No abstract available.
Submandibular Gland* ; Tuberculosis*

BACKGROUND: Oral allergy syndrome(OAS) is composed of it,ching sense and edema in oral cavity, lips, throat, pharynx, and larynx following eating some fresh fruits or vegetables. It has been known that most of patients with OAS are allergic to pollens. Common epitopes were found among pollens, fruits and vegetables. Although OAS is a common farm of food allergy in adults, this is the first epidemiologic study of OAS in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred and fifty one patients who showed positive skin reaction to pollens were telephone-interviewed. Investigation of the prevalence and clinical manifestations of OAS was possible in 81 patients. RESULT: The prevalence of OAS among these patients was 34.6% (28/81). OAS was found in 24(48%) out of 50 patients sensitized to tree pollens, whereas 4(13%) of 31 grass or weed pollen-sensitized paients had OAS. Most common causative food was apple and all of 17 apple- OAS patients were sensitized to tree pollens. Peach was the second common food and 14 of 15 peach-OAS patients were sensitized to tree pollens. Besides oral symptoms, rhinitis, asthma, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or generalized urticaria were accompanied in half of the OAS patients (14/28). Some patients showed OAS to some unique Korean foods such as dropwort, taro and Aster. CONCLUSION: OAS was very common in pollen-sensitized patients. Larger epidemiologic studies are needed to find unique Korean foods and their antigensm causing OAS.
Adult ; Asthma ; Colocasia ; Diarrhea ; Eating ; Edema ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epitopes ; Filipendula ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Fruit ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Korea ; Larynx ; Lip ; Mouth ; Nausea ; Pharynx ; Poaceae ; Pollen* ; Prevalence ; Prunus persica ; Rhinitis ; Skin ; Urticaria ; Vegetables ; Vomiting

No Abstract Available.
Arthroplasty* ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Humans ; Knee*

No Abstract Available.
Arthroplasty* ; Knee*

Gyrate atrophy of choroid and retina is a rare hereditary disorder, which is characterized by progressive decrease of visual acuity, nyctalopia, visual field constriction and posterior subcapsular cataract. The authors experienced a case of gyrate atrophy of choroid and retina in a 22 year-old male.
Cataract ; Constriction ; Gyrate Atrophy* ; Humans ; Male ; Night Blindness ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Tethered cord syndrome(TCS) is defined as low position of the conus medullaris by the abnormally fixed spinal cord with progressive neurologic deficit MATERIALS AND METHODS: To evaluate the findings of TCS at MRI and its diagnostic value, we performed a retrospective analysis of MRI of 30 patients with emphasis on clinical manifestation, level of conus medullaris, cause of tethering, and associated findings. RESULTS: Clinical presentation included back mass(26 cases), neurogenic bladder(5 cases), urinary incontinence(5 cases), progressive constipation(2 cases), skin dimpling(1 case), gait disturbance(1 case) and club foot (1 case). Neurologic deficit was developed in 11 cases(40% and mean age of these patients at the time of diagnosis was 8.6 years. The most common cause of tethering was lipoma(63%). The tips of conus medullaris were below the level of the second lumbar spine in all patients. The causes of tethering were lipomatous component(spinal lipoma and lipomyelomenigocele) in 67% myelomeningocele in 20%, presacral mass in 7%, thickened filum terminale in 3% and postoperative change in 3%. Associated anomalies included syringomyelia(20%) and hydrocephalus was associated in 3 out of 5 patients who underwent brain MRI. CONCLUSION: MRI clearly delineated the location of conus, tethering of the filum terminale with their causes and associated abnormalities. MRI examination is a very useful diagnostic tool for the early evaluation of TCS and the postoperative follow up.
Brain ; Cauda Equina ; Conus Snail ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Gait ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Lipoma ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Meningomyelocele ; Neural Tube Defects* ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Spinal Cord ; Spine

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is used for long-term nutritional support and can be performed with relatively few complications. Among the major and minor complications, migration and erosion of the internal bumper into or through the abdominal wall, so called buried bumper syndrome has been described more recently. We describe a patient in whom internal bumper eroded into stomach wall and was completely covered by gastric epithelium 45 days after gastrostomy placement. The gastrostomy tube itself was patent, and the end still protruded into the lumen of the stomach. But, endoscopy was failed to remove the gastrostomy tube and surgical exploration was required in our case. We experienced a case of buried bumper syndrome after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and report with a review of literatures.
Abdominal Wall ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 ; Endoscopy ; Epithelium ; Gastrostomy ; Humans ; Nutritional Support ; Stomach

The objective of aneurysm surgery is to exclude the aneurysm from the circulation while preserving blood flow distal to the lesion. In certain situations, the aneurysm neck cannot be clipped safely or the parent vessel reconstructed, primarily in large or giant size with incorporation of parent vessels or perforating arteries, calcification at the aneurysm base, and fusiform or dissecting aneurysms. In such cases, occlusion of the parent vessel is a treatment of option. In many patients, however, sacrifice of the parent artery has an associated risk of ischemic stroke. Therefore, sacrifice of the parent vessel can be supplimented with distal revascularization to provide the necessary distal blood flow while allowing the aneurysm to be trapped. The indications, options, and surgical approaches are described with review of literatures. Finally the authors' experiences of revascularization in 7 patients with unclippable aneurysms are reported.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; Arteries ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm* ; Neck ; Parents ; Stroke

PURPOSE: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is emerging as an important cardiovascular prognostic factor in addition to average blood pressure level. While there have been some suggestions for the determinants of the blood pressure variability, little is known about the relationship between the blood pressure variability and health-related quality of life (QOL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six men and women with mild hypertension were enrolled from local health centers in Republic of Korea, from April to October 2009. They self-monitored their blood pressure twice daily for 8 weeks. Pharmacological treatment was not changed during the period. Standard deviation and coefficient of variation of blood pressure measurements were calculated as indices of BPV. Measurements of QOL were done at initial and at 8-week follow-up visits. RESULTS: Study subjects had gender ratio of 39:41 (male:female) and the mean age was 64+/-10 years. The mean home blood pressure's at week 4 and 8 did not differ from baseline. Total score of QOL at follow-up visit and change of QOL among two measurements were negatively correlated to BPV indices, i.e., higher QOL was associated with lower BPV. This finding persisted after adjustment for age, gender and the number of antihypertensive agents. Among dimensions of QOL, physical, mental and hypertension-related dimensions were associated particularly with BPV. CONCLUSION: QOL may be a significant determinant of BPV. Improvement of QOL may lead to favorable changes in BPV.
Antihypertensive Agents ; Blood Pressure* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Methods ; Quality of Life* ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVES : Impaired autonomic function in patients with chronic renal failure has been well documented in a number of studies to assess the degree of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction and to assess the relationship with plasma catecholamines. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of autonomic dysfunction and to determine the effect of autonomic dysfunction on the increment of plasma catecholamine, dialysis-induced hypotension and hypotension during chronic dialysis. METHODS: We measured the degree of autonomic damage and the concentration of plasma catecholamines in 20 patients on maintenance hemodialysis, 12 pre- dialysis patients with chronic renal failure and 20 normal controls using a standardized battery of five cardiovascular reflex tests. RESULTS: 1) In normal controls, 70% of cases had a normal or early parasympathetic abnormalities however in patients with chronic renal failure, 45.2% of patients had severe abnormalities. The prevalence of autonomic dysfunction was 62.5% and there was significant correlation between sympathetic and parasympathetic score in patients with chronic renal failure. 2) Although overall autonomic function was not different in two chronic renal failure groups, the magnitude of heart rate response to Valsalva maneuver was increased and the magnitude of fall of blood pressure in response to standing-up was reduced in dialyzed patients compared with nondialyzed patients. 3) Patients with autonomic dysfunction was older and had higher postdialysis concentration of plasma norepinephrine than those with normal autonomic function. 4) In dialyzed patients, predialysis concentration of plasma norepinephrine at rest varied widely and was significantly related to the duration of dialysis. Postdialysis concentration of norepinephrine was significantly correlated with the degree of parasympathetic damage. 5) There were no significant differences in autonomic damage or plasma catecholamines whether dialysis- induced hypotension and hypotension in chronic hemodialysis or not. CONCLUSION : Disturbances of autonomic nerve system are common in chronic renal failure with distinct abnormalities of parasympathetic function and additional sympathetic dysfunction. Elevated plasma norepinephrine seems to be related to the compensatory response of sympathetic nerve system to parasympathetic damage. Impairment of autonomic function does not appear specifically related to dialysis-induced hypotension or hypotension in chronic dialysis.
Autonomic Pathways ; Blood Pressure ; Catecholamines ; Dialysis ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Norepinephrine ; Plasma ; Prevalence ; Reflex ; Renal Dialysis ; Valsalva Maneuver