No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; Exanthema* ; Lymphadenitis* ; Scrub Typhus*

The humanitarian motivation of medical support from the three Scandinavian countries during the Korean War cannot be doubted, but the countries also had to be politically sensitive during this period. The fact that these countries only dispatched medical support, and that the team was not only for military purpose but also intended to help the civilians is a different point from the U.S. military medical support, which distinguished military medical support that is the U.S. Eighth Army, from the civilian treatment and relief, which is the UNCACK. In addition, medical support activities from the Scandinavian countries were bound to be flexible depending on the rapidly changing trend of war, active regions, and their support methods. At a time when the battle was fierce and the number of wounded soldiers increased, they had no choice but to concentrate on treating wounded soldiers, whether in Busan or Incheon. However, even while treating these wounded soldiers, they tried to treat and rescue civilians around the base area whenever they had chance. It is easily imaginable that in the urgent situation of war, the nature of medical support cannot be clearly divided into military or civilian if there is only one team that is operating. It is clear, however, that the common humanitarian purpose of rescuing and treating civilians affected the establishment of the National Medical Center in Seoul after the war. The Scandinavians had indeed remained even after the end of the war in to provide full support of establishing modern medical system in Korea. This suggests that modern Korean medical or public health system did not start to be developed in the 1960s like some researchers argue, but started a few years earlier during the time of the war with the support from the countries world-wide.

No abstract available.
Arteriovenous Fistula ; Renal Dialysis

We report here on a 63-year-old woman who presented with recurrent bruise-like infiltrative plaques on the left leg without systemic symptoms or laboratory abnormalities. The histopathologic findings showed an infiltration of panniculus by small to medium-sized atypical lymphocytes. But the prominent lymphoid atypia, fat necrosis, vascular thrombosis, erythrophagocytosis and striking dominance of CD8+ lymphocytes seen in subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) were not detected. The diagnosis of atypical lymphocytic lobular panniculitis (ALLP) was made based on these histopathologic and clinical features. The lesions responded well to systemic steroid treatment. But the CD4/CD8 ratio in the later lesion was more decreased than that of the initial lesion, and the patient is under clinical follow up.
Fat Necrosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leg ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Middle Aged ; Panniculitis ; Strikes, Employee ; Thrombosis

BACKGROUND: Accuracy of laboratory test results is an important issue. New guidelines for specimen delivery systems are needed for appropriate pretreatment of specimens and accuracy of results. METHODS: We evaluated various laboratory profiles, comparing the effects of specimen rack holders and coolants within transport containers. The hematology profiles (complete blood cell count [CBC], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]), chemistry profiles (aspartate aminotransaminase [AST], alanine aminotransaminase [ALT], gamma-glutamyl transferase [gamma-GT], electrolytes [Na, K, Cl], glucose, lactate dehydrogenase [LD], creatinine kinase [CK]), and coagulation profiles (prothrombin time [PT], activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT], fibrinogen level). We also investigated the effects of transportation time including the presence or absence of hemolyzation. We received from 9 different university hospital laboratories using conventional transporation methods. RESULTS: Hemolytic features were seen in short drawn specimens. Fewer result variations were observed in specimens transported with coolants. Average specimen transportation time was 11.3 hours, and average temperatures of container was 10.9degrees C with coolant and 25.0degrees C without coolants. Non-centrifuged specimens transported with coolants showed increased serum K levels than centrifuged specimens. Coagulation tests showed less than a 10% differences. Centrifuged specimen prior to transportation showed no hemolyzation and no differences in results. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate temperatures for each analyte should be defined to ensure the accuracy of results. To reduce hemolyzation, appropriate temperature and rack holder should be used. Temperature of the transport container should be monitored in objectively. Coagulation tests should be added as referral tests, if appropriate specimen transport monitoring system for time and temperature could be adopted.
Alanine ; Blood Cell Count ; Blood Sedimentation ; Creatinine ; Dietary Sucrose ; Electrolytes ; Fibrinogen ; Glucose ; Hematology ; Hemolysis ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Laboratories, Hospital ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Phosphotransferases ; Referral and Consultation ; Transferases ; Transportation

