No abstract available.
Cystoscopy* ; Hematuria*

No abstract available.
Cystoscopy* ; Hematuria*

No abstract available.
Kidney* ; Nephrectomy*

For the patients who visit outpatient clinics due to asymptomatic microscopic hematuria, cystoscopy has been looked upon as rather invasive compared to other diagnostic methods. We tried to elucidate the actual diagnostic value of cystoscopy in the initial evaluation of asymptomatic microscopic hematuria. We reviewed the results of cystoscopic examinations in 213 patients who visited our hospital due to asymptomatic microscopic hematuria. No definite lesion that could explain the microscopic hematuria was detected by means of IVP, urine cytology, and other nephrologic evaluations for all the patients. Among the abnormal cystoscopic findings in 55 patients, the lesions suspected to be directly related to microscopic hematuria were classified as 'significant lesions' (31 patients, 17.6%) which include entities such as bladder cancer (1.31%). 27 of 31 patients with significant lesions (85.2%) were over 50 yr old, and furthermore, 3 patients who were diagnosed as bladder tumor by cystoscopy were over 60 yr. Cystoscopy should be utilized as initial diagnostic modality in lder patients with asymptomatic microscopic hematuria to rule out any possibility of bladder cancer occurrence. Further studies are needed to justify implementation of cystoscopy as an initial diagnostic modality in younger patients with asymptomatic microscopic hematuria.
Cystoscopy/*methods ; Female ; Hematuria/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: This study was attempted to estimate the effects of diabetic education fortified with individual practice on plasma glucose, self-care, and self reported physical symptoms in type 2 diabetes patients METHOD: The subjects consisted of 46 patients with type 2 diabetes patients, who took the hospitalization diabetes education program from July 2003 until February 2004 at Seoul C university hospital. The experimental group was assessed at pre- and post intervention. The diabetes education was provided for one week. The education consisted of diabetes education videos for the diabetic introduction, group education for medication therapy, dietetic treatment and diabetes complication education. Also individual education for nurses examination of glycemia and insulin injection practice. RESULTS: The HbA1c values significantly decreased from 9.6% on the time of hospitalization to 7.4% 3 months after discharge. In respect to the number of days of self-care, medication, diet, exercise, cleansing feet, and carrying sweets to prepare for hypoglycemia all significantly increased 3 months after discharge compared to the values at the time of hospitalization. Self reported physical symptoms were also significantly increased 3 months after discharge compared to the time of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The diabetic education fortified with individual practice can be practically used as a plan for managing glycemia, self-care, and self reported physical symptom of diabetes patients.
Blood Glucose* ; Diabetes Complications ; Diet ; Education* ; Foot ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Insulin ; Plasma* ; Self Care* ; Self Report* ; Seoul

In 1971 inclusion body myositis was reported by Yunis and Samaha. This disease is similar with chronic multiple myositis clinically. Pathologically, inclusion body myositis is characterized by intracytoplasmic vacuole with degenerating fibers and accompanied with inclusion body in internal nucleus and cytoplasm. Since then 240 cases of inclusion body myositis have been reported in the world including 3 cases in Korea. A 27 years-old lady had inclusion body myositis, which show slowly progressive muscular weakness. We confirmed this with clinical symptom, muscle biopsy, and electrophysiologic study. We report the typical manifestation of inclusion body myositis in a 27 years-old lady with the brief review of literature.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Cytoplasm ; Humans ; Inclusion Bodies* ; Korea ; Muscle Weakness ; Myositis, Inclusion Body* ; Polymyositis ; Vacuoles

Acarapis mites, including Acarapis woodi, Acarapis externus, and Acarapis dorsalis, are parasites of bees which can cause severe damage to the bee industry by destroying colonies and decreasing honey production. All 3 species are prevalent throughout many countries including UK, USA, Iran, Turkey, China, and Japan. Based on previous reports of Acarapis mites occurring in northeast Asia, including China and Japan, we investigated a survey of Acarapis mite infestations in honey bees in Korean apiaries. A total of 99 colonies of Apis mellifera were sampled from 5 provinces. The head and thorax of 20 bees from each colony were removed for DNA extraction. PCR assays were performed with 3 primer sets, including T, A, and K primers. Results indicated that 42.4% (42/99) of samples were Acarapis-positive by PCR assay which were sequenced to identify species. Each sequence showed 92.6-99.3% homology with reference sequences. Based on the homology, the number of colonies infected with A. dorsalis was 32 which showed the highest infection rate among the 3 species, while the number of colonies infected with A. externus and A. woodi was 9 and 1, respectively. However, none of the Acarapis mites were morphologically detected. This result could be explained that all apiaries in the survey used acaricides against bee mites such as Varroa destructor and Tropilaelaps clareae which also affect against Acarapis mites. Based on this study, it is highly probable that Acarapis mites as well as Varroa and Tropilaelaps could be prevalent in Korean apiaries.
Animals ; Bees/*parasitology ; Mites/classification/*genetics/physiology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigate the effectiveness and the demerits of the AMSLU(TM) cervical cage used in cervical spinal fusion for correction of cervical degenerative disc disease. METHODS: A total of 19 patients with cervical degenerative disc disease underwent anterior microdiscectomy and the AMSLU(TM) cage fusion. We made a retrospective comparative analysis between cases using the AMSLU(TM) cage and the classical autogenous iliac crest graft(AICG) with plate fixation about operative time, blood loss and hospital stay. The patient's neurological and functional outcomes were assessed on the basis of the modified Odom's criteria. RESULTS: The use of the AMSLU(TM) cage was found to save operative time(mean, 153+/-52min: P=0.004) and blood loss(mean, 236+/-171cc: P=0.032) as compared with the use of AICG. There was no donor-site complications and all patients were tolerable to ambulation at 1 day postoperatively. The patient's clinical success rate was 89% on discharge and 84% at 6 months postoperatively. CONCLUSION: The use of the AMSLU(TM) cage provides several advantages: no donor-site complications, brief instrument procedures, short operative time, small amount of blood loss and satisfactory clinical success rate. But it also has many limitations: short follow up period, kyphotic change and subsidence. Further investigations and clinical applications are necessary to use AMSLU(TM) cage in cases of spondylolisthesis and traumatic cervical disease.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Operative Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; Spondylolisthesis ; Walking

BACKGROUND: The testes are one of the most common extramedullary sites of relapse in boys with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL). The reported incidence of isolated testicular relapse varies from 3 to 40%. If these patients are treated exclusively with testicular irradialion, a systemic relapse occurs within a few months. Recently, the use of intensive chemotherapy and testicular irradiation improved the survival rate for boys with testicular leukemia. So, we performed this study to identify clinical manifestations, disease free survival and prognostic factors of testicular leukemia in children. METHODS: We reviewed 33 patients of testicular leukemia among total 410 boys with ALL diagnosed at the Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital from Jan. 1970 to Aug. 1996. Testicular leukemia was confirmed by testicular biopsy in all 33 patients. These patients were treated with combined local testicular irradiation(2,400~2,500 cGy/8~12fractions) and systemic chemotherapy. Two patients, in whom testicular relapse was diagnosed before 1979, unilateral orchiectomy of the involved site and testicular irradiation of the opposite site were performed. Probability estimates of disease free survival (DFS) were calculated by the method of Kaplan and Meier, and the relationship of prognostic factors to DFS was compared using the chi-square test in survival analysis. RESULTS: In 410 boys with ALL, testicular leukemia occurred in 33 patients(8%). Of 33 patients, 6 patients presented with testicular involvement at initial diagnosis, 16 patients had testicular relapse while still receiving chemotherapy and 11 patients had testicular relapse 3 to 57 months(median : 15 months) after cessation of chemotherapy. The median age of 33 patients was 7.4 yrs(9 months~18 yrs) and median WBC count 7,600/ L(2,700~270,000/L). All patients presented with painless testicular enlargement and testicular leukemia was confirmed by testicular biopsy. Among 33 patients, 2 had prior CNS relapse and 11 had concomitant bone marrow and/or CNS relapse. Twenty nine patients were treated with combined local testicular irradiation and systemic chemotherapy. Eleven had second relapse(6 bone marrow, 3 CNS, 2 opposite testis). Seventeen have been followed until now: 6 patients on chemotherapy and 11 patients(37.9%) in complete remission for 48.5+/-22.3 months(19~86 months). The 3 year DFS for 29 patients was 55.3%+/-10.1%. The following prognostic factors showed no significant association with DFS in testicular relapse : age and WBC count at initial diagnosis, age at testicular relapse, and concomitant relapse. Whether testicular relapse occurred on initial therapy or off initial therapy has prognostic value in predicting DFS. The 3 year DFS for boys with testicular relapse on and off initial therapy were 40.0%+/-12.9% and 78.8%+/-13.4%, respectively(P: 0.046). CONCLUSION: With the use of chemotherapy and testicular irradiation, prolonged second re mission can be achieved in many patients with testicular leukemia. The patients with testicular relapse off initial therapy fared significantly better than patients on therapy. So, to improve the DFS for boys with testicular leukemia, a better understanding of its biology and prognostic factors is needed.
Biology ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukemia ; Missions and Missionaries ; Orchiectomy ; Pediatrics ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* ; Recurrence ; Seoul ; Survival Rate ; Testis

Asthma is a chronic disease associated with airway constriction due to inflammation caused by eosinophils, mast cells, and T lymphocytes, leading to serious chronic illness in children. The eotaxin gene family has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. We hypothesized that the distinctive variations among the four seasons in Korea may affect the expression of eotaxin polymorphisms, especially in children. We examined the possible effects of birth season (spring, March-May; summer, June-August; fall, September-November; and winter, December-February) on the phenotype of asthma in children. All SNP data sets of the eotaxin-2 and eotaxin-3 genes were collected from 78 asthma patients and 101 controls. Here, we investigated the effects of birth season on the expression of eotaxin-2 and eotaxin-3 in Korean children. Using the HAPLOTYPE procedure with the HTR method in SAS/Genetics, we showed that children born in spring and summer show significant haplotypes in both the eotaxin-2 and eotaxin-3 genes. Thus, the expression of polymorphisms in eotaxin-2 and eotaxin-3 may vary by season.
Asthma ; Chemokine CCL24 ; Child ; Chronic Disease ; Constriction ; Eosinophils ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Mast Cells ; Parturition ; Phenotype ; Seasons ; T-Lymphocytes