Clinical observarions were done on 616 cases of cerebrovasculae accidents treated as inpatients at the Sung-Sim hospital, Chung-Ang university over a period of 8 years, from January, 1981 to Agust, 1988. The results were as follows; 1) Of 616 cases of cerebrovascular accidents, cerebral hemorrhage was presented in 56.82%, cerebral thrombosis in 28.57%, subarachnoid hemorrhage in 12.66%, cerebral embolism in 1.95%. 2) The ratio of male to female was 1.01:1. 3) The cerebrovascular accidents were most common in the sixth decade and followed by the fifth and fourth in turn. 4) The seasonal incidence was in order of frequency of Spring, Winter, Autumn and Summer. 5) Among disease preceding the onset of cerebrovascular accidents, hypertension was noted at 75% in cases of cerebral hemorrhge, 61% in cerebral thrombosis and 73% in subarachnoid hemorrhge. 6) The mean duration of underlying hypertension was 13.7 years in cerebral emorrhge, 15.3 years in cerebral thrombosis, 12.2 years in subarachnoid hemorrhage and 14.8 years in cerebral embolism. 7) Major precipitating factor in cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage was thought to be physical activity, whereas cerebral thrombosis and cerebral embolism frequently occured during sleeping or resting state. 8) The mean cholesterol level were 204.1mg% in cerebral hemorrhage, 214.9mg% in cerebral thrombosis, 211.7mg% in subaraachnoid hemorrhage and 217.0mg% in cerebral embolism. 9) The mortality rate was 12.2% in total, 16.6% in cerebral hemorrhage 2.3% in cerebral thrombosis, 15.45 in subarachnoid hemorrhage and 25% in cerebral embolism.
Cerebral Hemorrhage ; Cholesterol ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Inpatients ; Intracranial Embolism ; Intracranial Thrombosis ; Male ; Mortality ; Motor Activity ; Precipitating Factors ; Seasons ; Stroke* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Isolated deficiency of 3-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase is a rare disorder of the catabolic pathway for leucine and many patients have mild symptoms or no symptom. However, the introduction of tandem mass spectrometry in newborn screening has revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of this disorder. We report an asymptomatic premature infant with isolated 3-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase deficiency detected by newborn screening program using tandem mass spectrometry. She was born at preterm, 36 weeks of gestation and her birth weight was 1,912 gm. She was delivered by Cesarian section due to maternal preeclampsia and oligohydramnios. An elevation of 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine in a blood sample obtained at Seven days was detected by tandem mass screening. Massively elevated excretion of 3-hydroxyisovalerate and 3-methylcrotonylglycine was detected in the urine collected at 15 days. L-carnitine(100 mg/kg/day) was administrated orally to correct sencondary carnitine deficiency. Carnitine is conjugated with metabolites, to decrease the potential toxic effects. She is asymptomatic to date, and her growth and development are within normal limits.
Birth Weight ; Carnitine ; Female ; Growth and Development ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn* ; Infant, Premature ; Leucine ; Mass Screening* ; Oligohydramnios ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry*

Coronary artery fistula is an unusual anomaly that consists of a communication between one of the coronary arteries and a cardiac chamber or vein. It has hemodynamic significance, complicated by congestive heart failure, bacterial endocarditis, rupture or thrombosis of the fistula or an associated arterial aneurysm, myocardial ischemia, and arrhythmias. It occurs in congenital, traumatic, neoplastic, or artherosclerotic cardiac disorders. It is being diagnosed with increasing frequency with widespread use of selective coronary angiography. However, acquired coronary artery fistula after acute myocardial infarction is a rare clinical entity, and it has not been reported in Korea yet. We observed a 62-year-old male patient with intermittent chest pain at rest, in whom serial coronary angiography showed newly developed communications from the left anterior descending coronary artery to the left ventricular chamber several months after acute myocardial infarction of the anteroseptal wall. The area of communication corresponded to the site of infarction as established by contrast echocardiography.
Aneurysm ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels* ; Echocardiography ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; Fistula* ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Infarction ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Rupture ; Thrombosis ; Veins

Purpose: Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) frequently occurs in the patients with an indwelling Foley catheter, and it can cause serious morbidity or mortality. However, there have been no reports about quorum sensing mechanisms in indwelling Foley catheter. It's our purpose to find out the quorum sensing mechanisms of isolated bacteria from biofilm in Foley catheters. Materials and Methods: Silicone Foley catheters were placed in 90 patients with neurogenic bladders. At the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th and 30th day after the catheters were placed, the catheters were removed and the biofilm formations were evaluated by routine culture and microscopy. The ygaG gene, which was reported to be an autoinducer synthase gene was carried out cloning in E. coli. The quantity of the mRNA expression of the ygaG gene was analyzed according to the time by competitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: 289 different types of bacteria were isolated by cultivation. The most common species were Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Serratia, Proteus and Escherichia species. The autoinducer synthase gene, such as the ygaG gene for Escherichia coli, was detected by RT-PCR. On competitive RT-PCR of the ygaG gene, the mRNA expression was 3.77x10(9)copies/microliter at the 3rd day, 5.94x10(7)copies/microliter at the 5th day, 8.07x10(7)copies/microliter at the 7th day, 2.51x10(6)copies/microliter at the 14th day and 6.81x10(8)copies/microliter at the 30th day. Therefore, the expression of the autoinducer synthase gene was observed at the early insertion period and it was then maintained. Conclusions: This is the first study to document the autoinducer synthase gene expression associated quorum sensing mechanism in CAUTI. The quorum sensing mechanism may be a new target for the management of CAUTI.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteria ; Biofilms ; Catheters* ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Escherichia ; Escherichia coli ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Klebsiella ; Microscopy ; Mortality ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteus ; Pseudomonas ; Quorum Sensing* ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger ; Serratia ; Silicones ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract Infections* ; Urinary Tract*

OBJECTIVE: The adolescent presentation of tethered cord syndrome (TCS) is well-recognized, but continues to pose significant diagnostic and management controversies. The authors conducted a retrospective study of clinical outcomes after surgical intervention in 24 school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults with TCS. METHODS: All 83 patients with a lipomyelomeningocele (LMMC) underwent untethering surgery for caudal cord tethering between 1987 and 2007. The clinical charts and follow-up data were reviewed. Of these patients, 24 school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults with TCS were studied with respect to the clinical, radiologic, pathologic features, and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: Untethering procedures were performed in 24 patients (age range, 7-25 years) for TCS of various origins (lipoma, lipomyelomeningocele, and tight filum terminale). Specific circumstances involving additional tugging of the already tight conus, and direct trauma to the back precipitated the onset of symptom in 50% of the patients. Diffuse and non-dermatomal leg pain, often referred to the anorectal region, was the most common presenting symptom. Progressive sensorimotor deficits in the lower extremities, as well as bladder and bowel dysfunction, were also common findings, but progressive foot and spinal deformities were noted less frequently. The most common tethered lesions were intradural lipomas, thickened filum and fibrous band adhesions into the placode sac. The surgical outcome was gratifying in relation to pain and motor weakness, but disappointing with respect to resolution of bowel and bladder dysfunction. Of the 24 patients with TCS, pre-operative deficits improved after surgery in 14 (58.3%), remained stable in 8 (33.4%), and worsened in 2 (8.3%). CONCLUSION: The pathologic lesions of tethered cord syndrome in school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults, are mostly intradural lipomas and tight filum. It is suggested that the degree of cord traction results in neurologic dysfunction in late life due to abnormal tension, aggravated by trauma or repeated tugging of the conus during exercise. Early diagnosis and adequate surgical release might be the keys to the successful outcome in school-aged children, adolescents, and young adults with TCS.
Adolescent ; Child ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Conus Snail ; Early Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Humans ; Leg ; Lipoma ; Lower Extremity ; Meningomyelocele ; Neural Tube Defects ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Retrospective Studies ; Traction ; Urinary Bladder ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare the growth pattern of breast fed and formula fed infants in the first 1 year of life. METHODS: Anthropometric data (weight, length, head circumference) of at birth, 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were collected by chart review and characteristics of subjects were collected by questionnaires. Among 358 infants, breast fed infants were 161 (84 males, 77 females) and formula fed infants were 90 (42 males, 48 females). Neither group was given solid foods before 4 months. The weight for age, length for age and head circumference for age were calculated. Breast fed infants were separated into 2 groups (breast fed for 4-11 months and breast fed for more than 12 months). RESULTS: Characteristics of infants and mothers were similar in both groups except for maternal age. Mean weight of breast fed group was lower than that of formula fed group at 12 months of age (male: P=0.004, female: P=0.004). However, mean weight of 12 months breast fed group was below formula fed groups weight at 9 and 12 months (P< 0.05). Mean length and head circumference were similar between groups. CONCLUSION: The growth indices of breast fed and formula fed infants are similar at birth, but weight curves of two groups differ in the first 1 year.
Breast Feeding ; Breast* ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Infant* ; Male ; Maternal Age ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although pediatric tracheostomy is a useful procedure to secure airway, post-tracheostomy complications sometimes have significant detrimental effects on pediatric patients. Among the complications, post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis is one of the major late sequelae, which may be preventable by adequate surgical technique. The objective of this study is to investigate the degree of post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis after applying new modification of tracheostomy: surgical dilatational tracheostomy (SDT) in a growing animal model. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Seven Newzealand White rabbits were divided into three groups: SDT (n=3), surgical conventional tracheostomy with vertical cartilage incision (SCT)(n=3), and control (n=1). Each rabbit underwent tracheostomy by assigned procedures on the first day. On day 8, they were decannulated. On day 15, their tracheas were harvested. We examined the gross findings and histologic changes of each tracheal segment at the level of stoma. We analyzed three parameters: the quotient of the stomal and non-stomal segment in sagittal diameter, coronal diameter, and cross sectional area. RESULTS: The frameworks of cartilages at the level of stoma were more distorted in the SCT group. Histologic examination also showed buckling of the anterior tracheal wall, loss of cartilage, infiltration of many polymorphonuclear neutrophils and marked in-growth of fibrous tissue in SCT group. Sagittal, coronal diameters and cross sectional areas were affected more severely after SCT than after SDT. CONCLUSION: We found no significant risk of post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis for the SDT in a growing animal model. Therefore, SDT might be useful in the management of pediatric patients who require short-term tracheotomy. Further study of SDT should be investigated in children in a clinical setting.
Animals* ; Cartilage ; Child ; Dilatation ; Humans ; Models, Animal* ; Neutrophils ; Rabbits ; Trachea ; Tracheal Stenosis* ; Tracheostomy* ; Tracheotomy

Epilepsy is a chronic disease occurring in approximately 1.0% of the world's population. About 30% of the epileptic patients treated with availably antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) continue to have seizures and are considered therapy-resistant or refractory patients. The ultimate goal for the use of AEDs is complete cessation of seizures without side effects. Because of a narrow therapeutic index of AEDs, a complete understanding of its clinical pharmacokinetics is essential for understanding of the pharmacodynamics of these drugs. These drug concentrations in biological fluids serve as surrogate markers and can be used to guide or target drug dosing. Because early studies demonstrated clinical and/or electroencephalographic correlations with serum concentrations of several AEDs, It has been almost 50 years since clinicians started using plasma concentrations of AEDs to optimize pharmacotherapy in patients with epilepsy. Therefore, validated analytical method for concentrations of AEDs in biological fluids is a necessity in order to explore pharmacokinetics, bioequivalence and TDM in various clinical situations. There are hundreds of published articles on the analysis of specific AEDs by a wide variety of analytical methods in biological samples have appears over the past decade. This review intends to provide an updated, concise overview on the modern method development for monitoring AEDs for pharmacokinetic studies, bioequivalence and therapeutic drug monitoring.
Anticonvulsants ; Biomarkers ; Chronic Disease ; Drug Monitoring ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Plasma ; Seizures ; Therapeutic Equivalency

No abstract available.
Herpesvirus 1, Suid* ; Pseudorabies*

PURPOSE: In recent years there has been a considerable increase in the use of chemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgery, radical radiotherapy and in addition to best supportive care. However, the value of chemotherapy in improving survival is still unclear, despite more than 50 randomised trials addressing this question in the different stages of disease. This study was done to evaluate Korean doctors' personal management preference and their beliefs about prognosis in non-small celllung cancer(NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mail survey of Korean respirologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists was performed. Four cases of NSCLC were described and respondents were asked to give their treatment recommendations and to estimate the prognosis in each case. RESULTS: After a complete resection for stage II NSCLC, 27% recommended no adjuvant treatment, 36% recommended radiotherapy, 18% recommended chemotherapy, and 19% recommended both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. After a complete resection for stage IIIA(N2) NSCLC, the vast majority of respondents recommended adjuvant therapy. For an asymptomatic patient with stage IIIB NSCLC, 5% recommended supportive care, 24% recommended radiotherapy, 16% recommended chemotherapy, and 54% recommended chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy. For a patient with stage IV NSCLC, 76% recommended chemotherapy with or without palliative radiotherapy. Doctors' treatment preference was significantly different by their speciliaty in a case with stage II, IIIA(N2), or IV NSCLC. Most respondents believed that chemotherapy would increase survival in NSCLC. Doctors' beliefs about the efficacy of treatment were strongly associated with their treatment recommendations. CONCLUSION: Korean doctors generally preferred relatively aggressive management although their personal preferences varied widely. Team approach is important in deciding the treatment modality because doctors' treatment preference is different by their speciality.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Postal Service ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy