• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.468-470
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• 2005

The recurrent intracerebral hemorrhage[ICH] in hypertensive patients is not an unusual event, but the simultaneous occurrence of multiple ICH is rare. A 70-year-old woman presented with bilateral simultaneous hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhages in both thalami. The complaints of the patient were unconsciousness [semicomatose mental state] and quadriparesis Grade II. The patient was managed conservatively. At discharge, the patient was awake [drowsy mental state], but Grade III according to the Glasgow Outcome Score. This paper reviews the clinical relevance, possible etiology, and treatment of bilateral thalamic ICH.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.180-182
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• 2004

A Case of Pellagra Induced by Isoniazid during Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Pellagra is a disease caused by a deficiency of nicotinic acid or niacin. It is mostly found among people eating corn-based diets in parts of China, Africa and India. It is also induced by drugs, such as isoniazid or 5-fluorouracil. Isoniazid inhibits the conversion of tryptophan to niacin and may induce pellagra, particularly in poorly nourished patients. Pellagra should be suspected whenever tuberculous patients under the treatment with isoniazid develop mental, neurological or gastrointestinal symptoms, even in the absence of typical skin changes. Herein, our experienced of a case of pellagra induced by isoniazid during treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis is reported. The patient was referred due to a skin rash and drowsy mental status. Her skin lesion developed during treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. Her symptoms were improved after discontinuation of antituberculous agents and on the administration of nicotinamide.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.234-236
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• 2013

A 42-year-old woman with short-term memory loss visited Gangnam Severance Hospital, and her chest X-ray and computed tomography revealed a right anterior mediastinal mass. On hospital day two, she suddenly presented personality changes and a drowsy mental status, so she required ventilator care in the intensive care unit. She underwent thymectomy, and was pathologically diagnosed with thymoma, type B1. Her mental status eventually recovered by postoperative day 90. Paraneoplastic encephalopathy associated with thymoma is very rare, and symptoms can be improved by thymectomy. We report a case of paraneoplastic encephalopathy associated with a thymoma.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.235-239
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• 2007

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is believed to be a benign disease. However, numerous studies have reported serious complications related to SIH, including subdural hematoma. In this case report, a 54-year-old male patient visited the emergency room with orthostatic headache. A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study showed diffuse mild thickening and enhancement of pachymeninges, with a suspicious minimal amount of subdural fluid collected in the left posterior parietal area. His orthostatic headache showed no improvement with conservative treatment; but his pain was almost completely relieved after two trials of cervical epidural blood patch. On the 74th day after the onset of his pain, the patient showed a drowsy mental status and slurred speech when he visited the pain clinic. Brain computerized tomography indicated a left subdural hemorrhage, and he underwent emergency operation to drain the SDH. In conclusion, pain clinicians should pay attention to abrupt changes in mental status as well as continuous headache, for the early diagnosis of SDH in SIH patients.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.54-57
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• 2012

A 3-year-old boy was transferred to emergency room (ER) with lethargy and abdominal pain. Physical examination revealed drowsy mental status but neurologically intact. Basic evaluation in ER shows hypoglycemia (43 mg/dL), hyperglycerolemia, ketonemia and ketonuria. Initial urine organic acid was performed and the result showed severe hyperglyceroluria. Under suspicion of isolated GKD, GKD gene was obtained from his DNA from white blood cell in peripheral blood and sequencing was performed. Isolated glycerol kinase deficiency (GKD) is an X-linked inborn error of metabolism that is either symptomatic or asymptomatic. GKD is due to deletions of, or mutations within, the GK gene, and there is no genotype-phenotype correlation. Gene study that we performed showed normal at a well-known mutation site, but found 4-base insertion at 79 base pair away from the beginning of exon 11.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.107-120
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• 2009

