A rare case of carpal tunnel syndrome caused by a thrombosed persistent median artery is presented here. The diagnosis was delayed due to the overlapping cervical radiculopathy. Acute severe pain and nocturnal paresthesia were chief complaints. Ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography angiography revealed that the median nerve was compressed by the occluded median artery. Instead of surgery, conservative therapy was tried. It worked well for six months. The importance of using modalities for decision making of diagnosis and treatment is emphasized in this report.

Subdural injection of epidural anesthesia is rare and is usually undiagnosed during epidural anesthesia causing severely delayed maternal hypotension, hypoxia, and fetal distress. A 38-year-old primiparous woman was administered epidural labor analgesia at 40(+6) weeks' gestation, and developed progressive maternal respiratory depression, bradycardia, and hypotension after accidental subdural administration of the anesthetic agent. Furthermore, fetal distress occurred soon after administration. The patient was managed with oxygen, position changes, fluid resuscitation, and ephedrine. Intrauterine fetal resuscitation was successfully performed with atropine before cesarean section, and a healthy baby was delivered. Although subdural injection is uncommon, this case emphasizes the importance of anesthesiologists monitoring patients for a sufficient period after epidural labor analgesia, and being prepared to perform maternal or fetal resuscitation.
Analgesia ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anoxia ; Atropine ; Bradycardia ; Cesarean Section ; Ephedrine ; Female ; Fetal Distress ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Oxygen ; Pregnancy ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Resuscitation ; Subdural Space

Heat and moisture exchanger filters (HMEF), used for humidification of patient respiratory gas and filtering microorganisms can cause airway obstruction. We experienced serious airway obstruction in a HMEF after making hydrothorax for high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) procedure. The airway obstruction was difficult to differentiate from severe bronchospasm irresponsive to bronchodilator therapy. It was relieved dramatically after we removed the filter from the breathing circuit as soon as we detected air-fluid meniscus in it.
Airway Obstruction ; Bronchial Spasm ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Hydrothorax ; Respiration

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Platelet activation and aggregation, with resultant arterial thrombus formation, play pivotal roles in the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The efficacy of tirofiban, a specific inhibitor of the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor, combined with heparin, or low molecular heparin (LMWH), in the management of ACS were evaluated. SUBJECTS AND MEHTODS: One hundred seventeen patients (60.8+/-10.9 years, 76 male), with unstable angina or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, who had ST-T changes and elevated troponin, were divided into 4 groups : Group I (n=30 : heparin alone), Group II (n=28 : LMWH, dalteparin alone), Group III (n=29 : tirofiban combined with heparin) and Group IV (n=30 : tirofiban with LMWH). The major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among the 4 groups, during 6-month clinical follow-ups, were compared. RESULTS: Percutaneous coronary intervention, or a coronary artery bypass graft, was performed in 23, 19, 19 and 22 patients from Groups I, II, III and IV, respectively (p=0.87). A minor bleeding complication developed in 2 (6.7%), 1 (3.6%), 1 (3.4%) and 2 patients (6.7%) in groups I, II, III and IV, respectively (p=0.79). During the six-month follow-up MACE occurred in 7 (30.4%), 6 (31.6%), 3 (15.8%) and 4 patients (18.2%) in groups I, II, III and IV, respectively (p=0.02 : Group I and II vs. Group III and IV). CONCLUSION: Tirofiban combined with LMWH is safe and may improve the long-term prognosis of patients with ACS.
Acute Coronary Syndrome* ; Angina, Unstable ; Angioplasty ; Blood Platelets* ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Dalteparin ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glycoproteins* ; Hemorrhage ; Heparin ; Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight* ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Platelet Activation ; Prognosis ; Thrombosis ; Transplants ; Troponin

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been found to be superior, in terms of hospital mortality and long-term follow-up, compared with thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the clinical benefits of primary PCI have not been precisely evaluated in elderly patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and twenty three patients (Group I: n=66, age> or =75 years, Group II: n=157, age<75 years), who underwent primary PCI for AMI at Chonnam National University Hospital, between 2000 and 2002, were analyzed according to their clinical, angiographic characteristics, inhospital and one-year survival. RESULTS: Group I had a higher percentage of women (45.5% vs. 19.1%, p=0.00), multi-vessel disease (42% vs. 28%, p=0.031), right coronary artery disease (52% vs. 33%, p=0.021), and more frequent histories of diabetes mellitus (35% vs. 22%, p=0.039) and less smoking (38% vs. 60%, p=0.003) than Group II. Successful reperfusion by PCI was achieved in 97 and 96 %, respectively (p=NS). The rates of in-hospital mortality were similar in both groups (12.1% vs. 8.2%, p=NS). There were no significant differences in the major adverse cardiac events between the two groups during the one-year clinical follow-up (31.4 % vs. 36.9 %, p=NS). CONCLUSION: Primary PCI in AMI patients older than 75 years can be performed with comparable procedural success rates and long-term clinical outcomes to those of younger patients.
Aged ; Angioplasty ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention* ; Reperfusion ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thrombolytic Therapy

