Despite significant advances in obstetric and pediatric health care, Streptococcus agalactiae(Lancefield group B β-hemolytic Streptococcus, GBS) remains one 91 the most prevalent and devastating pathogens in peripartum women and their newborn infants. It may cause urinary tract infection, chorioamnionitis and endometritis, bacteremia, and cesarean wound infection in the peripartum period. It was Pasteur who first identified microbes in the blood and lorchia of septic women. After that, in 1938 the isolation of S. agalactiae from three mortally ill women was reported, thereby implicating it as another cause of puerperal sepsis. S. agalactiae is now one of the most common causes of neonatal sepsis and meningitis in the United States. However, in Korea there have been only twenty-three cases of neonatal meningitis and/or sepsis due to group B β-hemolytic streptococcus reported. Recent studies have noted other serious infections in adults, including bacteremia, pneumonia, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, meningitis, and endocarditis. In Korean adults no case of pneumonia due to S. agalactiae has been reported till now. As minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin was reported to be higher for S. agalactiae than for S. pyogenes, minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin for S. agalactiae should be tested. Herein we describe the course of a case of S. agalactiae pneumonia and bacteremia in a 74-year-old diabetic man, and we review the literatures.
Adult* ; Aged ; Bacteremia ; Cellulitis ; Chorioamnionitis ; Delivery of Health Care ; Endocarditis ; Endometritis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Meningitis ; Osteomyelitis ; Penicillins ; Peripartum Period ; Pneumonia* ; Pregnancy ; Sepsis ; Streptococcus agalactiae* ; Streptococcus* ; United States ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Wound Infection

Clinical study was carried out on the 64 hemodialysis patients(HD) with chronic renal failure who had been treated from December 1992 to July 1993 in Yeungnam University Hospital. The following results were obitained. In hematologic parameters, MCH was 28.8±2.0pg, and MCV was 92.4±4.7fl. Result revealed normochromic and normocytic anemia. Mean values of serum ferritin were 657.4±292.0ng/ml in men and 511.5±370g in women. Mean values of serum iron were 145.5±63.7µg/dl. Mean values of transferrin saturation was 61.6±28.4%. Serum frerritin, serum iron and transferrin saturation were higher in HD group than normal reference. In erythropoeitin treatment group, Hb and Hct were significantly higher than non-erythropoietin treatment group. Amount of transfusion was significantly higher in non-erythropoietin treatment group than erythropoeitin treatment group(p<0.05). Values of iron, transferrin saturation were significantly higher in abnormal liver function test(LFT0 hemodialysis group than normal LFT group(p<0.05). Transfusion amounts revealed positive correlation with ferritin(r=0.4675), transferrin satruation (r=0.3823) and iron(r=0.3386) (p<0.05).
Anemia* ; Clinical Study ; Erythropoietin* ; Female ; Ferritins ; Humans ; Iron ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Liver ; Male ; Renal Dialysis ; Transferrin

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is higher in old age, and diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness. Appropriate glycemic control is known to reduce the incidence of diabetic retinopathy in diabetic patients. We evaluated the relationship between hemoglobin A1c levels and diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: Our subjects included 654 diabetic patients registered with the public health center. Following an overnight fast, venous blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed. Non-mydriatic fundus photography was done to diagnosis diabetic retinopathy. We calculated the odds ratios of hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasma glucose for diabetic retinopathy using logistic regression. RESULTS: Diabetic retinopathy was seen significantly more often at higher levels of hemoglobin A1c (odds ratio, 3.46; 95 % confidence interval, 1.90-6.30 for <50 percentile vs. >75 percentile). Fasting glucose, however, was not significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy after adjusting for hemoglobin A1c (Hb1cA). The odds ratio for diabetic retinopathy according to HbA1c was higher in those with DM for >10 years than <10 years. CONCLUSION: The HbA1c level was significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy in Koreans with type 2 diabetes.
Blindness ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Incidence ; Odds Ratio ; Photography ; Plasma ; Prevalence ; Public Health

BACKGROUND: We studied the incidence of trauma caused by alcohol related accidents, and the effects that has on the occurrence, the extent, and the outcome to the patient. METHODS: In our study we studied trauma patients excluding pediatric patients(15 years old and under) who came to the Emergency department of Korea University Medical School Anam Hospital from the 1st of january 1996 to 30th of June 1996, looked into their medical records, and studied the records in a retrospective manner. The trauma patients were divided into two groups, a) alcohol-related and b) alcohol-non-related. The two groups were then subdivided according to their sex, age, the time they came in, the anatomical part of the trauma, the mechanism of their injury, the extent of the injury, the length of their hospital stay, the length of their ED stay and were seperately compared and analysed. Statistically, ANOVA and logistic regression analysis using SAS were used in the study and then was assessed in Chi-square analysis methods. RESULTS: The total of the trauma patients, added up to 832 people, 577: male and 255: female. Among this sum, 16 trauma patients were alcohol related(male:127 & female 36). 115 people were in the age group of 21-40. Compared to the non-alcohol related trauma group, the alcohol-related group had more facial & scalp injuries and tended to come in the hours between 0-6 AM. The cause of the injuries were mossy by fast-fighting and suicide, compared to mostly accidental-slipping injuries in the non alcohol-related group. There were no difference in the degree of the injury(ISS) and the length of hospital stay between the two groups, whereas the length of the stay at the ED was longer alcohol-related trauma patients. CONCLUSION: Alcohol related trauma patients were mostly in their 20s and 30s, came to the hospital at a late time it the reason for their visit were mossy because of fist fighting. In the Emergency department, because prompt and correct diagnosis is quite difficult to make in this group, their ED stay tended to be longer. We can conclude that measuring the blood alcohol level of these patients, continuing the psychological therapy and educating people is needed.
Diagnosis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Scalp ; Schools, Medical ; Suicide

Fifty two cases of displacecd supracondylar fractures were divided into three groups according to the methods of fracture stabilization. Cast immobilizations without pin fixation were included to the group 1 (12 cases), fixation with lateral pins to the group 2 (22 cases), and lateral and medial cross pins to the group 3 (18 cases). In each group we attempted a radiological analysis for the stabilization failure through measurements of the horizontal rotation and the mediolateral tilting in their preoperative, postoperative and follow-up X-rays. Stabilization failure during the follow-up period was presumpted to be present in those cases that show (1) a development or increase of the horizontal rotation in follow-up lateral X-ray, and (2) accompanied change in Baumann's angle of more than 5 degrees. The failed stabilizations were in three cases (25%) in the group 1. In the group 2 the horizontal rotations after initial fixation were developed in four fractures. However, only two (9%) of the four cases accompanied significant changes in the Baumann's angle. Loss of the initial fixation in the cross pin group was found in one case. These results demonstrate that the cross pin fixation is the most stable form. Fixation in only lateral side sometimes shows rotational instability, but this method seems to be still useful because singificant coronal tilting develops in only a few occasions of those with horizontal rotation.
Child ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humerus ; Methods

Nine patients of mean age 47.8 years, with suspected sinus node dysfunction, underwent extensive electrophysiological studies. Sinus bradycardia(6the electrophysiological study, AH and HV intervals were prolonged in 2/9 and 1/9 patients, respectively. Maximal sinus node recovery times were prolonged in 7/9 patients, ranging from 1,330 msec to 12,330msec. Sinoatrial conduction times measured by atrial premature stimulation technique were prolonged in 5/7 patients, ranging from 137msec to 310 msec. And sinoatrial conduction time measured by continuous pacing technique also revealed prolonged value in 4/6 patients ranging from 140 msec to 195 msec. The effective refractory periods, of atrium were prolonged in 6/8 patients (320 msec to 470 msec). The effective and functional refractory periods of AV node were prolonged in 3/8 patients (440 csec to 490 msec) and 4/8 patients (530 msec to 560 msec), respectively. Retrograde VA conduction could be observed in 3/7 patients and ventricular effective refractory periods were normal in 7/7 patients. Atrial flutter was induced in 1/9 patients by electric stimulation during electrophysiological study. Above data suggest that the electrophysiological study is very useful in assessing the sinus node function and other electrophysiological properties in sick sinus syndrome patients and also suggest that the data could be utilized in choosing the proper mode of artificial pacemaker for each patient.
Atrial Flutter ; Atrioventricular Node ; Electric Stimulation ; Humans ; Pacemaker, Artificial ; Sick Sinus Syndrome* ; Sinoatrial Node

PURPOSE: Periampullary malignant tumors become symptomatic at an early stage because of their particular location. For this reason, radical resection is possible in the majority of cases. Periampullary tumors can be removed either by a local resection, as performed by Halsted in 1899, or by a radical pancreaticoduodenectomy, as performed by Whipple et al. in 1935. Both techniques have been used, and their respective places in the treatment of benign or malignant periampullary tumors has been the subject of constant debate. Therefore, we reviewed the cases of four patients who had undergone a transduodenal ampullectomy for an ampullary tumor which was confined to the ampulla of Vater. METHODS: The clinical records of 4 patients who undergone a transduodenal ampullectomy were reviewed. All patients were diagnosed as having an ampullary mass based on gastroduodenoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or both. Clinical presentation, comparison of pathologic findings of preoperative endoscopic biopsy, operative frozen section, final pathologic examination, complications, follow-up period, and recurrence were reviewed. RESULTS: The two men and the two women studied had a median age of 59.3 (range, 49 to 64 years). Among the four patients who underwent a transduodenal ampullectomy, an adenocarcinoma was found at final pathologic examination in two patients with preoperative diagnoses of a villotubular adenoma and a villous adenoma, respectively. The other two cases were diagnosed as tubular adenomas at final pathologic examination as they had been at the preoperative diagnosis. No evidence of disease was observed in any of the four patients on follow-up at 29 months, 30 months36 months, and 4 months. None of these patients had major complications in the immediate postoperative period, transient hyperamylasemia without clinical significance developed in two patients. CONCLUSION: The transduodenal ampullectomy is a valuable tool in the treatment of ampullary lesions. The result of local excision of the Vater for ampullary tumors appears satisfactory, and this procedure may be particularly indicated for benign tumors, as well as for older or high-risk patients whose malignant lesions are confined to the ampulla of Vater. However, the selection of this procedure required judicious decision making and precise technique and should involve an experienced team of pathologists and surgeons. As a result, for patients in whom it is indicated, a transduodenal ampullectomy is an alternative to the pancreaticoduodenectomy and has good long-term results.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenoma ; Adenoma, Villous ; Ampulla of Vater ; Biopsy ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Decision Making ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Frozen Sections ; Humans ; Hyperamylasemia ; Male ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: It has been documented that certain prognostic factors may affect the outcomes of the old aged victims by trauma. Considering that trauma is the sixth most common cause of death in people over the age of 65 years and there is a rapid growth of elderly population, it is paramount to understand the prognostic factors when dealing with geriatric trauma patients. Hypothesis and Goals : It can be hypothesized that the prognostic factors should be determined independently between populations being consisted of different races, countries, socio-economic states, cultures, or so on. Thus, study was designed to evaluate the factors affecting the outcomes of elderly Korean trauma patients. METHODS: One hundred forty six patients aged over 65 years were retrospectively reviewed, who visited the Emergency Canter of Korea University from January, 1997 to June, 1998. Of 146 patients, 7 were excluded due to discharge against advice or transfer to the other hospitals. Parameters analysed were age, sex, mechanism of injuries, body region injured, Injury Severity Score (ISS), previous medical illness, hospital morbidity, duration of hospital stay, and cost. Each patient was classified into improved or not-improved groups depending on the outcomes, and young-old or old-old group depending on the age. The factors affecting the hospital stay in improved patients were analyzed in the parameters of previous medical illness, hospital morbidity, multiple injuries, ISS, and age. All statistical tests were conducted with two-tailed levels of 0.05. RESULTS: Of 139 patients, the mean age was 74+/-7.1 years, mean ISS 9.3+/-7.26, mean hospital stay 27+/-27.1 days. Most commonly injured body region was the extremities due to fall from a level surface. Rate of previous illness showed 0.94 medical diseases per person and were aggravated after trauma in 39 patients (60.9%). Hospital morbidity rate was 0.46 incidents per person. There were no differences in age and duration of hospital stay between the improved and the not-improved group. Substantial differences were noted in affected body region, incidence of previous illness, and hospital morbidity between the groups (p=NS). Not-improved group had higher ISS (p<0.05). ISS, previous illness and hospital morbidity affected the duration of hospital stay in the improved group. Hospital stay was 40+/-25.1 days in patients with ISS over 6 while 6+/-8.6 days in those with ISS 5 (p<0.05). Hospital stay in the improved was 26+/-26.9 days while 31+/- 24.8 days in the improved old-old group (P=NS). Hospital stay in the young-old minor trauma (ISS5) patients with previous illness and hospital morbidity was 26+/-10.1 days while 4+/-7.3 days in those without previous illness and hospital morbidity (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Previous medical illness and hospital morbidity, not age, are predictive of outcomes of geriatric trauma patients with respect to hospital stay. As most of the hospital morbidity was a trauma-induced aggravation of previous medical illness and hospital morbidity contributing poor outcomes can be potentially avoidable, routine aggressive care far the geriatric trauma patients with previous medical illnesses is needed.
Aged ; Body Regions ; Cause of Death ; Continental Population Groups ; Emergencies ; Extremities ; Humans ; Incidence ; Injury Severity Score ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Multiple Trauma ; Retrospective Studies

Confirmation of patency of the portal vein by either ultrasound or angiography is important for evaluating patients considered for living-related liver transplant(LRLT) and liver resection(LR). Portal vein thrombosis(PVT) in LRLT necessitates planning for a technically difficult operation because consideration must be given to obtaining an alternative for splanchnic inflow. When performing LR for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), portal vein tumor thrombus was usually thought of as a poor prognositic factor for tumor recurrence. Recently, we experienced two cases of pseudo-obstruction of the portal vein, one in LRLT and the other in LR. In the case of LRLT, a 16-month-old female patient was diagnosed as congenital biliary atresia. PVT had been preoperatively suggested, but the vein was actually open. The patient was successfully transplanted using the left lateral segment of the donor with ordinary portal vein anastomosis and the postoperative course was uneventful except for mild acute rejection episodes. In the case of LR, a 60-year-old male patient presented with incidental symptoms. Preoperative ultrasonography, computed tomography, and angiography showed a 9x8cm-sized mass in the right lobe of the liver with obstruction of the right portal vein, which suggested tumor thrombus. However, the operation disclosed the patency of the portal vein and a right lobectomy was subsequently done. Because of the scanty blood flow of the portal vein due to arterio-portal shunt, PVT was preoperatively suggested. Our experience indicates that more sophisticated image studies are needed for evaluating portal vein patency in the patient who needs hepatic transplant as well as liver resection, and that the surgeon should not hesitate to procede to operative procedures even though conventional studies suggest PVT.
Angiography ; Biliary Atresia ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Portal Vein* ; Recurrence ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Thrombosis ; Tissue Donors ; Ultrasonography ; Veins

No abstract available.
Barium* ; Child* ; Humans ; Intussusception* ; Ultrasonography*