No abstract available.
Adenoma*

Myasthenia gravis is usually defined as a state of abnormal fatigability. The cause of myasthenia gravis is not known. Several disorders tend to occur more frequently in patients with myasthenia gravis, such as hyperthyroidism or other thyroidal disorder. Anesthetic experiences with thymectomies for two patients with myasthenia gravis has been reported. Both of them tolerated the surgical procedures under endoteracheal Nitrous oxide-Oxygen-Halothane anesthesia well. Diagnosis and clinical features including choice of preanesthetic medication, anesthetic agents, techniques and of neuromuscular blocking agents for myasthenic patients have been discussed. Paramount importance of rigid attention to ventilation, the maintenance of a patent airway and the removal of secretions whenever necessary for the patient safety throughout operative and postoperative period has been stressed.
Anesthesia ; Anesthetics ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; Neuromuscular Blocking Agents ; Patient Safety ; Postoperative Period ; Preanesthetic Medication ; Thymectomy ; Thyroid Gland ; Ventilation

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in Korea. According to the report from Korean national statistical office, the mortality rate of stroke was 73.2/100,000 persons in 2000. In Western countries, stroke mortality rates declined gradually from 1970, which accelerated markedly around 1990. Since then, there has been no further decrease in stroke mortality rates until now and the situation has been similar in Korea. In the past, hemorrhagic stroke in Korea similar to other Far East Asian countries. However, the ratio of hemorrhagic to ischemic stroke has been reversed since mid-1980s. This trend might be due to the westernization of diet and life style as well as better control of hypertension. The case fatality rate from one of the large hospital-based stroke registry was 7.2% within 30 days after the onset of acute ischemic stroke, which is similar to those of other series from western countries with an advanced medical care systems. It may be attributed to the inclusion of more asymptomatic or milder patients with small lesions detected by neuroimaging. Importantly, the delay of hospital visit after the onset of stroke and the lower compliance for secondary prevention remain serious problems in managing acute stroke in Korea. Despite recent advances in the diagnosis and management of stroke, there has not been a nationwide population-based epidemiologic data on stroke in Korea. Therefore the application of Internet technology to develop multi center cooperative hospital-based registry could be an important step toward a long-waited nationwide stroke registry.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cause of Death ; Compliance ; Diagnosis ; Diet ; Epidemiology* ; Far East ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Internet ; Korea* ; Life Style ; Mortality ; Neuroimaging ; Secondary Prevention ; Stroke*

Vascular dementia is defined as a clinical syndrome of acquired intellectual impairment resulting from a brain injury due to a cerebrovascular disorder. It incorporates various vascular pathophysiological mechanisms and changes in the brain, and has diverse cause and clinical manifestations. The main suptypes of vascular dementia include 1) multi-infarct dementia, 2) strategic infarct dementia, and 3) subcortical vascular dementia. Both multi-infarct dementia and strategic infarct dementia show heterogeneity in etiologies, changes of the brain, as well as clinical manifestations. On the contrary, subcortical vascular dementia is suggested to be a more homogenous group. To better understand the clinical features of vascular dementia, cases corresponding to each subtype of vascular dementia are briefly discussed this review.
Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Dementia ; Dementia, Multi-Infarct ; Dementia, Vascular* ; Population Characteristics

No abstract available.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Humans

The objective of this study was to clarify the different inhibitory effects against necrosis according to the injection time of hydrocortisone on adriamycin extravasated wounds. The extravasation of chemotherapeutic agents yields severe inflammatory responses, crust formation, skin necrosis, and ulceration. Thus, many studies on the prevention and alleviation of this tissue injury have been made. However, a comparative study on the inhibitory effect of antidots according to the injection time after extravasation of chemotherapeutic agents has not yet been made. We compared the effect of hydrocortisone succinate on adriamycin-induced tissue necrosis according to its injection time. Sixty mature male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups and each group contained 10 rats. Administration of adriamycin(1.0mg/ml) 0.5ml by subcutaneous injection on the dorsal side of the rats was followed by injection of hydrocortisone succinate(20mg/ml) 0.5ml on the same site according to a time protocol. Group 1(the co-ntrol group): adriamycin injection only; gorup 2(the normal saline group): injection of normal saline 30 minutes after adriamycin injection; group 3: injection of hydrocortisone 30 minutes after adriamycin injection; group 4: injection of hydrocortisone 6 hours after adriamycin injection; group 5: injection of hydrocortisone one day after adriamycin injection; group 6: injection of hydrocortisone 3 days after adriamycin injection. Mean areas of ulcer, measured in mm2, which developed 4 week after adriamycin injection were as follows; group 1 (the control group): 67.3; group 2(the normal saline group):44.8; group 3: 12.9; group 4: 18.9; group 5: 46.7; group 6:72.0. Significant differences among the groups were noted. The groups which received hydrocortisone injection showed smaller ulcers compared to the control group or the normal saline group. As well, earlier injection time correlated with smaller ulcer formation. These findings showed the inhibitory effect of hydrocortisone succinate on tissue damage caused by adriamycin, as well as the increased effectiveness of the inhibitory effect when earlier injections were made. An analysis of this study can be applied in clinical situations for extravasation of adriamycin by administering proper agents such as hydrocortisone succinate. The administration of these agents will also help to minimize tissue necrosis.
Animals ; Doxorubicin ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone* ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Male ; Necrosis* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin ; Succinic Acid ; Ulcer ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.
Abdominal Wall*

No abstract available.
Skin Diseases*

Recent development in thepolymerase chain reaction (PCR) has brought an extraordinary opportunity for the rapid detection of M. tuberculosis in clinical specimens for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Pneumoconiosis is a sort of pulmonary fibrosis consequent to inhalation of the respirable dust. The association between pulmonary tuberculosis and pneumoconiosis is well recognized. There is a 10-fold increase in the tuberculosis risk among the workers who have pneumoconiosis demonstrated by chest roentgenogram. The physicians managing the patients with pneumoconiosis have to maintain a high index of suspicion for the development of mycobacterial infection, since the diagnosis of tuberculosis is often difficult. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a very slow growing organism and acid-fast bacillus (AFB) staining frequently shows false negative results, and therefore PCR would be a very rapid, easy and sensitive diagnostic method for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pneumoconiotic patients. To compare the PCR method with the conventional methods in diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum, we used the sputa of 115 pneumoconiosis patients in Munkyeong Cheil Hospital. Of 32 pulmonary tuberculosis in the pneumoconiosis patients, 29 were PCR positive and were higher than 28, 20 positive by culture and AFB stain. Overall sensitivity, specificity, and which were 90.6, 91.5 % respectively for the PCR assay, 87.5, 100 % for the culture method ; 62.5, 98.7 % for the AFB stain. The PCR assay is a rapid, efficient, sensitive method which can detect M. tuberculosis directly in pneumoconiosis patients, and further study should be followed for the development of the easier method.
Bacillus ; Diagnosis* ; Dust ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Pneumoconiosis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*