No abstract available.
Humans ; Hypoglycemia* ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Iron*

Chronic granulomatous disease is a group of rare disorders characterized by a disease of oxidative metabolism of phagocytes with deficit of antimicrobial activity. Also, it has clinical features of chronic pyogenic infection, granuloma formation, hypergammaglobulinemia, anemia and leukocytosis.We experienced a case of chronic granulomatous disease with chronic recurrent infection, hypergammaglobulinemia and liver abscess. It was confirmed by modified NBT test. The result of patient's NBT test was less than 11%. The patient received subcutaneous injection of interferon-gamma, 200 million unit (0.1mg/m2 of body surface area per dose), on three consecutive days per week for 3 weeks and her symptom was improved. Then, we report a case of chronic granulomatous disease which is improved by interferon- therapy with brief review of literature.
Anemia ; Body Surface Area ; Granuloma ; Granulomatous Disease, Chronic* ; Humans ; Hypergammaglobulinemia ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Interferon-gamma ; Liver Abscess ; Metabolism ; Phagocytes

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify nurse's role through job analysis of nursing duties for nurses working on East Asia traditional medicine wards. METHODS: Major steps in the study included a literature review, description of job activities of nurses on oriental medicine wards, comparative description of the literature, expert tests of validity of derived duties and tasks, and investigation of importance, difficulty and frequency of duties on job list. RESULTS: The job of nurses on oriental medicine wards was classified into 12 duties, 59 tasks, and 295 task elements. The 12 duties were nursing assessment, nursing diagnosis, nursing planning, nursing implementation, nursing evaluation, supplies management, management of human resources, management of environment, management of documents, formation of cooperative relationships, self-development, and nursing activity in oriental medicine. 'Formation of cooperative relationships' was the duty ranked highest for importance (4.34), 'self-development' was ranked highest for difficulty (3.47), and 'Formation of cooperative relationships' was ranked highest for frequency (4.21). CONCLUSION: Basic education for nurses on an oriental medicine unit is necessary for the performance of oriental nursing to be considered as a specialized field. This study contributes to human resource management in the oriental medical hospital.
Education ; Equipment and Supplies ; Far East ; Humans ; Job Description ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional* ; Medicine, Traditional ; Nurse's Role ; Nursing ; Nursing Assessment ; Nursing Diagnosis ; Task Performance and Analysis

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Corrected transposition of the great arteries (C-TGA) is a rare congenital heart disease, of which prognosis depends on the associated cardiac defects, systemic ventricular function, competency of atrioventricular valves, and the presence of conduction disturbances. This study was aimed to assess the midterm follow-up status of C-TGA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review was performed on 89 cases with C-TGA and two ventricles of adequate size, which were diagnosed between January 1980 and June 1997. RESULTS: Study subjects consisted of 56 males and 33 females (average age at diagnosis, 9 months). Mean follow-up duration was 98 months (range, 2 months - 23 years 8 months). Based on the associated cardiac anomalies, there were 6 simple C-TGA and 83 complex C-TGA patients. Surgery including 19 palliative and 47 corrective operations was attempted on 61 cases at mean age of 69 months. Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) was noted at the time of first examination in 52 (mild in 39; moderate in 8; severe in 5) and progressed in 18 patients. TVR was done on 5 patients and double switch on 7 patients. Arrhythmia was noted preoperatively (complete AV block in 3) in 11 and postoperatively (postoperative complete AV block in 3) in 22 patients. A total of 13 cases died including 10 perioperative deaths during follow-up. Actuarial survival rate at 10 year was 84.5%. CONCLUSION: In this study, the midterm outcome of corrected TGA is acceptable. However, long-term follow-up is required in respect to the function of atrioventricular valve and the systemic ventricle.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Arteries* ; Atrioventricular Block ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Ventricular Function

We analyzed the peripheral blood of patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer at different stages to assess the presence of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which we used as an indicator for micrometastatic malignant cells. A total of 35 gastric, 24 colorectal, 4 esophageal and 4 biliary tract cancer patients and nine normal healthy subjects were studied. No CEA mRNA was detected in the nine normal healthy volunteers. CEA mRNA was detected in 100% (10/10) of metastatic, 33.3% (3/9) of early gastric cancer (EGC), and 18.8% (3/16) resectable gastric cancer patients, respectively. In colorectal cancer, 55.6% (5/9) of metastatic cancers were positive for CEA mRNA, and 26.7% (4/15) Duke stage B/C showed positive. One patient with stage III gastric cancer who was negative CEA mRNA initially and turned positive during follow-up, developed multiple bone metastasis one month later. Another stage III patient, who was positive for CEA mRNA, preoperatively revealed early relapse in two months. These results suggest that the identification of circulating tumor cells using RT-PCR for the detection of CEA mRNA is feasible and this analysis may be a promising tool for early detection of micrometastatic circulating malignant cells in patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer.
Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen/blood* ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology ; Esophageal Neoplasms/pathology ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/blood ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Neoplasm Circulating Cells* ; Neoplasm Metastasis/diagnosis ; RNA, Messenger/blood ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology ; Tumor Markers, Biological/blood*

No abstract available.
Brachial Plexus ; Sternotomy

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of increased peritoneal permeability during peritonitis has not been clearly determined. We studied the changes in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in dialysate effluents during CAPD peritonitis, and VEGF expression in cultured peritoneal mesothelial cells (MCs) stimulated with IL-1 alpha, TNF alpha, and IFN gamma. METHODS: In 30 CAPD patients with peritonitis, dialysate effluents were serially collected at the time of diagnosis of peritonitis and when the peritonitis was recovered. Primarily cultured MCs were incubated with IL-1alpha or TNFalpha alone or in combination with INF gamma. VEGF level in dialysate effluent and MCs conditioned medium was measured by sandwich ELISA. VEGF mRNA expression was analyzed by Northern blotting. The activation of NFkappaB in response to IL-1alpha or TNFalpha was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). RESULTS: VEGF levels in dialysate effluent at the time of diagnosis of peritonitis were significantly higher (456+/-45 pg/mL) than those when the peritonitis was recovered (245+/-21 pg/mL)(p<0.00001). Both IL-1 alpha and TNFalpha stimulated VEGF production in MCs, and the stimulation was significant from 24 hours to 72 hours. INFgamma, in combination with IL-1 alpha or TNF alpha, significantly amplified IL-1 alpha - or TNF alpha - induced VEGF production. Pre-incubation of MCs with NF kappa B inhibitor, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, totally blocked IL-1 alpha - or TNF alpha-induced VEGF production. Northern blot analysis revealed that IL-1 alpha and TNF alpha stimulated VEGF mRNA expression in a dose dependent manner. The stimulation was peak at 4 hours. IL-1alpha and TNF alpha stimulated NFkappa B binding activity in MCs as early as at 15 minutes, with a peak activity at 1 hour, and p65 subunit was supershifted. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that increased expression of VEGF in peritoneal mesothelial cells stimulated with proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1alpha, TNFalpha, and IFN gamma, plays a role in the increased peritoneal permeability during CAPD peritonitis.
Blotting, Northern ; Culture Media, Conditioned ; Cytokines ; Diagnosis ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Interleukin-1alpha ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Peritonitis ; Permeability ; RNA, Messenger ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyse researches on nursing intervention for elderly health promotion. METHOD: A literature review of 38 researches was carried out using guidelines developed by the present researchers. RESULT: The research papers studied in this research were theses written for doctoral or master's degree and published between 1994 to 2004. These researches applied nursing intervention for health promotion of elders and used experimental study design. The average period of nursing intervention was about 9 weeks and the average frequency was three times per week. As for major characteristics of subject groups, most of them were over 65 years old (76.3%) and resided in community (65.8%), and each group consisted of 10 to 29 elders. The dependent variables used in these studies included physiological variables (blood pressure, blood cholesterol level, pulmonary function, fasting blood sugar, blood cortisol level, body mass etc.), psychologic variables (depression, quality of life, life satisfaction, loneliness, anxiety etc.), cognitive variables (perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, self-concept, subjective health status etc.), activities of daily livings, health promotion behavior, pain, risks of fall, and variables related to Trans Theoretical Model. The majority of these studies (78.9%) applied exercise programs for health promotion including exercise motivating programs (15.8%). CONCLUSION: We suggest that more various nursing interventions must be applied to promote elders' health and to take care of their chronic diseases.
Aged* ; Anxiety ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Chronic Disease ; Fasting ; Health Promotion* ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Loneliness ; Models, Theoretical ; Nursing* ; Quality of Life

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Aloe is one of the well known substances to decrease inflammation and promote wound healing. Although little is known about its mechanism, recent studies suggest that aloe vera extracts may have the anti-allergic effect by inhibiting the mediator release evoked by mast cell activation. Therefore, we were to investigate the effect of NY945, a glycoprotein fraction of Aloe vera, on nasal mucosa of the ovalbumin (OVA) sensitized guinea pigs. Materials and Methods: Female Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs were sensitized with intraperitoneal injection and subsequent inhalation of OVA. NY945 was injected intraperitonealy before intranasal challenge of OVA with an ultrasonic nebulizer. Airway resistance, mucosal permeability, histamine concentration in the nasal lavage fluid, the number of mast cells and eosinophils in nasal mucosa and serum level of OVA -specific IgE were evaluated. RESULTS: NY945 effectively inhibited respiratory airway resistance in the sensitized guinea pigs. The concentration of dye into nasal lavage fluid was rapidly increased after OVA instillation and NY945 inhibited the OVA -induced microvascular dye leakage. OVA inhalation to sensitized guinea pig resulted in prominent increase of histamine concentration in the nasal lavage fluid. This response was inhibited by intraperitoneal NY945 injection. It also inhibited accumulation of eosinophils in the nasal mucosa in sensitized guinea pigs. However, there was no change in the serum OVA -specific IgE level between the NY945 treated and control group. CONCLUSION: The data suggest that NY945 inhibits early allergic reaction via inhibition of histamine release and eosinophil infiltration.
Airway Resistance ; Aloe* ; Animals ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Glycoproteins* ; Guinea Pigs* ; Guinea* ; Histamine ; Histamine Release ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Inhalation ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Mast Cells ; Nasal Lavage Fluid ; Nasal Mucosa ; Nebulizers and Vaporizers ; Ovalbumin ; Ovum ; Permeability ; Ultrasonics ; Wound Healing