PURPOSE: There are many articles about the role of barium esophagography for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, there are only rare articles reporting on laryngopharyngeal reflux disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of performing esophagography with the water-siphon test as an initial screening test for patients with suspected laryngopharyngeal reflux. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From October 2002 to December 2004, barium esophagography with the water-siphon test was performed for 707 patients who had the typical symptoms and telescopic findings of laryngopharyngeal reflux. The results of the 707 esophagograms (the group with laryngopharyngeal reflux) were compared with those of 122 patients who were confirmed as having gastroesophageal reflux upon performing pH-metry (the group with gastroesophageal reflux) and the 324 patients without laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms (the control group). The results of the water-siphon test were classified into normal, mild, moderate and severe degrees of gastroesophageal reflux. RESULTS: On the water-siphon test for the laryngopharyneal reflux group patients, 71 patients had normal (10.0%), 207 had mild (29.2%), 201 had moderate (28.4%) and 228 had severe (32.2%) degrees of reflux. The positive rates of the water-siphon test were 90.0%, 89.3% and 54.6% for the groups with laryngopharyngeal reflux, gastroesophageal reflux and the control group, respectively. A statistically significant difference was observed between the group with laryngopharyngeal reflux and the control group, and between the group with gastroesophageal reflux and the control group, respectively (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Esophagography with the water-siphon test is useful as an initial screening test for laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.
Barium ; Diagnosis ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Laryngopharyngeal Reflux* ; Mass Screening*

BACKGROUND: Urticaria pigmentosa(UP) is primarily a disease of children. There have been no clinical studies of UP in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to find the clinical characteristics of UP in Korean child-hood patients. METHOD: Twenty-nine cases of urticaria pigmentosa confirmed clinically and histopathologically were analyzed. RESULTS: The maculopapular type was the most common with the usual age of onset before the age of 6 months, and the lesions tended to be distributed in the central portion of the body. Darier sign was positive in 92% of the patients(24/26). No systemic involvements were detected in any of the patients with minimal associated symptoms. Seven patients of the maculopapular type and one patient of the multiple nodular type followed up for more than 2 years showed a tendency to improve or clear by the age of 6 years. CONCLUSION: Neonatal or infantile-onset patients of UP in Korean pediatric population were considered to have a benign clinical course and to require no aggressive therapy.
Age of Onset ; Child* ; Clinical Study* ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Urticaria Pigmentosa* ; Urticaria*

Recurrent dislocation of the patella is a relatively uncommon disease, which is most commonly seen in females in late adolescence. The condition is usually spontaneous and only rarely fallows traumatic dislocation. Dislocation is nearly always lateral and about one thirdis bilateral. The theoretical rationale of the treatment of the recurrent dislocation and subluxation of the patella is the realignment of the extensor mechanisms. We experienced with recurrent dislocation and subluxation of the patella on 22 knees in 18 patients at Seoul National University Hospital from July 1981 to Oct. 1987 and obtained the following results. 1. The age at operation ranged from 4 to 33 years and its mean was 15.8 years. Among 18 patients thirteen were female and five, male. 2. The most common presenting symiptom was pain (11 knees) and the most common presenting sign was quadriceps muscle atrophy (11 knees). 3. The prominent radiologic finding was patella alta in 6 knees (27.3%), genu valgum in 10 knees (45.3%), and hypoplasia of the lateral condyle of the femur in 2 cases (9%). 4. In two knees supracondylar osteotomy were performed and followed by proximal extensor mechanism realignment. In twelve knees only proximal reconstruction was performed. Four knees were treated by Hauser's technique and three knees with Roux-Gold-thwait technique. And these distal reconstruction procedures were performed with other procedures. 5. Mean follow up period was 1 year and 5 months. And the results are excellent in 8 knees, good in 12 knees and fair in 2 knees.
Adolescent ; Atrophy ; Dislocations ; Female ; Femur ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genu Valgum ; Humans ; Knee ; Male ; Osteotomy ; Patella ; Quadriceps Muscle ; Seoul

This study was conducted to examine the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, infested with the monogenean ectoparasite, Microcotyle sebastis. We collected 30 Korean rockfish from a fish farm in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and examined them with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and histopathology, in March 2018. The monogenean trematode, M. sebastis, was detected in 27 Korean rockfish (90%), with the intensity of infection being 31.7 per fish. The characteristic surface ultrastructures such as tegument with transverse striations, genital atrium, genital pore, and opisthaptor with numerous clamps were observed. The worms were firmly attached to the gill lamellae using clamps from the opisthaptor, causing gill damage and degeneration. The distal part of the lamellae was ruptured by the sclerites of the clamps. The histopathological examination revealed epithelial hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and occasionally fusion of the lamellae. These ultrastructural and histopathological findings provide some understanding of the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish infested with M. sebastis.

This study was conducted to examine the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, infested with the monogenean ectoparasite, Microcotyle sebastis. We collected 30 Korean rockfish from a fish farm in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and examined them with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and histopathology, in March 2018. The monogenean trematode, M. sebastis, was detected in 27 Korean rockfish (90%), with the intensity of infection being 31.7 per fish. The characteristic surface ultrastructures such as tegument with transverse striations, genital atrium, genital pore, and opisthaptor with numerous clamps were observed. The worms were firmly attached to the gill lamellae using clamps from the opisthaptor, causing gill damage and degeneration. The distal part of the lamellae was ruptured by the sclerites of the clamps. The histopathological examination revealed epithelial hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and occasionally fusion of the lamellae. These ultrastructural and histopathological findings provide some understanding of the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish infested with M. sebastis.

This study was conducted to examine the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, infested with the monogenean ectoparasite, Microcotyle sebastis. We collected 30 Korean rockfish from a fish farm in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and examined them with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and histopathology, in March 2018. The monogenean trematode, M. sebastis, was detected in 27 Korean rockfish (90%), with the intensity of infection being 31.7 per fish. The characteristic surface ultrastructures such as tegument with transverse striations, genital atrium, genital pore, and opisthaptor with numerous clamps were observed. The worms were firmly attached to the gill lamellae using clamps from the opisthaptor, causing gill damage and degeneration. The distal part of the lamellae was ruptured by the sclerites of the clamps. The histopathological examination revealed epithelial hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and occasionally fusion of the lamellae. These ultrastructural and histopathological findings provide some understanding of the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish infested with M. sebastis.

This study was conducted to examine the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, infested with the monogenean ectoparasite, Microcotyle sebastis. We collected 30 Korean rockfish from a fish farm in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and examined them with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and histopathology, in March 2018. The monogenean trematode, M. sebastis, was detected in 27 Korean rockfish (90%), with the intensity of infection being 31.7 per fish. The characteristic surface ultrastructures such as tegument with transverse striations, genital atrium, genital pore, and opisthaptor with numerous clamps were observed. The worms were firmly attached to the gill lamellae using clamps from the opisthaptor, causing gill damage and degeneration. The distal part of the lamellae was ruptured by the sclerites of the clamps. The histopathological examination revealed epithelial hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and occasionally fusion of the lamellae. These ultrastructural and histopathological findings provide some understanding of the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish infested with M. sebastis.

This study was conducted to examine the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, infested with the monogenean ectoparasite, Microcotyle sebastis. We collected 30 Korean rockfish from a fish farm in Tongyeong-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and examined them with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and histopathology, in March 2018. The monogenean trematode, M. sebastis, was detected in 27 Korean rockfish (90%), with the intensity of infection being 31.7 per fish. The characteristic surface ultrastructures such as tegument with transverse striations, genital atrium, genital pore, and opisthaptor with numerous clamps were observed. The worms were firmly attached to the gill lamellae using clamps from the opisthaptor, causing gill damage and degeneration. The distal part of the lamellae was ruptured by the sclerites of the clamps. The histopathological examination revealed epithelial hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and occasionally fusion of the lamellae. These ultrastructural and histopathological findings provide some understanding of the pathogenesis of gill degeneration in the Korean rockfish infested with M. sebastis.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment modality by highly reactive oxygen intermediates generated through the interaction of light with a photosensitizer. We treated actinic keratosis occurred on the face of a 65-year-old woman with topical PDT using 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) (MEDAC, Hamburg, Germany) and a 632nm diode laser (Creamoptec, Germany). 20% ALA was applied topically to the lesion sites which were then occluded for 6 hours. Light was administered at a wavelength of 632nm. The light intensity was 100mW/cm2 and the light dose was 100J/cm2. Although the diode laser was expensive, it was easy to handle the laser and the clinical results were excellent with respect to initial complete response and cosmetic outcome. There was only slight pain and a burning sensation during treatment.
Actins* ; Aged ; Burns ; Female ; Humans ; Keratosis, Actinic* ; Lasers, Semiconductor* ; Oxygen ; Photochemotherapy* ; Sensation

BACKGROUND: Recently, serologic techniques for tuberculosis have been developed and some of them, which are focusing on detection of serum antibodies mainly directed against specific 38-kDa Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have already been introduced into the market. In this study, diagnostic significance of a new serologic test(ELISA kit) for pulmonary tuberculosis was evaluated. METHODS: Serologic test with newly developed ELISA kit was performed upon 474 individuals, who include 333 active pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 80 healthy cases, and 61 tuberculosis contact cases. This serologic test was based on the ELISA technique and designed to detect antibodies to mixed complex antigens including 38-kDa, which were developed by Erume Biotech Co.,Seoul.Active pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed by sputum AFB smear and culture methods. RESULTS: The seropositivities using this ELISA kit were 82.1% and 73.6% in smear-positive and negative groups among active pulmonary tuberculosis, respectively. And, it also showed that seronegativities were 97.5% and 85.2% in healthy and contact groups, respectively. As a whole, the results of our study suing the ELISA kit as a diagnostic methiod for pulmonary tuberculosis showed 80.0% sensitivity for active pulmonary tuberculosis, 97.5% specificity, 96.1% positive predictive value, and 65.0% negative predictive value when the prevalence of tuberculosis in the samples was 60.1%. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that the detection of antibody its reaction with 38-kDa antigen of M.tuberculosis is not sufficient to be accepted as single diagnostic method for pulmonary tuberculosis. However, they suggest that ELISA kit may be considered as an adjunctive test to standard diagnostic techniques of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Antibodies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Prevalence ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Serologic Tests* ; Sputum ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*