Vibrio vulnificus is a halophilic gram-negative, marine bacterium which causes fulminating and potentially fatal human disease. A new sensitive and specific serogrouping procedure was developed for identifying V. vulnificus. Reference antis:ra(01-014) to V. vulnificus were prepared by vaccinated rabbits with heat-killed bacteria, and the antisera were examined whether erogrouping test will be available for rapid and sensitive identification method of V. vulnifiius or not. All of thirty-seven clinical strains tested were agglutinated with 5 kinds of aritisera such as 04A, 01, 013, 03, and 014. Of these serovar 04A was predominant(75.7%). The author investigated the correlation among certain serovars, consumed seafoods, and nortality rate to verify whether the serovar is of pognostic value. There was no significant orrelation among them. These results suggest theart serogrouping procedure could be of value in rapidly identifying V. vulnificus.
Bacteria ; Humans ; Immune Sera ; Rabbits ; Seafood ; Vibrio vulnificus* ; Vibrio*

Paraquat(Gramoxone) is the most commonly used herbicide in Korea. But serious paraquat poisoning in human beings has occurred following ingestion or exposure to the skin. Exposure to paraquat through the skin has resulted in local irritation or inflammation of varyiig degree, sometimes severe. We report three cases of primary irritant dermatitis due to paraquat. Two patients developed generalized vesicobullae and necrotirulcer in the scrotum, respectively. The other patient developed painful whitish patch and erosion in ttie tongue after accidental exposure.
Dermatitis, Irritant* ; Eating ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Paraquat ; Poisoning ; Scrotum ; Skin ; Tongue

Focal dermal hypoplasia (Goltz syndrome) is a rare genetic mesoectodermal disorder characterized by variable multisystem defects, including anomalies of the skin, skeleton, teeth and eyes. A 22-year-old female patient presented with confluent and disciete, yellowish nodules on the calves, white linear atrophic lesions, hypoand hyper!igmented patches, and telangiectasia scattered over the trunk, neck and extremities. In addition to the skin lesions, this patient showed hypertrophy of the left leg, anomalies of the left foot, fingers and nails, and maloccluded teeth. Histopathological findings of a yellow nodule revealed accumulations of adipose tissue very near to the epidermis that largely replaced the upper dermis.
Adipose Tissue ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Extremities ; Female ; Fingers ; Focal Dermal Hypoplasia* ; Foot ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Leg ; Neck ; Skeleton ; Skin ; Telangiectasis ; Tooth ; Young Adult

No abstract available.

The buttercup is an inportant irritant plant which contairs an unsaturated lactone, protoanemonin, formed by the breakdown of a glucoside in injured plants. We report the three cases of irritant contact dermatitis due to buttercup(Ranunculus sceleratus). These patient developed erythematous and edematous patches with tense vesicles or bullae on t,he application site of pounded buttercup for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, arthralgia, and neuralgia, respectively.
Arthralgia ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermatitis, Irritant* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Neuralgia ; Plants ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation

Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant, small, round cell tumor that usually affects long bones. The acral part of the extremities is a very rare primary site for this neo plasm. A fifteen-year-old girl was seen for a lobulated, dome-shaped, 2.7cm diameter, denuded mass on the distal phalanx of the right middle finger which had increased in size over a 14-month period. The radiological featuies of the hand showed a cortical brick of distal phalanx and surrounding soft tissue mass. Histologically, the biopsy specimen showed sheets of small round to oval cells with scanty cytoplasm, that were closely packed and separated into lobules by trands of fibrous tissue. A periodic acid-Schiff stain demonsirated glycogen in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. Electron microscopy showed large aggregates of glycogen in the cytoplasm of the neoaplastic cells. Immunohistochemical stains revealed positive staining for vimentin, glial fibrillary acid potein, and neuron specific enolase, stains for S-100, Factor VIII, and cytokeratin were negative.
Biopsy ; Coloring Agents ; Cytoplasm ; Extremities ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Fingers ; Glycogen ; Hand ; Humans ; Keratins ; Microscopy, Electron ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Sarcoma* ; Sarcoma, Ewing ; Vimentin

Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant, small, round cell tumor that usually affects long bones. The acral part of the extremities is a very rare primary site for this neo plasm. A fifteen-year-old girl was seen for a lobulated, dome-shaped, 2.7cm diameter, denuded mass on the distal phalanx of the right middle finger which had increased in size over a 14-month period. The radiological featuies of the hand showed a cortical brick of distal phalanx and surrounding soft tissue mass. Histologically, the biopsy specimen showed sheets of small round to oval cells with scanty cytoplasm, that were closely packed and separated into lobules by trands of fibrous tissue. A periodic acid-Schiff stain demonsirated glycogen in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. Electron microscopy showed large aggregates of glycogen in the cytoplasm of the neoaplastic cells. Immunohistochemical stains revealed positive staining for vimentin, glial fibrillary acid potein, and neuron specific enolase, stains for S-100, Factor VIII, and cytokeratin were negative.
Biopsy ; Coloring Agents ; Cytoplasm ; Extremities ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Fingers ; Glycogen ; Hand ; Humans ; Keratins ; Microscopy, Electron ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Sarcoma* ; Sarcoma, Ewing ; Vimentin

No abstract available.
Aeromonas hydrophila* ; Aeromonas* ; Animals ; Histamine Release* ; Histamine* ; Mast Cells* ; Rats*

BACKGROUND: Midazolam relaxes airway smooth muscle. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of flumazenil or verapamil on the relaxation effects of midazolam in tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig. METHODS: After isolating guinea-pig tracheal preparations, the maximal tracheal tones were induced by 2 10(-7) M carbachol. When tracheal tones stabilized, midazolam was added cumulatively (10(-6), 3 10(-6), 10(-5), 3 10(-5), 10(-4) M, n=14) with or without flumazenil (10(-6) M, n=15) and verapamil (10(-5) M, n=13) to obtain the concentration-relaxation curves, and then the ED50 and ED95 calculated. RESULTS: Midazolam decreased maximal tracheal smooth muscle tones in concentration-dependent manners. Pretreatment with flumazenil had no effect on the midazolam-induced relaxation. Verapamil enhanced the relaxation effect of midazolam. CONCLUSIONS: Midazolam relaxes airway smooth muscle and has synergistic effect with calcium channel blocker, verapamil.
Animals ; Calcium Channels ; Carbachol ; Flumazenil* ; Guinea Pigs ; Midazolam* ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Relaxation* ; Verapamil*

BACKGOUND: The number of ICU beds related to the number of general acute care beds provides a broad measure of intensive care, but it has obvious limitations and underestimates extreme regional differences. As a first step, we evaluated the number of ICU beds or the ratio of ICU beds to hospital beds in university and non-university hospitals in Korea. METHODS: The number of ICU beds and hospital beds, the ratio of the number of ICU beds to hospital beds, and the types of ICU in each range of ICU beds and hospital beds in the university and non-university hospital were analyzed as well. RESULTS: Thirty university hospitals had 1,824 ICU beds out of 25,966 hospital beds, an average of 7.0%. The number of ICU beds ranged from 17 to 159 beds and hospital beds ranged from 400 to 2,000 beds in university hospitals. Fourteen non-university hospitals had 377 ICU beds out of 6,121 hospital beds, an average of 6.2%. In non-university hospitals, the number of ICU beds ranged from 6 to 67 beds with 50 to 700 hospital beds. If there was only one ICU, e.g. multidisciplinary, or more than one, the director of a multidisciplinary and surgical ICU was usually filled by an anesthesiologist, while the directors of other ICUs were usually specialists according to each specific ICU. CONCLUSIONS: There was a large disparity in the number of ICU beds and in the ratio of ICU beds to hospital beds between university and non-university hosptials, and even between university hospitals.
Hospitals, University ; Intensive Care Units* ; Critical Care* ; Korea* ; Specialization