This study was performed to assess the effect of one year's of meal service for home-staying urban elderly with low incole on their nutritional status. One hundred and eighty three subjects, who had already completed the first nutritional survey, were assigned to two group : meal served(served) and non-meal served(non-served). A meal containing approximately on half of the RDA for energy, protein, calcium and iron was served as lunch everyday to served group. After on year of meal service, follow-up-nutritional survey was done and changes of parameters were analyzed with paired t-test. Served female showed signficantly increased intake of riboflavin and calcium, while non-served female showed significantly decreased intake of calcium. Serum total protein, serum albumin and serum cholesterol were significantly increased in female regardless of meal service. Served remale was observed with significantly elevated LDL-cholesterol, whereas non-served female showed singnificantly lowered HDL-cholesterol. Significantly decreased serum iron, serum transferrin saturaion and significantly increased TIBC were observed for female regardless of meal service. But the proportion of anemic elderly according to Hb or serum iron was decreased more in served group. Female showed significantly increased serum zinc and copper regardless of meal service, whereas only served male showed significantly increased serum copper.
Aged* ; Calcium ; Cholesterol ; Copper ; Female ; Humans ; Iron ; Lunch ; Male ; Meals* ; Nutrition Surveys ; Nutritional Status ; Riboflavin ; Serum Albumin ; Transferrin ; Zinc

Herpes zoster is known to be more frequent and severe in patients during immunosuppressive treatment and various predisposing factors, such as Hodgkin's disease, advanced tumor stage, local X-ray irradiation, splenectomy and cutaneous anergy. This report presents the case of a 23-year-old woman who developed herpes zoater on two separate occasione during the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus with immunosuppressive agents (corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide). In each occasion, it was involved by different and multiple dermatomes. Treatment with oral and intralesional corticosteroids administration proved to be beneficial without any complication, although some delayed recovery of the disease was noted.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Causality ; Female ; Herpes Zoster* ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Splenectomy ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Massive blood transfusios are uncommon. The goal of this study was to propose an ideal ratio for the blood component of massive hemorrhage treatment after review of five years of massive transfusion practice, in order to have the best possible clinical outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We defined a 'massive transfusion' as receiving 10 or more units of red blood cells in one day. A list of patients receiving a massive transfusion from 2004 to 2008 was generated using the electronic medical records. For each case, we calculated the ratio of blood components and examined its relationship to their survival. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty four patients underwent massive transfusion during the five years of the study. The overall seven-day hospital mortality for massive transfusion patients was 26.1%. Factors independently predictive of survival were a fresh-frozen plasma (FFP)/packed red blood cell (pRBC) ratio> or =1.1 with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.96 (1.03-3.70), and elective admission with an OR of 2.6 (1.52-4.40). The receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve suggest that a 1 : 1 : 1 ratio of pRBCs to FFP to platelets is the best ratio for survival. CONCLUSION: Fixing blood-component ratios during active hemorrhage shows improved outcomes. Thus, the hospital blood bank and physician hypothesized that a fixed blood component ratio would help to reduce mortality and decrease utilization of the overall blood component.
Adult ; Blood Cell Count ; Blood Transfusion/*methods ; Female ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Variceal rupture is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in cirrhotic patients and is well investigated. However, there are few documented studies on nonvariceal UGIB (NVUGIB) in these patients. This study was conducted to evaluate clinical features, in-hospital mortality rate and factors associated with mortality in cirrhotic patients with NVUGIB. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 399 cirrhotic patients who presented UGIB at Gyeongsang National University Hospital during 5 years since January 2007, patients with NVUGIB were selected by retrospective review of medical records. The patients' clinical and endoscopic findings, treatment outcomes, in-hospital mortality rates and its risk factors were investigated. RESULTS: NVUGIB was documented in 83 patients (20.8%). Mean age was 60.7+/-9.7 years, 85.5% was male. Child-Pugh class was A or B in 88%. Initial hemodynamic instability was reported in 25.3%, and 65.1% required blood transfusions. The major bleeding source was peptic ulcer 95.2% (79/83), and 44.6% (37/83) had endoscopic high risk bleeding stigmata and required endoscopic hemostasis. Rebleeding rate was 7.2% and in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%. Hemodynamic instability (71.4% vs. 22.4%, P=0.013) and rebleeding (57.1% vs. 2.6%, P=0.000) were more frequent in the mortality group compared to the survival group. Hemodynamic instability was the risk factor for mortality at univariate and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: NVUGIB accounted for 20.8% of UGIB in liver cirrhosis and its development was not related to liver function. Peptic ulcer was the major cause and 45% required endoscopic hemostasis. It's in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%, and hemodynamic instability was an independent risk factor of mortality in NVUGIB.
Blood Transfusion ; Christianity ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis, Endoscopic ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Peptic Ulcer ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Rupture

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Variceal rupture is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in cirrhotic patients and is well investigated. However, there are few documented studies on nonvariceal UGIB (NVUGIB) in these patients. This study was conducted to evaluate clinical features, in-hospital mortality rate and factors associated with mortality in cirrhotic patients with NVUGIB. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 399 cirrhotic patients who presented UGIB at Gyeongsang National University Hospital during 5 years since January 2007, patients with NVUGIB were selected by retrospective review of medical records. The patients' clinical and endoscopic findings, treatment outcomes, in-hospital mortality rates and its risk factors were investigated. RESULTS: NVUGIB was documented in 83 patients (20.8%). Mean age was 60.7+/-9.7 years, 85.5% was male. Child-Pugh class was A or B in 88%. Initial hemodynamic instability was reported in 25.3%, and 65.1% required blood transfusions. The major bleeding source was peptic ulcer 95.2% (79/83), and 44.6% (37/83) had endoscopic high risk bleeding stigmata and required endoscopic hemostasis. Rebleeding rate was 7.2% and in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%. Hemodynamic instability (71.4% vs. 22.4%, P=0.013) and rebleeding (57.1% vs. 2.6%, P=0.000) were more frequent in the mortality group compared to the survival group. Hemodynamic instability was the risk factor for mortality at univariate and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: NVUGIB accounted for 20.8% of UGIB in liver cirrhosis and its development was not related to liver function. Peptic ulcer was the major cause and 45% required endoscopic hemostasis. It's in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%, and hemodynamic instability was an independent risk factor of mortality in NVUGIB.
Blood Transfusion ; Christianity ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis, Endoscopic ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Peptic Ulcer ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Rupture

BACKGROUND: An elective operation is cancelled by many causes. Cancellation of the operation bothers patients physically and emotionally; also it affects the patient's family emotionally. If we know the causes of cancellation, we can prevent them. In addition we can provide better quality medical service. METHOD: We examined all patients scheduled for an operation in An - am Hospital, Korea University from August 3rd, 1999 to September 19th, 1999 and from September 16th, 1999 to December 6th, 1999. We counted the number of operations which were cancelled on the day of operation and put together the causes of cancellation after asking surgical employees. RESULTS: The total numbers of scheduled patients was 2,494 and cancelled patients was 512. The overall cancellation rate was 20.5%. The most common cause was departmental, 48.4%; abnormal laboratory results, 24.8%; patients denial, 9.6%; inadequate preparation, 7.0%; overtime, 5.5%; or a change to local anesthesia, 4.7%. In the departmental causes, 52% was due to an excessive schedule (129/248); 32.3% to delayed admission (80/248); 8.9% to clerical error (22/248); 4.4% to operator problems (11/248); and 1.6% to delayed transfer (4/248). In the abnormal laboratory results, 27.6% were due to the medical causes (35/127); 23.6% to LFT (30/127); 23% to an EKG (23/127); 18% to a chest roentgenogram (18/127); 8.7% to a URI (11/127); and 5.5% to hypertension (7/127). CONCLUSIONS: Overall the cancellation rate of elective surgery was 20.5%. The most common cause was departmental (48.7%), and abnormal laboratory results (24.8%) was next.
Anesthesia, Local ; Appointments and Schedules ; Denial (Psychology) ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Thorax

PURPOSE: Podocytes are critical in maintaining the filtration barrier of the glomerulus and are dependent on the integrity of slit diaphragm(SD) proteins including nephrin, P-cadherin, and others. Diabetic proteinuric condition demonstrates defects in SD molecules as well as ultrastructural changes in podocytes. We examined the molecular basis for this alteration of SD molecules especially on P-cadherin as a candidate regulating the modulation of pathogenic changes in the barrier to protein filtration. METHODS: To investigate whether high glucose and AGE induce changes in SD, we cultured rat GEpC under normal(5 mM) or high glucose(30 mM) and AGE- or BSA-added conditions and measured the change of P-cadherin expression by Western blotting and RT- PCR. RESULTS: We found that administration of high glucose decreased the P-cadherin production significantly in the presence or absence of AGE by Western blotting. In RT-PCR high glucose with or without AGE also significantly decreased the expression of P-cadherin mRNA compared to those of controls. Such changes were not seen in the osmotic control. CONCLUSION: We suggest that high glucose with or without AGE suppresses the production of P-cadherin at the transcriptional level and that these changes may explain the functional changes of SD in diabetic conditions.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cadherins* ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Filtration ; Glucose* ; Glycosylation* ; Podocytes ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger

This study was conducted to evaluate the association of single serum total cholesterol (TC) measurement with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) deaths in Korean adults. The study subjects were taken from the multi-site collaborative dynamic prospective cohort for epidemiologic investigation on cancer risk in residents nearby nuclear power plants in Korea. A total of 12,740 adults aged 40 to 69 yr who underwent a mass screening examination were followed up from 1993 to 2008. Occurring CVD deaths were confirmed by the death certificates in the National Statistical Office, Korea. Groups with the lowest group having TC < 160 mg/dL as well as the highest group having >= 240 mg/dL were associated with higher CVD mortality in Cox proportional hazards analysis adjusting for age, sex, smoking and drinking status, body mass index, level of blood pressure, triglyceride and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. The distribution of adjusted hazard ratios showed the U-shaped curve. Based on the results of this study, caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk in Korean adults.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases/*blood/epidemiology/*mortality ; Cholesterol/*blood ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Smoking ; Triglycerides/blood

BACKGROUND: Scientific and epidemiologic studies have shown that several dermatoses of Vietnam veterans were caused by Agent Orange. Most of the previous studies on Vietnam veterans have been about the relationship between systemic diseases including limited dermatoses and Agent Orange, but there have been no clinical studies of dermatoses of Korean Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. OBJECTIVE: We conducted this study to find out the distribution and characteristics of dermatoses of Korean Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. METHODS: A total of 19, 262 Korean Vietnam veterans who received their first dermatological examination at Seoul Veterans Hospital between January 1997 and December 2003 were included in this study, which consisted of a skin examination and 15-item questionnaire. RESULTS: 1. The distribution of dermatoses groups were as follows: pruritus, psychocutaneous disorders, and neurocutaneous dermatoses (36.1%), dermatomycosis and deep mycosis (20.5%), eczema (11.6%), diseases of the skin appendages (3.6%), epidermal and adnexal nevi and tumors (2.1%), drug eruption, erythema, and urticaria (1.8%), and papulosquamous diseases (1.5%). 2. Pruritus (31.6%) was the most frequent dermatosis in all age groups. 3. The frequency of dermatoses related to exposure to Agent Orange were as follows: seborrheic dermatitis (4.8%), chronic urticaria (1.7%), psoriasis vulgaris (1.2%), xerotic eczema (0.5%), photosensitive dermatitis (0.2%), chloracne (0.1%), soft tissue sarcoma (0.1%), and malignant tumors (0.01%). 4. With regard to regional groups of dispatch in Vietnam, QuiNhon (20.1%) was the most frequent area of dispatch. There was no statistically significant difference in frequency of dermatoses related to exposure to Agent Orange between Dian, where larger amounts of Agent Orange were sprayed, and the other regional groups. 5. For duration of dispatch in Vietnam, there was no statistically significant difference in frequency of dermatoses related to exposure to Agent Orange between two groups of duration. CONCLUSION: This study showed the distribution and characteristics of dermatoses of Korean Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, and may be helpful as the fundamental epidemiologic data of dermatoses of Korean Vietnam veterans for dermatologists to examine.
Chloracne ; Citrus sinensis* ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Dermatomycoses ; Drug Eruptions ; Eczema ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Erythema ; Hospitals, Veterans ; Humans ; Nevus ; Pruritus ; Psoriasis ; Sarcoma ; Seoul ; Skin ; Skin Diseases* ; Urticaria ; Veterans* ; Vietnam* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Odontogenic keratocysts are benign intraosseous tumors of odontogenic origin that occur most commonly in the jaw. In particular, they have a predilection for the angle and ascending ramus of the mandible. In contrast, odontogenic keratocysts arising in the maxillary sinus are relatively rare. Two such cases are reported herein. In addition, the English literature that concerns odontogenic keratocysts of the maxillary sinus is reviewed.
Jaw ; Mandible ; Maxillary Sinus ; Odontogenic Cysts ; Tooth