• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.417-426
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• 2019

Purpose: Although an increased incidence of gallbladder (GB) stone formation after gastrectomy has been reported, its etiology remains uncertain. The goal of this study was to explore the incidence of gallstone formation after gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients and investigate the risk factors therein. Materials and Methods: Medical records of patients who underwent curative gastrectomy, performed by a single surgeon between August 2012 and December 2015 at the Asan Medical Center, were retrospectively reviewed. Baseline characteristics and surgical outcomes, including GB stone gallstone formation after gastrectomy, were analyzed. Results: Of 561 patients included in the study, 36 presented with GB stone formation after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The incidence of gallstone formation was 6.4%. The mean interval between gallstone formation and gastrectomy was 21.9 months. In multivariate analyses, the incidence of gallstone formation increased in patients 63 years or older, with greater than 6.2 kg weight loss in the first 6 months after the procedure, a preoperative serum total bilirubin level greater than 0.5 mg/dL, and in patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: This study presented risk factors for GB stone formation after gastric cancer surgery, and special attention should be afforded to patients with such risk factors.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.277-286
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• 2023

Backgrounds/Aims: To study histopathological changes in gall bladder mucosa in cholelithiasis patients, and analyse their relation to the number and size of gallstones. These findings were evaluated in the context of age distribution of the study population. Methods: One hundred cases of cholecystectomy were part of the study, which was conducted in collaboration with the pathology department. The time period of the study was January 2020 to June 2021. Results: Maximum cases had multiple stones (69.0%), while one third cases (31.0%) had solitary stones. While initial univariate analysis showed age (odds ratio [OR], 6.882; p = 0.043), gallstone number (OR, 9.1; p = 0.050), gallstone size (OR, 17.111; p = 0.013), and duration of symptom (OR, 34.125; p = 0.001) to be significant risk factors associated with gallbladder carcinoma, multivariate analysis found none of these variables to be significant. However, conditional multivariate analysis for the duration of symptom (p = 0.008; OR, 21.118) yielded significant p-value. With histopathological diagnoses, 5% of cases had gallbladder cancer. Conclusions: This study shed light on the rising incidence of cholelithiasis in the young population and the high rate of gallbladder carcinoma in Punjab, India. Although gall stone characteristics (size, number) and patient age appeared to be significant risk factors when their individual relation with gallbladder carcinoma was studied, multivariate analysis, could not prove that. Conditional multivariate analysis showed the duration of symptom to be the only significant risk factor associated with gallbladder carcinoma. Further research with larger sample size is needed to study the rising incidence of gallbladder carcinoma, and the risk factors associated with it.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.288-297
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• 2008

It has been reported frequently that clinical features of gallstone disease in Korean were similarly changing to those of Occidentals. This changing was thought to be due to Westernized lifestyle and dietary patterns in Korean. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nutritional risk factor among patients with gallstone. The subjects of this study were 90 gallstone group with biliary stone as confirmed by cholecystectomy and 111 control group with no biliary stone as confirmed by ultrasonography adjusted according to age and gender. Anthropometric indices and biomarkers were measured and dietary habit as well as nutrient consumption pattern were investigated using a structured checklist of health-related eating behavior and a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The mean age was higher in GG (gallbladder stone patient group) than CG (control group). The average BMI and WHR (waisthip ratio) tended to be higher than those in CG. WC (waist circumference) and WHR of women in GG were significantly higher than in CG. GG had lower levels in TC (p < 0.01), LDL-C (p < 0.05), and HDL-C (p < 0.05), but higher FBG levels (p < 0.001). GG tended to be associated with lower physical activity and more frequent consumption of meat, meats with high fat and high sugar content food. The consumption levels of fiber (p < 0.05), vitamin C (p < 0.05), calcium (p < 0.01) in GG were significantly lower than in CG. These findings showed that the association with incidence of gallbladder stone and anthrophometric indices and dietary consumption patterns. Further study may be necessary to elucidate the dietary risk factors in the changing patterns of gallstone disease.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2023

Methods: Patients who underwent cholecystectomy were classified into two groups according to their GBWT status (GBWT+ vs. GBWT-). Results: Among 1,211 patients who underwent cholecystectomy, GBWT+ was seen in 177 (14.6%). The GBWT+ group was significantly older with more males, higher ASA score, higher alkaline phosphatase level, higher international normalized ratio, and lower albumin level than the GBWT- group. On ultrasound, GBWT+ patients had larger stone size, more pericholecystic fluid, more common bile duct stone, and more biliary pancreatitis. Compared with the GBWT- group, the GBWT+ group had more urgent surgeries (12.4% vs. 3.2%, p = 0.001), higher conversion rate (4.5% vs. 0.3%, p = 0.001), prolonged operative time (67 ± 38 vs. 54 ± 29 min; p = 0.001), more bleeding (3.4% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.002), and more need of drain (21.5% vs. 10.5%, p = 0.001). By multivariate analysis, factors associated with increased length of hospital stay were GBWT+ (HR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.19-3.25, p = 0.008), urgent surgery (HR: 10.2, 95% CI: 4.07-25.92, p = 0.001), prolonged surgery (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.0-1.02, p = 0.001), and postoperative drain (HR: 11.3, 95% CI: 6.40-20.0, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Variables such as GBWT ≥ 5 mm, urgent prolonged operation, and postoperative drains are independent predictors of extended hospital stay. GBWT+ patients are twice likely to stay in hospital for more than 72 hours and more prone to develop complications than GBWT- patients.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.61-67
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• 2016

