One hundred and thirty-eight strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from the 7th nationwide tuberculosis prevalence survey in 1995 were subjected to the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using IS6110 probe to define the representative fingerprinting patterns of Korean strains of M. tuberculosis and to evaluate the usefulness of DNA fingerprinting in tracing the transmission link of M. tuberculosis. Among 138 strains, 129 different IS6l10 RFLP types were identified. The number of bands in IS6110 RFLP types diversed from 1 to 20, and the majority (75%) was 9 to 14 bands. The RFLP patterns of 8 out of 15 strains isolated from the follow-up survey of one and half year later after the 7th national TB prevalence survey were unchanged when compared with previous RFLP patterns. Fifteen (11%) out of 138 strains were grouped in 6 IS6110 clusters; 2 with 10 copies, 2 with 12 copies, 1 with 14 copies, and 1 with 17 copies. These clusters were unable to be subclassified by IS1081 or (GTG) probes except one cluster by pTBN12 probe. The transmission links of 2 clusters were deducible; one from household and another from neighborhood, but those of remaining clusters were unclear because they had no contact one another. The results suggest that vigorous transmissions in tuberculosis are still progressing in Korea.
Dermatoglyphics ; DNA Fingerprinting* ; DNA* ; Family Characteristics ; Follow-Up Studies ; Korea ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis* ; Mycobacterium* ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Prevalence* ; Residence Characteristics ; Tuberculosis*

No abstract available.
Carotid Artery, Common* ; Rupture*

Obstruction on the urinary tract eventually results in damage to the kidneys and loss of function. The questions that concern the clinician are the degree of nephron loss in that kidney and the potential for recovery following the relief of obstruction. 99mTc DMSA accumulates in tubule cells and has been proposed as a marker of the tubular mass. The authors estimated the renal uptake ratio of 99mTc DMSA for the degree of nephron loss corresponding to duration of hydronephrosis following left ureteral ligation in 5 NewZealand white rabbits and the potential for recovery following percutaneous nephrostomy of hydronephrosis in 24 rabbits. While the renal uptake ratio of 99mTc DMSA of the kidney with unilateral hydronephrosis following ureteral ligation reduced dramatically within 24 hour, that of the opposite healthy kidney increased, and the total renal uptake ratio was same as normal functioning kidneys before ureteral ligation. Upon ureteral release, there was no evidence of definite recovery or impairment in the experimental kidneys for 5 days. The authors conclude that a combination of ureteral release and administration of some drugs such as renal vasodilator or diuretics is an appropriate treatment for the recovery of function in unilateral hydronephrosis.
Diuretics ; Hydronephrosis* ; Kidney ; Ligation ; Nephrons ; Nephrostomy, Percutaneous* ; Rabbits ; Recovery of Function ; Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid* ; Ureter ; Urinary Tract

In recent study, exercise hypertension is associated with a lower adjusted mortality rate and is likely to a good prognostic sign, although its clinical significance is uncertain. The purpose of this investigation was to study exercise hypertensive reaction and to search its related factors. From June. 1st to Aug. 31st 1996, 108 males, mean age 41.5years(range, 20~70) attended the exercise stress test as volunteers during checking-up of health & disease at Health Service Center of Kwang-ju Christian hospital. The exercise stress test using stationary leg bicycle was done until the examiner were exhausted, at which we measured peak exercise systolic blood pressure & Pulse rate. The results are shown as follows. Exercise hypertension was present in 22 subjects(20.0% ). Including age, body mass index, RPE scales at 70% maximal heart rate, rate of level of elevation of heart rate during exercise, no significant related factors associated with exercise hypertension was present by the discriminant analysis. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that exercise-induced increase in systolic blood pressure was positively correlated with only resting systolic pressure(r=0.101, p less than 0.01). RPE(Rating of Perceived Exertion) scales was 18.05+/-1.31 when pulse rate of the examiner was reached to 70% of rnaximal heart rate(220-age (years) ). In conclusion, no significant related factor associated with exercise hypertension was presents, but exercise-induced increase of systolic blood pressure was positively correlated with only resting systolic pressure.
Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Exercise Test ; Gwangju ; Health Services ; Heart ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Leg ; Male ; Mortality ; Volunteers ; Weights and Measures

No abstract available.
Chromium ; Copper ; Zinc

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: According to the recent research, mutations in the HBV pre-S region may have an impact on the progression of hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related liver disease. The aim of this study was to clarify the frequency and location of naturally occurring mutations in the pre-S region of HBV, and their possible effects on the clinical course of HBV-associated chronic liver diseases. METHODS: HBV DNA was extracted from the sera of 15 patients (8 with liver cirrhosis and 7 with hepatocellular carcinoma). The pre-S sequence was amplified via polymerase chain reaction, subcloning and sequenced. RESULTS: All patients had point mutations in the pre-S region. Nine of 10 mutation sites (90%) in the pre-S1 region, and 4 of 5 mutation sites (80%) in the pre-S2 region were identical in both liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Deletions were detected in seven patients (4 with liver cirrhosis and 3 with hepatocellular carcinoma). Among the 4 patients with liver cirrhosis, three had deletion in 5'-end of the pre-S2 region and one spanning the 3'-end of the pre-S1 to 5'-end of the pre-S2 region. All 3 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma had deletions in 5'-end of the pre-S1 region, and two patients had simultaneous deletion spanning the 3'-end of the pre-S1 to the 5'-end of the pre-S2. CONCLUSION: The pre-S mutants were frequently detected in HBV-associated liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma and the point mutations or deletions in the pre-S gene were clustered in specific regions.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; DNA ; Hepatitis B ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis* ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the MR Imaging findings with provoked discography used as the standard for painful lumbar disc derangement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred patients (412 discs), (age range: 21-77 years), with chronic low back pain underwent MRI and provoked discography. We evaluated the MRI T2-WI findings such as disc degeneration, high-Intensity zones and endplate abnormalities. Subsequently, provocative discography was independently performed with using MR imaging, and a painful disc was defined when moderate to severe and concordant pain was provoked. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the MRI findings with using provoked discography as the standard. RESULTS: 400 discs showed abnormal findings such as disc degeneration, HIZ and endplate abnormalities on the T2-WI images. 12 discs showed normal findings. HIZ or endplate abnormalities were always combined with disc degeneration. The prevalence of each findings were disc degeneration (400 discs: 97.1%), HIZ (111 discs: 26.9%), type I endplate abnormalities (34 discs: 8.3%), type II endplate abnormalities (75 discs: 18.2%), the combined findings of HIZ and type I endplate abnormalities (2 discs: 0.5%) and the combined findings of HIZ and type II endplate abnormalities (7 discs: 1.7%). The disc degeneration showed high sensitivity (99.5%) and low specificity (5.0%), so only the NPV (91.7%) was significant, and not the PPV (47.8%). Each findings of HIZ (sensitivity, 36.5%; specificity, 81.4%; PPV, 63.18%; NPV, 59.5%), type I endplate abnormalities (11.0%, 94.1%, 61.8% and 54.8%, respectively), type II endplate abnormalities (19.8%, 83.2%, 50.7% and 54.3%, respectively), the combined findings of HIZ and type I endplate abnormalities (0.5%, 99.6%, 50.0% and 53.4%, respectively) and the combined findings of HIZ and type II endplate abnormalities (26.0%, 99.1%, 71.4% and 53.8%, respectively) show high specificity, but low sensitivity, so the PPV and NPV were also not significant. CONCLUSION: For diagnosing painful lumbar disc derangement, the MR imaging findings seem to be inadequate as predictive factors when provoked discography was used as the standard.
Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; Low Back Pain* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Prevalence ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Nontraumatic spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) is a rare condition and the exact cause of the hemorrhage in SEH has never been established. However, there have been a few recent reports on some types of the epidural hematoma with a detectable origin of hemorrhage. We encountered a case of chronic SEH in a patient who had spondylolytic spondylolisthesis, which is also a rare condition to be associated with SEH. We report here on the radiologic findings of a case of chronic epidural hematoma in a patient who had spondylolytic spondylolisthesis at the L4-5 level, and we include a review of the related literatures.
Hematoma* ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Spinal Cord ; Spondylolisthesis* ; Spondylolysis

The authors surveyed one-hundred women within 24-36 hours after delivary for the evaluation of low back pain in pregnancy. It showed that 55% of them suffered from low back pain during pregnancy. Low back pains mostly started form 6-9 months of gestational age. Low back pains were tolerable at 84% of them. And low back pains were not aggravated during pregnancy among the 67% of low back pain pregnant women. Leg pains were noted at 34% of low back pain group.
Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Leg ; Low Back Pain* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women