PURPOSE: To determine the clinical and demographic factors associated with long-term remission of valproate(VPA) therapy in childhood absence epilepsy. METHODS: Fifty-six cases of childhood and juvenile absence epilepsy were identified by reviewing of Electroencephalographic records and medical charts. Thirty-six cases were initially treated with VPA. Factor associated with responsiveness were identified by uni- and mutivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patient achieved long-term remission(75%). Failure to achieve remission was more likely if the initial treatment of VPA had failed than if it was successful(53% versus 90.4%, P<0.02) was also associated with failure of long-term remission. Lamotrigine was more efficacious add-on drug than Ethosuximide(63.6% vs 25% P=0.04). CONCLUSION: Long-term seizure remission was related to the patient's initial response to VPA.
Demography ; Epilepsy ; Epilepsy, Absence ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Seizures ; Triazines ; Valproic Acid

BACKGROUND: The infrarenal abdominal aorta and the iliac arteries are the most common sites of chronic atherosclerosis in patients with symptomatic occlusive disease of the lower extremities. Direct anatomic reconstruction is the standard surgical treatment for a patient with aortoiliac occlusive disease, but extraanatomic bypass is used in patients with high cardiac or other risks. The purpose of this study was to compare the operative results of direct anatomic reconstruction with those an extraanatomic bypass and to select the optimal surgical treatment according to the preoperative risk. METHOD: The cases of 40 patients who received vascular reconstruction for aortoiliac occlusive disease between January 1995 and October 1997 were reviewed. The patients were classified in two groups: a direct anatomic reconstruction group and an extraanatomic bypass group. Operative risks were analyzed by the scoring system recommended by the Subcommittee on Reporting Standards for Lower Extremity Ischemia of International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery (ISCVS). Graft patency, operative mortality, and morbidity were also analyzed for the two groups. RESULT: There was no significant difference in operative risk (p>0.05) between the two groups, but the result of graft patency was better and the postoperative morbidity was less in direct anatomic reconstruction group. There was no postoperative mortality in either group. CONCLUSION: According to this study, direct anatomical reconstruction was superior to extraanatomic bypass inspite of same operative risks.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Atherosclerosis ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Ischemia ; Lower Extremity ; Mortality ; Transplants

PURPOSE: Moyamoya disease is a chronic cerebrovascular illness characterized by bilateral stenoses or occlusions of the arteries around the circle of Willis with prominent collateral circulation. We studied 36 children and adolescents with Moyamoya disease to evaluate the clinical features and outcomes. METHODS: Records were reviewed of 36 pediatric patients admitted at the Busan Paik Hospital for Moyamoya disease between January 2000 and July 2007. The clinical records were reviewed in terms of the patient profiles, imaging findings, surgical techniques, and pathologic findings. RESULTS: Overall clinical features, responses to treatment and outcome were nearly same as those of other previous reports in Korea as well as the other countries. The mean age of onset was 8 years and 5 months and the ratio of male to female was 1:1.2. Ischemia was more often than infarction(5.6: 1). Half of the patients had conservative therapy and 17 cases(47%) were treated with EDAS. CONCLUSION: The clinical features of childhood Moyamoya disease are similar to the result from other studies in Korea.
Adolescent* ; Age of Onset ; Arteries ; Busan ; Child* ; Circle of Willis ; Collateral Circulation ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Korea ; Male ; Moyamoya Disease*

