 21] vs. 0.5% [n = 1]; p = 0.00). In addition, the total cost of pneumonia treatment was higher in elderly patients compared to in nonelderly patients (KRW 2,088,190 vs. US $1,701,386; p < 0.01). Those with an underlying disease had a higher CURB-65 score (1.26 vs. 0.68; p < 0.01), were much older (mean age, 71.24 years vs. 64.24 years; p < 0.01), and had a higher mortality rate than those without an underlying disease (3.5% [n = 20] vs. 1.7% [n = 2]; p = 0.56). Total per-capita medical fees were higher (KRW 2,074,520 vs. US $1,440,471; p < 0.01) and hospital LOS was longer (mean, 8.38 days vs. 6.42 days; p < 0.01) in patients with underlying diseases compared to those without. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the relatively high disease burden in Korea, particularly in the elderly and in those with an underlying disease, closer and more careful observation is needed to improve the outcomes of patients with CAP.
Age Distribution ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Community-Acquired Infections/diagnosis/economics/*epidemiology/mortality/therapy ; Comorbidity ; Costs and Cost Analysis ; Female ; Health Care Costs ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia/diagnosis/economics/*epidemiology/mortality/therapy ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Severity of Illness Index ; Time Factors