PURPOSE: In order to assess the incidence and radiologic findings of herniation pit of the femur neck in Korean. IVlaterials and Methods:In 152 macerated femurs of 88 cadavers, and randomly selected 115 hips of 70 patients, the presence of herniation pit was determi ned by using fluoroscopy and radiography. It was then examined by CT for inspection of overlying surface and its opening was confirmed by inserting thin steal wire under the fluoroscopic guidance. RESULTS: Seventeen herniation pits in 15 macerated femurs of 13 cadavers were noted. (14.8%, 13/88). Two of 13 individuals showed bilaterality. All lesions were found only in males. Six herniation pit in 6 femurs of 6 patients (8.6%, 6/70) were also noted. All lesions were on anterosuperior aspect of. femur neck. Plain radiographs of macerated femurs revealed well marginated and thin sclerosis in 15 lesions. Of all 23 lesions, CTshowed cortical breakdown in 3, and overlying cortical thickening in 8. In 15 macerated femurs, roughed area of cortex was found in anterosuperior aspect of femur in all cases, and tiny openings(diameter less than 1 mm) related to cystic lesions were confirmed in 9 lesions. CONCLUSION: The incidence of herniation pits was 14.8% in 88 cadaver, and 8.6% in 70 patients. All were males.
Cadaver ; Femur Neck* ; Femur* ; Fluoroscopy ; Hip ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Male ; Radiography ; Sclerosis

No abstract available.
Dermatitis, Atopic ; Pyroglyphidae

We have studied the overcorrection, undercorrection, astigmatic change and its incidence on time sequence after the excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy, and its relation with the degree of preoperative myopia, sex, and age. The study has been done with 429 eyes which we could assess for 6 months or more after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy of myopia from July 1993 to march 1997. Overcorrection of more than -1D was common during the early postoperative periods and then gradually decreased with time. Overcorrection has been seen in 261 eyes(60.84%) after 1 month, but only 33 eyes(13.47%) after 1 year, and 13 eyes(11.02%) after 2 years. Undercorrection has been seen in 2 eyes(0.47%) after 1 month, but 25 eyes(10.20%) after 1 year, and 20 eyes(16.95%) after 2 years. Surgically induced astigmatism increased to 0.54+/-0.84D after 10 days and then decreased 0.19+/-0.75D after 12 months. Also, surgical induced astigmatism developed 1.13+/-1.10D in 247 eyes (57.58%) after 1 month, but decreased 0.89+/-0.45D in 107 eyes(43.67%) after 12 months. The occurrence of overcorrection and undercorrection was related to the severity of preoperative myopia(p<0.05), but with sex and age, it had no statistical correlation(p>0.05). The amount of postoperative astigmatism was related to preoperative astigmatism(p<0.05), but it had no statistical correlation with the degree of preoperative myopia, age, sex, and development and increase of surgically induced astigmatism(p>0.05).
Astigmatism ; Incidence ; Lasers, Excimer* ; Myopia* ; Photorefractive Keratectomy* ; Postoperative Period

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Thrombopoietin (TPO) is an important cytokine for megakaryocyte maturation and platelet production. Because the main site of its production is liver, the failing liver may have a role in thrombocytopenia in chronic liver disease. The aims of this study were to determine the serum TPO levels in cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia and clarify the relation between the serum TPO levels and liver function impairment. METHOD: Cirrhotic paitents with thrombocytopenia (LC, n=57, Child class A/B/C; 20/13/24), chronic hepatitis patients (CH, n=24), oncologic patients with thrombocytopenia induced by chemotherapy (HO, n=7), acute viral hepatitis patients (AVH, n=5) and healthy controls (HC, n=5) were enrolled. Serum TPO was measured by an ELISA method. RESULTS: Although the mean platelets counts of LC (69+/-32, x103/ul: mean+/-SD) were lower than those of HC (229+/-29, x103/ul), serum TPO levels in LC (108+/-63 pg/ml: mean+/-SD) were not significantly different from HC (122+/-24 pg/ml). In HO, serum TPO was significantly higher than LC (623+/-746 vs 108+/-63 pg/ml, p<0.05) inspite of comparable platelets counts. In LC, serum TPO level was not significantly different among Child class groups. It was not correlated with serum ALT, serum albumin levels, prothrombin time, serum bile acid, Child class, Child score and partial thromboplastin time, but weakly correlated with serum total bilirubin (p=0.038, r=0.288) and platelet counts (p=0.041, r=0.287). CONCLUSIONS: Although impaired hepatic production of TPO seems to be the main cause of low serum TPO levels in thrombocytopenic cirrhotic patients, there was no correlation between serum TPO level and the severity of liver dysfunction. The role of other factors such as megakaryocyte mass in bone marrow, portal hypertension and hypersplenism may be necessary to explain the putative mechanism between TPO and platelet numbers in liver cirrhosis with thrombocytopenia.
Bile ; Bilirubin ; Blood Platelets ; Bone Marrow ; Child ; Drug Therapy ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Hypersplenism ; Hypertension, Portal ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Megakaryocytes ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Platelet Count ; Prothrombin Time ; Serum Albumin ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Thrombopoietin*

Intra-abdominal desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a highly malignant tumor of uncertain histogenesis. Here we report a case of DSRCT involving the stomach, initially misdiagnosed as gastric cancer. A 12-year-old boy presented with upper abdominal pain developed 1 month prior. On gastroscopy, a 7-cm mass was noted involving the esophago-gastric junction to the fundus, and positron emission tomography showed multiple hot uptakes suggesting distant metastasis. Gastroscopic biopsy showed poorly differentiated malignant cells. We diagnosed as stage IV gastric cancer and treated with 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Laparotomy revealed a huge gastric mass along with peritoneal disseminations. Palliative proximal gastrectomy was performed. Pathological examination revealed transmural involvement of DSRCT, and t(11;22)(p12;q12) was demonstrated on fluorescence in situ hybridization test. The chemotherapeutic regimen was changed and the patient underwent 8 additional cycles of post-operative chemotherapy. The patient is now alive and the residual tumor shows no significant changes after chemotherapy.
Abdominal Pain ; Biopsy ; Child ; Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor ; Fluorescence ; Gastrectomy ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Laparotomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms

The study was conducted from May to July in 1995 to investigate lifestyle variables associated with anemia in some female workers of the six large plants in Taegu. Cases were selected by a doctor based on symptoms and physical exmination and controls were matched according to age limits (?) and plant employed. The final subjects analyzed were 385 excluding. 36 who had underlying diseases associated with anemia or many missing values. Anemia was defined by the blood hemoglobin level less than 12 g/dL. Anemic subjects were 190(49.4%) with nonsignificant age distribution between cases and controls. Univariate logistic regression showed that there was no statistically significant difference in sociodemographic and occupational variables. Number of pad used during menstruation (odds ratio, OR=1.03, 95% Confidence interval ei,1.00-l-1.05) was the only significant among the menstruation-related variables. None of the lifestyle variables were significant but those who consume more than 4 cups of coffee a day vs. none and animal iron intake showed borderline statistical significance with the ORs 2.60 and 0.99, respectively. After controlling for marital status, native place and number of pad with the multiple logistic regression, those who consume more than 4 cups of coffee a day vs. none showed statistically significant OR 2.93(95% CI 1.01-8.49). Animal iron intake and diet to lose weight indicated borderline significance with ORs 0.99(p=0.06) and 1.47(p=0.09), respectively. These results suggest that there are some anemia-associated lifestyle variables and these variables may be important for the behavior modification to prevent anemia in female workers.
Age Distribution ; Anemia* ; Animals ; Behavior Therapy ; Coffee ; Daegu ; Diet ; Female* ; Humans ; Iron ; Life Style* ; Logistic Models ; Marital Status ; Menstruation ; Plants

