No abstract available.
Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine* ; Internship and Residency*

Wegener's granulomatosis is a disease of unknown etiology that is characterized by the clinicopathologic complex of necrotixing granulomatous vasculitis of the upper and lower respiratory tract, glomerulonephritis, and variable degrees of small vessel vasculitis. Recently Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) has been reported to be a highly specific test for the diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis. We have experienced a patient of Wegener's granulomatosis in a 11 year old girl who was admitted with complaints f arthralgia, hematuria, convulsion and associated with otitis media and sinusitis. Serologic test of C-ANCA was positive and histologic findings of the kidney showed crescentic glomerulonephritis with sclerosis and surrounding infiltration of multinucleated giant cells. Patient was treated with pulse methylprednisolone without improvement. The clinical course progressed rapidly and expired due to the renal failure, gastrointestinal bleeding and status epilepticus. A brief review of literatures was made.
Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic* ; Arthralgia ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Giant Cells ; Glomerulonephritis ; Hematuria ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Kidney ; Methylprednisolone ; Otitis Media ; Renal Insufficiency ; Respiratory System ; Sclerosis ; Seizures ; Serologic Tests ; Sinusitis ; Status Epilepticus ; Vasculitis ; Wegener Granulomatosis*

As the productive activities have vastly increased following industrialization and urbanization in the modem society, the resulting high mobility of people and goods have caused a sharp increase in the accidents in the work places as well as traffic accidents. In particular, deaths caused by injuries are generally concentrated in the economically active young peoples, producing incalculable losses to the society and nation as a whole. Advanced nations with superior medical care systems have succeeded in reducing incidents of such deaths by operating trauma centers. Especially noteworthy is the case of the United States where such specialized trauma centers have greatly contributed to reducing deaths from injuries in the non-urban areas with less access to medical facilities. At present Korea has no medical centers specializing in injuries. In large cities, the injuries are being treated tertiary medical facilities while in the provinces they are referred to small and medium-sized hospitals that constitute secondary medical facilities. Currently in Korea the Trauma patients are treated at general hospitals that consist of 726 secondary medical facilities and 40 tertiary medical centers nationwide. The secondary medical facilities which tend to take most responsibility for the treatment of trauma are generally deficient in medical staff and facilities (including operating and intensive care facilities). Despite such deficiency and limitations, no regulations exist regarding treatment or transportation of trauma patients. This article reports the outcome of a comparative analysis of the results of trauma treatments among different types of medical facilities based on objective data in the hope that such study would facilitate a comparison with the treatment systems of advanced countries and thereby contribute to a precise formulation of problems that must be addressed in this area.
Accidents, Traffic ; Hope ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Korea ; Medical Staff ; Modems ; Social Control, Formal ; Transportation ; Trauma Centers ; United States ; Urbanization ; Workplace ; Industrial Development

Congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia is the most severe form of CAH, leading to impaired production of all steroid hormones including glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoid, and sex steroids. The affected individuals are all phenotypically female with a severe salt-losing syndrome that is fatal if steroid replacement is not begun immediately after birth. The lesion of this disorder has been suggested to be in the first step of steroidogenesis of conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone by P450scc. Recently, molecular defect of this disease has been located in the transport of cholesterol into mitochondria due to defective regulatory protein called 'steroidogenic acute regulatory protein' while the enzyme P450scc itself is normal, differing from other types of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. We experienced 2 1/2 month old phenotypical girl who was admitted due to lethargic state and persistent vomiting with severe hyperkemia and hyponatremia. Blood levels of cortisol, aldosteron, and 17-OH progesteron were low and levels of ACTH, angiotensin, and plasma renin activity were high, urinary levels of 17-KS and 17-OHCH were low. The patient was found to have karyotype of 46, XY and has been being treated with predinisolone, fluorocortisol and sodium supplement in diet and doing well. The molecular study for P450scc gene and StAR gene of patient and family is in progress.
Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Angiotensins ; Cholesterol ; Diet ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hyperplasia* ; Hyponatremia ; Karyotype ; Mitochondria ; Parturition ; Plasma ; Pregnenolone ; Renin ; Sodium ; Steroids ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND: Increased left ventricular mass in patients with essential hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic renal failure or in general population has been suggested as a useful predictor of increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Many studies have reported that left ventricular mass is correlated postively with body size. Thereafter normalization of left ventricular studies, but it is uncertain which is appropriate. This study was designed to determine the appropriate method for normalization of left ventricular mass to exclude influence of body size in normal adults. METHODS: We measured left ventricular mass 100 normal adults by M-mode echocardiogram using ASE cube method without(Devereux and Reichek's method) and with correction(Devereux and Alonso's method). Left ventricular mass were normalized for body weight, height, body surface area, body surface area1.5, height2.0 and height2.7 RESULTS: 1) Left ventricular mass by Devereux and Reichek's method correlated well with that by Devereux and Alonso's method(r=1.0,p<0.001). 2) Corrected left ventricular mass correlated well with weight(r=0.64, p<0.001), height(r=0.49, p<0.05), body surface area(r=0.53, p<0.01) and body mass index(r=0.58, p<0.001). 3) Correlation coefficients of left ventricular mass/weight with weight, of ventricular mass/height with height, of ventricular mass/height2.0 with height, of ventricular mass/height2.7 with height, of ventricular mass/body surface area with body surface area and of ventricular mass/body surface area1.5 with body surface area were 0.12, -0.05, -0.29, -0.42, 0.13 and -0.11 respectively. 4) Peak systolic wall stress correlated with age and left ventricular mass, but end systolic wall stress did not correlated with left ventricular mass. CONCLUSIONS: The current indexation method of left ventricular mass for height may reduce the variability associated with body size. Furthermore, it could be used reliably in normal Korean adults.
Adult* ; Body Height ; Body Size* ; Body Surface Area ; Body Weight ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Mortality

“Breakthrough” of psychosis despite good compliance of antipsychotics medication for a long time is a major obstacle to the treatment of schizophrenia, whether the mechanism is caused by dopamine hypersensitivity or insufficient dose of antipsychotics. Researchers advocating “Dopamine Supersensitivity Psychosis” (DSP) emphasize to avoid excessive inhibition of dopamine 2 receptors from the beginning of treatment. On the other hand, researchers advocating “Breakthrough psychosis on Antipsychotic Maintenance Medication” (BAMM) in which psychosis recurs due to insufficient medication despite continuous administration of antipsychotics without non-adherence argue that dose of antipsychotics should be increased to enhance therapeutic effect. In patients using long-acting antipsychotics injection (LAI), non-compliance can be ruled out. We believe that in treating non-affective psychosis, it is necessary to continuously maintain the lowest dose possible using the optimal dose considering the side effects of second-generation antipsychotics and the cycle and stage of psychosis, and the optimal formulation such as LAI.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Serial measurement of serum carcinoembryonic antigen was assessed to define its significance and to determine the adequacy in detecting recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Six hundred forty-five patients with colorectal cancer underwent curative resection were included. The median follow-up period was 49 months (range, 24~94 months). Serum CEA was analyzed in accordance with location, histologic differentiation, stage of the tumor, recurrence and survival. RESULTS: The incidence of elevated preoperative serum CEA (> 6 ng/ml) was correlated with tumor stage (stage I vs. II, P=0.01; stage II vs. III, P=0.0001). Fifty five patients among 87 patients with recurrence (63.2%) had concomitant elevation of serum CEA, whereas 32 of 558 patients (5.7%) without recurrence showed a false-positive result. Measurement of serum CEA was more sensitive in patients with elevated preoperative serum CEA and liver metastases than in patients without elevated preoperative serum CEA and local recurrence (P=0.0397). The leading time of serum CEA between the first elevated serum CEA and the identification of recurrence was 3.5 months (range, 1~12 month). Tumor stage and preoperative serum CEA level were found to be significant prognostic variables by multivariate analysis. The overall 5-year survival rate in the normal preoperative serum CEA and the elevated group were 76% and 64% respectively (P=0.00019). CONCLUSION: Serum CEA seemed to be closely correlated with survival and to be an useful tool to detect recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. The appropriate measurement of serum CEA might be suggested in stage II and III postoperatively: every three month for two years, every 6 month for succeeding 2 years, and annually thereafter. Monitoring of serum CEA in stage I could be individualized by preoperative serum CEA and clinical course.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: To document the findings of a small arterioportal(AP) shunt on hepatic angiography through the various diagnostic modalities, and to determine whether this shunt is related to hepatocelluar carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the hepatic angiography in 223 patients, a small AP shunt and subsequent focalparenchymal staining more than 1cm in diameter were found in 28 patients. We compared this angiographic abnormality using MR imaging(n=10), CTAP(n=12), iodized-oil CT(n=23), intraoperative ultrasonography(n=5) and follow-up hepatic angiography(n=11), as well as with conventional ultrasonography and CT scan. RESULTS: Arterioportal shunts noted on angiographic study matched with perfusion defects noted in CTAP(10/12) and also with the area of arterial enhancement seen on dynamic CT scan(3/4). In no case was a lesion found on MR and no Lipiodol uptake was seen on CT. There was no evidence of tumor growth around the AP shunts on follow-up angiographies, andno tumor was found during surgery. CONCLUSION: A small AP shunt was not related to the presence of a tumor. Ifthe hemodynamic changes resulfing from a small AP shunt are understood, confusion can be avoided in the interpretation of vascular imaging including CTAP and dynamic CT.
