• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-42
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• 1992

The purpose of this study is to investigate the occurence properties of the complications in spinal cord injured patients. Clinical observation were for 116 cases in and out wards, were carried out during one year from july, 1990 to June, 1991 at 4 general hospitals in Taegu, Korea. The results of this study is summarized as follows : 1. Among the 116 cases, $67.7\%$ was male and $35.3\%$ was female. The largest groups were noted in $60.7\%$, of the forties by age, in $34.5\%$ of the middle school by educational career, in $27.6\%$ of the administer by professional division. 2. The number of complications in a patient in the largest group was two-type. The next groups were three-type, $23.3\%$ and five-type, $20.7\%$. Of each factors, the largest numbers of two-type recorded tuberculosis of spine$(71.4\%)$, thoracic cord injury$(63.4\%)$, incomplete paraplegia$(48.4\%)$, and inwards during 1-2 months $(47.4\%)$. 3. Total number of the complications were counted to 367 cases. The largest group of complications was pain, $24.8\%$. The next groups were pressure sores, $19.9\%$. spasticity, $12.5\%$, and urinary tract infection, $9.3\%$. 4. The number of the 4 major complications(pain, pressure sores, joint contracture, spasticity) was counted to 280 cases. The largest group of the major complications was pain, $32.5\%$. The next groups were pressure sores, $26.1\%$, joint contracture, $25.9\%$ and spasticity, $16.4\%$. Of each factors, the largest numbers of the pain recorded female$(40.5\%)$, thirties$(49.2\%)$, non-educate $(53.8\%)$, labor$(38.2\%)$, traffic accidents$(32.8\%)$, thoracic cord injury$(34.4\%)$, complete paraplegia$(58.1\%)$, and inwards during above 13 months$(37.5\%)$. 5. The largest group of the pain portion was shoulder. $49.4\%$. The non groups were lower extremity, $25.2\%$, hip, $11.0\%$, and all bodies, $4.3\%$. The largest numbers of the shoulder pain recorded thirties$(59.4\%)$, traffic accidents $(52.7\%)$, cervical cord injury$(67.2\%)$. complete quadriplegia$(81.8\%)$, and inwards during above 13 months$(100.0\%)$. 6. The largest group of the pressure sores sites was sacral portion, $83.6\%$. The next groups were hip, $6.8\%$, maleollus, $4.1\%$. The largest numbers of pressure sores formation in the sacral portion recorded below 19 and above $60(100.0\%)$, falling objects$(100.0\%)$, lumbar cord injury$(100.0\%)$, incomplete paraplegia$(100.0\%)$, and in wards during 3-4 months$(95.9\%)$. 7. The largest group of the joint contracture portion was lower extremity, $61.4\%$, follows was upper extremity, $38.6\%$. The largest numbers of the joint contrcture portions recorded thirties$(100.0\%)$, traffic accidents$(86.1\%)$, cervical cord injury$(80.4\%)$, complete quadriplegia$(86.7\%)$, and inwards during 3-4 months $(82.2\%)$ 8. The largest group of spasticity portion was lower extremity, $53.0\%$. The next groups were hip. 23.9, 23.9, ankle, $8.7\%$, and elbow, $4.3\%$. The largest numbers of the spasticity portions recorded above $60(100.0\%)$, falling $(100.0\%)$, cervical cord injury$(71.4\%)$, incomplete quadriplegia$(71.4\%)$, and inwards during 1-2 months $(100.0\%)$.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.249-260
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• 1986

Recent reports have noted the increase of and questioned the justification for cesarean section rate in the past decade. This study was carried out retrospectively based on the clinical charts of 510 patients who had been performed cesarean section among 3,357 deliveries at Yeungnam University Hospital from May, 9, 1983 through Nov., 30, 1986. The results were as follows : 1. Overall incidence of cesarean section was 15.7% of total deliveries. Of these, 10.9% were by primary cesarean section and 4.7% by repeat operation. There has been a gradual increase in the cesarean section rate. 2. In the distribution of age, the 26-30 aged group was the most prevalent(60.2%). 3. The most common indications for cesarean section were previous cesarean section(30.2%), CPD (26.9%), Malpresentation(22.7%), and fetal distress(3.5%). In primipara, CPD was the most frequent and in multipara malpresentation. 4. A great proportion(31.6%) was done at 40th gestational week. 5. In the weight distribution of infants, the group of 3,000-3,499gm was the most prevalent(39.8%), premature baby was 9.1%, and giant baby was 5.6%. 6. In the type of operation, lower segment transverse cesarean section was the most(97.5%). 7. In the combined surgery, sterilization was the most prevalent and the next was ovarian cystectomy, hysterectomy, and myomectomy in order. 8. In the type of the anesthesia, general anesthesia was 83.5%. 9. Maternal morbidity was 14.7%. Among the causes of this morbidity, wound infection was the most and the next was urinary tract infection, fever of unknown origin, and atonic bleeding in order. 10. It was found that 18.4% was maternal morbidity in the patients below 10gm Hb. In this group, maternal morbidity was markedly increased as the level of Hb was decreased. 11. Maternal morbidity was increased as the duration of ruptured membrane was prolonged. In the group of over 24 hours after rupture of membrane, it was markedly increased(44.4%). 12. Maternal morbidity was increased as the duration of labor was prolonged. In the group of over 12 hours after the onset of labor, it was 24.6%. 13. Maternal morbity of lower segment transverse cesarean section was the least(14.1%). 14. Maternal morbidity of emergency cesarean section was about two times as much as elective cesarean section.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.240-247
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• 2010

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram (-) opportunistic human pathogen causing a wide variety of infections on lung, urinary tract, eyes, and burn wound sites and quorum sensing (QS), a cell density-sensing mechanism plays an essential role in Pseudomonas pathogenesis. In order to investigate the importance of QS in the Pseudomonas infections of Korean patients, we isolated 189 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa from the patients in Pusan Paik Hospital, Busan, South Korea. The QS signal production of these clinical isolates was measured by signal diffusion assay on solid media using reporter strains. While most clinical strains (79.4%) produced the QS signals as similar level as a wild type strain, PAO1 did, where LasR, the initial QS signal sensor-regulator was fully activated, a minority of them (4.2%) produced much less QS signals at the level to which LasR failed to respond. Similarly, while 72.5% of the clinical isolates produced QS signals enough to activate QscR, an another QS signal sensor-regulator, some few of them (9%) produced the QS signals at much lower level where QscR was not activated. For further analysis, we selected 74 clinical strains that were obtained from the patients under suspicion of Pseudomonas infection and investigated the total protease activity that is considered important for virulence. Interestingly, significant portion of them showed very low protease activity (44.6%) or no detectable protease activity (12.2%). When the biofilm-forming ability that is considered very important in chronic infection was examined, most isolates showed lower biofilm-forming activity than PAO1. Similarly, significant portion of clinical isolates showed reduced motility (reduced swarming activity in 51.4% and reduced twitching activity in 41.9%), or non-detectable motility (swarming-negative in 28.4% and twitching-negative in 28.4%). Our result showed that the clinical isolates that produced QS signals at the similar level to wild type could have significantly reduced activities in the protease production, biofilm formation, and motility, and some clinical isolates had unique patterns of motility, biofilm formation, and protease production that are not correlated to their QS activity.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.7
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• pp.716-722
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• 2005

Purpose : A full view of the spectrum of all bacterial diseases in healthy children is essential to the establishment of public health priorities. Accurate information on the relative importance of the various pathogens in terms of the age of the affected patients, the site of infection and the case fatality rate are valuable to the clinician in choosing antimicrobial treatments. Methods : Fifty-nine episodes of bacteremia were analysed. Data were collected at Ilsan Paik Hospital from January 2000 to December 2003. Analysis of each collected episode included isolating pathogen from blood culture, diagnosis, hospital course, isolating pathogens from other tissue sites, and studying results of antimicrobial sensitivity tests. Results : Fifty-nine cases of community-acquired bacteremia were reviewed. The most common pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus(11 cases, 18.6 percent), followed by Salmonella(10 cases, 16.9 percent), E. coli(7 cases, 11.9 percent), Streptococcus pneumoniae(five cases, 8.5 percent), Streptococcus viridans(5 cases 8.5 percent). The most common diagnosis was bacteremia without an indentified focus(61 percent), followed by meningitis(12 percent), bacteremia with enteritis(10.2 percent) and bacteremia with urinary tract infection(8.5 percent). Salmonella was still an important causative agent of bacteremia. The relative importance of Haemophilus influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae was lower than in other studies. The most common organism responsible for bacteremia without an identified focus was Staphylococcus aureus. The case-fatality was 3.4 percent for all cases of bacteremia. Conclusion : We reviewed the etiology of community-acquired bacteremia. These data may be useful in the establishment of public health priorities and serve as a reference for selection of antibiotics in the empirical therapy of suspected invasive bacterial infection.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2006

Background: Korean ginseng (KG) has been used as a general tonic, and for voiding dysfunction for a long time in oriental society. However, scientific basic studies on the use of KG, have been rare, especially for voiding and erectile dysfunction. This study was performed to investigate the effects of KG on voiding and erectile function by examining the effects of total saponin (TS) on the bladder, urethral and penile cavernosal smooth muscle. Materials and methods: To examine the effects of TS, NewZeland white rabbits were used to obtain tissue strips from the smooth muscle of the bladder, proximal urethra and corpus cavernosum. Adult Sprague Dawley rats were used to examine the changes in urodynamic findings and penile erection after administration of TS. Results: In proximal urethral strips, the rate of relaxation of the proximal urethra was increased from $9.0{\pm}2.9$ to $33.7{\pm}4.8%$ in a dose-dependent manner when the concentration of TS was added accumulatively from 0.25 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). However, no significant response was observed in the bladder strips within these concentration ranges. For the corpus cavernosal strips, the rate of relaxation ranged from $5.8{\pm}2.1$ to $36.7{\pm}5.8%$, increasing in a dose-dependent manner when TS was increased from 1.0 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). After administration of 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) in the rat, the bladder pressure was $37.5{\pm}8.5$ mmHg at $52.1{\pm}7.0$ sec. during isovolumetric bladder contraction, showing no significant differences from $35.7{\pm}7.8mmHg$ and $50.7{\pm}7.2$ sec, respectively, before treatment. However, when 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) was administered, the relative reduction of urethral pressure was $6.9{\pm}0.5mmHg$ at $62{\pm}7.5$ sec, which was significantly higher compared to $4.6{\pm}1.1mmHg$ at $45{\pm}10$ sec before treatment (p<0.05). For the cavernosal injection study, the change in intracavernosal pressure (${\Delta}ICP$) was examined after administering 0.1 ml of TS. The cumulative additions of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml to 32 mg/ml increased ${\Delta}ICP$ from $1.3{\pm}0.5$ to $21.3{\pm}7.8mmHg$ in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). The duration of tumescence was from $0.3{\pm}0.1$ to $5.2{\pm}0.2$ min, showing dose-dependent increase (p<0.05). Furthermore, the cumulative addition of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml upto 32 mg/ml did not cause any significant change in systemic blood pressure. Conclusion: These results suggest that ginseng improves voiding functions, which is mainly achieved by TS relaxing the proximal urethra, the most important part of the bladder outlet function. In addition, ginseng safely induced a penile erection hemodynamically by relaxing the corpus cavernosum.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2000

Purpose: Pregnancy in transplanted mother is considered as a high-risk pregnancy, and significant incidences of prematurity and low-birthweight(LBW) infants have been reported. The objective of this study is to examine the outcome of pregnancy in transplanted mothers and to evaluate the current growth status in their children. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 54 pregnancies in 40 kidney recipients until June 1999. Outcomes of pregnancy were reviewed and assessment of the current growth status in children was performed. Results: 54 pregnancies in 40 recipients were identified; 22 ended in termination of pregnancy because of unwanted pregnancy or therapeutic purposes. And of the other 32, 29 livebirths resulted in 28 recipients. The mean age of conception was $30.3{\pm}3.8$ years, with a mean interval from transplantation to conception of $35.9{\pm}23.2$ months. All patients were maintained on immunosuppressive regimens. Incidence of drug-treated hypertension(HTN) prior to pregancy was $52\%$, HTN during pregnancy, $48\%$; preeclampsia, $41\%$; urinary tract infection, $48\%$; oligohydramnios $4\%$; and no rejection during pregnancy and up to 3month post delivery. Of the 29 liveborn infants, prematurity(<37wk) occurred in $52\%$, LBW(<2500g) in $62\%$, VLBW(<1500g) in $7\%$ and $48\%$ born intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR). Mean gestational age was $36.3{\pm}3.0\;wk$; a mean birthweight, $2.23{\pm}0.6\;kg$; a mean birth-height, $45.1{\pm}3.6cm$. Current mean height standard deviation score (height SDS) was $0.29{\pm}0.91$ and mean weight SDS was $0.62{\pm}1.34$. Only one child($4\%$) under 1 year of age was below 10 percentile in height. Most of children had no medical problems except for 4 children; cleft palate(1), tuberous sclerosis(1), essential hematuria(1), and one child expired due to sepsis. Conclusion: This study showed similar incidence of premaure birth($57\%$) and low birth weight infants($62\%$), but lower incidence of spontaneous abortion($5.6\%$) was observed and compared to other studies. Postnatal growth in majority of children($96\%$) achieved catch-up growth before 1 year. Present study supports a more optimistic view of pregnancy in renal transplant mother and normal growth in their children.