Background : To estimate fall incidence rate and associated factors in inpatients from a general hospital. Method : The data were collected from 104 fall incident reports developed by the patient safety committee in a general hospital in Seoul from 01 January 2007 to 31 December 2008. Information included general characteristics of patients, factors related to fall, types, places, circumstances and outcomes of fall. Result : The incidence rate of fall, which was 4.4 per 1,000 total discharged patients and 0.5 per 1,000 patient-days, was much lower than that of several hospitals in the United States. The difference may reflect the different incidence reporting system of each hospital. Fall-prone patients were, in general, $$\geq_-$$65 years of age, had an alert mental status, were ambulatory with some assistance, and were dependent on and ambulatory device. High incidence of falls was associated with patients with circulatory disease. The majority of fall events usually occurred in bed or at the bedside in the patient's room, and occurred more often during the night than during the day or evening. Risk factors of fall were use of drugs (antihypertensive or neuropsychiatric drugs) and environmental factors (e.g., overly high bed height, surrounding objects, inadequate fitness shoes and slippery floor). Physical injury occurred in 43.3% of fall events, which typically required diagnosis of injury and treatment such as suturing. Risk factors for repeated falls were use of a neuropsychiatric drug (odds ratio=13.9) and gait disturbance (odds ratio=91.2). Risk factors for fall-related injury were alert mental status (odds ratio=3.3 times more likely to fall than those who were drowsy or in a stupor) and general weakness(odds ratio=3.3 times more likely to fall than those who were not generally weak). Conclusion : Medical and nursing staff should be aware of the fall risk factors of hospitalized patients and should intensively pursue preventative strategies. Development of fall prevention education based on these results is recommended.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.60-64
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• 2017

Nicotine-poisoning related to the electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) is increasing worldwide. Moreover, the American Association of Poison Control Centers has advised the public to use caution with e-cigarette devices and highly concentrated liquid nicotine after a surge in related poisonings. We report here the first case of nicotine poisoning from self-injected e-cigarette fluid in Korea. A 17-year-old male patient subcutaneously injected himself with 0.5 ml of nicotine solution for an electronic cigarette via the dorsum of his hand, after which he complained of nausea, vomiting, dizziness and dyspnea. His vital signs were within the normal range, but his mental status was drowsy. He was admitted for observation and the symptoms disappeared the following day. Sinus bradycardia with a rate of 45/min was observed on the third hospital day, but improved after 6 hours. He was discharged without complications.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.280-283
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• 2015

Caudal epidural injection is a common intervention in patients with low back pain and sciatica. Even though the complications of fluoroscopically directed epidural injections are less frequent than in blind epidural injections, complications due to contrast media can occur. We report a case of anaphylactic shock immediately after injection of an intravenous nonionic contrast medium (iohexol) during the caudal epidural injection for low back pain and sciatica in a patient without a previous allergic history to ionic contrast media (ioxitalamate). Five minutes after the dye was injected, the patient began to experience dizziness, and the systolic blood pressure dropped to 60 mmHg. Subsequently, the patient exhibited a mild drowsy mental state. About 30 minutes after the subcutaneous injection of 0.2 mg epinephrine, the systolic blood pressure increased to 90 mmHg. The patient recovered without any sequela. Life-threatening complications after injection of intravenous contrast medium require immediate treatment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.885-892
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• 2016

Few studies have reported the effects of traditional Korean medical (TKM) therapy in patients with traumatic brain hemorrhage. The patient was a 93-year-old female who was unconscious after a traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and was not a candidate for any surgical treatment because of her age. We treated her with acupuncture and herbal medicine. After 28 days of treatment, we observed an improvement in consciousness on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and in other symptoms (aphasia, weakness in both legs, and headache).

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.405-417
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• 2011

Objectives : A precedent research has documented that indoor air pollution is closely associated with increased the risk of symptom and decreased in job satisfaction. This study was conducted in an effort to assess the relationship of indoor air quality to self-perceived symptom and satisfied with working environment. Methods : This research is based on self-filling survey which 393 dental hygienists who work in seoul and Jeon-nam area participated on October 2010 through January 2011. This survey was compared and analyzed about the level of satisfaction and subjective symptom by the indoor air quality that dental office's working environment. Results : The result of satisfaction degree of hospital working environment was pretty low about office air. Most people mentioned that they were sore and dull all over the back, shoulder, and neck. Also, they were drowsy and exhausted in work place. Conclusions : In conclusion, it is need to improve their quality of life and mental health by developing proper air conditioning system and using one in their work place.