• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2004

Purpose : We experienced 7 patients with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease(KFD) who had presented a prolonged fever and lymphadenopathy. The clinical and the laboratory aspects of the patients were analyzed. Methods : The medical records of the 7 KFD patients, who were confirmed by excisional lymph node biopsy from January 1996 through December 2003, were retrospectively analyzed. Results : The mean age of the children was $11.4{\pm}2.8$ years(ranging from 8 to 15 years). The male to female ratio was 1.3 : 1. The median duration of the fever prior to admission and the total duration of the fever were 12 days(ranging from 5 to 65 days) and 27 days(ranging 9 to 75 days), respectively. One patient had supraclavicular lymphadenopathy, 5 had cercical involvement, and 1 had axillary lymphadenopathy. All the histologic findings of the lymph nodes biopsies showed the characteristic findings consistent with KFD such as paracortical necrosis with karyorrhexis and an increase in the number of phagocytic histiocytes and atypical lymphocytes. As for the laboratory findings, leukopenia($3,800{\pm}700/mm^3$), anemia(hemoglobin, $11.0{\pm}1.2g/dL$), an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate($42{\pm}17mm/hr$), and a relatively low C-reactive protein level($1.3{\pm}0.9mg/dL$) were noted. Four patients received conservative therapy with antipyretics, and 3 patients were treated with prednisolone. Conclusion : KFD is a rare disease, yet should be considered in the differential diagnosis for older children with prolonged fever and lymphadenopathy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 2020

Background: It is generally agreed that using a bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) composite graft improves long-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Although the left internal thoracic artery (LITA)-based Y-composite graft is widely adopted, technical or anatomical difficulties necessitate complex configurations. We aimed to investigate whether BITA configuration impacts survival or patency in patients undergoing coronary revascularization. Methods: Between January 2006 and June 2017, 1,161 patients underwent CABG at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, where the standard technique is a LITA-based Y-composite graft with the right internal thoracic artery (RITA) sequentially anastomosed to non-left anterior descending (LAD) targets. Total of 160 patients underwent CABG using BITA with modifications. Their medical records and imaging data were reviewed retrospectively to investigate technical details, clinical outcomes, and graft patency. Results: Modifications of the typical Y-graft (group 1, n=90), LITA-based I-graft (group 2, n=39), and RITA-based composite graft (group 3, n=31) were used due to insufficient RITA length (47%), problems using LITA (28%), and target vessel anatomy (25%). The overall 30-day mortality rate was 1.9%. Among 116 patients who underwent computed tomography or conventional angiography at a mean interval of 29.9±33.1 months postoperatively, the graft patency rates were 98.7%, 95.3%, and 83.6% for the LAD, left circumflex artery, and right coronary artery territories, respectively. Patency rates for the inflow, secondary, and tertiary grafts were 98.2%, 90.5%, and 80.4%, respectively. The RITA-based graft (group 3) had the lowest patency rate of the various configurations (p<0.011). Conclusion: LITA-based Y composite graft, showed satisfactory clinical outcomes and patency whereas modifications of RITA- based composite graft had the lowest patency and 5-year survival rates. Therefore, when using RITA-based composite graft, other options should be considered before proceeding atypical configurations.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2007

Pain is subjective and greatly influenced by prior experiences, but it is real. Pain associated with an organic(objective) pathology is more easily explained and treated. However, atypical or unexplainable pain is usually a source of greater confusion and frustration. Pain may be divided into four general diagnostic categories. 1) pain with anatomic features and objective findings 2) pain with anatomic features and without objective findings 3) pain with non-anatomic features associated with stress and somatization 4) pain with non-anatomic features associated with perceived physical injury. There is a well-established relationship between emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse history and development of chronic pain. It has been suggested that the link between somatization and abuse involves a paradoxical pattern of hiding feelings and reality, while seeking acknowledgment of suffering. History of abuse may physiologically and developmentally increase a person's susceptability to pain and organic changes can be associated with psychogenic disease. Patients with chronic pain should be treated with multidisciplinary approaches including exercise, meditation, cognitive therapy, medications, and biofeedback. Cognitive therapy alters patient's cognition and management of pain and alleviates pain, especially associated with stress. Antidepressants are the most commonly used medications and pain control effects have no relation with mood changes. Biofeedback with relaxation training, exercise and meditation may also be effective in pain control.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.640-650
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• 2020

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an atypical member of the FGF protein family which is highly synthesized in the liver, pancreas, and adipose tissue. Depending on the expression tissue, FGF21 uses endo- or paracrine features to regulate several metabolic pathways including glucose metabolism and energy homeostasis. Different physiologically stressful conditions such as starvation, a ketogenic diet, extreme cold, and mitochondrial dysfunction are known to induce FGF21 synthesis in various tissues to exert either adaptive or defensive mechanisms. More specifically, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha control FGF21 expression in adipose tissue and liver, respectively. In addition, the pharmacologic administration of FGF21 has been reported to decrease the body weight and improve the insulin sensitivity and lipoprotein profiles of obese mice and type 2 diabetes patients meaning that FGF21 has attracted huge interest as a therapeutic agent for type 2 diabetes, obesity, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, understanding FGF21 remains complicated due to the paradoxical condition of its tissue-dependent expression. For example, nutrient deprivation largely increases hepatic FGF21 levels whereas adipose tissue-derived FGF21 is increased under feeding condition. This review discusses the issues of interest that have arisen from existing publications, including the tissue-specific function of FGF21 and its action mechanism. We also summarize the current stage of a clinical trial using several FGF21 analogs.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.291-316
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• 2010

This study aimed to look for the possibility of dissolving social exclusion about the social vulnerable classes through the culture welfare programs. For this purpose, we analyzed interview records focused on the culture welfare practitioners applying the Modified Grounded Theory Approach worked out by Kinosita. The results showed that the culture welfare programs functionated of dissolving social exclusion about the social weaks by enhancing latent faculties and the sense of self-respect of them through providing various opportunities of culture fruition. It was appeared that the culture welfare programs promoted creative competence and the sense of self-respect, and strengthened the sense of solidarity of the participants by using the approaching strategies of offering various opportunities of creational experience, atypical operating programs centered on the process, establishing of the participants' subjecthood, and communal activities. That is, it was proved that actually the social weaks experienced the change of life with feeling emotional satisfaction, promoting family and human relationship, establishing positive identity, empowerment, participating communal activities, and so on, through the culture welfare programs. From these results we can know that if we provide the programs mixing the culture welfare programs with social welfare services which traditionally reinforced social exclusion about the social vulnerable classes by stigma, the social exclusion about them can be dissolved.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.459-466
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• 2003

Mycobacterium kansasii is the second most common cause of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease in Western countries and Japan. The clinical and radiological features of pulmonary disease caused by M. kansasii usually resemble those of pulmonary tuberculosis including cavitary infiltrates with an upper lobe predilection. It is also now apparent that patients with M. kansasii pulmonary disease can present with noncavitary nodular bronchiectatic infiltrates similar to lung diseases of M. avium complex. With rifampin-containing regimens, treatment success rates are almost 100%. Timely diagnosis before the development of extensive disease and effective overall treatment strategies are very important to ensure that patients receive the appropriate medications for a sufficiently long period of time. To our knowledge, there has been no Korean case report of M. kansasii pulmonary disease in the immunocompetent patient until now. We report three cases of M. kansasii pulmonary disease in immunocompetent adult patients.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.102-106
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• 2010

A 5-year-old castrated male Cocker Spaniel was referred to Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Seoul National University with a history of chronic conjunctival hyperemia and a fleshy corneal mass in the right eye. On ophthalmic examinations, it was observed that a well-vascularized fleshy mass at the dorsolateral limbus extended into the clear cornea. The lesion regressed by initial medications, including both topical and systemic corticosteroids, and topical cyclosporine A. However, the lesion relapsed and grossly infiltrated to cornea in a short period of time without improvement in spite of the immunosuppressive therapy, leading to the vision loss. The eye was enucleated and nodular granulomatous episclerokeratitis was confirmed on histopathological examination.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.388-393
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• 2000

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common congenital defects in oro-maxillo-facial region. Because most patients undergo surgical repair in early life, the sagittal jaw relationships used to be deteriorated gradually from palate surgery up to adulthood. Also, the maxillary lateral incisor may be absent or atypical-shaped in the cleft site and may not erupt or erupt ectopically, so multidisciplinary dental cares are needed for cleft lip and palate patients. The effects of the cleft lip and alveolus seem to be limited to that part of the dentofacial complex that surrounds the cleft area. In the maxillary arch, the anterior part of the non cleft segment has a tendency to be rotated forward. On the other hand, the cleft segment has a tendency to rotated slightly medially ; hence, the tendency for canines to be edge-to-edge and sometimes in crossbite. Lip and alveolus surgery adequetely correct these problems, with little untoward effect on the skeletal maxillary-mandible relationships. In this report, the patient has a repaired lip and cleft alveolus on the left side with congenital missing on '62, '22, oronasal fistula, and skeletal class III malocclusion which is not affected by lip surgery. Dental treatments for this patient including orthodontic(space supervision, functional regulator in mixed dentition, fixed therapy in permanent dentition) and prosthodontic(removable obturator with key and keyway attachment and Konus crown) therapy were performed to improve the patient's functions and esthetics.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 1999

Objectives: Patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder(or PMDD) have impairments of the social, occupational or academic function due to psychological or somatic symptoms, which have the characteristic pattern of symptom exacerbation in the week before menses begin and remission shortly after the onset of menses. In the chronobiological view, many researchers have assumed that the etiology of PMDD is the advanced circadian rhythm. It has been suggested that light has a therapeutic effect on PMDD, because evening light results in phase delay of circadian rhythm through the biochemical changes including melatonin. Methods: The authors investigated the therapeutic effect of light therapy on four patients with prospectively diagnosed PMDD by DSM-IV criteria using clinical psychiatric interview, Premenstrual Assessment Form(PAF) and Daily Rating Form(or DRF). In the evening(6:30pm-8:00pm), the 2,500 lux light administered for seven consecutive days during the symptomatic late luteal phase of menstrual cycle. Beck Depression Inventory(or BDI), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(or HAM-D), Spielberg State Anxiety Inventory(or SA), and DRF were evaluated before and after seven days of light therapy. Results: Premenstrual symptoms of PMDD could be effectively treated with the evening bright light therapy, especially in PMDD patients with atypical symptoms. In addition, the light therapy seemed to more effective on the psychologic symptoms than the somatic symptoms of PMDD. There was no significant side-effect of light therapy, except the transient and mild eye-strain in one case. Conclusions: In spite of the results of limited data from our clinical trial, the authors suggest that the potential use of light therapy as an alternative to the pharmacological management of patients with PMDD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2009

Background: To examine the recovery rate of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from respiratory specimens and the clinical course of NTM pulmonary disease at a 700-bed secondary hospital. Methods: This study analyzed the results of 843 acid-fast bacilli (AFB) culture-positive respiratory specimens from 650 subjects collected between May 2003 and April 2008. In addition, the clinical course of NTM pulmonary disease, diagnosed using criteria established by the American Thoracic Society, was examined. Results: There were 67 (7.9%) NTM isolates recovered from 52 (8.0%) subjects. Among the 535 AFB smear-positive specimens, 34 (6.3%) NTM isolates were recovered. There were 33 (10.7%) NTM isolates were recovered from 308 AFB smear-negative specimens. Of 52 subjects with isolated NTM, M. intracellulare was the most common species at 73.1% (n=33), followed by M. kansassi (n=7), M. abscessus (n=2), M. fortuitum (n=2), and M. avium (n=1). Sixteen (30.8%) patients had NTM pulmonary disease and the most common causative organism was M. intracellulare (n=14, 87.5%). Of these, 6 cases attained negative conversion in culture, 4 cases failed to attain negative conversion because of poor cooperation or expiration from complicated underlying lung disease, and 5 cases were transferred to a higher-grade hospital. Conclusion: The recovery rate of NTM from respiratory specimens was relatively low and the most common species was M. intracellulare. Patients with NTM pulmonary disease showed variable clinical outcomes.