Thelazia callipaeda was first described by Railliet and Henry in 1910. The first human case was reported by Stuckey in 1917, who extracted four worms in the eye of a coolie in Peiping. In Korea, seven cases of human thelaziasis have been already reported and all of the worms were identified to be thelazia callipaeda. The present paper is to report the 8th human infested case of Thelazia callipaeda in Korea. The patient was 25 years old virgin who had lived in Seoul since birth. She experienced lacrimation and moving foreign body sensation of the left eye, and extracted 1 living worm from the left eye by herself on one day prior to examination. Microscopic measurements of an extracted worm are as follows; A worm(male) is 13.0 mm B worm(male) is 13.1 mm and C worm(female) is 19.0 mm in length. It was confirmed as Thelazia callipaeda Railliet et Henry 1910.
Adult ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans* ; Korea* ; Parturition ; Sensation ; Seoul ; Thelazioidea

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect on PVC with IV disopyramide injection in 23 patients with PVC. There were 6 male and 17 female patients with age from 16 to 71 years. Three patients of hypertension, two patients of atherosclerotic heart disease, one patient of myocardial infarction, one patient of mitral stenosis, one patient of cardiomyopathy, one patient of uremic heart, fourteen patients of fuctional PVC were studied. The dose of 100mg of disopyramide was given with IV injection repeatedly until PVC disappeared.(Total: 40 Times) EKG monitering was performed in all cases to reveal the following results while the patients were on the regimen. 1. PVC disappearance rate in 23 patients was 78.2%. Average disappearance time and average dose is 7 minutes, 70.5mg respectively. 2. EKG revealed no change in P-R interval and pulse rate but slight prolongation of QRS and QTc interval. 3. When repeated injection was performed, the effect against PVC was decreased. 4. Acute heart failure as complication of disopyramide was not developed in all patients. As a result of present study, we recommended IV disopyramide injection, when disappearance of PVC was required immediately and safely.
Cardiomyopathies ; Disopyramide* ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; Myocardial Infarction

Primary intimal sarcoma of the aorta is a rare disease and has poor prognosis due to the difficulty of early diagnosis. Recently, we experienced a 42 year-old female patient who had primary intimal sarcoma of the aorta with metastasis. She complained of claudication, abdominal pain, flank pain and pulselessness. CT angiography showed thrombus-like lesion in the aorta. In our case, the transesophageal echocardiographic findings were different from those of usual thrombus, which suggested the importance of transesophageal echocardiography in the differential diagnosis of intra-aortic mass. Exploration was done because of the highly mobile portion and the biopsy revealed that the mass was intimal sarcoma. Immunohistochemical staining for actin and vimentin was positive. She died of massive gastrointestinal bleeding during admission. At autopsy, the sarcoma was found to metastasize into small intestine, kidney, and ovary.
Abdominal Pain ; Actins ; Adult ; Angiography ; Aorta* ; Autopsy ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Early Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestine, Small ; Kidney ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovary ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Sarcoma ; Thrombosis ; Vimentin

Primary intimal sarcoma of the aorta is a rare disease and has poor prognosis due to the difficulty of early diagnosis. Recently, we experienced a 42 year-old female patient who had primary intimal sarcoma of the aorta with metastasis. She complained of claudication, abdominal pain, flank pain and pulselessness. CT angiography showed thrombus-like lesion in the aorta. In our case, the transesophageal echocardiographic findings were different from those of usual thrombus, which suggested the importance of transesophageal echocardiography in the differential diagnosis of intra-aortic mass. Exploration was done because of the highly mobile portion and the biopsy revealed that the mass was intimal sarcoma. Immunohistochemical staining for actin and vimentin was positive. She died of massive gastrointestinal bleeding during admission. At autopsy, the sarcoma was found to metastasize into small intestine, kidney, and ovary.
Abdominal Pain ; Actins ; Adult ; Angiography ; Aorta* ; Autopsy ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Early Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intestine, Small ; Kidney ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovary ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Sarcoma ; Thrombosis ; Vimentin

