Duodenal diaphragm is a rare congenital anomaly among the congenital duodenal obstructions. Its symptom and sign usually appear since birth if obstruction is complete. The clinical manifestations of incompletely obstructive duodenal diaphragm are intermittent vomiting, abdominal pain and poor weight gain. Diagnosis may be delayed in this case. Authors experienced a case of incomplete duodenal diaphragm with a central hole. A 29 months old girl presented failure to thrive, intermittent episodes of bloating, abdominal discomfort and occasional vomiting. The patient vomited every 10-14 days, then the abdominal pain and distention were relieved. She overate for about 10 days until the next projectile vomiting. The vomitus frequently contained food ingested several days previously. Plain x-ray films of abdomen showed marked gastric distention. Upper gastrointestinal series revealed marked distention of the duodenum with windsock configuration and radiolucent line at the third portion of the duodenum. On gastroscopic examination, gastric bezoar impacting the pyloric canal and antrum was noted. At operation, we found mucosal membrane in the third portion of the duodenum and bezoar(Chinese cabbage) above the membrane. Side-to-side duodeno-jejunostomy was performed and bezoar was removed. She was discharged on the 13th postoperative day without any complication.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Bezoars ; Bulimia* ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis ; Diaphragm* ; Duodenal Obstruction ; Duodenum ; Failure to Thrive ; Female ; Humans ; Membranes ; Parturition ; Vomiting ; Weight Gain ; X-Ray Film

OBJECTIVES: The long-term outpatient group psychotherapy with the chronically ill is an effective, expedient therapeutic modality that makes patients maintain medication and improve their symptoms, helps patients resolve emotional conflict, and corrects their maladaptive interpersonal relationship. Therefore, we performed weekly the semi-opened, heterogeneous, long-term(open-ended), outpatient group psychotherapy to be applicable effectively for the chronically ill. The objectives of this study are as follows; first, we introduce therapeutic principles and management methods of the group psychotherapy to be applicable in the clinical environment with the chronically ill; second, we examine the therapeutic factors in each group development stage which are helped by participants, and analyze the characteristics showed in the process of study; third, we verify the appropriateness and the validity of this group psychotherapy and then establish the base of the effective long-term outpatient therapy for the chronically ill that will be settled down as a applicable treatment modality economically and efficiently in the present medical environment of Korea. METHODS: This study was performed in the subject of the chronically ill who attended at the day care program of Community Mental Health Center in Hanam city from January 1998 to June 1999. The participants were 27 patients, but we dropped 7 patients who attended under 6 months because of long-term group. So the last subjects were 20 patients (12 males and 8 females) who attended for 18 months. The 13 therapeutic factors scale was filled out by participants just after each session and the self-report total assessment questionnaire was performed at the time of study-termination and patient-termiation. RESULTS: The ranks of 13 therapeutic factors scale are as follows: in the forming stage, the upper ranks of therapeutic factors were existential factor, guidance of therapists, instillation of hope, altruism, and catharsis in order. And in the storming stage, the upper ranks of therapeutic factors were existential factor, instillation of hope, guidance of therapists, catharsis, and group cohesiveness in order. Lastly in the norming stage, the upper ranks of therapeutic factors were existential factor, altruism, corrective recapitulation, interpersonal learning, and catharsis in order. According to the total assessment questionnaire about group psychotherapy reported by the participants 90% of them were helped, 80% of them had an idea to recommend this program to other patients actively, and 75% of them had an opinion to attend again this program if given for them. And they evaluated positively about the structure of this program and the therapist. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term outpatient group psychotherapy would be applicable effectively to the chronically ill as a economic, efficient therapeutic modality for rehabilitation. It is much more effective for therapist to perceive in detail the therapeutic factors in each group develop-ment stage when he perfoms the group psychotherapy.
Altruism ; Catharsis ; Chronic Disease ; Day Care, Medical ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea ; Learning ; Male ; Mental Health ; Mentally Ill Persons* ; Outpatients* ; Psychotherapy, Group* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation

Pilomattiaoma, aften called calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe, is a benign tumor originating from the outer root sheath cell of the hair follicle and extending into the hair matrix, Pilomatricoma usually occurs as a single, asymptomatic dermal or subcutaneous nodule. Multiple lesions are quite unueuel, comprising only 2-3.5% of cases. We report two patients with multiple pilomatricoma.
Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Pilomatrixoma*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Coxiella burnetii* ; Coxiella* ; Korea* ; Prevalence* ; Q Fever*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Borrelia burgdorferi* ; Borrelia* ; Immunoblotting* ; Lyme Disease*

No abstract available.
Asthma* ; Child* ; Eosinophils* ; Humans

Bullous pemphigoid(BP) and herpes gestationis(HG) are subepidermal bullous diseases which show clinical and immunological similarities. Both diseases show immune deposits along the basement membrane zone and their autoantibodies bind a common antigenic site within the non-collagenous stretch of the 180 kDa BPAG2 ectodomain. Besides its association with pregnancy, HG has some characteristic features that distinguish it from BP. The serum of patients with HG often contains an IgG that avidly fixes complement, and showes IgG1 subclass predominance. We report here two cases of non-pregnant young women presenting clinical and histological features of bullous pemphigoid or herpes gestationis. The immunopathology, IgG subtyping and immunoblotting studies showed that the autoantibodies in the patients were the characteristic ones of herpes gestationis. The patients might be a subtype of BP that have characteristics of autoantibodies of HG patients.
Autoantibodies* ; Basement Membrane ; Complement System Proteins ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Immunoglobulin G ; Pemphigoid Gestationis* ; Pemphigoid, Bullous* ; Pregnancy

PURPOSE: To describe a transconjunctival sutureless technique for pars plana vitrectomy using conventional 20-gauge instruments. METHODS: We performed transconjunctival sutureless pars plana vitrectomy (TSV) using conventional 20-gauge instruments in 36 eyes of 35 patients. We made 20-gauge transconjunctival beveled sclerotomies using microvitreoretinal (MVR) blades and used traditional 20-gauge instruments for the operations. RESULTS: Eighty-three (81.4%) of 102 sclerotomies self-sealed without the need for sutures. The sutureless rate was even higher in the last one-third of the patients: 32 (94.1%) of 34 sclerotomy sites were sutureless. No serious complications were observed in our series, including postoperative hypotony, wound leakage, or endophthalmitis. CONCLUSIONS: The 20-gauge TSV technique is safe and can be utilized for almost all vitreoretinal diseases, without incurring additional cost for new instruments.
Eye ; Humans ; Sutures ; Vitrectomy

BACKGROUND: Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) has brought an oppotunity for rapid detection of Mycobacterium leprae in clinical pecimens for the diagnosis of leprosy. Th DNA segment specific to M. leprae was detectable in a matteir of hours and DNA from one orgnisa appeared positive by PCR. However, the PCR tool has not been evaluated using elinical specimeriis from leprosy patients and controls. OBJECTIVE & METHODS: The primers amplifying 372bp segment of rebetitive sequence of M. leprae DNA were used in PCR. Skin biopsy specimens from 102 leprosy patient, and controls were examined for the presence of M. leprae by PCR and the results were aomared with microscopic and histopathologic findings. RESULTS: 1. As a result, of PCR after DNA preparation of M. leprae, six other mycobacteria, ten other bacteria, and skin from leprosy with five other skin biopsy tissues, 372bp DNA fragment was specifically amplified from M. leprae. 2. Dot blot, hybridization of PCR products showed that the 372bp DNA from skin biopsy specimens were derived from M. leprae. 3. As a result of PCR after DNA preparation of 10-fold diluted M. legrae from mouse footpad, PCR gave a positive result as low as one organism. 4. Of 87 specimens in which acid-fast bacilli were found under microcopic examinations 97% had positive PCR results. 5. Of 97 specimens which hadihistopathologic evidences of leprosy 95% had positive PCR results. 6. Of 15 specimens in which acid-fast bacilli were not found under n!icroscopic examinations 73% had positive PCR results. In three of five cases which had neither histopathologic nor microscopic evidences of leprosy had positive PCR results. CONCLUSION: PCR method amplifying 372bp fragment of repetitive seqi,ence was highly sensitive and specific in detecting M. leprae DNA in skin biopsy specimens, thus may be a useful tool as an additive diagnostic method, espcially for cases where microscopic antihystopathologic findings are not definite.
Animals ; Bacteria ; Biopsy* ; Diagnosis ; DNA ; Humans ; Leprosy* ; Mice ; Mycobacterium leprae* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Skin*

Intramuscular lipomas are benign soft-tissue mesenchymal tumors which rarely occur in the region of the head. These tumors present as slow-growing, generally painless masses and are easily misdiagnosed initially as epidermal inclusion cysts. We describe a 44-year-old woman who presented with an intramuscular lipoma of the frontalis muscle.
Adult ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Lipoma*