BACKGROUND: The infection rate of intestinal parasites has been abruptly decreased during a couple of decades, but the report that Clonorchis sinensis has been decreased in infection rate was not shown. Because Clonorchis sinensis could induce the serious complications such as cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, cholangiocarcinoma, authors thought that clonorchiasis requird early diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Therefore the authors surveyed the infection pattern of Clonorchis sinensis for inhabitants who lived in Miryang city, well-known as endemic area for a long time, located at lower basin of Nakdong river. METHODS: The 661 subjects that received workers health examination in Miryang Youngnam General Hospital from September to November, 1996, were surveyed by using questionnaire, skin test and stool egg examination. This questionnaire contained history, duration, frequency of raw freshwater fish ingestion, history and treatment of clonorchiasis, history of other hepatic disease. The authors performed laboratory examination to 54 stool egg positive subjects. RESULTS: Among 661 subjects, the stool egg positive subjects were 54 and showed 8.2% in infection rate. In male(8.9%), stool egg positive rate was higher than female(4.9%). As age increased, stool egg positive rate also increased. Compared to the age group less than 30, stool egg positive rate was higher among age group 30 or over, particularly, in age group 50 or over, stool egg positive rate showed highest infection rate, 31.6%. And stool egg positive rate was increased according to increase of period, frequency of raw freshwater fish ingestion. Subjects with history of clonorchiasis and administrating Praziquantel had higher infection rate than the other subjects without the history. CONCLUSIONS: In this survey, the authors thought that high risk factors of clonorchiasis were male, age of 30 or over(particularly age of 50 or over), more than 10 years in raw freshwater fish ingestion period, more than twice per month in raw freshwater fish ingestion frequency. Then people having these risk factors must be performed various examinations for clonorchiasis, although they had not clinical symptoms, signs and abnormal laboratory findings.
Cholangiocarcinoma ; Cholecystitis ; Cholelithiasis ; Clonorchiasis ; Clonorchis sinensis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Eating ; Fresh Water ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Praziquantel ; Risk Factors ; Rivers* ; Skin Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Although it is widely accepted that exercise is beneficial in patients with end-stage renal disease as in the general population, it is not easy to incorporate exercise programs into routine clinical practice. This review aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of exercise during hemodialysis and also to introduce various intradialytic exercise programs and their advantages as a first step in combining exercise programs into clinical practice. Aerobic and resistance exercise are beneficial not only in improving physical functioning, including maximal oxygen uptake and muscle strength, but also in improving anthropometrics, nutritional status, hematological indexes, inflammatory cytokines, depression, and health-related quality of life. However, it is not clear whether the beneficial effects of exercise are limited to only relatively healthy dialysis patients. Therefore, the effects of individualized exercise programs for elderly patients or patients with comorbid conditions need to be studied further.
Aged ; Cytokines ; Depression ; Dialysis ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Muscle Strength ; Nutritional Status ; Oxygen ; Quality of Life ; Renal Dialysis ; Resin Cements

Cervical pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic gestation in which the blastocyst implants in the cervical mucosa below the histologic cervical os. Because of the serious vaginal bleeding, hysterectomy was usually done in the management of cervical pregnancy. Howerver, conservative treatment is desirable for women who want to be pregnancy in the future. Methotrexate has been utilized recently for conservative management of cervical pregnancy. We report a case of cervical pregnancy which was treated succesfully with intramuscular methotrexate injection.
Blastocyst ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Methotrexate* ; Mucous Membrane ; Pregnancy* ; Uterine Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the injury mechanism in patients who had peroneal neuropathy after a tibio-fibular fracture and the correlation between tibio-fibular fracture location and the severity of the peroneal neuropathy by using electrodiagnosis. METHOD: Thirty-four patients with peroneal neuropathy after a tibio-fibular fracture were recruited for this study. Their medical records, radiologic and electrodiagnostic findings were investigated retrospectively. They were divided into 2 groups according to the existence of a fibular head fracture. The group of patients without the fibular head fracture was further classified according to the criteria of Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA) classification. The differences between the two groups in the severity of the neuropathy and electrodiagnostic findings were evaluated. RESULTS: Nine cases (26.5%) had tibio-fibular fractures with a coexisting fibular-head fracture and 25 cases (73.5%) had tibio-fibular fractures without fractures in the fibular-head area. There was no statistical significance in the correlation between the existence of the fibular head fracture and the severity of the electrodiagnostic findings. Neither was there any statistically significant relationship between the site of the tibio-fibular fracture and the severity of the peroneal neuropathy (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed there were numerous cases with common peroneal neuropathy after tibiofibular fracture without a coexisting fibular-head fracture, which shows the importance of indirect nerve injury mechanisms as well as that of direct nerve injury as a cause of peroneal neuropathy. In addition, this study showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between the site of tibio-fibular fracture and the severity of peroneal neuropathy.
Head ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Orthopedics ; Peroneal Neuropathies ; Retrospective Studies ; Tibial Fractures

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the arteiovenous fistula effects on peripheral nerve in patients with chronic renal failure by nerve conduction studies. METHOD: Nerve conduction studies were performed in 23 patients with chronic renal failure. We not only measured distal latencies, amplitudes, and conduction velocities of median and ulnar motor nerves but also measured same parameters of radial sensory nerves at both upper limbs. In case of pateints with suspected peripheral polyneuropathy, we checked peripheral nerves at one lower limb. The results of nerve conduction studies and the frequency of cubital tunnel syndrome or carpal tunnel syndrome were compared between arteiovenous fistula side and non-arteiovenous fistula side. RESULTS: The amplitudes of median motor, ulnar motor nerves and radial sensory nerve in arteiovenous fisula side are statistically lower than those in non-arteiovenous fisula side (p<0.05). In the 14 patients with peripheral polyneu ropathy, the difference is also statistically significant between two sides (p<0.05). Compared arteiovenous fisula side with non-arteiovenous fisula side, the frequency of cubital tunnel syndrome or carpal tunnel syndrome was not different between two sides. CONCLUSION: Arteiovenous fisula may damage to the peripheral nerve in patients with chronic renal failure.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Cubital Tunnel Syndrome ; Fistula* ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Lower Extremity ; Neural Conduction ; Peripheral Nerves* ; Polyneuropathies ; Upper Extremity

PURPOSE: To report 2 cases of retinal hemorrhage due to anemia and thrombocytopenia in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. CASE SUMMARY: (Case 1) A 45-year-old female with alcoholic cirrhosis who was treated in the gastroenterology department presented with reduced vision in both eyes. Fundus examination showed multiple preretinal and subretinal hemorrhages with macular involvement in both eyes. Hematological findings revealed severe anemia and thrombocytopenia. One month after the transfusion treatment her visual acuity was improved and retinal hemorrhages resolved. (Case 2) A 47-year-old male presented with painless loss of vision in the left eye 3 days after orthotopic liver transplantation for the treatment of alcoholic cirrhosis. Fundus examination showed preretinal hemorrhages in both eyes with macular involvement in the left eye. During the transplantation, hematological findings revealed severe anemia and thrombocytopenia. Three months after the transfusion treatment his visual acuity was improved and retinal hemorrhages nearly completely resolved. CONCLUSIONS: Hematological abnormalities due to alcoholic cirrhosis can cause retinal hemorrhage. In the present cases the retinal hemorrhages were resorbed and the visual acuity recovered.
Alcoholics* ; Anemia ; Female ; Gastroenterology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic* ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retinal Hemorrhage* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Thrombocytopenia ; Vision, Low ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: To identify the influence of lymphedema on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) more than 1 year after breast cancer surgery. METHODS: Ninety-six breast cancer patients who survived more than 1 year after surgery and 104 members of the general population were recruited. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of lymphedema. HRQOL was evaluated with the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in any scales between groups: groups of breast cancer survivors with and without lymphedema. Compared with the general population, breast cancer survivors had lower quality of life scores in all scales, although the vitality and mental health scales did not differ from chance variation at the 5% level. CONCLUSION: In this study, the presence of lymphedema in breast cancer patients who survived over 1 year after surgery might not affect the quality of life. However quality of life of breast cancer survivors is lower than in general population except for some mental health components.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Humans ; Lymphedema ; Mental Health ; Quality of Life ; Survivors ; Weights and Measures

Mesenteric lymphangioma was first recognized when an autopsy case was recorded in 1507 by Benevieni. It has been known clinically rare disease and probably a congenital developmental abnormality due to failure of drainage of peripheral primary lymphatic spaces. We experienced a case of abnormal rotation in intestine by mesenteric lymphangioma in a 8 years old male who showed vomiting and abdominal pain. A brief review of related literatures is also presented.
Abdominal Pain ; Autopsy ; Child ; Drainage ; Humans ; Intestines ; Lymphangioma* ; Male ; Rare Diseases ; Vomiting

Acute limb compartment syndrome (ALCS) is defined as compound symptoms resulting from poor oxygenation and decreased nutrition supply to muscles and nerves in a tightly confined compartment. The most common cause of ALCS is tibia fracture, followed by blunt trauma to soft tissue. However, non-traumatic causes are rare. We report an iatrogenic, non-traumatic ALCS case after venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygen (VA-ECMO) therapy. A 14-year-old male received VA-ECMO therapy due to cardiorespiratory failure after drowning. Although he had no symptoms during therapy, leg swelling appeared 10 hours after ECMO treatment. Two days after the leg swelling, the patient underwent a fasciotomy. Unfortunately, nerve conduction studies and electromyography showed multiple neuropathies in the lower leg. Despite 2 weeks of rehabilitation with electrical stimulation, an exercise program, and physical therapy, there was no definite change in muscle strength. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of non-traumatic ALCS after VA-ECMO therapy in Korea.
Adolescent ; Anterior Compartment Syndrome ; Compartment Syndromes* ; Drowning ; Electric Stimulation ; Electromyography ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* ; Extremities* ; Humans ; Korea ; Leg ; Male ; Membranes ; Muscle Strength ; Muscles ; Neural Conduction ; Oxygen ; Rehabilitation ; Tibia

Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology involving the thoracic and abdominal aorta and its major branches. In some cases other vessel such as renal arteries, coronary arteries, and even pulmonary arteries may be involved. Total aortography is very important, because the clinical features are determined by the extent and severity of the specific artery involved in the occlusive phase of the disease. We report a case of Takayasu's arteritis type IV in a 38 year man with pulmonary arterial involvement and pulmo-nary hypertension.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Aortography ; Arteries ; Arteritis* ; Coronary Vessels ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pulmonary* ; Pulmonary Artery ; Renal Artery ; Takayasu Arteritis*