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is thought to beget AF by shortening atrial refractoriness and reversal of rate adaptation of atrial refractoriness. This phenomenon of electrophysiologic remodeling of the atria during AF has been reported to play a major role in inducibility and stability of AF. METHODS: Thirty-one patients with induced AF lasting >1 second during electrophysiologic study for documented or suspected supraventricular or ventricular tachycardia were included in this study. All the patients had no structural heart disease and history of AF. High right atrium (HRA) burst pacing or extra-stimulation was applied to induce AF. Eleven patients with AF sustained >or=3 min was grouped into Group I and 20 patients with AF <3 min into Group II. P wave duration and amplitude, left atrial (LA) size, atrial refractory period (ARP), intraatrial conduction time (IACT) from HRA electrode catheter to His bundle electrode catheter and characteristics of atrial activities during induced AF were compared between 2 groups. RESULTS: There was no difference in the distribution of underlying cardiac arrhythmias. P wave durations and amplitudes and echocardiographic LA sizes were similar between 2 groups. ARPs and IACTs in group I and II were similar (198.0 +/- 23.9 ms vs. 200.8 +/- 23.0 ms; 38.7 +/- 8.5 ms vs. 38.6 +/- 9.5 ms, respectively). During AF, mean interval of atrial activities in group I was significantly shorter than group II (156.6 +/- 24.2 ms vs. 187.6 +/- 28.0 ms, p<0.01). The degree of irregularity of atrial activities during AF was significantly higher in group I than group II (16.9 +/- 8.7 vs. 9.8 +/- 5.0, p<0.05). The duration of the atrial activities was wider in group I than group II (81.4 +/- 17.5 ms vs. 53.9 +/- 12.4 ms, p<0.001) and the amplitude was lower in group I than group II (56.1 +/- 36.0% vs. 109.0 +/- 51.8%, p<0.05), and the degree of fractionation was greater in group I than group II (4.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 3.2 +/- 0.5, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that shortening of atrial refractoriness and lengthening of local conduction time at the time of or shortly after induction of AF may play a major role in the induction and stabilization of AF.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation* ; Bundle of His ; Catheters ; Echocardiography ; Electrodes ; Electrophysiology ; Heart Atria ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Tachycardia, Ventricular

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To compare efficacy and tolerability of rabeprazole (RAB) 10 mg versus omeprazole (OME) 20 mg in patients with duodenal ulcer. METHODS: This randomized, comparative, multicenter study was conducted at 10 centers in Korea, from February to September in 1999. Patients with active duodenal ulcer as proven by endoscopy were randomized to RAB (n=123) or OME (n=123) groups. One hundred-twenty-three patients received RAB 10 mg once daily, and 123 patients received OME 20 mg once daily for 2 or 4 weeks. Primary efficacy parameter was complete healing by endoscopy and secondary parameter was the improvement in the severity of clinical symptoms after the therapy. RESULTS: After 2 weeks, complete healing was achieved in 81.7% (85/104) of patients given RAB 10mg and in 81.1% (77/95) of patients given OME 20 mg (p=0.902). After 4 weeks, complete healing was documented in 97.1% (101/104) of patients given RAB 10 mg and in 93.7% (89/95) of patients given OME 20 mg (p=0.315). The percentages of patients resolved daytime pain and night-time pain at Day 4 were 87.5% and 90.1% in RAB group and 79.0% and 80.5% in OME group (p=0.138 and p=0.087 for day-time k night-time pain, respectively). No clinically meaningful changes or other between-group differences were observed in laboratory parameters and adverse events which were evaluated to be related with medication. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, rabeprazole 10 mg produced healing rates and symptom relief equivalent to omeprazole 20 mg at weeks 2 and 4 in patients with active duodenal ulcer and provided a tendency of faster symptom relief than omeprazole 20 mg, although it didn't reach statistical significance. Both the treatments were well tolerated.
Duodenal Ulcer* ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Korea ; Omeprazole* ; Rabeprazole*

