BACKGROUND: Tuberculous pleurisy treatment improve symptoms such as fever, chest pain, cough, and prevents the progression to active pulmonary tuberculosis and the development of residual pleural thickening that decrease diaphragm and rib cage movement. This study investigated how the degree of residual pleural thidkening affects the pulmonary function. METHODS: Fifty seven patients who were initially diagnosed as having tuberculous pleurisy, were treated with anti-tuberculous medication for 6 months and had residual pleural thickening between May 1998 and January 2000 at the Eulji university hospital were reviewed. A chest X-ray and pulmonary function test(PFT, Sensormedics 2200) were perfored. The predicted value (%) of the forced vital capacity(FVC), forced inspiratory vital capacity(FIVC) and total lung capacity(TLC) were measured. The residual pleural thickening was defined the average of the summation in the lateral chest at the level of the imaginary line intersecting from the cardiophrenic angle to the diaphragmatic dome and the lowest part of the costophrenic angle between them. The results were sorted into three grades according to pleural thickness; <2mm(grade I), 2~10mm(grade II), 10mm(grade III). RESULTS: 1. FVC(% pred) and FIVC(% pred) were statistically different between grade I and III, and II and III. However, there was no difference between the TLC(% pred) between each of the groups. 2. The pleural thickness that cause restrictive dysfunction(FVC<80%) and a statisticall difference, is 3 mm. CONCLUSION: The larger the extent of the residual pleural thickness after antituberculous medication, the greater the reduction in the FVC, FIVC, TLC. A pleural thickness of 3 mm is recommended as a guideline for diagnosing a restrictive pulmonary dysfunction.
Chest Pain ; Cough ; Diaphragm ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Ribs ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Pleural* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

No abstract available.
Fistula*

OBJECTIVE: During the last two decades, Borna disease virus (BDV) has received much attention as a possible zoonotic agent, particularly as a cause of psychiatric disease. Although several studies have shown that BDV is present in Asia, BDV has not been detected in Korea. This study was designed to further investigate the presence of BDV infection in Korea. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 39 race horses and 48 jockeys. Antibody to BDV was detected by indirect immunofluorescence antibody test and RNA of BDV by real time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR). RESULTS: No evidence of BDV was detected in either the horses or the jockeys group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BDV infection may not be endemic in Korea. Further studies with novel diagnostic tools are required to clarify the prevalence of BDV infection in Korea.
Animals ; Asia ; Borna Disease ; Borna disease virus ; Continental Population Groups ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Horses ; Humans ; Korea ; Prevalence ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA

Background: This study aimed to analyze the life expectancy and cause of death in osteoarthritis (OA) patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and to identify risk factors that affect long-term mortality rate after TKA. Methods: Among 601 patients, who underwent primary TKA due to OA by a single surgeon from July 2005 to December 2011, we identified patients who died after the operation using data obtained from the National Statistical Office of Korea. We calculated 5-, 10-, and 15-year survival rates of the patients and age-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) compared to general population of South Korea according to the causes of death. We also identified risk factors for death. Results: The 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year survival rates were 94%, 84%, and 75%, respectively.The overall age-specific SMR of the TKA cohort was lower than that of the general population (0.69; P < 0.001). Cause-specific SMRs for circulatory diseases, neoplasms, and digestive diseases after TKA were significantly lower than those of the general population (0.65, 0.58, and 0.16, respectively; all P < 0.05). Male gender, older age, lower body mass index (BMI), anemia, and higher Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) were significant factors associated with higher mortality after TKA. Conclusion TKA is a worthwhile surgery that can improve life expectancy, especially from diseases of the circulatory system, neoplasms, and digestive system, in patients with OA compared to the general population. However, careful follow-up is needed for patients with male gender, older age, lower BMI, anemia, and higher CCI, as these factors may increase long-term mortality risk after TKA.

A congenital hernia into the base of the umbilical cord is known as an exomphalos and when the size of the defect is 5 cm or less and containing only bowel, it is called as exomphalos minor. We present a case of a newborn with an exomphalos minor within a Meckel diverticulum. He underwent surgical resection of the Meckel diverticulum and repair of the abdominal wall defect. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Meckel diverticulum in an exomphalos minor in Korea.
Abdominal Wall ; Hernia ; Hernia, Umbilical* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Meckel Diverticulum* ; Minors ; Umbilical Cord

Coronary arteriovenous fistulas (CAVF) are rare malformations of the coronary circulation. They are seen in approximately 0.1% to 0.2% of all patients undergoing selective coronary angiography. We experienced a 58-years old male patient with bilateral coronary AV fistulas whoes diagnosis was confirmed by selective coronary angiography.
Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Circulation ; Diagnosis ; Fistula ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Informed consent is the procedure that respects the autonomy of patients ; doctors protect patients' choices and rights through informed consent. Competence and voluntariness are prerequisite for the informed consent. In recent years, the necessity of informed consent from the Psychiatric department has been raised. Regarding informed consent from the Psychiatric department, there is a need to consider from two perspectives : respect for the patient's decision-making ability and the psychiatrist's legal self-protection. In competence and voluntariness, psychiatric patients were excluded due to lack of decision-making ability and willingness. However, not all psychiatric patients were able to perform the given task. Therefore, informed consent is needed in the point of view regarding the decision-making ability of psychiatric patients. Psychotropic medications, particularly antipsychotics, can cause several side effects, including extrapyramidal syndrome and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, preannouncement of these patients for these side effects is needed. However, when the informed consent is only applied to psychiatric hospitals, it may increase prejudices and misconceptions about psychiatric medications and treatment. Therefore, the informed consent should first be considered carefully and thoughtfully.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Human Rights ; Humans ; Informed Consent* ; Mental Competency ; Prejudice

OBJECTIVES: This study was to evaluate the performance of the newly developed information system (IS) implemented on July 1, 2014 at three public hospitals in Korea. METHODS: User satisfaction scores of twelve key performance indicators of six IS success factors based on the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model were utilized to evaluate IS performance before and after the newly developed system was introduced. RESULTS: All scores increased after system introduction except for the completeness of medical records and impact on the clinical environment. The relationships among six IS factors were also analyzed to identify the important factors influencing three IS success factors (Intention to Use, User Satisfaction, and Net Benefits). All relationships were significant except for the relationships among Service Quality, Intention to Use, and Net Benefits. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that hospitals should not only focus on systems and information quality; rather, they should also continuously improve service quality to improve user satisfaction and eventually reach full the potential of IS performance.
Electronic Health Records ; Hospitals, Public* ; Information Systems* ; Intention ; Korea ; Medical Records

PURPOSE: Mizoribine (MZR), an inhibitor of Inosine monophosphate (IMP) dehydrogenase which depletes cellular GTP, is clinically used as an immunosuppressive drug. This study was designed to evaluate the mechanism by which MZR exerts the cytotoxic effect on Jurkat T cells. METHODS: Jurkat T cell is a human T lymphocytic cell line. It was obtained from the Korean Type Culture Collection. Cell viability was measured by the MTT assay and flow cytometry. Caspase activity assay, Western blotting, 2-D PAGE, and mitochondrial membrane potential were detected using biochemical analysis. Morphologic finding was observed by Hoechst staining. RESULTS: The data demonstrated that the treatment of MZR decreased cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. MZR-induced cell death was confirmed as apoptosis, which was characterized by chromatin condensation and H2AX phosphorylation. MZR increased the catalytic activity of caspase-3 protease, -8 protease and -9 proteases. The activation of caspase-3 protease was further confirmed by the degradation of polymerase (PARP), a substrate of caspase-3 protease by MZR in Jurkat T cells. Furthermore, MZR induced the changes of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) and the cytosolic release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria. In addition, MZR induced the decrease of Bcl-X(L) expression whereas the increase of Bcl-X(S), Bak and Bim expression. Guanosine markedly inhibited cell viability and apoptosis through consistent suppression of the activity of caspase-8 protease, an upstream caspase among the caspase family, H2AX phosphorylation and PARP cleavage in MZR-treated cells. Also, I have screened the expression profile of proteins in the Jurkat T cells by using two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis. Among 300 spots resolved in the 2-D gels, the comparison of the control versus apoptotic cells revealed that the signal intensity of 10 spots was decreased and 5 spots was increased. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that MZR functions as an inhibitor of IMP dehydrogenase in apoptosis of Jurkat T cells via activation of intrinsic caspase cascades as well as mitochondrial dysfunction.
Apoptosis* ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; Caspase 8 ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival ; Chromatin ; Cytochromes c ; Cytosol ; Electrophoresis ; Flow Cytometry ; Gels ; Guanosine ; Guanosine Triphosphate ; Humans ; IMP Dehydrogenase ; Inosine Monophosphate ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Membrane Potentials ; Mitochondria ; Oxidoreductases ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Phosphorylation ; T-Lymphocytes*