BACKGROUND: Care for prehospital cardiac arrest is one of the major concerns of emergency medical services. But, in Korea, prehospital emergency medical service systems are not yet well established. We tried to offer one of the fundamental data for development of these systems. METHODS: After application of exclusion criteria, 183 patients who transferred to emergency center of our hospital after cardiac arrest in consecutive 24 months from Jan,1,1994 to Dec,31,1995 were included in this study. Retrospective review of the hospital charts of these patients was done. For statistical analysis, we divided patients to some categories. t-test or chi-square analysis was used. RESULTS: 24 patients of the 183 patients were secondary visitors(cardiac arrest was occurred during transfer from other hospitals), 159 patients were primary visitors. In the primary visitor group, only one third was ambulance visitors, and there is no statistical differences between arrest time of ambulance visitors and non-ambulance visitors(35+/-27 vs 37+/-24 min, p=NS). No organized bystander CPR was done. After arrival, 131 patients received CPR and 87 patients(66.4%) were not responded, 31 patients(23.1%) experienced transient ROSC, 13 patients(10.0%) survived until discharge, and only 2 patients(1.5%) were returned to their lives. CONCLUSION: We failed to find significant statistical survival differences between ambulance visitors and non-ambulance visitors, between presumed cardiac etiology group and non-cardiac etiology group. Survival rate was high in witnessed arrest group than unwitnessed arrest group(14.5% vs 2.1%, p=0.015).
Ambulances ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Increases in cardiovascular disease (CVD) in modern society are attributable to aging and lifestyle changes such as westernized diet and decreased physical activity. On the other hand, mounting evidence suggests that environmental pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are also related to the increases in CVD. POPs are a family of lipophilic stable chemicals that accumulate in adipose tissue and create a persistent toxic effect. The association between POPs and CVD is reported through epidemiologic, animal and in vitro studies. The association between BPA and CVD has also been established from many epidemiologic studies; however, a causal relationship remains uncertain. Exposure to POPs or BPA is also associated with the development of well-known CV risk factors such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and obesity. Therefore, it is uncertain whether POPs and BPA are involved directly to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis or indirectly associated with CVD. Additional longitudinal and experimental studies searching for the direct causal relationship and exact linking mechanisms should be conducted to investigate the effect of exposure to environmental pollutants such as POPs and BPA.
Adipose Tissue ; Aging ; Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diet ; Environmental Pollutants ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Life Style ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Risk Factors

We present two cases of oral lichen planus associated with chronic liver diseases. One patient was a 56-year-old man that had advanced liver cirrhosis with hepatitis B viral infection, and the other, a daughter of patient 1, was identified as chronic active hepatitis with hepatitis B viral infection. Clinical and histopathological features of oral lesions were consistent with lichen planus in both cases.
Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Lichen Planus ; Lichen Planus, Oral* ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver* ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Family

Effectiveness of flubendazole, a newly introduced as an anthelmintic in Korea, was evaluated in 28 ascariasis, 28 whipworm infections and 17 pinworm infections in primary school children. All patients were orally given by flubendazole of 500 mg once. Stools for roundworm and whipworm and anal swabs for pinworm infections were examined both before and 25 days after treatment. After flubendazole treatment, all ascariasis and pinworm infected cases were cured. On the other hand, in whipworm infections, the cure rate was 82.1 percent (23 cured of 28 infected), and the egg reduction rate was 67.1 percent, respectively. Headache (one case), dizziness (2 cases) and abdominal pain (3 cases) were noticed as untoward effects, but they were mild and disappeared within 24 hours. These results demonstrate the excellent effectiveness of flubendazole in treating these helminth infections.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; Trichocephalus trichiurus ; Enterobius vermicularis ; chemotherapy ; flubendazole

No abstract available.

