PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify international students' use of university health centers by individual characteristics and seasons. METHODS: This was a retrospective descriptive study using data obtained from the electronic record system of one university health center. The study participants were international undergraduate students who registered for any of two semesters between March 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015 and visited the university health center during their registration period. RESULTS: The most common reasons for visits were problems of head, eye, nose and throat systems, followed by respiratory system. Their visits mostly occurred in the fall and spring. The most frequently used services were distribution of oral medication followed by wound treatment. The number of visits per individual was statistically different by gender (u=-3.307, p=.001), but not by their major (chi2=.543, p=0.762) or nationality (chi2=5.518, p=.271). CONCLUSION: Further study is necessary to better define health needs and related factors for this unique population. The electronic record system provides great opportunities in development and application of need based health services for international students and for research in this area.
Ethnic Groups ; Head ; Health Services ; Humans ; Nose ; Pharynx ; Respiratory System ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Student Health Services ; Wounds and Injuries

This study is verifying the hypothesis that distraction followed by recompression may promote fracture healing of the osteoporotic bone on the assumption that distraction induces increased callus formation at the distracted gap and recompression results in fusiform callus, having biomechanically stronger fracture stiffness. Sixty-six Sprague-Dawley rats, in which osteoporosis were induced 6-8 weeks after oophorectomy, were separated into two groups. Group I was control group that had fracture healing by simple external fixation. Group II was experimental group that had fracture healing by monofocal distraction-compression. Radiomorphometric study revealed that there was significantly increased amount of callus and ensuing bone formation, which becehe obvious from 20 days after osteotomy in group II compared with group I. Biomechanical study also showed that tensile break strength was significantly higher in group II compared with group I with time. It is concluded that monofocal distraction-compression method may be one of the useful method to promote fracture healing of the estrogen deficient osteoporotic bone.
Animals ; Bony Callus ; Estrogens ; Female ; Fracture Healing* ; Osteogenesis ; Osteoporosis* ; Osteotomy ; Ovariectomy ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Signet ring cell carcinoma has been previously described in many organs, most frequently in the stomach, and rarely in the colon, rectum, gallbladder, pancreas, breast, nadsal cavity, prostate, urinary bladder and ureter. Signet ring cell carcinomas in the lung, especially, when examined by small biopsies, are generally believed to be metastatic. This case was diagnosed by bronchoscopic biopsy. We also examined various organs by noninvasive method, including UGI series, barium enema and abdomen CT scarf, but all studies were nomal. Patient received cisplatin and etoposide combination chemotherapy followed by local radiotherapy ai a primary non-small cell lung cancer. Patient died of his disease 6 months after diagnosis. Now we report a case of primary signet ring cell carcinoma of the lung.
Abdomen ; Barium ; Biopsy ; Breast ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell* ; Cisplatin ; Colon ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Enema ; Etoposide ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Pancreas ; Prostate ; Radiotherapy ; Rectum ; Stomach ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used for assessing the morphology of the pituitary gland in children with short stature. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine if pituitary volume (PV) can distinguish patients with growth hormone (GH) deficiency from those with idiopathic short stature (ISS), (2) to validate an association between PV and severity of GH deficiency, and (3) to compare PV between good and poor response groups in children with GH deficiency or ISS after 1 year of treatment. Methods: Data were collected from the medical records of 152 children with GH deficiency or ISS who underwent GH stimulation test, sella MRI, and GH treatment for at least 1 year. Estimated PVs were calculated using the formula of an ellipsoid. We compared the PVs in patients with GH deficiency with those of patients with ISS. In addition, we assessed the association between PV and severity of GH deficiency, and we assessed growth response after treatment. Results: No difference was observed in PV between patients with GH deficiency and those with ISS. The severity of the GH deficiency seemed to be associated with PV (P=0.082), and the height of the pituitary gland was associated with severity of GH deficiency (P<0.005). The PV in the good response group was less than that of the poor response group in patients with GH deficiency (P<0.005), and PV showed no association with responsiveness to GH treatment in patients with ISS (P=0.073). Conclusion The measurement of PV cannot be used for differential diagnosis between GH deficiency and ISS. In patients with GH deficiency, PV tended to be smaller as the severity of GH deficiency increased, but the difference was not significant. PV may be a good response predictor for GH treatment. Further studies, including a radiomics-based approach, will be helpful in elucidating the clinical implications of pituitary morphology in patients with short stature.

A 72-year-old woman was admitted due to a solitary pulmonary nodule incidentally found after routine chestradiography. Chest CT showed a solitary pulmonary nodule without calcification in the right upper lobe. Threeyears earlier, she had spent 3 months in Arizona. Surgical resection was performed after percutaneoustransthoracic fine needle aspiration had suggested malignaney. The lesion was caseous and necrotic, andhisto-logic examination indicated the presence of endosporulating spherules. We report a case ofcoccidioidomyco-sis which was resected in order to rule out lung cancer.
Aged ; Arizona ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Coccidioidomycosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: It was reported that patients who have left ventricular hypertrophy have higher D allele frequency of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene polymorphism, especially in Caucasian normotensive men. We studied to know whether genetic polymorphism of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene is associated with the development of left ventricular hypertrophy in Korean people whose genotype frequency is quite different from that of Caucasians. METHODS: Total 156 patients were included in this study. Presence of hypertension was checked with the criteria that hypertensives are one whose blood pressures were all above 140/90 at least 3 times spanning 2 months or one who had been diagnosed as hypertension and on his medication. Left ventricular mass index(LVMI) was calculated using electrocardiogram by Rautaharju equation, and left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) was defined as LVMI was above 131g/m2 in male or above 110g/m2 in female. Genomic DNA was extracted from the mononuclear cell of each subjects and PCR was performed using new primers for the region of intron 16 and exon 17. RESULTS: Genotype frequencies of D/D genotype and D allele were 0.200 and 0.413 respectively in group with LVH(n=40), 0.103 and 0.392 respectively in group without LVH(n=116). There was no significant difference with each other group. However, when only the normotensives were included in this analysis, frequency of D/D genotype is significantly higher in group with LVH(0.231, n=26) than in group without LVH(0.076, n=79)(Fisher's exact test,p<0.05). There was no significant difference in genotype frequency between the normotensives(n=105) and the hypertensives(n=51). CONCLUSIONS: In Korean people, D allele of polymorphism of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene is also associated with development of left ventricular hypertrophy in the normotensives and is not associated with essential hypertension.
Alleles ; Angiotensins* ; DNA ; Electrocardiography ; Exons ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular* ; Introns ; Male ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic

BACKGROUND: It was reported that patients who have left ventricular hypertrophy have higher D allele frequency of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene polymorphism, especially in Caucasian normotensive men. We studied to know whether genetic polymorphism of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene is associated with the development of left ventricular hypertrophy in Korean people whose genotype frequency is quite different from that of Caucasians. METHODS: Total 156 patients were included in this study. Presence of hypertension was checked with the criteria that hypertensives are one whose blood pressures were all above 140/90 at least 3 times spanning 2 months or one who had been diagnosed as hypertension and on his medication. Left ventricular mass index(LVMI) was calculated using electrocardiogram by Rautaharju equation, and left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) was defined as LVMI was above 131g/m2 in male or above 110g/m2 in female. Genomic DNA was extracted from the mononuclear cell of each subjects and PCR was performed using new primers for the region of intron 16 and exon 17. RESULTS: Genotype frequencies of D/D genotype and D allele were 0.200 and 0.413 respectively in group with LVH(n=40), 0.103 and 0.392 respectively in group without LVH(n=116). There was no significant difference with each other group. However, when only the normotensives were included in this analysis, frequency of D/D genotype is significantly higher in group with LVH(0.231, n=26) than in group without LVH(0.076, n=79)(Fisher's exact test,p<0.05). There was no significant difference in genotype frequency between the normotensives(n=105) and the hypertensives(n=51). CONCLUSIONS: In Korean people, D allele of polymorphism of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene is also associated with development of left ventricular hypertrophy in the normotensives and is not associated with essential hypertension.
Alleles ; Angiotensins* ; DNA ; Electrocardiography ; Exons ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular* ; Introns ; Male ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cardiovascular risk factors are considered to also be risk factors for dementia. Recent studies have shown that the prevalence of cognitive dysfunction is high in patients with cardiac diseases. However, few studies have investigated the influence of cardiac function on cognition and brain structural changes in dementia. The aims of this study were to determine the relationship between cardiac and cognitive function, and to characterize any structural changes in the brain that could be caused by cardiac function in patients with dementia. METHODS: Dementia patients (n=93) were recruited prospectively with checking for the presence of vascular risk factors such as hypertension. Cognitive function was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination, modified Mini-Mental State test, and Korean version of the Dementia Rating Scale. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was conducted to evaluate the cerebral white-matter changes (WMC), ventricular dilation, and cortical and hippocampal atrophy. Cardiac function was evaluated using two-dimensional echocardiography. We divided the patients into two groups according to the presence (+) or absence (-) of WMC. RESULTS: In the entire cohort, the size of the left atrium (LA) was positively correlated with the degree of WMC, irrespective of age (p<0.05). The LA was larger in the WMC (+) group (n=42) than in the WMC (-) group. General cognitive function was significantly lower in the WMC (+) group than in the WMC (-) group. Subjects with an enlarged LA tended to exhibit lower cognitive function and more-severe cerebral WMC. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac dysfunction represented by LA enlargement could be related to cognitive decline and WMC of the brain resulting from impairment of the cerebral hemodynamic process in dementia.
Atrophy ; Brain ; Cognition ; Cohort Studies ; Dementia ; Echocardiography ; Heart Atria ; Heart Diseases ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus. However, it causes various clinically important human infections and behaves similar to Staphylococcus aureus. S. lugdunensis reportedly causes infective endocarditis, skin and soft tissue infection, bone and joint infection, septicemia, endarteritis, urinary tract infection, ocular infection, and peritonitis. There are no reports of septic arthritis by this organism in Korea. We presented a case of septic arthritis due to S. lugdunensis in an elderly patient with diabetes mellitus after an intra-articular injection.
Aged ; Arthritis* ; Arthritis, Infectious ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Endarteritis ; Endocarditis ; Eye Infections ; Humans ; Injections, Intra-Articular* ; Joints ; Knee Joint ; Knee Prosthesis ; Knee* ; Korea ; Peritonitis ; Sepsis ; Skin ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Staphylococcus ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Staphylococcus lugdunensis* ; Urinary Tract Infections

BACKGROUND: An elevated plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) concentration has been identified as a factor for the development of macroangiopathy including myocardial infarction, and an association between polymorphism of the PAI-1 promoter and plasma PAI-1 levels has been described. PAI-1 gene is thought to be one of candidate genes in development of diabetic nephropathy. We studied association between polymorphism of PAI-1 promoter and the development of diabetic renal failure in type 2 DM. METHODS: We reviewed the past clinical records of 4, 500 diabetic patients who were registered in KyungHee university hospital. We selected 85 diabetic patients without nephropathy for more than 10 years and 92 diabetic patients in which Kidney failure was developed within 20 years. We investigated promoter -675 and -844 region polymorphisms in type 2 DM patients with ESRD compared with patients without nephropathy by using PCR-RLFP. RESULTS: The genotypes of group of type 2 DM with ESRD and control group were consistent with Hardy-Weingerg equation. There was no significant difference between two groups in the polymorphisms of PAI-I promoter -675 region. Similarly, there was no significant difference between two groups in the polymorphisms of PAI-I promoter -844 region. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the polymorphisms of PAI-1 gene are not associated with development of diabetic renal failure in Korean patients with type 2 DM.
Diabetic Nephropathies ; Genotype ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Myocardial Infarction ; Plasma ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 ; Plasminogen Activators* ; Plasminogen* ; Renal Insufficiency*