BACKGROUND: The present study was performed in order to identify the possible future location of the Department of Emergency Medicine and future demand for and supply of manpower through a survey of the heads of Kwangju City and Chollanam-do hospitals. The survey covered the degrees of recognition and understanding, the necessity, the future prospects, and the direction of development of the Department of Emergency Medicine. METHODS: A total of 33 large-scale general hospitals were selected in county districts having more than 200 sickbeds as of November 1999. Among them, the heads of 29 hospitals responded to the survey. The survey had a total of 31 questions, including 6 questions on the status of the emergency room. Six(6) questions concerned the degree of recognition of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Six(6) questions concerned the degree of understanding of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Six(6) questions concerned the necessity for the Department of Emergency Medicine, and 7 questions concerned the future prospects and direction of development. The results of the survey were analyzed. RESULTS: 1) As to the question of the degree of recognition, the Department of Emergency Medicine was known to all. That is, 50% of the respondents were well aware of the department, and 50% a little. Nineteen(19) respondents(65%) answered that it was convenient to have the Department of Emergency Medicine in a university hospital, among which 16 respondents(55%) answered that it was because of the rapid treatment of emergency patients. 2) As to the question of the degree of understanding, particularly, the areas of medical examination and treatment by the Department of Emergency Medicine, 15 respondents answered that it was for the treatment of patients who needed to receive emergency treatment, while 12 respondents answered that it was for the diagnosis and treatment of all patients who visited the emergency room. Only 7 respondents(24%) answered positively as to the possibility of the Department of Emergency Medicine using thrombolysis medicine. 3) All except for one respondent had a positive view on the necessity for the Department of Emergency Medicine, and all except for 3 respondents wanted to have specialized doctors in emergency medicine work at the corresponding hospital. As to the type of schedule, 10 hospitals(34%) wanted to have only night shifts, and 11 hospitals(38%) wanted to have both day and night shifts. Most hospitals, needed two or more workers in the field. 4) As to the question of the direction of development, many respondents were of the opinion that the hiring of specialized doctors in emergency medicine would not be of greatly help to the finances of the hospital due to increased labor costs. It seems that improvement of the medical system to improve hospital financing is a required prerequisite for the development of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Also, 21 respondents(83%) were of the opinion that it would take a considerable amount of time to activate the Department of Emergency Medicine with respect to the future prospects of the department. CONCLUSION: It was shown in the present survey that the heads of hospitals in Kwangju City and Chollanam-do recognized the Department of Emergency Medicine in a positive way, but it was necessary to establish both a delivery system for emergency medicine and collaboration with and support by other medical areas for its future development. It was estimated that in the future, more than 55 doctors specializing in emergency medicine would be needed as medical manpower for the general hospitals in the districts.
Appointments and Schedules ; Cooperative Behavior ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diagnosis ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Emergency Treatment ; Gwangju* ; Head ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do*

A number of drug administered during anesthesia can provoke pathologic response by immunologic or nonimmunologic mechanisms. Known drugs involved in hypersensitivity reactions are muscle relaxants, local anesthetics, narcotics, barbiturates, contrast media, protamine and antibiotics. Clinical manifestations of anaphylaxis are diverse, but during anesthesia, cardiovascular collapse is predominate. We experienced a case of anaphylactoid reaction with erythema on upper thoracic region, severe hypotension, tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. After defibrillation, the patient was recovered. During follow-up, we knew that this patient was exposed aprotinin repeatedly, and suspect the possibility of anaphylactoid reaction due to aprotinin.
Anaphylaxis ; Anesthesia ; Anesthetics, Local ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Aprotinin ; Barbiturates ; Contrast Media ; Erythema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Hypotension ; Narcotics ; Tachycardia ; Ventricular Fibrillation

The p53 gene, one of the tumor suppressor genes, is believed to play an important role through mutation and overexpression in the progression of various human malignant tumors. To compare the p53 mutation status between the primary and metastatic lesions of breast cancers and to investigate the mutational pattern of p53, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) were performed in 25 cases of breast cancers with paraffin embedded tissue. Mutant protein products or point mutation were detected through IHC or PCR-SSCP method. And flow cytometrical (FCM) analysis were performed in the same paraffin blocks to correlate the DNA ploidy and p53 mutation. The following results are summarized. 1. The detection of the p53 gene mutation and overexpression of the p53 protein were measured in 40% and 48%, respectively, in 25 primary tumors, either or both methods was detected in 64%. 2. A concordance rate of the p53 protein expression between the primary and metastatic lesions of 25 breast cancers was 100%, but the concordance rate of the p53 gene mutation was 72%. 3. The correlation between the p53 mutation and the DNA aneuploidy was not statistically significant (p=0.38) 4. A p53 mutation by IHC or PCR-SSCP was more frequently detected in grade III breast cancers than in grade I or II. 5. Among 5 to 9 exons of the p53 gene, exon 7 was the most frequent mutation spot in this study. 6. Additional mutation of the p53 gene was developed in the three metastatic lesions. With the above results it is suggested that the p53 protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry is not correlated with the p53 mutation by PCR-SSCP. The p53 mutation pattern between the primary and metastatic lesions are not idenitical and an additional point mutation can occur in the metastatic lesion. The DNA aneuploidy is more frequently detected in the cases with the p53 protein overexpression than in the p53 protein negative, but it is not statistically significant.
Aneuploidy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; DNA* ; Exons ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mutant Proteins ; Paraffin ; Ploidies* ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

The p53 gene, one of the tumor suppressor genes, is believed to play an important role through mutation and overexpression in the progression of various human malignant tumors. To compare the p53 mutation status between the primary and metastatic lesions of breast cancers and to investigate the mutational pattern of p53, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) were performed in 25 cases of breast cancers with paraffin embedded tissue. Mutant protein products or point mutation were detected through IHC or PCR-SSCP method. And flow cytometrical (FCM) analysis were performed in the same paraffin blocks to correlate the DNA ploidy and p53 mutation. The following results are summarized. 1. The detection of the p53 gene mutation and overexpression of the p53 protein were measured in 40% and 48%, respectively, in 25 primary tumors, either or both methods was detected in 64%. 2. A concordance rate of the p53 protein expression between the primary and metastatic lesions of 25 breast cancers was 100%, but the concordance rate of the p53 gene mutation was 72%. 3. The correlation between the p53 mutation and the DNA aneuploidy was not statistically significant (p=0.38) 4. A p53 mutation by IHC or PCR-SSCP was more frequently detected in grade III breast cancers than in grade I or II. 5. Among 5 to 9 exons of the p53 gene, exon 7 was the most frequent mutation spot in this study. 6. Additional mutation of the p53 gene was developed in the three metastatic lesions. With the above results it is suggested that the p53 protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry is not correlated with the p53 mutation by PCR-SSCP. The p53 mutation pattern between the primary and metastatic lesions are not idenitical and an additional point mutation can occur in the metastatic lesion. The DNA aneuploidy is more frequently detected in the cases with the p53 protein overexpression than in the p53 protein negative, but it is not statistically significant.
Aneuploidy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; DNA* ; Exons ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mutant Proteins ; Paraffin ; Ploidies* ; Point Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Many investigators have reported that collagen gel contraction reflects the mechanism of wound contraction. In 1995, Tsai et al. reported that hypertrophic scar-derived fibroblasts in a connective tissue model possessed the greatest contraction potency when compared with those of normal skin and normal oral mucosa-derived CTMs. In this study, we studied the effect of collagen gel contraction by growth factors such as epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-bata1, and transforming growth factor-bata3, Skin fibroblasts used in this study were obtained from the explant of rat skin culture. Fibroblasts were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Growth factors were added per FPCL in the desired concentrations and we measured the collagen gel diameters in growth factor-treated FPCL on day 1,2,3, and 4 respectively after starting incubation. We examined the effects of EGF, PDGF, TGF-bata1, TGF-bata3 and the effects of combinations of TGF-bata1 + EGF, TGF-bata1 + PDGF, and TGF-bata1 + TGF-bata3 to contract a collagen gel. EGF has little influence on collagen gel contraction. TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 increase the collagen contraction. TGF-bata1 enhanced the contractility of collagen gel according to the concentrations. While TGF-bata3 alone had stimulatory contraction effects at low dose, high doses of TGF-bata3 decreased the potency of collagen gel contraction. A combination of TGF-bata1 and EGF minimally decrease TGF-bata1 activity. A combination of TGF-bata1and PDGF had an effect similar to TGF-bata1 activity. A combination of TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 decreased TGF-bata1 activity. According to reports that FPCL contraction is equivalent to the process of wound contraction, growth factors which enhance gel contraction may be related to wound contraction and wound healing. TGF-bata1 is reported to enhance scar formation in fetal wound. EGF accelerates wound healing and inhibits the promotion of hypertrophic scar formation. Compared to the effect of collagen gel contraction in this study, the combination of TGF-bata1 and TGF-bata3 that inhibited the promotion of collagen gel contraction are thought to diminish the formation of scar tissue. As well, EGF that has not enhanced collagen gel contraction is thought to diminish the production of scar tissue. We will study the interactive effects of TGF-bata3, EGF and TGF-bata1 on the contraction of collagen gels in the future.
Animals ; Cicatrix ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Collagen* ; Connective Tissue ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Fibroblasts ; Gels ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins* ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; Rats ; Research Personnel ; Skin ; Wound Healing ; Wounds and Injuries*

