No abstract available.
Cryotherapy* ; Hot Temperature* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Flecainide is an antiarrhythmic agent that is used primarily in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Some evidences also suggest that flecainide can participate in alveolar fluid clearance and inflammatory responses. This experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of flecainide on sepsis induced acute lung injury in a rat model. METHODS: Rats were treated with subcutaneous infusion of saline or flecainide (0.1 or 0.2 mg/kg/hr) by a mini-osmotic pump. Subcutaneous infusion was started 3 hours before and continued until 8 hours after intraperitoneal injection of saline or endotoxin. Animals were sacrificed for analyses of severity of acute lung injury with wet to dry (W/D) ratio and lung injury score (LIS) in lung and inflammatory responses with level of leukocyte, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and inteleukin-8 (IL-8) in bronchoalveolar lavages fluid (BALF). RESULTS: Flecainide markedly improved dose dependently sepsis induced acute lung injury as analysed by W/D ratio (from 2.24 ± 0.11 to 1.76 ± 0.09, p < 0.05) and LIS (from 3 to 1, p < 0.05), and inflammatory response as determined by leukocyte (from 443 ± 127 to 229 ± 95, p < 0.05), PMNs (from 41.43 ± 17.63 to 2.43 ± 2.61, p < 0.05) and IL-8 (from 95.00 ± 15.28 to 40.00 ± 10.21, p < 0.05) in BALF. CONCLUSIONS: Flecanide improve sepsis induced acute lung injury in rats by controlling inflammatory responses.
Acute Lung Injury* ; Animals ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Flecainide* ; Infusions, Subcutaneous ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Interleukin-8 ; Leukocytes ; Lung ; Lung Injury ; Models, Animal ; Neutrophils ; Rats ; Sepsis*

No abstract available.
Lung*

BACKGROUND: To examine serum Insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-I) level in patients with knee osteoarthritis(OA) and to determine the relationship between the serum level of IGF-I with pain intensity and severity of OA knee. METHODS: Serum IGF-I levels measured by standard radioimmunoassay techniques were obtained from 30 knee OA patients and 30 normal controls matched by age and gender. Pain intensity was measured by pain rating scale(PRS) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Kellgren grade also used for assessing the severity of knee OA. RESULTS: No difference was found in serum IGF-I levels between the cases and controls(cases: 279+/-128 ng/dL, controls: 282+/-113 ng/dl). There was no correlation between pain intensity and serum IGF-I levels. There is no significant association between IGF-I level and Kellgren grade. CONCLUSION: Serum IGF-I level does not decrease in knee OA. The serum IGF-I levels can not indicate pain intensity and severity of knee OA.
Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Knee* ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteoarthritis, Knee* ; Radioimmunoassay ; Visual Analog Scale

No abstract available.
Hyperhidrosis*

We report a rescently experienced case with atypical radiologic manifestation of solid and papillary epithelial neoplasm of the pancreas in a 37 years old female patient. The tumor had heavy calcification on its capsule wall and septa. Instead of the usual encapsulated lesion with partly solid and partly cystic-hemorrhagic components, the lesion consisted of numerous fine cavitations containing air without fluid component except focal abscess fluid.
Abscess ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial* ; Pancreas* ; Pancrelipase*

BACKGROUND: Alcohol has much effect on our lives as a taste food that people in almost all of the world generally have had. The effects of alcohol cause social problems as well as physical and psychological problems. Recently, interest about drinkirg increasingly rises as the rate of drinking accident increases in Korea. For this, our study examined the amount of alcohol consumption and early at-risk alcohol intake. METHODS: The prepared questionnaire was presented to subjects who were employees in Inchon . The anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was composed of questionnaire concerning alcohol consumption, early at-risk alcohol intake and doctor's role in drinking behaviour. RESULTS: Among 305 subjects, there were 189 (62%) men, 116 (38%) women whose mean age was 37. 9years. 87(28.5%)subjects were classified as high alcohol group and 218(71.5%) low alcohol group. High alcohol group was defined as early at-risk alcohol intake for men who were consuming 135g of alcohol per day, 630 per week and for women 90g per day, 270g per week. Low alcohol group was defined as early at-risk alcohol intake for men whose consumption was 90g per day, 450 per week and for women 45g per day, 270g per week . Mean alcohol consumption of drinker was 158.9g per week. 3 days per week people should not drink in order to avoid risk Although 54% of respondents thought doctors should ask about their drinkirg habits, only 16.4% of respondents reported ever being asked about alcohol intake on the subject. CONCLUSION: Early at-risk drinking subject in the study was much more than those suggested by NIH(National Institutes of Health). We conclude that primary care physicians should take more interest in screening, treating and preventing alcohol related problems and advise and educate patients to cut down or quit drinking.
Academies and Institutes ; Alcohol Drinking ; Anonyms and Pseudonyms ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Drinking ; Female ; Humans ; Incheon ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Social Problems

No abstract available.
Central Venous Pressure* ; Critical Illness* ; Humans

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common, life-threatening cause of acute respiratory failure, which is ultimately caused by a variety of local and systemic insults. Alterations in the coagulation and fibrinolysis profiles are present in almost all the patients suffering with ALI. The classic histologic findings in ALI patients include alveolar fibrin formation and microthrombi in the pulmonary vasculature. Decreased circulating levels of protein C and increased concentrations of thrombomodulin are present in patients with septic and nonseptic ALI. The circulating and pulmonary concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) are increased in the setting of ALI, and the degree of elevation in the PAI-1 level directly correlates with mortality. The need for new specific therapies has led a number of investigators to examine the role of altered coagulation and fibrinolysis in the pathogenesis of ALI. This review summarizes the current understanding of coagulation and fibrinolysis in ALI with an emphasis on the pathways that could be potential therapeutic targets, including the tissue factor pathway, the protein C pathway and the modulation of fibrinolysis via plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.
Acute Lung Injury ; Fibrin ; Fibrinolysis ; Humans ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 ; Plasminogen Activators ; Protein C ; Research Personnel ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Stress, Psychological ; Thrombomodulin ; Thromboplastin

BACKGROUND: Sevoflurane and Desflurane are new inhalation anesthetics with a low blood/gas solubility which should allow a fast induction and emergence from anesthesia. This study was designed to compare the induction and recovery characteristics of gynecologic surgical patients receiving sevoflurane, desflurane or isoflurane with nitrous oxide for the maintenance of general anesthesia. METHODS: After a standardized induction of anesthesia with fentanyl, propofol, succinylcholine and tracheal intubation, patients undergoing an elective gynecologic surgery lasting 1 - 2 hr randomly received sevoflurane (n = 23), desflurane (n = 21) or isoflurane group (n = 20). Induction, recovery time and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and recall were compared among groups. The liver (SGOT, SGPT, ALP) and renal (BUN, serum creatinine) function were evaluated before and after the operation. RESULTS: Although anesthetic conditions were similar during the operation in the three groups, significant differences were noted in induction and recovery profiles from anesthesia. Induction time was 201 +/- 67 sec for sevoflurane, 124 +/- 66 sec for desflurane and 422 +/- 257 sec for isoflurane. The time required for the end-tidal concentration of anesthetics to decrease by 50% was 180.9 +/- 34.4 sec for sevoflurane, 168.0 +/- 160.1 sec for desflurane, and 222.9 +/- 127.5 sec for isoflurane. The time to response (eye opening following a simple command), and orientation (recall of name and date of birth), to reach 10 points of the PAR (post anesthesia recovery) score and discharge from recovery room were significantly shorter after sevoflurane and desflurane than after isoflurane. There were no significant differences in liver and kidney functions between the periods before and after the operation among the groups. The frequency of side effects such as nausea, vomiting and recall during the postoperative period was similar among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that a balanced anesthetic technique using sevoflurane and desflurane as the main anesthetics has certain advantages compared with isoflurane in terms of faster emergence.
Alanine Transaminase ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Inhalation* ; Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Female ; Fentanyl ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inhalation* ; Intubation ; Isoflurane ; Kidney ; Liver ; Nausea ; Nitrous Oxide ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Postoperative Period ; Propofol ; Recovery Room ; Solubility ; Succinylcholine ; Vomiting