• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2010

Pentatrichomonas hominis is considered a commensal protozoan in the large intestine of a number of mammalian hosts, such as cats, dogs, and non-human primates. The resulting infections, which can induce diarrhea, have been attributed to opportunistic overgrowth of P. hominis. This study was performed to confirm the P. hominis infection and its molecular characterization from the feces of puppies with diarrhea. Fecal samples were obtained from 14 German shepherd puppies with diarrhea over 1 week (7 females and 7 males, 2-9 months of age) residing on a dog farm in August 2007. Species-specific PCR assay identified P. hominis 18S rRNA genes in 3 of the 14 puppies (1 female and 2 males; 1 aged 2 months and 2 aged 9 months). This phylogenetic analysis established that P. hominis belonged to the 1st clade, which is comprised of Bos taurus and Felines.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2014

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an immune-mediated disease which is a leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease in developed country. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blocker, infliximab has been considered a promising option for patients with refractory KD. Although chronic use of a TNF-alpha blocker could increase risk of opportunistic infections, a few studies have documented that use of infliximab was safe without serious adverse effects in patients with KD. We observed serious bacterial infection after infliximab treatment in an infant with refractory KD. Our patient was a 5-month-old male infant diagnosed with KD who did not respond to repeated doses of intravenous immunoglobulin. We effectively treated him with a single infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg), but gram-negative (Acinetobacter lwoffii) septicemia developed after infliximab infusion. Therefore, we report a case of serious septicemia after treatment with infliximab, and suggest considering the risk of severe infection when deciding whether to prescribe infliximab to an infant with refractory KD.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2011

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a malignancy of mature T-cells caused by the human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV-D. HTLV-I is endemic in some areas in Japan, the Caribbean basin, and Africa but has low prevalence in South Korea. Patients with ATLL are susceptible to opportunistic infections such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, but CMV infection in chronic ATLL is uncommon. Reported herein is a case involving a 44-year-old woman with chronic ATLL who presented the symptoms of fever and diarrhea. She was suspected to have acute-type ATLL but was later diagnosed with CMV colitis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.92-97
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• 2012

Objective : This study was performed to determine the safety and outcome of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide for Korean patients with a newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Methods : Patients were recruited from four institutions between 2004 and 2007. The patients received fractionated focal irradiation in daily fractions of 2 Gy given 5 days per week for 6 weeks and daily temozolomide, followed by 6 cycles of adjuvant temozolomide. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and the secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), response, and safety. Results : A total of 103 patients were enrolled in this study. Ninety-six patients (93%) completed the CCRT and 54 patients (52%) received 6 cycles of adjuvant temozolomide. The response rate was 73% (53/73) and the tumor control rate was 92% (67/73). Of the 96 patients who completed the CCRT, the median OS was 18.0 months and the 1- and 2-year OS rates were 74 and 38%, respectively. The median PFS was 10.0 months and the 1- and 2-year PFS rates were 33 and 16%, respectively. The only significant prognostic factor of survival was the extent of surgical resection (p<0.05). CCRT resulted in grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxic effects in 8% of patients. No opportunistic infections were noted. Conclusion : This study is the first prospective multi-institutional report of CCRT and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide for patients with a newly diagnosed glioblastoma in Korea. The current protocol may prolong the survival of Korean patients with a glioblastoma and may be tolerable in terms of toxicity.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2006

It is generally known that mucositis which often occur on hematopoietic disease patients, shows local necrosis of oral mucosa when the CBC is below the normal range. But sometimes, the lesions are occasionally infiltrate into adjacent tissue. When the pathologic destructive expansion is occurred, differential diagnosis with fungal infection, one of opportunistic infections, is needed. This means treatment and prognosis can be changed according to the diagnosis. So the diagnostic process is more important in this hematopoietic disease patients. In case of fungal infection, the range of tissue damage can expand broadly, and also proper antifungal agent and surgical extirpation should be done. After operation, continuous antifungal therapy and observations are needed. We made a comparative study of following 2 cases of fungal infection appeared on the acute lymphatic leukemia patients to discuss what the proper surgical treatment and medications are, and when the proper surgical intervention time is.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2008

Candidiasis, an opportunistic infectious condition caused by the genus Candida, is the most common oral fungal infection in humans. The diagnosis of oral candidiasis can often be made based on recognition of its clinical pattern, but at times there is difficulty in making a clinical diagnosis because of its various manifestations. Several antifungal medications have been developed for managing fungal infections. Despite the availability of several effective antimycotics for the treatment of oral candidiasis, failure of therapy is not uncommon due to the unique environment of the oral cavity, where the flushing effect of saliva and the cleaning action of the oral musculature tend to reduce the drug concentration to sub-therapeutic levels. In this case report, we present two patients diagnosed with chronic hyperplastic candidiasis and median rhomboid glossitis, which are known as rare forms of candidiasis. In both cases, there was a significant reduction of clinical signs and symptoms when fluconazole was prescribed after the failure of initial nystatin therapy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.117-121
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• 2000

