Anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery(LCx) from the right sinus of Valsalva is the most common coronary anomaly and, generally, is considered to be benign. Nevertheless, myocardial infarction or sudden death in young patients with this coronary anomaly has infrequently been described. The LCx arises from the right sinus of Valsalva or proximal right coronary artery, courses posterior to the aorta to enter the left atrioventricular groove, and provide branches to the left lateral wall of heart. Transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography may provide a useful diagnostic clue although coronary angiography is the standard diagnostic method. We report 2 cases of anomalous origin of the LCx from right aortic sinus with typical echocardiographic images.
Aorta ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels* ; Death, Sudden ; Echocardiography* ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Heart ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; Sinus of Valsalva

Impact of intestinal microbes on obesity and health is a new topic recently started to get attention. Comparing to the global concern and research trends, there are few research on the association between intestinal bacteria and life style disease in Korean. One voluntary case (female) was reported to show the change in gut microbiota and weight by diet intervention. She was overweight (BMI 23.2 kg/m2) and has abnormal liver function, and the causes of overweight were frequent drinking and meat consumption at the late evening hours. For 47 days, she was administered an improved diet on breakfast and dinner with reduction of meat consumption frequency by 50%. Alcohol consumption was reduced to once a week. As a result, she lost 3 kilograms of body weight. Her fecal sample was collected before and after the intervention, and gut microbiota change was compared using a high-throughput sequencing technique. After diet correction, the shift of gut microbiota was clearly observed with decreased proportion of Firmicutes (from 75.7% to 47.3% in total microbiota) but increased proportion of Bacteroidetes upto 47.7%. After incorporating the diet intervention, it is meaningful to confirm the changes in dominant gut microbiota and weight loss.
Alcohol Drinking ; Bacteria ; Bacteroidetes ; Body Weight* ; Breakfast ; Caloric Restriction ; Diet* ; Drinking ; Life Style ; Liver ; Meals ; Meat ; Microbiota* ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Weight Loss

Cdc42 is a member of the Rho family of small GTP-ase and plays an important role in intracellular signaling pathways regulating cell morphology, motility and stimulation of DNA synthesis. We have isolated cDNA encoding Cdc42 from a rat brain cDNA library using PCR-cloning strategy. The sequence of isolated gene revealed an open reading frame of 576 nucleotides with the potential to encode a protein of 191 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 21 kD. The resulting sequence was incorporated into the GenBank with accession number, AF205635. Sequence analysis revealed that overall cDNA sequence identity is 96% with human G25K and 52% with rat Chp, a homologue of the GTPase human Cdc42Hs, and having one nucleotide difference from the mouse Cdc42. However, putative protein sequence was identical to the mouse and human brain Cdc42Hs. On expression of the cDNA in COS-7 cells, a protein molecular weight of 21 kD was detected in immunoblotting using anti-human Cdc42 antibodies. Therefore, these results suggest that the cDNA we are reporting is most likely the rat homologue of the GTPase human Cdc42.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animal ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Comparative Study ; Cross Reactions ; DNA, Complementary/genetics ; Human ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Rats ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein/immunology ; cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein/genetics*

BACKGROUND: In the anesthetic state, various anesthetic agents may effect on hyperosmolar blood-brain barrier disruption. Therefore, the effects of intravenous anesthetics, pentobarbital, ketamine and propofol, on the mannitol induced blood brain barrier disruption (BBBD) of 21 Spague-Dawly rats were evaluated. METHODS: Intravenous anesthetics, pentobarbital (group 1), propofol (group 2) and ketamine (group 3), were administrated before right intracarotid artery infusion of mannitol in three groups. BBBD was estimated by the calculation of the ratio of radioactivity between plasma and brain tissue using 99MTC-human serum albumin and Evans blue staining in cerebral hemisphere. Also cerebral blood flow (CBF) was monitored with laser doppler flowmetry. RESULTS: Percent albuminal space of right and left cerebral hemisphere was showed 9.01 +/- 3.47%, 1.65 +/- 1.25% in group 1, 8.02 +/- 2.19%, 1.61 +/- 1.06% in group 2 and 5.63 +/- 1.79%, 1.10 +/- 0.94% in group 3 respectively. Evans blue dye staining was showed 2+~3+ in the right and 0 in the left cerebral hemisphere in all groups. Right cerebral hemisphere showed significantly more blood brain barrier disruption than left cerebral hemisphere in all groups (p<0.01). And there was no significant difference in BBBD among three groups. However, the degree of BBBD of group 3 was drop down to nearly 70-80% of group 1 and 2. The CBF of group 3 was significantly higher than that of group 1 and group 2 after intracarotid infusion of mannitol (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that pentobarbital, propofol and ketamine could be used to be anesthetics for BBBD in rats, but some caution should be paid to use ketamine in mannitol induced BBBD.
Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Intravenous* ; Animals ; Arteries ; Blood-Brain Barrier* ; Brain ; Cerebrum ; Evans Blue ; Ketamine ; Laser-Doppler Flowmetry ; Mannitol* ; Pentobarbital ; Plasma ; Propofol ; Radioactivity ; Rats* ; Technetium Tc 99m Aggregated Albumin

