The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is a rare disorder of neuromuscular transmission that is frequently associated with malignancy, particulary small cell carcinoma of the lung. To our knowledge, there was no report of LEMS in Korean listeratures and this might be the first case in this country. The patient is a 55 year old man with muscle weakness and fatigability of proximal lower limbs for 2 months. Bronchogenic carcinoma is confirmed radiologically and pathologically. The electrophysiological studies suppert the clinical diagnosis of LEMS with (1) low amplitude of evoked compound muscle potential to a single supramaximal stimulus on nerve, (2) significant decremental response at low rates of stimulation and (3) marked incremental response at high rates of stimulation.
Carcinoma, Bronchogenic ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome* ; Lower Extremity ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness

No abstract available.
Acyclovir* ; Necrosis*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of drinking patterns and the prevalence of hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorder with the assessment of alcohol policy needs in community population of urban city in Korea. METHODS: Data was collected from 1,000 residents in a single urban city in Korea, from June 1 to July 31, 2011 by a questionnaire. As research tools, socio-demographic characteristics composed of variables based on study purpose, alcohol problems and alcohol use disorder state scales composed with Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test(AUDIT) and Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener(CAGE), and the assessment of alcohol policy needs in community population questions were used. RESULTS: The lifetime experience of alcohol drinking was 97.4%. For the frequency of drinking, 21.9% of population responded 2 to 4 times per weekly. 24.4% of male had one time or more high risk drinking, defined as having four or more drinks in a sitting, per week. 51.6% experienced the first time drinking of alcohol in adolescence. The lifetime prevalence of hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorder were 14.9% and 3.3%, respectively using AUDIT. Alcohol use disorder were 9.6% with the CAGE scale. Problem drinking were 8.4% in this study. They requested the program such as prevention education(57.2%), construction of liaison system to treatment facilities( 50.1%), alcohol counseling and intervention(41.7%), and rehabilitation program(39.8%). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that alcohol problem and alcohol use disorder were much prevalent, and these problem started in the earlier age. It is necessary to develop an effective alcohol prevention program or policy with considering the needs in community population.
Adolescent ; Alcohol Drinking ; Counseling ; Drinking ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Weights and Measures

No abstract available.
Granuloma, Lethal Midline*

With socioeconomic development and change of esthetic recognition, the demand for orthodontic treatment and number of orthodontic patients has been increasing so rapidly. And frequency of malocclusion was changed. So this study was done in an attempt to provide an epidemiologic study so that we can accomodate their orthodontic needs adequately and to obtain the reliable quantitative information regarding the characteristics of orthodontic patients. Distribution and trends were examined in 3,070 malocclusion patients who had been examined and diagnosed at Department of Orthodontics, Dental Hospital, Chosun University over 10 year-period from 1990 to 1999. The results were as follows : 1.The number of patients per year was increasing trend and higher visiting rate in female(56.5%) than in male(43.5%). 2.Age distribution had shown 7~12 year-old group being the largest(37.9%) and each percentage of 13~18, 19~24, above-19, 0~6 year-old group was 32.0%, 19.6%, 7.1%, 3.4%. 3. Hellman dental age IVa which is completion of the permanent dentition showed the highest percentage in male and female. 4.Geographic distribution showed a majority of patients in Kwang Ju(71.0%). Group within the distance 10km from Chosun Dental Hospital was 56.3% and group within 20km was 14.7%. 5.Anterior cross bite showed the highest percentage in chief complaints and percentage of Mn. prognathism and protrusion of Mx. teeth was 12.6%, 12.2%. 6.Distribution in the types of malocclusion according to the Angle's classification had shown; 38.9% for Class I, 20.7% for Class II division 1, 2.0% for Class II division 2, 38.4% for Class III. 7.In the dental vertical dysplasia according to the Angle's classification, deep bite was the most frequent in Class II div.1 and div. 2(24.3%, 56.7%) and open bite in Class III(21.4%). 8.In the skeletal sagittal dysplasia, 39.3% of skeletal ClassII was due to the undergrowth of the mandible and 46.3% of skeletal ClassIII was due to the overgrowth of the mandible. 9.Distribution in orthodontic treatment accoding to the extraction and nonextraction had shown 66.9% for nonextraction case, 33.1% for extraction case, and four first bicuspids have been extracted in the highest percentage(38.6%). 10.Patients who had orthognathic surgery comprised 7.9%, with an increasing trend.
Bicuspid ; Dentition, Permanent ; Epidemiologic Studies* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Malocclusion ; Mandible ; Open Bite ; Orthodontics* ; Orthognathic Surgery ; Overbite ; Prognathism ; Tooth

PURPOSE: The single-radius design of the knee implant was introduced to improve the results of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) by reducing maximum extensor forces, and it also represents more physiologic quadriceps force pattern, which could have a positive effect on knee function after TKA. We studied mid-term results of single-radius designed cruciate retaining (CR) TKA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the functional improvement and radiological osteolytic pattern after TKA using the single-radius Scorpio CR prosthesis. TKA was performed on 102 knees. The mean follow-up period was 73.8 months. For clinical assessment, the range of motion (ROM), Harris hip score, and functional outcome score were obtained preoperatively and at last follow-up. RESULTS: The average ROM was 100.2degrees preoperatively and 121.7degrees at last follow-up. The average knee score was 59.2 points preoperatively and 92.9 points at last follow-up. The average functional outcome score was improved from 51.9 points preoperatively to 85.4 points at last follow-up. Radiolucency was observed in four knees but all were non-progressive lesions smaller than 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical outcome of TKA using the single-radius CR prosthesis was good during the mid-term follow-up and the incidence of osteolysis was very rare.
Arthroplasty ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip ; Incidence ; Knee ; Osteolysis ; Prostheses and Implants ; Range of Motion, Articular