STUDY DESIGN: Two case reports. OBJECTIVES: We present two cases of quadriplegia after posterior decompression with fusion caused by a suspicious reperfusion injury of spinal cord without remarkable surgical insult. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Posterior decompression and posterolateral fusion have been reported as effective procedures in patients with multilevel myelopathy. However, postoperative spinal cord injury without remarkable intraoperative technical damage has been reported in a few articles. Reperfusion mechanism was suggested as one of the leading causes and reported in some animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There was one case of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and one developmental multilevel stenosis that underwent laminectomy with lateral mass instrumentation. After surgery, the patients presented with quadriplegia; MRI demonstrated swelling of the spinal cord and intramedullary lesion in two cases. RESULTS: After surgery, the patients presented with quadriplegia; MRI demonstrated swelling of the spinal cord and intramedullary lesion in two cases. CONCLUSION: Although patients with such a medical condition are rare, it is difficult to predict postoperative swelling of the spinal cord before surgery. The surgeon should thus be aware of such rare disease conditions involving the spinal cord before the surgical procedure.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Decompression* ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Longitudinal Ligaments ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Models, Animal ; Quadriplegia ; Rare Diseases ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spinal Cord*

No abstract available.

Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a number of clinical features including slowly growing sparse scalp hair, a pear-shaped nose, and cone-shaped epiphyses of the phalanges. The syndrome has three subgroups: type I, II, and III. TRPS III is the rarest and most recently recognized form and inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. We describe a 19-year-old male with TRPS III, who presented with characteristic clinical and radiological features. To our knowledge, this is the first report of TRPS III in Korea.
Epiphyses ; Hair ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nose ; Scalp ; Young Adult

Otitis externa and otitis media spreading to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is rare, and infection to the TMJ may result as well from direct spreading from the adjacent structures or from hematogenous spreading. But, apparent pathomechanism is not identified clearly and more specific studies are required. We experienced 2 cases of otits media and otitis externa which involved dehiscence of the bony canal wall that communicates with TMJ and the glenoid cavity. We report this cases with literature.
Ear Canal* ; Ear, Middle* ; Glenoid Cavity ; Otitis Externa ; Otitis Media ; Temporomandibular Joint*

Background: Lumbar paraspinal muscles play an important role in maintaining global spinal alignment and are associated with lower back pain; however, only a few studies on the effect of the paraspinal muscles on the surgical outcome exist. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the association of preoperative muscularity and fatty infiltration (FI) of paraspinal muscles with the outcome of lumbar interbody fusion. Methods: Postoperative clinical and radiographic outcomes were analyzed in 206 patients who underwent surgery for a degenerative lumbar disease. The preoperative diagnosis was spinal stenosis or low-grade spondylolisthesis, and the surgery performed was posterior lumbar interbody fusion or minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.Indications for surgery were a complaint of severe radiating pain that did not improve with conservative treatment and neurological symptoms accompanied by lower extremity motor weakness. Patients with fractures, infections, tumors, or a history of lumbar surgery were excluded from this study. Clinical outcome measures included functional status, measured using the Oswestry disability index (ODI) and visual analog scale (VAS) score for lower back and leg pain. Other radiographic parameters included measures of spinal alignment, including lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, pelvic incidence, C7 sagittal vertical axis, and pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis mismatch. Lumbar muscularity (LM) and FI were measured preoperatively using a lumbar magnetic resonance image (MRI). Results: The high LM group showed more significant improvement in VAS score for lower back pain than the low LM group. In contrast, the VAS score for leg pain demonstrated no statistical significance. The high LM group showed more significant improvement in ODI postoperatively than the medium group. The severe FI group showed more significant improvement in ODI postoperatively, whereas the less severe FI group showed more significant improvement in the sagittal balance postoperatively. Conclusion Patients with high LM and mild FI ratio observed on preoperative MRI demonstrated more favorable clinical and radiographic outcomes after lumbar interbody fusion. Therefore, preoperative paraspinal muscle condition should be considered when planning lumbar interbody fusion.