OBJECTIVES: This prospective study was performed to determine effects of clozapine treatment on the quality of life of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients. METHOD: Subjects were 18 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Patient's PANSS, BPRS and Simpson-Angus Rating Scale was assessed at 9 time points: baseline, the 2th, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 20th weeks of treatment. We chose to use the Quality of Life Scale (QLS) developed by Heinrichs and associates to evaluate the effect on the quality of life. The QLS was scaled at every month of treatment. RESULTS: Eighteen of twenty-three patients completed the five months trial of clozapine. Three PANSS factors (positive, negative, general) and BPRS total scores showed a significant improvement at the fifth month of clozapine treatment. The adverse effects of clozapine did not show a significant improvement. After five months of clozapine treatment, there were an increase of 52.69% in the total QLS score and a significant improvement of two QLS factors (interpersonal relations, intrapsychic foundation). Particularly two PANSS factors(negative, general) had a significant correlation with the QLS score. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that clozapine treatment has a positive effect on quality of life of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients.
Clozapine* ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life* ; Schizophrenia

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Self-Efficacy Scale for Self-Management of Breast Cancer (SESSM-B). METHODS: The SESSM-B was developed and validated as follows: Item generation, pilot study, and tests of validity and reliability. Twenty-one items were developed through evaluation by 10 experts and 13 items were finally confirmed through item analysis and factor analysis. Psychometric testing was performed with a convenience sample of 303 women with breast cancer. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Five factors evolved from the factor analysis, which explained 69.8% of the total variance. The first factor 'coping with psycho-informational demand' explained 17.2%, 2nd factor 'maintenance of healthy lifestyle' 14.5%. 3rd factor 'management of side-effects' 13.3%, 4th factor 'therapeutic compliance' 12.8%, and 5th factor 'sexual life' 11.9%. SESSM-B also demonstrated a concurrent validity with health-related quality of life scale, EORTC QLQ-C30 & BR23. The internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, was .78, and reliability of the subscales ranged from .61 to .79. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the SESSM-B is an easy, reliable, and valid instrument to measure self-efficacy for self-management of breast cancer.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Breast Neoplasms/*psychology ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pilot Projects ; Program Development ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; *Self Care ; *Self Efficacy

BACKGROUND: TEL (ETV6)/AML1 (RUNX1) rearrangement is observed in approximately 20-25% of childhood precursor B-ALL and is associated with a favorable outcome. Additional genetic changes, associated with TEL/AML1, are frequently found. We evaluated the prevalence and prognostic significance of TEL/AML1 rearrangement and additional genetic changes in the TEL and AML1 genes in Korean childhood precursor B-ALL. METHODS: We performed FISH using LSITEL/AML1 ES probe (Vysis, USA) in 123 children diagnosed as having precursor B-ALL and assessed clinical relevance of the TEL/AML1 rearrangement and additional genetic abnormalities. RESULTS: The frequency of TEL/AML1 was 17.1% (21/123) in patients with precursor B-ALL. TEL/ AML1-positive group showed male predominance (P=0.012) and younger age of onset than TEL/ AML1-negative group by 1.6 yr (P=0.013). The outcome of TEL/AML1-positive group tended to show lower incidences of relapse (1/21 vs 20/102), death (1/21 vs 17/102) and longer event free survival. Among TEL/AML1-positive patients, unrearranged TEL deletion, AML1 gain, and unrearranged TEL deletion combined with AML1 gain were detected in 61.9%, 23.8%, and 9.5%, respectively. There were no significant differences in the clinical features and outcome according to the presence or absence of additional genetic changes. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of TEL/AML1 and additional genetic changes in TEL and AML1 is higher than previous studies in Korean children, and in close agreement with usually reported one, 20-25%. TEL/AML1-positive group showed a tendency toward better prognosis. Further study is needed to clarify the prognostic significance of additional changes in TEL and AML1 based on a large sample size.
Age Factors ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit/*genetics ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/*genetics/mortality ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets/*genetics ; Repressor Proteins/*genetics ; Republic of Korea ; Survival Rate ; *Translocation, Genetic

PURPOSE: Nursing is regarded as a female-dominated profession. However, the number of Korean males entering the field of nursing is increasing. This study examines which of the following factors influence professionalism in male and female student nurses: area of nursing, gender identity, gender stereotypes, satisfaction with the field, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships. METHODS: In total, 133 male and 293 female student nurses were selected from four Korean provinces between July 2013 and February 2014 to participate in this study. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi2-tests of independence, and multiple regression analyses using SPSS/Win 20 software. RESULTS: In males, 47.4% of variance in nursing professionalism was accounted for by grades, interpersonal relationships, gender stereotypes, and satisfaction with the field. In females, 41.9% of variance in nursing professionalism was accounted for by satisfaction with the field, interpersonal relationships, area of nursing, age, emotional intelligence and grades. Common factors that influenced both genders included satisfaction with the field, interpersonal relationships and grades. CONCLUSION: Although males and females revealed no significant differences in overall mean scores of nursing professionalism, several factors influencing nursing professionalism did differ by gender. Therefore, gender-specific nursing educational and training programs may be necessary to promote professionalism among student nurses.
Education ; Emotional Intelligence ; Female ; Gender Identity ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing

It is not atypical for a small amount of mucin to be present in prostate adenocarcinoma. But true mucinous type of adenocarcinoma of prostate occurs rarely, with 88 cases reported in the literature. This has been histopathologically defined as containing lakes of extracellular mucin comprising at least 25% of the primary prostate tumor. The biologic behavior of this malignancy is not well known and the prognosis is considered to be poor compared with typical adenocarcinoma of the prostate. We experienced a case of mucinous adenocarcinoma of prostate that was developed in a 70 year-old man.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Aged ; Humans ; Lakes ; Mucins* ; Prognosis ; Prostate*

Meconium peritonitis is a non-bacterial foreign body and chemical peritonitis caused by meconium contamination resulting from bowel perforation during late intrauterine or early neonatal periods. Prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of the meconium peritonitis provides the preparation for proper management and decreasing motality and morbidity of the neonate. We have experienced a case of meconium peritonitis diagnosed by ultrasonography at 34+4 gestational weeks and presented this case with a brief review of the literatures.
Diagnosis ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Meconium* ; Peritonitis* ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal*

PURPOSE: Liver function test abnormalities have been reported frequently in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). In adults, it is known that liver complications decrease with the use of cyclic parenteral nutrition (CPN), especially if the shift to cycling was not too late. However, there are few studies about the effects of cycling on liver injury in children beyond the neonatal period. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the early use of CPN on total parenteral nutrition induced hepatic dysfunction. METHODS: Twelve sets of CPN in 11 children (2 months to 17 years) were included in this study. Data on underlying diseases, age, length of time on TPN, macronutrient intake, complications, and biochemical parameters were collected from clinical records. All children had received CPN in the early period of persistent transaminase elevation or cholestasis complicated by previous continuous PN. The duration of infusion off-time in CPN was 2 hours in patients less than 3 months of age and 4 hours in the older children. RESULTS: All 12 cases showed elevated aminotransferase and 5 of them also showed cholestasis. Serum total bilirubin concentration was normalized in all 5 cases with median periods of 8 days (p<0.05) after initiation of CPN. ALT either decreased significantly or was normalized in all cases with median periods of 30 days (p<0.05) on CPN. The CPN was well tolerated without significant complication except for one case of hyperglycemia. CONCLUSION: The early use of cyclic parenteral nutrition had a beneficial effect in improving hepatic dysfunction complicated by TPN in children.
Adult ; Bilirubin ; Child ; Cholestasis ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Liver ; Liver Function Tests ; Parenteral Nutrition* ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total*

Inflammatory pseudotumors of the urinary bladder are rare, benign and nonepithelial tumors characterized by proliferative myofibroblast, fibroblast, histiocytes, and occasionally by plasma cell and lymphocytes. Microscopically, inflammatory pseudotumors present as either pedunculated intraluminal tumors that can be seen readily during cystourethroscopy or as submucosal mural lesions that may be easily overlooked. Histological features of this benign lesion mimic those of malignant neoplasm but their clinical course is benign. Although inflammatory poseudotumors can occur anywhere in the body, they are rare in the bladder. We report a case in which induced acute urinary retention and describe the clinical presentation, and radiographic and histologic findings.
Fibroblasts ; Granuloma, Plasma Cell* ; Histiocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Myofibroblasts ; Plasma Cells ; Urinary Bladder* ; Urinary Retention*

OBJETIVE: To investigate the efficacy of high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen on pregnancy in human embryo after freezing and thawing. MATERIALS AND METHODS:: 150 infertile patients underwent 162 consecutive thawing-ET cycles. In the high infusion frequency group (Group A), 47 patients (50 cycles) underwent cryopreservation with high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen. In the low infusion frequency group (Group B), 103 patients (112 cycles) underwent cryopreservation with low infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, fertilization rates, development of embryo, good quality embryo ratio, implantation rates, and pregnancy rates between these two groups. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups with regard to clinical characteristics (mean age, infertility duration, infertility factors, hormone profile), mean number of oocyte retrieval, fertilization rates, and mean embryo number of transfers. The survival rates in group A was 64.9% (228 of 350 embryos), and among the 228 embryos 190 embryos (83.3%) which progressed to the two- to eight-cell stage. After thawing, the embryo numbers were 65 (34.2%), 29 (15.3%), 35 (18.4%), and 37 (19.5%) of grades 1, 2, 3, and above 4, respectively. The survival rates in group B was 63.8% (482 of 755 embryos), and among the 482 embryos 465 embryos (96.5%) which progressed to the two- to eight-cell stage. After thawing, the embryo numbers were 106 (22.8%), 94 (20.2%), 89 (19.1%), and 112 (24.1%) of grades 1, 2, 3, and above 4, respectively. There was no difference in embryo quality change after the freezing-thawing procedure between the groups. Implantation rates (31.1% vs. 34.3%) were not significant. However hCG positive rates in group A (40%) were higher than group B, but not statistically significant. Clinical pregnancy rate (26% vs. 25.9%), on going pregnancy rates (>20 weeks) were not significant (26% vs. 25%). CONCLUSION: We compared embryo quality change, survival rates, and pregnancy rates between high infusion frequency group and low infusion frequency group and the results were similar between the two groups. Therefore, high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation is a worthy method to preserve in human embryos.
Cryopreservation ; Embryonic Development* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization ; Freezing* ; Humans* ; Infertility ; Nitrogen* ; Oocyte Retrieval ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate* ; Pregnancy* ; Survival Rate

A ductal adenocarcinoma of prostate is a rare entity of a prostate carcinoma, originating from the epithelial lining of the primary and secondary ducts of the prostate. Although there have been about 100 reports of a ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate in the English literature, this is the first case report described in Korea. Ductal adenocarcinomas of the prostate are often clinically underestimated as rectal examinations and the serum prostate specific antigen levels may be normal. We experienced a case of a ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate in a 78 year-old man.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Aged ; Humans ; Korea ; Prostate* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen