No abstract available.
Atrioventricular Block* ; Myocarditis* ; Pancreatitis* ; Typhoid Fever*

No abstract available.

Recent immunological investigations have demonstrated that the patients with psoriasis have various humoral and cellular immune abnormalities, such as increased serum IgG, IgE and secretory IgA, anti-IgC factor in psoriatic lesions, in peripheral blood lymphocytes and in serum, rhumatoid-like factors in IgA and IgG classes of immunoglobulins, antinuclear antibodies (ANA; reacting with the basal cell nuclei of uninvolved skin., anti-stratum corneum antibody and complements in psoriatic scales, immuoglobulin and complement bearing polymorphonuclear leucocytes in the Muro microabscess. These abnormal findings are enough to suggest an autoimmune mechanism in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Several investigators have also reported the results of T cell enumeration in the peripheral blood in psoriatic patients. However, the results are not in general agreement,. Thee present study was undertaken to clarify any abnormality in the proportion of T cells in the peripheral blood in psoriatic patients. Forty-one patients with active psoriasis registered at the Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University Hospital entered this study from May, 1979 through April, 1980. Twelve healthy medical and paramedical personel the comprised the control group. Active and total T cells were enumerated by the method of E-rosetting technique, and the results were as follows. 1, in normal controls, the active and total T celIs identified as E rosetteforming cells accounted for 61.6+7.4% and 68.1+8.9% of the total lymphocyte population, respectively. 2. In patients with psoriasis, significant decrease of active T cells (54. 2,+11.0%,p<0.005) and total T cells (62.2+11.2%, p<0.05) was observed. More profound reduction of T cells was noted in patients with wide spread psoriasis than those with limited extent.
Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Cell Nucleus ; Complement System Proteins ; Dermatology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin A, Secretory ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulins ; Lymphocytes ; Psoriasis* ; Research Personnel ; Seoul ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes* ; Weights and Measures

STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. OBJECTIVES: To propose possible mechanisms of osteoporotic back pain and its management with antiosteoporotic drugs. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: No general conclusion has yet been reached regarding whether osteoporosis without fractures can cause pain. Instead, only treatments for back pain without osteoporotic spine fractures have been reviewed in the previous literature. Although key studies of antiosteoporotic drugs have not investigated their analgesic efficacy, plausible mechanisms have been suggested. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analgesic effects of antiosteoporotic agents available in Korea were reviewed. RESULTS: Rather than the long-term use of conventional analgesics or narcotics, antiosteoporotic drugs would be more beneficial because they can enhance bone strength and have fewer side effects. Both anabolic and antiresorptive agents available in Korea have been proven to have an analgesic effect against osteoporotic back pain, with or without fractures. Anabolic agents depend on skeletal effects. Among antiresorptive agents, bisphosphonates have both skeletal and extraskeletal mechanisms for analgesia. Calcitonin and selective estrogen receptor modulators mostly depend on extraskeletal effects. The order of analgesic strength for osteoporotic back pain is teriparatide > bisphosphonate > calcitonin. This implies that the analgesic effect of antiosteoporotic drugs primarily depends on their skeletal effects rather than on their extraskeletal effects. Moreover, because non-fracture osteoporotic pain has been recognized only in the spine, where fractures can occur without a sensible injury, pain may arise from undiscovered spine fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Antiosteoporotic drugs ameliorate osteoporotic back pain. Their analgesic strength is proportional to their fracture prevention efficacy.
Anabolic Agents ; Analgesia ; Analgesics ; Back Pain ; Bone Density Conservation Agents ; Calcitonin ; Diphosphonates ; Korea ; Narcotics ; Osteoporosis ; Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators ; Spine ; Teriparatide

BACKGROUND: Thoracoscopic sympathectomy seems to be a safe therapeutic procedure without a severe complication. Hypotension has been often reported as one of postoperative complications, but intraoperative changes in blood pressure (BP) were not studied. However, authors' past experience of thoracic sympathectomy told that intraoperative BP reduction could be observed only when measured in ipsilateral arm. During general anesthesia, BP reduction might be a crucial, which could be associated with complication. Authors conducted this study to establish whether BP reduction is confined to ipsilateral arm, or is systemic phenomenon in thoracoscopic sympathectomy. METHODS: Twenty healthy, male and female patients scheduled for one stage thoracoscopic thoracic sympathectomy were prepared for this study. Without premedication, invasive BP monitoring was taken place in bilateral radial arteries. General anesthesia was induced with low dose of fentanyl, propofol and vecuronium. Endotracheal intubation was done with double lumen tube and anesthesia was maintained with variable concentrations of isoflurane in 100% oxygen. Sympathetomies were done for T2~3 during one lung ventilation. BP and palmar temperature were recorded at arrival, after one lung ventilation, after sympathectomy, 5 min, 10 min, after two lung ventilation. BPs and temperatures were analyzed by time and groups. RESULTS: Concurrent with initiation of sympathectomy, BP was reduced only in ipsilateral radial artery. Mean BP decrement was almost 11% (right side: 80 +/- 11 mmHg -> 71 +/- 15 mmHg; left side: 80 +/- 14 mmHg -> 71 +/- 9 mmHg; both of p<0.05). It was accompanied with ipsilateral palmar temperature elevation (right side: 1.28 degrees C; left side: 1.19 degrees C; both of p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Conclusively, BP reduction in thoracic sympathectomy is a change confined to ipsilateral arm, which seems because of peripheral vasodilation.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Arm* ; Arterial Pressure* ; Blood Pressure ; Female ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis* ; Hypotension ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Isoflurane ; Lung ; Male ; One-Lung Ventilation ; Oxygen ; Postoperative Complications ; Premedication ; Propofol ; Radial Artery ; Sympathectomy* ; Vasodilation ; Vecuronium Bromide ; Ventilation

PURPOSE: To construct new Korean reference curves for birth weight by sex and gestational age using contemporary Korean birth weight data and to compare them with the Lubchenco and the 2010 United States (US) intrauterine growth curves. METHODS: Data of 2,336,727 newborns by the Korean Statistical Information Service (2008-2012) were used. Smoothed percentile curves were created by the Lambda Mu Sigma method using subsample of singleton. The new Korean reference curves were compared with the Lubchenco and the 2010 US intrauterine growth curves. RESULTS: Reference of the 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentiles birth weight by gestational age were made using 2,249,804 (male, 1,159,070) singleton newborns with gestational age 23-43 weeks. Separate birth weight curves were constructed for male and female. The Korean reference curves are similar to the 2010 US intrauterine growth curves. However, the cutoff values for small for gestational age (<10th percentile) of the new Korean curves differed from those of the Lubchenco curves for each gestational age. The Lubchenco curves underestimated the percentage of infants who were born small for gestational age. CONCLUSION: The new Korean reference curves for birth weight show a different pattern from the Lubchenco curves, which were made from white neonates more than 60 years ago. Further research on short-term and long-term health outcomes of small for gestational age babies based on the new Korean reference data is needed.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Birth Weight* ; Female ; Gestational Age* ; Growth Charts ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Information Services* ; Male ; United States

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. PURPOSE: To examine the hypothesis that the misuse of thrombin-containing local hemostatics (TCLH) increases the risk of postoperative spinal epidural hematoma (POSEH). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Many studies have focused on hypocoagulability as a risk factor for POSEH. However, there are no prior reports on the increased risk of POSEH in hypercoagulable states. METHODS: Posterior instrumented lumbar spine surgery cases over 2 consecutive years were divided into two groups: a study group (98 patients in whom TCLH was used) and a control group (176 patients in whom TCLH was not used). The excess TCLH matrix that was not associated with blood clot was not removed from the patients in the study group. The senior author decided whether to use TCLH or not. Suction drains were used in all patients. The demographics, coagulation-related factors, and intraoperative factors of the patients in the two groups were analyzed. The development of POSEH was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The two groups were homogenous in demographics (age and sex), coagulation-related factors (platelet count, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and platelet function analysis), and surgical factors (total blood loss, operation time, blood loss/10 minutes, number of fusion segments, posterolateral fusion/posterior lumbar interbody fusion, and virgin or revision surgery). POSEH developed more frequently in the patients in the study group than in those in the control group (14/98 patients, 14.3% vs. 3/176 patients, 1.7%, respectively; p=0.001; odds ratio, 17.1). CONCLUSIONS: TCLH causes blood clot not only at the edge of damaged vessels but also at the site of extravascular blood. Excess TCLH matrix not associated with blood clot at the epidural space can enhance POSEH development because early clotted hematomas do not drain through suction drains.
Blood Platelets ; Case-Control Studies ; Demography ; Epidural Space ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal* ; Hemostatics* ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Prothrombin Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Spine ; Suction

BACKGROUND: Postoperative spinal epidural hematoma (POSEH) is different from spontaneous or post-spinal procedure hematoma because of the application of suction drains. However, it appeared that suction drains were not effective for prevention of POSEH in previous studies. The purpose of this study was to test our hypothesis that POSEH can be caused by hypercoagulability. METHODS: This was an experimental study. One hundred fifty milliliters of blood was donated from each of the 12 consecutive patients who underwent spine surgery and infused into 3 saline bags of 50 mL each. One of the 3 bags in each set contained 5,000 units of thrombin. All of them were connected to 120 ± 30 mmHg vacuum suctions: drainage was started 8 minutes after connection to the vacuum system for 12 normal blood bags (BV8) and 12 thrombin-containing blood bags (TBV8) and 15 minutes after connection for the remaining 12 normal blood bags (BV15). The amount of initial and remaining hematoma at 20 minutes, 120 minutes, and 24 hours after vacuum application were measured by their weight (g). The primary endpoint was the difference between BV8 and TBV8. The secondary end point was the difference between BV8 and BV15. RESULTS: The remaining hematoma in TBV8 was significantly greater than that in BV8 at all measurement points: 46.3 ± 12.4 vs. 17.0 ± 1.3 (p = 0.000) at 20 minutes; 33.0 ± 8.2 vs. 16.3 ± 1.2 (p = 0.000) at 120 minutes; and 26.1 ± 4.0 vs. 15.8 ± 1.6 (p = 0.000) at 24 hours after vacuum application. The remaining hematoma of BV15 was significantly greater than that of BV8 at all measurement points: 30.0 ± 12.0 vs. 17.0 ± 1.3 (p = 0.002) at 20 minutes; 24.2 ± 7.6 vs. 16.3 ± 1.2 at 120 minutes (p = 0.002); and 22.2 ± 6.6 vs. 15.8 ± 1.6 (p = 0.004) at 24 hours after vacuum application. CONCLUSIONS: With a suction drain in place, the amount of remaining hematoma could be affected by coagulability. Thrombin-containing local hemostatics and the length of time elapsed before the commencement of suction resulted in hypercoagulability, indicating these two factors could be causes of POSEH.
Drainage ; Hematoma ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal* ; Hemostatics ; Humans ; Spine ; Suction* ; Thrombin ; Thrombophilia ; Vacuum

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid gland(MTC) constitutes approximatesly 3% to 10% of all malignant thyroid tumors. It appears in both familial and sporadic forms. Metastases are frequently present at diagnosis and are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Surgical resection of the primary tumor and the metastases is the mainstay of treatment. Although MTC can be detected by elevated serum calcitonin, localization of residual or metastatic foci may be difficult. Many scintigraphic methods have been used for identification of the residual tumor or metastasis. However, most of them have either low sensitivity or low specificity. MTC frequently secretes somatostatin and may express somatostatin receptors. Recently, somatostatin-receptor imaging has been known to be useful for the detection of residual and recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma. A 25 year-old woman who was dignosed as medullary carcinoma by biopsy of thyroid mass is presented. Thirteen years ago, she underwent left thyroidectomy due to thyroid cancer(MTC). Laboratory tests revealed an increase in the levels in serum CEA(CEA=557.6 ng/ml) and calcitonin(calcitonin= 720 pg/ml). The second patient, a 30 year-old female, complained of a palpable mass in the left anterior neck. Ten years ago, she underwent a right lobectomy of thyroid gland due to adenomatous goiter. Laboratory tests revealed an increase in the levels in serum CEA(CEA=617 ng/ml) and Calcitonin (Calcitonin=2,300 pg/ml). In both cases, pre- and postoperative In-111 pentetreotide scintigraphy were done and compared with "'I scintigraphy. In-111 pentetreotide scan may be useful for the localization of residual or metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma. Further study is warranted to define the sensitivity and specificity of the technique.
Biopsy ; Calcitonin ; Carcinoma, Medullary ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Goiter ; Humans ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Radiotherapy ; Receptors, Somatostatin ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Somatostatin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy

Background: A lifelong thyroxine therapy is indicated in all patients who have hypothyroidism as a result of autoimmune thyroiditis. However, it has been reported that some hypothyroid patients with autoimmune thyroiditis have spontaneous remission with restriction of iodine intake instead of thyroxine therapy. The purpose of study was to investigate how many hypothyroid patients with autoimmune thyroiditis can recover from hypothyroidism with restriction of iodine intake instead of thyroxine therapy and which factors predict recovery from hypothyroidism. Methods: We studied 64 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis(goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis 56, atrophic autoimmune thyroiditis 8). Thyroxine therapy was discontinued in patients with goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis on the way(group 1, n=32) or from the beginning(group 2, n=24) and atrophic autoimmune thyroiditis on the way(group 3, n-8). All patients were asked to avoid iodine-rich foods and thyroid function was monitored every one to two months for up to 35 months. Serum T3, T4, TSH concentrations, antithyroglobulin and antimicrosomal antibodies were measured by radioimmunoassay(RIA). TSH binding inhibitor immunoglobulin(TBII) was measured in serum using radioreceptor assay. Two hundred micrograms of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) were given as intravenous bolus and TSH levels were measured in blood samples taken at 0, 30, and 60 minutes. All values were expressed as mean+-SEM. Statistical analysis was done with paired or non-paired t-test, ANOVA, and the Chi-square test. Statistical significance was defined as p-value below 0.05. Results: Thirteen(40.6%) of 32 patients in group 1 remained euthyroid after 12-35 months of discontinuation of thyroxine therapy. The other 19(59.4%) patients in group 1 had recurrences of hypothyroidism within 3 months after discontinuation of thyroxine therapy. In 11(45.8%) out of 24 patients in group 2, serum TSH concentrations declined below 5 mU/L within 3 months without thyroxine therapy. The other 13(54.2%) patients in group 2 remained hypothyroid till 2-16 months and the thyroxine was given. In contrast, all 8 patients in group 3 had recurrences of hypothy- roidism within 3 months after stopping thyroxine therapy. When we compared the recovered patients of goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis with the non-recovered patients of goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis, regardless of thyroxine therapy from the beginning, age at onset of disease of the 24 recovered patients was significantly younger than the 32 non-recovered patients(30.1+2.0 years vs. 40.2+ 2.4 years; p=0.004). Concl#usion: These findings suggest that 42.9% of hypothyroid patients with goitrous autoim- mune thyroiditis remain or become spontaneously euthyroid with restriction of iodine intake instead of thyroxine therapy. Young age may be a predicting factor of recovery from hypothyroidism in goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis.
Age of Onset ; Antibodies ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Iodine ; Radioligand Assay ; Recurrence ; Remission, Spontaneous ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune ; Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Thyroxine