Purpose: This study was attempted to identify the importance and performance of person-centered care in nurses in intensive care units (ICU) at general hospitals and to derive the priority of practical person-centered care needs and intervention by analysing their needs. Methods: A total of 156 ICU nurses who wrote a written consent participated in a survey questionnaire on person-centered critical care nursing (PCCN). The collected data were analyzed using paired t-test, Borich’s needs assessment, and the Locus for Focus Model. Results: All 15 items of person-centered care in ICU nurses were found to be significantly higher in perception of importance than performance level (t=17.98, p<.001). According to the analysis of Borich's needs and the Locus of Focus Model, person-centered care items with highest priority in ICU were therapeutic contact, comfort words and actions, and efforts to empathize with patients in the compassion category. Conclusion As a strategy to improve the person-centered nursing performance of ICU nurses in the ‘individuality’, it is necessary for ICU nurses to recognize the ICU patients as an individualized person, not as a disease or machine-dependent entity. Also, it is necessary to develop programs to improve the ICU nurses' compassion competence because ‘compassion’ was a top priority according to Borich's needs assessment model and the Locus for Focus Model.

Cantrell's syndrome is a rare congenital anomaly, consists of five malformations. There are the midline abdominal wall defect, the defect of sterna lower part, an agenesis of the anterior part of the diaphragm, an absence of the diaphragmatic pericardium, and the congenital intracardiac problem. We diagnosed Cantrell's syndrome with left ventricular diverticulum in a female neonate with no perinatal problems. She experienced an one-staged operation and discharged with no complications. We report a case with brief review of the literature.
Abdominal Wall ; Diaphragm ; Diverticulum* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Pericardium

Pressure controlled ventilation has been proposed to recruit closed alveolar units and improve oxygenation through changing the inspiratory flow pattern from a square wave as used with volume controlled ventilation to a rapidly exponentially decaying curve and through maintaining airway pressure at a constant level throughout the inspiratory phase. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cardiorespiratory efficacy of pressure controlled ventilation in severe respiratory failure. Cardiorespiratory values were measured in ten patients with severe respiratory failure on volume controlled and pressure controlled ventilation. Tidal volume, ventilatory rate, PEEP, inspiratory:expiratory ratio and FIO2 were maintained at the same level for both ventilatory modalities. Changing from volume controlled ventilation to pressure controlled ventilation was associated with significant improvement in PaO2 and decrease in peak inspiratory pressure. There were no significant changes in other cardiorespiratory values, such as arterial blood pressure, heart rate, inspiratory pause pressure and static compliance. These results suggest that pressure controlled ventilation may be a beneficial ventilatory modality in the treatment of severe respiratory failure compared to volume controlled ventilation.
Arterial Pressure ; Compliance ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Oxygen ; Respiratory Insufficiency* ; Tidal Volume ; Ventilation*

PURPOSE: Anorectal malformations are often associated with other anomalies, reporting frequency with 40-70%. Gastrointestinal anomalies have been known to be relatively less common than associated anomalies of other organ system. This study was performed to assess a distinctive feature of cases associated with esophageal atresia. METHODS: Clinical data (from January 2000 through December 2011) on the 196 subjects with anorectal malformations, managed in our Hospital, were reviewed. Total 14 neonates were identified with accompanying esophageal atresia and retrospective analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The incidence was 7.1% and there were 8 male and 6 female subjects. Only 2 cases were associated with esophageal atresia without tracheoesophageal fistula. Although variable cases of anorectal malformation in female subjects, almost cases were anorectal malformations with rectourethral fistula in male. Other associated anomalies were identified in all cases, with more than 3 anomalies in 10 cases. There were 4 VACTERL (Vertebral abnormalities, Anal atresia, Cardiac anomalies, Tracheoesophageal fistula, Esophageal atresia, Renal and Limb anomalies) associations accounting for 28.6%, but could not identify chromosomal anomaly. Most cases were managed with staged procedure, usually primary repair of esophageal atresia and diverting colostomy. Overall mortality rate was 21.4%, mainly caused by heart problems. CONCLUSION: This study shows that early diagnosis and rational surgical approach with multidisciplinary plan are mandatory in managing anorectal malformations with esophageal atresia, when considering a high frequency of associated anomaly and a relative high mortality.
Accounting ; Anus, Imperforate ; Colostomy ; Early Diagnosis ; Esophageal Atresia ; Extremities ; Female ; Fistula ; Heart ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula

The selection of either conventional mechanical ventilation or HFJV depends on the physical status of the patient,potential physioloic advantages and disadvantages, the requirements of the clinical situation and the capability of providing adequate oxygenation and ventilation. We have experienced that HFJV markedly improved the ventilatory status of a 52-year old male patient with severe respiratory failure due to flail chest and ruptured giant bulla refractory to conventional mechanical ventilatory support.
Anoxia* ; Flail Chest ; High-Frequency Jet Ventilation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxygen ; Respiration, Artificial* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Ventilation

The selection of either conventional mechanical ventilation or HFJV depends on the physical status of the patient,potential physioloic advantages and disadvantages, the requirements of the clinical situation and the capability of providing adequate oxygenation and ventilation. We have experienced that HFJV markedly improved the ventilatory status of a 52-year old male patient with severe respiratory failure due to flail chest and ruptured giant bulla refractory to conventional mechanical ventilatory support.
Anoxia* ; Flail Chest ; High-Frequency Jet Ventilation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxygen ; Respiration, Artificial* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Ventilation

We analyzed 77 patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy on the basis of electromyography and radiologic study including CT scan and myelography. The results were as followings: 1. In the 62 male and 15 female subjects with a mean age of 39.3 years. The peak incidence was between ages 20 and 40 years (64%). 2. The causes of lumbosacral radiculopathy were herniated lumbosacral intervertebral disc (78%), lumbar strain (9%), fracture of lumbar vertebra (6%), spinal cord tumor (4%), spinal stenosis(3%) in order. 3. Most common involving site was L5 root on EMG and L4-5 intervertabral disc space on radiological study. 4. The prognosis of the patients with normal EMG finding was better than that of the patients with abnormal EMG finding(p<0.05). 5. There was no significant difference between the prognosis of the patients with abnormal radiologic finding and that of the patients with normal radiologic finding.
Electromyography ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intervertebral Disc ; Male ; Myelography ; Prognosis* ; Radiculopathy* ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms ; Spine ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Galactosemia is a group of inherited enzyme deficiencies characterized by increase in the blood galactose levels. This condition may be associated with deficiencies of galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase, galactokinase, or uridine diphosphate galactose-4-epimerase. However, the elevated galactose identified by neonatal screening tests has several other possible etiologies, including hepatic hemangioendothelioma, hepatic hemangioma, and patent ductus venosus with hypoplasia of the portal vein. We report a 13-day-old Korean male with hepatic hemangioendothelioma, which was incidentally detected during the evaluation for suspected galactosemia. Laboratory studies revealed that mildly elevated levels of galactose, galactose-1-phosphate and alpha-fetoprotein, at the time of admission, were gradually decreased to the normal range over the 6 months of observation. Ultrasonography showed a well-defined heterogeneous hypoechoic mass in the liver, and magnetic resonance imaging study showed multiple enhanced mass lesions, which was compatible with the diagnosis of a hepatic hemangioendothelioma. Thus, hepatic imaging, especially ultrasonography, should be performed if neonatal screening suggests galactosemia.
alpha-Fetoproteins ; Galactokinase ; Galactose ; Galactosemias ; Galactosephosphates ; Hemangioendothelioma ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Liver ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neonatal Screening ; Portal Vein ; Reference Values ; UDPglucose-Hexose-1-Phosphate Uridylyltransferase ; Uridine Diphosphate ; Vascular Malformations

BACKGROUND: To establish effective preventive measures for hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, a nationwide epidemiologic study on seroprevalence of anti-HAV and the disease prevalence is needed. The aim of this study was to analyze the recent sero-epidemiological changes of hepatitis A markers in Korea. METHODS: The results of 11,068 anti-HAV total and 32,360 anti-HAV IgM tests by electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) that had been requested in recent four years (2005-2008) to a reference medical laboratory from 1,699 institutions nationwide were retrospectively analyzed according to the distribution of year, sex, and age groups. RESULTS: The overall positive rate of anti-HAV total was 62.8%. The overall positive rate of anti-HAV IgM was 11.0%, showing a significantly increasing trend by year: 7.7%, 10.9%, 8.9%, and 14.3% in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively (P<0.0001). The positive rate of anti-HAV IgM was higher in male than in female subjects (11.8% vs 10.0%, P<0.0001), and 81.8% (2,916/3,566) of the anti-HAV IgM positive results were observed in the age groups of 21-40 yr. The annual positive rates of anti-HAV total and anti-HAV IgM showed significantly decreasing and increasing trends, respectively, in the age groups of > or =21 yr. Conclusion: In accordance with a decreasing sero-positivity of anti-HAV total, the prevalence of acute hepatitis A virus infection has been considerably increased during the recent four years in the age groups of > or =21 yr. The results of this study could be used effectively as a basic data for establishing effective preventive measures for hepatitis A including vaccination in these susceptible age groups.
Adult ; Biological Markers/blood ; Chemiluminescent Measurements ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Hepatitis A/*epidemiology ; Hepatitis A Antibodies/*blood ; Hepatitis A virus/*immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Factors ; Time Factors

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a syndrome of obscure origin, occurs particularly in fat adolescent girls and young women. The usual symptoms are headache, blurred vision, a vague dizziness, horizontal diplopia and transient visual obscurations etc., and ophthalmoscopic examination reveals papillederma, due to increased ICP. Visual field testing usually shows slight peripheral constrictions with enlargement of the blind sports. CSF pressure is elevated in the range of 250 to 450 mm of water. Radiological or the other laboratory tests show no specific abnormalities. Treatment for idiopathic intracranial hypertension is focused on early detection and prevention of vision loss, the only permanent morbidity. Many different modes of medical treatment, including weight reduction, repeated lumber puncture, corticosteroids, diuretics, glycerol or carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, have successfully been tried up to 90% of the patients. In the remaining patients, particularly in those with measurable impairment of vision that does not respond to conventinal medical therapies, surgical procedure should be considered. We report a case of idiopathic intracranial hypertension successfully treated with optic nerve sheath fenestration.
Adolescent ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors ; Constriction ; Diplopia ; Diuretics ; Dizziness ; Female ; Glycerol ; Headache ; Humans ; Optic Nerve* ; Pseudotumor Cerebri* ; Punctures ; Sports ; Visual Field Tests ; Water ; Weight Loss