The aim of the investigation was to study the efficacy and safety of Famotidine (Gaster), a new, potent, histamine H-receptor antagonist. The Famotidine (40 mg p.o.h.s) was administered to 22 patients with 33 peptic ulcers for 4 weeks. Follow up checking was done at 2 week and 4 week by endoscopy and physical examination. All patients were carefully evaluated at regular intervals for adverse drugh reactions by clinical and laboratory examinations. By the end of study, 97% of the ulcers were healed by endoscopically and rapid and complete relief of epigastric pain was observed in all patients. Famotidine treatment was well tolerated and no alterations in laboratory tests were noted. Therfore, Famotidine was proved effective in the treatment of peptic ulcers (especially multiple ulcers) and was well tolerted on the short-term basis.
Endoscopy ; Famotidine* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Histamine ; Humans ; Peptic Ulcer* ; Physical Examination ; Ulcer

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons and a biochemical reduction of striatal dopamine levels. Despite the lack of fully understanding of the etiology of Parkinson's disease, accumulating evidences suggest that Parkinson's disease may be caused by the insufficient support of neurotrophic factors, and by microglial activation, resident immune cells in the brain. Naringin, a major flavonone glycoside in grapefruits and citrus fruits, is considered as a protective agent against neurodegenerative diseases because it can induce not only anti-oxidant effects but also neuroprotective effects by the activation of anti-apoptotic pathways and the induction of neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor. We have recently reported that naringin has neuroprotective effects in a neurotoxin model of Parkinson's disease. Our observations show that intraperitoneal injection of naringin induces increases in glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor expression and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 activity in dopaminergic neurons of rat brains with anti-inflammatory effects. Moreover, the production of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor by naringin treatment contributes to the protection of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic projection in a neurotoxin model of Parkinson's disease. Although the effects of naringin on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in human brains are largely unknown, these results suggest that naringin may be a beneficial natural product for the prevention of dopaminergic degeneration in the adult brain.
Adult ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Citrus ; Citrus paradisi ; Dopamine ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Humans ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Nerve Growth Factors ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Parkinson Disease ; Rats ; Sirolimus ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Bullet embolism is a rare complication of non-penetrating gunshot trauma. There are two types of bullet embolisms: arterial and venous. Accurate preoperative localization of the bullet is important for selecting the proper surgical and anesthetic techniques. We report here on a rare case of venous bullet embolus to the right ventricle from the right iliac vein, as was demonstrated by transesophageal echocardiography.
Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Embolism ; Heart Ventricles ; Iliac Vein

One important purpose of premedical education is to help students attain core competencies during the two-year premedical program. Since premedical curriculum is the foundation of medical education, it is necessary to develop the premedical curriculum in accordance with the overarching curriculum of a medical school. Inje University's College of Medicine (IUCM) has attempted to integrate competency-based medical education into the premedical education curriculum. The revised premedical curriculum aims to develop students' intrinsic competencies during premedical years. In an effort to do so, IUCM defined competencies for premedical education, analyzed and designed premedical courses according to the defined competencies, and suggested learner-centered instructional methods. As a result of implementing the revised premedical curriculum, students have reported both positive experiences and difficulties. Based on the results, it will be necessary to continuously improve the premedical curriculum as well as develop appropriate methods for evaluating student achievement of the defined competencies.
Competency-Based Education ; Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Education, Premedical ; Humans ; Schools, Medical

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM) is defined as a thickened wall of heart muscles and non-dilated left ventricle, but is not accompanied underlying cardiac or systemic diseases that induce ventricular hypertrophy. HCM is responsible to exercise limitation for all ages and also is known as the most common cause of heart-related sudden death during childhood and adolescents. Epidemiological studies showed that prevalence in young adults is 0.2% and HCM is caused by a mutations in genes that code the proteins of cardiac muscles. HCM with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome is extremely rare and associated with a high risk of tachyarrhythmia and sudden death. We report an infantile HCM with WPW syndrome who died suddenly.
Adolescent ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic* ; Death, Sudden ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Hypertrophy ; Myocardium ; Prevalence ; Tachycardia ; Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome* ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Chronic constipation is not uncommon even in children. Recently biofeedback treatment (BT) is considered as a useful modality in the treatment of various types of constipation. The aim of this study was to evaulate the effectiveness of BT in children with chronic constipation. METHODS: We reviewed 24 cases of childhood constipation (17 boys, 7 girls) who visited the Jinju Hakmoon colorectal surgery clinic and GNUH1 between April, 2001 and September, 2002. Balloon-mediated anorectal manometry system was used for BT. The effects of therapy was assessed by bowel movement, defecation time, fecal soiling and balloon evacuation test in the early course of therapy. The long term follow up survey was done by telephone interview at January 2003 and the effects of therapy was assessed by bowel movement, defecation time, fecal soiling and parents' satisfaction. RESULTS: Patients received the BT for the three times on average, and as the result of the therapy, 20 patients experienced disappearance of symptoms (87%) or at least improvement of symptoms. In terms of manometric values, the mean resting pressure was 113.4 mmHg before the BT, but decreased to 86.3 mmHg after the BT (P=0.0012). Mean pushing pressure dropped to 85.98 mmHg from 130.45 mmHg (P=<0.0001). Mean sensitivity decreased from 55 ml to 35 ml (P=0.0053). Mean compliance decreased from 20.28 H2O/cm to 4.21 H2O/cm (P=0.0015). 13 patients (76%) showed disappearance or improvement of symptoms in the long term follow up. CONCLUSIONS: The Balloon mediated biofeedback therapy is effective in children with chronic constipation. It is safe, easy to administer and also improve symptoms and objective parameters of anorectal function. Balloon mediated biofeedback therapy could be the first-line therapy in child patient with chronic constipation who failed conservative management.
Biofeedback, Psychology* ; Child* ; Colorectal Surgery ; Compliance ; Constipation* ; Defecation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Manometry ; Soil

Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare soft tissue tumor that accounts for 5% of pediatric non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas. The disease presents as a indolent asymptomatic mass and affects primarily younger patients. The clinical course is often indolent and late metastases can develop even after prolonged disease-free intervals. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy play a very limited role in the treatment. We report a pediatric case of ASPS with a brief review of the literature.
Child* ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy ; Sarcoma ; Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft Part* ; Viperidae

A chromosomal abnormality was found in about 3.6-7.6% of males presenting with azoospermia or oligospermia. Translocations between X chromosome and autosomes are rarely seen genetic disorders that cause male infertility. We described here a 26-year-old infertile male with t(X;14)(p11.4; p12). He showed a normal phenotype without any familial history of congenital abnormalities. The cytogenetic analysis of the proband revealed an X-autosomal translocation, 46,Y,t(X;14)(p11.4;p12), which was inherited from his mother. The testis biopsies indicated the arrest of spermatogenesis. There were no microdeletions of the azoospermia factor a (AZFa), AZFb and AZFc regions in the Y chromosome shown by PCR with 11 sequence-tagged site (STS) markers. According to the literature, male carriers of an X-autosome translocation are invariably sterile, regardless of the position of the break-point in the X chromosome. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of azoospermia with t(X;14)(p11.4;p12) in Korea.
Adult ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14 ; *Chromosomes, Human, X ; Humans ; Infertility, Male/diagnosis/*genetics ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Spermatogenesis ; *Translocation, Genetic

The ocular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are common and they can vary from patient to patient. However, necrotizing anterior scleritis without inflammation (scleromalacia perforans) is a rare and serious opthalmic complication, and it is typically associated with long-standing RA. Although the etiology and pathogenesis of scleromalacia perforans are diverse and they are not completely understood, ophthalmic surgery is one of the well known causes of scleromalacia perforans. Patients with systemic autoimmune disease such as RA have an especially higher risk of scleromalacia perforans after opthalmic surgery. Because scleromalacia perforans is a potential threat not just to eyesight, but to life as well, early diagnosis and prompt treatment are required for its successful management. We experienced a case of scleromalacia perforans that developed after scleral excision of pterygium in a 58 year old woman who had a 7 year history of RA, and this was well treated with an early screral graft. We report here on this case along with a review of the relevant literature.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Polyenes ; Pterygium ; Scleritis ; Transplants

Silibinin, an active constituent of silymarin extracted from milk thistle, has been previously reported to confer protection to the adult brain against neurodegeneration. However, its effects against epileptic seizures have not been examined yet. In order to investigate the effects of silibinin against epileptic seizures, we used a relevant mouse model in which seizures are manifested as status epilepticus, induced by kainic acid (KA) treatment. Silibinin was injected intraperitoneally, starting 1 day before an intrahippocampal KA injection and continued daily until analysis of each experiment. Our results indicated that silibinin-treatment could reduce seizure susceptibility and frequency of spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) induced by KA administration, and attenuate granule cell dispersion (GCD), a morphological alteration characteristic of the dentate gyrus (DG) in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Moreover, its treatment significantly reduced the aberrant levels of apoptotic, autophagic and pro-inflammatory molecules induced by KA administration, resulting in neuroprotection in the hippocampus. Thus, these results suggest that silibinin may be a beneficial natural compound for preventing epileptic events.
Adult ; Animals ; Brain ; Dentate Gyrus ; Epilepsy ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; Hippocampus* ; Humans ; Kainic Acid ; Mice ; Milk Thistle ; Neuroprotection ; Seizures ; Silymarin ; Status Epilepticus