• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.8
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• pp.832-838
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• 2005

Purpose : Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is relatively common in childhood. Its extrapulmonary manifestations have been reported so much, but hepatitis associated with it has been reported rarely in Korea. Methods : A clinical study was performed on 556 patients of M. pneumoniae pneumonia diagnosed serologically at Gil hospital from January 2001 to December 2004. We reviewed 65 cases among these patients, who had elevated level of serum AST and ALT greater than 50 IU/L respectively without evidence of hepatitis A, B, C, Cytomegalovirus and Ebstein-Barr virus infections. Results : Hepatitis occurred in 11.7% of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia, especially in fall and winter times. Male to female ratio was 1.2 : 1 and the mean age was 4 years and 3 months. Besides hepatitis, cough(95.4%), sputum(52.3%) and dyspnea(12.3%) were common as pulmonary manifestations. And among gastrointestinal manifestations, nausea/vomiting(26.2%) was the most common symptom, followed by poor oral intake(12.3%), diarrhea(12.3%) and abdominal pain(6.2%). In addition to hepatomegaly(4.6%) and splenomegaly(4.6%), coarse breathing sound was the most common physical manifestation, followed by rale(63.1%), pharyngeal injection(26.2%), and rash(10.8%). Anemia was noted in 20.0%, neutrophilia in 10.8%, eosinphilia in 38.5% and thrombocytosis in 6.2%, respectively. Mean level of ESR and CRP was 32.02 mm/hr and 6.69 mg/dL, respectively. Mean level of AST and ALT was 293.80 IU/L and 181.48 IU/L, respectively. Hyperbilirubinemia was noted in 7.7% and hypoalbuminemia was noted in 58.5%. Lobar or lobular pneumonia(78.5%) was the most common finding in chest X-ray and left lower lobe(39.2%) was most commonly affected. Pleural effusion was noted in 26.2%. Mean duration of hospitalization was 9.91 days. Serum AST/ALT level was normalized within 9.94 days and pulmonary consolidation resolved within 14.29 days. Conclusion : The prognosis of M. pneumoniae hepatitis is good. However, liver function should be considerately checked in M. pneumoniae infection because its incidence is not so low.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy in children with Henoch-Sch$\"{o}$nlein purpura (HSP). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic records of children with HSP who had been admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of Gil Hospital and underwent upper GI endoscopy between January 2002 and June 2009. Patients were classified into the following two groups for statistical analysis: duodenal involvement (+) and duodenal involvement (-). Results: Fifty-one children with HSP underwent upper GI endoscopy; the mean age was 7.2${\pm}$2.9 years. The upper GI endoscopy showed abnormalities of the duodenum in 38 cases (74.5%), 22 of which had duodenal ulcers. Among the biopsy specimens obtained from the duodenum of 37 cases, 13 cases (35.1%) had leukocytoclastic vasculitis, neutrophil debri, and/or extravasation of RBCs. Steroid use was more frequent in the duodenal involvement (+) group (86.8%) than the duodenal involvement (-) group (53.8%; p=0.02). The mean length of hospitalization was 13.9${\pm}$8.43 days in the duodenal involvement (+) group and 8.1${\pm}$4.62 days in the duodenal involvement (-) group (p=0.003). The recurrence rate was significantly higher in the duodenal involvement (-) group than the duodenal involvement (+) group (p=0.027), whereas none of the other study parameters, such as the age of onset, renal involvement, and steroid use, led to significantly higher or lower recurrence rates. Conclusion: These results suggest that duodenal involvement can influence the clinical course and prognosis of HSP in children.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 1999

Backgrounds : The advent of penicillin has led to the marked reduction in the mortality from pneumococcal bacteremia, however, the mortality is still relatively high in this post-antibiotic era. Actually the prevalence of infection due to penicillin-resistant penumococci is increasing worldwide, and it is especially high in Korea due to irrelevant use of antibiotics. So, the high mortality of pneumococcal sepsis might be related to the emergence of penicillin-resistant strains, however, many other antibiotics, which eradicate pneumococci effectively, are available in these days. This has led us to suspect the role of penicillin-resistance in the high mortality rate. In this study, we evaluated the effect of penicillin resistance on the mortality of patients with penumococcal bacte remia. Methods: The study population consisted of 50 adult patients with penumococcal bacteremia who were admitted between Jan, 1990 and July, 1997. Medical records were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Most of the patients (96%) had underlying diseases. The most common local disease associated with pneumococcal bacteremia was pneumonia (42%), which was followed by spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (14%), cholangitis (10%), meningitis (8%), liver abscess (4%), pharyngotonsillitis (4%), sinusitis (2%) and cellulitis (2%). While the overall case-fatality rate in this study was 24%, it was higher when peumococcal bacteremia was associated with pneumonia (42%) or meningitis (50%). The rate of penicillin resistance was 40%, which was increased rapidly from 1991. The rate of penicillin resistance was significantly higher in patients with the history of recent antibiotics use and hospitalization within 3 months respectively. The clinical manifestations, that is, age, severity of underlying diseases, nosocomial infection, associated local diseases, and the presence of shock or acute renal failure were not statistically different between the patients with penicillin-resistant and -sensitive pneumococcal bacteremia. The mortality of patients infected with penicillin-resistant pneumococci was not statistically different from those with penicillin-sensitive pneumococcal bacteremia. Conclusion: Penicillin resistance is not associated with high mortality in adult patients with pneumococcal bacteremia. As the overall mortality is high, active penumococcal vaccination is recommended in patients with high risk of infection.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 1997

Purpose : Aseptic meningitis mainly caused by enterovirus is common in pediatric population especially during summer & fall. Most of pediatric patients restore their health without any complications with proper management. Between May to August of 1996, Masan and surrounding areas of the Kyoungsangnamdo were epidemic areas for the aseptic meningitis. The purpose of this study was to determine causative virus and describe correlation between disease and clinical symptoms in aseptic meningitis patients and those with fever and characteristic rashes without apparent meningitis symptoms. Methods : Between May to August, 1996, 57 patients with high fever and characteristic feature of rashes were reviewed. From 22 cerebrospinal fluid & 57 stool obtained specimens, viral culture and detection of enterovirus RNA were conducted. Collected specimens were kept in $-30^{\circ}C$ environment until sending of specimens to labortory. The virus identified through indirect immunofluorescence. RT-PCR method was used to identify enterovirus RNA in cerebralspinal fluid. Results : 1) One hundred fifty five pediatric patients with viral infection required hospitalization. Disease occurred higher rate in male than female with ratio of 1.94:1. Examined patients' age ranged from 15days old to 15years old. But most of patients(74.8%) were under age of 5years old. The time of occurrence was between May to August of 1996. 2) All patients had high fever and physical symptoms in those patients include headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and rashes. The rashes observed mainly in patients under age of 4 years and were predominantly commom patients under age of 18 months olds)<0.001). 3) Between sampled patients and non-sampled patients, clinical course was similar. Echovirus type 9 was cultivated in 41 out of 57 cases of collected stool specimens. RT-PCR that used on CSF showed positive results in 10 out of 22 cases. Three cases of positive cultivated of positive results in RT-PCR were echovirus type 9. Conclusions : Echovirus type 9 was thought to be the causative agent of aseptic meningitis that was prevalent throughout mid areas of Kyoungsangnamdo from May to August, 1996. Additionally causative agent that responsible for high fever with rashes without meningitis symptoms also thought to be the same echovirus type 9.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.330-338
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• 2009

