• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.47-67
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• 2007

Objectives : This study was aimed to investigated the warning signs and its relationship with the other characteristics in acute stroke patients. Methods : 225 acute stroke patients were recruited at the Department of Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases (Stroke Center) of Kyung Hee University Oriental Hospital from October 2005 to September 2006. We evaluated their stroke type with brain MRI, their warning signs, and general characteristics such as age, sex, past history, risk factors, etc. Results : 225 subjects were included in the final analysis. In the subjects' general characteristics, the most common etiology of stroke was small vessel occlusion. In the assessment of the subjects' warning signs, the frequency of tension felt at the cervical area was highest followed by blepharospasm, sensory dysfunction (one side of numbness, tingling sensation, dead sensation), one side paralysis or weakness, etc. After analyzing etiology, cerebral hemorrhage had more facial spasm sign and hypertension than cerebral infarction. On the other hand, cerebral infarction had more diabetes and sensory dysfunction (one side of numbness, tingling sensation, dead sensation) than cerebral hemorrhage. Among stroke locations, subjects with their brain lesion in the cortex had more warning sings of motor dysfunction such as one side paralysis, or weakness. Multiple lesions showed a close relationship with smoking habit and were more common in males than in females. The under 65 years old group were more commonly associated with alcohol consumption, accidental mental stress and blepharospam than the over 65 years old group. In the group of under 65 years old, males more commonly had lesions in occipital lobe, alcohol consumption and smoking habit than females. Otherwise, females more commonly had vision dysfunction and blepharospasm than males. In the group of over 65 years old, males more commonly had cortex lesion than females. On the other hand, Females more commonly had accidental mental stress than males. Conclusions : We observed various warning signs and their distribution in acute stroke patients. The subjects' brainlesions and their etiology seemed to affect the features of the warning signs. Hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia were also related to etiology of stroke and some habitual problems such as smoking and drinking seemed to reduce the age of stroke ictus. Although a concrete conclusion can hardly be drawn from this study, it reminds physicians of the importance of warning signs which appear among their patients.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.751-754
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• 2010

A 6-year-old spayed female Persian cat presented with a 3-month history of recurrent ulcerative keratitis with noticeable opacification and vascularization of the right cornea. The lesion was nonresponsive to topical antibiotics and to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Ophthalmic examination showed signs of ocular discomfort, such as epiphora and blepharospasm, in the right eye. Biomicroscopic examination revealed an irregular, edematous, vascularized mass with pink to white tissue on the entire cornea and mild conjunctivitis. A tentative diagnosis of feline proliferative eosinophilic keratitis (FPEK) was made on the basis of clinical appearance. Cytologic examination of the cornea showed a mixture of numerous eosinophils and mast cells, which confirmed the original diagnosis of FPEK. The cat was treated with a topical antibiotic-corticosteroid combination, cyclosporine ointment, trifluridine eye drops, and oral Llysine. The clinical signs improved remarkably 18 days after the cat was first examined. The short-term use of corticosteroids and long-term use of cyclosporine and an anti-viral agent resolved the lesion without recurrence of the disease for 1 year.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3 s.71
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• pp.207-215
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• 2007

Objectives : The objective of this study was to assess whether there were sex differences in stroke types, risk factors, warning signs, and stroke complications among patients with first-ever stroke. Methods : Six-hundred seventy six patients with first-ever stroke were recruited at the Department Cardiovascular and Neurologic Diseases (Stroke center) of KyungHee University Oriental Hospital, DongGuk University International Hospital, and Kyungwon University In-cheon Oriental Medical Hospital from September 2005 to June 2007. Patients were hospitalized within 28 days after the onset of stroke. We investigated their stroke types, ischemic stroke subtypes by TOAST classification, risk factors, warning signs, stroke complications, general characteristics such as age, sex, etc. Results : Overall, 347 patients were male and 279 female. Compared with males, female patients were significantly older (mean age 67.3${\pm}$1.1 versus 62.4${\pm}$1.6 years) (P=0.000). We did not find significant sex differences in stroke types or ischemic stroke subtypes by TOAST classification. History of hypertension was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.000). Among stroke complications, urinary tract infection was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.003). Among warning signs, blepharospasm was significantly more frequent in female than male patients (P=0.006). Conclusions : Knowledge of sex differences of stroke patients can help us gain better insights on the characteristics of stroke patients. We need further and larger scale research to acquire more concrete conclusions on this theme.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.816-829
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• 2007

Objectives : This study investigated warning signs and stroke presymptoms and their relationship with acute stroke patients in each stroke type. Methods : 217 patients with first-ever acute stroke within 2 weeks as the case group, 146 people without four major risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and ischemic heart disease) as the healthy control group (Normals), and 160 people as the general control group (Controls) were recruited at the Stroke Medical Center in Daejeon University Oriental Medicine Hospital from July 2005 to March 2007 for this case-control study. We analyzed the odds ratio of each warning sign or presymptom by multivariate logistic analysis and evaluated each stroke type, as well as general characteristics such as age, sex, etc. Results : Paralysis or weakness of the face and limbs, visual field disorder or loss of vision or blurred and double vision in eyes or both eyes, and sudden difficulty in speaking or dysarthria showed significant increase respectively in each stroke type. In contrast, numbness or tingling sensation or lowering sensation of the face and limbs, numbness or dead sensation of 1st and 2nd fingers, tension at cervical lesion, blepharospasm, facial spasm, etc. had no significant relation with stroke occurrence. Conclusions : In this study we demonstrated that each presymptom have an influence on each stroke type and have different odds ratio for stroke. We believe this may contribute to interpreting the importance of warning signs or presymptoms for each type of stroke, and more prospective studies are needed.