BACKGROUND: The authors studied to estimate the frequency of irregular antibodies and their significance in blood transfusion and antenatal care in Korea. METHODS: Irregular antibodies were tested by immediate saline spin, 37degrees C albumin and antiglobulin test for 2,008 transfusion candidates and 1,047 pregnant women at Severance hospital using commercial screening and identification cells (Dade, U.S.A.). RESULTS: The irregular antibodies were detected in 38 (1.24%) of total 3,055 subjects (transfusion candidates: 0.9%, pregnant women: 1.91%) . In transfusion candidates, the detected antibodies were Lewis antibodies, cold antibodies (anti-M, anti-P 1), Rh antibodies and unspeified warm antibodies, and their distributions were 56%, 22%, 17%, and 5%, respectively. In pregnant women, the detected antibodies were Lewis antibodies, Rh antibodies, anti-Jra, and unspeified warm antibodies, and their distributions were 45%, 45%, 5% and 5%, respectively. At immediate saline phase, 58% of irregular antibodies were detected. At 37degrees C albumin phase, 90% of irregular antibodies were detected and only 10% of irregular antibodies were detected at antiglobulin phase. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence rates of clinically important irregular antibodies were low, 1/1000 of irregular antibodies could not be detected. Therefore, irregular antibody screening should be performed in all pretransfusion test. And, if antibody detection tests are negative, immediate saline crossmaching methods are acceptable in Korea.
Antibodies* ; Blood Transfusion ; Coombs Test ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Pregnant Women* ; Prevalence*

BACKGROUND: The authors studied to estimate the frequency of irregular antibodies and their significance in blood transfusion and antenatal care in Korea. METHODS: Irregular antibodies were tested by immediate saline spin, 37degrees C albumin and antiglobulin test for 2,008 transfusion candidates and 1,047 pregnant women at Severance hospital using commercial screening and identification cells (Dade, U.S.A.). RESULTS: The irregular antibodies were detected in 38 (1.24%) of total 3,055 subjects (transfusion candidates: 0.9%, pregnant women: 1.91%) . In transfusion candidates, the detected antibodies were Lewis antibodies, cold antibodies (anti-M, anti-P 1), Rh antibodies and unspeified warm antibodies, and their distributions were 56%, 22%, 17%, and 5%, respectively. In pregnant women, the detected antibodies were Lewis antibodies, Rh antibodies, anti-Jra, and unspeified warm antibodies, and their distributions were 45%, 45%, 5% and 5%, respectively. At immediate saline phase, 58% of irregular antibodies were detected. At 37degrees C albumin phase, 90% of irregular antibodies were detected and only 10% of irregular antibodies were detected at antiglobulin phase. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence rates of clinically important irregular antibodies were low, 1/1000 of irregular antibodies could not be detected. Therefore, irregular antibody screening should be performed in all pretransfusion test. And, if antibody detection tests are negative, immediate saline crossmaching methods are acceptable in Korea.
Antibodies* ; Blood Transfusion ; Coombs Test ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Pregnant Women* ; Prevalence*

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the effect of postpartum exercise on mental health. Mental health comprises a 9 symptom dimension of Somatization, Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety, Hostility, Phobic anxiety, Paranoid Ideation, and Psychoticism. METHOD: A non-equivalent pre-test, post-test control group study was conducted. Fifty-two puerperal women who were admitted to a postpartum ward of a mother-baby clinic in Pusan were recruited; 26 women were assigned to the experimental group and 26 women to the control group. Postpartum exercise was applied to the experimental group from postpartum day 3 for a period of 8 weeks while no exercise program was applied to the control group. Mental health with SCL-90-R was measured before and after exercise. Data was analyzed using mean, x2-test, t-test, and ANOVA by SPSS 10.0. RESULT: The mental health status in the exercise group did not show a statistically significant decrease when compared to that of the control group. CONCLUSION: There is no effect of postpartum exercise on women's mental health during the first 8 weeks of the postpartum period. Further studies are needed for randomized clinical trials with a larger sample size.
Anxiety ; Busan ; Depression ; Female ; Hostility ; Humans ; Mental Health* ; Postpartum Period* ; Sample Size

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress in women during late stage of pregnancy. METHODS: This study was conducted with 113 healthy pregnant women at gestational age greater than 27 weeks who were registered at community health centers and received prenatal care. A structured questionnaire regarding fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress was used. The data was analyzed using a t-test, an ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The subjects with unplanned pregnancies and irregular exercise patterns showed a higher level of fatigue than those with planned pregnancies and regular exercise patterns. Pregnant women with caffeine intake manifested higher levels of gestational stress and sleep disturbance than those without. The levels of sleep disturbance and gestational stress increased as the fatigue levels increased. The fatigue levels increased with increased levels of sleep disturbance. CONCLUSION: Planned pregnancy, regular exercise patterns, and caffeine intake were related with fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress in women during late stages of pregnancy. Fatigue, sleep disturbance, and gestational stress had close associations to each other. In the future, such results should guide development of nursing intervention programs for women in late stages of pregnancy.
Caffeine ; Community Health Centers ; Family Planning Services ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Nursing ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Unplanned ; Pregnant Women* ; Prenatal Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sleep Wake Disorders

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors for pathological gambling of horse race participants. METHODS: The participants, 508 horse race gamblers, completed the DSM-IV criteria of pathological gambling, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-K) and Symptom Checklist-47-Revision (SCL-47-R). Data were analyzed using t-test, chi2-test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analyses. Behaviors related to horse racing, alcohol abuse, and mental health were analyzed between problem or pathological gamblers compared to recreational gamblers. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of recreational, problem, and pathological gambling were 36.6%, 39.4%, and 24.0%, respectively. Frequency of gambling (> or =4/day), frequency of racetrack visiting (> or =3/month), accompaniment (alone), and mental health (SCL-47-R scores) were all associated with increased risks of problem and pathological gambling. Expenditure on betting (> or =200,000 won/day) and alcohol abuse (AUDIT-K 8-20 scores) group members had higher levels of gambling pathology than recreational gamblers. CONCLUSION: Problem and pathological gambling are highly associated with alcohol abuse and mental health disorders, suggesting that clinicians should carefully evaluate this population.
Adult ; Alcoholism ; Female ; Gambling/*psychology ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mental Health ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors

No abstract available.
Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous*

PURPOSE: This qualitative study aimed to understand the experiences of reorganization of everyday lives among the women with chronic health problem. METHODS: In this study, the approach and its process of sociology of everyday lives were adopted. Data for the study came from 6 informants and 9 family members of the informants by interview and participant-observation from January, 2004 to May, 2006. Qualitative content analyzing methods were adopted. RESULTS: Informants' everyday lives were reorganized as follows. During the experiences of shock from unpleasant and unclear symptoms of their body, their sight fixed on the body part. Their time also fixed on a point of present. They started to wander from medical care to folk and lay care. After they were informed that the health problem could not be treated completely, they reduced the world of everyday life and protected themselves from the chaotic unfamiliar world by setting -a- side duties as a family member and severing unessential social relationship. As they achieved a skill for managing their health problem, they gained their former pattern of everyday lives as a woman, a family member, and a social member. Finally, they created a new life world. CONCLUSION: We need more study on the development of an adaptive strategy by the informants, to intervene in the crisis of everyday life.
Female ; Humans ; Lymphedema* ; Shock ; Sociology

Cervical tab is one of the congenital anomalies, originated from an accessory tragus or a remnant of branchial cartilage on the head a.nd neck. A 41 year old male patient was seen with 1.1 x0.8cm sized cartilage consistent intredermal nodule on the left supraclavicular area. Histopathologic findings showed the oval shaped cartilags surrounded with connective tissue and interstitial substance stained black with Verhoeff van Gieson stain.
Adult ; Cartilage ; Connective Tissue ; Head ; Humans ; Male ; Neck

We reported a case of subchorionic placental cyst with maternal floor infarction in 32-year-old multigravida. In this case the infant without growth retardation was delivered at fuU term by repeat cesarean section. A 5.8*5cm placental cyst detected prenatally by ultrasound was shown subsequentty to be a subchorionic cyst without thrombohematoma. The cyst was unilocular and attached near the cord insertion, and it contained straw-colored fluid. There was no other placental abnormalities except placental inFarction on matemal floor with fibrin deposition. It is necessary to differentiate placental cystic lesions by ultrasonographic and pathologic examination because placental abnormalities could be associated with perinatal complications.
Adult ; Cesarean Section, Repeat ; Female ; Fibrin ; Humans ; Infant ; Infarction* ; Placenta ; Ultrasonography

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of home-and-workplace combined exercise on physical function, depression, and work-related disability in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Methods: This study adopted a non-randomized quasi-experimental design. Fifty-two patients were recruited: home-and-workplace combined exercise (n = 17), home exercise (n = 18), and control group (n = 17). Results: The home-and-workplace combined exercise group showed improvement in spinal mobility and pulmonary function and significantly lower absenteeism and overwork impact than the home-exercise group and control group. The home-and-workplace combined exercise and home exercise groups showed a higher level of activity improvement than the control group. Conclusion home-and-workplace combined exercise can be recommended to patients with ankylosing spondylitis to enhance their physical function, including spinal mobility and pulmonary function, and reduce work-related disability.