OBJECTIVE: Whether exposure to chronic noise induces an increase in blood pressure, or the development of hypertension, has not been established. A cohort study was performed to identify the effects of chronic noise exposure on blood pressure. METHODS: 530 males working at a metal manufacturing factory in Busan, Korea were enrolled for the study. They were monitored for 9 consecutive years, from 1991 to 1999, with an annual health check-up. The subjects were divided into 4 groups, which were determines by noise level categories(NLC) according to noise intensity ; NLC-I: office workers, exposed to noise a level below 60dB(A); NLC-II: field technical supporters or supervisors, frequently exposed to workplace noise, wearing no hearing protection device; NLC-III: workers, exposed to workplace noise below 85 dB(A), wearing ear plugs or muffs; NLC-IV: workers, exposed to workplace noise over 85 dB(A), wearing both ear plugs and muffs. RESULTS: After controlling possible confoundens, such as baseline age, smoking, alcohol intake, exercise, family history of hypertension, systolic(SBP) or diastolic blood pressure(DBP) and changes in BMI (body mass index), the pooled mean for the systolic blood pressures, over the duration of the study period, were 3.8mmHg, 2.0mmHg and 1.7mmHg higher in NLC-IV, NLC-III NLC-II groups, respectively, than in the NLC-I group. There were no significant differences in the diastolic blood pressures between the groups. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that chronic noise exposure increases systolic blood pressure independently, among male workers.
Blood Pressure* ; Busan ; Cohort Studies* ; Ear ; Hearing ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male* ; Noise* ; Smoke ; Smoking

Cutaneous metastases from internal malignancy are relatively rare. Three cases of cutaneous metastases, two from lung cancer and one from breast cancer are reported. Case 1-cutaneous metastasis from bronchioloalveolar carcinoma of the lung, where four erythematous to pinkish pea sized smooth surfaced nodules on the scalp were noticed for 2 years in a 48-year-old man. Case 2-cutaneous metastasis from adenocarcmoma of the lung, where two hard tender freely movable subcutaneous nodules, about 3 cm in diameter on the lateral chest wall were noticed for 6 months in a 61-year-old woman. Case 3-cutaneous metastasis from infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast, where a hand, violaceous, non-tender plaque (8×6.5 cm) on the right areolar area was noticed for 4 months in a 47-year-old woman.
Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Peas ; Scalp ; Thoracic Wall

Systemic multiple aneurysms are rare, and an association between intracranial and visceral arterial or abdominal aortic aneurysm in the same patient is a very rare occurrence. We report herein three such cases. In one case, aneurysms of the right internal carotid artery(ICA) and the right middle cerevral arterial bifurcation(MCAB) coexisted with the inferior pancreaticoduodenal arterial pseudoaneurysm and two ileal arterial aneurysms. In another case, the patient had the A-com arterial aneurysm and the right renal arterial aneurysm. And in the other patient, he had the right vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm with the abdominal aortic aneurym. Initially, all patients were referred to our hospital with subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH), and thereafter first two patients developed visceral arterial aneurysm rupture in the course of hospital stay and in the last patient, the abdominal aortic aneurysm was detected incidentally during carotid angiogram for Guglielmi detachable coil(GDC) embolization of vertebral dissecting aneurym. After thorough review of our cases together with pertinent literatures, we emphasize the possibility of underlying extracranial aneurysms in ruptured intracranial arterial aneurysm patient and it's uncommon but fatal complication.
Aneurysm* ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; Aneurysm, False ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Rupture ; Vertebral Artery

BACKGROUND: About 20% of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients have bone marrow (BM) metastasis at the time of diagnosis and the remaining patients are also considered with micrometastasis. In an att empt to detect BM micrometastasis, we used cytokeratin (CK)-20 as a molecular marker, which is specific for epithelial cells. METHOD: A sensitive RT-PCR assay was used to compare CK-20 expression both in SCLC cell line H209 and normal leukocyte and to evaluate BM aspirates of 28 SCLC patients. RESULT: H209 cell line showed CK-20 expression but normal leukocyte did not, suggesting CK-20 expression is lung tissue-specific. Of 28 patients (11 limited disease, 17 extensive disease), only 2 (1/11, 1/17) samples tested revealed positive signal for CK-20. Two patients with CK-20 expression had BM metastasis or multiple bone involvement during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Although circulating tumor cells were detected in BM of small portion of patients with bone metastasis, CK-20 doesn't seem to be a reliable marker for the detection of micrometastasis in SCLC. This study emphasizes that identification of more specific marker for micromatastsis is mandatory prior to clinical application.
Bone Marrow* ; Cell Line ; Diagnosis ; Epithelial Cells ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Keratins ; Leukocytes ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis* ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma*

OBJECTIVE: Homeostasis of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is maintained by the action of a specific system of proteolytic enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP). The MMP/TIMP system regulates the composition and turnover of ECM to control the site and extent of connective tissue remodeling. In pathologic conditions, MMP play a key role in degradation of basement membrane and extracellular matrix, and is responsible for cancer invasion, progression and metastasis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between expressions of MMP/TIMP and clinicopathologic factors in endometrial cancer. METHODS: Expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 were assessed by immunohistochemistry in a total of 55 endometrial cancers and were analyzed by the correlation between expressions of MMP/TIMP and clinicopathologic factors in endometrial cancer. RESULTS: Expression rates of MMP-2,-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 were 71.7%, 54.9%, 41.2%, and 76.5% respectively. Expression of MMP-2 was correlated with the group of positive lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer (p=0.04). Specially, coexpression of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 was significantly more frequent in the group of positive lymph node metastasis (p<0.01) and the group of positive peritoneal CONCLUSION: The expressions of MMP and TIMP were not a significant difference in survival analysis, but this study was recognized that the coexpression MMP-2 and TIMP-2 is correlated with lymph node metastasis and positive peritoneal cytology.
Basement Membrane ; Connective Tissue ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Extracellular Matrix ; Female ; Homeostasis ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; Metalloproteases ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2

Krukenberg tumor is comparatively rate in metastatic ovarian tumor and is almost metastasized from gastrointestinal tract. We have experienced one case of tumor of unidentified primary focus and two coases of metastatic Krukenberg tmor from stomach and report this cases with a brief review of literatures.
Gastrointestinal Tract ; Krukenberg Tumor* ; Stomach

OBJECTIVE: Patients with schizophrenia are at a higher risk for developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, few studies have examined abdominal fat and mid-thigh low-density muscle areas, which are known risk factors for insulin resistance and T2DM, in patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, we measured the abdominal fat and mid-thigh low-density muscle areas of schizophrenics and compared them with normal controls. METHODS: Nineteen (four men and 15 women) drug-naive or -free subjects who met the DSM IV criteria for schizophrenia and 19 age- and sex-matched controls were recruited. We measured weight, height, waist circumference, and percent body fat, and calculated the body mass index (BMI). Abdominal fat and mid-thigh low-density muscle areas were evaluated using computed tomography. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in terms of age and BMI between the two groups. The areas of abdominal fat (262.4+/-101.8 vs. 257.1+/-93.8 cm2 ; p=0.919), subcutaneous fat (182.4+/-72.8 vs. 180.5+/-75.1 cm2 ; p=0.988), visceral fat (79.9+/-47.2 vs. 76.6+/-49.3 cm2 ; p=0.872), and mid-thigh low-density muscle (15.0+/-9.9 vs. 15.4+/-5.2 cm2, p=0.373) did not differ between schizophrenics and controls. CONCLUSION: Abdominal obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for developing certain medical conditions such as insulin resistance and T2DM. We demonstrated that drug-naive or- free patients with schizophrenia do not have increased visceral fat or mid-thigh low-density muscle areas, which might have explained the higher prevalence of insulin resistance and T2DM in these patients.
Abdominal Fat* ; Adipose Tissue ; Body Mass Index ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Male ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Schizophrenia* ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Waist Circumference

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clip reinforcement technique by circumferential wrapping with silastic sheet for the treatment of unclippable cerebral aneurysms and evaluate its long term follow-up results. METHODS: The nature of 26 unclippable aneurysms were as follow:12 blister-like superior wall aneurysm of internal carotid artery (ICA), 6 microaneurysms (<2 mm), 4 fusiform aneurysms, 4 broad-based aneurysms. After aneurysm and the parent artery are circumferentially wrapped by silastic sheet, aneurysm clips are positioned on the sheet with parallel to the parent artery. The mean follow-up period was 37 months (range, 3-140 months). RESULTS: 25 of 26 patients had a favorable outcome and one patient had a severe disabled due to severe vasospasm at 3 months after operation. Of the 21 patients who underwent immediate angiographic examination, stenosis of parent artery was detected in 6 patients and remnant of aneurysm in 4 patients. Asymptomatic occlusion of parent artery was observed in one patient on follow-up angiographic examination. 22 of 24 patients followed-up for a long time had a favorable outcome and 2 patients had a severe disabled (one patient was due to previous severe disabled and the other was due to thalamic intracerebral hematoma developed during the follow-up period). CONCLUSION: In our study, there was no clip reinforcement technique-related clinical complications such as rebleeding of aneurysm or ischemic event during follow-up period. Clip reinforcement technique by circumferential wrapping with silastic sheet is simple and useful method for the unclippable cerebral aneurysm.
Aneurysm ; Arteries ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm* ; Parents

