Gangweon-do is known to be highly endemic area of sparganosis more than other provinces in Korea. A seroepidmiologic examination for the detection of anti-Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid IgG in serum was carried out in normal inhabitants in Hongcheon-gun, Gangweon-do. Sere were tested by enzyme-linked immunosrobent assay (ELISA) for the anti-sparganum antibodies. Positive rate for anti-sparganum antibody in 719 adults was 3.3%. Data of the questionnaire for 24 ELISA positive inhabitants revealed that 20 had a history of eating raw meat of snakes, 24 had a history of eating frogs, and 24 had a history of drinking stream water. Two positive cases had a past history of sparganosis. Two positive cases showed current symptoms of sparganosis. The data revealed that ELISA would be useful to find infected cases among normal inhabitants at sparganosis-endemic areas.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth/*blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Human ; Immunoglobulin G/*blood ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sparganosis/*epidemiology ; Spirometra/*immunology

No abstract available.
Fetal Growth Retardation* ; Rheology* ; Umbilical Arteries*

Among the fifty-three clinical isolates of Haemophilus influenzae, nineteen isolates including eight isolates of each biotype I-VIII, six of serotype b (Hib) strains and five of nontypeable strains were characterized by SDS-PAGE about outer membrane protein (OMP), restriction enzyme analysis (REA) and rRNA gene restriction pattems. OMP patterns showed to common band patterns in each H. influenzae isolate. Based on the two major proteins, 31KDa-38KDa, isolated strains were classified into 7 subtypes. In the OMP patterns about biotype and serotype, the specific pattern of each biotype was not distinguishable, but all of the serotype b strains were shown identical unique pattern, therefore it made distinctive difference with nontypeable strains. The digested genomic DNAs with EcoRI were identical result with rRNA gene restriction. It was more subdivided into 10 ribotypes. The most common ribotype I and serotype 1 accounted for 6 strains (31.6%) and 7 strains (36.8%) of the 19 clinical isolates, respectively. Hib isolates that were both OMP subtype 1 and ribotype I accounted for 2 strains (10.5%). In the epidemiologically unrelated strains, the putative association between the subtypes could not be confirmed. According to these results, the three methods were discriminatory and appropriate techniques for epidemiological studies of H. influenzae.
DNA ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel* ; Genes, rRNA* ; Haemophilus influenzae type b ; Haemophilus influenzae* ; Haemophilus* ; Influenza, Human ; Membrane Proteins ; Restriction Mapping* ; Ribotyping

Three cases who were successfully treated for cardiac injuries by open thoracotomy were reported. The range of the ages of the patients was 3rd decade. Two of the 3 were males with blunt injuries by motor vehicle accident and one was male with stab wound by knife. In the case of blunt injuries, the right atrium was involved in one case and the right and left atrium were involved in the other. The site of stab wound was the right atrium. There were two cases with the pre-operative diagnosis of cardiac injuries and they were blunt injuries. The case of stab wound was not diagnosed pre-operatively. All cases were treated with open thoracotomy-one posterolateral thoracotomy, one median sternotomy and one Clam shell incision. All of them had an uneventfull post-operative course.
Bivalvia ; Diagnosis ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Male ; Motor Vehicles ; Sternotomy ; Thoracotomy ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating ; Wounds, Stab

The widespread use of diagnostic radiography, especially using magnetic resonance imaging, has helped to increase the diagnosis of paralabral cysts in patients with chronic shoulder pain. These paralabral cysts are frequent in the anterior, the superior, and the posterior compartment of the shoulder joint but are rare in the inferior compartment. Paralabral cysts in the shoulder appear particularly in men in their third and fourth decades but rarely in elderly patients. We report a case of an inferior paralabral cyst in an elderly patient whom we treated through arthroscopic decompression.
Aged* ; Arthroscopy ; Decompression* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Radiography ; Shoulder Joint ; Shoulder Pain ; Shoulder*

No abstract available.
Scrub Typhus*

No abstract available.
Leg* ; Myocutaneous Flap* ; Superficial Back Muscles*

Horizontal tear of the meniscus occurs most commonly in older patients. The tear begins initially with a simple horizontal cleavage which divides the meniscus into superior and inferior leaves resembling a fish mouth and which may become a flap or more complex tear with time if subjected to repeated injury. Thirty-four patients(36knees/40menisci) with horizontal tear of the meniscus, treated with arthroscopic partial meniscectomy except in 3 extensive tears at Ulsan University Hospital from Jan. 1993 to Jun. 1996, were analyzed to investigate the factors that may be associated with this type of meniscal tear, and the results were as follows; 1. The tears commonly occurred in labor workers(61.7%) and without obvious trauma history(67.6%), and the average age at the time of surgery was 44 years. 2. The most common site of the tear was posterior horn of the medial meniscus (62.5%). 3. The 40 horizontal tears consisted of 12 horizontaVcleavage(30%), 3 horizontaVflap(7.5%), and 25 horizontaUdegenerative complex tears(62.5%). 4. Degenerative changes were frequently noted in both arthroscopy(69.5%) and roentgenography (72.2%).
Animals ; Horns ; Humans ; Menisci, Tibial ; Mouth ; Radiography ; Ulsan

There are some errors in the published article. The authors would like to make corrections in the original version of the article.

OBJECTIVE: The variable operative methods are underwent as a treatment of tuberculous spondylitis. We propose hemilaminectomy and debridement as a one of operative method at a certain circumstance. METHODS: From July 1998 to June 2002, 13 consecutive patients with spinal tuberculosis were treated surgically in our institution. Among them, the authors analysed 7 patients in whom posterior approach were performed. The lumbar spine was involved in 6 patients, the thoracic in 1. The hemilaminectomy with debridement was done in all cases. The changes in the Kyphotic angle and the height of involved vertebras retrospectively measured from lateral spinal radiographs obtained preoperatively and postoperatively. Mean follow up periods were 16 months. RESULTS: Clinical symptoms and signs were improved in all cases. One patient (14%) was needed anterior fusion because of aggravation of lesion. Another one needed reoperation because of relapse of epidural abscess. The arithmethical average of kyphotic angle was worsened about 2 degrees and that of height loss was lesser than 5% postoperatively. CONCLUSION: The hemilaminectomy with debridement for spinal spondylitis can be a first therapeutic modality in a mild neurologic deficit and minor lesions with extended epidural abscess and granulation tissue to the adjacent vertebras in radiologic finding. Especially if epidural abscess and granulation tissue involve the multiple vertebras, we recommend this operative method.
Debridement ; Epidural Abscess ; Follow-Up Studies ; Granulation Tissue ; Humans ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Recurrence ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine ; Spondylitis ; Tuberculosis, Spinal*