• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestations and laboratory characteristics of eosinophilic meningitis in Severance Children's Hospital. Methods: We examined 6,335 children under the age of 18 years old who had visited the tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea, and had received cerebrospinal study results between January 2007 and July 2012. The medical records of the patients identified as eosinophilic meningitis were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Eosinophilic meningitis was diagnosed in 39 patients (0.6%). The mean age was 6 years (range 0-18 years) and the sex ratio was 1.3:1 (22 males and 17 females). The underlying diseases and past history were neurologic disease (n=36, 92%). Eosinophilic meningitis was diagnosed in thirty-five patients who had undergone postoperation neurosurgery (90%). The most common symptoms were fever (50%), headache (20%), vomiting (15%), seizure (10%), and dizziness (5%). The average duration for recovery was five days, and intravenous antibiotics or steroids were used. Conclusions: Manifestations of eosinophilic meningitis are similar to other types of meningitis. The most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in children was neurosurgery. Eosinophilic meningitis should be considered for patients showing fever and headache after neurosurgery. Through careful investigation, use of improper antibiotics could be avoided.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.615-621
• /
• 2000

A social phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme fear and phobic avoidance of social and performance situations. Medications or cognitive-behavior methods have been mainly used in treating it. These methods have some shortcomings such as being inefficient and difficult to apply to treatment. Lately the virtual rcality technology has been applied to dcal with the anxiety disorders in order to compcnsate for these defects. A virtual environment provides a patient with stimuli which cvokes a phobia. and the patient's exposure to the virtual phobic situation make him be able to overcome it. In this study, we suggested the public speaking simulator based on a personal computer for the treatment of social phobia. The public speaking simulator was composed of a position sensor. head mount display and audio system. And a virtual environment for the treatment was suggested to be a seminar room where 8 avatars are sitting. The virtual environment includes a tracking system the trace a participant's head-movement using a HMD with position sensor and 3D sound is added to the virtual environment so that he might fcel it realistic. We also made avatars' motion and facial expression change in reaction to a participant's speech. The goal of developing public speaking simulator is to apply to treat fear of public speaking efficiently and economically. In a future study. we should get more information about immergence and treatment efficiency by clinical test and apply it to this simulator.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.93-101
• /
• 2016

Purpose: McArdle disease, glycogen storage disease type V (GSD V), is one of the most common adolescent-onset glycogen storage diseases. It is caused by recessive mutations in PYGM encoding myophosphorylase, which is critical to glycogen metabolism. Since only a few korean patients have been reported, we will observe the clinical and genetic features of three korean patients with McArdle disease. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of three patients with genetically confirmed McArdle disease, including the results of forearm ischemic exercise test, electromyogram, nerve conduction velocity, muscle biopsy, and PYGM analysis in peripheral leukocytes. Results: All three cases were males and their age of symptom onset was 12, 5, 14 years old, respectively. A high basal level of serum creatine kinase was noted in all three patients. They experienced the recurrent episodes of rhabdomyolysis, but second wind phenomenon was not definite. In muscle biopsy, subsarcolemmal space vacuoles including periodic acid schiff stained materials were found in two patients, while no evidence of glycogen storage disease was found in the other. A total of five different mutations, $p.Arg50^*$, p.Trp798Arg, $p.Arg50^*$, p.Glu779del, $p.Asp511Thrfs^*28$ and p.Phe710del, were found in three patients. Avoidance of isometric exercise, aerobic exercise and glucose intake before each exercise were recommended for all patients. Conclusion: The three Korean patients with McArdle disease showed the typical manifestations of the condition. The most mutations were private. Therefore, identification of more cases with long-term follow-up will be required to understand the clinical and genetic features of this disease among Korean population.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.144-151
• /
• 2003

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to identify the current status of symptom and pain control in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. Methods : The study population consisted of 66 cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and the data was collected by chart audit and using questionnaire from 19 clinicians in an university hospital during the period of August 7 to 24, 2001. The degree of symptom, analgesics type, dose, administration route, and pain control method of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy was investigated. The collected data were analyzed by frequency, percent, mean, and SD using SPSS $PC^+$ program. Results : The number of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy was 66, male 35 (53.0%), female was 31 (47.0%). The largest of age group was $61{\sim}69$(34.8%) years old. Most frequent cancer site was stomach 19 case (28.8%), cole-rectal 17 case (25.8%), urinary 11 case (16.7%) in the respective order. The most common stage of cancer was stage 3, 14 case (29.2%). The most frequent duration of diagnosis was under 3 month, 25 (37.9%). The frequent symptom of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy was marasmus ($2.4193{\pm}1.2220$), pain ($1.9333{\pm}1.2194$), sleep disorders ($1.7142{\pm}1.0384$), personality change ($1.5806{\pm}0.8971$) in the respective order. 3) The analgesics used for pai control were narcotic analgesics 66.2% and nonnarcotic analgesics 33.8%. Pain control method were regular basis+as needed 47.4%, as needed 31.6%, regular basis 21.0% in order. Administration route were oral 50.7%, injection 41.8%, patch 7.5% in order. Conclusion : The most frequent symptom of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy were marasmus and pain. The frequent analgesics was narcotic analgesics but 21% of the clinician regularly prescribed analgesics for pain control. Thus this prescription was insufficient for pain control. Administration route that were used more oral or injection than patch. Based on this evidence, it seemed that more active practice and education about evaluation and pain control of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy are needed.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.115-118
• /
• 2013

An 8-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat was presented with a chief complaint of chronic nasal discharge and dyspnea. Physical examination revealed pyohemorrhagic nasal discharge, inspiratory dyspnea and stertor, and an enlarged right mandibular lymph node. Abnormalities of blood works and serum chemistry included mildly increased hematocrit, and globulin concentration. Serologic tests for FeLV and FIV, and a panel of polymerase chain reaction tests for Chlamydophila felis, Feline Calicivirus, Herpesvirus, Bordetella, Mycoplasma felis, and H1N1 influenza was all negative. Only radiographic finding showed increasing soft tissue density in the right nasal cavity and computed tomography disclosed soft tissue/fluid opacification in the right nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, and pharyinx along with slight deviation to the right of the osseous nasal septum. Focal lysis of ventral nasal septum was also suspected in CT scan. Cytological evaluation of fine needle aspirate smears of the enlarged mandibular lymph nodes revealed numerous fungal yeasts having variably thick capsule both extracellularly and intracellularly with low numbers of macrophages. Some yeasts showed narrow based budding, which was a consistent finding with Cryptococcus organisms. Serum protein electrophoresis was a polyclonal consistent with chronic infection and serum was submitted for a fungal serology panel test. In serologic tests Cryptococcus antigen titer was 1 : 32,768. In vitro culture was unsuccessful. Treatment was initiated with administration of fluconazole, clindamycin, and tocopherol. Clinical signs resolved within 3 days after the initial treatment. The cat was discharged and scheduled for periodic evaluation and continued therapy, but was lost to follow-up thereafter.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.538-543
• /
• 2009

Purpose : To report the clinical experience with amitriptyline for managing children with cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS). Methods : Totally, eleven children (eight males) were diagnosed with CVS. Of these, medical records were reviewed for eight children treated with amitriptyline; three children were not treated because one was not followed up and two were kept under observation to study the natural course without medication, because the frequency of vomiting had recently decreased to less than one episode per year. The eight amitriptyline-treated children were divided into three groups by the therapeutic response: (1) complete remission (CR), with no recurrence of symptoms after treatment; 2) partial remission (PR), in which the frequency of symptoms decreased by almost 50% after treatment; and (3) no response. Results : For the eight amitriptyline-treated children, the mean age of symptom onset was 4.7 (0.3-7) yr and mean age at diagnosis was 8.9 (6.0-11.3) yr. The mean number of vomiting episodes was 8.8 (2-25) per year, and the duration of vomiting in each episode ranged from 3 hours to 5 days. CR was achieved in five (62.5%) of the eight amitriptyline-treated children (0.2-0.8 mg/kg/day orally, at night) and PR was achieved in three children (37.5%). Two children relapsed on discontinuation of amitriptyline by their parents decision but showed improvement on remedication. No adverse effects were noted throughout the study period. Conclusion : Amitriptyline can be used in long-term prophylaxis for the management of children with CVS aged over 6 yr. However, a large-scale study is needed to ascertain its effects.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.161-167
• /
• 2012

Burning mouth syndrome(BMS) is defined as chronic, painful burning sensation in the oral mucosa. Treatments for BMS include medication and psychiatric interventions. Capsaicin, alpha-lipoic acid, and topical and systemic clonazepam showed more effective in reducing the symptoms of BMS in the previous studies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate of the therapeutic efficacy of systemic clonazepam in BMS and to elucidate the relationships between such a efficacy and various clinical features, including age, pain intensity, pain duration, previous dental history and condition of oral mucosa. A retrospective clinical records audit was performed of patients diagnosed with BMS between January 2011 and August 2012. Patients were prescribed 0.5 mg clonazepam two times daily. Pain was assessed by patients on an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS; 0 to 10) before and 1-2 weeks after systemic administration of clonazepam. The efficacy of clonazepam was evaluated in terms of patient's age, initial pain intensity, pain duration, presence or absence of precipitating event, condition of the tongue, presence or absence of denture. A total of 50 patients (46 women, 4 men) were included in this study. The patients were divided into two or three groups according to above clinical features. The amount of mean NRS reduction in patients with severe initial pain was $3.33{\pm}2.74$, whereas that in patients with mild initial pain was $1.64{\pm}1.54$. The amount of mean NRS reduction in oldest patients was $3.53{\pm}1.94$ (${\geq}$70yrs), and those in another younger patients were $2.88{\pm}1.80$(< 60yrs) and $1.54{\pm}2.86$(60yrs ${\leq}$ age < 70yrs), respectively. It was concluded that the older patients and the patients with higher intensity of initial pain tend to show better efficacy of clonazepam. However, There were no statistically significant differences according to pain duration, presence or absence of precipitating events, tongue fissuring, and wearing dentures.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.734-740
• /
• 1996

Histiocytosis-X is a disorder characterized by proliferation of cells, phenotype of Langerhans' cells. Traditionally, these diseases include three subtypes of commen histologic features and clinical findings respectively. Eosinophilic granuloma shows a solitary or multiple skeletal lesions. Hand-Schuller-Christian disease often fatal due to widespread extraskeletal lesions. Patient' chief compaints are frequent bone pain and swelling. During rescent 10 years in our hospital, 13 patients, 11 male and 2 female, were diagnosed as Histiocytosis-X. And we evaluated clinical features, radiographic finding, histological characteristics and treatment modalities according to the each subtypes. Major treatment methods of the eosinophic granulma was a chemotherapy combined with local currettage, wide resection of the lesion should be performed carefully in selective cases.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.850-856
• /
• 1999

Behcet's disease is a complex multisystem disease that features recurrent aphthous stomatitis, recurrent genital ulcerations, and eye lesions(uveitis or chorioretinitis). Among the systemic manifestations, pulmonary involvement is known to be rare and only a few cases have been documented. The most important features of pulmonary lesions in Behcet's disease are recurrent hemoptysis, which is often massive, and fatal pleuritic chest pain and recurrent high fever and fleeting nature of the pulmonary infiltrates. We report a case of Behcet's disease manifestated as high fever and pleural effusions which was complicated by pulmonary infarction as a result of pulmonary arteritis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.1296-1307
• /
• 1997

Background : Erdosteine is a thiol derivative developed for the treatement of chronic obstructive bronchitis, including acute infective exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Erdosteine has mucomodulating and antioxidant properties and especially exhibits excellent gastrointestinal tolerability. Methods : The study was conducted as a prospective evaluation, with 2 comparative groups orally treated with erdosteine 300mg (bid.) or ambroxol 30mg (b.i.d.) for 7 days and the design of trial was double-blind. The treatments have been assigned randomly to patients (n=80) with acute or chronic bronchitis. The primary end-point used to determine efficacy in this study was subjective symptoms including expectorating frequence, expectoration volume, expectorating difficulty, expectoration viscosity, cough intensity and dyspnea. The secondary end-points of efficacy was the result of arterial blood gas analysis and pulmonary function test. Safety was evaluated with adverse drug reactions and laboratory tests monitoring. 61 patients was included in the efficacy analysis, due to the fact that 19 patients drop-out for different reasons. The obtained values have been analyzed with paired Hest., ANOVA test., multivariate $t^2$-test, repeated measures analysis of covariance, two sample t-test, loglinear-logit model analysis, Fisher's exact test. Results : 1) There was no significant difference on demographic data and vital signs between erdosteine and ambroxol treated groups. 2) The comparison between erdosteine and ambroxol treated groups showed no significant difference in improvement of each symptom in spite of the more favorable efficacy obtained with erdosteine. No difference on the contrary was observed for arterial blood gas analysis and pulmonary function test. 3) As safety is concerned, no clinical significant changes in laboratory test and symptom were induced in erdosteine and ambroxol treated group and two patients in ambroxol treated group drop-out for adverse reactions in symptom. 4) In the evaluation of final clinical efficacy, erdosteine improved more effectively patient's overall symptoms {very good effect (11/31), good effect (12/31), moderate effect (6/31), no effect (2/31), aggravation (0/31)} than ambroxol {very good effect (6/30), good effect (14/30), moderate effect (5/30), no effect (4/30), aggravation (2/30)}. And the probability of symptomatic improvement by erdosteine compared to ambroxol was 2.5 times. (p<0.05). Conclusion : This study showed that erdosteine was clinically effective and safe drug for treatment of acute and chronic bronchitis.