BACKGROUND: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis(MDR-TB) in patients is mainly caused by acquired drug resistance, However, a small proportion of MDR-TB is caused by initial drug resistance(IDR), which may be somewhat different from acquired drug resistance. This study analyzed the clinical characteristics of IDR in MDR-TB patients to use the results as basic data in managing the disease. METHODS: A retrospective study of 30 IDR cases in MDR-TB patients from Jan. 1995 to Dec. 1998 was perormed. In order to analyzed the clinical charcteristics, the age, sex, family history, duration of negative conversion, number of resistant drugs, treatment regimens, duration of treatment, extent of disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray was examined. In order too analyzed the level of improvement, the extent of the disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray, tested by Wilcoxon signed rank sum test, and the disease free interval rate of 1-year and 4-year was examined using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 46.6 years and the sex ratio 1:1. Six(20%) patients had a family history. The mean negative conversin of the sputum AFB stain was 2.6 months. The number of resistant drugs was 7.6 and the number of used drugs 3.6. Twenty-three(67%) patients were treated for less than 12months and 28(93%) patients were treated with first-line drugs. The extent of the disease and the cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray improved after treatment(p<0.05). Among 13 patients who were followed up for 22.6 months, 2(15%) patients relapsed and the disease free interval rate of 1-year and 4-year was 85%. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that the duration of treatment of IDR in MDR-TB with first-line drugs be 9-12 months even if the extent of disease and cavitary lesion on the chest X-ray improves.
Drug Resistance* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant

Transient increases in blood pressure and heart rate(HR) at the end of anesthesia and during extubation are common. Tomori and Widdicombe observed that mechanical stimulation of four areas of the upper respiratory tract (nose, epipharynx, laryngopharynx, tracheobnchial tree) induced reflex cardiovascular responses associated with enhanced neuronal activity in the cervical sympathetic efferent fibers. In susceptible patients, even this short period of hypertension and tachycardia can result in myocardial ischemia or increased intracranial pressure. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the effect of esmolol in attenuating cardiovascular responses to extubation under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. A sixty healthy patients who underwent elective noncardiac operation under general anesthesia (N2O-O2-enflurane) with endotracheal intubation were randomly divided into two groups : one was placebo group that received intravenous injection of 0.1 cc/kg normal saline, the other was esmolol group that received intravenous injection of 1 mg/kg esmolol. Extubation was performed when the patients could breathe spontaneously and open their eyes on command. In practice extubation was done between 2 and 4 minutes after drug(esmolol or saline) injection. The measurement of systolic blood pressure and heart rate was obtained one minute before extubation and every minute for 5 minutes after extubation, then rate-pressure product was calculated. The results were as follows; 1) When compared to pre-extubation systolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure for 2 minutes after extubation in both groups increased significantly but systolic blood pressure was more rapidly returned to pre-extubation level in the esmolol group than in the placebo group. When compared to pre-extubation systolic blood pressure, after extubation the number of patients in whom systolic blood pressure increased more than 20% was significantly fewer in the esmolol group than in the saline group. 2) When compared to pre-extubation heart rate, heart rate at 1 minute after extubation in the placebo group increased significantly but heart rate after extubation in the esmolol group did not change significantly. 3) When compared to pre-extubation rate-pressure product, rate-pressure product for 2 minutes after extubation in both group increased significantly. At 4 minutes after extubation, rate-pressure product in the saline group increased significantly when compared to rate-pressure product in the esmolol group. These results suggest that intravenous injection of 1 mg/kg esmolol before extubation blocks heart rate elevation following extubation under general anesthesia and is effective for rapid return to the pre-extubation level of systolic blood pressure.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Blood Pressure ; Heart ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypopharynx ; Injections, Intravenous ; Intracranial Pressure ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Neurons ; Reflex ; Respiratory System ; Tachycardia

