Predicting factors of post-stroke depression were investigated. The subjects were 254 stroke patients who had been discharged and visited regularly the outpatient clinic for follow up care. The influencing factors were classified into five categories: demographic, disease-related, current state, social support, and illness intrusiveness. Sex, age, job, and educational level were defined as the demographic factor. The disease-related factors included stroke type, illness duration, attack frequency, and NIH score. ADL, cognitive function, and social activity were considered as the current state factors. The social support was measured as the perceived amount of social support. Illness intrusiveness means the perceived illness induced life style disruptions. Demographic, disease-related, current state, and social support were hypothesized to directly and indirectly affect post-stroke depression through illness intrusiveness. The illness intrusiveness was hypothesized to directly affect post-stroke depression. The hierarchial multiple regression was used to identify significant factors. The result showed that this model explained 43.3% of variance of post-stroke depression. And the prevalence of post-stroke depression was 38.8%. Among the demographic factors, job was identified as a main contributor to indirectly increase the post-stroke depression. Among the disease-related factors, stroke type, attack frequency, and NIH score were found to indirectly affect the post-stroke depression. Among the current state factors, ADL and social activity indirectly affected the post-stroke depression through illness intrusiveness. Social support and illness intrusiveness were identified to directly affect the post-stroke depression. This study has proved the factors likely to be implicated in the development of post-stroke depression. Based upon these results, it is recommended that the nurses who take care of post-stroke patients consider the risk factors such as social support, illness intrusiveness et al. Also programs which decrease the illness intrusiveness and increase the social support to reduce post-stoke depression recommended to be developed.
Activities of Daily Living ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Demography ; Depression* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Life Style ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Stroke

In this paper, we examined the depression of stroke patient's caregivers and analyzed influencing factors of the depression. The subjects were 215 caregivers who have takencare of stroke survivors in their home. The conceptual model of this study consisted of the caregiver's depression, perceived burden, illness intrusiveness, and patient's ADL. Modified Korean CES-D, modified subjective and objective Burden Scale, Illness intrusiveness(II), and Instrumental Activity of Daily Living(IADL) were used to measure concepts. Path analysis was used to test the model of this study. The results were as follows: 1. The mean depression score was 11.6 which was below the cut-off score of the CES-D. This score indicates that the subjects were higher than normal adults' mean score but not depressive. Eighty-six out of 215 caregivers(40%) were above the cut-off score. This finding was different from previous research results, and the reason might be the patients' capability of ADL. In a group of low capability patient's activities of daily living, caregiver's depression score was 15.5. 2. Caregiver's depression was positively related to caregiver's burden and illness intrusiveness, but negatively related to patient's activities of daily living. 3. The caregiver's perceived burden and illness intrusiveness directly influenced on their depression. Furthermore, the and caregiver's illness intrusiveness led to depression indirectly through their burden. A patient's activities of daily living didn't influence directly on depression but indirectly through caregiver's illness intrusiveness and burden.
Activities of Daily Living ; Caregivers* ; Depression* ; Humans ; Stroke* ; Survivors

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has substituted open cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis during the last decades. In the past, biliary surgeons have performed the intraoperative bile culture during open cholecystectomy and have used the culture results as a guideline of postoperative antibiotic therapy. The prophylactic antibiotic treatment for cholecystectomy have been needed in the elderly population and the high risk patients, but the effect of antibiotics in laparoscopic cholecystectomy has not been confirmed. The authors performed bile culture during laparoscopic cholecystectomies to evaluate the relationship between the bile culture results and the postoperative infectious complications. METHODS: We analyzed the 57 patients who had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 53 for cholelithiasis, 4 for gallbladder polyp and an intraoperative bile culture for 6 months period. RESULTS: Positive culture results were found in 12 cholelithiasis patients (22.6%). The most common pathogen was E.coli (8.8%), enterococcus (7.0%); others were Pseudomonas, Strenotrophomonas maltophilia, Klebsiela, ect. The results of the bile culture in 4 patients with gallbladder polyps were negative. Nine patients had severe inflammation of gallbladder and four of them had positive culture results. Risk factors, such as old age and hyperbilirubinemia were significant variables. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative bile culture is an easy and simple procedure in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and offers much informations to the surgeon about biliary bacteriology and postoperative management. The rate of wound infection is very low in laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the necessity of prophylactic antibiotics in laparoscopic cholecystectomy is less than it is in open surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics during laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be reserved for only high-risk patients.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteriology ; Bile* ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Cholelithiasis ; Enterococcus ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Hyperbilirubinemia ; Inflammation ; Polyps ; Pseudomonas ; Risk Factors ; Wound Infection

