• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.99 no.4
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• pp.219-223
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• 2024

Emphysematous prostatitis with an abscess is an extremely rare but lethal infection, characterized by the accumulation of gas and purulent exudates. Due to its rarity, severity, and nonspecific presentation, prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial to achieve favorable clinical outcomes. This report presents a 43-year-old male with hemodialysis-dependent end-stage kidney disease who reported a 3-day history of fever, urinary incontinence, dysuria, and dyspnea. His condition rapidly deteriorated due to septic shock caused by emphysematous prostatitis with an abscess. Following extensive treatment including long-term parenteral antibiotics, polymyxin B hemoperfusion filter treatment, abscess drainage via transurethral resection of the prostate, and suprapubic cystostomy, the patient successfully recovered.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.538-542
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• 2010

Acute mediastinitis is a fatal infection which occurs related to connective tissue of mediastium, in the thoratic organs. Occurrence of mediastinitis due to craniocervical infection is very rare, and is defined as descending necrotizing mediastinitis. November 8th, 2008, man in his early fifties visited ER due to severe swelling on left neck area and dyspnea. Antibiotic were administered immediately, and vast amount of abscess formation on pneumomediastinum and adjacent tissues were observed via chest computed tomography. With cooperation of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery department, emergency incision and drainage with drain insertion was done to remove abscess, and control the infection. After surgery, everyday saline irrigation through drain was done during hospitalization, with continues antibiotic therapy. Descending necrotising mediastinitis is a most rare and dangerous infection which occurs on oropharyngeal area. In case of descending necrotising mediastinitis, accurate diagnosis, airway maintenance, remove of abscess by incision and drainage, aggressive antibiotic therapy and continuous saline irrigation is necessary to increase patient survivability. Also, computed tomography with contrast media is essential to figure out the size and location of the infection and abscess formation.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.314-319
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• 2010

Odontogenic infections are a normally locally confined, self-limiting process that is easily treated by antibiotic therapy and local surgical treatment. However, it may spread into the surrounding tissues through a perforation of the bone, and into contiguous fascial spaces or planes like the primary or secondary fascial spaces. If the infection extends widely, it may spread into the lateral pharyngeal and retropharyngeal space. The retropharyngeal space is located posterior to the pharynx. If an odontogenic infection spreads into this space, severe life-threatening complications will occur, such as airway obstruction, mediastinitis, pericarditis, pleurisy, pulmonary abscess, aspiration pneumonia and hematogenous dissemination to the distant organs. The mortality rate of mediastinitis ranges from 35% to 50%. Therefore, a rapid evaluation and treatment are essential for treating retropharyngeal space abscesses and preventing severe complications. Recently, we encountered two cases of a retropharyngeal space abscess due to the spread of an odontogenic infection. In all patients, early diagnosis was performed by computed tomography scanning and a physical examination. All patients were treated successfully by extensive surgical and antibiotic therapy.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.268-271
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• 2005

Objective: This study is undertaken to review the characteristics, risk factors and the surgical outcomes in long term follow-up of brain abscesses. Methods: We had reviewed medical records and radiological findings in patients with brain abscess who underwent operations in our hospital from January 1992 to June 2003. Results: Observed 11 cases were comprised of 8 men and 3 women with 42 years old average age ranging from 17 to 66. Lesions were located at frontal lobe in 5 cases, parietal in 4 cases, temporal in 1 case, and occipital in 1 case. The mean follow-up period was 23.8 months and ranged from 5 to 33 months. The microbial sources of infection had been found in 5 cases (45%). The organisms were identified by using the microbial culture obtained from the excisional biopsy. We had applied all cases with surgical excision. Empirical antibiotic treatment started soon after diagnosis in all cases. The mortality and morbidity of surgical excision were low. Nine patients were neurologically improved. One patient had died after the operation due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Conclusion: The single and large abscess located in an accessible lesion is a good candidate for surgical excision because of it's low morbidity, mortality, and favorable outcome after surgical excision. Further study is required to compare the surgical excision with other treatment modalities of brain abscess.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.105-110
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• 2008

Neonatal liver abscesses are rare, carry a high mortality rate, and are difficult to diagnose. The diagnosis of liver abscesses in the neonate cannot be established from the clinical presentation alone. Risk factors for liver abscesses in neonates are maternal infection, sepsis, umbilical venous catheterization, omphalitis, and necrotizing enterocolitis. In this report, we describe a preterm infant (32 weeks, 1,580 g) who presented with abdominal distension, respiratory difficulties, and a persistent inflammatory response in spite of broad spectrum antibiotic treatment; a large (6${\times}$5 cm) solitary pyogenic liver abscess was identified at 9 days of age. It appeared that the liver abscess had originated in the uterus and umbilical venous catheterization facilitated its spread. Percutaneous drainage under abdominal ultrasound guidance was performed and prolonged antibiotics were treated for 5 weeks, effecting a cure.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.64-70
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• 2009

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis(DNM) can occur as a complication of oropharyngeal and cervical infections that spread to the mediastinum via the cervical spaces. Delayed diagnosis and inadequate mediastinal drainage through a cervical or minor thoracic approach are the primary causes of a high mortality rate. Therefore, We emphasize that aggressive and emergent mediastinal drainage by surgical approach is most important method of DNM treatment. We studied 5cases diagnosed as DNM from 2005 through 2007. All patients underwent emergent surgical drainage of deep neck infection combined with mediastinal drainage through a thoracic approach. Primary oropharyngeal infection lead to DNM in four cases(80%) and odontogenic abscess in one case(20%). The outcomes were favorable 5patients. Overall mortality rate was 0%. The time interval from diagnosis based on manifestation of initial symptoms(oral or pharyngolaryngeal area) to surgical intervention was $7.4{\pm}4.2$days. One patient required reoperation due to remnant mediastinal abscess and pericardial effusion. Early diagnosis and emergent combined drainage with neck and chest incisions, together with broad spectrum intravenous antibiotics, should be considered standard care for this disease. And intensive postoperative care which it is continuous mediastinal irrigation and antibiotics use can significantly reduce the mortality rate.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.914-916
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• 2002

Actinomycosis of the lung is a chronic, suppurative granulomatous infection which is caused by Actinomyces israelii. It is believed to enter the thorax by way of the bronchial tree, by aspiration of contaminated aerosol particles in the upper digestive tract. Symptoms of chronic cough, sputum, hemoptysis, low grade fever, chest pain, and weight loss are common. Chest X-ray shows mass like lesion, pulmonary infiltration, abscess, and tuberculosis like lesion, which makes differential diagnosis from lung cancer very difficult. Surgical intervention is needed for the diagnosis and treatment, and diagnosis of actinomycosis is achieved when histologic examination reveals sulfur granules containing filamentous organisms. Penicillin is the drug of choice. Two or three months of penicillin treatment is recommended to treat the oropharyngeal or dental abscess to avoid recurrences. We present a case of actinomycosis which is suspected to malignant with review of literatures.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2021

Due to their rarity and the lack of associated dental symptoms, odontogenic cutaneous sinus tracts (OCSTs) are often misdiagnosed and confused with cutaneous lesions or non-odontogenic infections. It has been estimated that 50% of individuals affected by OCSTs are subjected to inappropriate treatments before the correct diagnosis is established. We describe the diagnosis and treatment of two cases of OCSTs. By using a computed tomography (CT) with soft tissue window setting, the extent of cortical bone destruction and the path of the sinus tract in the soft tissue was easily identified. Thus, we recommend the use of imaging techniques such as CT, which can confirm the odontogenic origin and the exact location of the OCST.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.395-399
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• 2001

Primary spinal epidural lymphoma(SEL), i.e. occurring in the absence of any detectable extraspinal lymphoproliferative disorder, is an unusual cause of spinal cord compression. The authors report a 48-year-old, diabetic woman presented with back pain followed by acute paraparesis and voiding difficulty. She had been treated with acupunctures on her back before admission, and complete blood count showed leukocytosis with neutrophilia and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR). Thoracic spine magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) revealed an epidural mass extending from T5 to T8 with compression of the spinal cord. Emergency decompressive laminectomy was performed with a tentative diagnosis of spinal epidural abscess, but a B-cell lymphoma was final pathologic diagnosis. Further staging showed no other sites of lymphoma, and the spinal lesion was treated by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The authors stress that primary SEL can mimic spinal epidural abscess(SEA) in the diabetic patient and should be a diagnostic consideration in patients with a syndrome of acute spinal cord compression manifested by a prodrome of back pain and neuroimaging consistent with an epidural compressive lesion, especially in a diabetic.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.79 no.5
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• pp.271-275
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• 2018

The falciform ligament is a hepatic suspensory ligament that extends from the umbilicus to the diaphragm, containing the ligamentum teres and a vestigial remnant of the umbilical vein. Among the rarely-occurring pathologies of the falciform ligament, which include ligament cyst, tumor, abnormal vascularization, and congenital ligament defect, a falciform ligament abscess is even more sporadic. Accordingly, the definitive diagnosis of the falciform ligament abscess is rather challenging and may easily be misinterpreted as an infected choledochal cyst or a liver abscess. We present a 25-day-old infant with the falciform ligament abscess, which developed after the umbilical venous catheter insertion and was successfully treated with percutaneous drainage and antibiotic administration.