No abstract available.
Hearing* ; Humans ; Tinnitus*

No abstract available.
Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous*

'I'he adult form of myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the presence of anti-acetylcholine receptor immunoglobulin G antibodies (anti-ACHRIgG) which blocks the formation of acetylcholine at the motor end plate and causes anatomic deterioration of this structure. 'I'he end result is defective neuromuscular transmission manifested by progressive skeletal muscle weakness. We have experienced a full term pregnancy complicated with the myasthenia gravis. We experienced a case of myathenia gravis associated with pregnancy who underwent cesarean section. The case is presented here with a brief review of literatures concerned.
Acetylcholine ; Adult ; Antibodies ; Cesarean Section ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Motor Endplate ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Pregnancy*

Background & Objective: Although the clinical manifestations and outcomes of neuralgic amyotrophy have been previously described, some controversies remain. Thus, we evaluated clinical manifestations and outcomes of patients with neuralgic amyotrophy. Methods: We evaluated the clinical and electrodiagnostic data, and the outcomes, of 32 patients with neuralgic amyotrophy.Of the 32 patients, 26 were followed-up for one year after onset of the disease.Results:The initial symptoms were pain (50.0%), pain with weakness (21.9%), other sensory symptoms without weakness (6.3%), and painless weakness or atrophy (21.9%). The commonly involved nerves were the median (75.0%), radial (68.8%), suprascapular (50.0%), ulnar (50.0%), axillary (46.9%), and musculocutaneous (40.6%) nerves. The initial symptoms were not associated with nerve involvement. Of all patients, 59% recovered fully, 16% had residual mild weakness without functional disability, and 6% experienced persistent severe weakness and were unable to return to work. Some patients were not evaluated because they were lost to follow-up. Conclusions: Painless weakness as an initial symptom of neuralgic amyotrophy may be more common than previously noted. Of all patients, 75% enjoyed favorable outcomes by one year after disease onset. These results will be useful when planning treatment strategies and will deepen our understanding of prognosis of neuralgic amyotrophy.
Brachial Plexus Neuritis

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery spasm is an important mechanism in producing myocardial ischemia. But the exact mechanism of the spasm is not well known. We investigated the mutation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) that produce nitric oxide and relationship between eNOS mutation and coronary artery spasm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood were drawn from the patients with angiographically proven coronary artery spasm and normal controls. DNA were extracted and polymerase chain reaction and restriction analysis with Nae I were performed to find T-786-- Cholesterol ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Coronary Vessels* ; DNA ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Korea ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spasm* ; Triglycerides

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery spasm is an important mechanism in producing myocardial ischemia. But the exact mechanism of the spasm is not well known. We investigated the mutation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) that produce nitric oxide and relationship between eNOS mutation and coronary artery spasm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood were drawn from the patients with angiographically proven coronary artery spasm and normal controls. DNA were extracted and polymerase chain reaction and restriction analysis with Nae I were performed to find T-786-- Cholesterol ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Coronary Vessels* ; DNA ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Korea ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spasm* ; Triglycerides

Infective endocarditis is the infectious disease that produces vegetation on endocardium. Acute bacterial endocarditis is most frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus, occurs on a normal heart valve, and subacute endocarditis usually caused by Streptococcus viridans occurs on damaged valves. Gemella haemolysans are gram-positive cocci that is placed in the family Streptococcaceae. As opportunistic pathogen, Gemella haemolysans are able to cause severe localized and generalized infections and it is known that this organism very rarely causes infective endocarditis. The paucity of reports concerning Gemella haemolysans is probably related to the difficulties associated with their identification. Several laboratory tests to prevent misinterpretation of this organism are now suggested. We have experienced a case of infective endocarditis that is caused by Gemella haemolysans in 37 year old male patient with ventricular septal defect. Gemella haemolysans were detected by blood culture and he was treated with intravenous vancomycin with gentamicin and ceftriaxone, and also underwent cardiac surgery. This is the first case of Gemella haemolysans endocarditis of ventricular septal defect in Korea.
Adult ; Ceftriaxone ; Communicable Diseases ; Endocarditis* ; Endocarditis, Bacterial ; Endocardium ; Gemella* ; Gentamicins ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular* ; Heart Valves ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Streptococcaceae ; Thoracic Surgery ; Vancomycin ; Viridans Streptococci

We have determined and analyzed the full-length cDNA sequence of a coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) Korean isolate (CVB3-Korea/97) which has been known as a general human pathogen. The whole genome contains 7,400 nucleotides and has a single large open reading frame with 6,555 nucleotides that encodes a potential polyprotein precursor of 2,185 amino acids. The genome also contains a 5' non-coding region (NCR) of 741 bases and a 3' NCR of 104 bases followed by poly(A) tail. Sequence homologies of nucleotides and deduced amino acids between the CVB3-Korea/97 strain and the prototype (Nancy strain) were 81.7% and 91.5%, respectively. The genes encoding the functional proteins including viral protease and RNA dependent RNA polymerase showed higher homology than those encoding the structural proteins. We have further analyzed the sequences of 5' NCR, VP1 and VP2 of CVB3-Korea/97, which are known as cardiovirulent determining factors at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. Although the CVB 3-Korea/97 strain was isolated from an aseptic meningitis patient without cardiomyopathy, its 234th nucleotide and 165th amino acid were uracil and Asn as same as those of other cardiovirulent strains one. However, the 155th amino acid of VR1, which closely associated with cardiovirulence, was replaced with Arg155 by single nucleoptide substitution from A2916 to T2916. Moreover, additional amino acid substitutions were observed in the flanking region of Asp155. Taken together, aminoacid(s) substitution in VP1 may play a critical role in determining cardiovirulence of the CVB3-Korea/97 strain rather than individual nucleotide replacements in the 5' NCR and/or an amino acid substitution in VP2.
Amino Acid Substitution ; Amino Acids ; Cardiomyopathies ; Clone Cells* ; Cloning, Organism* ; DNA, Complementary* ; Genome ; Humans ; Korea* ; Meningitis, Aseptic ; Nucleotides ; Open Reading Frames ; RNA Replicase ; RNA, Messenger ; Sequence Analysis* ; Sequence Homology ; Uracil

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical, laboratory, radiologic characteristics, and joint involvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Korean. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed initial medical records of 210 patients diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis in Seoul, Sanggye, and Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University. Evaluation included age, sex, disease duration, duration of morning stiffness, joint involvement, the number of tender and swollen joints, rheumatoid factor, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C- reactive protein (CRP), and bony erosion in simple X-ray. RESULTS: In total 210 patients, mean age was 50.1+/-13.5 years, and male to female ratio was 1 to 5.6. Mean duration of arthritis was 51.8+/-72.6 months and positive rate of rheumatoid factor was 66.7%. Mean time interval between symptom onset and first visit was 14.1+/-19.1 months. Bony erosion rate was 15.3% in early RA patients, who had been diagnosed as RA within 1 year. The order of frequency of joint involvement was as the follows; metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, wrist joints, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints, ankle joints, and knee joints. It was noted that the joints on the right and left sides behaved in like fashion. This pattern was not different with early RA. The titer of rheumatoid factor showed poor correlations with variables of clinical activity (ESR, CRP, duration of morning stiffness, and number of tender and swollen joints). CONCLUSION: In Korea, clinical manifestations and joint involvement of RA patients were not different from other published studies. The most commonly involved joints are MCP joints, wrist joints, PIP joints, and MTP joints.
Ankle Joint ; Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Blood Sedimentation ; Female ; Humans ; Joints* ; Knee Joint ; Korea ; Male ; Medical Records ; Metatarsophalangeal Joint ; Retrospective Studies ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Seoul ; Wrist Joint

OBJECTIVE: The author investigated the association between the genotype distribution of 5-HTTLPR and the effects of atypical antipsychotics on serum glucose and lipids in schizophrenic patients. METHODS: Study subjects were 66 schizophrenic patients taking atypical antipsychotics (risperidone, olanzapine, clozapine, quetiapine, zotepine). The control group consisted of 82 schizophrenic patients taking typical antipsychotics (haloperidol). All subjects were medicated for at least 12 weeks. The author examined serum fasting blood sugar (FBS), HbA1c, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and the genotype distribution of 5-HTTLPR in all subjects. The presence of the 5-HTTLPR gene was determined by using polymerase chain reaction of genomic DNA with primers flanking the promoter regions of the 5-HTT gene. Between group comparisons of the genotype distribution and the effects of antipsychotics on the serum glucose and lipid levels were performed by using score test for t-test, one way ANOVA, and chi-square test. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in FBS level in all patients taking atypical antipsychotics except for those treated with risperidone. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between 5-HTTLPR genotype distribution and the effect of atypical antipsychotics on FBS, HbA1c, total cholesterol, and triglyceride serum levels in schizophrenic patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has no significant association with the effect of atypical antipsychotics on serum glucose and lipids in Korean schizophrenic patients.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Blood Glucose* ; Cholesterol ; Clozapine ; DNA ; Fasting ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Risperidone ; Schizophrenia ; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins* ; Serotonin* ; Triglycerides