No abstract available.
Echocardiography* ; Heart Defects, Congenital*

No abstract available.
Hemodynamics* ; Nitroprusside*

No abstract available.
Child* ; Heart Diseases* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Physical Examination

No abstract available.
Lichen Nitidus* ; Lichens*

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of lumbar stabilization exercise on lumbosacral region angle, lumbar strength, lower muscle strength, physical fitness, and low back pain of sedentary women. Twenty females who spend more than 6 hours a day as sedentary at working were recruited. The subjects were assigned to two different groups which are exercise group (n=10) and non-exercise group (n=10). Exercise program was consisted with Swiss ball and lumber stability exercise, and it was performed 60 min/day and 3 times/wk for 8 weeks. Two-way analysis of variance was conducted to analyze experimental data. As a result, there was no significant difference between groups in lumbar lordosis angle and lumbar sacral angle. However, Isometric lumbar extension strength, isokinetic knee flexion and extension peak torque in angular velocity were significantly different between groups, and the pain was reduced. To conclude, this study identified the effectiveness of lumbar stabilization exercise on lumbar muscular, strength, Sargent jump, sit and reach test and reduced pain.
Animals ; Female* ; Humans ; Knee ; Lordosis ; Low Back Pain ; Lumbosacral Region* ; Muscle Strength ; Physical Fitness* ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Torque

Tsutsugamushi fever is a serious febrile disease outwardly similar to malaria and various arboviral infections. The endemic area is Asia-Pacific. This disease are generally associated with disturbed habitats favoring large populations of vector larval trombiculid mites. Therapy with tetracycline, chloramphenicol or ciprofloxacin is currently recommanded. Unfortunately these drugs is suboptimal for children and pregnant women. Recently, azithromycin has been proven to be effective in therapy of scrub typhus. There is no evidence that azithromycin causes adverse reaction to developing fetus or children. We report four cases of tsutsugamushi fever in children successfully treated with azithromycin. This is the first report describing clinical application of azithromycin to tsutsugamushi fever in Korean children.
Azithromycin* ; Child* ; Chloramphenicol ; Ciprofloxacin ; Ecosystem ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Malaria ; Pregnant Women ; Scrub Typhus* ; Tetracycline ; Trombiculidae

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is usually an idiopathic disease with a poor prognosis. Hypocalcemia is a rare and reversible cause of DCM. Here, we report a 50-year-old female with DCM, induced by idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, that improved after treatment with calcium.
Calcium/administration & dosage ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/diagnosis/*etiology/physiopathology ; Dietary Supplements ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia/diagnosis/drug therapy/*etiology ; Hypoparathyroidism/*complications/diagnosis/drug therapy ; Middle Aged ; Recovery of Function ; Treatment Outcome ; Vitamin D/administration & dosage

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Heart failure rarely occurs in patients with thyrotoxicosis (6%), with half of the cases having left ventricular dysfunction (LVD). Although a few studies reported isolated right heart failure in thyrotoxicosis, there has been no evaluation of relationship between LVD and right ventricular dysfunction (RVD). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 12 patients (mean age: 51+/-11 years, 9 females) diagnosed as having thyrotoxicosis with heart failure and LVD {left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40%}, and divided them into two groups {Group I with RVD defined as tricuspid annular plane excursion (TAPSE) less than 15 mm and Group II without RVD}. Clinical features, laboratory variables, and echocardiographic parameters were compared between two groups. RESULTS: RVD was found in 6 (50%) patients. On admission, there were no significant differences between the two groups in clinical features, laboratory variables, or echocardiographic parameters including atrial fibrillation {6 vs. 5, not significant (NS)}, heart rate (149+/-38 vs. 148+/-32/min, NS), LVEF (36.7+/-9.5 vs. 35.1+/-6.3%, NS), or the tricuspid regurgitation peak pressure gradient (TRPPG, 30.9+/-2.0 vs. 36.3+/-9.3 mmHg, NS). After antithyroid treatment, all achieved an euthyroid state and both ventricular functions were recovered. All data, including the recovery time of LVEF and the change of heart rate between two groups, displayed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: In half of patients, RVD was combined with thyrotoxicosis-associated LVD. There were no differences in clinical factors or hemodynamic parameters between patients with and without RVD. This suggests that RVD is not secondary to thyrotoxicosis-associated LVD.
Atrial Fibrillation ; Heart Failure ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Stroke Volume ; Thyrotoxicosis ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Right ; Ventricular Function

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, which is also known as Batten-Bielschowsky disease, is a group of neuro degenerative disorders, associated with various progressive symptoms including seizures, dementia, visual loss and cerebral atrophy. We experienced a case of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis in a 6-year-old boy who had progressive myoclonic seizures, ataxia, rapid psychomotor deterioration and visual loss. Photic stimulation at 2 to 5 Hz elicited a discrete spike and wave discharges in the occipital region on an electroencephalogram. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed generalized cerebral and cerebellar atrophy. An electron microscopic examination of the skin revealed characteristic curvilinear inclusion bodies. An optic fundoscopy revealed a devastated retina and severe optic atrophy. We report this case with the brief review of related literature.
Child ; Human ; Male ; Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinosis/*diagnosis/pathology/physiopathology ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment was previously shown to improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction by enhancing neovascularization and cell survival. In this study, pressure overload-induced left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was induced in mice by transverse aortic banding (TAB) for 2 weeks. We subsequently evaluated the effects of a 2-week treatment with PTH or saline on compensated LVH. After another 4 weeks, the hearts of the mice were analyzed by echocardiography, histology, and molecular biology. Echocardiography showed that hearts of the PTH-treated mice have more severe failing phenotypes than the saline-treated mice following TAB with a greater reduction in fractional shortening and left ventricular posterior wall thickness and with a greater increase in left ventricular internal dimension. Increases in the heart weight to body weight ratio and lung weight to body weight ratio following TAB were significantly exacerbated in PTH-treated mice compared to saline-treated mice. Molecular markers for heart failure, fibrosis, and angiogenesis were also altered in accordance with more severe heart failure in the PTH-treated mice compared to the saline-treated mice following TAB. In addition, the PTH-treated hearts were manifested with increased fibrosis accompanied by an enhanced SMAD2 phosphorylation. These data suggest that the PTH treatment may accelerate the process of decompensation of LV, leading to heart failure.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Echocardiography ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/*drug therapy/pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Parathyroid Hormone/pharmacology/*therapeutic use ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Smad2 Protein/metabolism