No abstract available.
Chondrosarcoma*

We have investigated a series of 45 acute traumatic hemarthrosis of the knee between Jan. 1989 and Jan. 1993 at National Medical Center. All the patients who had normal findings on plain X-ray with hemarthrosis underwent arthroscopic examination under anesthesia. The arthroscopic results were as follows. 1. There were 14 cases(31%) of anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) tear, a case(2%) of avulsion fracture of tibial spine, 13 cases(29%) of lateral meniscus tear, 8 cases(18%) of medial meniscus tear, a case(2%) of osteochondral fracture of patella, and 8 cases(18%) showed no specific injury of internal structure. 2. The positive predictive value of Lachman and anterior drawer tests under anesthesia was 93% and 92%, respectively. 3. The positive predictive value of McMurray tests for medial and lateral menisci was 33% and 64%, respectively. 4. We concluded that a traumatic hemarthrosis indicated a significant knee injury and arthroscopy allowed a more accurate diagnosis of injury to joint structure.
Anesthesia ; Arthroscopy ; Diagnosis ; Hemarthrosis ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee Injuries ; Knee ; Menisci, Tibial ; Patella ; Spine ; Tears

No abstract available.
Bowen's Disease* ; Carcinoma, Merkel Cell*

Lanolin is a complex material consisting of a mixture of numerous esters and polyesters of high-moleculer-weight alcohols and fatty acids, Lanolin allergy is important because lanolin is widely used as an emulsifier in topical medicaments and in numerous cosmetic preparations. We report a case of allergic contact dermatitis in a 27-year-old female. An erythematous pruritic rash develgood around the eyelid developed after applying a new eye cream and was aggravated after applying Cambison ophthalmic ointment. Patch testing showed positive reactions to Cambison ophthalmic ointment, 30% wool alcohol, Amerchol L101 and Nivea cream. A use test with 100% Cambison ophthalmic ointment base was positive
Adult ; Alcohols ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Esters ; Exanthema ; Eyelids ; Fatty Acids ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Lanolin* ; Patch Tests ; Polyesters ; Wool

A 13-month-old boy had irregularly shaped, erythematous to dusky red, slightly raised patches and plaques on the left antecubital fossa and arm for 7 months. The lesions were firm and tender. Histopathologically the lesion consisted of small, circumscribed, angiomatous tufts and lobules with a cannonball appearance scattered throughout dermis, a characteristic feature of tufted angioma. For 15 weeks, interferon-a intralesional injections have been performed and the lesions showed an improvement.
Arm ; Dermis ; Hemangioma* ; Humans ; Infant ; Injections, Intralesional ; Interferon-alpha* ; Male

Venous thrombosis is uncommon in young individuals. Hypereosinophilia is a rare cause of thrombosis that usually involves the heart and small vessels like retinal vessels. We report a case of massive deep vein thrombosis that developed in a young patient with hypereosinophilia who was successfully treated with continuous local infusion of urokinase.
Eosinophilia* ; Heart ; Humans ; Retinal Vessels ; Thrombosis ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator* ; Venous Thrombosis*