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Since comorbidities are major determinants of modality choice, and also interact with dialysis modality on mortality outcomes, we examined the pattern of modality choice according to comorbidities and then evaluated how such choices affected mortality in incident dialysis patients. METHODS: We analyzed 32,280 incident dialysis patients in Korea. Patterns in initial dialysis choice were assessed by multivariate logistic regression analyses. Multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of interactions between comorbidities and dialysis modality on mortality and to quantify these interactions using the synergy factor. RESULTS: Prior histories of myocardial infarction (p = 0.031), diabetes (p = 0.001), and congestive heart failure (p = 0.003) were independent factors favoring the initiation with peritoneal dialysis (PD), but were associated with increased mortality with PD. In contrast, a history of cerebrovascular disease and 1-year increase in age favored initiation with hemodialysis (HD) and were related to a survival benefit with HD (p < 0.001, both). While favoring initiation with HD, having Medical Aid (p = 0.001) and male gender (p = 0.047) were related to increased mortality with HD. Furthermore, although the severity of comorbidities did not inf luence dialysis modality choice, mortality in incident PD patients was significantly higher compared to that in HD patients as the severity of comorbidities increased (p for trend < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Some comorbidities exerted independent effects on initial choice of dialysis modality, but this choice did not always lead to the best results. Further analyses of the pattern of choosing dialysis modality according to baseline comorbid conditions and related consequent mortality outcomes are needed.
Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Comorbidity ; Dialysis* ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mortality* ; Myocardial Infarction ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Renal Dialysis

PURPOSE: This study was designed to optimize the flip angle (FA) and scan timing of the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) using the 3D T1-weighted, gradient-echo (GRE) imaging with controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA) technique on gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3T liver MR imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-two patients who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3T liver MR imaging were included in this study. Four 3D T1-weighted GRE imaging studies using the CAIPIRINHA technique and FAs of 9° and 13° were acquired during HBP at 15 and 20 min after intravenous injection of gadoxetic acid. Two abdominal radiologists, who were blinded to the FA and the timing of image acquisition, assessed the sharpness of liver edge, hepatic vessel clarity, lesion conspicuity, artifact severity, and overall image quality using a five-point scale. Quantitative analysis was performed by another radiologist to estimate the relative liver enhancement (RLE) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: The scores of the HBP with an FA of 13° during the same delayed time were significantly higher than those of the HBP with an FA of 9° in all the assessment items (P < 0.01). In terms of the delay time, images at the same FA obtained with a 20-min-HBP showed better quality than those obtained with a 15-min-HBP. There was no significant difference in qualitative scores between the 20-min-HBP and the 15-min-HBP images in the non-liver cirrhosis (LC) group except for the hepatic vessel clarity score with 9° FA. In the quantitative analysis, a statistically significant difference was found in the degree of RLE in the four HBP images (P = 0.012). However, in the subgroup analysis, no significant difference in RLE was found in the four HBP images in either the LC or the non-LC groups. The SNR did not differ significantly in the four HBP images. In the subgroup analysis, 20-min-HBP imaging with a 13° FA showed the highest SNR value in the LC-group, whereas 15-min-HBP imaging with a 13° FA showed the best value of SNR in the non-LC group. CONCLUSION: The use of a moderately high FA improves the image quality and lesion conspicuity on 3D, T1-weighted GRE imaging using the CAIPIRINHA technique on gadoxetic acid, 3T liver MR imaging. In patients with normal liver function, the 15-min-HBP with a 13° FA represents a feasible option without a significant decrease in image quality.
Acceleration ; Artifacts ; Breath Holding ; Contrast Media ; Fibrosis ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Liver ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio