No abstract available.
Macrophages* ; Mistletoe* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

The PMT-air airplane crash accident occurred in June 25, 2007 in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. All 22 passengers and crew, including 13 Korean victims, were found dead. Human identification was done at the Cambodian-Russian Soviet friendship hospital. All of Korean victims were identified with fingerprint comparison, age estimation, comparison of belongings and examination of past medical history. In this identification process, the examination of antemortem data source with searching personal blog of internet had been proved efficient in human identification. The antemortem data collection with internet access may be useful and should be combined with classical antemortem data collection process because it is beyond spatial and time limitation.
Aircraft* ; Blogging ; Cambodia ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; Dermatoglyphics ; Forensic Anthropology ; Friends ; Humans ; Internet

BACKGROUND: Korean mistletoe (Viscum album) extract has been found to posses immunostimulatory activity. In this study, Korean mistletoe extract, M11C (non-lectin components), was used to know whether this extract might activate mouse peritoneal macrophages to produce interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta). METHODS: Hemagglutination assay was carried out to examine whether M11C contained a lectin or not . To know the effect of M11C on the production of IL-1 beta, the macrophages were treated by the M11C, and then collected the supernatant (M11C stimulated macrophages-conditioned media; MMCM). MMCM was analyzed for the IL-1 beta quantification and mRNA expression by means of ELISA and RT-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: Maximum effective dose and time of M11C on IL-1 beta production from macrophages were 20 micro gram/ml and 8 hours, respectively . This ELISA data was reconfirmed by immunoblotting assay . indicating that M11C is a good candidate for an immunomodulator. The dose and time dependent effect s of M11C on the expression of IL-1 beta mRNA from macrophages was also shown in expression of mRNA detected by RT-PCR. Treatment dose and time for the maximum expression of IL-1 beta mRNA were 20 micro gram/ml and 4 hours, respectively . Maximum gene expression of IL-1 beta was much earlier than maximum production of it. CONCLUSION: As results, Korean mistletoe extract, M11C, may be used for an immunomodulator. This will be able to make up for and solve the problems caused by existent immunoagent with many adverse effects through many other studies in future including one molecule extraction.
Animals ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gene Expression ; Hemagglutination ; Immunoblotting ; Interleukin-1beta ; Macrophages* ; Macrophages, Peritoneal ; Mice ; Mistletoe* ; RNA, Messenger

Patients suffering from idiopathic or self-induced edema are uniformly characterized by chronic use of furosemide, which leads to vicious cycle of edema. Among chronic furosemide users who don't have any other specific edema forming diseases, 9 patients from the outpatient clinic(OC) and 6 patients examined at the emergency room(ER) used it mainly for weight reduction and for cyclical edema, respectively. All of the ER group patients were presented with severe hypokalemia(2.04+/-0.2mEq/L; range 1.3 to 2.7 mEq/L) and alkalosis(748+/-0.01; range 7.44 to 7.51) but none from the OC group showed such results. Other baseline parameters including Plasma renin activity(PRA) and aldosterone level on recumbency, and FEn(2)were similar in both groups. In contrast, daily working hours(6.1+/-0.5 vs 10+/-0.6hr, p<0.01), average body weight gain between AM and PM(0.4+/-0.1 vs 0.9+/-0.lkg, p<0.01), peak weight gain interval(9+/-0.8 vs 5+/-0.1day, p<0.05), PRA(7.6+/-1.5 vs 23.5+/-7.2ng/ml/h, p<0.05) and aldosterone level(22.1+/-4.2 vs 64.8+/-10.4 ng/dl, p<0.01) on ambulation, and FEk. on normokalemia(ll+/-2A vs 36+/-7.7%, p<0.01) were statistically different between the two groups. In comparison to the OC group, both the amout of urine(617+/-39 vs 358+/-26ml, p<0.01) and the percent change of PRA(-14+/-4 vs -3+/-2%, p<0.05) and al-dosterone level(-17+/-5 vs -4+/-3%, p<0.05) after saline loading(lL over 1hr, IV) following ambulation were smaller in the Elt group. Moat of the ER group patients(5/6) required aldosterone antagonist (spironolactone) added to K+ supplement, but all of the OC group patients were managed to maintain an edema-free status with conservative treatment. In conclusion, patients with idiopathic edema seem to have more fluid transudation out of intravascular space during orthostasis with a prominent degree of deranged renin-aldosterone axis and K+ metabolism than those with self-induced edema.
Aldosterone ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Body Weight ; Dizziness ; Edema* ; Emergencies ; Furosemide* ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Outpatients ; Plasma ; Renin ; Walking ; Weight Gain ; Weight Loss

BACKGROUND AND OBJECT: Cheiro-oral syndrome (COS) is characterized by a sensory disturbance in the unilateral hand and ipsilateral mouth corner. It is usually due to a lesion in the parietal cortex, thatamocortical projections, thalamus, or rarely brain stem. However, the syndrome is relatively unknown and rarely mentioned in most neurological textbooks. We presented ten cases of COS with a review of the clinical symptoms and signs and the neuroradiological methods used to demonstrate the responsible site. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied 10 patients with stroke who showed restricted sensory disturbance on the one hand and ispilateral mouth. The study forms consisted of clinical manifestaion, neurological examination, electrophysiological, and neuroradiologic studies. Computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging identified lesion in the thalamus in 5, brain stem in 3, and corona radiata in 1 patient. But, the anatomical responsible site for one case was not founded. Infarction had occurred in nine cases and hemorrhage in one. Seven of the 10 patients showed sensory disturbances restricted to the perioral area, hands, fingers when they were first examined; the remaining patients complained more diffuse sensory disturbances at first, but it had become restricted to perioral and fingers, usually within 2-3 weeks. The durations of symptom varied from 5 days to more than 15 months and these symptoms were improved within 2-3 weeks to 4 months in treated patients. CONCLUSION: When the symptoms and signs of the COS were presented, especially if a history of migraine is lacking, neuroradiological methods such as CT or MRI should be undertaken to localize and diffentiate the nature of lesion.
Brain Stem ; Fingers ; Hand ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Migraine Disorders ; Mouth ; Neurologic Examination ; Rabeprazole ; Stroke ; Thalamus

The authors report a surgically treated patient with very unusual combination of a giant posterior fossa cyst in cerebellopontine area, Chiari I malformation and syringomyelia in cervico-thoracic area. Ventricles were not dilated. He complained weakness and clumsiness on the right upper extremity. His symptom was attributable to the syringomyelia of cervical spinal cord. The authors managed this patient by removing the arachnoid cyst and cystoperitoneal shunt on the assumption that this cyst has an influence on the formation of Chiari malformation and syringomyelia. After operation there was marked improvement in the motor power in the arm, and a follow-up MRI one month later showed a disappearance of syringomyelia. The authors believe that this very unusual condition is of interest in making the pathogenesis of syringomyelia clear.
Arachnoid* ; Arm ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Spinal Cord ; Syringomyelia* ; Upper Extremity

Calcific tendinitis of hand and foot is rare and frequently misdiagnosed because of its rare incidence and its similar clinical presentation to other conditions such as infection. Awareness of the typical location as well as familiarity with the imaging findings is essential for making a correct diagnosis of this rare condition. We report four cases of calcific tendinitis of hand and foot, occurring in the flexor hallucis brevis, abductor digiti minimi, and abductor pollicis brevis.
Foot ; Hand ; Incidence ; Recognition (Psychology) ; Tendinopathy ; Tendons