Behcet's disease (BD) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder dominated clinically by recurrent oral and genital ulceration, uveitis and erythema nodosum. BD is very rare in children, especially those less than 10 years of age, who account for only an estimated 5% of all cases. Gastrointestinal ulcers, in patients with Behcet's disease with intestinal involvement are rare and have been reported in only 1-2% of all cases. The intestinal ulcers of Behcet's disease are usually multiple and scattered and tend to cause perforations associated with significant morbidity. Patients with BD and abdominal symptoms must be evaluated thoroughly for potential perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Here we report the case of a 4 year 9 month old child with multiple perforations of the gastrointestinal tract associated with BD.
Child ; Erythema Nodosum ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Intestinal Perforation ; Ulcer ; Uveitis

PURPOSE: We retrospectively reviewed the presurgical data and postoperative outcome in children underwent extratemporal respective surgeries. METHODS: The twenty six patients(males 15, females 11, mean age 11.5 years, mean age of operation 9.3 years, mean age after operation 2.3 years) who received extratemporal lobe surgery in our institution between October 2003 to May 2008 were reviewed. Preoperative evaluation(video-EEG monitoring and neuroimagings) to determine the anatomical location of the ictal onset zone were used to delineate possible localized malformed cerebral cortex. We also performed intraoperative electrocorticography(EcoG), intracranial EEG monitoring. RESULTS: Postoperative outcome as defined by Engel classification were as follows; class I in 19(73%), II in 1(3.8%), III in 1(3.8%), and IV in 5(19.2%) patients. Most common pathologies were cortical dysplasia and microdysgenesis. Twenty patients received frontal, 2 patients received parietal, and 4 patients received occipital lobectomy. After surgery, marked improvement in developmental outcome was noted. Postsurgical complications were noted in 9 cases, without lasting sequelae. CONCLUSION: We achieved a seizure-free rate of 73% in pharmacoresistant epileptic pediatric patients after extratemporal lobectomy. From this experience, we recommend early surgical intervention in pediatric patients with medically refractory seizure who possess focal epileptogenic foci of extratemporal lobe origin, as we can expect higher success rate and fewer postsurgical complications compared to those reported in adults. The Multimodal investigation and wide resections of the cortex based on the EcoG findings might be necessary to better localize the site of extratemporal epilepsy and to reduce postoperative complications.
Adult ; Cerebral Cortex ; Child ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; Female ; Humans ; Malformations of Cortical Development ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures

PURPOSE: In this study, we reviewed surgical outcomes in children with extratemporal lobe epilepsy in our institution and suggested prognostic factors from these results. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 59 patients(males n=35, females n=24; mean age of 10 years, mean age of seizure onset of 3 years, mean age of epilepsy surgery of 8 years) who received extratemporal lobe surgery between October 2003 to May 2008. Every patients were performed preoperative evaluation to determine the anatomical location of the ictal onset zone employing video electroencephalography(EEG) monitoring, intraoperative electrocorticography, intracranial EEG monitoring and neuroimagings such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography, interictal/ictal single photon emission computed tomography. Developmental test was taken at pre- and post-operation. RESULTS: Postoperative outcome as defined by Engel's classification were as follows; class I in 42(71.2%), II in 6(10.2%), III in 4(6.8%), and IV in 7(11.9%) patients. We considered six favorable prognostic factors from our data; age at operation, matching accuracy of video-EEG monitoring results, presence of a structural lesion on MRI, using specialized neuromodalities, involvement of lobe at surgery, and nature of the epileptogenic lesion. We also focused on unfavorable prognostic factors; no structural lesion on MRI, low grade of surgical pathology, postoperative epileptiform discharges on EEG. CONCLUSION: Early surgical intervention in pediatric patients with medically refractory seizure who possess focal epileptogenic foci of extratemporal lobe origin has been an effective and safe treatment.
Child ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Monitoring, Intraoperative ; Pathology, Surgical ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are important causes of death in patients receiving maintenance dialysis. Stroke occurred in high rate with the tendency to worsen prognosis. Also many patients with chronic renal failure(CRF) showed a high risk for stroke. From March 1985 to March 1999, at Wonju Christian Hospital, we investigated retrospectively risk factors, clinical appearance and prognosis for stroke in 20 patients with CRF who undergoing maintenance dialysis. The stroke occurred in nine male and eleven female with a mean age of 49.95+/-9.19 years. Seventeen patients underwent hemodialysis and three patients underwent peritoneal dialysis. Mean duration of dialysis was 50.05+/-34.68 months. Causes of CRF were as follows : 55% glomerulonephritis, 20% diabetes mellitus, 5% polycystic kidney and 20% unknown origin. At the time of stroke, serum protein level was 6.68+/-0.86mg/dL, albumin 3.38+/-0.87g/dL, cholesterol 160.25+/-43.34mg/dL, HDL-cholesterol 41.41+/-11.86mg/dL. All patients were on antihypertensive medication. Mean systolic blood pressure was 197+/-45mmHg, diastolic blood pressure 114+/-23mmHg. Systolic blood pressure of fourteen cases were more than 180mmHg. During hemodialysis, heparin dosage was an average 2425+/-371.48 IU. The types of stroke were intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, 75%), subdural hematoma(10%), cerebral infarction(15%). One case developed both cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage. The sites of hematoma were basal ganglion-thalamus(60%), and subcortex(33.3%). Of these, nine cases had subsequent intraventricular hemorrhage(IVH). One case involved IVH only. The mean volume of hematoma was 66.42+/-29.92mL. Three cases of cerebral infarction developed in midcerebral arterial territory. Prognoses were as follows : Sixteen patients with cerebral hemorrhage died during hospitalization and one case has been monitored via outpatient department. One patient with cerebral infartion died during hospitalization and two have been discharged after symptom was improved. In conclusion, CRF patients undergoing maintenance dialysis showed higher incidence of ICH, unlike the recent studies which showed a higher rate of cerebral infarction to ICH in the general population. There was a higher incidence of stroke in patients whose blood pressure were poorly controlled. The most common site of ICH was basal ganglia and thalamus which was the same as in the general population. In many cases, it accompanied IVH and showed a higher mortality rate. Therefore, it is thought that aggressive blood pressure control is indicated to reduce mortality caused by stroke during maintenance dialysis.
Basal Ganglia ; Blood Pressure ; Cause of Death ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cerebral Infarction ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Dialysis* ; Female ; Gangwon-do ; Glomerulonephritis ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Heparin ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infarction ; Male ; Mortality ; Outpatients ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Polycystic Kidney Diseases ; Prognosis ; Renal Dialysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stroke* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thalamus

