Malformations of the hand in newborn infants are comparatively uncommon, and the forms which these malformations assume are extremely varied, some being so bizzare as to almost defy description. The etiology of congenital anomalies of the hand has not been conclusively established, but at the present time the most acceptable theories are those of maldevelopment due to teratogens or of mutations which are subsequently inhereted. This paper is based upon our own series of 99 anomalies in 93 patients who were hospitalized and treated at Severance Hospital during the period between 1965 and 1979 and the following results were obtained. 1. There were 56 males and 37 females in 93 patients and the ratio between male and female was 1.5: 1. 2. Right hands were involved in 49 patients, left hands were in 33 patients, and both hands were in 11 patients. 3. The most common type of anomalies were polydactylism (60.6%), next were syndactylism (24.3%), and the following anomalies were found; congenital finger deficiency, congenital constriction band, camptodactyly, cleft hand, congenital clasped thumb, and symphalangism. 4. 33 associated congenital anomalies were found in 27 patients, in which, anomalies of the foot were most common. 5. Prenatal history such as drug ingestion, eclampsia or difficult labor, and prematurity were found, but no genetic or familial history could be obtainable. 6. Treatment was stressed upon the function of hand rather than cosmetic appearance.
Clinical Study ; Constriction ; Eating ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Fingers ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Polydactyly ; Pregnancy ; Teratogens ; Thumb

With the development of spinal fusion and internal fixation, rehabilitation mediclne, urinary control and antibiotics, the outlook for patients with cervical spine injuries has brightened considerably, as compared with half a century ago. However, splnal cord injury still remains as one of the most devastating accidents that man can Incur and still survive. There is increasing tendency to stabllize unstable cervical spine injuries surglcally for the benefit of early mobilization,.early rehabilitation, easy nursing care, and rigid stability of the spine. A clinical study was performed on 72 patients with 76 fractures and fracture-dislocatlons of the cervical spine, who were hospitalized and treated at Severance Hospital during the period between January 1970 and December 1978 and the following results were obtained. 1. The prevalent age distribution was between 30 and 50 years of age (59.7%), and the ratio between males and females was 5:1. The most common cause of injury was falling from a height (51.4%). 2. In overall patients, neurologic damage was found at first examination in 69.4%, and among these, complete paralysis below the injured level In 41.7%, incomplete paralysis in 25%, and nerve root injury in 2.7%. 3. The mechanisms of injury included flexion-rotation (50%), extension-distraction (18%), flexion-compression (12.5%), pure flexion (5.5%), axial compression (5.5%), and unclassified (8.3%). 4. Among 72 patients, emergency decompressive laminectomy was performed on 10 patients, anterior interbody fusion on 15 patients, posterior fusion with wiring on 3 patients and the rest of patients were treated conservatively. 5. There was no significant difference in the recovery of neurologic loss between conservatively and surgically treated patients, but it was thought better to stabilize the unstable fracture-dislocations surgically for early mobilization and rehabllitatlon.
Accidental Falls ; Age Distribution ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Clinical Study ; Early Ambulation ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Male ; Nursing Care ; Paralysis ; Rehabilitation ; Spinal Fusion ; Spine

Epinephrine ; Pulmonary Edema

In 1992, Brugada described clinical features of patients with aborted sudden cardiac death who showed no demonstrable heart disease and a peculiar ECG pattern consisting of right bundle branch block and ST-segment elevation in right precordial leads. Recently, We experienced two cases with aborted sudden cardiac death and similar ECG pattern. Physical examination, routine laboratory tests including serum electrolytes, echocardiography, myocardial thallium SPECT, MRI and MIBG scans were within normal limit. Arrhythmias were not induced in treadmill exercise test, and signal averaged ECGs revealed positive late potentials. Coronary angiography showed normal coronary artery with no evidence of induced vasospasm. Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation were induced by ventricular stimulation. Intravenous administration of flecainide, procainamide augmented ST segment elevation in one patient, and isoproterenol reduced ST segment elevation in the other patient. For prevention of sudden death, ICDs were implanted in the two patients. Ventricular fibrillations occurred in one patient 12 and 13 months after the implantation and were successfully terminated by ICD.
3-Iodobenzylguanidine ; Administration, Intravenous ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bundle-Branch Block* ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Death, Sudden ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac* ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Electrolytes ; Exercise Test ; Flecainide ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Isoproterenol ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Physical Examination ; Procainamide ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Thallium ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Ventricular Fibrillation

