Polypharmacotherapy, both psychotropic and nonpsychotropic, is widespread in various situations including psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals. As the clinical practice of using more than one drug at a time increase, the clinical is faced with ever-increasing number of potential drug interactions. Although many interactions have little clinical significances, some may interfere with treatment or even be life-threatening. The objective of this review is evaluation for drug-drug interactions often encountered in psychiatric consultation. Drug interactions can be grouped into two principal subdivisions : pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic. These subgroups serve to focus attention on possible sites of interaction as a drug moves from the site of administration and absorption to its site of action. Pharmacokinetic processes are those that include transport to and from the receptor site and consist of absorption, distribution on body tissue, plasma protein binding, metabolism, and excretion. Pharmacodynamic interactions occur at biologically active sites. In psychiatric consultation, these two subdivisions of drug interactions between psychotropic drugs and other drugs are likely to happen. We gathered informations of the drugs used in physically ill patients who are consulted to psychiatric department in Korea University Hospital. And we reviewed the related literatures about the drug-drug interactions between psychotropic drugs and other drugs.
Absorption ; Catalytic Domain ; Drug Interactions ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Korea* ; Metabolism ; Plasma ; Protein Binding ; Psychotropic Drugs

BACKGROUND: This study tested the efficacy of 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate for improving oral hygiene in intubated intensive care patients. METHODS: In a group of 57 ventilated patients, 29 received normal saline (NS) for oral hygiene, and 28 were treated with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). Data on oral bacterial colonization was collected for 11 months from October 2005 to August 2006. Tests of oral hygiene and oral microorganism culture were performed on the day of the ventilation, and repeated on days 4, 8, and 12. RESULTS: Oral hygiene was significantly improved in the CHG group compared to that in the NS group (P<.001). Further, all patients (100%) in the NS group tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus on the 12th day after the endotracheal intubation, whereas only 42.9% (P=0.026) of the CHG group were positive. The NS group also had higher isolation rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 66.7% on the 8th day after intubation and 87.5% on the 12th day. At these same intervals, the CHG group had isolation rates of 29.4% (P=.028) and 14.3% (P=.010) respectively. CONCLUSION: The longer the period of endotracheal intubation, the more effective the 0.12% CHG treatment was for improved oral hygiene and reduction of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa colonization when compared to treatment with NS.
Chlorhexidine ; Colon ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Oral Hygiene ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Sodium Chloride ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Ventilation

No abstract available.
Diagnosis* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

BACKGROUND: No association between schizophrenia and dopamine D4 receptor polymorphisms have been reported. Despite these results, it is premature to exclude the association. It has been suggested that the susceptibility to develop schizophrenia could result from variation at a number loci which may interact or co-act with each other. Therefore, we investigated a possible assoication of combinations of exon III 48bp polymorphism [D4E3] and exon I 12bp polymorphism of the DRD4 gene [D4E1] with schizophrenia. METHOD: 207 unrelated Korean schizophrenic patients and 191 healthy controls wee recruited. DRD4 genotype was established using the polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analysis consisted of chi2 tests for Hardy-Weinberg proportions and genotypic and allelic frequencies in the patients and control groups. RESULT: There were no statistically significant differences in the each polymorphisms between schizophrenics and controls. And all genotype frequencies were within Hardy-Weinberg expectations. When the combinations of the polymorphism in schizophrenia and controls were compared, however, there were significant differences at A1A2*2/4 in the distributions of the combinations of D4E1 and D4E3(p<0.01). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the certain combination of D4E1 and D4E3 (A1A2*2/4) has the protective role to a susceptibility for schizophrenia.
Dopamine* ; Exons ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Dopamine D4 ; Schizophrenia

Extraperitoneal inguinal endometriosis often presents as an inguinal mass in women of reproductive age, Approximately 40 cases of inguinal endometriosis have been documented in the sutgical and gynecological literature. The overall incidence is in the range of 0.4% of patients with endometriosis. The right side is much more commonly involved than the left (almost 90% of the time in one series of 23 patients), and rarely is the condition bilateral. The most frequent complaint of patients with inguinal endometriosis is an inguinal mass, followed by pain and enlargement of the mass near menstruation. Authors have experienced two cases of endometriosis of the extraperitoneal portion of the round ligament of uterus and report with a brief literature review.
Endometriosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Menstruation ; Round Ligament of Uterus* ; Uterus

Primary sarcomas of the uteriae cerrix are exceedingly rare neoplasms. They comprise less than 1 percent of all cancers, with an incidence of 0.2 to 0.4 percent of those originating in the cervix. Indeed, only 19 cases of primary cervical leiomyosarcomas have been reported in the English literature. We have recently experienced one case of leiomyosarcoma arising from the cervix in a 40-year-old woman. Therefore, we the case with a brief review of the literature.
Adult ; Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Sarcoma

The authors determined the value of performing urine microscopy on biochemically negative urine sepcimens in a pediatric population. The 746 urine specimens of patients who were either visited or admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, National Police Hospital, from March 1991 to July 1992 were reviewed on the basis of comparative evaluation of biochemical and microscopic urine analysis. Eight reactions of Clinitek(r) 200 were used as biochemical indicators, namely, pH, nitrite, albumin, glucose, ketone, urobilinogen, bilirubin, and blood. Out of 746 urine specimens studied, 186 were true positive. Thirty-six specimens reacted biochemically in the absence of positive microscopic findings (false postive), 492 specimens were true negatives. Thirty-two specimens had negative biochemical indicators, in spite of positive microscopy. The sensitivity of the biochemical parameters for predicting significant microscopy of urinary sediment is 85% and the specificity is 99%. The positive predictive value is 69.7% and the negative predictive value is 99.3%. The sensitivity of blood for RBC is 94%. and the specificity is 99%. The predictive value of a positive result is 84.6% and that of a negative result is 99.7%. We therefore conclude that urine microscopy is less necessary in biochemically negative urine specimens from asymptomatic pediatric patients, with hopefully resultant time and cost effectiveness.
Bilirubin ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Microscopy ; Pediatrics ; Police ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Urinalysis* ; Urobilinogen

The efficacy of acetaminophen, sponging plus acetaminophen, and sponging alone as method of lowering body temperature was compared in 108 children aged 8 weeks to 5 years who presented with an axillary temperature of 38.5degrees C or greater during the period from January 1993 to April 1993. The following results were obtained. 1) The male to female ratio was 2.5:1 and clinical diagnosis in the order of frequency were upper respiratory infection, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, cellulitis, chickenpox and hand-foot-mouth disease. 2) At thirty minutes after treatment, there was no significant difference on the decrement of temperature among the three groups. 3) At sixty minutes, the temperature decrement was the greatest in the group of sponging plus acetaminophen and that was statistically significant (P<0.01). But there was no significant difference between the group of acetaminophen and that of sponging.
Acetaminophen ; Body Temperature ; Cellulitis ; Chickenpox ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever* ; Gastroenteritis ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Urinary Tract Infections

No abstract available.
Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Prostate* ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate* ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction

No abstract available.
Syringoma