Cutaneous metastases from internal carcinomas are relatively rare, especially from pancreatic carcinoma. Pancreatic carcinomas are usually adenocarcinomas which arise in the head of the gland, and are known to rapidly metastasize to the lymphatic system by permeation and embolization. We report a case of cutaneous metastasis from pancreatic adenocarcinoma. in 74-year-old male patient who have two pea sized, slight erythematous nodules on the lower abdomen and posterior side of the neck.
Abdomen ; Adenocarcinoma* ; Aged ; Head ; Humans ; Lymphatic System ; Male ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Peas

This report concerns a rare malignant smooth muscle neoplasm of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue, which was examined immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally. It occured in a 48-year-old female patient who had suffered from painful nodules on the left shoulder. The nodules were removed and diagnosed as a benign fibrohistiocytic tumor. One year after local excision, multiple nodules were detected by physical examination at the previous operation site. Grossly, thirteen well-defined small nodules had spread in the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue, of which nine were located from lower dermis to the subcutaneous tissue and four were in the subcutaneous tissue. Histologically, each nodule consisted mainly of epithelioid tumor cells having eosinophilic or clear plump cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei with small nucleoli, and some peripheral spindle tumor cells. The tumor cells were negative for PAS reaction with and without diastase digestion or alcian blue. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells were positive for smooth muscle actin and vimentin. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells showed actin filaments and dense bodies in cytoplasm. This case was diagnosed as an epithelioid leiomyosarcoma of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue with local metastasis one year after local excision.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Actins ; Alcian Blue ; Amylases ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Digestion ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Smooth ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction ; Physical Examination ; Shoulder ; Skin* ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Vimentin

