No abstract available.
Animals ; Horns* ; Pregnancy*

Cervical pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic gestation in which the blastocyst implants in the cervical mucosa below the histologic cervical os. Because of the serious vaginal bleeding, hysterectomy was usually done in the management of cervical pregnancy. Howerver, conservative treatment is desirable for women who want to be pregnancy in the future. Methotrexate has been utilized recently for conservative management of cervical pregnancy. We report a case of cervical pregnancy which was treated succesfully with intramuscular methotrexate injection.
Blastocyst ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Methotrexate* ; Mucous Membrane ; Pregnancy* ; Uterine Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Recently we have demonstrated that urinary cotinine test by an enzyme immunoassay is valid to discriminate smoking status among adults. This study was conducted for the same purpose among Korean high school students. METHODS: Questionnaire on smoking and urinary cotinine tests were performed for 1, 267 high school students. Cotinine concentrations in urine were measured by Cotinine Enzyme Immunoassay (Diag-nostic Reagents Inc., CA, USA) on 502X Multiple Chemistry Unit (A&T Co., Tokyo, Japan). RESULTS: The questionnaire was responded by 1, 227 of the 1, 267 students (96.8%); 6 male (0.8%) and 34 female students (5.9%) did not respond. Among the responders, 13.4% (92/685) of male students and 3.0% (16/542) of female students answered as smokers. By using 6 ng/mL as a cutoff, the sensitivity and specificity of the urinary cotinine test were 79.6% (86/108) and 91.4% (1023/1119), respectively. According to the results of urinary cotinine, 96 additional students were presumed as smokers. Of 85 abstainers and 40 non-responders, 41 (32.8%) tested positive for urinary cotinine. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike in a previous study with adults, the urinary cotinine test is shown not to be able to replace the self-reported questionnaire due to the lack of sensitivity for young adolescents. But the urinary continine test is valid to discriminate smokers among purported nonsmokers, espe-cially among non-responders and those who claimed abstinence.
Adolescent* ; Adult ; Chemistry ; Cotinine* ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Indicators and Reagents ; Male ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: In spite of the development of asthma management guidelines, there are discrepancies between the guidelines and real management. We surveyed the insights and the real management of asthma to assess the current status of its management in Korea. METHODS: The objects of the survey were 266 parents with asthmatic children, who attended an educational lecture by the Korean World Asthma Day Project Office (KWADPO). Face to face interviews with questionnaires of 11 questions about understanding of asthma maintenance therapy, actual conditions of taking medicine and the impact of asthma on the family life were undertaken. RESULTS: The Median age of the patients was 5.2 years old and their parents' age ranged from those in their twenties to those in their forties. The number of the patients actually taking asthma maintenance medicine (40.6 percent) was a little bit lower than the level of awareness (53.0 percent). As a controller, patients are using short-acting beta2 inhalers (35.3 percent), steroid inhalers (including combination inhaler) (31.6 percent), leukotriene receptor antagonists (24.8 percent), antihistamines (25.6 percent), theophylline (2.3 percent), etc. Regular visits to hospital or clinic were done in 53.0 percent of the patients. As a controllers, oral medications (69.2 percent) was preferred to inhalers (18.0 percent) due to better compliance and easier dosage adjustment. CONCLUSION: According to the survey, asthma had negative effects on the life quality of patients and their families. Remarkable discrepancies were noticed between the guidelines and the real-world status of taking medicine in asthmatic children. It is necessary to have patients participate actively in making asthma management plans to raise their efficacy.
Asthma* ; Child* ; Compliance ; Histamine Antagonists ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukotriene Antagonists ; Nebulizers and Vaporizers ; Parents ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Theophylline

In fascioliasis, T-helper 2 (Th2) responses predominate, while little is known regarding early immune phenomenon. We herein analyzed early immunophenotype changes of BALB/c, C57BL/6, and C3H/He mice experimentally infected with 5 Fasciola hepatica metacercariae. A remarkable expansion of CD19+ B cells was observed as early as week 1 post-infection while CD4+/CD8+ T cells were down-regulated. Accumulation of Mac1+ cells with time after infection correlated well with splenomegaly of all mice strains tested. The expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha mRNA in splenocytes significantly decreased while that of IL-4 up-regulated. IL-1beta expression was down-modulated in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, but not in C3H/He. Serum levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta were considerably elevated in all mice during 3 weeks of infection period. These collective results suggest that experimental murine fascioliasis might derive immune suppression with elevated levels of TGF-beta and IL-4 during the early stages of infection.
Animals ; B-Lymphocytes/immunology ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology ; Down-Regulation ; Fasciola hepatica/*immunology ; Fascioliasis/*immunology ; Immunophenotyping ; Immunosuppression ; Interleukin-4/blood/genetics/*immunology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C3H ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Spleen/immunology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/blood/genetics/*immunology

