BACKGROUND: Artificial insemination by donor (AID) is important to chance the pregnancy in male infertile couples by requiring appropriate medical, legal and ethical reviews. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception changes of AID to collect the basic information for establishing the sperm donation, cryopreservation and artificial insemination management system. METHODS: We evaluated the people's thought of sperm donation, cryopreservation, and artificial insemination by donor by means of national inquiry survey from 247 infertile couples for 4 weeks from October 2016. The questionnaires were composed of 4 areas, and each questionnaire consisted of 15 items. Changes in the perception of AID by year were investigated after review of domestic journals. RESULTS: 67.6% of respondents knew the growth of couples with difficulty getting pregnant due to male infertility. 82.2% of respondents replied the necessary of sperm bank as a treatment option for infertility and 40.5% knew the donation and receipt system of sperm. In the survey of change perception of AID according to year, 37.5% and 39.5% of respondents were got information about AID from doctor in 2003 and 2004, but 49.6% from broadcasting in 2016. As a child grows up, 4.0% (2003), 9.0% (2014), and 42.8% (2016) of respondents answered to tell the child about AID. CONCLUSIONS: Infertile couple's thought of AID about the extension of opportunities for male infertility treatment is changed. In conclusion, it is necessary to establish institutional system of sperm donation, cryopreservation and artificial insemination prior to public sperm bank operation.
Child ; Cryopreservation ; Ethical Review ; Family Characteristics* ; Humans ; Infertility ; Infertility, Male ; Insemination, Artificial* ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Sperm Banks ; Spermatozoa* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tissue Donors*

Epidemiological data of Bordetella pertussis infection among adolescents and adults are limited in Korea. Patients (> or = 11 yr of age) with a bothersome cough for less than 30 days were enrolled during a 1-yr period at 22 hospitals in Korea. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for bacteriologic culture. In total, 490 patients were finally enrolled, and 34 (6.9%) patients tested positive for B. pertussis; cough duration (14.0 days [7.0-21.0 days]) and age distribution were diverse. The incidence was the highest in secondary referral hospitals, compared to primary care clinics or tertiary referral hospitals (24/226 [10.6%] vs. 3/88 [3.4%] vs. 7/176 [4.0%], P = 0.012), and the peak incidence was observed in February and August (15.8% and 15.9%), with no confirmed cases between March and June. In the multivariate analysis, post-tussive vomiting was significantly associated with pertussis (odds ratio, 2.508; 95% confidence interval, 1.146-5.486) and secondary referral hospital showed a borderline significance. In conclusion, using a PCR-based method, 6.9% of adolescent and adult patients with an acute cough illness had pertussis infection in an outpatient setting. However, hospital levels and seasonal trends must be taken into account to develop a better strategy for controlling pertussis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Bordetella pertussis/*genetics ; Child ; DNA, Bacterial/*analysis ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; *Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Seasons ; Vomiting/etiology ; Whooping Cough/*epidemiology/microbiology/pathology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Limited data on the incidence and clinical characteristics of adult pertussis infections are available in Korea. METHODS: Thirty-one hospitals and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of pertussis infections among adults with a bothersome cough in non-outbreak, ordinary outpatient settings. Nasopharyngeal aspirates or nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture tests. RESULTS: The study enrolled 934 patients between September 2009 and April 2011. Five patients were diagnosed as confirmed cases, satisfying both clinical and laboratory criteria (five positive PCR and one concurrent positive culture). Among 607 patients with cough duration of at least 2 weeks, 504 satisfied the clinical criteria of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (i.e., probable case). The clinical pertussis cases (i.e., both probable and confirmed cases) had a wide age distribution (45.7+/-15.5 years) and cough duration (median, 30 days; interquartile range, 18.0~50.0 days). In addition, sputum, rhinorrhea, and myalgia were less common and dyspnea was more common in the clinical cases, compared to the others (p=0.037, p=0.006, p=0.005, and p=0.030, respectively). CONCLUSION: The positive rate of pertussis infection may be low in non-outbreak, ordinary clinical settings if a PCR-based method is used. However, further prospective, well-designed, multicenter studies are needed.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Incidence ; Outpatients ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sputum ; Whooping Cough

