Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2004
Case ReportsWidespread scleredema accompanied with a monoclonal gammopathy in a patient with advanced ankylosing spondylitis.
Scleredema is a rare cutaneous mucinosis characterized by chronic diffuse induration of the skin, and it is occasionally associated with a monoclonal gammopathy (MG). Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is noted to be another, chronic systemic inflammatory disorder of the axial skeleton that may accompany the MG. ⋯ Widespread, long-standing scleredema has been developed over 10 yrs after the initial manifestation of AS. It is uncertain whether the coexistence of scleredema and AS is more than coincidental.
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Concerns have been raised over alleged overuse of CT scanning and inappropriate selection of scanning methods, all of which expose patients to unnecessary radiation. Thus, it is important to identify clinical situations in which techniques with lower radiation dose such as plain radiography or no radiation such as MRI and occasionally ultrasonography can be chosen over CT scanning. This article proposes the arguments for radiation dose reduction in CT scanning of the chest and discusses recommended practices and studies that address means of reducing radiation exposure associated with CT scanning of the chest.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2004
The role of the lactate dehydrogenase and the effect of prone position during ventilator-induced lung injury.
To examine the impact of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as an early marker of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) and the effect of prone position during the VILI, we ventilated 28 normal white rabbits (10 supine, 10 prone, 8 controls) for 6 hr or until PaO2/FIO2 ratio was<200 mmHg. We applied an identical injurious ventilatory pattern (peak inspiratory pressure of 35 cmH2O with a PEEP of 3 cmH2O, I:E ratio of 1:2, and FIO2 of 0.40) in the supine and prone group. VILI was assessed by oxygenation, gravimetric analysis and histologic grading. ⋯ There were no differences in WW/DW and histologic scores for nondependent regions between the supine and prone group. These findings suggest that serum LDH levels might be an early marker of severity of lung injury. The prone position resulted in a less severe and more homogenous distribution of VILI.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Apr 2004
Prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Korean breast cancer patients.
The incidence of breast cancer in Korea has been increasing in recent years, such that it is now the most common female cancer. Breast cancer in Korea is characterized by an earlier age of onset than in Western countries, suggesting that it would be related with genetic background. We assayed germline mutations in the BRCA genes to evaluate their genetic pathology in Korean breast cancer patients. ⋯ Among high risk patients, mutations were most prevalent in patients with a family history of breast or first-degree ovarian cancer (22.1%), followed by those with male breast cancer (20%), bilateral breast cancer (20%), multiple organ cancer including breast (13%) and younger breast cancer patients (aged<35 yr) (8.1%). Moreover, BRCA mutations were detected in 34.8% of patients having two high risk factors. These findings suggest that BRCA gene mutation analysis should be performed on Korean patients with high-risk factors for breast cancer.
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Endoscopic hysterectomy is increasingly selected as a current trend to minimize invasion, tissue trauma and early recovery. However it has disadvantages of the difficulty to learn and needs expensive equipments. So we developed a new minimally invasive method of vaginal hysterectomy-minilaparotomically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (MAVH) in order to complement the current laparoscopic surgery. ⋯ The technique of MAVH is simple and easy to learn and it involves a small incision causing less pain and complications. This practice does not require expensive equipments. MAVH is considered as a safe and effective alternative method for abdominal hysterectomy in most cases.