No abstract available.
Germ Cells* ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal* ; Prognosis*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to family health and develop a prediction model with an ability to explain family health in families of patients with schizophrenia.METHODS: A hypothesized model with twelve pathway forms was developed based on literature review. Family stress and social stigma were included as two exogenous variables; whereas family resilience, family empowerment, self-esteem, community integration, and family health were included as endogenous variables. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire from 206 families of patients with schizophrenia living in Republic of Korea. Data were analyzed with PASW/WIN 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 programs.RESULTS: Social stigma had a negatively indirect and total effect on family health. Family resilience, self-esteem, and community integration had positive and direct and overall effects on family health.CONCLUSION: A prediction model for families of patients with schizophrenia is proposed and social stigma, family resilience, self-esteem, and community integration are presented as predicting factors for family health. Nursing interventions and support programs should be developed to overcome social stigma and improve family resilience, self-esteem, and community integration.
Community Integration ; Family Health ; Humans ; Nursing ; Power (Psychology) ; Republic of Korea ; Schizophrenia ; Social Stigma

BACKGROUND: Despite the technical developments in diagnosis and therapy, esophageal cancer is highly lethal disease and the survival is largely dependent upon the stage of the disease. Preoperative cancer staging is crucial in choosing a therapeutic option as well as in predicting the prognosis of the patients. Staging has been based on computerized tomography (CT) and transabdominal ultrasonography. However CT has a limit in pre-cisely discriminating the depth of invasion or the lymph node metastases. With the devel-opment of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and with its superiority in delineating wall structure and detecting lymph node metastases, its usefulness in staging for esophageal cancer has been cknowledged. In order to evaluate the accuracy of EUS, we compared EUS with pathologic findings in patients with esophageal carcinoma. METHODS: From July 1990 to August 1997, 136 patients with esophageal cancer received preoperative cancer staging with EUS. Among them, 48 patients who underwent surgical procedures with the intention of radical resection were included. We compared the EUS and pathologic find-ings and analysed the accuracy of EUS for preoperative staging. RESULTS: The overall accu-racy of EUS for T-staging was 43.8%. Twenty five percents of the patients (12/48) pre-sented high-grade tumor strictures, which precluded the passage of the endoscope. There was no statistical significance according to tumor site, size or gross morphology. However theaccuracy was significantly lower in tumors with ulceration than in tumors without ulceration (35.3% vs 64.3%, p=0.004). Mainly, ulceration in tumors caused significant overstaging of the T-stage. In the assessment of regional lymph node metastasis, the overall accuracy achieved by EUS was 66.6%; the sensitivity was 95.5%, specificity 42.3%, positive predictive value 58.3%, and negative predictive value 91.7%. Tumors with more than 2 lymph nodes rendered more accurate N-staging than tumors with less than 2 lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the accuracy of the EUS for preoperative staging of esophageal cancer was not satisfactory, mostly influenced by ulceration in tumors and its resultant inflammatory reactions around the tumors, therefore more systematic study will be needed to establish the precise diagnostic criteria of EUS staging.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Endoscopes ; Endosonography* ; Esophageal Neoplasms* ; Humans ; Intention ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ulcer ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a condition that often develops in young women and, consequently, physicians should frequently manage and monitor pregnant patients with this disorder. METHODS: We reviewed the charts of 30 women with chronic ITP delivered in 31 pregnancies from January 1995 to December 2003. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were diagnosed with ITP before pregnancy and sixteen patients were diagnosed during pregnancy. The mean platelet counts before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and at delivery were 70, 040/mm3, 83, 960/mm3, and 62, 680/mm3, respectively. The symptoms of hemostatic impairment were not noted in most of the pregnancies (77%, 24/31). During pregnancy and at delivery, most of the women (61%, 19/31) received various kinds of treatment to raise platelet counts. At delivery, the most commonly used therapy was platelet transfusion (48.4%, 15/31). Seven pregnancies (22.6%) were treated with corticosteroids during pregnancy and at delivery. Five pregnancies (16.1%) were treated with IV IgG during pregnancy and at delivery. Fifteen deliveries (51.7%) were performed by cesarean section and fourteen (48.3%) with vaginal delivery. Bleeding was uncommon at delivery. There were no cases of infants with any clinical signs of hemorrhage. CONCLUSION: Our current results suggest that ITP in pregnancy can proceed safely with low hemorrhagic risk in both infants and mothers, and that mothers with ITP can deliver healthy infants without serious hemorrhagic complications.
Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Comparative Study ; *Delivery, Obstetric/methods ; Female ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/administration & dosage/therapeutic use ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/therapeutic use ; Infant, Newborn ; Platelet Count ; Platelet Transfusion ; Pregnancy ; *Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic/blood/diagnosis ; *Pregnancy Outcome ; *Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic/blood/diagnosis/therapy ; Retrospective Studies

Pseudolymphoma or lymphoid hyperplasia is a rare clinicopathologic disease which occurs in a variety of sites including the skin, orbit, salivary glands, gastrointestinal tract, lung, and other organs. Lymphoid hyperplasia of the gastrointestinal tract can be categorized into four clinicopathologic groups: focal lymphoid hyperplasia of the stomach, focal lymphoid hyperplasia of the small intestine, focal lymphoid hyperplasia of the rectum, and nodular lymphoid hyperplasia of the gastrointestinal tract. We experienced two cases of nodular lymphoid hyperplasia of the small intestine with hypogammaglobulinemia (IgA deficiency) and without hypogammaglobulinemia presented with epigastric discomfort. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and small bowel series showed 0.2~.5 cm sized small, numerous Yamada-I or Yamada-II polypoid lesions from the duodenal bulb to the terminal ileum in two cases. Histologic finding of the duodenal bulb showed small round mature lymphocyte infiltration and reactive follicle with germinal center in two cases. We report two cases with a brief reviews of literature.
Agammaglobulinemia ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Germinal Center ; Hyperplasia* ; Ileum ; Intestine, Small ; Lung ; Lymphocytes ; Orbit ; Pseudolymphoma ; Rectum ; Salivary Glands ; Skin ; Stomach

Cockroaches inhabit various habitats, which will influence their microbiome. Although the microbiome can be influenced by the diet and environmental factors, it can also differ between species. Therefore, we conducted 16S rDNAtargeted high-throughput sequencing to evaluate the overall bacterial composition of the microbiomes of 3 cockroach species, Periplaneta americana, P. japonica, and P. fuliginosa, raised in laboratory for several generations under the same conditions. The experiments were conducted using male adult cockroaches. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was not significantly different among the 3 species. With regard to the Shannon and Pielou indexes, higher microbiome values were noted in P. americana than in P. japonica and P. fuliginosa. Microbiome composition was also evaluated, with endosymbionts accounting for over half of all OTUs in P. japonica and P. fuliginosa. Beta diversity analysis further showed that P. japonica and P. fuliginosa had similar microbiome composition, which differed from that of P. americana. However, we also identified that P. japonica and P. fuliginosa host distinct OTUs. Thus, although microbiome compositions may vary based on multiple conditions, it is possible to identify distinct microbiome compositions among different Periplaneta cockroach species, even when the individuals are reared under the same conditions.

A 68-year-old woman with known severe aortic stenosis was admitted to the hospital because of hematochezia and dizziness. She had received several blood transfusions over the preceding 3 years and undergone right hemicolectomy 2 years ago for severe lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Postoperative histology revealed angiodysplasia involving the ascending colon. After the hemicolectomy, she continued to have hematochezia and anemia and required additional blood transfusions for anemia. During this admission, platelet count, activated partial-thromboplastin time, von Willebrand factor antigen, and von Willebrand factor ristocetin cofactor were normal. She had a severe deficiency of high-molecular-weight multimers of von Willebrand factor. Colonoscopy showed angiodysplasia in the transverse colon at this time. Successful coagulation of the bleeding angiodysplasia was achieved by argon plasma coagulator. No additional bleeding was observed thereafter. We report a case of Heyde's syndrome with abnormal von Willebrand factor in a patient who presented with intestinal angiodysplasia and aortic stenosis.
Aged ; Anemia/etiology/therapy ; Angiodysplasia/*complications ; Aortic Valve Stenosis/*complications ; Colonic Diseases/*complications ; English Abstract ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/*etiology ; Humans ; Syndrome ; von Willebrand Disease/*complications/diagnosis

BACKGROUND: Induction of coagulation necrosis by using thermal energy sources such as radio-frequency (RF), microwaves and lasers has recently been as a new, minimally invasive technique for percutaneous tumor ablation. RF ablation is considerd effective and safe for the local control of small HCCs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and complications according to the diameter and location of the HCC. METHODS: Between May 1999 and December 2000, one hundred fifty patients underwent RF thermal ablation in Dong-A university hospital. Among them, forty nine patients were enrolled in this study who have no history of prior other treatment including hepatic resection, TAE, PEI, and chemotherapy, also who have follow-up CT performed at least six months after ablation. The patients devided into two groups, who have small HCC (3 cm in diameter), the mean follow-up duration was 10.8 months and local recurrence rate was 51.0%+/-12.4. In small HCC group ( Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver ; Microwaves ; Necrosis ; Pleural Effusion ; Pneumothorax ; Recurrence ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

Potential toxicological interactions of 4-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and/or dibuthyl phthalate (DBP) on ozone were investigated after 32- and 52-wk exposures using hprt mutation assay. Male and female B6C3F1 mice exposed to ozone (0.5 ppm), NNK (1.0 mg/kg), DBP (5,000 ppm), and two or three combinations of these toxicants 6 h per day for 32- and 52-wk showed increases in the frequencies of TG rlymphocytes compared to the control groups. Additive interactions were noted from two combination groups compared to the ozone alone in both sexes of 32- and 52-wk studies. The most common specific mutation type in the hprt genes of test materials-treated male and female mice was transversion with very few transition. The results indicate that such dominant transversion may be responsible for toxicity and combined exposure to ozone, NNK, and DBP induces additive genotoxicities compared to ozone alone.
Animals ; Carcinogens/*toxicity ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Dibutyl Phthalate/*toxicity ; Drug Combinations ; Female ; Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase/*genetics ; Male ; Mice ; Mutagenicity Tests ; *Mutation/drug effects ; Nitrosamines/*toxicity ; Ozone/*toxicity ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; T-Lymphocytes/drug effects/enzymology

We report on a 21-year-old man with fever, dyspnea, and pleuritic chest pain. An electrocardiography showed ST elevation in multiple lead and thoracic echocardiography revealed moderate pericardial effusion. He was initially diagnosed with acute pericarditis, and treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colchicines with clinical and laboratory improvement. After 1 month of medication, his symptoms recurred. An echocardiography showed constrictive physiology and the patient was treated with steroid on the top of current medication. The patient had been well for 7 months until dyspnea and edema developed, when an echocardiography showed marked increased pericardial thickness and constriction. Pericardial biopsy was performed and primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma was diagnosed. Malignancy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent pericarditis.
Biopsy ; Chest Pain ; Constriction ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Edema ; Electrocardiography ; Fever ; Humans ; Mesothelioma ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericarditis ; Pericarditis, Constrictive ; Young Adult