Recreational diving is an exciting and adventurous sport, but is also potentially hazardous. Despite its inherent hazards, an increasing number of people enjoy SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving; the number of diving-related accidents is therefore also likely to increase. Divers might face physical or psychological stresses from the unfamiliar or hostile underwater environment, which can lead to fatal accidents. To investigate deaths related to SCUBA diving, a forensic pathologist should understand the types and mechanisms of injuries and illnesses unique to SCUBA diving. Postmortem examination of diving fatalities is therefore a formidable task for most forensic pathologists because cases are sparse and the process requires an understanding of diving physiology, diving equipment, and the underwater environment. The primary aim of autopsies in SCUBA diving fatalities is to detect evidence of pulmonary barotrauma, intravascular gas, or pre-existing illnesses. Standard autopsy protocol for SCUBA diving-related deaths should include methods to detect intravascular gas and gas accumulation in the tissue or body cavity through plain radiographs or Computerized Tomography (CT) scans. Analysis of the gas components is also helpful for determining the origin of the gas. Here, the author proposes a practical method for performing an autopsy on a person who died while SCUBA diving.
Autopsy* ; Barotrauma ; Diving* ; Humans ; Methods ; Physiology ; Preexisting Condition Coverage ; Respiration ; Sports ; Stress, Psychological

No abstract available.
Animals ; Ligation* ; Neuralgia* ; Rats* ; Rhizotomy* ; Spinal Cord* ; Spinal Nerves*

Heterotropic ossifications have been known to occur around joints in many pathological conditions of the nervous system mostly in paraplegia and is affects most of the hip joint. Recently, 4 cases of heterotropic ossification in 18 cases of traumatic paraplegia have been reviewed at the orthopedic department of Kyungpook National University Hospital from April 1965 to July 1968 and the results obtained were as follows: 1. All cases were found in male of 3rd to 4th decade. 2. Heterotropic ossification affectected around the hip joint in 3 cases and in the other one case around the medial femoral condyle of knee joint. 3. Three cases affecting around hip joint expressed pressure sores on ipsilateral great trochanteric area, but the other one case affecting around medial femoral condyle had not any pressure sore. 4. In all cases, the heterotropic ossification was noted on X-ray film within 4 to 6 months after paraplegia.
Femur ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Hip Joint ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee Joint ; Male ; Nervous System ; Orthopedics ; Paraplegia ; Pressure Ulcer ; X-Ray Film

This retrospective descriptive study was conducted to survey the needlestick injuries(NSI) in nurses and doctors. Thc subjccts of this study wcrc 351 nurscs and 199 doctors of four teaching hospitals. Pusan. The data was gathered from March, 18 to April 9. 1988 and analyzed though SPSSWIN progra n for frequency, percentile and X2-test. According to the results of the study, 85.5% of subjects had experienced NSI (94.4% of the nurses and 73.9% of the doctors). The ratio of the experience of NSI in nurses was significantly higher than that of doctors(X2=53.54, P=.00). Most needle-stick injuries occured during the administration of intravenous injection(36.7%) in nurses, on the other hand percutaneous venipuncture for blood sampling(35.3%), suturing(27.2%) in doctors. The most ccmmon situation of these NSI was recapping contaminated needles after treatment. Only 12.0% of nurses and 38.6% of doctors reported wearing gloves when the NSI happened. 26.1% of subjects reported that they could not identify the source patient after MI. The major reason of NSI were preeeived to be carelessness%1.4%). Of these NSI, 54.6% occured in :usy or emergency situations. Among the management for NSI, exam(8.6%), mefication(9.8%) and counseling(11.7%) and reporting(2,6%. is lower than bleeding(80.3%) from the wound, deaning( 63.3%), disinfection(91.3%) and reviewing the clinical records of the patients (82.3%). In conclusion, nurses and doctors are at a high-risk of needlestick injuries but substantially they are not good at preventing and managing NSI. So efforts to reduce NSI should be directed not only at improving procedural skills for intravenous catheter insertions, but also in increasing use of barrier protection such as gloves, and so on. Also immunization and educational efforts should be made along with better designs of needles to reduce the risk of NSI. Continuing prevention and training programs for NSI are needed in order to avoid unwanted infection.
Busan ; Catheters ; Dronabinol ; Education ; Emergencies ; Hand ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Immunization ; Needles ; Needlestick Injuries* ; Phlebotomy ; Retrospective Studies ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: The xenon arc solar simulator is the most commonly used light source in studies on immediate tanning, but there has been no report on the immediate tanning response in Korean skin induced by UVA from that source. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to measure the minimal immediate tanning dose(MITD) for UVA in Korean, brown skin. Methods: UVA irradiation was performed on normal back skin of twenty-six healthy Korean young adults, with increasing doses from 0.5J/cm2 to 4.5J/cm2 using xenon arc solar simulator equipped with appropriate filters. Visual assessment of MITD was done by two investigators. Results: The mean and standard deviations of MITD were 2.38+/- 0.65J/cm2 in 26 subjects. MITDs distributed from 1.0J/cm2 to 3.5J/cm2. There were no significant differences of MITD between skin type III and IV. Conclusion: Conclusively, we obtained the data on the MITD in Korean skin induced by UVA from the solar simulator. The results of this study may be valuable for the research into photomedicine and useful data for evaluating sunscreens.
Humans ; Research Personnel ; Skin ; Sunscreening Agents ; Tanning* ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl* ; Xenon ; Young Adult*

