No abstract available.
Adult* ; Epiglottitis* ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: Recommended dosage of quetiapine for patients with schizophrenia is from 150 mg to 750 mg, which is based on randomized controlled study. But there are trends of increasing quetiapine dosage in clinical practice. Therefore, we evaluated the clinical aspect of schizophrenic patients who took quetiapine by naturalistic non-intervention study. METHODS: Schizophrenia outpatients in 88 mental hospitals were selected and 170 psychiatrists evaluated Clinical Global Impressions Scale for Severity (CGI-S) before starting quetiapine medication and CGI-S, Clinical Global Impressions Scale for Improvement (CGI-I), quetiapine dosage and medication compliance at 6 weeks after starting quetiapine medication. Overall efficacy and difference of efficacy between drug-naive patients and medication-switch patients were evaluated. We clustered the patients into 4 groups by using cluster analysis with three variables such as quetiapine dose at week 6, baseline CGI-S, and end-point CGI-S. We compared clinical aspect of each cluster with analysis of variance. RESULTS: 841 patients were enrolled. Efficacy of quetiapine was replicated, and improvement rate defined as CGI-I < or =2 was 55.9%. Drug-naive patients show more improvement in CGI-I than medication-switch patients, and efficacy for patients with insufficient treatment was also reported. Dosage for each clustered group was 25-350 mg, 400-500 mg, 600-700 mg and 750-1,500 mg. 750-1,500 mg group shows more decrease in CGI-S than 400-500 mg group and 600-700 mg group. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that there is a cluster of patients who take more benefits in reducing symptoms and show more compliance in high-dose quetiapine.
Cluster Analysis ; Compliance ; Dibenzothiazepines ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Medication Adherence ; Outpatients ; Psychiatry ; Schizophrenia ; Quetiapine Fumarate

No abstract available.
Kidney Transplantation* ; Pregnancy*

Neonatal hepatitis(NH) and congenital extrahepatic biliary atresia(BA) are two major causes of neonatal cholestasis. The method of therapeutic trials for each disease is essentially different. Nonetheless it is very difficult to differentiate these diseases histologically, since most of the hepatic changes are mutual in both of them. This study is to aimed to find out major differences between the two by scoring various histological parameters. A total of 63 consecutive liver biopsies taken from 54 patients with suggested NH and BA were examined by applying morphometric scoring system. The detailed clinical histories, laboratory data including serology for HBsAg and TORCH infection and radiologic operative findings were reviewed. Among 54 patients, 27 were diagnosed as NH and 20 as BA. In two cases, features of both diseases were coexistent. The pathological diagnosis was not compatible with the final diagnosis in 5 cases(10.7%). In all of these 5 cases, biopsy had been performed at the age of one to two months. The seropositivity for TORCH was 59.3%(16.27) in NH, but 25.0%(5/20) in BA. Serum AST, ALT and alpha-fetoprotein values were higher in NH, and total bilirubin in BA. Of various histological parameters, scores of portal fibrosis, bile duct and ductular proliferation and bile thrombi were much higher in BA, and at the age of less than 2 months, extramedullary hemopoiesis(EMH) was found much more frequently in NH. Giant cell transformation of hepatocytes(GCT) was more commonly observed in NH. The numbers of GCT and EMH were particulary plentiful when the patients' sera were positive for HBsAg or TORCH. These results indicate that portal fibrosis, biliary proliferation and bile thrombi are the three major histologic features of BA, and therefore erroneous histological diagnosis may ensue when scores of those features are low as in some early BA.
Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Biopsy

No abstract available.

In order to evaluate the the effectiveness of low-dose longterm Vibramycin (Doxycycline) treatment on Acne Vulgaris, a double-blind study was performed on fifty two patients with Acne Vulgaris. The patients were classified as to the severi.ty of their disease before treatment according to Wand. et al. The degree of the effcctiveness of the treatment was evaluated every other week for 12 weeks on the grounds of clinical improvement. The therapeutic results obtaincd were as follovs: araong the 19 patients who received 50 mg per day for 12 weeks, 13 cases (72.2%) showed excellent improverrent after 6 weeks; whereas in thc placebo group only 4 out of 15 patients (26. 7%) showed good response, Statistical analysis of the data revealed that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in effectiveness between the Vibrarzycin 50mg per day group and the placebo group. Among the 19 patient who received a 100mg capsile orally per day for 4 weeks (subsequently this group received 50mg per day for 8 weeks) 13 cases.(68.4%) showed excellent improvement in 4 weeks; whereas in the placebo group only 4 cases(26, 7%) showed good respnnse Statistical analysis of this data revealed that there was a significant difference (p<0. 05) in efectivencess the Vibramycin 100mg per day group and the placebo group, It was noted that 44 out of 52 patients (83%) had a distinct family history of the disease, suggesting that there might be a predisposing hereditary factor involvcd in the manifestation of Acne Vulgaris It is concluded f rom this study that Vibramycin, when administrated in a dose of 50mg per day for more than 6 weeks is effective in the treatment of Acne Vulgaris.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Double-Blind Method* ; Doxycycline* ; Dronabinol ; Humans

BACKGROUND: There have been few reports suggesting involvement of mast cell and neutrophil to induce bronchoconstriction in aspirin-sensitive asthrna. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mast cell and neutrophil activation in pathogenesis of aspirin-sensitive asthma. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We observed changes of serum NCA and MPO levels during L-ASA bronchoprovocation test in 14 subjects with aspirin-sensitive asthma. RESULTS: Serum NCA was significantly increased at 30 min(p=0.01) after the inhalation of L-ASA and then, no significant changes were noted at 240 min (p=0.14). NCA was significantly higher in subjects with late asthmatic responses than in those without it (p=0.04). Serum MPO level tended to increase at 30 min with no statistical significance (p=0.08), and then it significantly decreased at 240 min (p=0.05). There was no significant correlation between serum NCA and MPO level (r=0.22, p=0.58). CONCLUSION: These results support the view that NCA derived from mast cell may contribute to neutrophil recruitment into the airway in aspirin-sensitive asthmatic patients.
Asthma ; Bronchoconstriction ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Mast Cells ; Neutrophil Activation ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; Neutrophils*

Teratocarcinoma is a form of mixed germ cell tumor composed of a mixture of teratoma and embryonal carcinoma. It is rarely found in the brain, but when present it is most commonly found in the pineal region. We investigated a case of primary teratocarcinoma in the pineal region. The patient was a 10 year old boy who had suffered from a bitemporal headache for one month. Brain CT and MRI revealed a rather well defined ovoid heterogenous mass in the pineal gland region, measuring 4.3 x 3.8 x 3.0 cm in size. Microscopically the tumor contained areas of immature teratoma and embryonal carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining revealed positive reactions for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen, and alpha-fetoprotein in the embryonal carcinoma component.

In order to evaluate the genotoxic hazard among workers potentially exposed to low level petrochemical substances, the analyses of micronuclei (MN) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in lymphocytes were performed in 46 male workers (as exposed group) and 46 nonexposed subjects (as control group). Mean frequencies of MN and SCEs (respectively, 12.9/1000 cells and 6.5/cell) in exposed group were very significantly higher than those (10.2/1000 cells and 5.4/cell) in control group. And there were also significant differences in mean frequencies of MN and SCEs adjusted for age, employment duration, smoking, and drinking between two groups. Median frequencies of MN and SCEs in exposed group were very significantly higher than those in control group. Frequencies of SCEs were higher in smokers than in non-smoker. Frequencies of MN in smokers, however, were similiar to those of non-smoker. Interaction between exposure and smoking on MN and SCEs induction was not observed. The results suggest that there is genotoxic hazard in high risk group like workers handling carcinogens in petrochemical plants and the analyses of MN and SCEs are useful biomarkers for the exposure to hazard substances even at the level below the exposure limit.
Biological Markers ; Carcinogens ; Drinking ; Employment ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Sister Chromatid Exchange ; Smoke ; Smoking

No abstract available.
Facial Nerve* ; Paralysis*