Purpose : The causes of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI) are mostly attributable to viral infection, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus (PIV), influenza virus A/B (IFV A/B), or adenovirus (ADV). Several Korean studies reported human metapneumovirus (hMPV) as a common pathogen of ALRTI. However, studies on seasonal distribution and clinical differences relative to other viruses are insufficient, prompting us to perform this study. Methods : From November 2006 to October 2007, we tested nasopharyngeal aspiration specimens in children hospitalized with ALRTI with the multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to identify 6 kinds of common pathogen (hMPV, RSV, PIV, IFV A/B, and ADV). We analyzed positive rates and clinical features by respiratory chart review. Results : We detected 38 (8.4%) hMPV-positive cases out of 193 (41.8%) virus-positive specimens among 462 patients. HMPV infection prevailed from March to June with incidence peaking in April. HMPV-positive patients were aged 15 years (76.3%), and the ratio of boys to girls was 1.2:1. The median age was 27 months. HMPV primarily caused pneumonia (76.3 %) (P=0.018). Average hospitalization of HMPV-associated ALRTI patients was 5.8 days. In addition, they showed parahilar peribronchial infiltration (100%) on chest X-ray, normal white blood cell count (73.7%), and negative C-reactive protein (86.8 %) (P>0.05). All hMPV-positive patients recovered without complication. Conclusion : HMPV is a common pathogen of ALRTI in Korean children, especially in 1-5 year olds, from March to May. Immunocompetent children diagnosed with hMPV-associated ALRTI may have a good prognosis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.757-762
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• 2006

Purpose : Pneumonia is one of the most common infections in children who visit emergency departments(ED), but standard clinical guidelines for children with pneumonia in Korea have not been studied. This study was performed to collect and evaluate a data-base of children with pneumonia for establishing clinical guidelines in ED. Methods : This study reviewed 304 children who were diagnosed and treated for pneumonia in the ED at one tertiary hospital between January 2003 and December 2003 retrospectively by reviewing the charts and analyzing the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and radiologic findings between an admission group and a discharge group. Results : The 2 year-5 year age group was the top of age distribution and the peak incidence of monthly distribution was December. Two hundred forty seven(81.3 percent) children were hospitalized(admission group), and the mean length of hospitalization was $7.24{\pm}3.24$ days. The most common indications of admission were fever, tachypnea and an age of less than three months. There was statistical differences in the outpatient department follow-up between the two groups(85.8 percent in admission group vs 35.1 percent in discharge group). Conclusion : More prospective studies are needed to establish clinical standard guidelines for children with pneumonia. This will be helpful in ED management and will aid the prevention of pneumonia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.1 s.246
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• pp.29-37
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• 2005

This study was prospectively designed to determine the physiologic effects of normothermic CPB and to compare its influences with hypothermic CPB. Material and Method: Thirty-six adult patients scheduled for el­ective cardiac surgery were randomly assigned to moderate hypothermic (hypothermic group nasopharyngeal tem­perature $26\~28^{\circ}C,\;n=18)$ ornormothermic (normothermic group, nasopharyngeal temperature > $35.5^{\circ}C\;n=18)$ CPB. Arterial blood samples were taken before CPB (Pre-CPB), 10 minutes after the start of CPB (CPB-10), and imme­diately after CPB stop (CPB-off) for determining total leukocyte counts, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), interleukin-6 (IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1), cortisol, troponin I (TNI), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and the pulmonary index $(Pi,\;PaO_{2}/FiO_{2}),$Other parameters such as urine output, mechanical ventilating period, ICU-staying period, postoperative complications and hospitalized days were also evaluated. Result: Total leukocyte counts, increased rate in NSE, in IL-6 and in cortisol at CPB-10 and CPB-off were significantly higher in normothermic group than in hyphothermic group. Urine output during CPB was lower in normothermic group than in hyphothermic group. The duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU-stay, and hospitalization were longer in normothermic group than in hyphothermic group. Conclusion: These findings sug­gested that normothermic CPB caused higher inflammatory and stress responses than hypothermic CPB during car­diac surgery using cold crystalloid cardioplegia. However, further studies with large number of cases should be carried out to validate this hypothesis.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.74-82
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• 2010