Angiography* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Perfusion ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: The toxicity of paraquat has been known to be caused by oxygen free radicals which leads to the lipid peroxidation and multiple organ failure. Although vitamin C has been known to be a potent antioxidant, recently there are numerous data which have shown that a low dose of vitamin C may act as a prooxidant due to the stimulation of the Fenton reaction with metal ions, which produces hydroxyl radicals. It has been reported that a deferoxamine in paraquat intoxication could reduce the production of the hydroxyl radicals by the inhibition of the Fenton reaction through the reduction of iron ion in tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the high and low dose of vitamin C and deferoxamine on lipid peroxidation and plasma TNF-alpha in paraquat intoxication. METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into seven groups: control group which was not given paraquat(20mg/kg), P group which was given paraquat only, PVH group given paraquat and high dose of vitamin C(100mg/kg), PVL group given paraquat and low dose of vitamin C(10mg/kg), PVHD given paraquat, high dose of vitamine C and deferoxamine(100mg/kg), PVLD given paraquat, low dose of vitamin C and deferoxamine, and PD given paraquat and deferoxamine. Animals were killed at 6 and 24 hours after treatment. Malondialdehyde(MDA), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and glutathione(GSH) contents, catalase activity, plasma TNF-alpha, and histologic changes in the lung and liver tissue were measured. RESULTS: The lung histology in the PVH and PD or PVHD groups showed the significant decreases in the alveolar edema and interstitial thickness compared to the P group. The liver histology in the PVH and PVHD groups demonstrated marked differences in the central venous and sinusoidal dilatation compared to that of the P group. While the MDA levels of the lung and liver in the PVH and PD groups showed the significant reduction compared to that of the P group at 6 hours after treatment, all groups showed the significant changes compared to the P group at 24 hours. There was no significant change of the SOD levels of the lung and liver at 6 hours among all groups. At 24 hours, the SOD levels of the lung in PVH, PVL, and PVHD groups showed the significant increases compared to the P group. The increase of the SOD level in groups combined with deforoxamine, however, revealed a little reduction. The SOD level of the liver in PVH group only significantly increased compared to the P group at 24 hours. There was no significant change of the GSH level of the lung and liver among all groups at 6 hours. At 24 hours, the GSH level of the lung and liver were significantly increased in both PVH and PD group and PVH group, respectively, compared to the P group. Although the catalase activity of the lung was not significantly increased, that of liver was significantly increased in both PVHD and PD groups compared to the P group at 6 hours. The catalase activities of the lung and liver were significantly increased in PVH, PD, and PVHD at 24 hours. The concentrations of the Plasma TNF-alpha were slightly decreased at 6 hours and slightly increased at 24 hours compared to that of the P group, but they were not significant. CONCLUSION: This study showed that although the low dose of vitamin C had no effect, the high dose of vitamin C revealed a decrease of the MDA level and an increase of SOD, GSH, and catalase activity in the lung and lung and liver tissues, and the effect of the high dose of vitamin C increased with time. The administration of the deferoxamine with or without high dose of vitamin C, however, significantly showed the inhibition of the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant effect and low dose vitamin C decreased the effect of deferoxamine. The effects of the vitamin C and deferoxamine on plasma TNF-alpha were not clearly shown.
Animals ; Antioxidants* ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Catalase ; Deferoxamine* ; Dilatation ; Edema ; Female ; Free Radicals ; Humans ; Ions ; Iron ; Lipid Peroxidation* ; Liver ; Lung ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Oxygen ; Paraquat* ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxides ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vitamins*

A murime monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for the envelope glycoprotein gp120 of human immunodeficiency virus type-I (HIV-1) was chemically coupled to pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) from Phytolacca americana. The immunotoxin was purified by FPLC using 5200 colum. The purified immunotoxin efficiently bound to HIV-infected T cells as evidenced by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. The immunotoxin selectively killed human T lymphoid lines infected with HIV-lIIIB at less than 250 pM of the immunotoxin cells, while PAP or mAb alone did not have any significant effect on infected cells. The uninfected control T cell lines were not affected. Human cells infected with HIV-2 or other HIV-1 strains were not killed, suggesting that the killing depends completely on the antibody used for coupling. These in vitro results suggest that the PAP-mAb conjugate may be used to selectively remove cells expressing viral antigens from individuals infected with HIV.
Antigens, Viral ; Cell Line ; Glycoproteins ; HIV ; HIV-1 ; HIV-2 ; Homicide ; Humans* ; Immunotoxins ; Phytolacca americana* ; T-Lymphocytes*