Decreased cardiac output can present dizziness that is usually described as light-headed sensation of an impending faint. It is often associated with a feeling of unsteadiness or even of falling. Cardiogenic dizziness should always be included as a differential diagnosis especially when examining older patients with dizziness. It is obviously important to identify patients with heart related presyncope or syncope, because many of them have serious underlying cardiac diseases and are at risk for sudden death, if not appropriately treated. Four patients with dizziness were diagnosed at the University Hospital as having dizziness originated from decreased cardiac output. Two had the sick sinus syndrome, one had a complete AV block and one had a congestive heart failure with 2nd degree AV block. After evaluation and cardiac pacemaker implantation, they all became free of dizziness. We present these cases with some review of cardiogenic dizziness.
Atrioventricular Block ; Cardiac Output ; Death, Sudden ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dizziness* ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Sensation ; Sick Sinus Syndrome ; Syncope

PURPOSE: For evaluation of drug intoxication patients, the MMPI is a widely used neuropsychiatric tool to investigate patients' personalities. METHODS: We administered a questionnaire and the MMPI to patients who came to our ER between 1 March 2007 and March 1 2008. Patient characteristics, past neuropsychiatric history, and were investigated. RESULTS: We enrolled 43 patients, X females and Y males. Anti-psychotics were the drugs that were most frequently consumed (by 42% of subjects) and economic status was the most frequent cause of overdose. Pathologic psychosis was the most frequent disorder in their medical history. The MMPI indicated that depression type (D) was 64 and 36 patients were increased over the nomal level. 16 patients of 18 patients with depression history were increased in the type D (p=0.000) and assessment was analytically increased (k=0.854). CONCLUSION: MMPI of drug intoxication patients may be useful during early neuropsychiatric examinations, and may be a useful tool for making treatment decisions.
Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Minnesota ; MMPI ; Porphyrins ; Psychotic Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in Korea has not been reported. Additionally, it is unclear whether OBI influences treatment outcome in CHC patients. We investigated the prevalence of OBI and its impact on treatment outcome in patients with CHC. METHODS: Seventy-six patients with CHC were enrolled and treated with pegylated or conventional interferon and ribavirin. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Among the 68 patients who completed treatment and follow-up, HBV DNA was detected in serum from nine (13.2%) patients, liver tissue from 10 (14.7%), and serum or liver tissue from 15 (22.1%). OBI was diagnosed in nine (12.7%) control subjects. No difference in the prevalence of OBI between patients with CHC and controls was observed (13.2 vs. 12.0%; p = 0.92). No significant differences in age, sex, genotype 1 frequency, amount of hepatitis C virus RNA, anti-hepatitis B surface antigen/anti-hepatitis B core-IgG seropositivity, staging, or histology grading were observed in patients with or without HBV DNA. Sustained virological response was achieved in 73.3% of patients with OBI and 83.0% without OBI (p = 0.46). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that a significant proportion of patients with CHC have occult HBV infection and that OBI does not affect treatment outcome in patients with CHC.
DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Interferons ; Korea ; Liver ; Prevalence ; Ribavirin ; RNA ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVES:Left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) increases the risk of sudden death in hypertensive patients and this is known due to ventricular arrhythmias. Thus, author studied the relationship between LVH as a hypertensive target organ damage and ventricular arrhythmias. METHODS: 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, measurement of microalbumin in 24-hour urine and fundoscopic examination were performed on 100 hypertensives (50 patients without LVH and 50 patients with LVH on EKG) who admitted Pusan National University Hospital. RESULTS: In patients with LVH, ventricular extrasystoles occurred more frequently than without LVH(p<0.05) and ventricular couplet and ventricular tachycardia were more common but statistically not different. Microalbuminuria and hypertensive retinopathy were more severe in patients with LVH than without LVH(p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Of the ventricular arrhythmias, ventricular extrasystole but not ventricular couplet and ventricular tachycardia occurred more frequently in patients with LVH than without LVH. Thus, prospective study with long-term follow up should be done to establish the relationship between hypertensive LVH and cardiovascular mortality, especially sudden death. And, further study should be done to make the relationship between reduction in LVH with antihypertensive therapy and reduction in LVH-associated ventricular arrhythmias.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac* ; Busan ; Death, Sudden ; Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ; Humans ; Hypertensive Retinopathy ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular* ; Mortality ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Ventricular Premature Complexes