Acute toxicities of Chinese squill (Scilla scilloides), a kind of herb used as a folk remedy to relieve pain in Korea, have rarely been reported. We here present a 59-year-old woman who developed corrosive esophagitis after ingestion of the decocted Chinese squill. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy performed three days after ingestion of Chinese squill showed corrosive esophagitis. She was successfully managed with conservative care including fasting and intravenous hydration with acid suppressants. Corrosive esophagitis after ingestion of Chinese squill has never been reported in English or Korean literature and corrosive esophagitis should be suspected when a patient develops odynophagia after ingestion of Chinese squill.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Eating ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Esophagitis ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Medicine, Traditional ; Middle Aged

The taxonomic validity of morphological group III Acanthamoeba spp. is uncertain. In the present study, six type strains of group III Acanthamoeba spp., Acanthamoeba culbertsoni, A. healyi, A. pustulosa, A. palestinensis, A. royreba and A. lenticulata were subjected for the evaluation of their taxonomic validity by comparison of the isoenzyme patterns by isoelectic focusing on polyacrylamide gels, mitochondrial DNA (Mt DNA) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and small subunit ribosomal DNA (ssu rDNA) PCR-RFLP patterns. The Mt DNA RFLP patterns were heterogeneous between species. The type strains of A. palestinensis and A. pustulosa showed almost identical patterns of isoenzymes and rDNA PCR-RFLP with an estimated sequence divergence of 2.6%. The other species showed heterogeneous patterns of isoenzymes and rDNA PCR-RFLP. It is likely that A. pustulosa is closely related with A. palestinensis and that the former may be regarded as a junior synonym of the latter.
parasitology-protozoa ; Acanthoamoeba pustulosa ; Acanthoamoeba palestinensis ; isoenzyme ; electrophoresis ; polymerase chain reaction ; restriction fragment length polymorphism

Transmission electron microscopy of an Acanthamoeba isolate (KA/L5) from a contact lens case revealed bacterial endosymbionts within cytoplasm of the amoebae. The Acanthamoeba isolate belonged to the morphological group II. Based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of 18S ribosomal RNA coding DNA (rDNA), the isolate was identified as A. lugdunensis. Strain typing by isoenzyme analysis using isoelectric focusing (IEF) and mitochondrial (Mt) DNA RFLP revealed that the isolate was closely related with KA/L1, the most predominant type of isolates from contact lens storage cases, KA/E2, a clinical isolate, KA/W4, previously reported to host endosymbionts, and L3a strains of A. lugdunensis. The endosymbionts were similar to those of KA/W4 in aspects that they were randomly distributed in both trophozoites and cysts, and were rod-shaped bacteria measuring approximately 1.38 x 0.50 microns. But the number of endosymbionts per amoeba was significantly lower than that of KA/W4. They were neither limited by phagosomal membranes nor included in lacunaelike structure.
Acanthamoeba/microbiology* ; Acanthamoeba/cytology ; Animal ; Bacteria/isolation & purification* ; Colony Count, Microbial ; Contact Lenses* ; Cytoplasm/microbiology ; Symbiosis*

PURPOSE: Nocodazole, a microtubule disrupting reagent, is known to arrest cells in the M phase, To gain insight on the regulatory mechanism of H2B histone gene expression by nocodazole in HL-60 cell, the binding pattern of nuclear proteins to cis element in the human H2B histone gene promoter has been investigated with DNase I footprinting and DNA mobility shift assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Northern blot hybridization was performed by the method of Virca et al. A Hinc II-Sac I fragment of pSPH28 was used as probe for Northern blot analysis of H2B histone mRNA. DNase I footprinting and DNA mobility shift assay were performed by the method of Lim et al. End labeled DNA oligomer (upper strand, 5'-CTTCACCTTATTTGCATAA GCGATTC-3') for octamer binding activity was mixed with nuclear extracts in a 20 ul reaction volume containing 60 mM KC1, 12 mM HEPES, pH 7.9, 5 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM EDTA, 0.2 mM DTT, 12% glycerol, and 2 ug of poly [dI-dC]. RESULTS: The level of H2B histone mRNA rapidly was reduced at 24 hours in nocodazole-treated HL-60 cells and the mRNA was repressed in proportion to the concentration of nocodazole. Nocodazole-dependent repression of H2B histone gene was restored by replacement with nocodazole-free media. In DNase I footprinting analysis, one nuclear factor bound at 42 bp site (octamer motif) in the absence of nocodazole. In the presence of nocodazole, the binding of nuclear factor on octamer motif partially vanished. In DNA mobility shift assay, one DNA-protein complex (Octl) was formed when octamer motif was incubated with nuclear extract of HL-60 cell. After nocodazole treatment, Octl binding activity was reduced by time dependent manner. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that nocodazole-dependent repression of H2B histone gene is correlated with reduction of Octl binding activity in HL-60 cell.
Blotting, Northern ; Cell Division ; Deoxyribonuclease I ; DNA ; Edetic Acid ; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay ; Gene Expression* ; Glycerol ; HEPES ; Histones* ; HL-60 Cells* ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Magnesium Chloride ; Microtubules ; Nocodazole* ; Nuclear Proteins ; Repression, Psychology ; RNA, Messenger