No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Incidence* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Mortality* ; Statistics as Topic*

This is a case report of intestinal eosinophilic granuloma caused by Ascaris ova and worm which is supposed to be rare in Korea. Case: A 23 year old healthy female reached Pusan Sanitation Hospital with complaints of high fever and abdominal pain on December 3 in 1966. Examination: Her temperature was 99.6 F. Pulse 80. Abdominal palpation showed muscle rigidity and tenderness. On the right side of the abdomen diagnosis due to ruptured appendix was made, and a laparotomy was performed the same day. Operation: Intestinal perforation by a Ascaris worm in the caecum about 7 cm from the ileo-caecal junction was also found. The worm was liquefied already. The intestine was edematous . Numerous rice sized nodules were seen on the intestine. The omentum was markdly inflammed and was adhered with a fist size mass. The mass and appendix were also resected in order to do a histological study. Pathology: Two kinds of tissues were examined : one a mesenteric mass, the other lymph node. Microscopically, it showed intensive and entirely necrotic tissue in which numerous parasitic ova were surrounded by granulomatous inflammatory cells with eosinophiles . The parasitic ova were degenerative and partialy necrotic although they had three layers of egg shell which are identified with Ascaris ova.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Ascaris lumbricoides ; egg granuloma-case report ; eosinophile

Osteochondroma is the most common of the benign bone tumors. They are probably developmental malformations rather than true neoplasms. But rarely they develope in a joint, especially in the ankle joint. We reported a case of intraarticular osteochondromatosis of ankle joint.
Ankle Joint ; Ankle ; Joints ; Osteochondroma ; Osteochondromatosis

BACKGROUND: Up to the present, there has been little study on chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome, and there is equally sparse relevant statistical data For this reason, we attempted to investigate the present status of fatigue, particularly its incidence and actual conditions. METHODS: The study subjects were 12,152 outpatients who visited family practice in hospitals all over Korea between July 24 and September 21, 1997. They were given a questionnaire which included questions reflecting the (U.S.) Center for Disease Control criteria defining chronic fatigue syndrome. RESULTS: Among the subjects, 861 people complained of fatigue in their response to the questionnaire and they became the focus of the study. Of this fatigue group, 426 people(49.4%) had rnanifested fatigue for more than 6 manths, and the male/female ratio was 54%/46%, respectively. People who re ported that fatigue impaired their ability to function on a daily basis made up 35.8% of the fatigue group and the percentage of people who had considered visiting a clinic duen to fatigue wasa unexpectedly high 52.8%. The reported causes of fatigue, in decreasing order, were. social interactio(mals 68.5%/ femals 45.1%); sleep disturbance(mals 26.8%/ femals 21.8%); and physical maladies(mals 24.2%/femals 26.5%). There were significant gender differences in social interaction relating to domestic problems(mals 4.7%/femals 16.7%) and emotional problems(mals 12.2%/femals 21.4%). Among 33 chronic fatigue syndrome patients who indicated what they thought were the causes of their problems, 68.8% reported physical maladies, 65.6% social life, 31.3% emotional problems, 21.9% sleep disturbance, and 21.9 % domestic problems. The associated symptoms of fatigue reported in both males and females, in decreasing order, included: myalgia, headache and neurologic symptoms. The prevalence of chronic fatigue was 0.27%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that 7.1% of family practice outpatients complained of fatigue and that their daily activities or occupational life were disturbed as a result. This group demanstrates is serious need for medical assistance. Therefore, doctors should have more interest in fatigue, particularly in chronic fatigue syndrome, so as to provide real and versatile care.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Family Practice ; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic ; Fatigue* ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Incidence ; Interpersonal Relations ; Korea ; Male ; Medical Assistance ; Myalgia ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Outpatients* ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare disease characterized by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia and non-malignant lymphohistiocytic infiltration with hemophagocytosis in reticulendothelial organs. We experienced three cases of FHL in identical male twins and their younger brother who presented with fever and severe hepatosplenomegaly. Cytopenia, elevated serum transaminase and low serum albumin levels, hypertriglyceridemia were common laboratory findings of them. One of them showed markedly decreased phytohemagglutinin induced lymphocyte proliferation and reversed CD4/CD8 ratio (0.52) in flowcytometric lymphocyte subset analysis. Aspirate of bone marrow revealed typical features consistent with FHL in two of them. In spite of recent therapeutic approaches, none of them survived.
Bone Marrow ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic* ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; Serum Albumin ; Siblings

A collodion baby is born with a tough, inelastic parchment-like membrane covering the whole body surface. As the meinbrane fissures and peels, a more characteristic ichthyosiform change is evident beneath the collodion membrane. Uncommonly, normal skin is found under it. We herein present two cases af collodion baby, which were confirmed as a sporadic case of lamellar ichthyosis and a case of lamellar exfoliation of the newborn, respectively, after long-term clinical observation. It is necessary that detailed genetical and molecular biological studies should be perforrned in order to elucidate the fur:damental, molecular changes that cause these dramatic cutaneous changes.
Collodion* ; Humans ; Ichthyosis, Lamellar ; Infant, Newborn ; Membranes ; Skin

The purpose of this study was to access the effect of TMJ arthrocentesis in locking 8 patients with anterior distal displacement without reduction ( 'closed lock' ). TMJ Arthrocentesis was defined as needle puncture of the joint space and usually combined with lavage. After lavage, the mandible is gently manipulated to evaluate the movement. Arthrocentesis with irrigation has been used successfully with few complications and low morbidity. Postoperative therapy requires repetitive opening and excursive exercises to maintain and improve the function. The mean follow-up period was 17.1 months(range, 8 to 30months). Preoperative and postoperative mean maximal interincisal opening(MIO) was 25.4mm preoperatively and 39.8mm postoperatively. The pain was reduced in 7 out of 8(87.5%) patients with limited mouth opening. The result of this study indicate that TMJ arthrocentesis is an effective means of controlling pain and improving jaw movement in patients with closed lock.
Exercise ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Jaw ; Joints ; Mandible ; Mouth ; Needles ; Punctures ; Temporomandibular Joint* ; Therapeutic Irrigation

This study was designed to investigate factors relating to fiscal deficit for regional health insurance. The financial statements for the fiscal year 1990 of nationwide 254 regional medical insurance societies were analyzed. Important findings are summarized below: 1. There were differences in the main reason for the financial deficit among regions when deficit and surplus societies were compared by regions. The total revenue per enrollee, especially revenue from the premium contribution of a deficit society was significantly smaller than that of a surplus society in large cities and counties. On the other hand, the total expenditure per enrollee of a deficit society was larger than that of a surplus society in small cities. 2. Both low premium irate at the beginning of health insurance program and less effort to increase the premium rate were main factors for the smaller revenue from the contribution of a deficit society in large cities and counties. 3. Larger expenditures per covered person of a deficit society in small cities were explained with larger medical expenditures especially for out-patients services rather than larger administrative expenses. 4. A regression analysis showed that utilization rates in out-patient services were significantly associated with income and numbers of total medical care institution per capita within a region where a health insurance society located. Also expenses paid by insurer per visit were associated with the proportion of utilization for tertiary care hospitals as well as the proportion of utilization of public health centers.
Hand ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Insurance ; Insurance Carriers ; Insurance, Health* ; Korea* ; Outpatients ; Public Health ; Tertiary Healthcare

OBJECTIVES: This study was peformed to compare and measure the changes of corpus callosum of the schizophrenic patients with those of controls, to compare according to clinical symptoms, onset age. METHOD: Brain magnetic resonance imaging study was performed in 38 schizophrenic patients and 28 controls, and the authors measured cerebral area, anterior, middle, posterior callosal areas, vertical width, perpendicular width and maximal horizontal callosal length. The schizophrenic patients were assessed by the PANSS. To correct cerebral areas, ANCOVA was used with cerebral areas as covariants. And two-tailed t-test, ANOVA were used to compare callosal measurements according to subgroups. RESULTS: The schizophrenic patients, compared with controls, were significantly wider in posterior callosal area and thinner in anterior vertical width. The schizophrenic patients with prominent positive symptoms were significantly wider and thicker in middle callosal area, anterior middle vertical width than controls, and those with prominent negative symptoms were significantly thinner in posterior vertical width than those with prominent positive symptoms and wider in anterior area than controls. Early onset patients were significantly thicker in middle perpendicular area than controls. CONCLUSIONS: There were various controversial findings about corpus callosal pathology of the schizophrenic patients. This study, after correction of cerebral area, revealed increased sizes of several parts of callosal regions, and then it suggested neurodevelopmental abnormalities. And also significant differences in callosal regions according positive and negative symptoms suggested that these reflected the heterogeneities of schizophrenia.
Age of Onset ; Brain* ; Corpus Callosum ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Pathology ; Schizophrenia