BACKGROUND: More than 70% of morbidity and mortality of diabetes mellitus is due to macrovascular complications. These complications may be associated with defect of endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation. There have been suggestions that this defect might be due to direct toxicities of oxygen-free radical. So in this study ascorbic acid was used as a dietary supplement in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats to correct this defect. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. They were divided into control and experimental groups. Streptozotocin was injected to the 33 rats of experimental group and then divided into two the other receiving subgroups; one receiving ascorbic acid supplement(1 g/l in drinking water); and nosupplements. At 6, 9 and 12 weeks, abdominal aortic rings were obtained to make tissue preparations for evaluation of vascular smooth muscle contractility. RESULT: While control group showed good response to acetylcholine induced relaxation, diabetic group showed decreased relaxation regardless of ascorbic acid supplement at the experiments 6 weeks after streptozotocin treatment. This abnormal endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation was markedly reversed at 9 and 12 weeks into the diabetic group with ascorbic acid supplement. There were no differences in sodium nitroprusside induced relaxation responses between control and experimental groups; also, norepinephrine induced contractile responses did not show any remarkable effects. CONCLUSION: These results strongly suggest that the endothelial cells have defects in diabetic rats. Dietary supplement of ascorbic acid can reverse the defects of diabetic endothelial cells through its antioxidant effects and it may further protect against vascular disease in diabetic patients.
Acetylcholine ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Dietary Supplements ; Drinking ; Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Mortality ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Nitroprusside ; Norepinephrine ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Relaxation ; Streptozocin ; Vascular Diseases

OBJECTIVES: Alexithymia has been regarded as the general personality of psychosomatic disease, but it's controversial. The object of the study is to find out the relationship between alexithymia and alopecia areata. METHODS: Thirty one alopecia areata patients were compared to 31 normal healthy persons in alexithymic tendency using TAS-20K. Also MMPI and SCL-90-R were checked in both groups. Psychiatric diseases were ruled out. RESULTS: The scores of F, K, Hs, D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Pt and Sc of MMPI in alopecia areata patients were different from those in normal healthy persons. The scores of SOM, O-C, I-S, DEP, ANX, HOT, PHOB, PAR, PSY, GSI, PSDI, and PST of SCL-90-R in alopecia areata patients were significantly higher than those in normal healthy persons. In TAS-20K, the scores of Factor 1 and Total in alopecia areata patients were higher than those in normal healthy persons. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that alopecia areata patients are more alexithymic than normal healthy persons.
Affective Symptoms* ; Alopecia Areata* ; Alopecia* ; Humans ; MMPI

OBJECTIVES: We surveyed the awareness and current status of using fumigant carbon disulfide for exterminate Curculio sikkimensis among chestnut farmers in Chungnam Province to suggest directions for health education and public relations. METHODS: We designed questionnaires to evaluate recognition of fumigant carbon disulfide. We conducted a questionnaire survey to assess recognition and recognition level of fumigant carbon disulfide by the study variables. RESULTS: The recognition status for fumigant carbon disulfide was 74.5%, but the recognition level was low (know well 27.5%). The path of recognition was 45.1% and 15.7% for neighbor and rural technology center, respectively. The recognition status for warning label of fumigant carbon disulfide was 52.9%. Recognition for warning label of fumigant carbon disulfide was tended to increase with high educational attainment, bigger owning land area. Recognition on the content of warning label were 29.4%, 27.5%, 21.6%, and 21.6% for inflammability, toxicity, hazard, and explosiveness, respectively. Using personal protection equipment was tended to increase with the high status of awareness on fumigant carbon disulfide. CONCLUSIONS: Health education programs for using fumigant carbon disulfide are needed for chestnut farmers. In addition, publicity information activities about prevention and protection of carbon disulfide poisoning are needed for high risk farmers.
Carbon Disulfide* ; Carbon* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Farmers* ; Fumigation ; Health Education ; Humans ; Poisoning ; Public Relations ; Weevils*

OBJECTIVE: Inappropriate neural control of the quadriceps femoris muscle group has been implicated in patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) and the methods of biomechanical assessment of PFPS has been developed recently. The aims of the present investigation were to evaluate the effects of therapeutic exercise in the alleviation of PFPS and to develope objective clinical test for PFPS. METHOD: We investigated the onset time of the isometric contraction of vastus medialis oblique muscle (VMO) and the vastus lateralis muscle (VL) under four different conditions: knee flexion and extension in weight bearing (standing) and non-weight bearing (sitting on chair) situations. For each condition, onset times of EMG activities and onset times for VMO and VL were determined from five trials of isometric contraction. In addition, we compared knee flexor and extensor torques in control group and subjects with PFPS. To evaluate the effects of the exercise we compared the onset time difference (onset time of VL-onset time of VM) and quadriceps muscle torque at pre- and post- exercise in PFPS groups. RESULTS: In PFPS group, onset time of VMO during knee extension was significantly longer than the onset time of VL and the knee extensor torque was considerably weaker in comparison with normal group. Although onset time difference was not changed after exercise program, there were significant increase in knee extensor torque in subjects with PFPS. CONCLUSION: The role of exercise in the rehabilitation of quadriceps functions is to reduce the pain, to strengthen the knee extensor, and further accurate diagnostic tools and methods for the result of therapeutic exercise in PFPS are needed.
Isometric Contraction ; Knee ; Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome* ; Quadriceps Muscle ; Rehabilitation ; Torque ; Weight-Bearing

BACKGROUND: Long-term survival after surgical correction of mitral regurgitation is associated with preservation of left ventricular systolic function after operation. And mitral valve repair has been suggested to provide a better postoperative left ventricular systolic function. Accordingly, we intended to compare the operative results of mitral valve repair with those of mitral valve replacement and search for preoperative predictors of postoperative left ventricular systolic function. METHOD: The clinical features, echocardiographic measurements, and cardiac catheterization results of 75 patients operated between January 1984 and December 1994 for acquired pure mitral regurgitation were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 75 patients, 39 patients had mitral valve repair, and 36 patients had mitral valve replacement. When the outcomes of mitral valve repair and mitral valve replacement were compared, left ventricular ejection fraction decreased significantly after surgery inboth groups but postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction was greater in valve repair group than in valve replacement group. Data analysis of preoperative variables showed that echocardiographic left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(p<.05), but not other clinical and echocardiographic variables, were predictors of postoperative left ventricular systolic function. CONCLUSION: After surgical correction of chronic organic mitral regurgitation, left ventricular dysfunction is frequent and valve repair decreases the severity of left ventricular dysfunction. And the most powerful predictor of postoperative left ventricular systolic function is preoperative left ventricular end-diastolic diameter measured by echocardiography.
Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency* ; Mitral Valve* ; Statistics as Topic ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left

To evaluate the effect and mechanism of hypercholesterolemia on the sequence of changes involved in apoptosis, which counteract proliferation due to the restenosis process after vascular injury. Iliac arteries of hypercholesterolemic (HC) and normocholesterolemic (NC) rabbits were examined 1, 3, 7 & 14 days after balloon injury (N = 5 to 7 animals on each occasion) using TUNEL, immunohistochemical staining of PCNA, macrophages, smooth muscle actin and p53. In media immediately after injury, apoptosis occurred comprehensively and then decreased. HC did not affect this early post-injury apoptosis but significantly (p<0.01) increased apoptosis 14 days later (D14). Immediate apoptosis in media was followed by active proliferation. HC sustained a high activity of proliferation until D14 (p<0.01). The changes of immunoreactivity caused by p53 over the same 14 day period parallels that of apoptosis. In intima, where cells were scarce initially, proliferative activity reached a peak at D7 and then decreased. HC significantly (p<0.05) enhanced proliferation at D14. In intima proliferation was accompanied by a later lower level apoptosis. HC significantly (p<0.05) enhanced this lower level stage of apoptosis at D14. These effects of HC on apoptosis and proliferation result in significantly increased areas of intima and media (p<0.01). The fundamental difference between HC & NC was the infiltration of macrophages in HC, which were colocalized with apoptosis and proliferation activities. In conclusion, balloon injury induces early massive p53-associated apoptosis followed by proliferation in media, whereas in intima, it induces active proliferation followed by a lower activity apoptosis. Hypercholesterolemia does not affect the early post-injury apoptosis but enhances proliferation and lower level apoptosis at a later stage, which in turn results in intimal and medial hyperplasia.
Actins ; Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Hypercholesterolemia* ; Hyperplasia ; Iliac Artery* ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Macrophages ; Muscle, Smooth ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Rabbits ; Vascular System Injuries