Although eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) may precede hematologic malignancy or Hodgkin's disease, association with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is extremely rare. Only four cases of EF preceding or concomitant PTCL have been reported in the world literature. We experienced the first Korean case of EF complicated by the later relapse of peripheral T-cell lymphoma. A 63-year-old Korean male has been followed at our outpatient clinic periodically after treatment for stage IV PTCL. He had been in complete remission for seven and a half years when he developed edema of both lower extremities followed by sclerodermatous skin change in both hands with peripheral eosinophilia. Biopsy from the left hand showed fibrous thickening of the fascia with lymphoplasmacytic and eosinophilic infiltrate, consistent with EF. Twenty-five months later, a newly developed lymph node from the left neck showed recurrence of PTCL. EF may occur as a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with the relapse of PTCL. Therefore, in a patient with EF, the possibility of coexisting and/or future occurrence of hematologic neoplasm should be considered.
Case Report ; Eosinophilia/pathology ; Eosinophilia/complications* ; Fasciitis/pathology ; Fasciitis/complications* ; Human ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral/pathology ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral/complications* ; Male ; Middle Age ; Recurrence

Inguinal hernia is the most common disease treated by the pediatric surgeon. There are several controversial aspects of management 1)the optimal timing of surgical repair, especially for preterm babies, 2)contralateral groin exploration during repair of a clinically unilateral hernia, 3)use of laparoscope in contralateral groin exploration, 4)timing of surgical repair of cord hydrocele, 5)perioperative pain control, 6)perioperative management of anemia. In this survey, we attempted to determine the approach of members of KAPS to these aspects of hernia treatment. A questionnaire by e-mail or FAX was sent to all members. The content of the questionnaire were adapted from the "American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Surgery hernia survey revisited (J Pediatr Surg 40, 1009-1014, 2005)". For full-term male baby, most surgeons (85.7 %) perform an elective operation as soon as diagnosis was made. For reducible hernia found in ex-preterm infants already discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), 76.2 % of surgeons performed an elective repair under general anesthesia (85.8 %). 42.9 % of the surgeons performed the repair just before discharge. For same-day surgery for the ex-premature baby, the opinion was evenly divided. For an inguinal hernia with a contralateral undescended testis in a preterm baby, 61.9 % of surgeons choose to 'wait and see' until 12 month of age. The most important consideration in deciding the timing of surgery of inguinal hernia in preterm baby was the existence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (82.4 %), episode of apnea/bradycardia on home monitoring (70.6 %). Most surgeons do not explore the contralateral groin during unilateral hernia repair. Laparoscope has not been tried. Most surgeons do not give perioperative analgesics or blood transfusion.
Analgesics ; Anemia ; Anesthesia, General ; Blood Transfusion ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; Child* ; Cryptorchidism ; Diagnosis ; Electronic Mail ; Groin ; Hernia ; Hernia, Inguinal* ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea* ; Laparoscopes ; Male ; Pediatrics ; Surveys and Questionnaires