No abstract available.
Anus, Imperforate*

No abstract available.
Biopsy* ; Child* ; Humans

BACKGROUNDSince Macao's return of sovereignty to China in December 1999, the life style of Macao residents has changed. The aim of this study was to investigate changes of death patterns in Macao residents from 1986 to 2006 in order to identify the trends and patterns of major public health problems, which could provide the guidance for developing public health policies.

METHODSA retrospective study was conducted for this investigation. Research data were collected from official websites and statistical yearbooks and classified by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9.

RESULTSIt was observed that mortality from the three major causes of (1) infectious, maternal and childhood diseases, (2) chronic non-communicable diseases, and (3) injury and poisoning were 17.7, 298.2 and 26.0 per 100 000, respectively. The largest decrease in death rate over the 21-year study-period was from infectious, maternal and childhood diseases (62.5%). The highest mortality rate was ischemic heart diseases (37.0%). The largest increase in mortality rate was lung cancer (46.9%).

CONCLUSIONSMortality rate of Macao residents progressively decreased, but the constituent ratio of death from chronic non-communicable diseases was increasing. The mortality rate of lung cancer was clearly ascending, so emphasis should be put on tertiary prevention in future.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Macau ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; mortality ; Primary Health Care ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used as a substitute for conventional serological methods in order to provide blood or blood products free from contaminating viruses and recently attempts have focused to detect 2 or 3 viruses by a single multiplex PCR (M-PCR) reaction. We were able to detect human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) simultaneously by a single M-PCR. However detection by gel electrophoresis of the products from M-PCR suffers from drawbacks such as low sensitivity and product sizes. Here we report enhanced detection systems of M-PCR based on nucleic acid hybridization with arrays built on membrane. Membrane array was manufactured by spotting appropriate probe DNAs on nylon membrane. Single or multiplex PCR was performed and the PCR products were labeled with DIG and allowed to hybridize with the membrane array. Results indicate that nonspecific hybridization was not observed for membrane DNA array. Additionally, membrane array method could detect small amount of viruses that were not detectable by conventional gel electrophoresis. At least 25-fold, and in some cases more than 125-fold increases in sensitivity was obtained with DNA array method. Thus, the nucleic acid hybridization with membrane array could be applied for the detection of M-PCR of viruses in blood or blood products.
Cytomegalovirus ; DNA ; Electrophoresis ; Female ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B virus ; HIV-1 ; Humans ; Membranes ; Metrorrhagia ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Nucleic Acid Hybridization* ; Nylons ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

The efficacy and safety of Hyal 2000(R), the first domestically developed viscoelastic material, was evaluated in patients undergoing phacoemulsification with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation. We compared the operative efficiency and postoperative reactions such as inflammation and intraocular pressure, corneal endothelial cell density and thickness sixty eyes treated with Hyal 2000 and thirty eyes with the Healon . The corneal endothelial cell loss in the Hyal 2000(R) and Healon(R) groups was 6.7%, 9.2%, 7.8%, 5.7% and 5.5%, 9.0%, 7.6%, 5.2% at the postoperative day 1st, 7th, 30th and 60th respectively. There was no statistical difference between the two groups. The change of corneal thickness in the Hyal 2000(R) and Healon(R) groups was 10.2%, 6.5%, 6.3%, 3.3% and 10.7%, 3.9%, 3.5%, 1.2% at the postoperative 1st, 7st, 30th, 60th day respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups at the postoperative 7th and 30th days respectively(p<0.05). The postoperative inflammation and intraocular pressure showed no difference between two groups. The presented results in this report suggest that Hyal 2000(R) is useful for an effective viscoelastic material in eye surgery.
Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss ; Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; Inflammation ; Intraocular Pressure ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Lenses, Intraocular* ; Phacoemulsification*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Studies have investigated the use of different types of radiofrequency capsules for comparison or sequential capsule endoscopy, but none have compared the MiroCam device - which utilizes a novel data transmission technology - with other capsules. This study compared the feasibility of sequential capsule endoscopy using the MiroCam and PillCam SB devices, which employ different transmission technologies. METHODS: Patients with diseases requiring capsule endoscopy were enrolled. After a 12-hour fast, one randomly selected capsule was swallowed. The second capsule was swallowed once fluoroscopy had indicated that the first capsule had migrated below the gastric outlet. RESULTS: The total operating time in 24 patients was 702+/-60 min (mean+/-SD) for the MiroCam and 446+/-28 min for the PillCam SB (p<0.0001). The rate of a complete examination to the cecum was 83.3% for the MiroCam and 58.3% for the PillCam SB (p=0.031). Diagnostic yields for the MiroCam, PillCam SB, and sequential capsule endoscopy were 45.8%, 41.7%, and 50.0%, respectively. The agreement rate between the two capsules was 87.5%, with a kappa value of 0.74. Electrical interference in data transmission between the two capsules was not observed, but temporary visual interferences were observed in seven patients (29.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Sequential capsule endoscopy with the MiroCam and PillCam SB produced slight but nonsignificant increases in the diagnostic yield, and the two capsules did not exhibit electrical interference. A larger trial is necessary for elucidating the usefulness of sequential capsule endoscopy.
Capsule Endoscopy ; Capsules ; Cecum ; Feasibility Studies ; Fluoroscopy ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Pilot Projects

