No abstract available.
Appendicitis* ; Humans

A preparation of water soluble components(EA) was made from carpophores of Elfvingia applanata(Pers.) Karst and its in vitro antibacterial activity on a number of bacterial species was examined by macrobroth dilution assay. Among 16 species of bacteria tested, the most potent antibacterial activity was observed against Staphylococcus epiderrnidis and Proteus vulgaris, of which MICs were 1.25 mg/ml. To investigate the antibacterial effects in combinations of EA with quinolone antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin, enoxacin, lomefloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin, the fractional inhibitory concentrations(FICs) and the fractional inhibitory concentration indices(FICIs) for four bacterial strains were determined by macrobroth dilution checkerboard assay. Combinations of EA and quinolones exhibited either additive or indifferent effects of antibacterial activity in most instances. However, both synergistic and antagonistic effects were not observed in any cases.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteria ; Ciprofloxacin ; Enoxacin ; Norfloxacin ; Ofloxacin ; Proteus vulgaris ; Quinolones* ; Staphylococcus

No abstract available.
Cell Cycle*

As the span of life is prolonged by socioeconomic and medical development, the percentage of the geriatric population is increasing annually. Now, surgical therapy for the geriatric patients is an important area of medicine. To understand the clinical significance of surgical geriatric patients, an analysis was made of the records at the Surgical Department of City hospital, East Seoul, for 182 patients over 65 years of age, who were treated from January 1990 through December 1995. The results are as follows: 1) The number of surgical patients admitted during the 6 years was 2,734, and the number of surgical geriatric patients admitted during the same period was 257 patients (9.4% of all surgical patients). The percentage of geriatric patients show an increasing tendency from 8.1% in 1994 to 11.3% in 1995. 2) The sex distribution was 140 male patients (54.5%) and 117 female patients (45.3%), a ratio of 1 : 0.83. 3) The average duration of admission was 18.2 days and durations of admission of less than 1 week were most common (21.8% of all geriatric admissions). 4) Of the 182 cases treated surgically, 139 cases (76.4%) involved general anesthesia, 32 cases (17.6%) anesthesia administered spinally, and 11 cases (60%) local anesthesia; One hour or less of general anesthetic time was most common (41.7%). 5) Malignant disease was found in 46 patients (25.3%); stomach cancer was the most frequently found malignant disease. Non-malignant disese was found in 136 patients (74.7%); appendicitis was the most frequently found non-malignant disease. 6) Coexistent disease was noticed in 108 patients (59.3%); cardiovascular disease was the most frequently found (27.1%), and chronic pulmonary disease (21.3%) and hypoproteinemia (14.2%) were next. 7) Operations were performed on 182 patients of the total 257 patients, operation rate of 70.8%. The old age group had a low operation rate. 8) Postoperative complications were occurred in 43 cases (23.6%), and operative mortality was 2.7%. The significant factors affecting postoperative morbidity and mortality were malignancy, long duration for the general anesthetic time, coexistent disease, and emergency operation. The results suggest that the number and the rate of surgical geriatric patients have increased and that age has little effect on the postoperative prognosis. Thus, we believe that more active preoperative treatment, complete therapy for coexistent disease, execution of elective surgery and a short anesthetic time for intentional surgery are important factors for decreasing postoperative morbidity and mortality for surgical geriatric patients.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Local ; Appendicitis ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Emergencies ; Female ; Hospitals, Urban ; Humans ; Hypoproteinemia ; Lung Diseases ; Male ; Mortality ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis ; Seoul ; Sex Distribution ; Stomach Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Female ; Obstetric Labor, Premature* ; Pregnancy ; Ritodrine* ; Tocolytic Agents*

Purpose: This study systematically reviewed the effects of physical activity on depression and various menopausal symptoms in middle-aged women. We aimed to identify physical activity as a useful intervention for mitigating the physiological and psychological challenges associated with menopause and promoting healthy aging. Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library databases using predefined keywords “menopause” and “physical activities”. Of the 1,391 initial articles, 15 randomized controlled trials involving 1,692 middle-aged women were included. Results: Physical activities led to a reduction in depressive symptoms, with a standardized mean difference (SMD) of -0.60 (95% CI, -0.90 to -0.30). Moreover, all menopausal symptoms, except vasomotor symptoms, were decreased. Specifically, the SMDs for the five subscales of menopausal symptoms were as follows: total scores: -1.53 (95% CI, -2.57 to -0.49); vasomotor: -0.76 (95% CI, -1.53 to 0.00); psychological: -0.93 (95% CI, -1.62 to -0.25); physical: -1.10 (95% CI, -1.77 to -0.43); and urogenital/sexual: -0.67 (95% CI, -1.23 to -0.12). Conclusion Physical activity is beneficial for middle-aged women transitioning from peri- to post-menopause. Engagement in physical activity can contribute to the maintenance of overall health and well-being during aging by reducing depression and menopausal symptoms.

BACKGROUND: This research investigated the usefulness of heavy drinking standards of ‘guidelines for moderate alcohol drinking amount for Koreans’ for diagnosis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) alcohol use disorder. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted with 976 adults who visited an health screening center in Daejeon for health check-up in 2015. Daily drinking amount, drinking frequency per week, and weekly drinking amount were investigated. Using the heavy drinking criteria of Korean guideline, participants were grouped by age and gender and classified as normal or heavy drinkers. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), Positive likelihood ratio (LR+), Negative likelihood ratio (LR-), odds ratio (OR) and Youden's Index of heavy drinking according to Korean guideline for diagnosis of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder were calculated. RESULTS: The Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of a model screening DSM-5 alcohol use disorder by weekly drinking amount were 0.812 in males up to age 65 years and 0.931 in males over age 65 years and females respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of Korean guideline heavy drinking group for diagnosis of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder were 61.0%, 89.7%, 67.0%, and 87.05% respectively. The LR+, LR-, OR and Youden's Index of those were 5.917 (4.704-7.435), 0.434 (0.379-0.497), 13.623 (9.607-19.317), and 0.507 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This research shows the Korean heavy drinking standard is useful for diagnosis of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder in Korean people.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Drinking* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: Splenectomy is an important treatment modality for the patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), but the response rate of splenectomy for ITP patients is variable and the predictive factors of the postoperative response are uncertain. The purpose of this study is to investigate the response rate of splenectomy and find the predictive factors of splenectomy in ITP patients. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 54 consecutive patients who underwent splenectomy and were followed up. A positive response to splenectomy was defined as a postoperative platelet count greater than 50, 000/microliter without medication. We analyzed the following variables to find the predictive factors for splenectomy; age, gender, disease duration, platelet count at diagnosis, preoperative platelet count, early response to steroid, IVIG response, operative method, accessory spleen and postoperative platelet count. RESULTS: The response rate of splenectomy was 60% at the 1st postoperative month, 46% at the 3rd postoperative month and 37% at the 6th postoperative month. The age of the splenectomy responders at the 6th postoperative month was significantly lower than that of the non-responder (33.4+/-14.5 years versus 48.7+/-17.1 years, p< 0.05). The platelet count at the time of discharge of the splenectomy responders was significantly greater than that of the non-responders (378, 429+/-272, 399/microliter versus 191, 731+/-151, 435/microliter, p< 0.05). These results were significant on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: The response rate of splenectomy is decreased according to the passage of time during the early postoperative period, so long term follow up is important to investigate the predictive factors. Young age for the patients and high platelet count at discharge can be used as the predictive factors for splenectomy in ITP.
Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Medical Records ; Multivariate Analysis ; Platelet Count ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic* ; Spleen ; Splenectomy*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness and safety of nicardipine infusion for controlling blood pressure in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 52 patients with SAH and treated with nicardipine infusion for blood pressure control in a 29 months period. The mean blood pressure of pre-injection, bolus injection and continuous injection period were compared. This study evaluated the effectiveness of nicardipine for each Fisher grade, for different dose of continuous nicardipine infusion, and for the subgroups of systolic blood pressure. RESULTS: The blood pressure measurement showed that the mean systolic blood pressure / diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) in continuous injection period (120.9/63.0 mmHg) was significantly lower than pre-injection period (145.6/80.3 mmHg) and bolus injection period (134.2/71.3 mmHg), and these were statistically significant (p < 0.001). In each subgroups of Fisher grade and different dose, SBP/DBP also decreased after the use of nicardipine. These were statistically significant (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in effectiveness between subgroups (p > 0.05). Furthermore, controlling blood pressure was more effective when injecting higher dose of nicardipine in higher SBP group rather than injecting lower dose in lower SBP group, and it also was statistically significant (p < 0.05). During the infusion, hypotension and cardiogenic problems were transiently combined in five cases. However, patients recovered without any complications. CONCLUSION: Nicardipine is an effective and safe agent for controlling acutely elevated blood pressure after SAH. A more systemic study with larger patients population will provide significant results and will bring solid evidence on effectiveness of nicardipine in SAH.
Aneurysm ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypotension ; Nicardipine ; Prospective Studies ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage