The adrenocartical carcinoma is a rare tumor with an estimated incidence of 1 case per 1,700,000 population. Despite its rarity, a large number of investigators have studied this neoplasm for the following two reasons. The First is the occasional difficulty of differentiation between careinoma and adenoma at the time of initial surgery, even by histopathologic examination. The other is its unique feature of corticosteroidogenesis. Steroid metabolism of adrenocortieal carcinoma is characterized by its low efficiency of steroid production due to deficiency of steroidogenic enzyme. The deficieney of 11 B-hydroxylase has been indieated in case of adrenoeortical carcinoma by several investigators. In this study, the serum level of cortisol was within normal range, but the serum level of 11-deoxycortisol was 50 times higher than normal. After the removal of tumor, the serum level of ll-deoxycortisol was markedly decm. In conclusion, the results from the this case suggest that measurement of serum 11-deoxy- cortisol may be a useful tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of adrenocortical carcinoma.
Adenoma ; Adrenocortical Carcinoma* ; Cortodoxone ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Incidence ; Metabolism ; Reference Values ; Research Personnel

No abstract available.
Hyperbilirubinemia, Neonatal*

To evaluate the predictive value of serum fibronectin and roll-over test for pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), we studies 79 patients between the twenty-eighth and thirty-second week of gestation from October 1995 to May 1996. The results were as follows . 1) There was no significant difference of mean diastolic pressure difference in roll-over test and serum fibronectin levels between 13 PIH patients and 66 controls. Between two groups of patients, mean diastolic blood pressure differences were 14.3+/-3.9mmHg, 12.0+/-4.4mmHg and mean serum fibronectin levels were 231.2+/-90.8 pg/ml, 196.5+/-61.2 pg/ml respectively(p> 0.1). 2) For prediction of PIH, the sensitivity, the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value of roll-over test were 8%, 14% and 83%.
Blood Pressure ; Female ; Fibronectins* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Compliance* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Compliance* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Hypertriglyceridemia*

PUPPOSE: This study was to examine the effects of music therapy on the levels of anxiety and discomfort in patients undergoing gastrofibroscopy. METHOD: This study was equivalent control group pre-post test design. The subjects were 61 patients who visited H hospital internal medicine department for gastrofibroscopy ; 31 were randomly selected for the control group and the remaining 30, for the experimental group. RESULT: 1. The experimental group who used music therapy showed a significantly lower level of anxiety during gastrofibroscopy than the control group. 2. The experimental group revealed a lesser change in pulse rate between pre and post gastrofibroscopy than the control group. 3. There was a significant difference in the levels of subjective and objective discomfort during gastrofibroscopy between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that music therapy may help relieve anxiety and discomfort for patients undergoing gastrofibroscopy. These results showed that the use of music aided in the reduction of anxiety and discomfort during the unpleasant diagnostic procedure and, testing the effectiveness of music therapy deserves further study in other hospital settings.
Anxiety* ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Music Therapy* ; Music*

BACKGROUND: Phantom limb sensation is an unusual position sense of the extremity during nerve block that the position of extremity is misinterpreted as being flexed, or elevated, when actually they are in neutral position. Whether it is from the fixation of proprioceptive input at the time of motor blockade or from unmasking of the pattern which has been already present in the CNS is still controversial. We perfomed this study under the assumption that phantom limb sensation can still be reproduced without the influence of position at the time of nerve blockade. METHODS: Thirty-six patients scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery were randomly assigned. For 26 patients, spinal anesthesia was performed with hyperbaric 0.5% tetracaine or bupivacaine at lateral decubitus position and the position was changed to supine immediately. Existence of phantom limb sensation and the level of anesthesia was recorded at 10 and 20 minutes after injection of local anesthetics. For 10 patients, same local anesthetics were injected after patient's legs were straightened in lateral decubitus position. RESULTS: Forteen out of 26 patients whose position were changed to supine immediately after the injection of local anesthetics experienced phantom limb sensations. Five out of 10 patients whose legs were kept straight before the injection of local anesthetics experienced phantom limb sensations. Previous history of trauma was positively related to the expression of phantom limb sensation. CONCLUSION: Our data showed that the expression of phantom limb sensation is reproducible. And this was not related to the position at the time of spinal anesthesia. Trauma seems to be an important factor related to the expression of phantom limb sensation.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Spinal* ; Anesthetics, Local ; Bupivacaine ; Extremities ; Humans ; Leg ; Nerve Block ; Orthopedics ; Phantom Limb* ; Proprioception ; Sensation* ; Tetracaine

PURPOSE: This study examines the difference of optimism, self-esteem and depression to verify an effect of laughter therapy program for menopausal women. METHODS: A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pre / post-test design was used. The participants (n=57) were 28 in the experimental group and 29 in the control group. The data were collected in December of 2011. The experimental group participated in laughter therapy for 30 min per session, five times a week for the period of 2 weeks. The questionnaires were used to measure pre / post-test optimism, self-esteem, and depression of menopausal women. RESULTS: The results showed that laughter therapy was effective in increasing optimism (p=.020) and self-esteem (p<.001). And the depression of menopausal women decreased (p=.003). CONCLUSION: The result of the study indicates that laughter therapy for menopausal women may be an effective nursing intervention to improve optimism, self-esteem and depression of menopausal women.
Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Laughter ; Laughter Therapy ; Menopause ; Surveys and Questionnaires