Purpose : The Dipslide culture test is a rapid method for diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI). The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic availability of a urine Dipslide test for evaluation of UTI in febrile children. Methods : Urine specimens from 151 febrile infants were inoculated by a routine blood agar urine culture method and the Dipslide test at the same time. Following incubation for 16-24 hours, the results of the Dipslide test were read at the next visit. Both results of Dipslide and those of routine culture were compared. Results : The mean age of subjects was 15${\pm}$10.6 months. There were 150 infants (99.3%) who had fever with a mean duration of 2.6${\pm}$2.6 days. Thirty two infants (21.2%) were diagnosed as having UTI. Sensitivity and specificity of Uricult Trio CLED medium were 59.4% and 84.8%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of Uricult Trio E. coli medium were 60.0% and 96.2%, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient between results of Uricult Trio CLED medium and urine culture was 0.438 (P=0.01). Correlation between results of Uricult Trio E. coli medium and urine culture was 0.617 (P=0.01). Conclusion : The Dipslide test requires only 16-24 hours with high specificity in terms of UTI caused by E. coli without the problems associated with specimen delay. This test seems to be helpful for exclusion of UTI in febrile infants and it may reduce unnecessary hospitalization and antibiotic use. However, further studies are required before the product can be recommended as a routine diagnostic tool.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.742-746
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• 2008

Background: The surgical treatment of pectus carinatum is usually a modified Ravitch operation that consists of complete costal cartilage resection and sternal wedge osteotomy. We tried a simple and easy technique that is resection of only deformed, protruded costal cartilage and pre-sternal compression with using a stainless steel bar and this is done without sternal osteotomy. Therefore, we performed partial cartilage resection and pre-sternal compression with a stainless steel bar and we observed the effects and the efficiency of treatment. Material and Method: From July, 2006 to June, 2008, 10 patients with pectus carinatum underwent our modified technique of pectus carinatum surgery. The effects of surgery and the complications were reviewed. Result: 5 patients with only pectus carinatum underwent our modified technique of pectus carinatum surgery. 5 patients with pectus carinatum and pectus excavatum underwent our modified technique of pectus carinatum surgery and Nuss surgery. The mean patient age was 13.4+3.3 years old. The mean operation time was 137.6+22.9 minutes for the pectus carinatum patients and 234.0+36.5 minutes for the pectus carinatum and pectus excavatum patients. The mean length of hospitalization was 11.8+1.0 days. The Haller pectus index of pectus carinatum was $2.10{\pm}0.21$ preoperatively and this was increased to $2.53{\pm}0.07$ postoperatively. The only complication was simple partial wound disruption in 1 patient. Conclusion: We performed partial cartilage resection and pre-sternal compression with a stainless steel bar in 10 patients with pectus carinatum and its effects were good. Our modified technique of pectus carinatum is easy and simple as compared with the Ravitch operation. But removal of the stainless steel bar has not yet been performed for these patients and long-term follow up is needed to accurately evaluate the. effects of this surgery in many surgical cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.82-88
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• 2008

Background: Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) is a serious disease originating in odontogenic or oropharyngeal infection with high mortality despite adequate antibiotics and aggressive surgery. We analyzed results of treatment for DNM. Material and Method: We studied 8 cases diagnosed as DNM from 1998 to 2007. All patients received emergent surgical drainage and debridement with broad spectrum antibiotics just after diagnosis. Antibiotics were changed after bacterial susceptibility testing. The surgical approach included 2 cases of cervicotomy, 6 cases of cervicotomy, and a thoracotomy. Result: The interval between symptom onset and hospitalization was $4.6{\pm}1.8$ days ($1{\sim}9$ day). DNM originated in 4 cases of odontogenic infection (50%), 2 cases of oropharyngeal infection (25%), and 2 cases of unknown origin (25%). Causative organisms were found in 6 cases; Streptococcus in 4 cases, Staphylococcus in 1 case, and Klebsiella in 1 case. The Endo DNM classification was type I (2 cases), IIA (3 cases), and IIB (3 cases). The incidence of thoracotomy was 75%. The surgical mortality rate was 25% (2/8). The cause of death was multiple organ failure caused by septic shock. All mortality cases received only cervicotomy and aggravated infections after initial drainage. Conclusion: Early diagnosis, immediate surgical drainage, and adequate antibiotics, including covered anaerobes, are required. Thoracotomy should be performed with cervicotomy even for localized DNM.