Purpose: Abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (APCT) is frequently used as a diagnostic tool in trauma patients. However, trauma unrelated, incidental findings are frequently encountered. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalences of incidental findings on APCT scans in trauma patients. Methods: The archived records of 801 trauma patients treated from January 2013 to December 2015 were reviewed retrospectively. Six hundred and forty of these patients underwent contrast enhanced APCT in an emergency department and were included in this study, and 205 (32.1%) of these patients had incidental findings. These findings were divided into two categories: category I, meaning a radiological benign finding not requiring further evaluation or follow-up, and category II, requiring further evaluation and follow-up. Results: One hundred and sixty (24.8%) patients were allocated to category I and 45 (7.2%) to category II. The most frequent incidental findings were discovered in kidneys (34.6%), followed by liver (28.8%), and gallbladder (15.6%). The most frequent finding in category I was a benign cyst (60.1%), followed by a simple stone (15.6%), and hemangioma (11.9%). Adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder (17.8%) was the most common lesion in category II, followed by atypical mass (15.6%), complicated stone (15.6%) and cystic neoplasm (15.6%). Conclusion: The prevalence of an incidental finding on APCT scans was 32.1%. Although category II lesions were not common in trauma patients, these findings should be communicated to patients, and when necessary referred to a primary care physician. Systems are required for producing appropriate discharge summaries and informing patients about the implications of incidental findings.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.89-94
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• 1986

The authors would record the fifth case of human fascioliasis in Korea, occurring in a 48 year old Korean man who lived in Munkyong, Kyongsangbuk-do. The diagnosis was based on the morphology and measurements of the eggs which were collected in necrotic debris from the tunnel-like ulcerations of the gallbladder wall which was surgically removed for a gall stone. Although we failed to find out the fluke in the specimen, there found an evidence of once presence of Fasciola in the inflamed wall of the gallbladder in this patient.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2007

We attempted to identify parasite DNA in the biliary stones of humans via PCR and DNA sequencing. Genomic DNA was isolated from each of 15 common bile duct (CBD) stones and 5 gallbladder (GB) stones. The patients who had the CBD stones suffered from cholangitis, and the patients with GB stones showed acute cholecystitis, respectively. The 28S and 18S rDNA genes were amplified successfully from 3 and/or 1 common bile duct stone samples, and then cloned and sequenced. The 28S and 18S rDNA sequences were highly conserved among isolates. Identity of the obtained 28S D1 rDNA with that of Clonorchis sinensis was higher than 97.6%, and identity of the 18S rDNA with that of other Ascarididae was 97.9%. Almost no intra-specific variations were detected in the 28S and 18S rDNA with the exception of a few nucleotide variations, i.e., substitution and deletion. These findings suggest that C. sinensis and Ascaris lumbricoides may be related with the biliary stoneformation and development.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.308-313
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• 1997

Ceftriaxone, an effective third generation cephalosporin with a wide range of antimicrobial activity, has become widely used by pediatricians for a variety of bacterial infections including meningitis. It has been associated with the development of sludge or stone in the gallbladder of some patients treated with this drug. Ceftriaxone associated biliary sludge has unusual acoustic characteristics and resembles gallstone. The sludge can cause symptoms such as cramping abdominal pain, and disappears after stopping ceftriaxone administration. Because of these seemingly confusing observations, it is important for the clinicians to recognize these findings that ceftriaxone treatment can cause. We report a case of ceftriaxone associated biliary sludge in Korean children. A 6-year-old girl who was treated for meningitis with ceftriaxone (100mg/kg/day) developed cramping upper abdominal pain from 5th hospital day. Physical examination, liver function tests and X-ray revealed no specific abnormal findings. But abdominal ultrasound revealed high amplitude echogenic sludge with prominent post-acoustic shadow in gallbladder and its diameter was 1.5cm. We stopped ceftriaxone administration and tried conservative care. Abdominal cramping pain subsided after 3 days of ceftriaxone removal. Second abdominal ultrasound confirmed the disappearance of sludge at 3 weeks later.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.803-813
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• 2023

Objective: This case report outlines an investigation into the efficacy of Korean medicine treatment in a patient who presented with acute cholangitis accompanying common bile duct stones. The patient underwent percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage and subsequently experienced resolution of the common bile duct stones. Methods: The patient was treated with Shihosogan-tang, general acupuncture, ear acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping therapy. Changes in symptoms were evaluated using a self-reported numerical rating scale (NRS) score and a visual analog scale (VAS) score each morning. Laboratory tests were conducted to examine serum amylase, serum lipase, and liver function. Results: After 29 days, the NRS scores for indigestion and fatigue and the VAS score for abdominal pain all decreased. Additionally, the laboratory test results showed improvement. Discussion: The results suggest that Korean medicine could be effective in treating symptoms of acute cholangitis. However, further research is necessary.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.193-196
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• 2014

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic infection caused by Fasciola hepatica or Fasciola gigantica. We report an 87-year-old Korean male patient with postprandial abdominal pain and discomfort due to F. hepatica infection who was diagnosed and managed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with extraction of 2 worms. At his first visit to the hospital, a gallbladder stone was suspected. CT and magnetic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) showed an intraductal mass in the common bile duct (CBD) without proximal duct dilatation. Based on radiological findings, the presumed diagnosis was intraductal cholangiocarcinoma. However, in ERCP which was performed for biliary decompression and tissue diagnosis, movable materials were detected in the CBD. Using a basket, 2 living leaf-like parasites were removed. The worms were morphologically compatible with F. hepatica. To rule out the possibility of the worms to be another morphologically close species, in particular F. gigantica, 1 specimen was processed for genetic analysis of its ITS-1 region. The results showed that the present worms were genetically identical (100%) with F. hepatica but different from F. gigantica.