OBJECTIVES: Over the last 30 years, despite the increasing sophistication in medical care, the mortality of acute renal failure(ARF) has remained virtually unchanged at 40-50%, but the reasons remain unknown. This study intend to identify prognostic risk factors influencing survival and predict the mortality in ARF patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 152 patients with ARF who required renal replacement therapy, or whose serum creatinine level above 5 mg/dl, from Jan. 1988 to May. 1995. Multiple factors which may influence mortality were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: 1) Of the 152 patients, 97 were male and 55 were female. The mean age was 47 years and the overall mortality was 36.8%. 2) Based on the univariate analysis, age>60 years, cause of ARF, APACHE II score, number of failing organs, peak serum creatinine level, PaO2, coma, hypotension, ARDS, GI bleeding, ventilatory support, need for antiarrhythmics, DIC, cardiovascular failure, pulmonary failure, neurological failure, and gastrointestinal failure were all significant factors discriminating between survivors and nonsurvivors(p<0.05) 3) By multivariate analysis, hypotension, coma, ventilatory support, and age over 60 years were significant independent predictors influencing survival in ARF patients and logistic equation and logit score were as follows : z=-2.04+1.32(age over 60)+2.18(hypotension)+2.88 (ventilatory support) + 3.28(coma) P=ez/(1+ ez) 4) In ROC(receiver-operating characteristic)curve, when the cutoff point was 0.2, maximum sensitivity was 75% and maximum specificity was 82%. CONCLUSION: In ARF, prognostic risk factors for mortality were age over 60 years, hypotension, assisted ventilation and coma. The logit score by multiple analysis is a reliable predictor of mortality in ARF patients, however the further studies are required to confirm these results.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; APACHE ; Coma ; Creatinine ; Dacarbazine ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Male ; Mortality* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Renal Replacement Therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Survivors ; Ventilation

Hang-loose technique(HLT) is a reliable recession method in strabismus surgery. However, the loop length and the parallel of the anterior muscle border may not be sustained when the muscle was recessed behing the equator. This study was designed to assess the postoperative status of the large-recessed superior rectus muscle using the HLT and a modification of HLT(M-HLT) respectively in rabbits. Some of the recessed muscles with both techniques showed forward creeping. The average creeping was 0.5 mm on M-HLT and 1.1 mm on HLT in 7 mm recession group, and the difference was statistically significant(p=0.023). In 8 mm recession group, the average creeping was 1.0 mm on M-HLT and 1.8 mm on HLT. The difference was statistically significant(p=0.012). Although the parallel of the anterior muscle border was better on HLT than on M-HLT, the difference was not significant statistically. According to our result, M-HLT may be an useful alternative method in the cases of large recession with HLT.
Muscles ; Rabbits* ; Strabismus

No abstract available.

Coronary artery fistula is an unusual anomaly in elderly patients that consists of a communication bet- ween one of the coronary arteries and other cardiac chambers or veins. It causes many cardiac compli- cations due to hemodynamic changes, and thus has recognized its clinical significance. It occurs usually in congenital origin, but also occurs secondarily in traumatic or neoplastic or artherosclerotic coronary diseases. Congenital coronary artery fistula is a very rare congenital anomaly that results in multiple hemodynamic complications. It has reported rarely in elderly patients, that induces myocardial ischemia due to coronary steal syndrome and heart failure that caused by diastolic volume overload via a left to left shunt. We observed a 68-year-old male patient with exertional chest pain and dyspnea, in whom selective coronary angiography revealed abnormal reticular communication between left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery and drained to left ventricle through multiple microfistulous channels. We report this patient case who complicated by myocardial ischemia and left ventricular failure those caused by hemodynamic complication due to multiple coronary artery-left ventricular fistulae.
Aged ; Arteries ; Cations ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Dyspnea ; Fistula ; Heart Failure* ; Heart Ventricles ; Heart* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Veins

Coronary artery fistula is an unusual anomaly in elderly patients that consists of a communication bet- ween one of the coronary arteries and other cardiac chambers or veins. It causes many cardiac compli- cations due to hemodynamic changes, and thus has recognized its clinical significance. It occurs usually in congenital origin, but also occurs secondarily in traumatic or neoplastic or artherosclerotic coronary diseases. Congenital coronary artery fistula is a very rare congenital anomaly that results in multiple hemodynamic complications. It has reported rarely in elderly patients, that induces myocardial ischemia due to coronary steal syndrome and heart failure that caused by diastolic volume overload via a left to left shunt. We observed a 68-year-old male patient with exertional chest pain and dyspnea, in whom selective coronary angiography revealed abnormal reticular communication between left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery and drained to left ventricle through multiple microfistulous channels. We report this patient case who complicated by myocardial ischemia and left ventricular failure those caused by hemodynamic complication due to multiple coronary artery-left ventricular fistulae.
Aged ; Arteries ; Cations ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Dyspnea ; Fistula ; Heart Failure* ; Heart Ventricles ; Heart* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Veins