The association between blood lead children and Intelligent Quotient(IQ) was investigated in a sample of l00 boys and girls aged 6-8 years from one primary school within an industrial area of Pusan. The trained undergraduates in school of public health administered an I.Q. test one by one. Parents answered a questionnaire on demographic, perinatal and socioeconomic variables. Atomic Absorbtion spectrophotometer was used to determine blood lead levels. The geometric mean of blood lead value was 7.99 microgram/dl. In total children, there was no significant relationship between blood lead level and I.Q. But in the children who were born of gestational age of less than 38 weeks, children with higher levels of blood lead performed more poorly on I.Q. test with correlation coefficient from -0.68 to -0.71. But, the children who were born of gestational age of 38 weeks and more were same as total children. These results suggest that exposure to low levels of lead in the children who were born premature probably may result in impaired intelligent development. But, we think that more profound study should be performed with sufficient numbers of subjects.
Busan ; Child* ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Intelligence* ; Parents ; Public Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been recently reported that celiac ganglia can be identified by linear-array endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Still, there has been no report on the detection rate of celiac ganglia with radial scanning EUS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the detection rate of celiac ganglia by radial scanning echoendoscopy during a routine examination. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 57 consecutive patients (23 men, 34 women; mean age 54 years, range 21-78 years) who were referred for EUS examination from September 2006 to December 2006. EUS was performed using a radial scanning echoendoscope. The size, location and EUS appearance of the celiac ganglia were recorded for each patient. RESULTS: Celiac ganglia were identified in 51 out of 57 patients (89.4%). They were identified at the left side of the celiac trunk and aorta and between the celiac artery and the left adrenal gland. They appeared as hypoechoic, oblong or lobulated structures, often with an irregular edge, and they often contained a hyperechoic focus or strand. The mean size was 18 mm by 4 mm. Structures corresponding to the visualized celiac ganglia were retrospectively identified on CT scans in 33 among the 37 patients (89.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that celiac ganglia could be identified, with radial scanning EUS, in the majority of subjects.
Adult ; Aged ; Endosonography/*methods ; Female ; Ganglia, Sympathetic/radiography/*ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Reproducibility of Results ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: To review the clinical and laboratory features of patients with Wilson disease at diagnosis. METHODS: In this retrospective study, records of all 20 patients, who were diagnosed as having Wilson disease at the Paik hospital in Busan from 1990 to 2000, were reviewed. RESULTS: Out of 20 patients, 12 pateints (60%) have hepatic presentation alone, 2 patients (10%) have neurologic presentation, 4 patients (20%) have hepatic and neuropsychiatric presentation, and one patient (5%) has hematologic presentation at diagnosis. One patient (5%) has neither symptom nor laboratory finding of Wilson disease except very low serum ceruloplasmin level and positive family history. Family screening test revealed 3 cases of Wilson disease. 12 patients were revealed to be combined with liver cirrhosis at diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and treatment is very important in patients with Wilson disease. Children or adolescents who manifest symptoms of hepatitis, who has prolonged elevation of liver enzymes, and has family history of hapatitis of unknown origin, with mild hematologic or urinary abnormalities must be suspected to have Wilson disease. Also, in adolescents with extrapyramidal symptoms or other neuropsychiatric symptoms, liver function test should be done.
Adolescent ; Busan ; Ceruloplasmin ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Hepatitis ; Hepatolenticular Degeneration* ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Function Tests ; Mass Screening ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: An anastomotic leak after resection of rectal cancer is a omnious complication. The diverting stoma is performed to avoid this serious complication. However, a diverting stoma and a stoma reversal are associated with significant morbidity and a small mortality. As stoma-related complications are associated with a delay of adjuvant therapy for advanced rectal cancer, minimal stoma-related morbidity is mandatory for rectal cancer patients. A safe and simple dissection of the stoma is known to be associated with less morbidity at stoma closure. Since in a loop colostomy of a not everted fashion, it is easy to construct and dissect the peristomal site at colostomy reversal, this study evaluated the usefulness of a protective loop colostomy of a not everted fashion in rectal cancer. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of 71 cases of loop colostomy closure for rectal cancer between January 1996 and December 2004. The clinical data, including indications for the stoma, the clinicopathologic features of the patients and their general conditions, the data for patients receiving adjuvant therapy, stoma-related morbidity, stoma-closure-related morbidity, and perioperative data were examined. RESULTS: Indications for stoma creation are the discretion of the surgeon (n=22), poor bowel preparation (n=21), unstable anastomosis (n=16), bowel obstruction (n=6), and anastomotic leakage (n=6). The stoma-related morbidity rate for a non-eversion colostomy was 5.6%. Morbidity events were peristomal erythema (n=2), prolapse (n=1), and parastomal hernia (n=1) requiring surgery. The stoma-closure-related morbidity rates was 9.9%. In the 45 patients undergoing adjuvant therapy, colostomy closure was performed during adjuvant therapy in 39 patients. Major complications, such as anastomotic leakage or abscess following reversal of the non-eversion colostomy, occurred in 1 of the 71 patients (1.4%). The average operating time and the blood loss for clostomy closure were 89.5 minutes and 202.3 ml, respectively. A simple closure of the loop colostomy was performed in 51 patients (71.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, a non-eversion colostomy may be considered due to the ease of construction and reversal if a temporary diverting stoma for rectal cancer is indicated.
Abscess ; Anastomotic Leak ; Colostomy* ; Erythema ; Hernia ; Humans ; Mortality ; Prolapse ; Rectal Neoplasms*

In the rat lumbar spinal cord, the pathways and distribution of corticospinal tract (CST) axons were investigated using retrograde transport of Fast Blue(FB) and Fluoro-Gold(FG). The purpose of this study was, therefore, to fond the extent of CST projections in the lateral funiculus in the rat. Total of twelve female rats were used in this study. The laminectomy was performed at the 78 cord level to expose the spinal cord. Using a radiofrequency lesioning device, the CST, including the dorsal columns, were lesioned bilaterally. Three to seven days after lesioning, two laminectomies were performed at C6-8 and L3-5 to expose the spinal cord for dye injections. Retrograde tracing of fast blue(FB) and fluoro-gold(FG) were used to quantitate the number of cerebral cortex neurons projecting to the lumbar cord through tracts other than the CST in the dorsal column. New findings of the this study are : (1) a small number of CST axons projected to lumbosacral spinal cord bilaterally in the dorsolateral funiculi. (2) some axons projecting to the lumbar cord through the dorsolateral funiculi are collateral of neuron that project to the cervical spinal cord. Our results suggest that there are a larger number of CSTs than previously thought projecting to the lumbar spinal cord through the lateral funiculi. These residual tracts may play a role in the functional recovery of the affected limbs.
Animals ; Axons ; Cerebral Cortex ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Neurons ; Pyramidal Tracts* ; Rats* ; Spinal Cord*

PURPOSE: The optimal chemotherapeutic strategy for gastric cancer patients has not been determined, especially with respect to stage and the curability of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of adjuvant chemotherapy on stage IV (T4N1-3M0 and T1-3N3M0) gastric cancer after curative gastrectomy between a chemotherapy (CTX) group and non-chemotherapy (non-CTX) group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 1,760 patients who underwent gastric surgery by 1 surgeon in a single institution, 162 stage IV gastric cancer patients with curative gastrectomy were analyzed retrospectively, excluding patients with TanyNanyM1. One hundred twenty-five patients who received different chemotherapeutic regimens were compared to 37 patients who did not receive chemotherapy for reasons of old age or according to their expressed desire. RESULTS: The clinicopathologic factors which showed a clinically significant difference between the two groups were age and histology, which were not associated with patient survival. The CTX group was younger, and had a larger proportion of undifferentiated gastric cancers than the non-CTX group. The mode of treatment failure revealed no significant difference between the CTX and non-CTX groups. The 1, 3, and 5-year disease-free survival and the 1, 3, and 5-year disease-specific survival of the CTX group were 63.9%, 38.4%, and 32.0%, and 85.4%, 52.3%, and 39.6%, respectively, which were more favorable than the non-CTX group (p=0.015 and p=0.001, respectively). Postoperative adjuvant CTX was an independent risk factor for disease-specific survival of stage IV (T4N1-3M0 and T1-3N3M0) gastric cancer patients after curative gastrectomy by multivariate analysis (odds ratio=2.153; 95% confidence interval=1.349-3.435; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant CTX may be associated with survival benefit for younger patients with stage IV (T4N1-3M0 and T1-3N3M0) gastric cancer with undifferentiated histology after curative gastrectomy. A randomized controlled trial to reveal the effect of stage-specific adjuvant chemotherapy should be conducted.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Treatment Failure

PURPOSE: To statistically evaluate the contributing role of the 3 radiographic factors (Obliquity, Asymmetry, Joint deviation) of the hallux valgus interphalangeus with comparison to the normal control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study is based on the standing foot AP radiographs of the 77 feet (56 patients) of the hallux valgus interphalangeus out of 119 feet of randomly sampled patients of the age range 20 to 60. Fractures or other foot disorders have been excluded. Obliquity, asymmetry and joint deviation factors formed by proximal and distal phalanges of hallux are measured by one observer and evaluated the statistical significance of the contribution of the 3 factors to the hallux interphalangeal angle (HIA). RESULTS: The average age of the patients were 36.0 years old and average HIA was 14.5 degrees +/- 2.8 degrees. Obliquity was measured 4.8 degrees +/- 2.90 degrees, asymmetry 8.2 degrees +/- 3.28 degrees and joint deviation 2.0 degrees +/- 1.85 degrees. All 3 factors showed the statistical significance as the contributing factors to the HIA and among them, the asymmetry played the biggest role (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hallux interphalangeal angle is formed by 3 radiographic factors (Obliquity, Asymmetry, Joint deviation), and among them the asymmetry factor plays the biggest role.
Foot ; Hallux Valgus* ; Hallux* ; Humans ; Joints