PURPOSE: Tension-free hernioplasty has become the most popular procedure for the repair of groin hernias in the United States and United Kingdom. The purpose of this study is to describe a 7-year personal experience with Lichtenstein's tension-free groin hernia repair under local anesthesia. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the clinical outcome of 321 cases of Lichtenstein repairs, performed consecutively by an experienced surgeon between Jan. 1994 and Dec. 2000. RESULTS: Of the 321 cases, 242 (75.4%) were indirect, 34 (10.6%) were direct, 8 (2.5%) were femoral, 7 (2.2%) were pantaloon, and 30 (9.3%) were recurred hernias. The mean age was 55 years; 91% were male. The mean number of injections of analgesics required in the postoperative period was 3.2. The mean hospital stay following repair was 2.7 days. Complications occurred in 23 cases (7.1%). Most of these were minor, consisting of five cases of bruising or hematomas (1.6%), four superficial infections (1.3%), three seromas (0.9%), two hydroceles (0.6%), six patients with persisting groin pain for more than a month (1.8%), one foreign body granuloma, one urinary retention, and one testicular atrophy. There were no recurrences or operative deaths. CONCLUSION: Lichtenstein's tension-free hernioplasty is an easy and simple technique with less pain, minor complications and only rare instances of recurrence. This procedure can be performed on a same-day basis under local anesthesia. Lichtenstein repair may be the most promising technique for the repair of groin hernias.
Analgesics ; Anesthesia, Local ; Atrophy ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body ; Great Britain ; Groin* ; Hematoma ; Hernia* ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seroma ; United States ; Urinary Retention

BACKGROUND: Recently, the measurement of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was recommended as an alternative to fasting plasma glucose or oral glucose tolerance tests for diagnosing diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, we analyzed HbA1c levels for diabetes mellitus screening in a Korean rural population. METHODS: We analyzed data from 10,111 subjects from a Korean Rural Genomic Cohort study and generated a receiver operating characteristic curve to determine an appropriate HbA1c cutoff value for diabetes. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 56.3+/-8.1 years. Fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour plasma glucose after 75 g oral glucose tolerance tests were 97.5+/-25.6 and 138.3+/-67.1 mg/dL, respectively. The mean HbA1c level of the subjects was 5.7+/-0.9%. There were 8,809 non-DM patients (87.1%) and 1,302 DM patients (12.9%). A positive relationship between HbA1c and plasma glucose levels and between HbA1c and 2-hour plasma glucose levels after oral glucose tolerance tests was found in a scatter plot of the data. Using Youden's index, the proper cutoff level of HbA1c for diabetes mellitus screening was 5.95% (sensitivity, 77%; specificity, 89.4%). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the optimal HbA1c level for DM screening is 5.95%.
Cohort Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Plasma ; ROC Curve ; Rural Population ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Forty-seven ampicillin-resistant R plasmids derived from 218 Shigella sonnei isolates from Daegu and Gwangju areas from 1980 to 2000 were epidemiologically compared by fragments of restriction endonuclease patterns by EcoRI and SmaI, and by Southern hybridization with a blaTEM-1 probe. All the ampicillin-resistant strains isolated in the 1980S carried a conjugative R plasmid responsible for multiple resistance other than ampicillin, and an ampicillin-resistance plasmid. Ampicillin-resistant strains isolated in the 1990S harbored single conjugative R plasmid encoding ampicillin resistance along with variable antimicrobial resistances. The restriction endonuclease digestion patterns and Southern hybridiztion analysis of conjugative R plasmids showing identical resistance pattern and a same size showed different fragment and Western blotting patterns according to different isolation years and areas, while identical patterns were observed among the plasmids derived from a same isolation year and area. These findings suggest that ampicillin resistance among S. sonnei isolates was due to introduction of ampicillin-resistant R plasmids originated from different sources.
Ampicillin Resistance* ; Ampicillin* ; Blotting, Western ; Daegu ; Digestion ; DNA Restriction Enzymes ; Gwangju ; Plasmids ; R Factors ; Shigella sonnei* ; Shigella*

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association of Val108/158Met polymorphism on catechol-O-methyl transferase(COMT) gene with smooth pursuit eye movement(SPEM) abnormality in Korean schizophrenia patients. METHODS: We measured SPEM in 217 Korean schizophrenia patients(male 116, female 101) and divided them into two groups, one was a good SPEM function group and the other was a poor SPEM function group. Then we analyzed Val108/158Met polymorphism on COMT gene. We compared the differences of genotype and allele distributions of the polymorphism on COMT gene between the two groups. RESULTS: The natural logarithm value of signal/noise ratio(Ln S/N ratio) of the good SPEM function group was 4.39+/-0.33(mean+/-s.d.) and that of poor SPEM function group was 3.17+/-0.71. There were no statistically significant differences of age and male/female ratio between the two groups. There were no significant differences of genotype or allele distributions of the Val108/158Met polymorphism on COMT gene between the two schizophrenic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that Val108/158Met polymorphism on COMT gene is not related to SPEM function abnormality in schizophrenia.
Alleles ; Eye ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Pursuit, Smooth ; Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association of P1635 and P1655 polymorphisms on dystrobrevin binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) gene with smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) abnormality in Korean schizophrenia patients. METHODS: We measured SPEM function in 216 Korean schizophrenia patients (male 116, female 100) and divided them into two groups, one is a good SPEM function group and the other is a poor SPEM function group. We then analyzed P1635 polymorphism and P1655 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene from their DNAs extracted from their blood. We compared the differences of genotype and allele distributions of the two polymorphisms on DTNBP1 gene between the two groups. RESULTS: The Ln S/N ratio (mean+/-sd) of the good SPEM function group was 4.39+/-0.33 and the ratio of poor SPEM function group was 3.18+/-0.71. There were no statistically significant differences of age and male/female ratio between the two groups. There were no significant differences of genotype or allele distributions of the P1635 polymorphism and P1655 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene between the two schizophrenia groups divided by SPEM function. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that P1635 polymorphism and P1655 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene might not be related to SPEM function abnormality in schizophrenia.
Female ; Male ; Humans

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association of SNP A and P1763 polymorphisms on dystrobrevin binding protein 1(DTNBP1) gene with smooth pursuit eye movement(SPEM) abnormality in Korean schizophrenic patients. METHODS: We measured SPEM function in 217 Korean schizophrenics(male 116, female 101) and divided them into two groups, one is a good SPEM function group and the other is a poor SPEM function group. We then analyzed SNP A polymorphism and P1763 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene from their DNAs extracted from their blood. We compared the differences of genotype and allele distributions of the two polymorphisms on DTNBP1 gene between the two groups. RESULTS: The Ln S/N ratio(mean+/-SD) of the good SPEM function group was 4.39+/-0.33 and the ratio of poor SPEM function group was 3.17+/-0.71. There were no statistically significant differences of age and male/female ratio between the two groups. There were no significant differences of genotype or allele distributions of the SNP A polymorphism and P1763 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene between the two schizophrenic groups divided by SPEM function. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that SNP A polymorphism and P1763 polymorphism on DTNBP1 gene might not be related to SPEM function abnormality in schizophrenia.
Alleles ; Carrier Proteins* ; DNA ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Pursuit, Smooth* ; Schizophrenia