Gua Sha is a traditional Asian medicine with different names in many Asian countries. It is a treatment to scrape the petechiae of the skin with ointment. It has generally been administered to patients with upper respiratory infections, heat syndrome, and pain. Herein, we report the case of a 31-year-old Cambodian man who was found dead at a farm accommodation. During the autopsy, multiple linear intradermal hemorrhages without subcutaneous damage were observed in the upper chest and both shoulders. The cause of death was sudden unexpected nocturnal death syndrome because he was a young Asian man who died while sleeping without specific findings. Since it is an unfamiliar traditional medicine in Korea compared to other Asian countries, forensic officers without background knowledge about Gua Sha initially suspected that he was severely assaulted or pressed against a particular object enough to cause crush asphyxia. Because of the difficulty of going to the hospital during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, Gua Sha was used to treat headaches and mild fever. Therefore, this case shows that understanding the culture of other countries could be helpful for investigations especially with the increase of multicultural families in Korea.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) employed for treating patients with erectile dysfunction. Materials and Methods: A total of 204 patients with erectile dysfunction who completed a questionnaire between January and June 2005 were evaluated. The questionnaire was composed of 13 questions. This survey employed a broad definition for CAM, including acupuncture, biofeedback, folk remedies, chiropractic, homeopathy, hypnosis, massage, psychotherapy, relaxation, energy healing, imagery, special diet, spiritual healing and herbal medicine. The CAMs used by the patients with erectile dysfunction were divided into processed health foods, natural health foods and other therapies, and these were all analyzed. Results: The mean age was 57.9+/-10.1 years. 78 of the total patients with erectile dysfunction had employed at least one CAM. CAM users were more likely to be high school educated, nonsmokers and exercisers. The CAMs used were processed health foods 62% (48/78), natural health foods 15% (12/78), and other therapies 66% (52/78). The processed health foods were soy 25%, ginseng 23% and mushroom 19%. Of the natural health foods, tomato was 42%, soy was 25% and ginseng was 17%. Of the other therapies, herbal medicine was 45%, acupuncture was 25%, moxibustion and cupping a boil were 17%. 35% (27/78) of the patients with erectile dysfunction had employed more than one of the processed health foods, natural health foods and other therapies. Conclusions: Patients with erectile dysfunction had mainly employed processed health foods more than the natural health foods, herbal medicine and acupuncture. We think that more research is required about the effects and benefits of CAM in association with ED.
Acupuncture ; Agaricales ; Biofeedback, Psychology ; Chiropractic ; Complementary Therapies* ; Diet ; Erectile Dysfunction* ; Health Food ; Herbal Medicine ; Homeopathy ; Humans ; Hypnosis ; Lycopersicon esculentum ; Male ; Massage ; Medicine, Traditional ; Moxibustion ; Panax ; Psychotherapy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Relaxation ; Spiritual Therapies ; Food, Organic

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated, chronic inflammatory disease affecting multiple aspects of patients' lives. Its epidemiology varies regionally; however, nationwide epidemiologic data on psoriasis depicting profile of Korean patients has not been available to date. OBJECTIVE: To understand nationwide epidemiologic characteristics and clinical features of adult patients with psoriasis visited university hospitals in Korea. METHODS: This multicenter, non-interventional, cross-sectional study recruited 1,278 adult patients with psoriasis across 25 centers in Korea in 2013. Various clinical data including PASI, BSA, DLQI, SF-36 and PASE were collected. RESULTS: A total of 1,260 patients completed the study (male:female=1.47:1). The mean age was 47.0 years with a distribution mostly in the 50s (24.9%). Early onset (<40 years) of psoriasis accounted for 53.9% of patients. The mean disease duration was 109.2 months; mean body mass index was 23.9 kg/m²; and 12.7% of patients had a family history of psoriasis. Plaque and guttate types of psoriasis accounted for 85.8% and 8.4%, respectively. Patients with PASI ≥10 accounted for 24.9%; patients with body surface area ≥10 were 45.9%. Patients with DLQI ≥6 accounted for 78.8%. Between PASI <10 and PASI ≥10 groups, significant difference was noted in age at diagnosis, disease duration, blood pressure, waist circumference of female, and treatment experiences with phototherapy, systemic agents, and biologics. CONCLUSION: This was the first nationwide epidemiologic study of patients with psoriasis in Korea and provides an overview of the epidemiologic characteristics and clinical profiles of this patient population.
Adult ; Biological Products ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Body Surface Area ; Cross-Sectional Studies* ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea* ; Phototherapy ; Psoriasis* ; Waist Circumference

To identify risk factors and causative organisms, and to evaluate clinical manifestations, methods and results of treatment in infectious keratitis, an epidemiological study was performed prospectively under the identical protocol from April 1995 to March 2000.Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate possible risk factors. The 1474 cases of infectious keratitis reported from 22 hospitals were studied. Five hundred forty-four organisms(442 bacteria, 82 fungi, 20 A c a n t h a m o e b a)were detected in 1320 eyes with infectious keratitis excluding 154 herpetic keratitis. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism in bacterial keratitis, and Fusariumspp. was the major isolate in fungal keratitis. Contact lens wear and occupation(industry, forester, miner, fisherman)were the risk factors for bacterial keratitis. Risk factors in fungal keratitis were fifth decade of age, farmer, and systemic diseases(diabetes mellitus etc.). Risk factors in herpetic keratitis were male and occupation(office worker, service, student, housewife). Risk factors in Acanthamoeba keratitis was contact lens wear.
Acanthamoeba Keratitis ; Bacteria ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology* ; Fungi ; Humans ; Keratitis ; Keratitis, Herpetic ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Risk Factors