The mucormycosis is a group of serious opportunistic infections caused by fungi of the class Zygomycetes and order Mucorales. Pulmonary mucormycosis is a relatively rare disease but typically manifested by a rapidly progressive, often fatal pneumonia in patients with diabetes mellitus, hematologic malignant neoplasms, or organ transplants. The radiologic manifestations of pulmonary mucormycosis are nonspecific and include progressive lobar or multilobar consolidations, pulmonary masses and pulmonary nodules. Recently, we experienced a pulmonary mucormycosis in 32-year-old man with uncontrolled diabetes. He complained of cough, left pleuritic chest pain and generalized weakness. Initial chest X-ray finding was the consolidation on the lower lobe of the left lung. On the sixth hospital day, bronchoscopic examination with lung biopsy revealed broad, non-septate hyphae with right-angle branching, diagnostic of mucormycosis, and consequently amphotericin B therapy was started. We performed a lobectomy of the left lower lobe of the lung on 29th hospital day.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.263-269
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• 2019

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an acute respiratory disease, causing economic losses in poultry production. IBV commonly manifests respiratory disease symptoms and poor egg quality in poultry, affecting overall performance of both broilers and layers. IBV infection further predisposes poultry to secondary opportunistic bacterial infections. IBV undergoes rapid genetic evolution resulting in various new strains. There is no cross protection among IBV serotypes which makes full protection against wild-type IBV virtually impossible. In this study, recently isolated IBVs (K24/18, K29/18, K183/18) from Korean broiler farms were genetically analyzed based on S1 gene. According to the results, IBV isolates showed highest homology with QX-IBV. However, phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that isolates were divided into distinct sub-clusters within QX-IBV. To determine pathogenicity of IBV, day-old chicks were challenged with IBV through ocular route. After challenging the chicks, we executed microscopic examination, virus detection in their organs, and observation of clinical signs and mortality. We found that the K24/18, K29/18, K183/18 challenge groups showed 28%, 57%, and 42% mortality, respectively, with high microscopic trachea lesion scores, indicating that these QX-IBV-like strains are pathogenic to chicks and can therefore be a threat to poultry production.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.5
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• pp.322-327
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• 2011

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii is a fungus that has become an important cause of opportunistic infections. We present a summary of the clinical status and findings from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP). Methods: We selected 30 cases of PJP that were proven through a surgical specimen evaluation. BAL fluid cytology was reviewed, and agreement with the initial diagnosis was evaluated. Results: All 30 cases of PJP occurred in immunocompromised patients. Only 15 of the 30 cases were initially diagnosed as PJP. We found PJP in 13 of the 15 cases that were negative at the initial diagnosis. The most characteristic finding of PJP was frothy exudates, and BAL fluid tended to show rare neutrophils. Two of seven patients with PJP and diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) revealed no frothy exudates in BAL fluid. Conclusion: BAL fluid cytology was reconfirmed as a sensitive and rapid method to diagnose PJP. We must be aware of the possibility of PJP to maintain high diagnostic sensitivity. We cannot exclude PJP in cases of PJP with DAD, even if frothy exudates are not observed in the BAL fluid.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.132-137
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• 2015

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing pheochromocytoma has been rarely reported, whereas only a few cases of Cushing syndrome accompanied by opportunistic infections have been reported. We experienced a patient with pheochromocytoma with ectopic Cushing syndrome complicated by invasive aspergillosis. A 35-year-old woman presented with typical Cushingoid features. Her basal plasma cortisol, ACTH, and 24-hour urine free cortisol levels were significantly high, and 24-hour urine metanephrine and catecholamine levels were slightly elevated. The endogeneous cortisol secretion was not suppressed by either low- or high-dose dexamethasone. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a heterogeneous enhancing mass measuring approximately 2.5 cm in size in the left adrenal gland. No definitive mass lesion was observed on sellar magnetic resonance imaging. On fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT, a hypermetabolic nodule was observed in the left upper lung. Thus, we performed a percutaneous needle biopsy, which revealed inflammation, not malignancy. Thereafter, we performed a laparoscopic left adrenalectomy, and its pathologic finding was a pheochromocytoma with positive immunohistostaining for ACTH. After surgery, the biochemistry was normalized, but the clinical course was fatal despite intensive care because of the invasive aspergillosis that included the lungs, retina, and central nervous system.