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to, 1) evaluate the diagnostic value of the Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), which is known to be present in the heart ventricle, for patients with dyspnea for the assessing its causes;diastolic or systolic heart failure or pulmonary disease, and 2) find if the BNP is correlated with the distance walked in 6 minutes, which is known to be a prognostic indicator for heart failure. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven patients who admitted to the Kangbuk Samsung Medical Center, with the chief complaint of dyspnea, were enrolled in the study. The subjects were classified into three groups according to the causes of their dyspnea, which were systolic heart failure, diastolic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The plasma BNP levels were measured by a radioimmunoassay, both at admission and discharge. The BNP levels at admission were compared among the three groups. The presence of a correlation between the distance walked in 6 minutes and the BNP at discharge were also evaluated. RESULTS: The patients group with systolic heart failure had the highest mean BNP concentration of 934.6+/-386.7 pg/mL. The other two groups had significantly lower levels of BNP. The patients group with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had significantly lower level than the group with diastolic heart failure (33.2+/-25.6 vs. 181.8+/-222.2 pg/mL). The BNP concentrations at discharge, and the distance walked in 6 minutes, between the three groups showed no statistical significance (p=0.69). CONCLUSION: This study showed that the mean plasma BNP level was highest in the group with systolic heart failure, followed by diastolic heart failure and lastly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These findings suggest that diagnostic value of the plasma BNP concentration in the assessment of the causes of dyspnea. Although this study has failed to show a correlation between the plasma BNP concentration at discharge and the distance walked in 6 minutes, prospective cohort studies, with larger sample sizes, need to be performed to establish the relationship, if any.
Cohort Studies ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Dyspnea* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Failure, Diastolic ; Heart Failure, Systolic ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain* ; Plasma ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sample Size

The efficacy nd tolerance of topical administration of levocabastine(0.5mg/ml)were evaluated in patients with allergic conjunctivitis. A total of 166 patients who had a typical history of atopy and a positive skin test were recruited in this study. Five clinicl symptoms(itch, tearing, chemosis, lid edema and conjunctival injection) were assessed according to a four point scale before the treatment and at 1 and 2 weeks post-therapy. Total symptom severity score before the therapy, 6.68, was remarkably decreased to 2.86 at 1 week and 2.08 at 2 weeks after the treatment. The investigators rated the treatment as globally good or excellent in 68.1% of patients checked at 1 week and 72.5% at 2 weejs after treatment. And the patients evaluated that the therapy ws good to excellent in 66.9% at 1 week and 73.1% at 2 weeks after treatment. Levocabastine eye drops has a fast onet of action with 55.4% of the patients feeling symptom relief within 15 minutes after the first administration. The adverse effect was experienced in 44 patients. Ocular irritation sign, such as foreign body sensation or soreness, was the most frequently reported complaint. These results suggest that levocabastine eye drops is an effective and safe topical alternative for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis.
Administration, Topical ; Conjunctivitis, Allergic* ; Edema ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Ophthalmic Solutions* ; Research Personnel ; Sensation ; Skin Tests

Infectious keratitis is the most common serious ocular infection, and may be caused by various bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. The authors performed prospectively an epidemiological study to identify risk factors and causative organisms, and to evaluate clinical manifestations, methods and results of treatment in infectious keratitis under the identical protocol from April 1995 to September 1997. Logistic regression analysis [univariate analysis and multivariate analysis] was used to evaluate possible risk factors. Six hundred sixty cases of infectious keratitis reported from 19 hospitals were studied. Two hundred eighty-three organisms[247 bacteria, 32 fungi, 4 acanthamoeba] were detected in 626 eyes with infectious keratitis excluding 34 pherpetic keratitis. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa, coagulase negative staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus and Serratia marcescens were the major orgnisms in bacterial keratitis. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Candida were the major isolates in fungal keratitis. Contact lens wear was a risk factor for bacterial keratitis. Female, age[less than 40 years] and occupation[student, house-wife, office worker, servise] were associated with bacterial keratitis. Risk factors in herpetic keratitis were age[between 40 and 59 years] and ocular adnexal diseases. Male was associated factor with herpetic keratitis.
Adnexal Diseases ; Aspergillus ; Bacteria ; Candida ; Coagulase ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology* ; Eye Infections ; Female ; Fungi ; Fusarium ; Humans ; Keratitis ; Keratitis, Herpetic ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Parasites ; Prospective Studies ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Risk Factors ; Serratia marcescens ; Staphylococcus ; Staphylococcus aureus

To identify risk factors and causative organisms, and to evaluate clinical manifestations, methods and results of treatment in infectious keratitis, an epidemiological study was performed prospectively under the identical protocol from April 1995 to March 2000.Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate possible risk factors. The 1474 cases of infectious keratitis reported from 22 hospitals were studied. Five hundred forty-four organisms(442 bacteria, 82 fungi, 20 A c a n t h a m o e b a)were detected in 1320 eyes with infectious keratitis excluding 154 herpetic keratitis. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism in bacterial keratitis, and Fusariumspp. was the major isolate in fungal keratitis. Contact lens wear and occupation(industry, forester, miner, fisherman)were the risk factors for bacterial keratitis. Risk factors in fungal keratitis were fifth decade of age, farmer, and systemic diseases(diabetes mellitus etc.). Risk factors in herpetic keratitis were male and occupation(office worker, service, student, housewife). Risk factors in Acanthamoeba keratitis was contact lens wear.
Acanthamoeba Keratitis ; Bacteria ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Keratitis ; Keratitis, Herpetic ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Risk Factors