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between the severity of endometriosis and the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and serum level of cancer antigen 125 (CA 125). METHODS: Data were obtained from the medical records of 419 patients who underwent laparoscopic conservative surgery for ovarian endometrioma between April 2005 and March 2013. Each patient's preoperative complete blood count was recorded and the endometriosis score was assessed. RESULTS: The endometriosis score was not associated with either the NLR or the serum level of CA 125. The endometriosis score was negatively related to preoperative hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. The only positive association was between NLR and the patients' age. NLR and preoperative serum anti-Mullerian hormone level were found to be negatively related. CONCLUSION: The severity of endometriosis was not associated with the serum level of CA 125 or the NLR. The presence of a negative correlation between the severity of endometriosis and red blood cell dynamics needs further investigation.
Anti-Mullerian Hormone ; Blood Cell Count ; CA-125 Antigen ; Endometriosis* ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Medical Records ; Neutrophils

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to analyze the current problems in completing death certificates and to identify the correct method for completing death certificates. METHODS: We reviewed 262 death certificates in three hospitals from March 1 to April 30, 2000, and 119 death certificates in one hospital from March 1 to 31, 2000. We identified major and minor errors and analyzed and compared them retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 381 death certificates were reviewed: 59 in Seoul National University Hospital, 101 in Ewha Woman's University Hospital, and 102 in Gachon Medical College Hospital, which has no education program for completing death certificates in postgraduate training, and 119 in Samsung Medical Center which has an education program for completing death certificates. 358 certificates(94.0%) had at least one error. There were only 23 death certificates(6.0%) without an error. In 182 cases(47.8%), there was one major error. In 321 death certificates(84.3%), there were more than two errors. A comparison of Samsung Medical Center with the other hospitals showed that the number of total errors was statistically different(p=0.001). CONCLUSION: There were few death certificates without an error in this study. In a hospital which has postgraduate training in completing death certificates, there are fewer errors than in other hospitals which have no training course. Emergency physicians actually certify many deaths, so they must know the correct method of completing death certificates for statistics on morbidity and mortality.
Death Certificates* ; Education ; Emergencies ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the changing patterns of knowledge related to disease, medication adherence, and self-management and to determine if outcomes were more favorable in the experimental group than in the comparison group through 6 months after providing a web-based self-management intervention. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design was used and 65 patients with gout, 34 in experimental group and 31 in comparison group, were selected from the rheumatic clinics of two university hospitals. Data were collected four times, at baseline, at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the intervention. RESULTS: According to the study results, the changing patterns of knowledge and self-management were more positive in the experimental group than in the control group, whereas difference in the changing pattern of medication adherence between two groups was not significant. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the web-based self-management program has significant effect on improving knowledge and self-management for middle aged male patients with gout. However, in order to enhance medication adherence, the web-based intervention might not be sufficient and other strategies need to be added.
Adult ; Gout/*prevention & control ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; *Internet ; Male ; *Medication Adherence ; Middle Aged ; *Program Evaluation ; *Self Care ; User-Computer Interface

Based on the assumption that apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) define high-risk clinical target volume (aCTVHR) in high-grade glioma in a cellularity-dependent manner, the dosimetric effects of aCTVHR-targeted dose optimization were evaluated in two intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images and ADC maps were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to determine aCTVHR in a high-grade glioma with high cellularity. After confirming tumor malignancy using the average and minimum ADCs and ADC ratios, the aCTVHR with double- or triple-restricted water diffusion was defined on computed tomography images through image registration. Doses to the aCTVHR and CTV defined on T1-weighted MR images were optimized using a simultaneous integrated boost technique. The dosimetric benefits for CTVs and organs at risk (OARs) were compared using dose volume histograms and various biophysical indices in an ADC map-based IMRT (IMRTADC) plan and a conventional IMRT (IMRTconv) plan. The IMRTADC plan improved dose conformity up to 15 times, compared to the IMRTconv plan. It reduced the equivalent uniform doses in the visual system and brain stem by more than 10% and 16%, respectively. The ADC-based target differentiation and dose optimization may facilitate conformal dose distribution to the aCTVHR and OAR sparing in an IMRT plan.
Contrast Media ; Gadolinium ; Glioma/*radiotherapy ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; *Radiotherapy Dosage ; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted/*methods ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated/*methods ; Tumor Burden