We studied the effects of nonnutritive sucking(NNS) on lingual lipase activity and body weight under bottle feeding with 17 premature infants hospitalized . NNS was applied to nine infants and other eight infants comprised the control group. Pacifiers were applied to the experimental group for 5 minutes before and after bottle feeding. The treatment took approximately 20-25 minutes each time including bottle feeding time and was applied 7 times a day at intervals of 3 hours and for consecutive ten days. Lingual lipase activity and body weight were measured on the first, third, seventh and tenth day. Results and Conclusion : 1. Lingual lipase activity was low at 30 minutes after feeding and then began to increase reaching its highest level at 120 and 180 minutes after the feeding in both group. 2. Lingual lipase activity in the experimental group was not higher than that of the control group on the third, seventh and tenth day. 3. Body weight increased in experimental and control groups as days passed, while it was not significantly different between groups. These results lead to conclusion that among premature infants under bottle feeding, NNS is not effective in increasing the lingual lipase for fat digestion and NNS is not also effective for increasing body weight. The application of NNS to premature infants under bottle feeding needs considerable judgement for promoting well-being of nursing goals.
Body Weight* ; Bottle Feeding* ; Digestion ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Lipase* ; Nursing ; Pacifiers ; Child Health

No abstract available.
Humans ; Internship and Residency*

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is included in the differential diagnosis of lower back pain. Although rare, this important disease can cause potentially lethal complications. In this case, expanding abdominal aortic aneurysm coexisted with intervertebral disc extrusion. The diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm was delayed, putting the patient at risk of aneurysmal rupture. In the management of patients with degenerative spinal diseases, we should not overlook the possibility of comorbidities such as an abdominal aortic aneurysm. We also suggest the importance of interpreting images more carefully, especially for elderly male patients.
Aged ; Aneurysm ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal* ; Comorbidity ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc* ; Low Back Pain ; Male ; Rupture ; Spinal Diseases

Cervical disc herniation is a common disorder characterized by neck pain radiating to the arm and fingers as determined by the affected dermatome. This condition has a favorable prognosis, but pain can have a serious detrimental impact on daily activities. Epidural neuroplasty has been applied as a treatment option for cervical disc herniation; however, no study has addressed the clinical outcomes. This retrospective study evaluated the clinical outcomes of epidural neuroplasty on 128 patients for the treatment of cervical disc herniation. To measure pain-related disabilities over time, the changes of pain scores in neck and arm were evaluated using a numerical rating scale (NRS) and the neck disability index (NDI). Compared with preprocedural values, the pain NRS of neck and arm demonstrated significant improvement at day 1, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the procedure (P < 0.001). Likewise, the NDI was significantly reduced at 3, 6, and 12 months after the procedure (P < 0.001). There were no serious complications. Cervical epidural neuroplasty shows good clinical outcomes in the treatment of cervical disc herniation and can be considered a treatment modality for cervical disc herniation refractory to conservative treatment.
Adult ; Aged ; Amides/administration & dosage ; Anesthetics, Local/administration & dosage ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage ; Cervical Vertebrae/*radiography ; Dexamethasone/administration & dosage ; Disability Evaluation ; Epidural Space/radiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase/therapeutic use ; Injections, Epidural ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/radiography/*surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck Pain/drug therapy ; Pain/drug therapy ; Pain Measurement ; Questionnaires ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

The functional immaturity of PMNs is one of the major causes of overwhelming sepsis in newborns. In this study, we observed functions and surface markers of PMNs to investigate what causes the functional immaturity of PMNs in newborns. As results, the percentage of EA rosette forming PMNs (58.5 +/- 15.5%) and the chemotactic movement (0.14 +/- 0.09 mm) of cord blood PMNs were significantly lower than those of adult peripheral blood PMNs (70.8 +/- 9.9%, 0.60 +/- 0.34 mm). Cord blood PMNs showed decreased glass adherence and ADCC activity. The expression of Fc gamma RII or Fc gamma RIII was a little lower than those of adult peripheral blood PMNs, but the expression of Fc gamma RI (43.1 +/- 26.8%) was significantly higher than that of adult peripheral blood PMNs (3.2 +/- 1.8%). There was a significant difference in LFA-1 expression between EA rosette forming PMNs (92.9 +/- 9.1%) and EA rosette non-forming PMNs (25.6 +/- 22.6%). From these results, it is assumed that neonatal PMNs may consist of heterogeneous populations. And the relatively high percentage of EA rosette non-forming PMNs which express a low level of LFA-1 may be responsible for the functional immaturity of cord blood PMNs.
Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity ; Cell Adhesion ; Chemotaxis, Leukocyte ; Fetal Blood/*cytology ; Human ; Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1/*physiology ; Neutrophils/*physiology ; Receptors, IgG/*physiology ; Rosette Formation