The inferior alveolar nerve block is the most common method of local anesthesia for intraoral surgery at the posterior mandibular region. However, unexpected complications may occur when administering the local anesthesia. One of these uncommon complications is the fracture of the needle. If the injection needle is broken during the surgery, it should be removed immediately. However, this is one of the most difficult procedures. In this report, we present two cases of needle fracture during the procedure, and its successful removal under general/local anesthesia administration.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Local ; Mandibular Nerve* ; Methods ; Needles* ; Nerve Block

BACKGROUND: Atrial mechanical dysfunction and its recovery time course after successful radiofrequency ablation of chronic atrial flutter (AFL) has been largely unknown. We serially evaluated left atrial function by echocardiography after successful ablation of chronic atrial flutter. METHODS: In 13 patients with chronic AFL, mitral E wave A wave, and the ratio of A/E velocity were measured at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months and 6-12 months after successful radiofrequency (RF) ablation. Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) technique was also used to avoid load-dependent variation in the flow velocity pattern. RESULTS: Left atrial mechanical function, assessed by A wave velocity and the annular motion, was depressed at 1 day, but improved significantly at 1 month and maintained through 6-12 months after the ablation. Left atrial size did not change significantly. CONCLUSION: Left atrial mechanical function was depressed immediately after successful RF ablation of chronic AFL, but it improved significantly after 1 month and was maintained over one year.
Adult ; Aged ; Atrial Flutter/*surgery/*ultrasonography ; Atrial Function ; Catheter Ablation/*methods ; Echocardiography, Doppler ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a mammography boot camp (MBC) to improve radiologists' performance in interpreting mammograms in the National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January and July of 2013, 141 radiologists were invited to a 3-day educational program composed of lectures and group practice readings using 250 digital mammography cases. The radiologists' performance in interpreting mammograms were evaluated using a pre- and post-camp test set of 25 cases validated prior to the camp by experienced breast radiologists. Factors affecting the radiologists' performance, including age, type of attending institution, and type of test set cases, were analyzed. RESULTS: The average scores of the pre- and post-camp tests were 56.0 +/- 12.2 and 78.3 +/- 9.2, respectively (p < 0.001). The post-camp test scores were higher than the pre-camp test scores for all age groups and all types of attending institutions (p < 0.001). The rate of incorrect answers in the post-camp test decreased compared to the pre-camp test for all suspicious cases, but not for negative cases (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The MBC improves radiologists' performance in interpreting mammograms irrespective of age and type of attending institution. Improved interpretation is observed for suspicious cases, but not for negative cases.
Adult ; Aged ; Breast Neoplasms/*radiography ; Education, Medical, Continuing/*standards ; Education, Professional, Retraining ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; *Mammography ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite the sporadic case reports on the cardiac involvement of Behcet's disease, any systemic investigation has not been reported on. We sought to investigate the frequency and clinical characteristics of the patients with the cardiac manifestations of Behcet's disease. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 217 patients (mean age: 39+/-11 years) with Behcet's disease who were diagnosed in Asan Medical Center from January 1990 to September 2000. The patients were subgrouped into the mucocutaneous, cardiac, vascular, central nervous system, gastrointestinal and ocular group according to the involved organ. RESULTS: Among 217 patients, nineteen (8.8%) were found to have cardiac involvement: aortic regurgitation was found in ten patients (53%), right ventricular thrombi in six (32%), acute myocardial infarction in two (11%), and myocarditis in one (5%). The incidence of initial oro-genital ulcers at the first clinical presentation was significantly lower in the cardiac Behcet's group than in the other subgroups (52% vs 90%, p=0.001). The event-free survival rate during a mean follow-up duration of 67+/-46 months was also significantly lower in the cardiac Behcet's group (63% vs 14%, p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: Aortic regurgitation and right ventricular thrombus are two common types of cardiac Behcet's disease. Although its incidence is low, cardiac Bechcet's disease has a characteristic pattern for the clinical presentation, and it has a worse prognosis compared with the other subgroups of Behcet's disease that have other solid organ involvement.
Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Central Nervous System ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocarditis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombosis ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND: The intracoronary stent implantation is regarded as an effective treatment modality to reduce restenosis. However, subacute stent thrombosis and subsequent anticoagulation therapy have been major problems after stenting. The high-pressure inflation stenting reduced the incidence of stent thrombosis and resulted in less need of anticoagulation therapy. We intended to analyze the high-pressure inflation stenting with intravascular ultrasound(IVUS) and to evaluate different IVUS criteria of optimal stenting. METHOD: One hundred and forty eight patients with 160 lesions were treated with 175 stents of various types. IVUS images were obtained after angiographic optimization (<10% of residual stenosis) with high-pressure inflation stenting. The quantitative and qualitative off-line measurements of IVUS parameters were performed. RESULTS: More high-pressure or larger-sized balloon inflation was needed in 32 lesions (20%) after IVUS. The incomplete stent apposition was observed in 5 lesions (3%). The edge dissection occurred distally or proximally to stented site in 19 lesions (12%). The plaque prolapse was observed within the stent in 24 lesions (15%). In single stent implantation for discrete lesions, optimal stent expansion defined by IVUS was achieved in 69% with minimal stent lumen area of 90% of distal reference lumen area and in 75% with minimal stent lumen area of 80% of average reference lumen area. The IVUS criteria of minimal stent lumen area 9mm2 and 7-9mm2 was met in 29% and 29%, respectively. In stents implantation for diffuse lesions including long stent,multiple overlapping stents and hybrid stents implantation, optimal stent expansion defined by IVUS was achieved in 69% with minimal stent lumen area of 90% of distal reference lumen area and in 67% with minimal stent lumen area of 80% of average reference lumen area. The IVUS criteria of minimal stent lumen area 9mm2 and 7-9mm2 was met in 17% and 23%, respectively. CONCLUSION: IVUS provided a valuable informations leading to additional intervention in 20% of the lesions after angiographic optimization with high-pressure balloon inflation. Even though additional interventions were performed with IVUS-guidance, the optimal stent expansion by IVUS criteria was achieved in about 70%. Therefore, we suggest that IVUS might be used more generally to improve the acute results after coronary stenting.
Humans ; Incidence ; Inflation, Economic* ; Prolapse ; Stents* ; Thrombosis ; Ultrasonography*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Atrial fibrillation is one of the most prevalent arrhythmia with clinical significance. Recently, some subset of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was reported to be originated from a focal, rapidly firing source inside the large thoracic veins, such as pulmonary veins, superior vena cava and coronary sinus. The pulmonary veins are known to be the most frequent source of this type of atrial fibrillation. The proximal segment of pulmonary vein was reported to be made up with cardiac muscle cells. This study was performed 1)to define the characteristics of action potential of cardiac myocytes inside the rabbit pulmonary vein in single cell preparation, 2)to observe the changes in action potential and current activation to acetylcholine and isoproterenol, and 3)to compare these changes with those in atrial myocytes. METHOD AND RESULTS: In most of rabbit specimens, myocardial tissue extended over the pulmonary vein for a few millimeters(1-2.5mm). Single atrial myocyte and myocyte in pulmonary vein were successfully isolated. With using whole cell patch clamp technique, spontaneous activities of action potentials(APs) with diastolic depolarization were observed in 75% of pulmonary vein myocytes, in contrast to the absence of spontaneous activity in atrial myocytes. During spontaneous APs of pulmonary vein myocytes, the maximal diastolic potential was -50.5+/-6.5 mV and peak potential was 32.5+/-9.5 mV, and the frequency of APs was 1-2.5 Hz. During perfusion of isolated pulmonary vein myocytes with acetylcholine, resting membrane potential was hyperpolarized and spontaneous APs activity was markedly reduced or completely disappeared. These effects were observed in very low concentration of acetylcholine, even with 1-2 nM. The analysis of change of currents by applying step pulse revealed this response was mediated by activation of IK(ACh) and the current change was more prominent in pulmonary vein myocytes than atrial myocytes. The responses of these cells to isoproterenol were variable from increased spontaneous APs to inhibition of APs. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that pulmonary vein myocytes was another automatic pacemaking focus, same as sinoatrial nodal and Purkinje cells. These characteristics explain why focal atrial fibrillation was frequently initiated inside pulmonary veins.
Acetylcholine ; Action Potentials* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Coronary Sinus ; Fires ; Isoproterenol ; Membrane Potentials ; Muscle Cells ; Myocytes, Cardiac* ; Perfusion ; Pulmonary Veins* ; Purkinje Cells ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Superior