BACKGROUND: Hemorrhage itself has been shown to produce abnormalities in immunity, particularly depression of the lymphocyte function. In order to better examine the amount of hemorrhage required to suppress the lymphocyte function, we determined the effect of graded fixed-volume hemorrhage on splenocyte proliferation and the lymphocyte subpopulation. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats(weight, 350~400g) were anesthetized, subjected to hemorrhages of 7.5ml/kg, 15ml/kg, and 22.5ml/kg by percutaneous cardiac puncture with 26G needles. After 1, 2, 4, and 7 days, animals were killed to obtain the blood and spleen. The splenocyte proliferative capacity was measured by using the tritiated thymidine incorporation technique, and the peripheral lymphocyte subpopulation was determined using flow cytometry with the following monoclonal antibodies: T cell(CD3+), T helper cell(CD4+), T cytotoxic cell(CD8+), and B cell(CD45RA+). RESULTS: Hemorrhage of 7.5ml/kg did not induce depression of splenocyte proliferation. However, for hemorrhage greater than 15ml/kg, the splenocyte proliferative capacity was significantly depressed at 2 days after hemorrhage and recovered at 4 days. Hemorrhage induced no changes in the relative percentage of lymphocyte subpopulations and in the number of each cell in peripheral blood. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that cellular immunity is depressed at 48 hrs after a hemorrhage greater than 15ml/kg without any change in the peripheral lymphocyte subpopulation.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Depression ; Flow Cytometry ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes* ; Male ; Needles ; Punctures ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Spleen ; Thymidine

The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) was observed in 194 infants admitted in our nursery room, who had birthweighs less than 2000 gm, or who had gestational ages less than 37 weeks and received supplemental oxygen therapy. To minimize the multiple correlation of birthweights and gestational ages with other possible risk factors of ROP, we selected a control group of normal infants whose birthweights or gestational ages were similar to ROP group, and then other risk factors were analyzed statisticully through a case-control study. Among 194 infants, 41 infants(21%) were diagnosed as ROP. The incidence of ROP was 48%(24/50) in infants with birthweights less than 1500 gm , 41%(28/68) in infants with gestational ages less than 32 weeks(p<0.001). In the case-control study, there were statistically significant differences in the duration of oxygen therapy and the maximal oxygen concentration betweenROP and control group, and long duration(>or=5 days) ahd high concentration(>or=40%) were highly associated with ROP(p<0.01). Other statistically significant risk factors included mechanical ventilation duration, 5 minutes Apgar score, apnea of prematurity, blood transfusion, anemia, asphyxia neonatorum, respiratory distress syndrome, xanthine administration, and parity, cesarean section, pregnancy induced hypertension in mother's factors(p<0.05).
Anemia ; Apgar Score ; Apnea ; Asphyxia Neonatorum ; Blood Transfusion ; Case-Control Studies ; Cesarean Section ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Incidence* ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Nurseries ; Oxygen ; Parity ; Pregnancy ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retinopathy of Prematurity* ; Risk Factors* ; Xanthine

Gastritis cystica profunda (GCP) is an uncommom hyperplastic lesion, which is located within the submucosa. GCP may occur several years after previous gastric surgery. In some reported cases, it was a premalignant condition and may lead to carcinoma of the stomach. We report a case of a 54-year-old man with epigastric pain and dyspepsia. He had undergone peritoneal dialysis for end stage renal disease about 13 years prior. An Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed elevated lesion at the gastric antrum, looking like an advanced gastric cancer or gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Endoscopic biopsy results were tubular adenoma with low-grade dysplasia. When followed up 9 months later, the lesion had increased in size and symptoms remained. We therefore performed a subtotal gastrectomy. The final biopsy was adenocarcinoma arising in GCP.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenoma ; Biopsy ; Dyspepsia ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Gastrectomy ; Gastritis ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Middle Aged ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Pyloric Antrum ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Abscess* ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors* ; Transplants*

Subcutaneous fat necrosis of newborn (SCFNN) is a rare disease. Characteristically, full-term infants with associated perinatal problems such as hypoxia, hypothermia, and obstetric trauma are affected in the first week of life. We report a case of SCFNN, which presented as an erythematous subcutaneous mass on the back of a male neonate who suffered from meconium aspiration pneumonia with neonatal sepsis.
Anoxia ; Humans ; Hypothermia ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Male ; Meconium Aspiration Syndrome* ; Meconium* ; Necrosis* ; Pneumonia ; Rare Diseases ; Sepsis ; Subcutaneous Fat*