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Humans ; Risk Factors*

PURPOSE: To compare the surgical outcome between V-pattern intermittent exotropia without inferior oblique overaction and comitant intermittent exotropia. METHODS: The authors of the present study investigated 15 patients (V-pattern group) who had standard horizontal surgery with half-tendon width vertical transposition and 36 patients (Comitant group) with unilateral rectus muscle recession/resection. Preoperative visual acuity, presence of amblyopia, abnormal head posture, stereoacuity, amount of exotropia, and duration of postoperative diplopia were recorded. Surgical success was defined as final alignment of orthophoria or less than 10 PD orthophoria. RESULTS: The frequency of good stereoacuity with 80 sec of stereoacuity or more was higher in the V-pattern group (73.3%) than in the Comitant group (33.3%) (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.01). One case of V-pattern showed consecutive esotropia for 1 year postoperatively. Exotropia recurred in 2 patients in the V-pattern group (13.3%), and in 4 patients in the Comitant group (11.1%) 1 year postoperatively. Surgical success rates were statistically significant higher in the V-pattern group (86.7%) as compared to the Comitant group (58.3%) on final follow-up (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: V-pattern exotropia patients without inferior oblique overaction who had standard horizontal surgery with half-tendon width vertical transposition showed a lower recurrence rate of exotropia than patients with comitant intermittent exotropia.
Amblyopia ; Diplopia ; Esotropia ; Exotropia ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Humans ; Muscles ; Posture ; Recurrence ; Visual Acuity

BACKGROUND: To examine whether nonemergency patients can be identified and be safely triaged out of the emergency department. METHODS: Adult patients(16 years or older) who visited to the emergency department were prospectively studied from July 1 to August 31, 1997. Authors developed a new triage composed of vital signs, mental status, chief complaints, etiology, and a mode of transfer. Chi-square test and a discriminant analysis were applied for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In a discriminant analysis, mode of transfer, chief complaint, age, heart rate, mental status, etiology, and body temperature were significant variables in order. In a canonical discriminant value at group mean, a nonemergent value is 0.450 and a emergent value -0.219. CONCLUSIONS: In simply applicable triage method, mode of transfer and chief complaints are more important than vital sign and mental status. This method is useful in disaster situation and non-medical personnel may use this triage method easily. But some patients are not triaged by this triage method, thus more studies and discussions are necessary.
Adult ; Body Temperature ; Disasters ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Triage* ; Vital Signs

PURPOSE: To investigate the characteristics of successfully weaning patients off of glasses and the change in hypermetropic spectacle correction required for maintaining orthotropia using an analysis of surgery results of patients with partially accommodative esotropia. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 104 patients who underwent standard surgery for correcting partially accommodative esotropia. In total, 64 patients who had follow-up periods of at least 2 years were included. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 28 patients who were asked to discontinue their hyperopic glasses (glasses-discontinued group) and 36 patients who still needed hyperopic glasses (glasses-maintained group). We investigated the age at first visit and at surgery, total angle of deviation and residual angle of deviation with correction before surgery, weaning time of hyperopic glasses, follow-up period, and the time at which the hyperopic glasses were discontinued in the glasses-discontinued group. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the age at first visit and at surgery as well as the duration of postoperative follow-up between both groups. The total esodeviated angle without hyperopic correction of the glasses-discontinued group was significantly lower than that of glasses-maintained group (37.4PD:46.7PD, p < 0.05); there were no significant differences in the remaining esotropic angle after hyperopic correction. The average hyperopic degree in the glasses-discontinued group was significantly lower than that in the glasses-maintained group (+3.0D:+4.7D, p < 0.05), there were no significant differences in the weaning time of hyperopic glasses between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The esodeviated angle without hyperopic correction was smaller and hyperopic degree was lower in the glasses-discontinued group than in the glasses-maintained group after surgery for partially accommodative esotropia. Therefore, it might be helpful to predict the postoperative possibility to discontinue glasses in the patients with partially accommodative esotropia.
Esotropia* ; Eyeglasses ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glass ; Humans ; Hyperopia ; Medical Records ; Weaning