• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.680-683
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• 2002

Infective endocarditis that involves the right side of the heart has been estimately 5% of all cases of infective endocarditis. It has been shown that about 70% of right-sided heart infective endocarditis cases have preexisting congenital heart disease or acquired valvular lesion. It would occur in intravenous drug users or end-stage renal disease patients with indwelling venous dialysis catheter. Antibiotic therapy is more effective in the right and, when it fails, the consequence of valve disruption and emboli are less. Patients receiving long-term hemodialysis are a unique population with regard in the risk of bacteremia and subsequent infective endocarditis. We experienced one case of the active infective endocarditis with right atrial vegetation without tricuspid or pulmonary valve involvement in patient with end-stage renal disease receiving long-term hemodialysis, who needed surgical correction after medical treatment failure. Then we reported it with references that right-sided heart infective endocarditis is rare, but difficult to diagnose, life-threatening because of delayed medical treatment.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.289-293
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• 2006

By means of microsurgical free-tissue transfer providing a large amount of required tissue, the surgeon can resect tumoral tissue more safely, which allows tumor-free margins and enhances the reliability of the ablative surgery that otherwise could not be performed radically. The morbidity of elective free-tissue transfer seems to be quite low, carrying acceptable risks for most patients. But the elderly patients are at risk for cardiac and respiratory problems, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary emboli and infection merely as a function of age. This study was undertaken to define further risks of the elderly population with regards to free-tissue transfer. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 110 microsurgical free-tissue transfers for head and neck reconstruction in patients greater than 60 years of age. Microsurgical procedures in all cases were preformed by the plastic and reconstructive department at Yonsei medical center. The investigated parameters were patient demographics, past medical history, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) status, site and cause of defect, the free tissue transferred and postoperative complication including free-flap success or failure. There were 46 patients in the age group from 60 to 64 years, 34 patients from 65 to 70 years, and 30 patients 70 years or older. There happened 3 flap losses, resulting in a flap viability rate of 97%. Patients with a higher ASA designation experienced more medical complication(p=0.05, 0.01, 0.03 in each age group I, II, III) but not surgical complication p=0.17, 0.11, 0.54 in each age group I, II, III). And the relationship between postoperative complication and age groups was not significant. These observations suggest that major determinant for postoperative medical complication be the patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists score, and chronologic age alone should not be an exclusion criterion when selecting patients for free-tissue transfer

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2011

Background and Objectives : Papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) frequently metastasize to the regional neck, however, lateral neck lymph node metastasis is less common. The aim of this study is to investigate clinical and immunohistochemical features of PTC with lateral LN metastasis, and determine the predictive factors for lateral LN metastases. Material and Methods : We undertook a retrospective study of 83 patients treated between January 2007 and December 2009 for PTC by thyroidectomy with or without lateral neck dissection. The following criteria were used to study the clinical predictive value of lateral LN. metastases : sex, age, tumor size, multifocality, extracapsular spread(ECS) and lymphovascular emboli. Immunohistochemical staining for VEGF-A, VEGF-C, Bax, Bcl-2, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, $p27^{kip1}$ and $p57^{kip2}$ was performed, and quantified blindly by three pathologists who had no clinical information of the patients. Immunohistochemical expression was scored as high(>50% of cells stained) or low(0-49%). Results : With use of univariate and multivariate analysis, tumor size(>2cm) and ECS were independent correlates of lateral LN metastasis in PTC. Expression of VEGF-C, Bax, and Cyclin D1 in the PTC with lateral LN metastasis was scored higher than in PTC without lateral LN metastasis(p<0.05). Conclusion : The important risk factors for lateral LN metastasis in PTC are primary tumor size and the presence of ECS. And expression of VEGF-C, Bax and cyclin D1 may be considered of lateral LN metastatic potential in PTC.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.363-375
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• 2021

Trends in the developing era to discover and design peptide-based treatments throughout an epidemic infection scenario such as COVID-19 could progress into a more efficient and low-cost therapeutic environment. However, the weakening of proteolysis is one downside of natural peptide drugs. But, peptidomimetics may help resolve this issue. In this review, peptide and peptide-based drug discovery were summarized to target one key entry mechanism of severe coronavirus pulmonary emboli syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), which encompasses the association of the host angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor and viral spike (S) protein. Furthermore, the benefits of proteins, peptides and other possible actions that have been studied for COVID-19 through new peptide-based treatments are discussed in the review. Lastly, an overview of the peptide-based drug therapy environment is comprised of an evolutionary viewpoint, structural properties, operational thresholds, and an explanation of the therapeutic area.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.217-223
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• 2013