PURPOSE: As allergy diseases including atopic dermatitis are increasing lately, many kinds of studies about the cause and the pathogenesis are in progress and the secrets of the of organization intestinal microflora and the relationship with inflammatory are reaction actively being revealed. METHODS: In this study, the subjects included 32 atopic dermatitis patients and 23 normal controls who visited the allergy clinics of the pediatrics department in Soonchunhyang University Hospital from June to October, 2003. Lactobacillus casei were cultured and counted. And serum total IgE, IgA and AST/ALT were examined. Also, the differences in lactobacillus counts between the atopic dermatitis patients and normal controls were analyzed. RESULTS: We were not able to find out a statistically significant differences between the atopic dermatitis patients and the control group. We were able to find out a statistically significant inverse correlation of serum total IgE and the number of Lactobacillus casei. CONCLUSION: The significant inverse correlations of serum total IgE and the number of Lactobacillus casei are expected to contribute to precognition and treatment of atopic dermatitis. It is hoped that more researches on the relationship between atopic dermatitis and intestinal flora should be carried out in the future.
Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Hope ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin E ; Lactobacillus casei* ; Lactobacillus* ; Pediatrics

We experienced a 4-month-old boy presenting with fever and painful scrotal swelling. Diagnostic work-up showed the presence of urinary tract infection and concurrent acute epididymitis. On the voiding cystourethrography, vesicoureteral reflux and urinary reflux through the ejaculatory duct and the seminal vesicle were detected without obvious urethral obstruction. In general, urinary reflux into the seminal vesicle can take place with obstructive lesions of the urethra and may cause epididymitis in infants. We report a case of urinary reflux without urethral obstruction with a brief review of related literatures.
Ejaculatory Ducts ; Epididymitis* ; Fever ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Seminal Vesicles* ; Urethra ; Urethral Obstruction ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare disease caused by the obstruction of the hepatic venous outflow or the inferior vena cava above the hepatic vein. It has been attributed to various etiologic factors. Including intrinsic vascular thrombosis, hepatic tumor invasion/compression, or associated with an idiopathic obstructing membrane. However, in most cases no definitive etiologic factors have been identified. Recently, we experienced a case of 21-year-old man who had Budd-Chiari syndrome associated with diaphragmatic hernia. Venous flow returned to normal on reintroduction of the liver into the abdominal cavity and closure of the defect in the diaphragm. To our knowledge, this is the rare report in our country. Here, we report this case with review of literatures.
Abdominal Cavity ; Budd-Chiari Syndrome* ; Diaphragm ; Hepatic Veins ; Hernia ; Hernia, Diaphragmatic* ; Humans ; Liver ; Membranes ; Rare Diseases ; Thrombosis ; Vena Cava, Inferior ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The prevalence of atopic diseases has been increasing remarkably. The less frequent opportunities for infection early in life, especially mycobacteria exposure, parallel this higher prevalence of atopic diseases. Bacille Calmette-Gu rin (BCG), a potent inducer of Th1 immune response, has been suggested to suppress Th2 response which is known to mediate IgE-mediated atopic disorders. This study was done to investigate whether there is any relation between the number of BCG scars and the prevalence of atopic disorders in early childhood. METHODS: We surveyed 393 parents with a children who were given percutaneous multi- puncture BCG vaccination within four weeks after birth. The main questions concerned the past history and present illness of physician-diagnosed atopic diseases (atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, and allergic rhinitis), the number of BCG scars (range; 0-18), and potential confounders such as gender, parental atopy, maternal smoking and environmental cofactors. The prevalence rate of each atopic disease was measured and analysed according to the number of BCG scars. RESULTS: Each prevalence rate was 18.1% for atopic dermatitis, 9.4% for bronchial asthma, 14.6% for allergic rhinitis, and 32.3% for any of them. All of them had received BCG vaccination during the first four weeks of life. The children with 15 or more BCG scars had a significantly lower prevalence of any atopic disease (22/99, 22.2%) as compared to those with four scars or less (51/125, 40.8%) by simple regression analysis. (P value=0.02) But this association was not significant after controlling for potential confounders. (P value= 0.26) CONCLUSION: This survey demonstrated a weak relation between a larger number of BCG scars and less atopy development at early childhood. But the relation was not so significant. Further studies are needed.
Asthma ; Child ; Cicatrix* ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Humans ; Mycobacterium bovis* ; Parents ; Parturition ; Prevalence ; Punctures ; Rhinitis ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vaccination

Endoscopic resection is currently accepted as a standard therapy for colon polyp because of its safety and efficiency. The indications for endoscopic resection have been expanded to treat mucosal colon cancer and submucosal tumor. The major complications of endoscopic resection are hemorrhage, perforation and post- polypectomy coagulation syndrome. Hemorrhage is the most common complication, and this can occur immediately following colonoscopic polypectomy or it can be delayed after completion of the procedure. Delayed hemorrhage usually occurs within 7 days and this can stop by itself or the hemorrhage can be controlled endoscopically in the majority of patients, with only the unusual and serious cases requiring transfusion, angiography and surgery. We experienced a case of delayed massive hemorrhage with hypotension that required transfusion 12 days after performing endoscopic resection for rectal carcinoid tumor. We report here on this case to provide a good example and to place emphasis on delayed massive hemorrhage after endoscopic resection.
Angiography ; Carcinoid Tumor ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Hypotension ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Polyps