Analysis and Evaluation of the Reliability of Medical Information on Food Allergies on the Internet / 소아과

PURPOSE: The information in the internet is increasing and the number of people using the Internet to obtain medical information is increasing rapidly too. But, compared to the amount of information, the quality of information is extremely variable. To assess the accuracy of medical information on the Internet, the quality of information about food allergies available on the internet examined. METHODS: Online searches using the phrase "food allergy" were conducted on five major Internet search engines. The first 50 web pages generated by each engine were examined. Making an exception of the web pages which were inaccessible, irrelevant, and duplicated, sixty out of two hundred and fifty web pages were evaluated. Information scores were developed from 1(no statement) to 4 (sufficient) and designed to assess how well the web pages mentioned the summary, symptom, diagnosis, treatment, and education of the patients, and emergent management. RESULTS: When classified by ownership, there were six(10%) oriental clinics, twelve(20%) hospitals, twenty one(35%) profit-making institutions, fourteen(23%) non-profit institutions and seven others (12%). The mean information score(IS) was 10.7. Summary got the highest IS(2.25) and the education for patients and supporters got the lowest IS(1.33). Medical institutions such as hospital and clinic got 12.33 and non-medical institutions got 10.25. But there were no statistically significant differences between these two institutions(P=0.107). CONCLUSION: Overall, the quality of information on food allergy through the Internet was poor. The main reasons are unlimited listings of related information on the Internet and an absence of a reviewing process of the information. Therefore, people should not entirely rely on the Internet for medical information and medical-related institutions such as hospitals, schools, clinics and relevant academic associations should develop an Internet system to improve the quality of information.

A case of Infantile Digital Fibromatosis Locaated on Hypothenar Area Showing Spontaneous Regression

Infantile digital fibromatosis(IDF) is a rare, benign fibrous tumor, first described in 1965 by Reye. IDF may occur single or multiple lesions exclusively on the fingers or toes, rare occurrence outside the digit have been reported. This tumor grow slowly and may adhere to the deeper tissue, and may lead to deformity of the digit, but do not distant metastasis or dissemination. There is a marked tendency for recurrence after surgical excision. Up to now, only 6 cases have been reported in the literature showing spontaneous regression. We experienced a case of infantile digital fibromatosis located on hypothenar area at birth. Also that spontaneous regressed at 13 months of age. We reported a case of IDF showing spontaneous regression with brief review of related literature.