This study was undertaken to observe the effect of the preirradiation of UVA on the eryt,hematous reaction by UVB. Twenty-five healthy Korean adult male volunteers were taken as subjects. The results were as follows: 1)Preirradiation of 10J/cm and 20j/cm of UVA had no influence on the erythematous reaction induced by UVB. Preirradiation of 30 J/cm of UVA decreased the minimal erythemal dose(MED) of UVB significantly (p<0,05), and 4pJ/cm of UVA dicl very significantly(p<0. 001). 2) Preirradiation dose of UVA(x) and MED of UVB(y) had statistically significant relationship (y=33. 23 - 33 x, r= -0.39, p<0. 05). So preirradiation of UVA decreased MED of UVR in relation with the preirradiation dose. 3) For the objective criteria of skin erythematous reaction induced by the UV irradiation, MED was considered more accurate and efficient than minimal perceptible dose (MPI).
Adult ; Erythema* ; Humans ; Male ; Skin ; Volunteers

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Child* ; Drainage* ; Humans ; Peritonitis*

Generalized pustular psoriasis is a rare disease, even psoriasis involving oral mucosa is very rare. There are many reports of tongue lesions in patients with psoriasis that are clinically and histologically indistinguishable from geographic tongue, and there are many reports of fissured tongue in association with psoriasis. It has been debated whether oral psoriasis exists or not, or occurs as part of generalized pustular psoriasis. We experienced two cases of combined geographic tongue and fissured tongue in patient with generalized pustular psoriasis, and report these cases with review of the literature about the oral lesions in psoriasis, geographic tongue, and fissured tongue.
Glossitis, Benign Migratory* ; Humans ; Mouth Mucosa ; Psoriasis* ; Rare Diseases ; Tongue ; Tongue, Fissured*

Drowning is one of the most common causes accidental death worldwide, but its diagnosis remains a challenging task in forensic pathology. Several authors have suggested that diatom analysis be conducted via an enzymatic digestion method that uses proteinase K to provide objective evidence for drowning; we employed this method in our study because of its superior applicability as compared to the conventional disorganization methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the reclaiming ratio of diatoms from experimentally drowned animal organs, which could be influenced by diatom morphology. The authors injected 3 diatoms species (Cyclotella striata, Navicula incerta, and Pleurosigma angulatum) into a rat's airway and compared the detection rate to investigate the factors that influence the sensitivity of diatom analysis. The results are as follows: (1) Average reclaiming ratio in the lungs was 81.07 for Navicula incerta, 48.26 for Cyclotella striata, and 5.35 for Pleurosigma angulatum. (2) The detection rates from the closed organs in 15 experimental animals were highest in the kidney (73%, 11/15), followed by the heart (67%, 10/15), brain (60%, 9/15), and liver (53%, 8/15). (3) Two Cyclotella striata was detected in the kidney of postmortem control group which suggest the possibility of contamination during laboratory procedure. In conclusion, the authors propose that diatom size could be a significant influencing factor for diatom extraction from the organs of drowned bodies; therefore, the results of diatom analysis must be interpreted after considering the diatom population of the drowning medium at the scene and the possibility of contamination during the laboratory procedure.
Animal Structures ; Animals ; Brain ; Diatoms ; Digestion ; Drowning ; Endopeptidase K ; Forensic Pathology ; Heart ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung