• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.606-612
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• 2005

Background : It has been reported that nontuberculosis mycobacterium(NTM) isolates account for approximately 10% of patients with a positive Acid-Fast Bacilli(AFB) smear. Therefore, it is necessary to consider NTM pulmonary disease when such a positive test is encountered. The aim of this study was to evaluate the etiologies and clinical characteristics of patients with NTM pulmonary disease who had been treated at a national tuberculosis hospital. Methods : The NTM isolates were recovered from the sputum or bronchial washing specimens submitted to a clinical laboratory of National Masan TB Hospital from August 2002 to July 2003. All samples were identified using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis method, which amplifies the rpoB gene. The patients were diagnosed with NTM disease according to the American Thoracic Society diagnostic criteria. Results : One hundred NTM isolates were recovered from 57 patients. Of the 100 isolates, M. avium complex(MAC) was the most common species, which was found 55%(n=55) of patients, followed by M. abscessus(n=25), and M. fortuitum( n=9). 26(45.6%) patients had NTM disease. Twenty-six (45.6%) patients had NTM disease according to The American Thoracic Society classification. The main organisms involved in NTM disease were MAC(n=19, 73.1%) and M. abscessus(n=5, 19.2%). The pathogenic potential was 67.9% in M. intracellulare and 41.7% in M. abscessus. The predictive factors related to NTM disease were a positive sputum smear (OR 6.4, p=0.02) and the isolation of either MAC or M. abscessus(OR 6.9, p=0.007). Fifteen patients(57.7%) were cured. There were no significant factors associated with the treatment success. Conclusion : There was a relatively high proportion of NTM disease in NTM isolates and the common species were MAC and M. abscessus. The predictive factors for NTM disease were a positive sputum smear and the isolation of either MAC or M. abscessus.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2005

Background : Even though it has been suggested that low-colony, scotochromogen nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are usually contaminants and not true pathogens, evidence for this hypothesis has not been provided. This study investigated the colony characteristics, organism identification, and clinical significance of low-colony scotochromogen. Methods : The laboratory cultured 6,898 respiratory clinical specimens for an examination of mycobacteria over a three-month period. A low-colony count was arbitrarily defined as ${\leq}20$ colonies. This study analyzed the recovery rate of the mycobacteria, the number of colonies and their gross characteristics, and their clinical significance. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was carried out to identify the NTM species. NTM pulmonary disease was defined according to the American Thoracic Society. Results : A total of 6,898 respiratory specimens for mycobacterium were cultured. Of these, 263 (3.8%) grew NTM, and 382 (5.5%) grew M. tuberculosis. Of the 263 cultured NTM specimens, 124 (47.1%) were scotochromogens. The smear-positive rate was significantly lower in these scotochromogens (4.8%) than in the non-scotochromogens (23.7%) (p<0.05). The most common isolates were M. gordonae (83/102, 81.4%) in the scotochromogens, and MAC (52/121, 43.0%) in the non-scotochromogens. Even though three out of 113 patients with a low-colony scotochromogen has been diagnosed with NTM pulmonary disease, the isolated scotochromogen was not considered to be the cause of the NTM disease but was just a contaminant. Conclusion : In this study, the most common isolate of a low-colony count scotochromogen was M. gordonae, which appeared to be contaminants and not true pathogens. Greater efforts in the quality control of a mycobacterium laboratory are needed in cases where there is a high recovery rate of low-colony count scotochromogen.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.656-663
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• 2005

Background : The B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac neurohormone that is specifically secreted from the ventricles in response to volume expansion and a pressure overload. Differentiating congestive heart failure from the pulmonary causes of dyspnea is very important for patients presenting with acute dyspnea. Methods : A retrospective study was carried out on 261 patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Hanyang University Hospital due to acute dyspnea from March to July 2004. The serum BNP levels of the patients were measured using the ELISA method. Results : The BNP levels were 382, 111-1140 pg/ml (median, interquartile range) in the heart failure group (n=119) and 29, 7-81 pg/ml in the non-heart failure group (n=142). The BNP levels according to the subgroups of heart failure were 820, 354-1620 pg/ml, 1650, 239-1990 pg/ml, and 378, 106-1120 pg/ml for the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with combined left heart failure (n=5), cor pulmonale (n=3), and left heart failure groups (n=111), respectively. The BNP levels according to the subgroups of non-heart failure were 39, 21-101 pg/ml, 59, 10-129 pg/ml, and 15, 6-47 pg/ml for the COPD (n=20), other pulmonary diseases (n=56), and other causes groups (n=66), respectively. The BNP levels were significantly different according to the underlying etiology (p<0.001), and were significantly higher in the COPD patients with left heart failure than in those without (p=0.002). When the patients with no cardiovascular risk factor such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking or renal failure were analyzed, the BNP levels were also significantly higher in the patients with heart failure than in those without(p<0.001). When 133 pg/ml was designated as the BNP cut-off level the sensitivity for predicting heart failure was 73 percent and the specificity was 87 percent. Conclusion : BNP measurements are useful for determining the presence of heart failure in the patients presenting with acute dyspnea. The possibility of heart failure must be seriously considered in patients with high BNP levels even when they have a pre-existing pulmonary disease such as COPD or no risk factors for heart failure.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2008

Purpose: The early detection of gastric cancer and accuracy of preoperative staging has currently been on the increase due to the development of endoscopy and imaging techniques, but there are still many cases of advanced gastric cancer detected at the first diagnosis and there are also many cases of stage IV gastric cancer diagnosed after a postoperative pathological examination. Although the prognosis of stage IV gastric cancer is very poor, this study was performed to determine the value of the use of aggressive treatment determined after a clinical analysis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 150 patients that were diagnosed with stage IV gastric cancer among 1376 patients who underwent a laparotomy for gastric cancer from January 1994 to December 2006. Results: Of the 150 patients with stage IV gastric cancer who underwent a laparotomy, there were 104 men and 46 women. The mean patient age was 57.8 years (age range, 28~93 years). A subtotal gastrectomy or total gastrectomy was performed in 119 patients and 31 patients underwent an explorative laparotomy. The mean survival time of patients that underwent a gastrectomy and patients that did not undergo a gastrectomy was 722 days (range, 14~4,559 days) and 173 days (range, 16~374 days), respectively this result was statistically significant. When patients that underwent a gastrectomy were classified according to the TNM stage, the mean survival time of 33 patients with stage T4 disease was 534 days (range, 17~3,378 days) and the mean survival time of 63 patients with stage N3 disease was 521 days (range, 14~4,190 days), but there was no statistical significance. Chemotherapy was administered to 98 patients and 52 patients did not receive chemotherapy. The mean survival time of patients that received chemotherapy was 792 days (range, 36~4,559 days) and the mean survival time of patients that did not receive chemotherapy was 243 days (range, 14~2,413 days), with statistical significance. Conclusion: If there is no evidence of distant metastasis in stage IV gastric cancer, one can expect improvement of the survival rate by the use of aggressive treatment, including curative gastric resection with radical lymph node dissection and chemotherapy.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.28 no.3 s.68
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• pp.461-477
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• 1998

To evaluate the relapse pattern and long-term stabilities depanding on surgical methods following orthognathic surgery of Cl III patients, the author selected 24 subjects(10 male, 14 female) operated by SSRO and 26 subjects(10 male,16 female) operated by IVRO. Each subject took four lateral cephalograms : just before surgery(T1), within 48hrs after surgery(T2), 4-8 wks after surgery(T3), 6 month or more after surgery(T4), and the landmarks were digitized. The differences of relapse patterns in each interval between two groups were compared and the significance of correlation among the variables of each group was tested. The obtained results are as follows ; 1. Horizontal early relapse was forward movement of mandible in SSRO group, as compared to the backward movement in IVRO group, and there was a statistical significance between the two groups. 2. Vertical early and late relapses were decreases in anterior facial height in both groups and there was no statistical significance between the two groups. 3. There was a statistical significance in negative correlation between mandibular horizontal late relapse and surgical change of articular angle in SSRO group. 4. There was a statistical significance in negative correlation between amount of mandibular set-back and mandibular horizontal early relapse in both groups.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.224-231
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• 2010

Purpose: Hospital readmissions have recently increased due to early hospital discharge and increased trends in breast-feeding. Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia can lead to fatal permanent neurological sequelae without appropriate management. Early detection and intervention are critical. We evaluated the clinical features, risk factors, and brain MRI findings of Korean newborns with idiopathic nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia to determine the optimal management policy. Methods: A retrospective review of the medical records of 79 newborns with idiopathic nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia was performed at the NICU of the Kyungpook National University Hospital from January 2006 to September 2009. All patients were 35 or more weeks of gestation, and their peak level of serum total bilirubin was more than 20 mg/dL. Results: The mean gestational age was $38^{+3}{\pm}1^{+4}$ weeks, and the mean age on admission was 8.8$\pm$4.0 days. The mean body weight (3,105$\pm$479 g) was decreased by 2.8$\pm$6.4 percent compared to the mean birth weight (3,174$\pm$406 g). There were no statistically significant differences for the peak serum bilirubin level or the duration and effects of phototherapy between the patients with and without risk factors, which included: breastfeeding, cephalohematoma, subdural hemorrhage, and/or ABO incompatibility. Patients were grouped according to change of body weight. Group I consisted of patients that gained weight compared to birth weight, and group II of patients that lost weight compared to birth weight. There were significant differences in the peak serum total bilirubin level between the two groups. Thirty nine patients had brain MRI evaluation; 21 patients had bilateral symmetric signal intensity increases in the globus pallidus compared to adjacent corticospinal tract and putamen on T1-weighted images. Conclusion: Bilirubin encephalopathy is preventable with early screening and proper management. Parents require instruction on feeding practices and follow-up to prevent complications from idiopathic nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2009

Objective: This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of minimal stimulation using rhFSH and GnRH antagonist compared with GnRH antagonist multidose protocol (MDP) in IVF treated patients with aged 40 and above. Methods: Seventy-five patients with aged 40 and above were equally randomized to minimal stimulation group (n=37) or GnRH antagonist MDP group (n=38). For minimal stimulation group, ultrasound monitoring was started on cycle day 7 or 8. Daily injections of 0.25 mg cetrorelix together with 150 IU rhFSH were started from the day at 13${\sim}$14 mm of a leading follicle diameter. For GnRH antagonist MDP group, daily injections of 225 IU rhFSH were initiated from cycle day 2 and GnRH antagonist was started at a dose of 0.25 mg/day on rhFSH stimulation day 6 or the day at 13${\sim}$14 mm of leading follicle diameter. In both groups, transvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte retrieval was performed. According to cleavage and morphologic characteristics of embryos, embryos were transferred 3 to 5 days after oocyte retrieval. Results: There were no differences in patients' characteristics and cycle cancellation rate between the two groups. Total dose and duration of rhFSH used were significantly fewer and shorter in minimal stimulation group than those in GnRH antagonist MDP group. The numbers of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes and transferred embryos were also lower in minimal stimulation group. However, there were no significant differences in the clinical pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate between the two groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that minimal stimulation protocol provides comparable pregnancy rates to GnRH antagonist MDP with fewer dose and days of rhFSH used, and thus can be a cost-effective alternative in women aged 40 and above.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.228-236
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• 1999

Background: Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis is an uncommon illness characterized by intermittent flaccid paralysis of skeletal muscle, usually accompanied by hypokalemia, in patient with hyperthyroidism. However, the pathophysiology of thyrotoxic periodic paralysis remains largely unexplained and controversial. This report describes the clinical and biochemical findings in 19 patients with thyrotoxic periodic paralysis who were examined at the Yeungnam University Medical Center(YUMC) during the past decade. Methods: The medical records of 997 YUMC patients, seen between 1986 and 1996, with diagnosis of hyperthyroidism were reviewed. Nineteen patients out of 997 hyperthyroidism patients were diagnosed, and examined by history, physical examination, serum electrolyte value, and thyroid function test during paralysis. On the basis of these results, comparisons were made on age, sex, precipitating factors, timing, affected limbs, prognosis, serum potassium and serum phosphate and thyroid hormone levels. Results: The prevalence of periodic paralysis in hyperthyroidism was 1.9 percent and the male to female prevalence ratio was 30:1 and in all patients, the development of perodic paralysis was correlated with hyperfunctional state of the thyroid gland. Eleven cases of periodic paralysis were associated with hypokalemia and their thyroid hormone levels were significantly more increased than those of the patients without hypokalemia. Interestingly, our study shows the recurrence of paralysis after treatment. Conclusion: Although the precise pathophysiology of the disease is as yet undefined and controversial, it occurs primarily in Asians with an overwhelming male preponderance and prevalence of 2 percent in hyperthyroidism. The interactive roles of thyroid hormone, Na-K pump, and genetically inherited defect in the cellular membrane potential of the skeletal muscle can be speculated. Further investigation will be needed to firmly establish the mechanism of thyrotoxic periodic paralysis.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 1984

The differential diagnosis of atypical mycobacteriosis caused by atypical mycobacteria (with the exception of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, and Mycobacterium leprae) which are widly distributed in soil and water, from pulmonary tuberculosis is possible only when atypical mycobacteria are isolated and identified. In this investigation, attempts were made to isolate atypical mycobacteria from persons registered as tuberculosis patients in the Anyang Health Center in Anyang City, Kyungki province, Korea. Biological and biochemical tests were performed for the atypical mycobacteria isolated from these patients, also retrospective analysis of clinical and X-ray findings of the patients with bacteriologically confirmed atypical mycobacteriosis were done. The results can be summarized as follows: 1. 103 strains of mycobacteria were isolated among 334 sputum samples from patients. 2. Among the isolated mycobacteria, 10 strains (9.7%) were found to be a atypical mycobacteria and 93 strains (90.3%) were tubercle bacilli of human type. 3. On the basis of Runyon's grouping of atypical mycobacteria, there were 3 strains (30.0 %) of scotochromogen and nonphotochromogen respectively, 4 strains (40.0%) of rapid grower, and no photochromogen. 4. By biochemical tests, 3 strains of scotochromogen were identified as Mycobacterium scrofulaceum (2 strains) and Mycobacterium szulgai (1 strain) 3 strains of nonphotochromogen were Mycobacterium avium-complex (2 strains) and Mycobacterium terriae (1 strain), and 4 strains of rapid grower were Mycobacterium fortuitum (3 strains) and Mycobacterium chelonei. 5. In drug sensitivity tests, all 10 strains isolated atypical mycobacteria showed resistance to various concentration of INH and SM and low concentration (10mcg, 40mcg and 50mcg) of EB, TH, and CS, and were sensitive to only high concentration (20mcg and 100mcg) of EB, TH, CS, and RFP. 6. In analysis of clical findings by the patients with bacteriologically confirmed atypical mycobacteriosis, it was found that clinical symptoms of these patients appeared not to be mild than those of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The patients with atypical mycobacteriosis had been treated for pulmonary tuberculosis for a long time and they showed no improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.211-216
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• 2008

Purpose: The frequency of foreign body in the knee joint is not as high, but it sometimes required wide or multiple arthrotomy in order to remove, which can baffle the surgeon in some ways. Our study is to evaluate for effectiveness of arthroscopic retrieval for intra-articular foreign body in the knee joint. Materials and Methods: The 22 patients(16 males, 6 females) had received arthroscopic foreign body retrieval in the knee joint from March 1983 to September 2006. The causes of foreign bodies of the knee joint were 7 of trauma (31.9%) related cases, 13 of surgery related cases (59.0%), 2 found during follow up after operation (8.1%) in pathologies of foreign body. Results: There were 15 of metal showed the most percentage (68.1%), 7 of non-metal (31.9%) in types of foreign bodies, and others included bullet, suture material, pencil lead, broken wire etc. All cases were used by arthroscopic techniques. All foreign bodies were removed easily and were showed no complication such as postoperative joint stiffness. Conclusion: Arthroscopic foreign body retrieval in the knee joint is effective surgery in terms of easy access to foreign body and less postoperative complication.