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensory and motor nerve block achieved by epidural anesthesia using 0.475% ropivacaine and 0.75% ropivacaine. METHODS: Fifty-six patients undergoing cesarean section were randomly allocated to group I (0.75% ropivacaine) or group II (0.475% ropivacaine). We assessed changes in sensory and motor block using the Bromage scale over 180 minutes after epidural anesthesia. The incidence of nausea, vomiting and the total dosage of ephedrine used were also recorded. Sensory changes, motor blockade and the total dosage of ephedrine used were compared using the t-test (P < 0.05). RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the two groups at the sensory block level except at 30 and 60 minutes after epidural anesthesia. However, the motor blockade of group I was significantly more intense than that of group II at 15, 20, 25, 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after epidural anesthesia. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in the incidences of nausea, vomiting or the total dosage of ephedrine used. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 0.475% ropivacaine instead of 0.75% ropivacaine in epidural anesthesia for cesarean section did not reduce the incidence of nausea, vomiting or the total dosage of ephedrine used. The sensory block achieved using 0.75% ropivacaine was similar, but the motor blockade achieved using 0.475% ropivacaine was less intense with a shorter duration and an earlier recovery to normal than that of 0.75% ropivacaine. These results suggest that 0.475% ropivacaine may be more useful in epidural anesthesia for cesarean section than 0.75% ropivacaine.
Anesthesia, Epidural* ; Cesarean Section* ; Ephedrine ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Nerve Block* ; Pregnancy ; Vomiting

Hemorrhagic radiation proctitis is infrequently seen in patients receiving pelvic irradiation. The treatment of hemorrhagic ralation proctitis is often difficult. Many patients need reyeated hospitalizations and blood transfusions. Occasionally patiets will develop severe or recurrent rectal bleeding. In case of massive bleeding requiring excessive transfusion, colonic diversion by construction of a colostomy or excision of the diseased segment may be inevitable. However, surgical procedures in these patients are associated with a high mortality and morbidity. Moreover, medical therapy is usually ineffective. Recently formalin therapy has been introduced as a simple and effective treatment for hemorrhagic radiation proctitis. We experienced a 69 year-old woman patient who developed severe homorrhagic proctitis 1 year after radiotherapy for carcinoma of the cervix. She had not improved by conservative management and required blood tranafusions and repetitive hospitalizations. After local application of a 4% formalin solution in the diseased rectum under caudal anesthesia, the bleeding immediately stopped and the patient was discharged from the hospital, and no recurrence has been observed until now.
Aged ; Anesthesia, Caudal ; Blood Transfusion ; Cervix Uteri ; Colon ; Colostomy ; Female ; Formaldehyde* ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Mortality ; Proctitis* ; Radiotherapy ; Rectum ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the use of measurements of liver stiffness (LS) by two-dimensional real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) for predicting the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). METHODS: We retrospectively collected data on 291 enrolled patients with CHB whose LS had been measured using SWE. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 46.8 years; males predominated (67%), and 40 of the patients (14%) had clinical cirrhosis. Among the patients, 165 (56.7%) received antiviral treatment. The median LS value was 7.4 kPa, and the median follow-up period was 35.8 months (range, 3.0 to 52.8 months). During follow-up, HCC developed in 13 patients (4.5%), and the cumulative incidence rates of HCC at 1, 2, and 4 years were 1.1%, 3.6%, and 8.4%, respectively. Based on a multivariate analysis, older age (≥50 years) and higher LS value (≥10 kPa) were independently associated with the risk of developing HCC (hazard ratio [HR], 4.53, p=0.023; and HR, 4.08, p=0.022). The cumulative incidence rate of HCC was significantly higher in patients with higher LS values (≥10 kPa) than in those with lower LS values ( < 10 kPa) (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Increased LS measured by SWE at any time point regardless of antiviral treatment is associated with an increased risk of HCC in patients with CHB.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques* ; Fibrosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies

In order to investigate the risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity[ROP], we retropspectively reviewed the medical records of 425 premature babies who had been admitted in our neonate intensive care unit between January 1994 and December 1998.After excluding 33 babies who had serious congenital anomalies, 83 out of 392 babies[20.7%]developed various stages of ROP.Gestational age and birthweight were the most significant risk factors. Among postnatal factors use of ventilator for 48 hours orlonger, apnea, and use of surfactant were independently increasing the progression of ROP in a linear logistic regression analysis.Other factors such as history of transfusion and sepsis had a tendency to worsen the retinopathy.On the other hand, fluctuation in blood gas, low apgar score or anemia did not seem to effect the progression of retinopathy. In conclusion, careful monitoring would be warrented when the premature babies had additional risk factors as listed above.
Anemia ; Apgar Score ; Apnea ; Birth Weight ; Gestational Age ; Hand ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care Units ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Retinopathy of Prematurity* ; Risk Factors* ; Sepsis ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Benign tumors of the trachea are rare and are usually misdiagnosed as bronchial asthma because of the similarity of the symptoms and signs. Although the prognosis of neurofibroma which originats from Schwann cells is good, it may recur or undergo malignant change, so segmental resection of the trachea is recommended. Recently, we experienced a case of primary neurofibroma of the trachea treated successfully by segmental resection of the trachea and end-to-end anastomosis. We report it with a brief review of literatures.
Asthma ; Neurofibroma* ; Prognosis ; Schwann Cells ; Trachea* ; Tracheal Neoplasms

A 22-year-old female developed sudden loss of consciousness about 15 hours after bilateral femur shaft fracture. The cerebral fat embolism was suspected, but brain CT showed no abnormality. After recovery from comatous mental state which persisted about a month, brain MRI was perfomed and demonstrated scattered small lesions on periventricular white matter which appeared low signals on T1 and high signals on T2-weighted images. The follow-up MRI was taken at about 5 month after admission, when the patient recovered completely without any residual neurologic deficits, and it showed disappearance of previously noted lesions. We suggest MRI is valuable for detecting the lesions in patients with cerebral fat embolism.
Brain ; Embolism, Fat* ; Female ; Femur ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Unconsciousness ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to determine the effectiveness of primary repair of arcuate ligament complex in posterolateral rotary instability of knee. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records and operative notes of 9 patients who were treated by primary repair for the acute posterolateral rotary instability and followed more than 1 year. All the 9 knees had a positive external rotation recurvatum test and a positive posterolateral drawer test, One or more components of the arcuate ligament complex were injured in all cases and associated injuries were posterior cruciate ligament rupture in 6, lateral collateral ligament in 5, anterior cruciate ligament partial rupture in 2, biceps femoris rupture in 2, meniscus tear in 3, iliotibial band rupture in 1, ipsilateral femur fracture in 1 and peroneal nerve palsy in 1. RESULTS: By objective rating index, the results were classified as good (4 patients), fair (4 patients) and poor (1 patient). By functionally, the results were classified as good (6 patients), fair (3 patients). CONCLUSIONS: Consequently, we believe that primary repair of arcuate ligament complex in acute stage can result in objectively and functionally acceptable knee function.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Femur ; Humans ; Knee* ; Lateral Ligament, Ankle ; Ligaments ; Paralysis ; Peroneal Nerve ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; Rupture

Amyloidosis is characterized by deposition of homogenous, eosinophilic, hyaline material in various tissues. Presently, most cases occur in a generalized form as a manifestation of an underlying plasma cell neoplasm(myeloma) or plasmacytic dyscrasia. On the other hand, most cases of symptomatic amyloid disease in the urinary bladder has occurred as an apparently solitary, localized tumefactive process and mimicks invasive bladder tumor. We report a case of primary amyloidosis of the bladder which was diagnosed after transurethral resection in a 65-year-old man with chronic renal failure.
Aged ; Amyloid ; Amyloidosis* ; Eosinophils ; Hand ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Plasma Cells ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder*