Measurement of Corpus Callosal Area in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy Using High Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging / 대한간질학회지

BACKGROUND: To investigate the change of corpus callosal area in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), the mid-sagittal areas of corpus callosum and its seven sub-regions were measured in JME patients and normal subjects. METHODS: Nineteen JME patients (22.6+/-5.0 year-old, 6 males, 13 females) and 19 normal controls (22.9+/-7.3 year-old, 6 males, 13 females) underwent 1.6 mm thickness whole brain SPGR MRI. Exact mid-sagittal image was obtained with image reconstruction and geometric correction. According to Witelson's work, the area of corpus callosum was divided into 7 sub-regions (a1 to a7 from anterior to posterior) with a semi-automated method. In each sub-region, the pixel number was counted according to ROI definition. The whole cerebral volume was measured. The mid-sagittal cerebral area was measured by tracing inner surface of skull and basal cortical surface of the cerebrum except for corpus callosum and cerebellum. The difference of corpus callosum areas between JME patients and normal controls were tested by t-test and ANCOVA. RESULTS: There was no difference in sex [chi-square(1)=1.00, chi square] and age (p=0.941, Mann-Whitney U test). The areas of rostrum (p0.25, t-test). CONCLUSION: Rostrum and rostral body are significantly smaller in JME patients, which suggests frontal lobe abnormality in JME. This finding is consistent with previous studies reported structural and functional abnormalities of frontal lobe in JME.

The Use of Atypical Antipsychotics in Bipolar Disorder / 대한정신약물학회지

Atypical antipsychotics are the more effective and safer alternative to the common practice of maintenance adjunctive treatment as well as acute adjuvant treatment with traditional antipsychotics in patients with bipolar disorder. A few double-blind controlled studies of acute mania found olanzapine or ziprasidone monotherapy to be more effective than placebo, and the combination treatment of risperidone and mood stabilizer was also more effective than placebo. Furthermore, clozapine has antimanic and mood stabilizing effect for the treatment-refractory patients in acute manic and maintenance phase. Olanzapine and risperidone are reported that they have long-term mood stabilizing effect when they are used with mood stabilizers. At present, combination treatment of atypical antipsychotics and mood stabilizer is generally used. However, because each drug of such combinations causes sometimes bothersome and potentially dangerous events as well as their interactions, the consideration for their risk are needed.

Comparison of Quality of Life between Medical Students and General College Students / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The quality of life of medical students was investigated and compared with that of general college students to identify what kind of problems medical students are suffering from. METHOD: Korean version of WHOQOL-BREF was administered to 317 medical students and 150 general college students of Yonsei University in 1999. Collected data were analyzed with t-test and multiple regression analysis RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the total scores of WHOQOL-BREF between medical students and general college students. However, the scores of facets of sleep and rest, sexual activity, and participation and opportunities for recreation/leisure were significantly lower in medical students than in general college students, while the scores of facets of dependency on medication and treatment, financial resources, opportunities for acquiring new information and skills, and transport were significantly higher in medical students than in general college students. The score of social relationships domain was significantly lower in medical students than in general college students, while, the score of environmental domain was significantly higher in medical students than in general college students. Physical, environmental and social relationships domains contributed more to the quality of life of medical students than psychological domain while psychological and environmental domains contributed more to the quality of life of general college students than physical and social relationships domains. CONCLUSION: The result suggests that it is necessary to improve the quality of life of medical students in social relationships domain and in the facets of sleep and rest, sexual activity, participation and opportunities for recreation/leisure.