[Background] Over the last thirty years, majority of researches on clinical effectiveness of acupuncture have been explanatory (or experimental) randomized controlled trial. The benefits of acupuncture in clinical trials are stillcontroversial and most studies concluded that further control studies were required. Standardized combinations of acupuncture points for all the experimental subjects in various past studies have been criticized because such treatments do not reflect current routine clinical treatment.
[Objective] This paper aims to review pragmatic clinical trials on the effect of acupuncture treatment and to develop the ideal clinical research methodology of acupuncture study.
[Method] Clinical studies of acupuncture relevant with pragmatic or individualized trials were searched mainly in Pubmed and Science direct databases. All articles were fully reviewed by researchers, and data were evaluated by usage of a standardized form.
[Results & Suggestion] Pragmatic acupuncture researches were tried for various symptoms (eg. low back pain, hypertension, depression during pregnancy, sleep quality in HIV disease, chronic poststroke leg spasticity, headache, etc). Individualized acupuncture treatments based on oriental disease pattern diagnosis reflexes practical treatments which is more effective than unified and fixed acupuncture treatments without any theoretical basis of oriental medical philosophy.
[Conclusion] To overcome the controversies and limitations of past explanatory acupuncture trials, more individualized and tailored acupuncture trials with the theoretical basis of oriental medical diagnosis is highly recommended. Also clear definition and categorization of pattern identification should be established for further active clinical researches and applications of acupuncture.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the incidence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Klebsiella has been steadily increased, and the newer species K. planticola and K terrigena, formerly regarded as nonpathogen, have been reported with astonishing frequency from human infectious processes by some investigators. The aim of this study is to elucidate the isolation rate and antimicrobial susceptibility of recent clinical Klebsiella isolates. METHOD: For the clinical Klebsiella isolates during the period of June 1999 to May 2000, isolation frequency of Klebsiella species by specimen, departments, age, and sex were analyzed. And antimicrobial susceptibilities were also analyzed. RESULT: Isolation rate of Klebsiella in order of decreasing frequency were K. pneumoniae (74:7%), K. oxytoca (12.1%), K. ozaenae(1.7%), K. planticola(1.0%), K. terngena(0.9%), and K, ornithinolytica (0.7%), respectively. K. rhinoscleromatis was not isolated. Compared with outpatients, increase of resistance rates of inpatients's Klebsiella isolates were 10% in ciprofloxacin, 15% in cefoperazone/sulbactam, and the others were ranged from 24% to 31%. Isolation rate of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae by double disk (DD) synergy test was 41%, and detection rates by antimicrobial agents were as follows: cefotaxime (95%), aztreonam (58%), and ceftriaxone (37%). Antimicrobial susceptibility rate with the exception of ampicillin and imipenem decreased from the range of 81%-96% on admission day to 29-62% after one week on admission. CONCLUSION: The isolation rates of K. planticola and K. terrigena were less than 1%. The proportion of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae was 41 %. And the vast majority of multidrug resistant Klebsiella including ESBL producing strains are acquired by hospitalization.
Ampicillin ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Aztreonam ; beta-Lactamases ; Cefotaxime ; Ceftriaxone ; Ciprofloxacin ; Epidemiology* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Incidence ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Klebsiella* ; Outpatients ; Pneumonia ; Research Personnel

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the incidence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Klebsiella has been steadily increased, and the newer species K. planticola and K terrigena, formerly regarded as nonpathogen, have been reported with astonishing frequency from human infectious processes by some investigators. The aim of this study is to elucidate the isolation rate and antimicrobial susceptibility of recent clinical Klebsiella isolates. METHOD: For the clinical Klebsiella isolates during the period of June 1999 to May 2000, isolation frequency of Klebsiella species by specimen, departments, age, and sex were analyzed. And antimicrobial susceptibilities were also analyzed. RESULT: Isolation rate of Klebsiella in order of decreasing frequency were K. pneumoniae (74:7%), K. oxytoca (12.1%), K. ozaenae(1.7%), K. planticola(1.0%), K. terngena(0.9%), and K, ornithinolytica (0.7%), respectively. K. rhinoscleromatis was not isolated. Compared with outpatients, increase of resistance rates of inpatients's Klebsiella isolates were 10% in ciprofloxacin, 15% in cefoperazone/sulbactam, and the others were ranged from 24% to 31%. Isolation rate of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae by double disk (DD) synergy test was 41%, and detection rates by antimicrobial agents were as follows: cefotaxime (95%), aztreonam (58%), and ceftriaxone (37%). Antimicrobial susceptibility rate with the exception of ampicillin and imipenem decreased from the range of 81%-96% on admission day to 29-62% after one week on admission. CONCLUSION: The isolation rates of K. planticola and K. terrigena were less than 1%. The proportion of ESBL producing K. pneumoniae was 41 %. And the vast majority of multidrug resistant Klebsiella including ESBL producing strains are acquired by hospitalization.
Ampicillin ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Aztreonam ; beta-Lactamases ; Cefotaxime ; Ceftriaxone ; Ciprofloxacin ; Epidemiology* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Incidence ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Klebsiella* ; Outpatients ; Pneumonia ; Research Personnel

Nonsurgical endoscopic or percutaneous dilatation and insertion of an endoprosthesis is the treatment of choice in the majority of patiens with incurabie malignant biliary obsturction. But these palliative treatment of extrahepatic cholestasis with an endoscopic or percutaneous biliary endoprosthesis is limited by clogging. One of the factors thought to be of importance is the diameter of the stent. So in order to avoid being limited by the size of the instrumentation channel of the endoscope, expandable stents have been developed. Wallstent is braided in the form of a tubular mesh from surgical grade stainless alloy. This prosthesis is geometrically stable, pliable and self expanding. Its elastic properties are such that its diameter can be substantially reduced by moderate elongation. The stent is constrainded on a small diameter delivery catheter(total outside diameter: 9 French). During the implantation procedure the final position of the partially released endoprosthesis can be adjusted by gradual removal of the delivery catheter. If full expansion to 30 French occurs, the stent will be shortened by approximately 30% to their normal length range between 34-102mm. Now in this article we report a new method for endoscopic retrograde placement of biliary Wallstent in a patient with obsturctive jaundice due to periampullary choangiocacrcinoma.
Alloys ; Catheters ; Cholestasis, Extrahepatic ; Dilatation ; Endoscopes ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Palliative Care ; Prostheses and Implants ; Stents

No abstract available.
Trisomy* ; Ultrasonography*

PURPOSE: To characterize the outcomes of initial and repeated office-based probing as a primary treatment for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO) in children. METHODS: The medical records of patients who underwent nasolacrimal duct office-based probing for CNLDO between March 2004 and January 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Nasolacrimal duct probing was performed on 244 eyes from 229 consecutive patients with CNLDO. Patients who were refractory to the first probing underwent a second probing 4 to 8 weeks later. RESULTS: Based on exclusion criteria, 244 eyes from 229 patients (117 males and 112 females), aged 6 to 71 months (mean, 12.4 +/- 8.36) were included. The success rate of the initial probing was 80% (196 of 244) for all patients, 82% (111 of 136) in the 6 to 12 month age group, 79% (64 of 81) in the 13 to 18 months age group, and 78% (21 of 27) among individuals older than 19 months (p = 0.868, Pearson chi-square test). The success rate of the second probing was 61% (25 of 41) for all patients, 74% (17 of 23) in the 6 to 12 months age group, 58% (7 of 12) in the 13 to 18 months age group, and 17% (1 of 6) among individuals older than 19 months (p = 0.043, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSIONS: While the success rate of initial nasolacrimal duct probing is not affected by age, the rate of success rate with a second probing was significantly lower in patients older than 19 months. Based on the results, authors recommend further surgical interventions, such as silicone tube intubation or balloon dacryocystoplasty, instead of repeated office probing for patients older than 19 months, if an initial office probing has failed.
Ambulatory Care ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Lacrimal Duct Obstruction/congenital/*surgery ; Male ; Nasolacrimal Duct/*surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Catheters* ; Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation of Lung, Congenital* ; Fetal Therapies* ; Lung*

A putative gamma herpesvirus, termed human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), discovered in recent years, has been implicated as a possible etiologic agent for Kaposi`s sarcoma (KS). In South Korea, the incidence of KS in HIV seropositive individuals is very low. The cause of its rarity as compared with other countries is unclear. The objective of this study was performed to determine the prevalence of infection with HHV-8 and to clarify the cause of low incidence of KS in Korean populations including HIV seropositive individuals. The study population was composed of 200 blood donors, 220 voluntary visitors for sexual transmitted infection (STI)-testing in the public health centers, and 214 HIV-seropositive individuals. For the detection of HHV-8 antibodies, all blood samples were tested using Advanced Biotechnologies Inc`s enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits and the reactive samples were retested using Biotrin International SARL`s immunofluorescent assay (IFA). Also, we investigated the seroprevalence of Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) in order to get more information of HHV-8 and other human herpesviruses transmission in Korea. The prevalence of specific IgG to HHV-8 among HIV seropositive individuals was 7.0% {95% confidential interval: 4.0-11.3%}. The specific antibody to HHV-8 could be detected only in HIV seropositive men. The prevalences of antibodies to other human herpesviruses unlike HHV-8 were very high even in blood donors. These observations strongly suggest that the rarity of KS in this country may be caused by very low prevalence of HHV-8.
Antibodies ; Biotechnology ; Blood Donors ; Cytomegalovirus ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Herpesviridae ; Herpesvirus 3, Human ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Herpesvirus 8, Human* ; HIV ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Sarcoma* ; Sarcoma, Kaposi ; Seroepidemiologic Studies*

BACKGROUND: The prompt detection of bacteremia continues to be one of the most important responsibilities of clinical microbiology. But clinical diagnosis of bacteremia remains difficult, particularly in the neonates and young children. And fastidious bacteria with specific growth requirements or bacteria requiring longer incubation period are apt to be negative results in blood cultures. Therefore, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification which targets the highly conserved DNA sequences found in all eubacteria would permit fast and sensitive determination of the presence of bacteria in blood. METHODS: A primer pair (DG74, RW01) for highly conserved regions of bacterial DNA encoding 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was utilized for PCR amplification. PCR results were compaired with blood cultures and PCR products were digested with SmaI restriction enzyme for cutting of recognition site. RESULTS: Among 44 blood specimens which organisms were isolated by blood culture, 41 samples were positive for PCR, and 3 samples which C. albicans, P. aeruginosa, and gram- positive bacillus isolated were negative. No signal was observed when blood obtained from person without clinical sign and or symptoms of bacteremia. All 41 PCR products (371 bp) were cutted in two DNA fragments (161 bp, 210 bp) by SmaI enzyme. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that a single primer pair designed to anneal to a highly conserved region of bacterial DNA can amplify DNA specimens from different bacteria, while not amplifying human DNA. Because of early detection, molecular trial of patients with signs and symptoms of possible bacterial infection will decrease morbidity and mortality with bacteremia, this approach may make it possible to identify new, nonculturable bacterial pathogens. Furthermore, if we use the specific primers for gram positive or negative bacteria in PCR method, it would be a more useful diagnostic tool for the clinicians.
Bacillus ; Bacteremia* ; Bacteria* ; Bacterial Infections ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Diagnosis* ; DNA ; DNA, Bacterial ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mortality ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Periodic paralysis associated with thyrotoxicosis is characterized by intermittent flaccid paralysis of the skeletal muscle. The paralysis usually involve the skeletal muscle of the limbs, especially lower extrimities. In general, sensory function is intact. Involvement of respiratory, ocular or bulbar muscles is very rare, but bulbar and respiratoy invelvement may prove fatal. It is very rare a case that has severe clinical manifestation such as cardiac arrest. We report a case of thyrotoxic hypokalemic periodic paralysis presenting as cardiac arrest.
Extremities ; Heart Arrest ; Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Muscles ; Paralysis ; Sensation ; Thyrotoxicosis