Polyarteritis nodosa is systemic necrotizing vasculitis of medium and small-sized arteries and results in variable manifestations due to ischemia of the involving organs. Diagnosis can either be made pathologically by demonstrating necrotizing vasculitis of arteries or angiographycally by demonstrating small arterial aneurysm. We experienced a case of PAN with dilated cardiomyopathy, confirmed by clinical feature, renal biopsy, angiography and echocardiography.
Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Biopsy ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated* ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Ischemia ; Polyarteritis Nodosa* ; Vasculitis

The effects of NMDA-receptor antagonist (MK-801) were assessed for the oxygen free radical mediated brain (hippocampus) injury with eighty rats which were exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) followed by hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were used as parameters of the oxygen free radical reaction. Experimental groups consisted of (1) control group (=breathing with air), (2) CO group (=exposed to CO after air breath), (3) CO-air group(exposed to CO after air breath followed by air breath), and (4) CO-HBO group (=exposed to CO after air breath followed by 3 ATA HBO). Each group was divided two subgroup according to the pretreatment (normal saline or MK-801). CO, CO-air and HBO groups increased in SOD activity as compared with control group. And CO-air and HBO groups increased in MDA as compared with control and CO group. Pretreatment of MK-801 decreased SOD activities significantly (p-value<.05) , but MDA amount not significantly (p-value=.107). These results suggest a useful protective effect of NMDA-receptor antagonist (MK-801) in CO induced hippocampal injury mediated by oxygen free radicals.
Animals ; Brain Injuries* ; Brain* ; Carbon Monoxide ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; Free Radicals ; Malondialdehyde ; Oxygen* ; Rats* ; Superoxide Dismutase

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the current status of diabetes management and the predictors for poor glycemic control in an urban area. METHODS: This study included 1,138 community-dwelling adults (> or =50 years) with diabetes, of which 584 participated in the diabetes care survey. Logistic regression was used to identify the factors predicting poor glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c[HbA1c]> or =7%) in the total sample and to evaluate the relationship between the history of diabetes management checkup and poor glycemic control in the diabetes care survey sample. RESULTS: Of the 1,138 patients, 53.2% had blood pressure less than 130/80 mmHg, 41.7% had fasting glucose between 70 and 130 mg/dL, 48.6% had HbA1c below 7.0%, 60.1% had triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, 41.4% had low density lipoprotein cholesterol below 100 mg/dL, and 59.1% had normoalbuminuria (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio <30 mg/g creatinine). Of the 584 patients completing the diabetes care survey, 63.9% had one or more lipid tests, 32.0% had one or more HbA1c tests, 43.8% had one or more microalbuminuria tests, and 42.5% had one or more fundoscopic examinations annually. Female gender (odds ratio [OR], 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-2.36), duration of diabetes (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.06-1.09), and alcohol use (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.06-1.85) were associated with an increased risk for poor glycemic control while age (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99) and antihypertensive medication (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.83) were associated with a decreased risk. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that glycemic control is likely to be poor in urban areas. We need to develop appropriate community-based strategies to achieve optimal glycemic control and prevent diabetes complications.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Lipoproteins ; Logistic Models ; Triglycerides

BACKGROUNDS: As the elderly population in-creases the health problem, especially dementia, becomes the clinically important problem. So in the part of primary care medicine it becomes so important that family physician make a focus on the detection, evaluation, and management of demented patient. Until nowadays there is few cohort study about the dementia and few nursing home in Korea. So author performed the MMSE-K in the elderly who are over 65 to get the cognitive function for early diagnosis, management and rehabilitation of psychosocial problem. METHODS: One hundred three persons who included in community society in Seoul and nursing home of Kyunggido were tested. The survey was done twice on september 1997 and September 1998. Author used the MMSE-K to the elderly by same doctors. The analysis was done by SAS 6.12 and t-test, one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA with linear trend test. RESULTS: The mean of first MMSE-K score in the community is 26.1 and in the nursing home is 24.4. And the mean of second MMSE-K score in the community is 25.5 and in the nursing home is 22.0. The MMSE-K score is elevated with male and longer duration of education and is decreased with the advanced age in two groups. According to the classification by MMSE-K score the number of people who have normal cognitive function is 45(43.7%), mild impaired cognitive function is 45(43.7%), moderately impaired cognitive function is 13(12.6%) and none has severely impaired cognitive function in both groups. The follow up MMSE-K score shows that the difference of two MMSE-K scores increases as the age increases. CONCLUSION: Until todays there is few study that designed in the form of cohort study about the elderly cognitive function in Korea. So family physicians must perform the prospective cohort study with the consistent concern and effort to get the research data about the dementia for earthy detection, management and rehabilitation for elderly.
Aged* ; Classification ; Cohort Studies ; Dementia ; Early Diagnosis ; Education ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nursing Homes ; Physicians, Family ; Primary Health Care ; Rehabilitation ; Seoul

Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome is a highly fatal condition characterized by widespread thromboembolism subsequent to a triggering factor (e.g., infection, trauma, and neoplasia) in antiphospholipid antibody-positive patients. This paper reports a case of a 29-year-old male without the underlying disease who developed extensive mesenteric thromboembolism and jejunal necrosis during the treatment for acute enteritis. The patient’s condition was improved with low-molecular-weight heparin and an intravenous Ig treatment with emergency surgery. The serum antiphospholipid (anticardiolipin IgM) and lupus anticoagulant antibody tests showed positive results. Acute infectious enterocolitis is generally considered a mild disease. On the other hand, aggressive evaluation and treatment should be considered if the clinical conditions do not improve and deteriorate rapidly despite appropriate antibiotic treatment because of the possibility of acute immunological complications, such as catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome.

Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome is a highly fatal condition characterized by widespread thromboembolism subsequent to a triggering factor (e.g., infection, trauma, and neoplasia) in antiphospholipid antibody-positive patients. This paper reports a case of a 29-year-old male without the underlying disease who developed extensive mesenteric thromboembolism and jejunal necrosis during the treatment for acute enteritis. The patient’s condition was improved with low-molecular-weight heparin and an intravenous Ig treatment with emergency surgery. The serum antiphospholipid (anticardiolipin IgM) and lupus anticoagulant antibody tests showed positive results. Acute infectious enterocolitis is generally considered a mild disease. On the other hand, aggressive evaluation and treatment should be considered if the clinical conditions do not improve and deteriorate rapidly despite appropriate antibiotic treatment because of the possibility of acute immunological complications, such as catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasing in Asian countries. Functional dyspepsia (FD) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are also prevalent and commonly overlapped with GERD. This study was conducted to compare the proportion and risk factors for overlapping reflux esophagitis (RE) and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). METHODS: A total of 2,388 [male, 55.9%; mean age (+/- SD), 43.2 years (+/- 8.4)] Korean subjects who underwent the upper endoscopy for health screening were prospectively included. The subjects were asked about demographic, medical and social history by using a structured questionnaire, and FD and IBS were assessed according to the Rome III criteria. RESULTS: The subjects with RE were 286 (12.0%, male 88.5%, 42.8 years) and 74 subjects had NERD (3.1%) while the prevalence of FD and IBS were 8.1% and 10.1%, respectively. The proportion of FD and IBS in NERD was higher than that of RE (74.3% vs. 10.5%, p = 0.000; 41.9% vs. 11.2%, p = 0.000, respectively). The epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) was more prevalent than postprandial distress syndrome in NERD. According to multiple regression analysis, high somatization score and the presence of FD increased the odd ratio for NERD. However, male gender and current smoker were significant risk factors for RE. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to RE, NERD is more frequently overlapped with FD, especially EPS, and also are associated with significantly increased frequency of IBS. Our data draws attention to the possibility of subgrouping FGIDs and GERD to be important in understanding the pathophysiology of these conditions.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Dyspepsia ; Endoscopy ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Rome

BACKGROUND: The expansion and strengthening of primary care is approved as the only method to revise the ineffective health care system in Korea. In such a system, we intended to analyze the functional and regianal distribution of specialists by investigating and classifying the hospitals where residents who completed their training in a university hospital located in Seoul for seven years are working and by acquiring the distribution of the subjects who are practicing as primary care physicians by year, specialties and location. METHODS: We selected 384 specialists, all of whom were trained as residents at a university hospital located in Seoul from 1987 to 1993. The hospitals they worked at were classified as primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals according to the classification in the health care administration. The location of primary care hcspitals among them was plotted an two maps; one of Seoul, the other of Korea. RESULTS: The number of females in the subjects was 68(17.7%) and that of males 316(82.3%). The number of practitianers was 156(40.6%) and that of specialists working at the secondary care hospitals was 55(14.3%), and 147 specialists were working at the tertiary care hospitals(38.3%). With regard to the pereentage of practitioners, dermatologic specialists presented with 60%, and relatively high group included obstetrics and gynecology(59.2%), family medicine(54.5%), plastic surgery(52.6%), otolaryngology (52.0%), pediatrics(51.7%), and orthopedics(48.6%).In tertiary care hospital, chest surgery showed 72.7% as highest. Radiologic ancology presented with 66.7% and anatamical pathology with 66.7%. As to the location of primary care hospitals, 41.0% were in Seoul and 38.5% in Kyungkido. And the rest of the 20. 5% were located in other areas of Korea. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the results of the study that show a great number of specialists are actually practicing as primary care physicians after their specialists training, the present training system of specialists needs to be revised and cantrolled in structure.
Classification ; Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Obstetrics ; Otolaryngology ; Pathology ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Primary Health Care ; Secondary Care ; Seoul ; Specialization ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Thorax

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to estimate the proportion of significant endoscopic findings and their association with dyspeptic symptoms and to evaluate the predictors for significant endoscopic findings. METHODS: Total of 3,872 subjects (58.3% men, mean age 43.6+/-9.3 years) who had undergone endoscopy were enrolled at the health promotion center. Each subject completed validated questionnaires, including data on gastrointestinal symptoms, socio-demographic history and medical history. Significant endoscopic findings were included peptic ulcer disease, reflux esophagitis, gastric cancer, Barrett's esophagus and gastro-duodenal erosions. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the predictors for significant endoscopic findings. RESULTS: The proportion of significant endoscopic findings was 39.1%. There was no significant difference of endoscopic findings between the dyspepsia and asymptomatic group (41.0% vs. 37.4%, p>0.05). There was no difference of the incidence of reflux esophagitis or peptic ulcer between subjects with and without dyspepsia. Peptic ulcer was more frequently present in subjects with reflux symptoms than asymptomatic subjects (12.3% vs. 9.0%, p=0.03). Male gender (odds ratio [OR], 3.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.18-4.81) increased the risk for having endoscopic abnormality and having symptoms of functional dyspepsia according to Rome III criteria (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.57-0.97) significantly decreased this risk. CONCLUSIONS: About 40% of subjects with dyspepsia had abnormal endoscopic findings, and the dyspepsia symptoms may not predict the significant endoscopic findings. Diagnostic criteria of functional dyspepsia by Rome III may be useful to predict not having significant upper endoscopic findings.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Dyspepsia/*diagnosis ; Female ; Gastroesophageal Reflux/diagnosis/epidemiology ; *Gastroscopy ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Peptic Ulcer/diagnosis/epidemiology ; Postprandial Period ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Questionnaires ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sex Factors ; Upper Gastrointestinal Tract/pathology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Testing for hepatitis B virus (HBV) serologic markers and appropriate vaccination are required in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. We evaluated immunogenicity for HBV in IBD patients and the response to the HBV vaccination. METHODS: From May 2014 to August 2016, patients diagnosed with IBD were prospectively included and evaluated for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen, antibody to hepatitis B core antigen, and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen. Among the 73 patients who were confirmed with nonimmunity to HBV, 44 patients who had completed the 3-dose HBV vaccination series received a single booster vaccination, while 29 patients who had not completed the vaccinations series or were unsure of receiving the vaccination received a full vaccination series. RESULTS: An optimal response was obtained in 70.5% of the patients in the booster group, and 89.7% of the patients in the full vaccination group. Age younger than 26 years (odds ratio [OR], 6.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15–31.32; P=0.033) and a complete previous vaccination series (OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.03–0.80; P=0.026) were associated with optimal vaccine response. Previous complete vaccination series (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.02–0.73; P=0.022) was the only predictive factor for lower compliance. CONCLUSIONS: The response to the HBV vaccination was lower in patients older than 26 years and for those patients with a complete vaccination history. Since patients with a complete vaccination history also had poor compliance, serum HBV-titers should be checked more thoroughly, and a full vaccination series should be administered in cases when there is a negative response to the booster vaccination.
Compliance ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Korea* ; Observational Study* ; Prospective Studies* ; Vaccination*