This review-article is aimed at shedding a light upon the nature of age-associated changes in the human skeletal system. When the anatomical, physiological and biochemical consequences of bone aging are considered together with the hardening, drying and the diminished repair capabilities of the elderly, it can be seen that fractures assume greater importance as a clinical problem in the geriatric population. Older people start out with a deficit of cortical bone, making them more fracture prone and once fractures occur, the necessary treatments (immobilization, use of casts, etc.) accelerate the rate of bone loss. In addition, aged individuals stand a higher risk for complications of the hospital and enforced bed rest that may ensue. The problems resulting from bone loss in the elderly may be partially alleviated by providing adequate health service support which should include consideration of the following points : 1. Age, sex and general health status ; 2. Habits and inclinations towards physical activities ; 3. Nutritional and endocrine background ; 4. Presence of any specific bone diseases, including osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, osteomalacia and ankylosis ; 5. Psychosocial adaptability and other behavioral elements.
Aged ; Aging ; Ankylosis ; Bed Rest ; Biology* ; Bone Diseases ; Health Services ; Humans* ; Motor Activity ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteomalacia ; Osteoporosis

Aphakic or pseudophakic glau-oma is known to be at high risk for failure after filtration surgery. The authors retrospectively investigated the results of trabeculectomy in 14 eyes of 14 patients with glaucoma, seven aphakic and seven pseudophakic eyes, which were followed from six months to three years with an average ot 16.5 months. A conventional trabeculectomy without using antifibrotic agents was performed in all the eyes. The site of conjunctival incision was prepared on the virgin area of the conjunctiva; 8 superonasal, 4 inferonasal and 2 inferotemporal approaches. An average postoperative intraocular pressure reduction was 13.4 mmHg. The number of medications decreased in 11 eyes. A spontaneously developed functioning bleb was found in seven eyes. In other four eyes, the filtering bleb was formed with an aid of massage or needling. The remallllllg three eyes did not show a functioning bleb. Postoperative complications included hyphema in 3 eyes, overfiltration in 2 eyes, choroidal detachment in 1 eye, corneal edema in 1 eye and endophthalmitis in 1 eye.
Aphakia* ; Blister ; Choroid ; Conjunctiva ; Corneal Edema ; Endophthalmitis ; Filtering Surgery* ; Glaucoma ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Intraocular Pressure ; Massage ; Postoperative Complications ; Pseudophakia* ; Retrospective Studies ; Trabeculectomy

BACKGROUND: Clinical and experimental studies have suggested that brain death may cause hemodynamic, electrocardiographic, functional or histopathologic changes of the heart. METHODS: Brain death was induced by increasing intracranial pressure(ICP) abruptly by intermittent bolus injection of saline(model ) or gradually by continuous infusion of saline(model ) to the epidural catheter in 5 mongrel dogs, respectively. Hemodynamic and biochemical changes during the process of brain death and histopathologic changes of the myocardium were analyzed and compared in two brain death models, and the association of apoptosis was also evaluated. RESULTS: 1) Two predominant subsets of acute contraction band lesion were produced in both brain death models : paradiscal and holocystic contraction band lesions. Both contraction band lesions were more prevalent in brain death model . 2) The frequency of both contraction band lesions was lowest in the epicardial layer and highest in the endocardial layer in both models, but no correlation was observed between the degree of contraction band lesions and ICP, LV maximum +dp/dt or catecholamine levels. There was no statistical difference between any of the LV circumferential blocks and either type of contraction band lesion, and transaxial distribution was not also different in both models. 3) There was no remarkable histopathologic changes in the analysis of major epicardial coronary arteries. Apoptotic cells were suggested in the scattered myocytes in the light microscopy and apoptosis was detected by in situ nick end labeling method. Electron microscopy revealed a condensation of nuclear chromatin and convolution of nuclear membrane in those myocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial changes due to brain were observed frequently, and few apoptotic cells were found in the brain death heart. Studies on the treatment strategy to minimize damages of myocardial structure and function caused by brain death should be followed in the near future.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain Death* ; Brain* ; Catheters ; Chromatin ; Coronary Vessels ; Dogs ; Electrocardiography ; Heart ; Hemodynamics ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Microscopy ; Microscopy, Electron ; Muscle Cells ; Myocardium* ; Nuclear Envelope