A clinical study was made on 14 cases of coronary sinus rhythm and 17 cases of left atrial rhythm seen at the Kyungpook University Hospital during the past 13 years. The incidence of coronary sinus rhythm among 23, 137 electrocardiograms was 0.07% and that of left atrial rhythm was 0.08%. Among the various types of left atrial rhythm as diagnosed by Mirowski's criteria, type III, posterior type and inferior type were far more common than others. The most common underlying diseases were heart diseases in both coronary sinus rhythm and left atrial rhythm: five cases out of 14 in the former and 11 cases out of 17 in the latter were cardiac cases, respectively.
Coronary Sinus* ; Electrocardiography ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Heart Diseases ; Incidence

Hepatic changes in eight cases of systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE), were studied to evaluate the nature of hepatic injury of SLE and its relation to lupoid hepatitis. Common histologic changes of the liver in SLE included intralobular necro-inflammatory activities, fatty change, canalicular bile stasis and mild perivenular and Disse space fibrosis. The fatty change and intralobular fibrosis were thought not to be due to SLE itself but associated with steroid administration or chronic alcoholic consumption. The necro-inflammatory changes were usually mild and features of chronic active hepatitis with periportal destruction occured in one case. Symptoms related to the involvement of many other organs than the liver appeared much frequently in patients with SLE than lupoid hepatitis, suggesting that the SLE involving liver and the lupoid hepatitis are different diseases.

Fetal teratomas rarely complicate pregnancy,having an incidance of only 20,000:1 to 40,000:1 of live births. Overthere, cervical teratomas are rare and accounts for only 5.5% of all neonatal teratomas. We have experienced a large cervical immature teratoma and present this case with a brief review of literatures.
Live Birth ; Teratoma*

Erythromelalgia(Erythermalgia) is a syndrome of red, warm, congested, and burning painful extremities. Presently, there are three distinct clinicopathological entities: erythromelalgia, primary erythermalgia, and secondary erythermalgia. Secondary erythermalgia usually arises at an adult age either in association with a detectable underlying disorder or with the use of vasoactive drugs. Typically, it responds to proper treatment of the underlying disorder or discontinuation of the causative drugs. A seven-year-old boy presented with persisting burning pain, erythema, and warmth on both of his feet and lower legs, along with hypertension. He had had this condition for 20 months. Laboratory studies of the patient revealed increased urinary catecholamines and plasma renin activity. Various treatment modalities including aspirin, captopril, sodium nitroprusside, labetalol, epidural block, and stellate ganglion block yielded unfavorable results. Herein, we report an intractable case of secondary erythermalgia associated with hypertension in a child.
Adult ; Aspirin ; Burns ; Captopril ; Catecholamines ; Child ; Erythema ; Erythromelalgia* ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Extremities ; Foot ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Labetalol ; Leg ; Male ; Nitroprusside ; Plasma ; Renin ; Stellate Ganglion

PURPOSE: Alteration of p53 and telomerase activity may be responsible for gastric carcino- genesis. In this study, we tried to observe modulation of telomerase activity by wild type p53 in gastric cancer cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used five gastric cancer cell lines (KATO-III, AGS, SNU-1, SNU-5, SNU-16). In order to find p53 mutation, we used western blot and PCR-SSCP. The TRAP-eze kit which supplied by Oncor (Gaithersburg, MD) was used to detect telomerase activity of the five gastric carcinoma cell lines. The wild type p53 gene was transfected by electroporation method. RESULTS: The expression of p53 protein was increased in four gastric carcinoma cell lines and one cell line (KATO-III) did not express. We found p53 point mutation in exon 5 and 8, and the p53 gene was deleted in KATO-III. The telomerase activity were observed in all five gastric carcinoma cell lines and there were no difference in telomere repeat length among five cell lines. After transfection with wild type p53, we could not find the change of telomerase activity in KATO-III. CONCLUSION: Although activation of telomerase activity and mutation of p53 gene may be needed in gastric carcinogenesis, the telomerase activity was not affected by restoration of p53 function in gastric carcinoma cell lines.
Blotting, Western ; Carcinogenesis ; Cell Line* ; Electroporation ; Exons ; Genes, p53* ; Point Mutation ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Telomerase* ; Telomere ; Transfection

