Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M C Kim

Publications and source records attributed to M C Kim.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Traumatic isolated intracerebral hemorrhage in children.

Among 314 children with craniocerebral injury, 21 were diagnosed as having traumatic, isolated intracerebral hemorrhage (TIICH) by computed tomography (CT) from 1980 to 1986 (basal ganglia, 7; frontal, 8; parietal, 2; frontoparietal, 1; temporoparietal, 1; intraventricular, 1; midbrain, 1). The level of consciousness was assessed according to the Children's Coma Score (CCS) and CT scan was subsequently repeated to evaluate the change in TIICH. The patients were classified into three types according to their clinical courses and CT findings: type I (4 cases), type II (14 cases), and type III (3 cases). Of the 21 cases, conservative treatment was given in 15 and surgical treatment in 6. The outcome showed: good recovery in 1, fair recovery in 7, poor recovery in 2, and death in 2. Type III had a poor prognosis. We discuss the mechanism of the formation of TIICH and speculate that impact to the head caused shear strain in the small perforating vessels and at the junction between white and gray matter which, in turn, caused vascular rupture.

Adolescent↗

Leptospirosis in Chonbuk Province of Korea in 1987: a study of 93 patients.

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis with protean clinical manifestation. Diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion and is confirmed by isolation of the organism or, more commonly, by serologic studies. In the fall of 1987, after severe flooding, we saw 93 patients with leptospirosis, confirmed by a microagglutination test. Thirteen percent of the patients had no clinical or laboratory findings except fever and headache, but the rest had mild to severe manifestations. Jaundice, renal failure, and aseptic meningitis were not common, but pulmonary symptoms, when present, were striking. The mortality rate was 5%. The main cause of death was asphyxiation due to massive hemoptysis from pulmonary hemorrhage and acute respiratory failure.

Agglutination Tests↗

Effects of tethering on regional spinal cord blood flow and sensory-evoked potentials in growing cats.

The spinal cords of 2-week-old kittens were tethered by fixing the end of the filum terminale to the lower sacrum, to study the effects of tethering and untethering on regional spinal cord blood flow (rSCBF), sensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) and clinical features. Progressive sensorimotor deficits and incontinence were observed in all the tethered cats. Cord tethering induced a reduction of rSCBF in the distal spinal cord close to the tethering (L3) by 32% of the normal flow 2 weeks after tethering and by 67% 10 weeks after tethering. Untethering of the cord resulted in an increase of rSCBF, restoring it to the normal level in the group untethered 2 weeks after tethering, but rSCBF did not increase in the group untethered 8 weeks after tethering. The changes in SEPs were observed whenever rSCBF was below 14 ml/100 g per minute. Suppression of the early components of SEPs was observed 2 weeks after tethering and the components were progressively altered in amplitude and latency during the experimental period. It is assumed that early untethering can improve the spinal cord blood flow as well as the function of the cord.

Animals↗

Extraction of large tracheal foreign bodies through a tracheostoma under bronchoscopic control.

Despite various technical manipulations through contemporary endoscopic equipment, large tracheal foreign bodies may be lost during bronchoscopic extraction, with a 1 to 2% in-hospital mortality. Recently, emergency tracheostomy was performed during bronchoscopy after a tracheal foreign body had become dislodged in the subglottic region causing blockage of the airway, and the results of this procedure provoked its deliberate application in a second patient. In 3 additional infants, aspirated tracheal T tubes (Montgomery tubes), which were producing acute respiratory distress, were brought from the carina to the performed tracheostoma under bronchoscopic manipulation and were withdrawn. Elective application of this simultaneous approach--tracheostomy with bronchoscopy--may decrease morbidity and mortality from large tracheal foreign bodies.

Airway Obstruction↗

Further experience in stereotactic pontine tractotomy.

The problem with percutaneous and even stereotactic cordotomy is the difficulty in obtaining sufficiently high analgesic levels without autonomic complications, although the problem seemed to apply to relatively few patients since percutaneous and stereotactic spinal procedures achieved sufficiently high analgesic levels to encompass most patients' pain. There is a group of patients, however, with high pain in the shoulder and neck where conventional percutaneous and stereotactic spinal procedure are dangerous. From the standpoint of achieving high levels of analgesia with a low incidence of dysaesthesia, pontomedullary lesions appear to have advantages.