To predict the mydriatic status of the cataract patients preoperatively, we performed maximal mydriasis test with stepwise instillations of 1% tropicamide and 2.5% phenylephrine or 10% phenylephrine to the out-patients who was scheduled to have cataract operation. Among 210 eyes of 113 patients, the pupillary size of 167 eyes was dilated to 8mm or more and the other 43 eyes were insufficiently dilated to less than 8mm diameter. In the insufficiently dilated group, we have observed the presumable causes of insufficient mydriasis as follows: posterior synechiae, diabetic autonomic pupillopathy, age-related miosis and unknown. By this test, we could predict the mydriatic status of the cataract patient preoperatively and could prepare the appropriate operative method and equipment effectively.
Cataract* ; Humans ; Miosis ; Mydriasis* ; Outpatients ; Phenylephrine ; Tropicamide

OBJECTIVES: This research used queueing theory to analyze changes in outpatients' waiting times before and after the introduction of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. METHODS: We focused on the exact drawing of two fundamental parameters for queueing analysis, arrival rate (λ) and service rate (µ), from digital data to apply queueing theory to the analysis of outpatients' waiting times. We used outpatients' reception times and consultation finish times to calculate the arrival and service rates, respectively. RESULTS: Using queueing theory, we could calculate waiting time excluding distorted values from the digital data and distortion factors, such as arrival before the hospital open time, which occurs frequently in the initial stage of a queueing system. We analyzed changes in outpatients' waiting times before and after the introduction of EMR using the methodology proposed in this paper, and found that the outpatients' waiting time decreases after the introduction of EMR. More specifically, the outpatients' waiting times in the target public hospitals have decreased by rates in the range between 44% and 78%. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to analyze waiting times while minimizing input errors and limitations influencing consultation procedures if we use digital data and apply the queueing theory. Our results verify that the introduction of EMR contributes to the improvement of patient services by decreasing outpatients' waiting time, or by increasing efficiency. It is also expected that our methodology or its expansion could contribute to the improvement of hospital service by assisting the identification and resolution of bottlenecks in the outpatient consultation process.
Delivery of Health Care ; Electronic Health Records ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Outpatients

PURPOSE: The clinical significance of preoperative serum levels of CEA and CA19-9, levels of CEA and CA19-9 in peritoneal washing fluid and free cancer cells in peritoneal washing fluid in gastric cancer patients were evaluated in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum and peritoneal levels of CEA and CA19-9 and peritoneal washing cytology in 115 patients with gastric cancer were analyzed with respect to the prognostic factors using univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Positive rate of serum CEA and CA19-9 was 16.5%, 13.0%. And that of peritoneal washing CEA, CA19-9 and cytology was 15.7%, 7.8% and 9.6%. A univariate analysis showed that tumor markets in serum and peritoneal washing fluid and peritoneal washing cytology had significant correlations with the progression of the tumors, and patients with positive serum or peritoneal tumor markers had poorer survival after operation than did the patients with negative tumor markers. But in a multivariate analysis showed that only peritoneal CA19-9 was an independent risk factor. And combination of these five markers provided rnore predictable prognostic informations in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Combination of serum or peritoneal levels of CEA, CA19-9 and washing cytology appeared to be a useful marker for managing gastric cancer patients.
Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Biomarkers, Tumor

Meningioma en plaque (MEP) is a rare tumor characterized more by its clinical and biological behavior than its histological appearance. Hyperostosis of the skull is one of the characteristic signs of MEP. This bony change can produce clinical symptoms and signs in MEP by pressing against adjacent structures. The authors report a rare case of an osteolytic MEP extending from the sphenoid wing into the orbital wall, middle fossa, and temporalis muscle.
Hyperostosis ; Meningioma ; Muscles ; Orbit ; Skull

The mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the orbit is so rare that only a few cases have been reported in Korea and world-wide. We experienced that a patient whose complaints were proptosis and diplopia caused by orbital tumor. After tumor removal, it was histologically diagnosed as mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. So we report a case of mesenchymal chonrosarcoma of the orbit with a review of the literature.
Chondrosarcoma, Mesenchymal* ; Diplopia ; Exophthalmos ; Humans ; Korea ; Orbit*