PURPOSE: This study was conducted in order to evaluate effect and efficiency of selective spinal nerve root block for neuropathic pain patients with lower leg radiating pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 113 patients were evaluated and follow-up periods were a minimum of 12 months. They were divided into two groups: group A included 41 patients with neuropathic pain and group B included 72 patients with simple lower leg radiating pain. RESULTS: Fourteen (34.1%) patients in group A and 45 (62.5%) patients in group B had favorable results for selective spinal nerve block (p<0.05). Visual analog scale (VAS) was improved from 7.57 to 5.23 at 12 months in group A and from 7.11 to 3.49 at 12 months in group B. CONCLUSION: The initial treatment period for group A was significantly later than in group B. For patients with neuropathic pain and radiculopathy, early assessment was recommended and early selective spinal nerve block could be a good treatment option for neuropathic pain patients.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leg ; Neuralgia* ; Radiculopathy* ; Spinal Nerve Roots* ; Spinal Nerves ; Visual Analog Scale

BACKGROUND: Although many anti-diabetic drugs have been used to control hyperglycemia for decades, the efficacy of commonly-used oral glucose-lowering agents in Korean type 2 diabetic patients has yet to be clearly demonstrated. METHODS: We evaluated the efficacy of glimepiride, metformin, and rosiglitazone as initial treatment for drug-naive type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in a 48-week, double-blind, randomized controlled study that included 349 Korean patients. Our primary goal was to determine the change in HbA1c levels from baseline to end point. Our secondary goal was to evaluate changes in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, body weight, frequency of adverse events, and the proportion of participants achieving target HbA1c levels. RESULTS: HbA1c levels decreased from 7.8% to 6.9% in the glimepiride group (P<0.001), from 7.9% to 7.0% in the metformin group (P<0.001), and from 7.8% to 7.0% (P<0.001) in the rosiglitazone group. Glimepiride and rosiglitazone significantly increased body weight and metformin reduced body weight during the study period. Symptomatic hypoglycemia was more frequent in the glimepiride group and diarrhea was more frequent in the metformin group. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of glimepiride, metformin, and rosiglitazone as antidiabetic monotherapies in drug-naive Korean type 2 diabetic patients was similar in the three groups, with no statistical difference. This study is the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of commonly-used oral hypoglycemic agents in Korean type 2 diabetic patients. An additional subgroup analysis is recommended to obtain more detailed information.
Body Weight ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diarrhea ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypoglycemia ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Metformin ; Plasma ; Sulfonylurea Compounds ; Thiazolidinediones

Atrial myxoma is the most common primary cardiac tumor, and surgical removal is the treatment of choice. Atrial flutter-fibrillation is common after the surgical excision of such tumors, whereas sinus node dysfunction is a rare complication. We detected postoperative sinus node dysfunction and atrial tachycardia after the excision of a left atrial myxoma in a 63-year-old woman. The patient underwent the implantation of a permanent pacemaker two weeks after the operation. The patient underwent successful catheter ablation of macroreentrant right atrial tachycardia 16 months after the operation with no recurrence of atrial tachycardia over the next four months.
Catheter Ablation ; Female ; Heart Neoplasms ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myxoma ; Recurrence ; Sick Sinus Syndrome ; Sinoatrial Node ; Tachycardia

In surgeries that require the implantation of a pacemaker, the endocardial pacemaker leads are introduced into the cardiac chambers through subclavian or axillary venous catheterization or cephalic vein cutdown. The drawback of this type of surgery is scarring of the pectoral area, which can be a serious cosmetic problem especially for young women. In this study, we report on 2 cases where a permanent pacemaker in two young women with symptomatic bradycardia was implanted using a transaxillary incision. Both patients successfully recovered with no complications and were asymptomatic for more than 17 months after the procedure. Therefore, we found that implantation of a pacemaker via transaxillary incision provided excellent cosmetic results and should be considered in young women that require this type of surgery.
Axilla ; Bradycardia ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Cicatrix ; Cosmetics ; Female ; Humans ; Venous Cutdown

We report here on the use of the Venture(TM) catheter to facilitate successful advancement of a guidewire across difficult, complex lesions after the prior attempts at guide wire passage were unsuccessful with using standard wires. This Venture(TM) catheter may increase the success rate and reduce the procedural time for such a challenging interventional procedure.
Angioplasty ; Catheters

Ruptured dissecting aneurysm of the vertebral artery requires a rapid treatment because of the high rate of fatal early rebleeding. Stent-assisted coil embolization has been introduced as an effective procedure for both aneurysmal occlusion and parent artery preservation. We report a case of successful urgent treatment of ruptured dissecting aneurysm using a self-expandable, intracranial stent (Neuroform(R)) and a coated coil (HydroCoil(R)).
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Dissecting* ; Arteries ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Humans ; Parents ; Stents* ; Vertebral Artery*

Paratuberculosis (PTB) is a major disease problem worldwide, and causes major economic losses in the dairy industry. Although PTB has been reported in Korea, no studies have been conducted to determine its prevalence and no program has been developed to control the disease. In this study, the sera of beef (n = 1,056) and dairy cattle (n = 1,105) from all provinces in Korea were tested to determine the prevalence of PTB using two different ELISA: an 'in house' modified absorbed ELISA (P-ELISA) based on sonicated antigen from Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis ATCC 19698, and a commercial ELISA (C-ELISA). Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine the cutoff point for P-ELISA. Based on C-ELISA results, the area under the curve for P-ELISA was 0.913 (95% CI, 0.883 to 0.943). Using a cutoff point of 0.100, P-ELISA showed a sensitivity of 62.0% and a specificity of 93.7%. The kappa value and the percent agreement between the two ELISAs were 0.322 and 92.5%, respectively. Both ELISAs showed a significant correlation between age and seropositivity (p < 0.01). According to C-ELISA, 71 of 2,161 sera (3.3%, 95 CI, 2.6% to 4.1%) were test-positive. The national true prevalence of PTB was estimated to be 7.1%. The findings suggest that a control program should be implemented to limit the spread of this disease, and that P-ELISA could be used as a screening test that produces results similar to C-ELISA.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial/blood ; Cattle ; Cattle Diseases/*epidemiology/*microbiology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary ; Female ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis/*isolation & purification ; Paratuberculosis/blood/*epidemiology ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seroepidemiologic Studies

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is recognized as a significant food-borne pathogen, so rapid identification is important for food hygiene management and prompt epidemiological investigations. The limited prevalence data on Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and E. coli O157:H7 in foods and animals in Korea made an assessment of the risks difficult, and the options for management and control unclear. The prevalence of the organisms was examined by newly developed kit-E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit. For the isolation of E. coli O157:H7, conventional culture, immunomagnetic separation, and E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit were applied, and multiplex PCR and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were performed for the molecular determination. There was high molecular relatedness among 11 Korean isolates and 17 U.S. strains at 63% level. Additionally, distinct differentiation between pig and cattle isolates was determined. It implied that RAPD had a capacity to distinguish strains with different sources, however it could not discriminate among isolates according to their differences in the degree of virulence. In antimicrobial susceptibility tests, 45.5% of isolates showed antibiotic resistance to two or more antibiotics. Unlike the isolates from other countries, domestic isolates of E. coli O157:H7 was mainly resistant to ampicillin and tetracylines. In summary, the application of E. coli O157:H7 Rapid kit may be useful to detect E. coli O157:H7 due to its sensitivity and convenience. Moreover, combinational analysis of multiplex PCR together with RAPD can aid to survey the characteristics of isolates.
Abattoirs ; Adhesins, Bacterial/genetics ; Animals ; Cattle ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Chickens ; Escherichia coli O157/genetics/*isolation&purification ; Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics ; Feces/microbiology ; Food Microbiology ; Hemolysin Proteins/genetics ; Korea ; Meat/*microbiology ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique/*methods ; *Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Shiga-Like Toxin I/genetics ; Shiga-Like Toxin II/genetics ; Swine ; United States ; Vero Cells

Breast carcinoma is common malignancy in women and frequently metastasize to multiple organ such as lung, bone, lymph node and liver. But metastasis to gastrointestinal tract is rare and only two cases have been reported in Korea. We experienced a case of upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by gastric metastasis from ductal carcinoma of breast and report this case with review of several literatures.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Ductal ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

Percutaneous liver biopsy is valued in the diagnosis of diffuse or localized liver disease. Serious complications after ultrasonography-guided liver biopsy are rare. We report a case of a 69-year-old man who underwent a percutaneous liver biopsy for the evaluation of his underlying liver disease with subsequent late complication of intraluminal gallbladder hematoma.
Aged ; Biopsy, Needle/*adverse effects ; English Abstract ; Gallbladder Diseases/*etiology ; Hematoma/*etiology ; Human ; Liver/*pathology/ultrasonography ; Male ; Ultrasonography, Interventional