BACKGROUND: Adequate staffing is necessary to meet patient care needs and provide safe, quality nursing care. In November 1999, the Korean government implemented a new staffing policy that differentiates nursing fees for inpatients based on nurse-to-bed ratios. The purpose was to prevent hospitals from delegating nursing care to family members of patients or paid caregivers, and ultimately deteriorating the quality of nursing care services. PURPOSE: To examine nurse staffing levels and related factors including hospital, nursing and medical staff, and financial characteristics. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed using two administrative databases, Medical Care Institution Database and Medical Claims Data for May 1-31, 2002. Nurse staffing was graded from 1 to 6, based on grading criteria of nurse-to-bed ratios provided by the policy. The study sample consisted of 42 tertiary and 186 general acute care hospitals. RESULTS: None of tertiary or general hospitals gained the highest nurse staffing of Grade 1 (i.e., less than 2 beds per nurse in tertiary hospitals; less than 2.5 beds per nurse in general hospitals). Two thirds of the general hospitals had the lowest staffing of Grade 6 (i.e., 4 or more beds per nurse in tertiary hospitals; 4.5 or more beds per nurse in general hospitals). Tertiary hospitals were better staffed than general hospitals, and private hospitals had higher staffing levels compared to public hospitals. Large-sized general hospitals located in metropolitan areas had higher staffing than other general hospitals. Occupancy rate was positively related to nurse staffing. A negative relationship between nursing assistant and nurse staffing was found in general hospitals. A greater number of physician specialists were associated with better nurse staffing. CONCLUSIONS: The staffing policy needs to be evaluated and modified to make it more effective in leading hospitals to increase nurse staffing.
Workload/economics ; Program Evaluation ; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling/*economics ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/economics/*supply & distribution ; Logistic Models ; Korea ; Humans ; *Hospital Charges ; *Health Policy ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Bed Occupancy/economics ; Analysis of Variance

BACKGROUND: Gabapentin is widely used for the relief of neuropathic pain. But, there is no study of gabapentin in relation to traumatic neuropathic pain. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and effectiveness of gabapentin for the various clinical symptoms of traumatic neuropathic pain MATERIALS AND METHODS: 50 patients with traumatic nerve injury were assigned to receive gabapentin, titrated to 900 mg/day over 9 days, followed by further increases to a maximum of 2400 mg/day. Continuous pain, paroxysmal pain, allodynia and thermal evoked pain were measured in mean daily pain scores, based on the 11-point Likert scale. The primary efficacy parameter was compared from the baseline to the final study week. RESULTS: Over the 4.5 week study, this pain score decreased by 2.6 points in the continuous pain, 3.6 points in the paroxysmal pain, 3.1 points in the allodynia, and 2.5 points in the thermal evoked pain. The percentage of patients with over 50% improvement in pain scores was 33% in the continuous pain, 67% in the paroxysmal pain, 53% in the allodynia and 36% in the thermal evoked pain. There was no significant correlation between the effect of gabapentin and the time difference of the onset of symptoms and start of medication. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that gabapentin reduced neuropathic pain in patients with traumatic peripheral nerve injury. Among the various characteristics of neuropathic pain, the reduction of paroxysmal pain and allodynia was greatest.
Humans ; Hyperalgesia ; Neuralgia* ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries

Leiomyomas of vagina and vulva are rare solid tumors, but most common mesenchymal tumors in adult woman. Most of the reported cases have been benign. The tumors were firm, well-defined submucosal masses in a majority of patients. We experienced two cases of vulvar and vaginal leiomyoma, thus it is presented with a brief review of the cases and its literatures.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma* ; Vagina* ; Vulva*

To evaluate the features of pyuria related to the bacteriuria, 140subjects were studied from Jan. 1987 to Dec. 1987. They pyuria was frequently developed from the age 30 to 60 years old, and male to female ratio was 1:1.41. The most common disease was urethrocystitis that was shown 42.8%. Common precipitating factors were urethral catheterization (25%) and urinary tract obstruction (11.4%). Through the observation, symptomatic pyuric patients were 66 subjects (47.1%), and the subjects with significant urine culture were 121 subjects (86.4%). In the urine culture, the most common bacteria was E. coli (41.4%), and the next was Pseudomonas (19.3%). A large percentage of E. coli and Pseudomonas was susceptible of amikin. The pyuria due to S. epidermidis and Accinatobacter was well treated. High therapeutic rate was observed in the acute pyelonephritis (71%) and urethrocystitis (67%). In the persistent urinary tract infection, there were relapsing (22 cases) and recurrent urinary tract infection (16 cases).
Amikacin ; Bacteria ; Bacteriuria ; Clinical Study* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Precipitating Factors ; Pseudomonas ; Pyelonephritis ; Pyuria* ; Urinary Catheterization ; Urinary Catheters ; Urinary Tract ; Urinary Tract Infections