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

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

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: We investigated the change of antibody titer to measles, mumps and rubella according to age after vaccination. METHODS: The IgG antibody titers to measles, mumps and rubella were tested on the residual serum from patients aged 7-20 years old after routine laboratory testing in the hospital with informed consent from the parents. RESULTS: Antibody to measles was present in 275 cases out of 408 cases with a positive rate of 67.4%, the mean IgG titer was 2.77+/-1.18 Index. Antibody to mumps was present in 112 cases out of 408 cases with a positive rate of 27.5%, the mean IgG titer was 2.08+/-1.29 Index. Antibody to rubella was present in 367 cases out of 408 cases with a positive rate of 90.0%, the mean IgG titer was 60.46+/-63.47 IU/mL. CONCLUSION: It is important to maintain a high rate of vaccination coverage in order to prevent an outbreak of measles, mumps, or rubella. It is also important to stress the maintenance of vaccination records for further reference.
Aged ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Informed Consent ; Measles ; Mumps ; Rubella ; Vaccination

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*

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: This study aimed to empirically investigate the determinants on oxygen free radical degree which causes biological damage focusing on smoking habit and health behaviors in daily life. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the subjects were adult males who submitted free radical tests among the examinees of the comprehensive medical testings at an university hospital in Suwon from 2008 to 2010. Total 497 samples were used in analyses for clarifying the relations of free radical degree to age, smoking, obesity, and other health behaviors. RESULTS: First, the degree of oxygen free radical increases by 0.164 as the age group increases (P<0.05). Second, the degree of oxygen free radical increases by 0.547 as the smoking habit increases (P<0.001). Third, the degree of oxygen free radical increases by 0.087 as the exposure to hazardous factors in workplace increases (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study imply that the smoking habit has more great influence on the increase of oxygen free radical in body than any other health behaviors. The causality of free radical to smoking and health behavior was not identified due to the limit of the cross-sectional study so it needs to be studied prospectively in the future.
Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Free Radicals ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity ; Oxygen ; Smoke ; Smoking