No abstract available.
Animals ; Embryonic Structures* ; Mice*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the health and environmental risk factors of air contaminants that influence environmental and respiratory diseases in Gyeongju, Pohang and Ulsan in South Korea, with a focus on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). METHODS: Samples were collected by instantaneous negative pressure by opening the injection valve in the canister at a fixed height of 1 to 1.5 m. The sample that was condensed in -150degrees C was heated to 180degrees C in sample pre-concentration trap using a 6-port switching valve and it was injected to a gas chromatography column. The injection quantity of samples was precisely controlled using an electronic flow controller equipped in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. RESULTS: The quantity of the VOC emissions in the industrial area was 1.5 to 2 times higher than that in the non-industrial area. With regards to the aromatic hydrocarbons, toluene was detected at the highest level of 22.01 ppb in Ulsan, and chloroform was the halogenated hydrocarbons with the highest level of 10.19 ppb in Pohang. The emission of toluene was shown to be very important, as it accounted for more than 30% of the total aromatic hydrocarbon concentration. CONCLUSIONS: It was considered that benzene in terms of the cancer-causing grade standard, toluene in terms of the emission quantity, and chloroform and styrene in terms of their grades and emission quantities should be selected for priority measurement substances.
Benzene ; Chloroform ; Chromatography, Gas ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Hot Temperature ; Hydrocarbons, Aromatic ; Hydrocarbons, Halogenated ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Styrene ; Toluene ; Volatile Organic Compounds

Anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital cardiovascular anomaly. The mortality rate among infants and children without operation has been eighty to ninety-five percents and few patients survive till teen-age or adulthood. This anomaly was detected during elective coronary angiogram in a 32 year-old female patient with atypical chest pain. Reversible ischemia was demonstrated on myocardial 201Tl-SPECT. Coronary angiogram revealed anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery.
Adult* ; Bland White Garland Syndrome ; Chest Pain ; Child ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Ischemia ; Mortality ; Pulmonary Artery

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic helminthiasis caused by Fasciola hepatica, the sheep liver fluke. Humans are accidental hosts in the life cycle of the parasite. They are infected by the ingestion of water or raw aquatic vegetables contaminated with the metacercaria. The diagnosis of fascioliasis is based on clinical symptoms, absolute eosinophilia, serologic test (ELISA), radiologic finding, and presence of eggs in the feces or duodenal fluid. Recently, some radiologists have been reporting specific findings of fascioliasis by MRI. We report a case of liver abscess associated with fascioliasis diagnosed by MRI.
Diagnosis ; Eating ; Eggs ; Eosinophilia ; Fasciola hepatica ; Fascioliasis* ; Feces ; Helminthiasis ; Humans ; Life Cycle Stages ; Liver Abscess* ; Liver* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Serologic Tests ; Sheep ; Vegetables ; Water

OBJECTIVES: A limited retrospective study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found that serum phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity correlates with disease activity. To assess the strength of this relationship we investigated prospectively 25 patients with RA using a double blind approach. METHODS: Twenty five patients who fulfilled the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA had clinical and laboratory assessments. PLA2 activity was measured before and after treatment of 3 months in patients with RA. Fourteen healthy individuals were also enrolled as controls. PLA2 activity was assayed using E.coli membrane phospholipid substrate labelled with[14C]-oleic acid. RESULTS: 1) Serum PLA2 activity was significantly higher in patients with RA than that of normal healthy controls (p<0.001). 2) In Patients with RA, synovial fluid PLA2 activity was higher than serum PLA2 activity, and a positive correlation between PLA2 in synovial fluids and matched sera was found in these patients (p<0.05). 3) After treatment, PLA2 activity was significantly decreased with improvement of clinical(morning stiffness and Ritchie index) and laboratory(ESR, CRP and rheumatoid factor)assessments (p<0.001). 4) Among the clinical and laboratory markers of disease activity, ESR showed the best correlation with serum PLA2 activity (r=0.493, p<0.05). 5) In the patients who did not respond clinically to treatment (n=5), there was no significant decrease in PLA2 activity. CONCLUSION: PLA2 activity significantly correlates with RA activity and may serve as an index of disease activity in RA.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Biomarkers ; Humans ; Membranes ; Phospholipases A2* ; Phospholipases* ; Prospective Studies ; Rheumatology ; Synovial Fluid

Concomitant fracture of the lateral process of the talus and the sustentaculum tali of the calcaneus is a rare injury. There are few references in the literature that comment on the precise injury mechanism and the operative method for this type of fracture. We achieved satisfactory clinical results in 2 cases of concomitant fractures of the lateral process and the sustentaculum tali resulting from traffic accidents. We used a method of open reduction and internal fixation. We report these cases with a review of the relevant foreign literature because of no previous report in Korean literature.
Accidents, Traffic ; Calcaneus ; Talus

