A accidental spills of phenol(100%) to the river Nakdong with subsequent contamination of the tap water for about two million consumers in Taegu city of Korea were occurred in March 1991. A historical cohort study of 6,913 individuals was undertaken to determine the associated with illness. Population subjects were divided into two groups of exposed and unexposed. Exposed subjects were reported to be phenol associated symptoms significantly higher than those in a nearby unexposed area(39.6% vs 9.4%, p<0.01). Especially, in the related symptoms, highly significant differences were noted in the number of subjects reporting gastrointestinal illness such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain. During the accident, study subjects who experienced peculiar taste or odor in the tap water were significantly higher in the exposed areas(92% vs 34.3%). Chlorophenols formed from chlorination of water may have aggravated the problem.
Abdominal Pain ; Chlorophenols ; Cohort Studies ; Daegu ; Diarrhea ; Drinking Water* ; Drinking* ; Equipment and Supplies* ; Halogenation ; Korea ; Nausea ; Odors ; Phenol* ; Rivers ; Vomiting ; Water

Schwannoma or neurilemmoma is an uncommon neoplasm, and it is derived from the peripheral nerve sheath. These tumors most frequently occur in the head, neck and flexor surfaces of the upper and lower extremities, while the porta hepatis and retroperitoneum are rarely implicated. We report here on a case of benign schwannoma in the porta hepatis with compression of the common bile duct, and this was successfully treated by surgical excision. The patient was a 63-year-old woman who had a slow growing upper abdominal mass for 3 years. The abdominal CT scan showed a 12 cm-sized cystic mass with a solid portion, and this was accompanied with intrahepatic bile duct dilatation. Abdominal exploration revealed a yellowish, cystic, encapsulated mass attached to the inferior vena cava, portal vein, the common bile duct and the liver. There has been no evidence of recurrence during 36 months of follow-up.
Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Common Bile Duct ; Dilatation ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Humans ; Liver ; Lower Extremity ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Neurilemmoma ; Peripheral Nerves ; Portal Vein ; Recurrence ; Vena Cava, Inferior

This is a case report of double primary malignant cancer occurred aynchronously in the stomach and lymphoid tissue, We report this case with review of literatures about the criteria, age distribution, predisposing factor, inidence, immunity and susceptibility of the primary malignant neoplasms. This case was a 59-year-old man who had Hodgkins disease and tubular adenocarcinoma, of the stomach. The diagnoais was verified histologically, Although multiple primary neoplaas are rare, the possibility of that must be conaidered seriously, And its hereditary predisposition and other predisposing factor muat be researched with enthuaiasm.
Adenocarcinoma ; Age Distribution ; Causality ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Lymphoid Tissue ; Middle Aged ; Stomach

Removal of subgingival calculus is essential for the success in periodontal treatment. Subgingival instrumentation is used for the removal of all bacterial plaque and calculus. In this study, two types of anterior curet were used on ant. teeth to conduct subgingival scaling and root planing. The remaining amount of calculus was evaluated according to type of instrument, depth of pocket, and tooth surface. 24 teeth extracted from patients being treated at Dan Kook University dept. Perio. were used. 4 surfaces per tooth a total of 96 areas were evaluated. 12 teeth treated with Gracey No. 1-2 was used as the control group and 12 teeth treated with Mini-five curet No. 1-2 was the experimental group. The 4 surfaces of the teeth(buccal, mesial, lingual or palatal, distal) were observed under a stereomicroscope and the images were captured 3 times per surfaced with a CCD. The image were observed on the monitor using a 10 x 10 grid produced with the Microsoft power point. The amount of calculus remaining was evaluated 3 times per surface. The results were as follows. 1. There was no significant difference in remaining calculus according to the pre-treatment pocket depth, and tooth position(Mx. or Mn.). 2. The Mini-five curet showed better results than the Gracey curet but there was no statistically significant difference. 3. In both Gracey curet group and Mini-five curet group the lingual(or palatal) surface showed significant difference compared to the other surfaces(p < 0.05). From the results above, it is thought that when treating ant. teeth consideration of the tooth surface is more important than the choice of instrument.
Ants ; Calculi ; Dental Scaling* ; Humans ; Root Planing* ; Tooth

BACKGROUND: Hyperhomocysteinemia has been known to be associated with cerebrovascular disease. It is toxic to vascular endothelial cell and promotes arteriosclerotic detachment. There was no study of the homocysteine level in ischemic stroke patients in Korea except case report. Therefore we measured total plasma homocysteine level in ischemic stroke patients and evaluated association with other stroke risk factors. METHODS: We measured total plasma homocysteine level in 44 patients with ischemic stroke and 16 age-matched normal controls, and analyzed its relationship to other stroke risk factors. Total plasma homocysteine level was determined by using a radioenzymatic method. RESULTS: Total plasma homocysteine level was 12.12 5.11 micromol/L in patients and 9.40 1.93 micromol/L in controls. It was 13.03 5.78 micromol/L in lacunar infarction and 9.96 1.57 micromol/L in territory infarction. The total plasma homocysteine level of the patients with hypertension, DM, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, smoking, alcohol, previous stroke, carotid bruit was not different statistically from those without them. CONCLUSIONS: Total plasma homocysteine level was significantly higher in the ischemic stroke patients than that of controls. Lacunar infarction showed significantly higher level of total plasma homocysteine compared to territory infarction.
Cerebral Infarction* ; Endothelial Cells ; Heart Diseases ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Infarction ; Korea ; Pilot Projects* ; Plasma* ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke ; Stroke, Lacunar

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nitric Oxide (NO) is an endogenous mediator first characterized as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. It is now recognized as a key mediator in many physiological process such as vasodilatation, neurotransmission, host defense, and iron metabolism. However, much remains to be determined about the pathophysiological role of NO in the airway. Peroxynitrite, which is synthesized by NO, is the diret cause of cellular toxicity in inflammatory reaction. In this study, we investigated the cellular toxcity of peroxynitrite by the expression of Heat-shock proteins 70 (HSP 70) in normal human nasal epithelium (NHNE) at the inflammatory conditions MATERIALS AND METHODS: 3-Morpholinosydronimone clorhydrate which is a peroxynitrite donor was mixed in the media of cultured NHNE cell. RESULTS: HSP 70 was expressed at the peroxynitrite environment of cultured NHNE cells and HSP 70 mRNA was detected with a time-dependent increasing pattern. CONCLUSION: Peroxynitrite may have a cytotoxic effect, and inhibition of peroxynitrite synthesis may have an important role for controlling the cytotoxic and inflammatory conditions of rhinitis and sinusitis.
Endothelium-Dependent Relaxing Factors ; Epithelial Cells* ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; Humans* ; Iron ; Metabolism ; Nasal Mucosa ; Nitric Oxide ; Peroxynitrous Acid* ; Physiological Processes ; Rhinitis ; RNA, Messenger ; Sinusitis ; Synaptic Transmission ; Tissue Donors ; Vasodilation

PURPOSE: inhaled nitric oxide(iNO) is an excellent method for the postoperative pulmonary hypertension in congenital heart disease. But more detailed care is needed because of the development of rebound pulmonary hypertension after NO Withdrawal. We performed this study in order to discontinue the iNO successfully by way of presenting the adequate weaning and supplying methods. METHODS: Between January, 1998 and August, 1999 we sudied 10 patients who had rebound pulmonary hypertension(RPH) after iNO withdrawal. We completed the iNO in these patween the first the second trial of the weaning process. We tried to discover the differences between the first and second weaning process. We measured NO concentration at the start and just before NO withdrawal and during the period of weaning process. Moreover, to identify the iNO effects during the weaning of the iNO, we counted the degree of the change of PaO2/FiO2and mean PAP/SAP beween initial and at half of the initial NO concentration. RESULTS: Second weaning had a longer duration weaning process(11+/-0 cersus 5+/- hours, P<0.05), lower NO concentration just before NO withdrawal(2+/-.6 versus 4+/-ppm, P<0.05). In the change of the mean PAP/SAP and PaO2/FiO2as iNO was weaning from the initial iNO concentration to a half of the initial iNO concentration, the degree of increase in mean PAP/SAP(0.026+/-.07 versus 0.054+/-.07, P<0.05) and the degree of decrease in PaO2/FiO2(49+/-4 versus 65+/-2, P<0.05) were smaller in the second in the second weaning process than the first weaning process. CONCLUSION: A successful weaning of iNO can be performed with a low iNO concentration at the start and just before withdrawal and with the long duration iNO weaning process. Moreover, We speculate that the degree of change in the mean PAP/SAP and PaO2/FiO2at the half of the iNO weaning process are an indicator for the development of RPH.
Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Nitric Oxide* ; Weaning*

No abstract available.
Cardiac Catheterization* ; Cardiac Catheters* ; Child* ; Cineangiography* ; Heart Diseases* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Statistics as Topic*

PURPOSE: We evaluated the differences between radiologically measured size and pathologic size of renal tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data from 171 patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy for a renal tumor at Ajou University Hospital were reviewed. Radiologic tumor size, which was defined as the largest diameter on a computed tomographic scan, was compared with pathologic tumor size, which was defined as the largest diameter on gross pathologic examination. RESULTS: Mean radiologic size was significantly larger than mean pathologic size for all tumors (p=0.019). When stratified according to radiologic size range, mean radiologic size was significantly larger than mean pathologic size for tumors <4 cm (p=0.003), but there was no significant difference between the sizes for tumors 4-7 cm and >7 cm. When classified according to histologic subtype, mean radiologic size was significantly larger than mean pathologic size only in clear cell renal cell carcinomas (p=0.002). When classified according to tumor location, mean radiologic size was significantly larger than mean pathologic size in endophytic tumors (p=0.043) but not in exophytic tumors. When endophytic tumors were stratified according to radiologic size range, there was a significant difference between the mean radiologic and pathologic sizes for tumors <4 cm (p=0.001) but not for tumors 4-7 cm (p=0.073) and >7 cm (p=0.603). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that in planning a nephron-sparing surgery for renal tumors, especially for endophytic tumors of less than 4 cm, the tumor size measured on a computed tomography scan should be readjusted to get a more precise estimate of the tumor size.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Humans ; Kidney ; Nephrectomy

Cone-beam digital tomosynthesis (CBDT) has greatly been paid attention in the image-guided radiation therapy because of its attractive advantages such as low patient dose and less motion artifact. Image quality of tomograms is, however, dependent on the imaging conditions such as the scan angle (beta(scan)) and the number of projection views. In this paper, we describe the principle of CBDT based on filtered-backprojection technique and investigate the optimization of imaging conditions. As a system performance, we have defined the figure-of-merit with a combination of signal difference-to-noise ratio, artifact spread function and floating-point operations which determine the computational load of image reconstruction procedures. From the measurements of disc phantom, which mimics an impulse signal and thus their analyses, it is concluded that the image quality of tomograms obtained from CBDT is improved as the scan angle is wider than 60 degrees with a larger step scan angle (Delta beta). As a rule of thumb, the system performance is dependent on . If the exact weighting factors could be assigned to each image-quality metric, we would find the better quantitative imaging conditions.
Artifacts ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided ; Thumb