OBJECTIVE: Peripartum emergency cesarean hysterectomy of 28 cases at our hospital for 10years were reviewed that the clinical indication, history, and annual incidence change. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive analysis from January, 1988 to December, 1997 was carried out. RESULTS: There were 28 cases of emergency cesarean hysterectomy identified during this period among total 24, 689 deliveries. The annual incidence of emergency cesarean hysterectomy was significantly declined statistically(p<0.005). Cesarean hysterectomy was performed in 20 of 6, 671 cesarean section(0.30%) and in 8 of 18, 018 vaginal deliveries(0.04%), so more frequently after cesarean section than vaginal delivery. The cesarean hysterectomy rate was more frequent in multiparous women(0, 22%) than in nulliparous women(0, 02%). The most common indication of cesarean hysterectomy was 13 cases of uterine atony(46%), followed by 5 cases uterine rupture(18%), 5 cases of placenta previa with placenta accreta(18%), 3 cases of placenta previa(11%), 2 cases of uterine myoma(7%). No significant difference in length of operating time, amount of blood loss and operative complications were found between total abdominal hysterectomy and subtotal hysterectomy. The all patient who had cesarean hysterectomy recieved from 1200ml to 15840ml of blood transfusion with a mean of 3673ml. In aspect of fetal outcome, 3 cases of FDIU(Fetal death in utero) in uterine rupture and 1 case of stillbirth in preterm were found. The maternal complications were wound disruption, DIC, wound hematoma, ureter injury, vaginal stump bleeding, UTI(Urinary tract infection) and retroperitoneal bleeding, CONCLUSION: We conclude that the incidence of emergency cesarean hysterectomy declined with prediction of antenatal risk factor, preparing of sufficient fresh blood, prophylactic antibiotics, vigorous uterotonics and close observation after delivery.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Blood Transfusion ; Cesarean Section ; Dacarbazine ; Emergencies* ; Female ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Incidence ; Peripartum Period* ; Placenta ; Placenta Previa ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stillbirth ; Ureter ; Uterine Rupture ; Wounds and Injuries

Tuberculosis of the pancreas is a very rare disorder, little reported in the literature. Several theories of the pathogenesis of pancreatic tuberculosis have been proposed. Direct invasion of the pancreas by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is rare; most commonly the pancreas is spared even when liver and spleen are severely involved by miliary dissemination. More common is the involvement of abdominal lymph nodes which, as caseating masses, subsequently invade the pancreas. Pancreatic tuberculosis is a treatable and preventable disease; however, major challenges remain in diagnosis. There have been several reports including the endoscopic retrograde pancreatographic(ERP) findings, however, our case of pancreatic tuberculosis showed quite unusual ERP findings. We report a 54-year old man suffering from chronic epigastric pain and weight loss who was diagnosed intraabdominal tuberculosis with pancreatic involvement. Abdominal ultrasonography showed ill-defined hypoechoic mass at pancreatic head, peripancreatic lymph nodes enlargement and intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts dilatations. Endoscopic retrograde pancreatogram showed blurring and irregularity of the second branch of pancreatic duct at head and the parenchymal abnormal pooling of the contrast dye was noted. Percutanieous transhepatic cholangiogram revealed the complete obstruction of the distal common bile duct. At explo-laparotomy, massive necrosis and fibrous adhesions were noticed around the extrahepatic bile duct and pancreas head and multiple pericholedochal lymph nodes enlargement and several whitish-yellow nodules on the surface of the liver were noted. The extrahepatic bile duct was dilated and the common bile duct at the suprapancreatic portion was compressed by the lymph nodes and necro-inflammatory tissues which invaded the pancreatic head posteriorly. The microscopic findings of the nodules on liver surface and lymph nodes revealed the typical findings of the tuberculosis.
Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic ; Common Bile Duct ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Head ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymph Nodes ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Necrosis ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Spleen ; Tuberculosis* ; Ultrasonography ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: To evaluate the results of half-dose photodynamic therapy (PDT) and determine the correlation between morphological changes measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and visual acuity in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). METHODS: Twenty-five eyes of 25 patients with chronic CSC who had received half-dose verteporfin PDT were enrolled in the present study. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness, and the integrity of the photoreceptor inner and outer segment junction (IS/OS) using SD-OCT were evaluated at baseline and at 3 and 6 months after treatment. RESULTS: The neurosensory retinal detachment disappeared in all eyes 6 months after treatment. The BCVA improved significantly from 0.50 +/- 0.32 to 0.31 +/- 0.29 log MAR at 6 months (p < 0.001). The average ONL thickness at the central fovea was 88.76 +/- 19.95 microm at 6 months and the ONL thickness was well correlated with the BCVA (gamma = -0.64; p = 0.001). There was no significant correlation between the status of IS/OS and the BCVA. CONCLUSIONS: Half-dose PDT is effective in treating chronic CSC resulting in visual improvement and complete resolution of neurosensory retinal detachment. The ONL thickness which was positively correlated with the BCVA could be an indicator for visual prognosis of chronic CSC.
Central Serous Chorioretinopathy* ; Humans ; Photochemotherapy* ; Porphyrins ; Prognosis ; Retinal Detachment ; Tomography, Optical Coherence* ; Triazenes ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: In this study we compared the intraocular pressures (IOPs) measured using dynamic contour tonometry (DCT) and Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) and investigated the correlation between central corneal thickness (CCT) and IOP. METHODS: In a prospective study, 178 eyes of 91 subjects with glaucoma and glaucoma suspect were enrolled. IOP was measured using DCT and GAT and CCT was measured using ultrasound pachymetry. Each eye was classified into 1 of 3 groups according to their CCT: low CCT (Group A; CCT < 525 microm), normal CCT (Group B; 525 < or = CCT < 561 microm), and high CCT (Group C; CCT > or = 561 microm). In each group, we investigated the correlation between CCT and IOP measurement using GAT and DCT. RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between CCT and IOP measured using GAT (p < 0.001), but not between CCT and IOP measured using DCT (p = 0.108) in all patients. Subgroup analysis showed that CCT affected IOP measured with GAT only in Group A (p = 0.027) and IOP measured with DCT was not affected by CCT in all 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: IOP measured using GAT and DCT were significantly affected by CCT, especially when the CCT was low. CCT may have no effect on DCT thus, IOP measured using DCT is more reliable than GAT in patients with thin corneas.
Cornea ; Glaucoma ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Manometry* ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Left atrial thrombus(LAT) has long been recognized as a complication of mitral stenosis(MS).The transesophageal echocardiographic approach readily visualize LAT. We evaluated the risk factors for left atrial thrombus in patients with MS using transthoracic(TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography(TEE). METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred and forty-three(patients) who had moderate to severe MS were consecutively studied with TTE and TEE. They were 43 males(30%) and 100 females(70%).The mean age was 44+/-11 years(range 21-70). Twenty-five patients had at least one episode of embolic events. Ninety-six patients were in atrial fibrillation(AF). LAT was detected in 30 pts(21%) : 16 had thrombus confined to the LA appenge(LAA), 14 to true LA cavity and/or LAA. TTE variables were compared between LAT group and non-LAT group. Univariate predictors of LAT were mitral valve area(MVA)(0.78+/-0.22cm2 vs 1.05+/-0.32cm2, p=0.001), pressure half time(353+/-88ms vs 258+/-118ms, p=0.002). LV ejection fraction(EF)(55+/-11% vs 62+/-8%,p=0.008), LA size (58+/-11mm vs 52+/-7mm, p=0.033) and AF(p=0.001). Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed significant independent predictors of LAT to be AF(p=0.02), MVA(p=0.02) and EF(p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Left atrial thrombus was not uncommon in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis. Small mitral valve area and reduced ejection fraction of left ventricle appear to be significant predictors of LAT in mitral stenosis with atrial fibrillation.
Atrial Fibrillation ; Echocardiography* ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Stenosis* ; Risk Factors ; Thrombosis*