OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to improve understanding and treatment of pathological gambling by comparing levels of stress, coping styles, depression, 'Gambling attitudes and Beliefs' in pathological gamblers to groups of non-pathological gambling controls. METHODS: Pathological gambling was measured by the South Oaks Gambling Scale, depression by the Beck Depression Inventory, stress by Daily Hassles Scales, attitude and belief about gambling by the Gambling Attitude and Belief Scale and coping styles by Problem-focused Styles of Coping Inventory. RESULTS: Pathological gamblers reported significantly higher level of stress, depression, the Gambling Attitude and Belief, craving and more maladaptive styles of coping (reactive and suppressive) than control groups. Pathological gambler's use of maladaptive coping was disappeared when depression was controlled. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that pathological gambler's maladaptive styles of coping might close related to depression, and treatment which is designed to improve depression and their ability to engage in reflective coping when stressors arise will be helpful. Further longitudinal studies may clarify the ways in which pathological gambler's depression and coping styles interact over time.
Depression* ; Gambling ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: Because specific chromosomal abnormalities are associated with certain hematologic disorders, cytogenetic studies can help classifing the diseases, providing the clues of disease progression and being used to monitor remission after chemotherapy. In this study, cytogenetic analysis was performed. In acute and chronic leukemic patients in Korea and the results were compared with foreign cytogenetic reports, and the typical acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) associated chromosome aberrations were analysed by some calculated parameters to clarify if the specific chromosomal abberations in the specific types or subtypes of leukemias had diagnostic value or not. METHOD: Chromosome studies were done in bone marrow or peripheral blood samples by high resolution banding technique. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of finding or not finding a given aberration were calculated for followings : for the differential diagnosis between ALL and AML when a patient is known to have acute leukemia, for the differential diagnosis among AML and ALL FAB subtypes in a patient with known AML and ALL. RESULTS: The high positive predictive values (1.0) in the AML versus ALL comparison were found for -7, del(7) (q11-34q22-36), +8s, t(8;21) (q22;q22), t(15;17) (q22;q11), inv (16) (q13;q22) and -Y. Among the AML subtypes, the highest sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values were 0.85, 0.97, 0.94 for t(15;17) (q22;q11) in M3, respectively. The high positive predictive values and specificity in the ALL versus AML comparison were found for t(1;19) (q23;p13) ,t(4;11) (q21 ;23) and t(8; 14) (q24;q32) Among the ALL subtypes, the highest negative predictive value was 0.99 for t (8;14) (q24;q32) in L3. Among 398 CML cases, Philadelphia chromosome positive CML were shown in 81.9% that were classic t(9;22) (q34;all) (94.5%), complex variant traslocation(1.8%) and additional secondary chromosome aberrations (3.7%) . CONCLUSION: Total chromosomal aberration rate in acute and chronic leukemia in Korea was lower than that in foreign reports, but the patterns of chromosome aberrations were similar except for t(15;17) (q22;q11) in AML patients. Quantitativly calculated data of sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values in the specific chromosomal aberration might be used for diagnostic markers of acute leukemia.
Bone Marrow ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Cytogenetic Analysis ; Cytogenetics* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Disease Progression ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Korea* ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Philadelphia Chromosome ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and psycho-socio-spiritual characteristics in male patients with alcohol dependence. METHODS: The sample consisted of 109 men with alcohol dependence defined by DSM-IV criteria. We assessed QOL by the WHO QOL assessment instrument-BREF (WHOQOL) and SmithKline Beecham QOL (SBQOL). Sociodemographic and alcohol related data were collected, and 7 questionnaires were administered: MAST, BDI, STAI, Drinker Inventory of Consequences (DrInC), Scale of Social Support (SSS), Religious Beliefs and Behaviors (RBB) and Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS). The correlations between each QOL score and other variables were examined, and stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: The WHOQOL score positively correlated with education level, SSS (support) and RBB and negatively correlated with MAST, DrInC, BDI, STAI (trait) and SSS (conflict) scores. In stepwise regression analysis, the scores on the STAI and BDI contributed to the score on the WHOQOL. The SBQOL score correlated with the income level, and negatively correlated with BDI and STAI score. STAI score was a weak predictor of SBQOL score. CONCLUSION: The significant predictors of QOL in patients with alcohol dependence were psychological factors such as anxiety and depression.
Alcoholism* ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Education ; Humans ; Male* ; Psychology ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Religion

Intra-articular hyaluronic acid injections for symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis are widely used but can result in complications, such as infectious arthritis. Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a common normal skin flora but can cause severe infectious disease, such as infective endocarditis. We present the first report of infectious arthritis caused by methicillin-sensitive S. lugdunensis after intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection in an immunocompromised patient in Korea.
Arthritis, Infectious* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Communicable Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Endocarditis ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid* ; Immunocompromised Host ; Korea ; Osteoarthritis ; Skin ; Staphylococcus lugdunensis* ; Staphylococcus*

OBJECTIVE: New antidepressant, nefazodone is classified as a serotonin -2 antagonist/reuptake inhibitor like old antidepressant, trazodone. Nefazodone, however, differs from trazodone in that it lacks anti-histaminergic properties and in that it has some norepinephrine reuptake inhibitory properties. These differences may account for the differences between the two drugs in the side effect profiles. This study was conducted to compare the acute effects of nefazodone on the psychomotor performance with those of trazodone. METHODS: The subjects were 12 healthy male volunteers aged between 20-40 years. A single, oral starting dose of nefazodone or trazodone was administered in a double-blind, randomized latin-square design with a 1-week interval between each drug switch. Psychomotor performances were assessed at 1 hour before and at 2 hours after administration of nefazodone 50 mg, nefazodone 100 mg or trazodone 50 mg. The measures of psychomotor performance included Vienna Determination Unit for complex choice reaction time, Critical Flicker Fusion Test, and Grooved Pegboard Test. RESULTS: In the Vienna Determination Unit, when 'within drug effect' (pre- vs. post-medication) was analyzed, nefazodone 100 mg decreased complex choice reaction time in both subtest 2 and subtest 3. Nefazodone 50 mg also decreased the reaction time in subtest 3 but not in subtest 2 which was more difficult and demanding task than subtest 3. On the other hand, no significant changes in the reaction time were observed with trazodone 50 mg in either subtest 2 or subtest 3. When 'between drug effect' was analyzed, however, the differences between drugs were not found to reach statistically significant level. No significant 'between drug effect' or 'within drug effect' was observed in Critical Flicker Fusion Test and Grooved Pegboard Test. CONCLUSION: Although the differences between nefazodone and trazodone did not reach statistically significant level, the results on the complex choice reaction time suggest that al least a single starting dose of nefazodone up to 100 mg does not impair psychomotor performances and it might have a less detrimental effect than trazodone on the psychomotor performance.
Administration, Oral* ; Flicker Fusion ; Hand ; Healthy Volunteers* ; Humans ; Male ; Norepinephrine ; Psychomotor Performance* ; Reaction Time ; Serotonin ; Trazodone* ; Volunteers

Phytolaccae had been used as a pharmaceutical drug or food But nowadays, due to its toxicity, Phytolaccae is rarely used and cases of patients poisoned with it are seldom reported. The case presented here was of 43 year-old male who after ingesting extract of Phytolacca esculenta suffered from abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, hypotension, pruritus, paresthesia, oliguria and azotemia. Kidney biopsy revealed tubular necrosis and some protein casts in tubular lumens. These findings suggested that acute renal failure was mainly caused by nephrotoxicity of Phytolacca extracts. Through continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration and two times of hemodialysis, he was completely recovered from acute renal failure. Other symptoms also disappeared by symptomatic management, but paresthesia of both lower extremities still remained. So we reported this case with a brief review of literature.
Abdominal Pain ; Acute Kidney Injury* ; Adult ; Azotemia ; Biopsy ; Diarrhea ; Hemofiltration ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Kidney ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Nausea ; Necrosis ; Oliguria ; Paresthesia ; Phytolacca* ; Poisoning* ; Pruritus ; Renal Dialysis ; Tachycardia ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of isoflurane and enflurane on respiratory resistance using flow-interruption technique. METHODS: Twenty one cats were divided into 3 groups according to the agents administered; Control(control), Isoflurane(1 MAC of isoflurane) and Enflurane(1 MAC of enflurane) groups. Tracheal pressure was measured at 2 cm beyond the distal end of the tube. After measuring the baseline value, methacholine chloride(25 microgram/kg/min) was infused to induce bronchoconstriction which was continued throughout the experiment. Anesthetics were administered for each group 15 minutes after methacholine infusion (control value) via low pressure inlet of the ventilator. Measurements were made every 15 minutes. Intermittent mandatory ventilation was applied with Servo 900C ventilator. Inspiratory flow rate and tidal volume were fixed throughout the experiment for each subject. Pressure, volume and flow were monitored with Bicore CP100 pulmonary monitor. The data were transferred to a personal computer and analyzed by a processing software. Respiratory system, airway and tissue resistances, and dynamic and static compliances were calculated. RESULTS: Methacholine infusion increased both airway and tissue resistances. Fifteen minutes after administering inhalation anesthetics(M30), airway resistances for isoflurane and enflurane decreased to 50.8+/-4.7% and 62.5+/-4.9% of the control value(p<0.05). And the values of tissue resistances for isoflurane and enflurane decreased to 54.7+/-6.2% and 68.0+/-4.4% of the control value respectively (p<0.05). There were significant differences between the isoflurane and enflurane in the values of airway and tissue resistances at M30(p<0.05). But there were no significant differences between the two agents in the values of airway and tissue resistances at M45. CONCLUSION: For isoflurane and enflurane, both airway and tissue resistances are reduced. Isoflurane is more potent than enflurane in reversing methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction in this animal model.
Airway Resistance ; Anesthetics ; Animals ; Bays ; Bronchoconstriction* ; Cats* ; Enflurane* ; Inhalation ; Isoflurane* ; Methacholine Chloride ; Microcomputers ; Models, Animal ; Respiratory Mechanics* ; Respiratory System ; Tidal Volume ; Ventilation ; Ventilators, Mechanical

OBJECTIVE: Nowadays smartphone overuse has become a social and medical concern. For the diagnosis and treatment, clinicians use the self-report information, but the report data often does not match actual usage pattern. The paper examines the similarity and variance in smartphone usage patterns between the measured data and self-reported data. METHODS: Together with the self-reported data, the real usage log data is collected from 35 college students in a metropolitan region of Northeast Asia, using Android smartphone monitoring application developed by the authors. RESULTS: The unconscious users underestimate their usage time by 40%, in spite of 15% more use in the actual usage. Messengers are most-used application regardless of their self-report, and significant preference to SNS applications was observed in addict group. The actual hourly pattern is consistent with the reported one. College students use more in the afternoon, when they have more free time and cannot use PCs. No significant difference in hourly pattern is observed between the measured and self-report. CONCLUSION: The result shows there are significant cognitive bias in actual usage patterns exists in self report of smartphone addictions. Clinicians are recommended to utilize measurement tools in diagnosis and treatment of smartphone overusing subjects.
Asia ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Methyltestosterone ; Pilot Projects* ; Self Report ; Smartphone*

OBJECTIVE: Shunt-dependent chronic hydrocephalus (SDCH) is known to be a major complication associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Old age is known to be one of numerous factors related to the development of SDCH. This study investigated whether postoperative cisternal drainage affects the incidence of SDCH and clinical outcome in elderly patients with aSAH. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients participated in this study. All patients underwent aneurysmal clipping with cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage. Clinical variables relevant to the study included age, sex, location of ruptured aneurysm, CT finding and clinical state on admission, clinical outcome, and CSF drainage. We first divided patients into two groups according to age (<70 years of age and > or =70 years of age) and compared the two groups. Secondly, we analyzed variables to find factors associated with SDCH in both groups (<70 years of age and > or =70 years of age). RESULTS: Of 59 patients, SDCH was observed in 20 patients (33.9 %), who underwent shunt placement for treatment of hydrocephalus. Forty seven percent of cases of acute hydrocephalus developed SDCH. In the elderly group (> or =70 years of age), the duration and amount of CSF drainage did not affect the development of chronic hydrocephalus. CONCLUSION: In elderly patients, although the incidence of SDCH was significantly higher, clinical outcome was acceptable. The duration and the amount of cisternal drainage did not seem to be related to subsequent development of chronic hydrocephalus within elderly patients aged 70 or older.
Aged ; Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Dependency (Psychology) ; Drainage ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Incidence ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of anglulation between aorta the and renal artery on signal loss in theproximal renal artery, as seen on magnetic resonance angiography by phantom study using a pulsatile flow model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three phantoms of aorta and renal artery with angulation of 90 degree, 60 degree, and 30 degree wereobtained. Pulsatile recirculating flow (44%W/W glycerin, 60bpm) was used for MR angiography. First, axial 3D-TOFimages were obtained and reconstructed. MIP images were analyzed for the presence, area, and location of signalloss. 2D-PC images were obtained perpendicularly to the renal artery at a distance of 0, 4, 8 and 12mm from theostium. To calculate mean signal intensity of the renal artery, a ROI was drawn on 2D-PC images. To correlatesignal loss in 3D-TOF images with signal decrease in 2D-PC, we analyzed changes in signal intensity during onepulse cycle according to change of angulation and distance from the ostium of the renal artery by the calculatedvalues of relative signal decrease and ratio of signal decrease. RESULTS: A signal loss was observed up to 4mmfrom the ostium of the renal artery only in the case of the 90 degree phantom. Because the signal intensity measured inthe 2D-PC image of the 90 degree phantom was higher than that of the 60 degree phantom the signal loss observed in the3D-TOF images of the 90 degree phantom could not be explained by the magnitude of measured signal intensity alone.Relative signal decrease only at a distance of 0 and 4mm in the 90 degree phantom was evenly increased through a pulsecycle and the ratio of signal decrease at the same location was more than 50%. In contrast to the results of the90 degree phantom, those of 60 degree and 30 degree showed decreased of signal intensity mainly during the diastolic phase.CONCLUSION: Signal loss should become apparent at a certain angle between 60 degree and 90 degree. Decreased signalintensity causing signal loss in 3D-TOF was maintained throughout the systolic and diastolic phase of a pulsatilecycle and correlated with the ratio of signal decrease.
Angiography ; Aorta* ; Glycerol ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Pulsatile Flow ; Renal Artery*