BACKGROUND: Intraventricular conduction disturbances, as manifested by increased QRS duration, are common in patients with advanced left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and adversely affect LV systolic and diastolic function. It has been reported that the patients with prolonged paced QRS duration have more serious heart disease, and the paced QRS duration can be a useful indicator of impaired LV function. Hemodynamic effects of paced QRS duration and pacing site during right ventricular (RV) pacing are unknown. METHODS: A total of 14 patients who underwent electrophysiologic study for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia at Chonnam National University Hospital were examined. All the patients had no structural heart disease. RV pacing was performed at 10 different sites with cycle length of 600 ms and 500 ms using a 6-7F deflectable quadripolar electrode catheter (Livewire, St. Jude Medical, Minneapolis, MN, USA). Systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures were measured after stabilization of blood pressure during pacing. RESULTS: Blood pressures (systolic/diastolic/mean) decreased from 146 +/- 31/95 +/- 28/125 +/- 23 mmHg to 128 +/- 33/80 +/- 25/107 +/- 20 mmHg, respectively. The change of QRS duration during pacing and the systolic blood pressure (SBP) before pacing were higher in the group with paced QRS duration greater than 140 msec (59.1 +/- 13.6 msec vs 84.9 +/- 18.7 msec, 141 +/- 30 mmHg vs 152 +/- 38 mmHg, p<0.001, p=0.011, respectively). The decrease of SBP during pacing was higher in the group with paced QRS duration greater than 140 msec (13 +/- 11 mmHg vs 24 +/- 14 mmHg, p=0.009). The decrease of SBP during pacing was related with QRS duration during pacing (r=0.500, p=0.001), the change of QRS duration during pacing (r=0.426, p=0.001), and SBP during sinus rhythm (r=0.342, p=0.001) on linear correlation analysis. Pacing site, however, did not affect acute hemodynamic change during pacing. The independent factors associated with the decrease of SBP during pacing were SBP before pacing and QRS duration during pacing. CONCLUSION: We concluded that acute deleterious hemodynamic effects of RV pacing are related with paced QRS duration but not with pacing site. Ventricuar pacing at the area of paced QRS duration less than 140 msec is recommended particularly in high risk patients.
Blood Pressure ; Catheters ; Electrodes ; Heart Diseases ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular

BACKGROUND: Has been reported that patients exhibiting prolonged paced QRS duration tend to have more serious heart disease, and the paced QRS duration can be an effective indicator of impaired left ventricular function. However, the acute and chronic hemodynamic effects of paced QRS duration and pacing sites during right ventricular (RV) pacing remain unknown. METHODS: A total of 14 patients who underwent electrophysiologic study for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia were examined. RV pacing was performed at 10 different sites with cycle lengths of 600 ms and 500 ms utilizing a 6-7F deflectable quadripolar electrode catheter. Systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures during pacing were measured once the blood pressure was stabilized. RESULTS: During RV pacing, blood pressures (systolic/diastolic/mean) decreased. The change of post-pacing QRS duration and pre-pacing the systolic blood pressure (SBP) were greater in the group with paced QRS duration. The differences overall were greater than 140 ms. The SBP decrease during pacing was larger in the group exhibiting paced QRS duration of greater than 140 ms. The SBP decrease during pacing showed relation to QRS duration during pacing (r=0.500, p=0.001), the change of QRS duration post-pacing (r=0.426, p=0.001), and SBP during sinus rhythm (r=0.342, p=0.001) on linear correlation analysis. The pacing site, on the other hand, did not affect acute hemodynamic changes during pacing. CONCLUSION: Ventricular pacing of less than 40 ms at the area of paced QRS duration is recommended.
Blood Pressure/physiology ; *Cardiac Pacing, Artificial ; Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac ; Female ; Heart Ventricles/*physiopathology ; Hemodynamic Processes/*physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular/physiopathology/*therapy

A 55-year old male presented with chest and abdominal pain for four hours. One day prior to admission he had received chemotherapeutic agents comprising 130 mg cisplatin and 5,200 mg 5-Fluorouracil for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. EKG showed ST elevations in the leads II, III and aVF. The levels of cardiac enzymes were elevated [creatine kinase (CK) 1129 U/L, CK-MB 180 U/L, troponin T 1.23 ng/mL and troponin I 23.29 ng/mL]. Urokinase was administered at the emergency room, but the patient's chest pain continued with persistent ST segment elevations. Urgent coronary and renal angiograms revealed thrombotic occlusive lesions in the distal right coronary and right renal arteries. Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty using 6.0x20 mm balloon was performed for the renal artery. However, filling defects and distal renal flow were not improved and so Abciximab (ReoPro(r)) was administered. Follow-up coronary and renal angiograms on the fifth hospital day showed no filling defects with good distal flow in both right coronary and renal arteries.
Abdominal Pain ; Angioplasty ; Chest Pain ; Cisplatin* ; Electrocardiography ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Fluorouracil* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; Phosphotransferases ; Renal Artery* ; Thorax ; Thrombosis* ; Troponin I ; Troponin T ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator