Depression is one of most frequent psychiatric disorders in the elderly. Major depression has higher prevalence in the elderly compared with younger subjects. Depression in the elderly is a major health concern that can be life threatening, if not recognized and not treated. An untreated depression may result in needless suffering, institutionalization, and suicide. Inadequated treatment may occur because the signs and symptoms of depression in the elderly are different from those in the young, and because the depressive symptoms may be viewed by the physician as a normal part of aging. The purpose of this study is to evaluate depressive factors in the Korean elderly. Four hundred and sixty eight Koreans were evaluated for depressive factors in 60 years old or more. The author performed a clinical evaluation guide, an intensive questionnaire, and Mini-Mental Status Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K). Stastically ANOVA, Scheffe, Duncan and Chi-square methods were used to find out depressive factors in the Korean elderly. Depression, dissatisfaction, suicidal idea and distress factors were evaluated in the Korean elderly depressed persons. Depressive factors were associated with physical health problems, family problems, psychiatric health problems, loneliness, economic problems, interpersonal conflicts, and occupational problems. Among these depressive factors, physical health problems were most frequently dominant in the elderly. Physical health problems are closely related to depression in the elderly. Depressive syndromes in the elderly are frequently combined with somatic complaints. And depression may be masked by multiple somatic complaints or by pain, for which no organic cause can be found. However, the etiology and mechanism of the association between physical illness and depression are unkown. Such factors as described above may be important in reducing the high prevalence of depression in elderly people.
Aged* ; Aging ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Humans ; Institutionalization ; Loneliness ; Masks ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Suicide

Depression is one of most frequent psychiatric disorders in the elderly. Major depression has higher prevalence in the elderly compared with younger subjects. Depression in the elderly is a major health concern that can be life threatening, if not recognized and not treated. An untreated depression may result in needless suffering, institutionalization, and suicide. Inadequated treatment may occur because the signs and symptoms of depression in the elderly are different from those in the young, and because the depressive symptoms may be viewed by the physician as a normal part of aging. The purpose of this study is to evaluate depressive factors in the Korean elderly. Four hundred and sixty eight Koreans were evaluated for depressive factors in 60 years old or more. The author performed a clinical evaluation guide, an intensive questionnaire, and Mini-Mental Status Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K). Stastically ANOVA, Scheffe, Duncan and Chi-square methods were used to find out depressive factors in the Korean elderly. Depression, dissatisfaction, suicidal idea and distress factors were evaluated in the Korean elderly depressed persons. Depressive factors were associated with physical health problems, family problems, psychiatric health problems, loneliness, economic problems, interpersonal conflicts, and occupational problems. Among these depressive factors, physical health problems were most frequently dominant in the elderly. Physical health problems are closely related to depression in the elderly. Depressive syndromes in the elderly are frequently combined with somatic complaints. And depression may be masked by multiple somatic complaints or by pain, for which no organic cause can be found. However, the etiology and mechanism of the association between physical illness and depression are unkown. Such factors as described above may be important in reducing the high prevalence of depression in elderly people.
Aged* ; Aging ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Humans ; Institutionalization ; Loneliness ; Masks ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Suicide

Arterial blood pressure, pulse rate and rate pressure product changes following tracheal intubation were studied in 50 patients undergoing elective surgical procedures who received a thiopental-succinylcholine anesthetic intubation sequence. Three treatment groups and a control group were observed. Intravenous labetalol doses of 0.25 mg/kg, 0.5 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg, injected prior to anesthesia, were compared with respect to their effect on the cardiovascular sequences to direct laryngoscopy followed by the passage of an endotraeheal tube. The increases in heart rate and rate-pressure product associated with tracheal intubation were significantly prevented in labetalol treated patients, significantly. The increase in arterial pressure was prevented, insignificantly. However, it was dose-dependent. From the above result, a pre-induction dose of labetalol was effective in attenuating the pressure response to laryngoscopy and intubation.
Anesthesia ; Arterial Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal* ; Labetalol* ; Laryngoscopy* ; Surgical Procedures, Elective

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify effects of abdominal skin massage and warming therapy on the pain and anxiety to breast cancer patients who underwent hormone injections. METHODS: The subjects for the study were 60 breast cancer patients who underwent hormone injections (20 in the control group, 20 in the abdominal skin massage group, and 20 in the warming therapy group). Abdominal skin massage was conducted following KSMA's (Korea science massage association) advice and warming therapy was executed at 48 ℃ for 20 minutes. The results were checked using subjective and objective measurement tools. RESULTS: After abdominal skin massage and warming therapy, subjective (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS) and objective (facial expression and vocal change) pain scores were significantly decreased (p<.001) Also, Anxiety state was significantly decreased compared to the control group (p =.043). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that abdominal skin massage and warming therapy were highly effective in alleviating pain and anxiety in patients who underwent hormone injections.
Anxiety* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Humans ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Massage* ; Skin*

PURPOSE: Tuberculosis of the thyroid gland is very rare and some cases were reported in Korea since 1968. We experienced a case of tuberculous thyroiditis and found a old case in our medical center. This report is about the two case and the review of all cases reported about tuberculosis of the thyroid gland in Korea. METHODS: We present the case of a 55-year-old woman with thyroid tuberculosis who has been treated with antituberculous medication because of tuberculous meningitis during 6 months. We performed thyroid isthmectomy and she is now taking the antituberculous drugs. We found a case of 40- year-old woman who underwent extended thyroid lobectomy, Lt. in 1985 at our medical center. We reviewed the 18 literatures with 29 cases of tuberculosis of the thyroid gland reported in Korea and analyzed total 31 cases (reported 29 cases and our 2 cases). RESULTS: 28 patients were women and only 2 patients were over 60 years old. 26 patients had complained the neck mass. Duration of symptoms were below 6 months in 18 cases. There were associated symptoms like as weight loss, easy fatigue or generalized weakness, dysphagia, palpitation, fever, chills and/or anorexia. Only 9 patients had underlying tuberculosis - 2 meningitis, 2 pneumonia, 3 lymphadenopathy and 2 pneumonia combined with meningitis. But 3 patients were newly diagnosed as old or active pulmonary tuberculosis at the time of diagnosis of thyroid tuberculosis. Thyroid function was normal in 9 cases and abnormal in 5 cases. 3 cases were diagnosed nonoperatively and 15 patients of surgically treated 28 cases were underwent lobectomy. AFB stain was positive in only 13 cases and 2 cases were positive of culture with negative AFB stain. All of cases were diagnosed by pathology as granulomatous tuberculosis with caseous necrosis. CONCLUSION: Either surgical resection plus antituberculous medications or only medications are effective and recurrences were not reported after any initial treatments. So preoperative evaluation is very important and will guide the patient and the surgeon to the most effective management.
Anorexia ; Chills ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Fatigue ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Meningitis ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Necrosis ; Pathology ; Pneumonia ; Recurrence ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroiditis ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Meningeal ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; Weight Loss

Spontaneous renal allograft rupture is an uncommon complication of renal transplantation, but it represents a life-threatening emergency that requires prompt recognition and treatment. The incidence of spontaneous renal allograft rupture is variable and range between 3.6 and 9.6 percent of all transplants. In the majority of cases the rupture is associated with acute rejection episodes and with renal vein thrombosis. Most frequently, the allograft rupture occurs within the first 2 weeks of transplantation. in addition, most ruptures reported have occurred in cadaveric renal allograft. Debate on the management of such allograft salvage versus transplant nephrectomy. It appears that the recent trend is toward performing surgical repair of the graft if the rupture is secondary to rejection and oo evidence of renal vein thrombosis ; otherwise, graft nephrectomy be done. We report a case of spontaneous renal allograft rupture due to renal vein thrombosis occurred in a 21-year-old woman 6 days after transplantation. Unusual severe localized pain, swelling over at allograft site, and hypotension, a triad frequently seen in renal allograft rupture, were present. Management by graft nephrectomy was inevitable because of the patient's downhill course.
Allografts* ; Cadaver ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Incidence ; Kidney Transplantation ; Nephrectomy ; Renal Veins ; Rupture ; Rupture, Spontaneous* ; Thrombosis ; Transplants ; Young Adult

Insulinoma is a functional endocrine tumor arising from the beta cells of islets of Langerhans of pancreas. The only effective treatment of insulinoma was surgical removal of the tumor. Recently, laparoscopic surgery for islet cell tumors of the pancreas is introduced. Laparoscopic enucleation or resection of benign islet tumors results in a shorter hospital recovery and is a good alternative to open surgery We report a case of insulinoma that was treated sucessfully by laparoscopic enucleation.
Adenoma, Islet Cell ; Insulinoma* ; Islets of Langerhans ; Laparoscopy ; Pancreas

Cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia and hemodilution is an extremely non- physiologic state. The stress responses to cardiopulmonary bypass were evaluated in open heart surgery by measuring the change of plasma cortisol concentration. Patients were anesthetized with fentanyl 20 ug/kg, 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen and a supplementary dose of droperidol and halothane. In each case, at the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, the hematocrit value was reduced to 25-30% and was maintained around this level during perfusion. Moderate hypothermia was induced to 28-30 degrees C (28.9+/-1.5 degrees C). Blood samples were obtained after sternotomy, at the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, during moderate hypothermia and after cardiopulmonary bypass. Plasma cortisol concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay technique. Compared with the pre-cardiopulmonary bypass cortisol value (11.12+/-2.19 ug/dl), plasma cortisol concentration at the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass (17.39+/-5.15 ug/dl) was significantly increased (p<0,05). And during cardiopulmonary bypass, especially during the hypothermia period, the plasma cortisol concentration (19.17+/-8.09 ug/dl) was significantly increased (p<0.05). After cardiopulmonary bypass, the plasma cortisol concentration (43.0+/-11.2 ug/dl) was significantly increased when compared with other values (p<0.05). We conclueded that the significant increase of plasma cortisol concentration is secondary to the stress response to cardiopulmonry bypass.
Cardiopulmonary Bypass* ; Droperidol ; Fentanyl ; Halothane ; Hematocrit ; Hemodilution ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone* ; Hypothermia ; Nitrous Oxide ; Oxygen ; Perfusion ; Plasma* ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sternotomy ; Thoracic Surgery

Voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) is a commonly performed diagnostic procedure for the evaluation of vesicoureteral reflux with urinary tract infection or congenital renal diseases in children. The procedure is relatively simple and cost-effective, and complications are very rare. The iatrogenic complication of VCUG range from discomfort, urinary tract infection to bacteremia, as well as bladder rupture. Bladder rupture is a rare complication of VCUG, and only a few cases were reported. Bladder rupture among healthy children during VCUG is an especially uncommon event. Bladder rupture associated with VCUG is usually more common in chronically unused bladders like chronic renal failure. Presented is a case of bladder rupture that occurred during a VCUG in a healthy 9-month-old infant, due to instilled action of dye by high pressure. This injury completely healed after 7 days of operation, and it was confirmed with a postoperative cystography. The patient's bladder volume, underlying disease, velocity of the contrast media instilled, catheter size, and styles of instillation are important factors to prevent bladder rupture during VCUG. Management of bladder rupture should be individualized, but the majority of infants are treated with the operation. In conclusion, bladder rupture is a rare complication, however, delicate attention is needed in order to prevent more dire situations.
Bacteremia ; Catheters ; Child ; Contrast Media ; Humans ; Infant ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Rupture ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

For many years, the histogenesis of the granular cell tumor was controversial and this resulted in the tumor being given more than 20 synonyms. Abrikossoff, reporting on the fiist granular cell tomor, favored a muscle origin, but other authora have postulated a fibroblastic or a histiocytic origin. Recently, the concept of Schwann cell origin, supported by electron microscopic studies and immunohistochemistry of S-100 protein, has gained wider recognition. Approximately 90 cases of esophageal granular cell tumor have been reported in the literature, representing about 2% incidence of all reported granular cell tumor, In Korea, only four cases of granular cell tumors were reported in the literatures including the cases occuring in the cecum, colon, and anus until now. Recently we experienced 46-years old women with granular cell tumor of the esophagus, which might be the second case in Korean literature.
Anal Canal ; Cecum ; Colon ; Esophagus* ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; Granular Cell Tumor* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Incidence ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; S100 Proteins