The indirect fluorescent antibody(IFA) test was used to detect serum IgG and IgM antibodies to Trichomonas vaginalis in 31 vaginal trichomoniasis, 7 candidiasis and in 20 non-infected healthy wonem with antigen prepared from axenic culture of Trichomonas vaginalis isolated from vulvovaginitis patient. The results were as follows: In 31 vaginal trichomoniasis the positive reactions of IgG antibody were 27 in the 1/8 dilution or higher and 4 in the 1/4 dilution whereas in healthy women the reaction showed signigicantly low as in the 1/4 dilution of below. The sensitivity and specificity of IFA test for IgG antibody to trichomonad antigen in this study were 87.1% and 100%, respectively. No significant difference of IgM antibody levels between vaginal trichomoniasis and healthy women was observed. No relation between the levels of IgG and IgM antibodies to trichomonad antigen by IFA test was observed. No relation between the time lapse and the level of serum IgG antibodies in IFA test of vaginal trichomoniasis was regarded. In conclusion the present study suggests that IFA test in trichomoniasis could be a useful tool for detection of anti-trichomonad IgG antibodies and applicable as an immundiagnostic method.
parasitology-protozoa ; Trichomonas vaginalis ; trichomoniasis ; diagnosis ; IgM ; IgG ; immunology

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an immune-mediated disease which is a leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease in developed country. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blocker, infliximab has been considered a promising option for patients with refractory KD. Although chronic use of a TNF-alpha blocker could increase risk of opportunistic infections, a few studies have documented that use of infliximab was safe without serious adverse effects in patients with KD. We observed serious bacterial infection after infliximab treatment in an infant with refractory KD. Our patient was a 5-month-old male infant diagnosed with KD who did not respond to repeated doses of intravenous immunoglobulin. We effectively treated him with a single infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg), but gram-negative (Acinetobacter lwoffii) septicemia developed after infliximab infusion. Therefore, we report a case of serious septicemia after treatment with infliximab, and suggest considering the risk of severe infection when deciding whether to prescribe infliximab to an infant with refractory KD.
Bacterial Infections ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Developed Countries ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Infant* ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Sepsis* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Infliximab

BACKGROUND: Direct wet mount examination of vaginal secretion, widely applied for the diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in woman patients, is rapid and economical. However, the sensitivity of this technique is not so high. In this study enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed for the detection of serum anti-T. vaginalis IgG antibodies from vaginal trichomoniasis patients. METHODS: Eighty sera from trichomonoasis patients who visited a Dr. Yoon Kyong's Obstetric & Gynecologic Clinic in Songnam and 30 non-infected healthy men were tested for detection of anti-T. vaginalis IgG antibody. Soluble lysate and excretory-secretory antigen prepared by mixing of six isolates of T. vaginalis, and lysate from one isolate(KT4) were used as antigen for ELISA. RESULTS: The sensitivity of ELISA using lysate of six isolates was 95.0%, and the sensitivity of the lysate from KT4 and mixed excretory-secretory antigen from 6 isolates were 86.4% and 76.3%, respectively. Specificities of ELISA by three 93.3%, 96.3% and 92.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that ELISA using mixed lysate of T. vaginalis six isolates could be useful tools for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis.
Antibodies ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G* ; Male ; Trichomonas vaginalis ; Trichomonas*

No abstract available.
Gastrectomy* ; Stomach Neoplasms*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of self-care, symptom experience and disease state among the patients with liver cirrhosis and to identify its correlation. METHODS: The subjects were 220 patients with liver cirrhosis who were treated in D-university hospital in Busan. The instruments used for study were the self-care inventory, the symptom experience inventory and modified childpugh classification scale. RESULTS: The average points of the patient's self-care performance, symptom experience, and disease status were 3.67, 29.10 and 6.12 respectively. Their self care was negatively correlated to symptom experience, and symptom experience was positively correlated to disease state. CONCLUSION: This research findings suggested that active self-care by patients with liver cirrhosis might contribute to reduce various symptoms they can undergo and to prevent aggravation of disease state. Therefore, patients with liver cirrhosis have to carry out self care actively in daily life and discreet nursing intervention should be offered to facilitate their self-care.
Busan ; Classification ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver* ; Nursing ; Self Care*