To evaluate the health risk of the workplace environment of a general hospital toward the hospital workers, a questionnaire survey on the perception of risk at the workplace environment and environmental measurements at 27 locations with 240 workers in the hospital were made from October 25th, 1993 to October 30th, 1994. The results were as follows; 1. By the environmental measurements, 86 workers(36%) were found to be exposed to poor or harmful degree of general illumination, 193 workers(80%) were exposed to poor or harmful local illumination, 34 workers(14%) were exposed to poor or harmful degree of thermal condition and l80 workers(75%) were exposed to poor or harmful noise level, but nobody was exposed to poor or harmful dust and toluene concentration. Also nobody was exposed to poor or harmful level of radiation or anticancer/antibiotic agents. 2. The subjective perceptions on the environmental conditions felt by the workers were different from the objective findings by the environmental measurements. The workers underscored the poor illumination state and overscored the dust concentrations. Also workers oversensitized about the thermal condition, the noise level, the radiation level, the toluene concentration and anticancer/antibiotic agents. 3. The sources of noise were the dialogue(179 workers) and the office instruments(131workers). The sources of dust came from the clothes(108 workers) and the building materials(79 workers). 4. The questionnaire survey showed that the 28 workers were exposed to poor or harmful level of the antibiotics, 10 workers to alkali or acid and 6 workers to drug dust in the pharmacy but the above findings could not be proved by the environmental measurements.
Alkalies ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Dust ; Hospitals, General* ; Lighting ; Noise ; Pharmacy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Toluene

Pseudoaneurysm is uncommon but a life threatening complication of chronic pancreatitis. Angiography has been the standard definitive imaging modality in the diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm. However, over the past 5 years duplux US and Dynamic CT have been proven to be valuable. The authors report a case of gastroduodenal pseudoaneurysm in chronic pancreatitis, which could be diagnosed by duplux US and Dynamic CT. Furthermore this case proved to be a pseudocyst which converted into a pseudoaneurysm by vessel rupture.
Aneurysm, False* ; Angiography ; Arteries* ; Diagnosis* ; Pancreatitis, Chronic* ; Rupture

Open discectomy is one of usual treatment for herniated intervertebral disc. We may expect the reduction of height of intervertebral disc due to decreased volume by partial resection of herniated disc. But the effect of decreased height of intervertebral disc space to posterior joint and spinal canal has not been identified, and the correlation between the amount of reduced height and the changes of range of motion has been undetermined. Thus, we analyzed radiologic changes of disc height and segmental motion by the flexion-extension view in 20 patients who had undergone discetomy for prolapsed intervertebral disc from June 1989 to January 1991 who could be followed up for 3 years or more. As a result, lumbar discetomy associates with 1) significant decrement of disc height (average 14%), 2) decreased disc motion of involved segment without hypermobility (average 34%), 3) hypermobility of adjacent segment, 4) and posterior facet overriding consistent with recurred low back pain.
Diskectomy ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; Joints ; Low Back Pain ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Spinal Canal

Neurocristopathy is characterized as having a common origin in aberrant neural crest development. Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (Ondine's curse) is characterized by marked depression of respiratory drive during sleep and normal ventilation while awake because of no response to both hypercapnea and hypoxia. The girl was full-term, weighing 3020 grams. The girl had poor respiratory effort at birth, but improved with oxygen supply and stimulation. abdominal distention and calcification were noted. During laparotomy transitional zone was found at distal jejunum; a jejunostomy was constructed. Numerous attempts at extubation failed because of apnea. The results of an apnea work-up, including brain sonography, echocardiogram, were normal. The girl died of sepsis at 37 days of age. para-aortic ganglioneuroblastoma was found on autopsy. We experienced a newborn with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, Hirschsprung's disease and congenital ganglioneuroblastoma representative of neurocristopathy.
Anoxia ; Apnea ; Autopsy ; Brain ; Depression ; Female ; Ganglioneuroblastoma* ; Hirschsprung Disease* ; Humans ; Hypoventilation* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Jejunostomy ; Jejunum ; Laparotomy ; Neural Crest ; Oxygen ; Parturition ; Sepsis ; Ventilation

This study was performed to find the prevalence and the associated risk factors with low back pain(LBP) of the staffs in a university at Kwang-ju city. The data were collected by a questionnaire including SDS(Self-rating depression Scale) battery from September 1st to October 15th, 1996. The results were as follows; 1. The prevalence rate of LBP during lifetime was 73.1%, 53.1% for the last one year, and 23.6% for the last one week. 2. Statistically significant factors related to LBP during lifetime were sex and satisfaction with job. Sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, occupation, work posture, forward bending of trunk and satisfaction with job were selected as significant factors related to LBP during the last one year. The significant determinants related with LBP during the last one week were sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, occupation, forward bending of trunk and satisfaction with job. 3. Through the analysis of self-rating depression scores according to LBP during lifetime were selected to be female(OR=2.63, 95% CI: 1.08~6.40), dissatisfaction with job(OR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.16~4.15), those for the last one year were chosen to be female(OR=2.30, 95% CI: 1.03~5.12), forward bending of trunk(OR=2.18, 95% CI: 1.26~3.79), dissatisfaction with job(OR=1.84, 95% CI: 1.06~3.21), and those for the last one week were female(OR=3.00, 95% CI: 1.17~7.69), forward bending of trunk(OR=2.85, 95% CI: 1.38~5.88). In conclusion, for effective prevention of the LBP at work site, appropriate improvement of work posture and various psychological factors should be considered.
Alcohol Drinking ; Depression ; Gwangju ; Low Back Pain* ; Occupations ; Posture ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Workplace

No abstract available.
Nucleolus Organizer Region* ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen*

No abstract available.
Nucleolus Organizer Region* ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice* ; Phototherapy*

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*

BACKGROUND: Serratia marcescens proliferates well in a humid environment or soil and is recently considered as an important pathogen for the severe nosocomial infections. this organism is spreads easily by hand-to-hand transmission, and contaminates medical equipment used for invasive procedures, working environment, medications, and soap. METHODS: We investigated the source of an outbreak of bloodstream infections by S. marcescens isolated that occurred during the period from July to December, 2004, at a university hospital in Gyeonggi Province and attempted to intervene in the outbreak and control it. RESULTS: From July to December, 2004, S. marcescens grew from 296 blood culture from 283 patients. The medical charts of the patients were reviewed, and surveillance cultures were taken to identify the outbreak of nosocomial infections and risk factors. Only four cases of infection were identified and all remaining positive blood cultures were due to contamination. Nine isolates randomly selected from the 296 S. marcescens showed an identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern. To identify the source of infection, environmental culture and hand cultures of the related medical workers were carried out, but S. marcescens was not isolated. CONCLUSION: As the result of aggressive infection control activities, such as re-education on environmental management methods, hand washing techniques, and blood culture sampling techniques, no more S. marcescens had been grown in blood culture since January, 2005.
Cross Infection ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hand ; Hand Disinfection ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Risk Factors ; Serratia marcescens ; Serratia* ; Soaps ; Soil