Vasectomy is the most popular method of birth control in Korea. Because of changing views about family life, increasing prevalence of divorce and remarriage, desire for more children, and fear of child death. a large number of men now. are requesting reversal or vasectomy. Between March 1987 and September 1991 we performed vasovasostomy using modified one-layer technique with optical loupe magnification in 58 patients who had underwent vasectomy for family planning. Of these 58 patients, 46 patients could be followed up. Rates of patency and pregnancy varied depending on the interval from vasectomy until its reversal. Patients whose vasectomies had been performed less than 5 years had a 95.0% patency rate and a pregnancy rate of 72.0%. Patients who had an obstructive interval of 5 to 10 years had a 85.7% patency rate and a pregnancy rate of 50.0%. Beyond 10 years, there was a 33.3% patency rate and a pregnancy rate of 0.0%. The overall success rate was 86.5% for patency and 58.7% for pregnancy. Since the modified one-layer vasovasostomy is easier, faster, and less expensive, this technique deserves further clinical experience and evaluation.
Child ; Contraception ; Divorce ; Family Planning Services ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Marriage ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Prevalence ; Vasectomy ; Vasovasostomy

PURPOSE: We studied the incidence and clinical course of BCG lymphadenitis to investigate the BCG related problem. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Three hundred and eighty-six infants received BCG vaccine (Pasteur-1173p2) in the Well Baby Clinic, Dept. of Pediatrics, Chonnam University Hospital from May 1993 and April 1994. Among them, twenty three infants developed regional lymphadenitis. We investigated the clinical course in twenty six infants with BCG lymphadenitis (three infants were transferred from the Public Health Center and they also had taken same BCG preparations). According to the lymph node size, we divided them into three groups (A : below 1cm, 5 infants; B : 1 to 2cm, 10; C : above 2cm, 11), and evaluated the clinical outcome. RESULTS: 1) The incidence of BCG lymphadenitis was 6.0% (23/386), the differences according to sex or age at vaccination were not observed. 2) Twenty three of twenty six infants (88.5%) showed one lymph node (left axillary 19 infants, left cervical 3 infants, left supraclaviclar 1 infant), but three (11.5%) showed multiple lymph node involvement. 3) Eight (30.8%) showed spontaneous improvement, but eighteen (69.2%) received single or double antituberculous medication at the beginning or after a period of observation. Two infants were treated by incision and drainage. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of BCG lymphadenitis was relatively higher (6.0%) than previous reports, and the two thirds of the cases received antituberculous medication and or surgical treatment. Further prospective study according to the recent recommendation by the Korean Health Administration should be needed.
BCG Vaccine ; Drainage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Jeollanam-do ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis* ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mycobacterium bovis* ; Pediatrics ; Public Health ; Vaccination

No abstract available.
Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Child* ; Embolization, Therapeutic* ; Humans

Premature labor remains one of the most intractable risk factors that contribute to perinatal morbidity and mortality. Tocolytics, antibiotics and corticosteroid have been used as the typical management for preterm labor. Various treatment of women with signs and symptoms of preterm labor has failed to decrease in the incidence of preterm births in the world. The management of preterm labor remains very controversial problems today. There are no clear "first-line" tocolytic drugs and antibiotics to prolong gestation period and improve perinatal outcome. But in Royal College of Obstetricians and gynecologists (RCOG) recommend that atosiban and nifedipine appear to be preferable as they have fewer side effects and seem to comparable effectiveness. So far there is insufficient evidence for any firm conclusions about whether or not maintenance tocolytic therapy following preterm labor is valuable. In conclusion, clinical circumstances and physician preferences should dictate treatment. Individual approach or combined treatment for preterm labor may be helpful in determining which treatment is suitable to each patient.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Nifedipine ; Obstetric Labor, Premature* ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Risk Factors ; Tocolysis ; Tocolytic Agents

No abstract available.
Aspergillus* ; Sinusitis*

Objective: To investigate the fungistatic activity and synergistic effects of natural products and their constituents, including traditional oriental medicines (TOMs). Methods: Fungistatic activities of TOMs prepared by hot-water (115 °C) or ethanol (70%; 40 °C) extraction were determined by their minimum inhibitory concentration. To assess possible synergistic effects, minimum inhibitory concentrations of various combinations were evaluated. Results: By evaluating antifungal susceptibility of Trichophyton rubrum, which is a major causative fungus for several types of dermatophytosis, we confirmed that ethanol extracts were more active than hot-water extracts in 25 of the 36 TOMs, suggesting that the constituents with high hydrophobicity tend to contribute significantly to fungistatic activity. We selected four TOMs with high fungistatic activity, including Aucklandiae radix, Gentianae macrophyllae radix, Scutellariae radix, and Galla rhois, and their synergistic effects were investigated through the combination studies between TOMs or TOM-conventional drug terbinafine. In combinations between four TOMs, partial synergistic effects were observed in Aucklandiae radix-Galla rhois and Gentianae macrophyllae radix-Galla rhois combinations, as supported by the lowest fractional inhibitory concentration index value of 0.66 for both combinations. Furthermore, Galla rhois showed the strongest synergistic effect on growth inhibition of Trichophyton rubrum with a fractional inhibitory concentration index value of 0.50 in combination with terbinafine. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the combination of TOMs and TOM-terbinafine may be effective on treatment for chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis by improving fungistatic activity and led to decrease systemic toxicity in clinical practice.

Partial anomalous pulmonary vein connection (PAPVC) is a rare congenital abnormal cardiac defect involving the pulmonary veins draining into the right atrium (RA) directly or indirectly by venous connection. Ninety percent of PAPVCs are accompanied by atrial septal defect (ASD). To our knowledge, there is no previous report of PAPVC with ventricular septal defect (VSD) without ASD in Korea, and in this paper, we report the first such case. A 2-day-old girl was admitted into the Chonnam National University Hospital for evaluation of a cardiac murmur. An echocardiogram revealed perimembranous VSD without ASD. She underwent patch closure of the VSD at 5 months of age. Although the VSD was completely closed, she had persistent cardiomegaly with right ventricular volume overload, as revealed by echocardiography. Three years later, cardiac catheterization and chest computed tomography revealed a PAPVC, with the right upper pulmonary vein draining into the right SVC. Therefore, correction of the PAPVC was surgically performed at 3 years of age. We conclude that it is important to suspect PAPVC in patients with right ventricular volume overload, but without ASD.
Atrial Septum ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Cardiomegaly ; Child ; Echocardiography ; Heart Atria ; Heart Murmurs ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Humans ; Korea ; Pulmonary Veins ; Thorax

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in premature infants. Therefore, an early diagnosis and treatment of a hemodynamically significant PDA are very important. A widened pulse pressure is considered to be a well known clinical sign of a PDA in older infants and children; however, whether this is also applicable in the case of preterm infants remains to be confirmed. The aims of this study were to investigate the change in blood pressure (BP) before and after medical treatment of a PDA with indomethacin and to evaluate if the change in the pulse pressure in preterm infants with a medically treated PDA could be used as a reliable clinical predictor of a hemodynamically significant PDA. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Between January 2005 and June 2009, a retrospective analysis was performed in preterm infants with a hemodynamically significant PDA (PDA group, n=72) and preterm infants without a PDA (control group, n=72) at the Chonnam National University Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The PDA was closed by treatment with indomethacin. The BP was compared between the two groups over the seven days after the first dose of indomethacin. RESULTS: In preterm infants with a hemodynamically significant PDA, the mean systolic (55.1+/-6.0 mmHg) and diastolic BPs (31.4+/-6.2 mmHg) were lower than those in the controls (mean systolic BP 58.0+/-6.4 mmHg, mean diastolic BP 34.7+/-6.0 mmHg) before indomethacin treatment. When the ductus arteriosus was successfully closed by indomethacin treatment, there was a gradual increase in both the systolic and diastolic BPs without any change in the pulse pressure. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that a widened pulse pressure is not a useful clinical sign of a hemodynamically significant PDA in preterm infants. However, low systolic and diastolic BPs may be useful clinical signs of a hemodynamically significant PDA in preterm infants. If the systolic and diastolic BP is low, a PDA should be considered and echocardiography should be performed for early diagnosis and treatment.
Blood Pressure ; Ductus Arteriosus ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; Early Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Indomethacin ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Subbrow blepharoplasty (SBB) has advantages over traditional blepharoplasty in that it results in more natural-looking creases and contours and is more effective for lateral periorbital rejuvenation. However, in older patients with sunken upper eyelid, this procedure might make the superior eyelid sulcus appear worse because the thicker upper eyelid tissue in the subbrow area is replaced by thinner tissue. To overcome this limitation, we developed a de-epithelialized musculocutaneous flap for SBB. METHODS: From August 2016 to January 2018, 13 patients with sunken upper eyelid deformity underwent SBB. For each of these patients, a typical SBB incision was made, but the tissue usually removed in SBB was dissected as a flap based on the branch of the ophthalmic vessel. After elevation, the flap was transposed or folded to correct the sunken deformity. The results were assessed by the patients themselves and by three plastic surgeons at 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 63 years (range, 47–81 years). There were no postoperative complications related to wound dehiscence, hypertrophic scarring, or sensory changes. All patients and plastic surgeons provided scores indicating good to excellent results and were satisfied with the cosmetic outcomes. All patients reported improved functional visual acuity after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our technique is simple and effectively addresses both sunken upper eyelid deformity and dermatochalasis. Unlike fat or dermofat grafting, our new technique does not require an additional donor site, and it is more reliable in terms of vascularity.
Blepharoplasty ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Eyelids ; Humans ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Plastics ; Postoperative Complications ; Rejuvenation ; Surgeons ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Visual Acuity ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: S. pneumoniae is one of major pathogens of community-acquired respiratory infections. The rate of antibiotic resistance to this organism has increased, and resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents in a single strain of S. pneumoniae may compromise the efficacy of empiric antimicrobial treatment commonly used for respiratory infections. We did this study to find out the penicillin resistant distributions and oral antibiotics susceptibility patterns against S. pneumoniae, isolated from pediatric patients with community-acquired respiratory infections in Korea. METHODS: One hundred fifty six pneumococcal isolates obtained from pediatric patients with community-acquired respiratory infections such as acute otitis media(AOM), sinusitis and pneumonia between May 2000 to June 2003. And MICs of penicillin and oral antibiotics(amoxicillin, amoxicillin- clavulanate, cefaclor) were performed by broth microdilution methods according to the NCCLS(2003a). RESULTS: Seventy eight percent of the isolates were resistant to penicillin. The isolates, collected from AOM patients showed the highest penicillin resistance(92.7%). The resistant rates of amoxicillin (16.7%) and amoxicillin-clavulanate(9.6%), based on susceptibility breakpoints established by the NCCLS, were markedly lower than these of penicillin. But, the resistant rate of cefaclor was very high, above 95%. CONCLUSION: We concluded that pneumococci isolated from study cases may be one of the world's highest penicillin resistant rates. But, amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate can be used as a first- line antibiotics. Finally, we hope that a continuous surveillance study to monitor resistant patterns of pneumococcal respiratory infections will be needed for the standard guidelines of empiric antibiotic treatment.
Amoxicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents* ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Cefaclor ; Clavulanic Acid ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea* ; Otitis ; Penicillin Resistance ; Penicillins* ; Pneumonia ; Respiratory Tract Infections* ; Sinusitis ; Streptococcus pneumoniae* ; Streptococcus*