No abstract available.
Epiphyses* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Osteochondrosis*

No abstract available.
Myocutaneous Flap* ; Pressure Ulcer*

BACKGROUND: Gamma linoleic acid (GLA, Epogam) is considered a safe and effective modality in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) in which impaired function of the enzyme, delta-6-desaturase, has been reported to result in reduced levels of GLA, desaturated fatty acids. OBJECTIVE: We performed this study to observe the changes of skin surface conditions measured objectively by bioengineering methods in relation to clinical improvement after treatment with GLA (Epogam®) in children with AD. METHODS: Thirty-four children with AD were treated with GLA (Epogam®) and evaluated with clinical parameters.The changes of skin surface conditions were monitored by non-invasive experimental instruments. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and gradual improvements in clinical severity after 12 weeks of GLA (Epogam®) treatment. The change of skin surface pH was statistically significant on the antecubital fossa and abdomen except the popliteal fossa. The other parameters including skin surface hydration and skin surface lipid did not show consistent changes. CONCLUSION: Clinical improvement of AD with GLA (Epogam) seemed to be achieved by the reduction of TEWL.
Abdomen ; Bioengineering ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Fatty Acids ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Linoleic Acid* ; Linoleoyl-CoA Desaturase ; Skin* ; Water

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary tuberculosis with a remaining cavitary lesion is considered to be a problem with the course of treatment. In particular, re-treatment cases tend to respond poorly to current anti-tuberculosis agents. Therefore the factors that are related with the poor closure of a cavitary lesion in pulmonary tuberculosis during treatment were evaluated. METHODS: A retrospective review of the medical records and chest X-ray films of 68 patients who had chemotherapy for the pulmonary tuberculosis with cavitary lesions was made. All the patients had been followed up for more than 12 months at National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital as of Aug. 2000. RESULTS: The male to female ratio was 3.9:1. 72.4% of the patients were between 20 to 50 years of age. 66.2% of the cavitary lesions on the chest X-ray films were confined to the upper lung fields : 36.8% in the right upper lung field and 29.4% in the left upper lung field. 82.4% of the cavities were less than 40mm in their size, and 83.8% were less than 6mm thick. The cavitary lesions were closed in 48 cases and remained in 20 cases during a follow-up period of more than 12 months. The factors that are though to affect ot the outcomes of the cavities were age, past medication history, the number of unused drugs, and the number of sensitive drugs. CONCLUSION: In the treatment courses of pulmonary tuberculosis with cavitary lesions, the following factors are associated with less desirable outcome:an age over 45, a past medication history of more than 2 courses of treatment, The number of unused drugs not exceeding average 6 and the number of sensitive drugs not exceeding average 7.
Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospitals, Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary* ; X-Ray Film

BACKGROUND: Most of those who have taken drugs for osteoporosis in Sorokdo hospital haven't got through any objective test for bone density to figure out the status of it. The purpose of this study is to get the baseline data for their bone densities using diagnostic instrument. METHOD: The subject was 258 ex-hansen patients who were available to take the bone densitometry. DXA machine was used on L1-L4 and femur neck analyzing the results according to WHO guideline for defining osteoporosis. RESULTS: The rate of male to female was 1:1.19 and their mean age was 74.6 years old. The bone density of femur neck was lower than vertebrae. For men, the prevalence of osteoporosis was 30% in 60s, 32.3% in 70s, 60% in 80s and older. For women, it was 35.5% in 60s, 59.7% in 70s, 74.3% in 80s and older. CONCLUSION: The baseline data of bone densities acquired from this study would be used as objective guideline for diagnosis of osteoporosis and evaluation of effectiveness of medication for it.
Bone Density* ; Densitometry ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Osteoporosis ; Prevalence ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Nerve conduction study(NCV) in elderly patients is considered as a useful diagnostic tool for elderly patients with peripheral neuropathy. OBJECTIVE: Here the author investigates parameters of NCV in elderly Hansen patients out of Sorokdo hospital and compares them with those of healthy elders. METHODS: The author enrolled 28 patients who were visiting OPD for surgical wound care. Out of them 8 patients were dropped off because of hypersensitive response to the test stimulation or having failed to attatch the electrodes on severely deformed hands and fingers. Consequently parameters of NCV such as latency, amplitude, and conduction velocity in upper extremities of 20 patients were investigated and compared with those of healthy elders at similar age range. RESULTS: The patients were 12 in male and 73 years old on the average. In sensory nerve study, the parameters for median nerve showed 5.52+/-3.5msec in latency, 23.01+/-16.71uV in amplitude, and 29.03+/-13.16m/s in conduction velocity. For ulnar nerve, 5.82+/-3.76, 19.48+/-11.51, and 27.61+/-13.19 respectively. In motor nerve study, parameters for median nerve showed 9.35+/-1.64, 3.45+/-2.03, 47.95+/-9.91 respectively. And for ulnar nerve, they were 9.13+/-1.20, 2.95+/-2.50, and 43.70+/-7.24 respectively. In comparison with healthy elders, latency for Hansen patients was prolonged longer, lower amplitude, and also slower nerve conduction velocity. CONCLUSION: This study was performed for elderly Hansen patients for the first time demestically. Even the results may not be generalized for the whole Hansen patients because of the limited number of study cases and not being standarized according to the grade of disability, this study may be considered as a useful reference for further NCV for Hansen patients.
Aged ; Electrodes ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Leprosy* ; Male ; Median Nerve ; Neural Conduction* ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Ulnar Nerve ; Upper Extremity ; Wounds and Injuries

The concurrence of typical carcinoid admixed with adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract is a well known but unusual phenomenom that has been reported in the esophagus, stomach, gall bladder, colon and appendix. The amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) concept included the idea that neuroendocrine cells of the gastrointestinal tract were dervied from the neural crest by a process of migration during embryogenesis. However the intimate admixture of cells which have morphologic and immunocytochemical properties of both carcinoid tumors and adenocarcinoma suggests that these tumors are derived from a multipotential stem cell showing bidirectional differentiation rather than from unrelated cell lines. The term composite carcinoma-carcinoid tumor is therefore an appropriate designation for these neoplasms. We report a case of composite carcinoma-carcinoid tumor of the stomach in a 38 year-old female with brief review of literature.
Female ; Humans ; Adenocarcinoma

This study was carried out to investigate the ultrastructural findings of rats after administration of 0.5% lead acetate with drinking water. The Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control and experimental groups. The control group was composed of 12 rats and was orally administered with 0.5% sodium acetate. The experimental group was composed of 36 rats and orally administered with 0.5% lead acetate. Two rats in the control group and four rats in the experimental group were sacrificed on day 2, and week 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 after administration. The kidney was extirpated and examined by electron microscopy. The results obtained were as follows: The blood lead concentration in the experimental group began to increase from the second day after administration and it increased gradually until the 6th week and it decreased at the 8 week. The urinary excretion of delta-ALA also increased from the secondary and gradually increased up to the 8th week. On electron microscopic examination, the proximal tubular cells showed fat droplets, dilatation of the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial swelling, increased numbers of secondary lysosomes and myelin figure-like residual bodies and intranuclear inclusion bodies. All these findings peaked at the eighth week after administration. Ultrastructural findings after Timm sulphide silver reaction revealed the lead granules in the proximal tubular lumen and between the microvilli of the proximal tubular cells without membrane-bounded. It can be concluded that most of the changes of micro-organelles are compatible with degenerative changes of lead exposure and passive diffusion of lead granules are involved in the proximal tubular cells.
Rats ; Animals

Cervical spine injuries are increasing recently due to increasing traffic accidents. Many patients have been treated with cervical laminectomy but stabilization of the cervical spine has been neglected as a part of the treatment. 30 patients with cervical spine injuries who were admitted to our hospital from January 1, 1973 to December 31, 1978 were evaluated. The following observations were made: 1. The ratio between male and female was 2:1 and the majority(43%) were found in the 4th decades. 2. The common causes of cervical spine injuries were traffic accident(40%) and falls(33.3%). The most common site of the lesion was the 5th and 6th cervical spine level (33.3%). 3. Among 30 cases, 10 cases(33.3%) had complete paralysis, 12 cases(40%) incomplete paralysis, 6 cases (20%) had nerve root injury and no neurological change is 2 cases. 4. The mechanisms of cervical injuries were classified morphologically and flexion-rotation injuries (55.5%) were the most common. 5. We evaluated the results of treatment neurological & radiographically. In complete paralysis, there was no neurological improvement and cervical kyphosis increased after laminectomy. In incomplete paralysis and nerve root injury, anterior fusion showed slight neurological recovery but mild cevical kyphosis and displacement of the graft were observed. In posterior fusion or cast immobilization, we had a satisfactory result with a high fusion rate and normal cervical curvature. 6. lt is impossible to compare anterior interbody fusion with posterior fusion for neurological recovery. For early mobilization and rehabilitation, we emphasize early stabilization by anterior or posterior fusion according to the mechanism of injury.
Accidents, Traffic ; Clinical Study ; Early Ambulation ; Female ; Humans ; Immobilization ; Kyphosis ; Laminectomy ; Male ; Paralysis ; Rehabilitation ; Spine ; Transplants

The wandering spleen is a rare condition, in which the spleen is located in other than the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. The clinical manifestation is variable from asymptomatic to abdominal catastrophy due to torsion of the splenic pedicle. We experienced a case of torsion of wandering spleen in 8-year-old girl who admitted with fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, palpable left abdominal mass. She was diagnosed preoperatively with the aid of abdominal sonography and C.T. scanning. A splenectomy was performed and she made uneventful recovery. The case report illustrates some of the diagnostic and therapeutic considerations pertaining to wandering spleen with a brief review of related literature.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Child ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Spleen ; Splenectomy ; Vomiting ; Wandering Spleen*