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer is the most common malignant tumor in Korea. We reviewed the cases at our institution to identify the survival rates and clarify the prognostic factors of patients with gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 6,918 patients who had received a diagnosis of gastric cancer, and they underwent surgery at Korea Cancer Center Hospital during a 15-year period from 1991 to 2005. RESULTS: The overall 5-year survival rate was 66.8%. The univariate analysis revealed that age, location of tumor, gross type of tumor, the histology according to the WHO classification, the Lauren classification, depth of invasion (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), distant metastasis (M stage), the type of surgery, the UICC TNM stage, postoperative complications, adjuvant chemotherapy, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion and perineural invasion were the significantly different factors of the survival rates. The multivariate analysis revealed that age , Borrmann type 4, the histology according to the WHO classification, depth of invasion (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), distant metastasis (M stage), the type of surgery, UICC TNM stage, postoperative complications, adjuvant chemotherapy and lymphatic invasion were the independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: We have shown a statistically significant association between the survival rates after operation for gastric cancer and the clinicopathologic factors. Early diagnosis of gastric cancer, appropriate surgeryand adjuvant therapy might improve the quality of life and the survival rates of gastric cancer patients.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Postoperative Complications ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: Decreased antioxidant defense mechanisms and over-generated free radicals by either normal or aberrant metabolism play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and cancer. And the life style and diet including antioxidant vitamin A and E have been thought an important factor in antioxidant systems. Recently, Total Antioxidant Status kit (TAS; Randox, UK) has been developed for measuring the total antioxidant capacity of blood. So we evaluated the association of life style and total antioxidant capacity in patients with chronic cardiovascular disease. METHODS: Sixty six cases of chronic cardiovascular disease and sixty three normal controls were evaluated. Serum total antioxidant capacity was measured by Hitachi 747 (Hitachi Ltd, Japan) with TAS kit, vitamin A and E were measured by high performance liquid chromatography method, and serum lipid profile by Hitachi 7060 (Hitachi Ltd, Japan). RESULTS: The mean total antioxidant capacity did not show difference between patients and controls. After 3 months, we detected significant increase of total antioxidant capacity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and mild increase of antioxidant vitamins and significant decrease of total cholesterol, triglyceride, lipoprotein (a). The heavy alcohol consumption group showed significant difference with other groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of total antioxidant capacity for the cardiovascular disease patients was thought to be useful to evaluate oxidative stress and antioxidant status. Alcohol consumption and supplementation with antioxidant vitamins could have an effect on total antioxidant capacity.
Alcohol Drinking ; Antioxidants ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Cholesterol ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Defense Mechanisms ; Diet* ; Free Radicals ; Humans ; Life Style* ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Lipoproteins ; Metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Triglycerides ; Vitamin A ; Vitamins

STUDY DESIGN: In vivo study to determine the immune effects to adenoviral vector encoding LMP-1 cDNA in rabbit. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the immune effect of Ad5-LMP-1 in the rabbit during the therapeutic gene transfer. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: One of the major limitations in the use of adenoviral vector for gene therapy is the immune response and it made the poor transduction efficiency when re-administrated. Adenoviral antigen plus those derived from transgene expression in transduced cell contribute to cellular, humoral and non-specific immune response constitutes barriers to successful gene therapy. Therefore, the animal immune model will be mandatory to study the immune impact. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We i.v. injected Ad5-betaGal to total 24adult NZW rabbits; 1x108, 1x109, 1x1010, 1x1011v.p. to each 6 rabbits allowed them to develop immune response. Six non-immunized animals were used as control. Adenovirus antibodies were measured at 0, 4, 8, 16, 20 weeks. Group I. 6 control rabbit underwent spinal arthrodesis at 4 weeks (n=3) and 16 weeks (n=3) with 4 million cells and MOI of 4. Group II. 6 rabbit underwent spinal arthrodesis at 4 weeks after injection of 108 p.f.u virus (n=3) and 16 weeks (n=3). Group III. six 109 immunized rabbits, Group IV. six 1010 immunized rabbits, Group V. six 1011 immunized rabbits, underwent spinal arthrodesis at 4 and 16 weeks after injection. Total anti-Ad Ig and neutralizing antibody titer was measured on the 0. 4. 8, 16, 20 weeks after injection. RESULTS: Group I. All 6 non-immunized rabbits had solid spine fusions at 4 and 16 weeks. Group II. All 3immunized rabbits had not spine fusions at 4 weeks and all three had solid spine fusion at 16 weeks. Group III. None of them (n=6) immunized rabbits had spine fusion at 4 and 16weeks, but some bone formation was observed at 16 weeks. Group IV, V. None of them immunized rabbits had bone formation. The anti-Ad5 Ig and neutralizing Ab were detected and peaked at the 4weeks and significantly dropped off 16 weeks after injection. CONCLUSION: This experiment revealed that a small dose of adenovirus elicited an enough immune response that inhibited the bone formation. Because majority of human posses the Ab against adenovirus, it will be mandatory to overcome immune response in adenoviral vector gene therapy.
Adenoviridae ; Animals* ; Antibodies ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Arthrodesis ; DNA, Complementary ; Genetic Therapy* ; Humans ; Models, Animal* ; Osteogenesis ; Rabbits ; Spinal Fusion* ; Spine ; Transgenes

Pheochromocytoma is originated from chromaffin cells of sympathetic nervous system and clinical symptoms are caused by catecholamine released from tumor. In typical cases, periodic attacks of hypertension, palpitation, headache, and sweating are main symptoms. But, the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma is sometimes difficult since its clinical presentation is quite variable. We evaluated a 25-year-old woman who was admitted because of left flank pain and seizure. She had a history of hemoptysis and toxemia. During the hospitalization, she experienced generalized seizure once more. The clinical diagnosis of pheochromocytoma was proven by highly elevated urinary catecholamines and confirmed histologically after operation. We think it is the first case report of pheochromocytoma manifested by seizure in korea, so we report this case with literature review.
Adult ; Catecholamines ; Chromaffin Cells ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Headache ; Hemoptysis ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Pheochromocytoma* ; Seizures* ; Sweat ; Sweating ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; Toxemia

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of medical conditions in the population of Korea on breast cancer risk in a case-control study. METHODS: The cases were 3242 women with incident, histologically confirmed breast cancer in two major hospitals interviewed between 2001 and 2007. The controls were 1818 women each admitted to either of those two hospitals for a variety of non-neoplastic conditions. Information on each disease was obtained from a standardized questionnaire by trained personnel. Odds ratios (ORs) for each disease were derived from multiple logistic regression adjusted for age, age of menarche, pregnancy, age of first pregnancy, and family history of breast cancer. RESULTS: Among all of the incident breast cancer patients, pre-existing diabetes (OR, 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 to 1.78), hypertension (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.83), thyroid diseases (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.58), and ovarian diseases (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.23 to 2.35) were associated with an increased risk of breast cancer when other factors were adjusted for. In a stratified analysis by menopausal status, pre-existing hypertension (pre-menopause OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.48 to 1.34 vs. post-menopause OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.44 to 2.43; p-heterogeneity <0.01) and ovarian disease (pre-menopause OR, 4.20; 95% CI, 1.91 to 9.24 vs. post-menopause OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.91; p-heterogeneity 0.01) showed significantly different risks of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the possibility that medical conditions such as hypertension affect breast cancer development, and that this can differ by menopausal status. Our study also indicates a possible correlation between ovarian diseases and breast cancer risk.
Age Factors ; Breast Neoplasms/complications/*epidemiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Diabetes Complications ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension/complications ; Interviews as Topic ; Menarche ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Ovarian Diseases/complications ; Postmenopause ; Pregnancy ; Premenopause ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors