No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

Thyroid acropachy is a rare complication of Graves' disease, manifested by clubbing of the terminal phalanges, periosteal new bone formation and overlying soft tissue swelling, It may occur when the patient is hypothyroid, euthyroid or hyperthyroid. In most cases, it is a part of the syndrome, including exophthalmos and/or pretibial myxedema. The authors have experienced one case of thyroid acropachy and report with a review of the literature review. The patient a 56-year-old female with a characteristic feathery new bone formation on the medial side of the shaft of the left first metatarsal bone and overlying soft tissue swelling. However, there was no pretibial myxedema and clubbing of fingers. She was hypothyroid and treated with systemic corticosteroid for mild pain and persistent swelling. The treatment had temporarily improved the patient's condition.
Exophthalmos ; Female ; Fingers ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Metatarsal Bones ; Middle Aged ; Myxedema ; Osteogenesis ; Thyroid Gland*

No abstract available.
Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Estradiol* ; Fertilization in Vitro*

No abstract available.
Tuberculosis, Miliary*

The Guillain-Barre Sydrome (GBS) is an acute inflammatory demylinating polyradiculoneuropathy of unknown etiology. It occurs frequently one to three weeks after a banal antecedent respiratory or gastrointestinal infection. Other preceding events include surgical procedures, viral exanthems and other viral illnesses, mycoplasma infections, the spirochetal infection of Lyrne disease, lymphomatous disease, adrninistration of vaccination and so on. We experienced 2 cases of typical GBS in clinical features, CSF finding and electrophysiological aspect after antecedent nckettsial infection. To our knowledge, this is the first discription of GBS associated with preceding rickettsial disease. We would like to suggest that rickettsial infection would be one of possible antecedent illness associated with GBS.
Exanthema ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome* ; Mycoplasma Infections ; Polyradiculoneuropathy ; Vaccination

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Hyperlipoproteinemia Type IV* ; Hyperlipoproteinemias ; Xanthomatosis*

BACKGROUND: It is well known that atrial fibrillation is common cardiac arrythmia in old age and poses a definitive risk factor of cerebral infarction. Therefore, effective treatment of atrial fibrillation is very important in the prevention of cerebral infarction. However, oral anticoagulant medication for the prevention of embolic ischemic stroke may be dangerous due to cerebral hemorrhage side effects. METHODS: This is a controlled case study designed to identify the risk factors in a large numbers of stroke and atrial fibrillation patients and to assess those patients with atrial fibrillation as a high risk group for cerebral infarction. All patient discharged from Chonnam National University Hospital were identified over a 42 month period who met our case standards of atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke (n=62), and compared them with the control groups who were discharged with atrial fibrillation without stroke(n=68). We excluded the atrial fibrillation due to valvular heart disease, ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure during the selection of subjects. RESULTS: Subjects and the controls were characteristically similar with common past medical histories of diabets, smoking, and hyperlipidemia. Sex, familial history, left ventricular hypertrophy in 2D-echocardiogram were also similar in both groups, however differences did exist. Subjects were significantly older than controls(68.9 : 63.9, p<0.001) and more likely to have a history of hypertension(56.5% : 23.5%, p<0.001) and left atrial enlargement(>40mm)(52.6% : 29.0%, p<0.001). Each of these 3 factors were assinged a measure of 1 point as a risk score, ischemic embolic stroke was found in 4 out of 28 patients(14.3%) with a risk score of 0, in 16 out of 39 patients(41.0%) with a risk score of 1, in 29 out of 41 patients(70.7%) with a risk score of 2, in 8 out of 11 patients(72.7%) with a risk score of 3. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the above results, a subject having more than two risk factors should be regarded as a high risk group for cerebral infarction and the long term anticoagulant therapy for the prevention of stroke may also be necessary even though some complications are present.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation* ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Valve Diseases ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Jeollanam-do ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Patient Selection ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke

Conventional MRI methods using T1-, T2-, diffusion-, perfusion-weighting, and functional imaging rely on characterizing the physical and functional properties of the tissue. In this review, we introduce an imaging modality based on measured the mechanical properties of soft tissue, namely magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). The use of palpation to identify the stiffness of tissue remains a fundamental diagnostic tool. MRE can quantify the stiffness of the tissue thereby providing a objective means to measure the mechanical properties. To accomplish a successful clinical setting using MRE, hardware and software techniques in the area of transducer, pulse sequence, and imaging processing algorithm need to be developed. Transducer, a mechanical vibrator, is the core of MRE application to make wave propagate invivo. For this reason, considerations of the frame of human body, pressure and friction of the interface, and high magnetic field of a MRI system needs to be taken into account when designing a transducer. Given that the wave propagates through human body effectively, developing an appropriate pulse sequence is another important issue in obtaining an optimal image. In this review paper, we introduce the technical aspects needed for MRE experiments and introduce several applications of this new field.
Elasticity Imaging Techniques* ; Friction ; Human Body ; Magnetic Fields ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Palpation ; Transducers

BACKGROUND: Negative public attitude toward epilepsy is a common phenomenon all over the world and one of the major factors causing social discrimination against people with epilepsy. In general, those with epilepsy have considerable limitations in their interaction with and adaptation to their surroundings, and some of them find social attitudes more devastating than the disorder itself. METHODS: In order to indicate folk medicines known as an epilepsy treatment among Korean rural residents and to deduce the background of the negative attitudes from analysis of the estimated effect of the folk medicine, a survey was conducted in a Korean rural area. RESULTS: Of 713 persons contacted in the survey, 22% of respondents replied that they knew at least one folk medicine as an epilepsy treatment. About 55% of the folk medicines were superstitious or incantational one such as eating the organs of animals or humans, or soup boiled with the branches of a tree struck by lightening, or with a rope used in a suicidal hanging. From the results, we can deduce the fact that the understanding of epilepsy by the Korean respondents base on the supernatural or superstitious thinking that seem to be attributed to our own unique culture. CONCLUSION: In order to ameliorate prejudices against epilepsy and allow epileptic persons to interact with and adapt to their surrounding properly, not only continuous and repetitive educational efforts but also the sympathy of professional and lay societies regarding epilepsy would be needed.
Animals ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Eating ; Epilepsy* ; Humans ; Medicine, Traditional* ; Prejudice ; Social Discrimination ; Superstitions ; Thinking ; Trees