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of pre-emptive subdiaphragmatic instillation of lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum on postoperative pain following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and also to evaluate it's effect on the changes of blood pressure during an operation. METHODS: Thirty-three relatively healthy patients for an LC were allocated into the two groups. after the induction of general anesthesia with sodium thiopental, vecuronium, nitrous oxide and enflurane (1-2 vol%), 0.2% lidocaine 200 ml was subdiaphragmatically instilled 10 min before pneumoperitoneum in the lidocaine group (n = 15), and normal saline in the control group (n = 18). The changes of the systolic and mean arterial pressure (SAP and MAP), postoperative pain score, and the number of analgesics used during the postoperative 24 h were compared between two groups. RESULTS: The pain scores at postoperative 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h and the number of analgesics used were significantly low in the lidocaine group compared to the control group (P<0.01). The elevations of SAP and MAP during pneumoperitoneum were significantly attenuated in the lidocaine group (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This data suggests that subdiaphragmatic instillation of lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum is effective in the control of postoperative pain following an LC and also effective to attenuate the elevation of blood pressure during pneumoperitoneum. However, further study is needed to evaluate the safety of these methods before recommendation of routine use.
Analgesics ; Anesthesia, General ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure* ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Enflurane ; Humans ; Lidocaine* ; Nitrous Oxide ; Pain, Postoperative* ; Pneumoperitoneum* ; Sodium ; Thiopental ; Vecuronium Bromide

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There are several staging systems to decide the stage of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but yet incomplete. Okuda stage which includes both tumor characteristics and liver function is widely used. The aims of this study were to assess the usefulness of known prognostic factors and Okuda staging system in 237 cases of HCC. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 237 cases of HCC diagnosed from 2000 to 2002 was performed. We analyzed prognostic factors such as age, sex, liver cirrhosis, Child-Pugh classification, tumor size, albumin, bilirubin, alpha-FP, ascites, encephalopathy and Okuda stage. Prognostic analysis was performed for single variables and estimating survival distributions were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method, statistically compared by the log-rank test. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 57.5 years and were predominantly men (79.7%). Liver cirrhosis were noticed in 214 cases (90.3%). The overall median survival period was 25.7 months. The median survival period was correlated to bilirubin, ascites, alpha-FP, tumor size, and Child-Pugh classification, but not to age, sex, and pattern of viral infection. The median survival period of the Okuda stage I, II and III cases was 35.8, 11.9 and 8.5 months (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The median survival period of patients with HCC is significantly correlated to Okuda staging system, and survival period has improved than the initial data when the Okuda staging system was published in 1985. However, in order to discriminate early staged HCC more accurately, other prognostic factors such as alpha-FP and tumor morphology should be included in future staging system for HCC.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*mortality/pathology ; English Abstract ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/*mortality/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the rate and direction of subsidence that occurred after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion using the polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cage and to analyze the risk factors of subsidence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty two patients (36 segments) who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion using the PEEK cage and autologous cancellous iliac bone graft from July 2003 to November 2011 were enrolled in this study. anterior segmental height (ASH), posterior segmental height (PSH) and cage corner distance (CCD) were measured on plain radiographs. Subsidence was defined as > or =2 mm decrease in the average of ASH and PSH at the final follow up compared to that measured in the immediate postoperative period. A decrease of more than 3 mm was defined as severe subsidence for further statistical analysis. RESULTS: Subsidence of more than 2 mm was observed in 14 segments (38.9%) and severe subsidence (> or =3 mm) was observed in seven segments (19.4%). The direction of subsidence was examined by comparison of means of decreased ASH and PSH and anterior subsidence outweighed posterior subsidence (p<0.001). Examination of CCD showed that inferior subsidence was more frequent than superior subsidence (p<0.001, p=0.047). Among the suspicious risk factors for subsidence, intraoperative disc space distraction (anterior distraction: p=0.031, posterior distraction: p=0.007) and height of inserted cage (p=0.032) showed statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Considerable incidence of subsidence was observed after use of the cage. Using a cage of appropriate height and prevention of intraoperative over-distraction of disc space will be helpful to prevention of subsidence of the cage after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion using the PEEK cage.
Diskectomy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Postoperative Period ; Risk Factors ; Transplants

OBJECTIVE: Atopic dermatitis is a chronically relapsing inflammatory skin disease. However, little is known about the prevalence of atopic dermatitis outside of North America and Europe. We evaluated the nationwide prevalence of atopic dermatitis with the comparison of prevalence between 1995 and 2000, and between Seoul and provincial cities in Korea. We also evaluated the risk factors for atopic dermatitis. METHODS: A cross-sectional ISAAC based questionnaire survey was conducted on random samples of schoolchildren (6 to 15 year olds) in 1995 and 2000. And kindergarten children (5 year olds) were surveyed in 2003, throughout South Korea. RESULTS: The lifetime and last twelve months prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Korean school-aged children was increased from 1995 to 2000. The twelve-month prevalence of atopic dermatitis was higher in Seoul than in other provincial cities in 1995, but the prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Seoul and Provincial Centers became similar in 2000. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in Korean school-aged children was increased from 1995 to 2000. The further evaluations that include objective examination are necessary to confirm these outcomes because the environmental and risk factors may be different among the countries according to their life styles.
Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Epidemiology ; Europe ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Style ; North America ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Skin Diseases