This study assessed the ability of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Acute Physiology, Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring systems, as well as the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II method to predict group mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients who were poisoned with organophosphate. The medical records of 149 organophosphate poisoned patients admitted to the ICU from September 2006 to December 2012 were retrospectively examined. The SOFA, APACHE II, and SAPS II were calculated based on initial laboratory data in the Emergency Department, and during the first 24 hr of ICU admission. The probability of death was calculated for each patient based on the SOFA score, APACHE II score, and SAPS II equations. The ability to predict group mortality by the SOFA score, APACHE II score, and SAPS II method was assessed using two by two decision matrices and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A total of 131 patients (mean age, 61 yr) were enrolled. The sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies were 86.2%, 82.4%, and 83.2% for the SOFA score, respectively; 65.5%, 68.6%, and 67.9% for the APACHE II scoring system, respectively; and 86.2%, 77.5%, and 79.4% for the SAPS II, respectively. The areas under the curve in the ROC curve analysis for the SOFA score, APACHE II scoring system, and SAPS II were 0.896, 0.716, and 0.852, respectively. In conclusion, the SOFA, APACHE II, and SAPS II have different capability to discriminate and estimate early in-hospital mortality of organophosphate poisoned patients. The SOFA score is more useful in predicting mortality, and easier and simpler than the APACHE II and SAPS II.
*APACHE ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; *Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organophosphate Poisoning/*diagnosis/mortality ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; *Severity of Illness Index

OBJECTIVES: The composition of gallstones is very variable depending on many factors such as diet, sex, race, genetic background, and so on. The compositional changes of gallstones have been reported in Korean people. Author studied the compositional characteristics of gallstones in Pusan area to see geographical difference. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Gas chromatography and Mass spectrophotometry was performed on the gallstones obtained from the 34 patients who had been taken cholecystectomy because of acute or chronic cholecystitis. Cholesterol gallstone was defined as the composition of the cholesterol is more than 50%. RESULTS: The cholesterol gallstone was 67.6% (23/34) in the 34 patients. There was sexual difference in the cholesterol gallstone group, which the ratio of male and female was 1:2.3(7/16), while there was no difference in the non-cholesterol stone(5:6). The cholesterol stone consisted with cholesterol, bilirubin, bile acid, and palmitic acid and the propotion of them was 75.6%, 4.6%, 15.0%, and 1.8% respectively. While the proportion of non-cholesterol stone was 30.2%, 26.8%, 37.5%, and 5.5% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The cholesterol stone was major fraction of gallstone of the patients in Pusan area. There was no difference on the compostion of gallstones between those of patients in Pusan area and in the other area of Korea.
Bile ; Bilirubin ; Busan* ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystitis ; Cholesterol ; Chromatography, Gas ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Continental Population Groups ; Diet ; Female ; Gallstones* ; Gyeongsangnam-do* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Palmitic Acid ; Soil ; Spectrophotometry

We recently encountered a case of hereditary spherocytosis coexisting with Gilbert's syndrome. Patient was initially diagnosed with Gilbert's syndrome and observed, but other findings suggestive of concurrent hemolysis, such as splenomegaly and gallstones were noted during the follow-up period. Therefore, further evaluations, including a peripheral blood smear, osmotic fragility test, autohemolysis test, and red blood cell membrane protein test were performed, and coexisting hereditary spherocytosis was diagnosed. Genotyping of the conjugation enzyme uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase was used to confirm Gilbert's syndrome. Because of the high prevalence rates and similar symptoms of these 2 diseases, hereditary spherocytosis can be masked in patients with Gilbert's syndrome. In review of a case and other article, the possibility of the coexistence of these 2 diseases should be considered, especially in patients with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia who also have splenomegaly and gallstones.
Adult ; Erythrocytes/physiology ; Gallstones/etiology ; Genotype ; Gilbert Disease/complications/*diagnosis/genetics ; Glucuronosyltransferase/genetics ; Hemolysis ; Humans ; Hyperbilirubinemia/etiology ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Spherocytosis, Hereditary/complications/*diagnosis/genetics ; Splenomegaly/etiology