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and the outcomes for patients are still poor. It is important to determine the original type of synchronous multinodular HCC for preoperative assessment and the choice of treatment therapy as well as for the prediction of prognosis after treatment. Aims: To analyze clinicopathologic characteristics and prognoses in patients with multicentric occurrence (MO) and intrahepatic metastasis (IM) of synchronous multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The study group comprised 42 multinodular HCC patients with a total of 112 nodules. The control group comprised 20 HCC patients with 16 single nodular HCC cases and 4 HCC cases with a portal vein tumor emboli. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region was sequenced, and the patients of the study group were categorized as MO or IM based on the sequence variations. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the important clinicopathologic characteristics in the two groups. Results: In the study group, 20 cases were categorized as MO, and 22 as IM, whereas all 20 cases in the control group were characterized as IM. Several factors significantly differed between the IM and MO patients, including hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), cumulative tumor size, tumor nodule location, cirrhosis, portal vein and/or microvascular tumor embolus and the histological grade of the primary nodule. Multivariate analysis further demonstrated that cirrhosis and portal vein and/or microvascular tumor thrombus were independent factors differentiating between IM and MO patients. The tumor-free survival time of the MO subjects was significantly longer than that of the IM subjects ($25.7{\pm}4.8$ months vs. $8.9{\pm}3.1$ months, p=0.017). Similarly, the overall survival time of the MO subjects was longer ($31.6{\pm}5.3$ months vs. $15.4{\pm}3.4$ months, p=0.024). The multivariate analysis further demonstrated that the original type (p=0.035) and Child-Pugh grade (p<0.001) were independent predictors of tumor-free survival time. Cirrhosis (p=0.011), original type (p=0.034) and Child-Pugh grade (p<0.001) were independent predictors of overall survival time. Conclusions: HBeAg, cumulative tumor size, tumor nodule location, cirrhosis, portal vein and/or microvascular tumor embolus and histological grade of the primary nodule are important factors for differentiating IM and MO. MO HCC patients might have a favorable outcome compared with IM patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.651-655
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• 2005

Background : Diagnosing a pulmonary embolism is difficult because its presenting symptoms are nonspecific and there are limitations with all of the objective tests. The D-dimer is known to be a marker of the lysis of intravascular cross-linked fibrin as a result of the activation of the endogenous fibrinolytic pathways, and the D-dimer assay is these an objective method for diagnosing a pulmonary embolism. This study assessed the benefits of the D-dimer test for diagnosing a pulmonary embolism using semiquantitative latex agglutination. Methods : The latex agglutination results of 185 patients were retrospectively reviewed. The D-dimer test was performed at the time a pulmonary embolism was suspected. Ninety patients(group I) were diagnosis with PE through spiral chest CT or a chest CT angiogram, perfusion/ventilation scans, and/or pulmonary angiogram. Ninety-five patients (group II) were found not to have a pulmonary embolism through the above tests. Results : The male to female ratio and mean age in groups I and II was 37:55, and 57 years old to 50:45 and 52 years old, respectively. When the cut off value for a positive D-dimer assay was set to $500{\mu}g$, the sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and specificity was 86.7%, 61.4%, 79.3%, and 48.4%, respectively. Conclusion : The semiquantitative latex agglutination method in the D-dimer test has a lower sensitivity and negative predictive value than the well known ELISA test particularly for small emboli. Therefore, this test is not a suitable screening test for excluding a pulmonary embolism.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2004

Background: Infective endocarditis shows higher operative morbidity and mortality rates than other cardiac diseases. The vast majority of studies on infective endocarditis have been made on aortic endocarditis, with little attention having been paid to infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. This study attempts to investigate the clinical aspects and operative results of infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. Meterial and Method: The subjects of this study consist of 23 patients who underwent operations for infective endocariditis on the mitral valve from June 1995 to May 2003. Among them, 2 patients suffered from prosthetic valvular endocarditis and the other 21 from native valvular endocarditis. The subjects were evenly distributed age-wise with an average age of 44.8$\pm$15.7 (11∼66) years. Emergency operations were performed on seventeen patients (73.9%) due to large vegetation or instable hemodynamic status. In preoperative examinations, twelve patients exhibited congestive heart failure, four patients renal failure, two patients spleen and renal infarction, and two patients temporary neurological defects, while one patient had a brain abscess. Based on the NYHA functional classification, seven patients were determined to be at Grade II, 9 patients at Grade III, and 6 patients at Grade IV. Vegetations were detected in 20 patients while mitral regurgitation was dominant in 19 patients with 4 patients showing up as mitral stenosis dominant on the preoperative echocardiogram. Blood cultures for causative organisms were performed on all patients, and positive results were obtained from ten patients, with five cases of Streptococcus viridance, two cases of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and one case each of Corynebacteriurn, Haemophillis, and Gernella. Operations were decided according to the AA/AHA guidelines (1988). The mean follow-up period was 27.6 $\pm$23.3 (1 ∼ 97) months. Result: Mitral valve replacements were performed on 43 patients, with mechanical valves being used on 9 patients and tissue valves on the other 4. Several kinds of mitral valve repair or mitral valvuloplasty were carried out on the remaining 10 patients. Associated procedures included six aortic valve replacements, two tricuspid annuloplasty, one modified Maze operation, and one direct closure of a ventricular septal defect. Postoperative complications included two cases of bleeding and one case each of mediastinitis, low cardiac output syndrome, and pneumonia. There were no cases of early deaths, or death within 30 days following the operation. No patient died in the hospital or experienced valve related complications. One patient, however, underwent mitral valvuloplasty 3 months after the operation. Another patient died from intra-cranial hemorrhage in the 31st month after the operation. Therefore, the valve-related death rate was 4.3%, and the valve-related complication rate 8.6% on mid-term follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 100%, 88.8%, and 88.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a complete removal of infected tissues is essential in the operative treatment of infectious endocarditis of the mitral valve. It is also suggested that when infected tissues are completely removed, neither type of material nor method of operation has a significant effect on the operation result. The postoperative results also suggest the need for a close follow-up observation of the patients suspected of having brain damage, which is caused by preoperative blood contamination or emboli from vegetation, for a possible cerebral vascular injury such as mycotic aneurysm.