Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2006
Therapeutic factors of cognitive behavioral group treatment for social phobia.
This study investigated the therapeutic factors influencing the outcome of cognitive behavioral group treatment for social phobia and the most helpful therapeutic component. Fifty psychiatric outpatients who were diagnosed with social phobia according to the DSM-IV criteria were chosen as subjects. ⋯ Among the four components of CBGT for social phobia, cognitive restructuring was rated as most helpful. These results suggest which therapeutic factors and components should be highlighted in CBGT for social phobia.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2006
Detection of pre-invasive endobronchial tumors with D-light/autofluorescence system.
Autofluorescence bronchoscopy (AFB) is one of the newly developed diagnostic tools to detect the pre-cancerous lesions in the bronchial tissue. The utility of DLight/AFB in the detection of pre-cancerous lesions was compared to the standard white light bronchoscopy (WLB). In 113 patients (male 106, female 7), who visited hospital for evaluation of lung cancer, WLB and AFB were done and 364 biopsy specimens were obtained from November 2001 to August 2002. ⋯ The specificity of adjunctive AFB and WLB alone were 0.91 and 0.5, respectively. The adjunctive AFB to the standard WLB increased the detection rate of the localized pre-invasive lesions. However, there was high rate of false positive in AFB.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2006
The impact of intima-media thickness of radial artery on early failure of radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis patients.
This study was performed to investigate the impact of intima-media thickness (IMT) of radial artery on early failure of radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Ninety uremic patients undergoing radiocephalic AVF operation were included in this study. During the operation, 10-mm long partial arterial walls were removed with elliptical form for microscopic analysis. ⋯ Age was an independent risk factor of IMT. Diabetes mellitus tended to be independent risk factor but not statistically significant. Our data suggest that increased radial artery IMT is closely associated with early failure of radiocephalic AVF in HD patients.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2006
Comparative Study Clinical TrialThe hematologic response to anti-apoptotic cytokine therapy: results of pentoxifylline, ciprofloxacin, and dexamethasone treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.
TNF-alpha mediated apoptosis of the hematopoietic cells has been thought to contribute to the ineffective hematopoiesis observed in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The combination of pentoxifylline (P) and ciprofloxacin (C) has been shown to reduce the serum levels of TNF-alpha, and an earlier trial of P and C with dexamethasone (D) provided good palliation for patients with MDS. The purpose of this study is to assess the hematologic response to PCD therapy for patients suffering with MDS. 21 of 25 patients who completed at least of 12 weeks of treatment were evaluable for the treatment efficacy. ⋯ There were no differences in the response rates between the FAB subtypes. The median time to response was 4 weeks (range: 2-12 weeks), and it is interesting that 9 of 11 patients who had a response remained without relapse for a median of 177 days (range: 78-634 days). These preliminary results indicate that anti-cytokine therapy with PCD is an effective and well tolerated palliative treatment for patients with MDS.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2006
Radiofrequency neurotomy of cervical medial branches for chronic cervicobrachialgia.
Chronic neck and arm pain or cervicobrachialgia commonly occurs with the degeneration of cervical spine. Authors investigated the usefulness of radiofrequency (RF) neurotomies of cervical medial branches in patients with cervicobrachialgia and analyzed the factors which can influence the treatment outcome. Demographic data, types of pain distribution, responses of double controlled blocks, electrical stimulation parameters, numbers and levels of neurotomies, and surgical outcomes were evaluated after mean follow-up of 12 months. ⋯ Among total of 28 patients, nineteen (68%) reported successful outcome according to outcome criteria after 6 months of followup (p=0.001), and eight (42%) of 19 patients reported complete relief (100%) of pain. Four patients showed recurrence of pain between 6 and 12 months. It was therefore concluded that cervical medial branch neurotomy is considered useful therapeutic modality for the management of cervicobrachialgia in selected patients, particularly in degenerative zygapophyseal disorders.