BACKGROUND: The increasing rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a threat to the public health and TB control. In Korea, about 75~80% of TB patients are treated in private hospitals and the rate has been continuously increasing since 2000. METHODS: On a retrospective basis, we enrolled 170 newly diagnosed with or retreated for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in 2004 from 21 private hospitals. We extracted the following demographics and treatment history from patient medical records: initial treatment outcomes, cumulative survival rates, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors. RESULTS: Of the 170 patients, the majority were male (64.1%), the mean age was 44.5 years old, and mean body-mass-index was 20.2 kg/m2. None of the patients tested positive for HIV. Eleven (6.5%) were confirmed to have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) at treatment initiation. Treatment success rates were not different between XDR-TB (36.4%, 4/11) and non-XDR MDR-TB (51.6%, 82/159). Default rate was high, 21.8% (37/170). Far advanced disease on X-ray was a significant negative predictor of treatment success; advanced disease and low BMI were risk factors for all-cause mortality. CONCLUSION: In private hospitals in Korea, the proportion of XDR-TB in MDR-TB was comparable to previous data. The treatment success rate of MDR-/XDR-TB remains poor and the failure rate was quite high. Adequate TB control policies should be strengthened to prevent the further development and spread of MDR-/XDR-TB in Korea.
Demography ; Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis ; HIV ; Hospitals, Private ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Public Health ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant

Consequences of an untreated sleep related breathing disorder include failure to thrive, enuresis, attention deficit disorder, behavior problems, poor academic performance, and cardiopulmonary disease. The most common etiology of sleep related breathing disorder in children is adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Other upper airway lesion should be evaluated. We experienced a case of a child whose etiology of sleep related breathing disorder was suspected to have been caused by a tubal tonsil hypertrophy. Therefore, in this paper, we present a case of a sleep related breathing disorder in a child which was successfully treated by removing the tubal tonsil hypertrophy.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Child* ; Enuresis ; Failure to Thrive ; Humans ; Hypertrophy* ; Palatine Tonsil ; Respiration ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive*

The use of antibiotics, including therapeutically in human and veterinary medicine, or as prophylaxis of growth promotion in animal husbandry, ultimately exerts selective pressure favorable for the propagation of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In this study we have determined the resistance for antibiotics of E. coli from pig farm environment, and investigate genetic relatedness by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Six farms were randomly selected in Gyeongsanman-do and Busan provinces for collecting samples from feces, manure and underground water. A total of 88 isolates from feces, 74 isolates from manure and 1 isolate from underground water were analyzed by antibiotic resistance and RAPD. Antibiotic resistance testing was performed by disk diffusion method using 16 antibiotics. The highest percentage of antibiotic resistance of isolates from feces and manure was found to the following antibiotics; tetracycline (100% and 100%), sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (60.2% and 62.2%), streptomycin (50.0% and 68.9%), chloramphenicol (56.8% and 56.8%), ampicillin (50.0% and 81.1%) and cephalothin (50.0% and 51.4%). Of isolates from feces and manure, 22.7% and 20.3% showed multiple resistance to 4 and 5 antibiotics, respectively. The isolates from GE pig farm showed six RAPD patterns. A single pattern, RAPD-C, was predominat in feces isolates (50.0%) and manual isolates (46.7%), and the rest of feces isolates showed RADP-A, B and E pattern and manure isolates showed D and E pattern. One isolate from underground water showed F pattern. The appearance of multiresistant in E. coli isolates from pig farms environment is a problem of major concern of public health and RAPD may offer an useful tool of discrimination for the epidemiological investigation.
Ampicillin ; Animal Husbandry ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteria ; Busan ; Cephalothin ; Chloramphenicol ; Diffusion ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; Drug Resistance, Microbial* ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Feces ; Groundwater ; Humans ; Manure ; Public Health ; Streptomycin ; Tetracycline ; Veterinary Medicine