Aged↗

Experience with pineal region tumors.

The results are reported of a retrospective review of the presentation and outcome of 43 pineal region tumors treated from 1982 to 1996, including 20 identified tumors: 5 germinomas, 8 teratomas, 2 embryonal carcinomas, 1 endodermal sinus tumor, 2 pineocytomas and 2 pineoblastomas. Of the 43 tumors reviewed, 36 were located in the pineal region, 5 in the suprasellar, and 2 in both the pineal and suprasellar regions. Twenty patients underwent surgical resection: total in 6 and partial in 10, while only a biopsy was taken in 4 cases. Fifteen patients were managed on the basis of serum CSF tumor markers and radiation response. Twenty-three patients with germinomas received radiotherapy (RT) and had a 5-year survival rate of 87%. Fifteen patients with non-germinomatous germ cell tumors received RT and chemotherapy following direct surgery, and 5 died (mortality rate of 33.3%). The overall survival rate of the 43 patients with pineal tumors was 79.1% (34/43) and the death rate was 20.9% (9/43). It is now recognized that the wide variety of tumor types found in the pineal region necessitates different modes of treatment, and improved microsurgical and stereotactic surgical techniques have made mortality and morbidity rates acceptably low. Because the radiation response and CSF cytology are not enough to determine optimum treatment, a tissue diagnosis should be obtained in all patients.

Adolescent↗

Study on size distribution of total aerosol and water-soluble ions during an Asian dust storm event at Jeju Island, Korea.

Soil dust particles transported from loess regions of the Asian continent, called Asian dust, highly influences the air quality of north-eastern Asia and the northern Pacific Ocean. In order to investigate the effects of these dust storms on the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol particles with different size, measurements of size distributions of total aerosol and major ion species were carried out on Jeju Island, Korea during April 2001. Juju Island was chosen for the study because the levels of emissions of anthropogenic air pollutants are very low. A 5-stage cascade impactor was used to sample size-fractionated aerosol particles. Samples were analyzed for major water-soluble ions using Dionex DX-120 ion chromatograph. The average mass concentration of total aerosol was found to be 24.4 and 108.3 microg m(-3) for non-Asian dust and Asian dust periods, respectively. The total aerosol size distribution, measured during the non-Asian dust period, was bimodal, whereas the coarse particles dominated the size distribution of total aerosol during the Asian dust period. It was found that SO4(2-), NH4+ and K+ were mainly distributed in fine particles, while Cl-, NO3-, Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were in coarse particles. Although SO4(2-) was mainly distributed in fine particles, during the Asian dust period, the concentrations in coarse particles were significantly increased. This indicates heterogeneous oxidation of SO2 on wet surfaces of basic soil dust particles. The NH4+ was found to exist as (NH4)2SO4 in fine particles, with a molar ratio of NH4+ to SO4(2-) of 2.37 and 1.52 for non-Asian dust and Asian dust periods, respectively. Taking into account the proximity of the sampling site to the sea, and the observed chloride depletion, coarse mode nitrate, during the non-Asian dust period, is assumed to originate from the reaction of nitric acid with sodium chloride on the surfaces of sea-salt particles although the chloride depletion was not shown to be large enough to prove this assumption. During the Asian dust period, however, chloride depletion was much smaller, indicating coarse nitrate particles were mainly produced by the reaction of nitric acid with surfaces of basic soil particles. Most chloride and sodium components were shown to originate from sea-salt particles. Asian dust aerosols, arriving at Jeju Island, contained considerable amounts of sea-salt particles as they passed over the Yellow Sea. Ca2+ was shown to be the most abundant species in Asian dust particles.

Aerosols↗

Aerosol keratopathy: a revised MacLean classification.

Case report. Chemical keratopathy has been linked to many household aerosols. We present a dramatic case of aerosol keratopathy. The finding of an unexplained epithelial or superficial stromal keratopathy must alert the physician to inquire about the use of household aerosols near the patient's face. We also propose a revised classification system based on the work of MacLean.

Aerosols↗