OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate memory functions in schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The participants were 45 schizophrenic patients and 27 normal controls. The Rey-Kim Memory Test (RKMT) was used as the testing instrument. RESULTS: 1) Schizophrenic patients showed a significantly lower Memory Quotient (MQ) compared with control participants. Their memory impairment was more severe relative to their intelligence impairment. 2) Memory deficits in schizophrenic patients were most pronounced in retrieval phase compared with encoding or retention phase. 3) Both verbal and visual memory were impaired in schizophrenic patients. 4) There were qualitative as well as quantitative individual differences in memory functions among schizophrenic patients. CONCLUSION: Memory impairment in schizophrenia represents a selective cognitive deficit. Its clinical presentation is similar to 'frontal amnesia' in that retrieval deficit is most pronounced.
Humans ; Individuality ; Intelligence ; Memory Disorders ; Memory* ; Schizophrenia

Objectives: ：The purpose of this study was to identify the change in the reasons for referrals before and after the COVID-19 outbreak among students who were referred to the one hospital-linked Wee center in Dalseo-gu, Daegu. Methods: ：324 students who were referred to one hospital-linked Wee center for personal counseling from January 1, 2019 to December 31 were included. In the initial session of individual counseling, 3 of the chief reasons among 27 emotional and/or behavioral problems were indicated. This reason was divided into before and after COVID-19 to determine whether there is a difference, and whether there is a difference between before and after COVID-19 depending on the school level. Results: ：The most frequent emotional and/or behavioral problem was ‘interpersonal problems’ in both pre- COVID-19 and post- COVID-19 groups. In post- COVID-19 group, ‘anxiety’ was significantly increased, whereas ‘conduct problems,’ ‘impulsivity’ and ‘inattention’ were significantly decreased. In elementary students group, only ‘conduct problems’ was significantly decreased after COVID-19 and the same result was shown in middle and high school students group. Conclusions ：The study showed that after COVID-19 pandemics in Daegu the difference of students’ problems was noted, and internalizing problems seem to increase rather than externalizing problems. This result calls upon schools to plan for students’ further mental health care measures.

Background: Although Korea ranks first in the suicide rate of elderly individuals, there is limited research on those who attempt suicide, with preventive measures largely based on population-based studies. We compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of elderly individuals who attempted suicide with those of younger adults who visited the emergency department after suicide attempts and identified the factors associated with lethality in the former group. Methods: Individuals who visited the emergency department after a suicide attempt from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2020, were included. Participants were classified into two groups according to age (elderly, ≥65 years; adult, 18–64 years). Among the 779 adult patients, 123 were elderly. We conducted a chi-square test to compare the demographic and clinical features between these groups and a logistic regression analysis to identify the risk factors for lethality in the elderly group. Results: Most elderly participants were men, with no prior psychiatric history or suicide attempts, and had a higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions and attributed their attempts to physical illnesses. Being sober and planning suicide occurred more frequently in this group. In the elderly group, factors that increased the mortality rate were biological male sex (p<0.05), being accompanied by family members (p<0.05), and poisoning as a suicide method (p<0.01). Conclusion Suicide attempts in elderly individuals have different characteristics from those in younger adults and are associated with physical illness. Suicides in the former group are unpredictable, deliberate, and fatal. Therefore, tailored prevention and intervention strategies addressing the characteristics of those who are elderly and attempt suicide are required.

A choledochal cyst is relatively rare lesion in the biliary system, and a carcinoma arising from such a cyst is rarely reported. Until now, a case of a hepatocellular carcinoma combined with a choledochal cyst had not been reported. A 45-year-old woman was recently admitted due to abdominal pain. An abdominal computed tomography revealed a 5 cm-sized low attenuative mass involving the right anterior and left medial segment of the liver and gallbladder fossa. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram showed fusiform dilatation of the common bile duct, but anomalous union of pancreaticobiliary duct was not observed. Fine-needle aspiration of the liver was conducted and yielded a hepatocellular carcinoma. On celiac arteriography, a hypervascular hepatic mass was also found. Transarterial chemoembolization was performed. It is believed this may be the first case of a choledochal cyst combined with a hepatocellular carcinoma in the literature. Hence, this case is herein reported with a review of related literatures.
Abdominal Pain ; Angiography ; Biliary Tract ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Choledochal Cyst* ; Common Bile Duct ; Dilatation ; Female ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Liver ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND: In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), it is well known that hypoxemia increases the frequency of VPB, which is associated with the poor prognosis such as sudden death. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of short and long-term low flow oxygen therapy on the development of VPBs in patients with COPD by correcting the hypoxemia. METHOD: In 19 patients with COPD, oxygen saturation and VPB are monitored by pulse oxymeter and 24-hour Holter EKG, with room air and the 1st and the 8th day during oxygen therapy by nasal prong (2L/min). RESULTS: The arterial oxygen saturation was significantly higher on the 1st day of oxygen therapy compared with breathing room air, and also higher on the 8th day of oxygen therapy than on the 1st day. We found that there was significant correlation between the minimal value of the arterial oxygen saturation and the mean value of the arterial oxygen saturation. The number of VPBs per hour was significantly higher on the 1st day of oxygen therapy compared with breathing room air, and also higher on the 8th day of oxygen therapy than on the 1st day. There was no significant correlation between the decrease of the frequency of VPBs and the increase of the minimal arterial oxygen saturation. But, because of the low p value as 0.056, The correlation is highly suggested. CONCLUSION: With oxygen therapy, the arterial oxygen saturation was increased and the number of VPBs was decreased, and with long-term oxygen therapy more than 7days, the number of VPBs was more decreased in patients with COPD.
Anoxia ; Death, Sudden ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Oxygen* ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* ; Respiration

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to investigate the trends of orthopedic publications during the last decade, and to document the country of origin, journal, funding source, and language of contribution using PubMed. METHODS: Orthopedic articles published between 2000 and 2009 were retrieved from PubMed using the following search terms: "orthopaedic[Affiliation] AND ("2000/1/1"[PDAT]: "2009/12/31"[PDAT])" and "orthopedic[Affiliation] AND ("2000/1/1"[PDAT]: "2009/12/31"[PDAT])." The articles were downloaded in XML file format, which contained the following information: article title, author names, journal names, publication dates, article types, languages, authors' affiliations and funding sources. These information was extracted, sorted, and rearranged using the database's management software. We investigated the annual number of published orthopedic articles worldwide and the annual rate of increase. Furthermore, the country of publication origin, journal, funding source, and language of contribution were also investigated. RESULTS: A total of 46,322 orthopedic articles were published and registered in PubMed in the last 10 years. The worldwide number of published orthopedic articles increased from 2,889 in 2000 to 6,909 in 2009, showing an annual increase of 384.6 articles, or an annualized compound rate of 10.2%. The United States ranked highest in the number of published orthopedic articles, followed by Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Republic of Korea. Among the orthopedic articles published worldwide during the last 10 years, 37.9% pertained studies performed in the United States. Fifty-seven point three percent (57.3%) of articles were published in journals established in the United States. Among the published orthopaedic articles, 4,747 articles (10.2%) disclosed financial support by research funds, of which 4,688 (98.8%) articles utilized research funds from the United States. Most articles were published in English (97.2%, 45,030 articles). CONCLUSIONS: The number of published orthopedic articles has been increasing over the last decade. The number of orthopedic articles, journals publication, and funding sources were dominated by research conducted in the United States, while share and growth of Asian countries including Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China were notable.
*Bibliometrics ; Humans ; Orthopedics/*statistics & numerical data ; Periodicals as Topic/statistics & numerical data ; Publishing/*statistics & numerical data/trends

No abstract available.
Aged ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use ; Carotid Artery Diseases/*complications/diagnosis/therapy ; Cerebral Angiography/methods ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone/therapeutic use ; Hypopituitarism/diagnosis/*etiology/therapy ; Intracranial Aneurysm/*complications/diagnosis/therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Plasma Substitutes/administration & dosage ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prednisolone/therapeutic use ; Sella Turcica ; Thyroid Hormones/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

A 71-year-old man was admitted due to abdominal distension and periumbilical pain. He was diagnosed as having mucinous ductal ectasia (MDE) of the pancreas three months prior, but refused an operation. Three months later, an abdominal computed tomography revealed more dilated pancreatic duct, newly developed liver metastasis and ascites in comparison with previous findings. Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the cystic lesion in the pancreatic head was conducted and yielded adenocarcinoma. Also, an ascitic fluid cytology determined adenocarcinoma. This patient was diagnosed to be inoperable and received palliative chemotherapy and pain control. The patient expired 5 months after the initial diagnosis.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Ascites* ; Ascitic Fluid ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation, Pathologic* ; Drug Therapy ; Head ; Humans ; Liver* ; Mucins* ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pancreas* ; Pancreatic Ducts

Primary adrenal lymphoma is extremely uncommon. The tumor is accidentally discovered by abdominal ultrasonography(USG), computed tomography(CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with nonspecific symptoms and diagnosed at operation or autopsy. In this case, a 60-year-old man was admitted for the evaluation of mild left frank discomfort for two months before admission. The abdominal USG was performed and showed the dense masses in both adrenal glands. The laboratory tests including blood count, chemistry and hormonal tests showed the normal levels except for the basal ACTH level of 108 pg/ml(normal range: 9~52 pg/ml). The 123I MIBG scan was normal. The bilateral adrenalectomy was done. The tumor was diagnosed as diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL) according to the Revised European-American lymphoma(REAL) classification. He was treated with the adjuvant combination chemotherapy of CHOP(cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine and prednisolone) but expired due to sepsis after the second chemotherapy. We describe the first case of primary bilateral adrenal NHL in Korea. Primary adrenal lymphoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of suprarenal mass.
3-Iodobenzylguanidine ; Adrenal Glands ; Adrenalectomy ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Autopsy ; B-Lymphocytes ; Chemistry ; Classification ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Sepsis ; Vincristine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Microvascular damage due to distal embolization during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an important cause of periprocedural myocardial infarction. We assessed the lipid-core plaque using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and microvascular dysfunction invasively with the index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) and evaluated their relationship. METHODS: This study is pilot retrospective observational study. We analyzed 39 patients who performed NIRS before and after PCI, while fractional flow reserve, thermo-dilution coronary flow reserve (CFR) and IMR were measured after PCI. The maximum value of lipid core burden index (LCBI) for any of the 4-mm segments at the culprit lesion (culprit LCBI(4mm)) was calculated at the culprit lesion. We divided the patients into 2 groups using a cutoff of culprit LCBI(4mm) ≥500. RESULTS: Mean pre-PCI LCBI was 333±196 and mean post-PCI IMR was 20±14 U. Post-PCI IMR was higher (15.6±7.3 vs. 42.6±17.6 U, p<0.001) and post-PCI CFR was lower (3.7±2.2 vs. 2.1±1.0, p=0.029) in the high LCBI group. Pre-PCI LCBI was positively correlated with post-PCI IMR (ρ=0.358, p=0.025) and negatively correlated with post-PCI CFR (ρ=−0.494, p=0.001). The incidence of microvascular dysfunction (IMR ≥25 U) was higher in the high LCBI group (9.4% vs. 85.7%, p<0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the incidences of creatine Kinase-MB (9.4% vs. 14.3%, p=0.563) and troponin-I elevation (12.5% vs. 14.3%, p=1.000). CONCLUSIONS: A large lipid-core plaque at the ‘culprit’ lesion is observed higher incidence of post-PCI microvascular dysfunction after PCI. Prospective study with adequate subject numbers will be needed.
Coronary Artery Disease ; Creatine ; Humans ; Incidence ; Microvessels ; Myocardial Infarction ; Observational Study ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; Troponin I