Facet joint synovial cysts are uncommon intraspinal abnormalities, which appear to be secondary to degenerative changes of the joints. They can cause chronic back pain and radiculopathy, as shown in spinal stenosis. When symptomatic cysts fail to respond to conservative measurements, surgical decompression is known as the standard treatment. Percutaneous steroid injections, and distension of the cysts under fluoroscopic guidance, may be a minimally invasive treatment option. Here, the case of a patient with a symptomatic L5-S1 facet joint synovial cyst and left S1 radiculopathy, who responded satisfactorily to percutaneous treatment, is presented.
Back Pain ; Decompression, Surgical ; Humans ; Joints ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Stenosis ; Synovial Cyst* ; Zygapophyseal Joint

BACKGROUND: International consensus guidelines have recently been developed to improve the assessment and management of asthma. One of the major recommendations of these guidelines is that asthma severity should be assessed through the recognition of key symptoms, such as nocturnal waking, medication requirements, and objective measurements of lung function. Differential classification of asthma severity would lead to major differences in both long term pharmacological management and the treatment of severe exacerbation. METHODS: This study examined the relationship between the symptom score and measurements of FEV1 and PEF when expressed as a percentage of predicted values in asthmatics(n=107). RESULTS: The correlation of FEV1% with PEFR% was highly significant(r=0.83, p<0.01). However, there was agreement in terms of the classification of asthma severity in 76.6% of the paired measurements of FEV1% and PEFR%. Agreement in the classification of asthma severity was also found in 57.1% of the paired analysis of FEV1% and symptom score. 39% of the patients classified as having moderate asthma on the basis of FEV1% recording would be considered to have severe asthma if symptom score alone were used. Low baseline FEV1 and high bronchial responsiveness were associated with a low degree of perception of airway obstruction. CONCLUSION: The relationships between the symptom score, PEFR and FEV1 were generally poor. When assessing asthma severity, age, duration, PC20, and baseline FEV should be considered.
Airway Obstruction ; Asthma* ; Classification ; Consensus ; Humans ; Lung ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate

BACKGROUND: Epidural infusions usually comprise a local anesthetic, an opioid, or more commonly, a combination of the two, to minimize individual doses and to reduce unwanted side effects. The aim of this study was to compare analgesic and side effects of epidural infusion with 0.2% ropivacaine alone and in combination with 4 microgram/ml fentanyl after total abdominal hysterectomy. METHODS: Forty healthy total abdominal hysterectomy patients under general anesthesia with postoperative analgesia by continuous epidural infusion were randomly allocated into Group I; 0.2% ropivacaine alone (n = 20) or Group II; 0.2% ropivacaine and 4 microgram/ml fentanyl (n = 20). We assessed the visual analogue scale (VAS, 0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain), frequency of supplemental analgesics, side effects and patients' satisfaction of the result. RESULTS: The VAS and the frequency of supplemental analgesics were significantly lower and fewer in Group II compared to Group I. The incidence and severity of side effects were no differences between two groups. The satisfactions of patients were significantly higher in Group II. CONCLUSIONS: For postoperative analgesia, the epidural infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine with 4 microgram/ml fentanyl provided better analgesia than 0.2% ropivacaine alone.
Analgesia* ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia, General ; Fentanyl* ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Incidence

Tuberculous pericarditis is a rare form of tuberculosis usually presenting as pericardial effusion or constrictive pericarditis. But rarely it may present as pericardial mass. We experienced a case of tuberculous pericarditis presenting as pericardial mass which was confirmed by open thoracotomy. The patient was 34-year-old female, who was previously treated for tuberculous pleurisy. She admitted for dyspnea on exertion and imaging study including chest CT and echocardiography showed pericardial mass. Open thoracotomy showed hard adhesive mass lesion around pulmonary artery and pathology showed chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseation necrosis. We report a rare case of tuberculous pericarditis presenting as pericardial mass.
Adhesives ; Adult ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Necrosis ; Pathology ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericarditis, Constrictive ; Pericarditis, Tuberculous* ; Pulmonary Artery* ; Thoracotomy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pleural