BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between yoga and autonomic nervous system in women with metabolic syndrome. METHODS: A randomized controlled study was performed in participants recruited from a public center for managing chronic diseases located in Gyeong-gi Province. The 39 women participants diagnosed with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to the 12-week yoga exercise group (n=22) or the wait-listed control group (n=17). Biochemical laboratory tests and heart rate variability were measured before and after the 12-week program. RESULTS: In post-menopausal women, the low frequency power of frequency domain significantly decreased in the yoga exercise group compared to the control group (P=0.07). On the time domain of heart rate variability and metabolic syndrome components, there were no significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Sympathetic activity was decreased in post-menopausal women with metabolic syndrome who practiced yoga. Our results suggest that yoga might be beneficial in improving the autonomic nervous system in post-menopausal women with metabolic syndrome.
Autonomic Nervous System ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Rate* ; Humans ; Yoga*

BACKGROUND: Exogenously administered epinephrine under enflurane anesthesia was known to have mild myocardial sensitizing effect. And N2O activates the sympathetic nervous system mildly. We planed this study to confirm cadiovascular effects of clinically administered epinephrine for hemostasis under the enflurane-N2O anesthesia during tonsillectomy. METHODS: Eighty children scheduled to have tonsillectomy were selected randomly and divided into 2 groups as follows; Group E: 1:100,000 epinephrine 2ug/kg and Group EL: 1:100,000 epinephrine containing 1% lidocaine 2 g/kg. Blood pressure, heart rate, and the occurrence of arrhythmia were evaluated before injection, at injection, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 5 min and 10 min after injection and 1 min after operation start. RESULTS: In both groups, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate are increased. But there are no significant statistical differences in each group and between groups. One min after operation, there are significant increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate in both groups (p<0.05), but there is no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSION: Under the enflurane-N2O anesthesia of children, 1:100,000 epinephrine 2ug/kg used for hemostasis could be used comparatively safe without any significant hemodynamic changes. But because there is always the possibility of myocardial sensitization, careful observation is necessary during epinephrine injection under the enflurane-N2O anesthesia.
Anesthesia* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Blood Pressure ; Child ; Enflurane ; Epinephrine* ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Hemostasis* ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; Tonsillectomy*

Alteration in the hormone level associated with menstrual cycle influences the interaction between the urethra and bladder as well as detrusor function, maybe due to the common embryological origin of lower female genital and urinary tract. We tried to investigate the effect of the menstrual cycle on cystometric diagnosis through this retrospective study. 60 women with regular menstruation were enrolled in this study. The study groups were divided into 2 groups, Group I was women whose symptoms were not influenced by the menstrual cycle, Group II was women whose symptoms were adversely affected premenstrually. The majority of normal cystometric diagnosis were made in the luteal phase (Group I: 42.9% vs 4.4%, p<0.05; Group II: 50.0% vs 22.2%, p<0.05). But diagnosis of genuine stress incontinence, detrusor instability, mixed genuine stress incontinence and detrusor instability were frequently made in the follicular phase of mentruation. Normal cystometric diagnosis in the group II were more commom than the group II ( 36.8% vs 19.7%, p<0.05 ). The results of this study reveal that the timing of cystometric evaluation may influence the the detection of a positive diagnosis. In patients whose symptom are influenced by their menstrual cycle, the luteal phase may not be the correct time to make an accurate diagnosis.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Follicular Phase ; Humans ; Luteal Phase ; Menstrual Cycle* ; Menstruation ; Retrospective Studies ; Urethra ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract

No abstract available.
Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney*

BACKGROUND: Recent evidences suggest that anesthetic action within the spinal cord is important in suppressing somatic responses to painful stimuli. Intrathecal endothelin-1 (ET-1) is known to have antinociceptive effect. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether intrathecal ET-1 may influence the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in rats and access the role of the spinal cord as the sites of anesthetic action in blocking somatic responsiveness. METHODS: In Sprague-Dawley rats fitted with an indwelling intrathecal catheter, we determined the MAC of isoflurane using a tail-clamp technique as a painful stimulus, combined with end-tidal anesthetic sampling. In experiment 1, the control MAC was determined and changes of control MAC were observed after intrathecal ET-1 (4x10-2 nmol, 4x10-3 nmol) administration. In experiment 2, we observed the effects of L or N type Ca++ channel blocker such as verapamil (50 g) or W-conotoxin (0.5 g) on the MAC after measurement of the control MAC. In experiment 3, after measurement of the control MAC, ET-1 (10-2 nmol) was administered intrathecally and the MAC was determined again. Next, intrathecal verapamil (50 g) or W-conotoxin (0.5 g) was injected. After that, the MAC was determined again. RESULTS: In experiment 1, ET-1 decreased the MAC of isoflurane and its effect was sustained over 2 hours. In experiment 2, the MAC, determined following administration of verapamil or W-conotoxin, was not different from that of the control. In experiment 3, the MAC was decreased after ET-1 administration and then increased following injection of verapamil or W-conotoxin. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that ET-1, in relation to calcium, might play an important role in determining the MAC of isoflurane in the spinal cord.
Animals ; Calcium ; Catheters ; Endothelin-1* ; Isoflurane* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spinal Cord ; Verapamil

The increasingly successful results of hair restoration surgery in the last years have developed the interest and the confidence of patients and it is the most frequently performed esthetic surgery among male patients. Currently, various kinds of techniques for hair restoration surgery including hair transplantation, scalp reduction, and scalp flaps are performed in our clinic. Among these, hair transplantation is the basic and the most popular procedure, which can be performed not only by itself but also in conjunction with other procedures. 123 consecutive cases of hair transplantations were peformed from Jan. 1995 to Feb. 1996 for male pattern baldness, traumatic alopecia, and female pattern baldness under out patient base. The authors introduced a new classification for male pattern baldness, which are the type M, O, C, U, M-O, and C-O after alphabet to make simple and easy for clinical application. The ancillary procedures were scalp reduction, preauricular flap, and scalp expansion. An ellipsis of hair bearing scalp taken from the occipital area was sliced into slit-, mega-, mini-, and micro-grafts. The survival rate of the grafts was over 90% with minimal complications. This hair transplantation technique enabled us to achieve a good density and more natural looking hair with avoidance of cobble stoning and apparent scar.
Alopecia* ; Cicatrix ; Classification ; Hair* ; Humans ; Male* ; Scalp ; Surgery, Plastic ; Survival Rate ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: Histamine, released from mast cells in atheromatous plaque, has been known to cause cardiac ischemia or sudden cardiac death in atherosclerosis patient. Previous reports have suggested that histamine induced coronary vasoconstriction was due to increase in IP(3) and DAG, which induce release of Ca2+ from SR and increase the Ca2+ sensitivity of contractile element via activation of PKC. Recently, it was reported that application of histamine cause depolarization of intestinal smooth muscle, which may contribute to histamine-induced contraction via augmenting Ca2+ influx through activation of Ca2+ channels. However, the underyling mechanism of histamine-induced depolarization and its contribution to the magnitude of coronary vasoconstriction are still uncertain. METHOD: To elucidate the underlying mechanism of Ca2+ influx change during histamine-induced vasoconstriction, we examined the effect of Ca2+ channel antagonist and PKC blocker on histamine-induced contractions, and then measured the effect of PKC antagonist on whole cell K+ current using patch clamping method in rabbit coronary smooth muscle cells. RESULTS: Application of histamine induced phasic and tonic constraction of coronary rings via activation of H(1) receptors. Pretreatment of Ca2+ channel antagonist (nifedipine, 1 microM) or PKC blockers (10 nM staurosporine and 10 microM Go6976) markedly inhibited histamine-induced tonic contraction, which suggest that the magnitude of tonic contraction depend on the Ca2+ influx. Application of 4-AP, a blocker of voltage-dependent K+ channels, increased resting tone of coronary rings, and combined treatment of nifedipine blocked this 4-AP induced increase of resting tone. Application of active analoge of DAG (1,2-DiC(8)) significantly inhibited the activity of voltage-dependent K+ current in single smooth muscle cell, meanwhile the inactive analogue of DAG (1,3-DiC(8)) has no apparent effect on the activity of voltage-dependent K+ current. Furthermore, pretreatment of calphostin C (1 microM), a blocker of PKC, diminished the 1,2-DiC(8)-induced inhibition of K+ current. CONCLUSION: PKC dependent inhibition of voltage-dependent K+ current may be responsible for the maintaining of histamine-induced tonic contraction in rabbit coronary artery.
Atherosclerosis ; Constriction ; Coronary Vessels* ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Histamine ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Mast Cells ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Nifedipine ; Protein Kinase C ; Staurosporine ; Vasoconstriction

BACKGROUND: Intracoronary stent with various designs have been developed to treat dissections or acute closure after angioplasty. The efficacy of flexible coil stent as a bail-out device has been reported. However, the restenosis after stenting still remained as a main limitation like other devices. This study reports on the angiographic follow-up after successful intracoronary stenting with flexible coil stent. METHOD: From April 1993 through July 1994, coronary stenting was tried in 21 patients by a single operator for various indications(acute or threatened closure, suboptimal result after balloon angioplasty). The nineteen(95%) out of 20 patients in whom stent was successfully deployed underwent follow-up coronary angiography 7.6+/-3.0 months after coronary stenting. RESULT: Mean age was 54.7+/-11.3(33-73) years and 16 parients were men. Clinical diagnosis of patients were as follows : stable angina 7, unstable angina 6, old myocardial infarction with stable angina 6 and acute myocardial infarction in 1 patient, respectively. Stents were implanted at left anterior descending artery in 9, left circumflex artery in 5 and right coronary artery in 8. Ten out of 21 stents(47.6%) were found to be renarrowed more than 50% at follow-up coronary angiography. There was no significant difference in clinical and angiographic variables between restenosis group and no-restenosis group. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery was performed in 1 patient for the treatment of restenosis after stenting. Repeat PTCA was performed in 3 patients and remaining 5 patients were followed medically. CONCLUSION: Flexible coil(Gianturco-Roubin) coronary stent is a useful adjunct percutaneous intervention to prevent or minimize complicatioms associated with dissections. Despite favorable initial angiographic and clinical results, 47.6% of stents were found to be renarrowed significantly at follow-up coronary angiography. New techniques or more optimal characters of stents would be desired.
Angina, Stable ; Angina, Unstable ; Angioplasty ; Arteries ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Stents* ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: Intracoronary stent with various designs have been developed to treat dissections or acute closure after angioplasty. The efficacy of flexible coil stent as a bail-out device has been reported. However, the restenosis after stenting still remained as a main limitation like other devices. This study reports on the angiographic follow-up after successful intracoronary stenting with flexible coil stent. METHOD: From April 1993 through July 1994, coronary stenting was tried in 21 patients by a single operator for various indications(acute or threatened closure, suboptimal result after balloon angioplasty). The nineteen(95%) out of 20 patients in whom stent was successfully deployed underwent follow-up coronary angiography 7.6+/-3.0 months after coronary stenting. RESULT: Mean age was 54.7+/-11.3(33-73) years and 16 parients were men. Clinical diagnosis of patients were as follows : stable angina 7, unstable angina 6, old myocardial infarction with stable angina 6 and acute myocardial infarction in 1 patient, respectively. Stents were implanted at left anterior descending artery in 9, left circumflex artery in 5 and right coronary artery in 8. Ten out of 21 stents(47.6%) were found to be renarrowed more than 50% at follow-up coronary angiography. There was no significant difference in clinical and angiographic variables between restenosis group and no-restenosis group. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery was performed in 1 patient for the treatment of restenosis after stenting. Repeat PTCA was performed in 3 patients and remaining 5 patients were followed medically. CONCLUSION: Flexible coil(Gianturco-Roubin) coronary stent is a useful adjunct percutaneous intervention to prevent or minimize complicatioms associated with dissections. Despite favorable initial angiographic and clinical results, 47.6% of stents were found to be renarrowed significantly at follow-up coronary angiography. New techniques or more optimal characters of stents would be desired.
Angina, Stable ; Angina, Unstable ; Angioplasty ; Arteries ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Vessels ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Stents* ; Transplants

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: High serum homocysteine level is recognised as one of risk factors for epileptic seizure. Folate is involved in the homocysteine metabolism and low serum folate level increases the frequency of the seizure activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the changes of the serum levels of homocysteine and folate in epileptic patients and to evaluate the correlation between the severity of seizure and serum levels of homocysteine and folate. METHOD: Subjects were 17 patients who were diagnosed as idiopathic epilepsy and the control group was composed of age and sex matched 17 healthy adults. The serum homocysteine level was measured with the Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CLIA), and folate level was measured with Radioimmuno assay (RIA). The severity of seizure was measured by using National Hospital Seizure Scale. RESULTS: The serum level of homocysteine was significantly higher in the patients group than in control group. However, the serum level of folate was not different between two group. The relationship between the seizure severity and the serum levels of homocysteine and folate showed positive correlations. CONCLUSIONS: There results reveal that the serum homocysteine may effect on the epileptic seizure severity.
Adult ; Epilepsy ; Folic Acid ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; Risk Factors ; Seizures