OBJECTIVES: Patients with schizophrenia often present idea of reference in social situations, but there has been a limitation in quantitatively measuring their reactions to the social stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate behavioral characteristics of patients with schizophrenia in social situations in which idea of reference can be provoked. METHODS: Forty subjects with schizophrenia (21 males) and 26 healthy volunteers (17 males) performed the idea-of-reference-provoking task, which was composed of movie clips with scenes of two women sitting on a bench of 1 or 5 m away. The conditions consisted of "referential conversation", "non-referential conversation" or "no conversation". The reactions of the participants were rated by the questionnaires for self-referential perception, malevolent interpretation and anxiety reaction. RESULTS: There were significant group differences in the reactions on self-referential perception, malevolent interpretation and anxiety reaction. After the treatment, patients with schizophrenia showed improved scores of the reactions. In particular, score changes of malevolent interpretation and anxiety reaction in patients with schizophrenia were correlated with change of paranoia scale (rs=0.65, p<0.05 and rs =0.73, p<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients with schizophrenia revealed self-referential bias and paranoid responses to social situations, which were improved after psychiatric treatment. Self-referential perceptions and paranoid responses may be state dependent rather than trait of schizophrenia.
Anxiety ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Female ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Paranoid Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Schizophrenia* ; Social Perception*

No abstract available.
DNA* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin*

OBJECTIVES: Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) is one of the most frequently used scales to evaluate apathy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the AES (K-AES) and to apply the K-AES in examining the characteristics of apathy in the Korean patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: 129 healthy people and 29 patients with schizophrenia have been evaluated using the K-AES, Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS), Social Anhedonia Scale (SAS), and the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). Split-half reliability and internal consistency were evaluated and factor analysis and correlation analysis was conducted. Between-group comparison was conducted using independent sample t-tests. RESULTS: K-AES showed good reliability and validity. Factor analysis confirmed 3 factors, which represented interest and drive, initiative, self-awareness and self-assessment. Patients with schizophrenia showed significantly higher K-AES and BDI scores than the healthy group. K-AES scores in patients with schizophrenia were significantly correlated with the PAS score, but did not correlate with SAS and BDI scores. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the reliability and validity of the K-AES. Our findings also suggest that the K-AES may be a reliable instrument in assessing apathy as a negative symptom in patients with schizophrenia.
Anhedonia ; Apathy* ; Depression ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Schizophrenia* ; Self-Assessment ; Weights and Measures

The suicide risk of patients with schizophrenia is about 8.5-fold greater than that of the general population. Since 4-13% of patients with schizophrenia commit suicide, and 25-50% attempt suicide at least once during their lifetime, suicide can be a main cause of their higher mortality rate as compared with that of the general population. While evidence suggests that previous depressive disorders, previous suicide attempts, drug misuse, agitation or motor restlessness, fear of mental disintegration, poor adherence to treatment, and recent loss of another person are associated with the increased risk of suicide in schizophrenia, hallucinations have been associated with decreased suicide risk. Despite there being at least modest evidence suggesting that antipsychotics protect against suicidal risk, clozapine has been shown to be the most favorable second-generation antipsychotic for preventing suicide in patients with schizophrenia. In addition, selective serotonin receptor inhibitors can ameliorate suicidal ideation in schizophrenia. Furthermore, individual psychosocial interventions and psychotherapy, and reducing stigma, can be integral strategies for the prevention of suicide in schizophrenia. Further study is needed to identify the epidemiological characteristics and clinical correlates of suicide in Korean patients with schizophrenia, and provide an effective strategy for its prevention in Korea.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Clozapine ; Depressive Disorder ; Dihydroergotamine ; Hallucinations ; Humans ; Korea ; Mortality ; Psychomotor Agitation ; Psychotherapy ; Schizophrenia* ; Serotonin ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide*

Purpose: The goal of this study was to follow benign thyroid nodules confirmed by ultrasound (US)-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) after inconclusive cytology on fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. Methods: Sixty-two thyroid nodules from 62 patients with CNB-confirmed benign histology that initially had inconclusive cytology on FNA were retrospectively included. The thyroid nodules were followed for 38.7 months (median, 27.5 months; range, 6 to 101 months), and the US findings of biopsied nodules, such as the interval change in size, US characteristics, and imaging category based on the Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (K-TIRADS), were evaluated. In addition, patients’ clinical records were reviewed for any further management or newly diagnosed thyroid malignancy. Results: Among 62 cases, three (4.8%) showed interval size growth, while 59 (95.2%) demonstrated no interval change or a decrease in size. There was no upgrade of K-TIRADS category or any newly diagnosed malignancy during the follow-up period. Conclusion US-guided CNB-confirmed benign thyroid nodules with inconclusive cytology on FNA showed a stable status during follow-up, and repeated CNB could be helpful in the management of nodules with inconclusive cytology on FNA.

BACKGROUND: A small percentage of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction are found to have angiographically normal or near normal coronary arteries. Thrombus, coronary spasm or coronary embolism have been thought to cause myocardial infarction in these circumstances. Acetylcholine(Ach) may dilate coronary arteries indirectly by releasing EDRF(endothelium derived relaxing factor), but constrict arterial smooth muscle when endothelium is dysfunctional or denuded. In this study, we observed Ach responses of infarct related arteries with and without stenotic leisions to clarify the possible etiologic role of vasospasm in ischemic heart disease. METHODS: Seven to ten days after acute myocardial infarction. Ach(100ug for left and 50ug for right )responses of infarct-related coronary was studied in 16 patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries(Group 1) and 15 patients with significant stenotic lesions(Group 2). Ach responses was also studied in 27 noninfarct related arteries(NIRA) of group 1 and 29 NIRAs of group2. The positive response was defined as total or subtotal occlusion after Ach injection. In 6 patients of group 1 with Ach(+), intravenous ergonovine(Erg) test was also performed after completion of Ach test. RESULTS: 1) Ach(+) responses of IRAs with or without significant coronary artery disease was more frequent(70%) than that of NIRAs(14%). 2) Ach(+) response of IRAs with angiographically normal coronary artery (87.5%) was more common than that with significant fixed disease(45.4%). 3) ACh and ergonovine induced vasospasm at the same site in 4 of group 1. CONCLUSIONS: In the majority of patients with normal coronary artery and acute myocardial infarction(AMI), Ach induced vasospasm in the IRAs. Ach(+) response occured more frequently in normal coronary arteries. These findings suggest that coronary vasospasm might etiologic role for AMI. especially in thoses patients with normal coronary artery. However our investigation failed clarify whether the those responses of IRAs to Ach was a cause or a result of myocardial infarction due to the post-ischemic injured endothelium. Ach and Erg induced vasospasm at the same site in 4 of group 1 which suggests that local hyperreactivity might be related to coronary spasm.
Acetylcholine* ; Arteries ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vasospasm ; Coronary Vessels* ; Embolism ; Endothelium ; Ergonovine ; Humans ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Spasm ; Thrombosis

In published article by Li et al., an author's name was misspelled.

PURPOSE: to evaluate the serial ultrasonographic findings of experimental intramuscular hemorrhaging to determine if there is a correlation with the pathologic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An uiltrasonography (US) was performed before and immediately after an intramuscular blood injection in nine rabbits. In addition, follow-up US images were obtained at 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days after the intramuscular blood injections in seven of the rabbits. The pathologic specimens, compared to the US findings on each date, and consisted of samples of left thigh muscle. RESULTS: A US, performed immediately after a blood injection, showed two patterns; 6 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening and 3 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening with extravasation between the epimysium and muscle bundle or within muscle bundle. A follow-up US showed a marked decrease in intramuscular hemorrhaging and microcalcifications, which appeared on the 4th, 7th and 10th day after the blood injection. The pathologic findings revealed several short echogenic lines in the muscular bundles which were hemosiderin. Moreover, a 28 day follow-up US revealed that the normal findings are correlated with the normal gross pathologic findings. CONCLUSION: The US findings of the intramuscular hemorrhaging, for each of the follow-up dates, in comparison to the pathologic findings, revealed a high correlation with the pathologic specimens. Consequently, a US transducer with high resolution can be considered as a helpful technique in the diagnosing and evaluating the follow-up treatment of intramuscular hemorrhaging.
Chronology as Topic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemosiderin ; Muscles ; Rabbits ; Tendon Injuries ; Thigh ; Transducers

The coexistence of adrenal cortical tumor and pheochromocytoma was extremely rare. A total of 25 reported cases showing evidence of hyperfuction of the adrenal cortex and pheochromocytoma were noted in the literature. Of those twenty cases were coexistence of pheochromocytoma and adrenocortical hyperplasia and only five cases were coincident pheochromocytoma and adreno-cortical adenoma. Recently, we experienced a case of adrenocortical adenoma associated with incidental pheochrmocytoma. A 55-year-old woman complained of progressive weight gain and epigastric discomfort. Hormonal and radiologic studies revealed Cushings syndrome with a left adrenal tumor. Adrenalectomy was performed and the gland actually had two nodules on its surface, one pheochromocytoma and the other cortical adenoma. This patient was the first case of pheochromocytoma with adrenocortical adenoma in Korea. We report the case with a review of literature.
Adenoma ; Adrenal Cortex ; Adrenalectomy ; Adrenocortical Adenoma ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Pheochromocytoma ; Weight Gain

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) includes early development of up to thousands of colorectal adenoma and of colonic adenocarcinoma in all untreated cases. Moreover, a variety of extracolonic manifestation are seen. Several reports have demontrated a high incidence of papillry carcinoma of thyroid. We experienced a case of familial adenomatous polyposis, presenting with thyoid papillry carcinoma, and reported with a brief review of literatures.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenoma ; Adenomatous Polyposis Coli* ; Carcinoma, Papillary* ; Colon ; Incidence ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms