Reconstructing the impact of infectious disease on past populations is one of the main fields in paleopathological studies. The initial phase of paleopathology was descriptive, focusing on the identification and presence of disease in the past. However, currently paleopathological studies are moving toward probing questions about the larger picture of origin and transmission of disease agents. In this study, paleopathological studies of major infectious disease (i.e., tubuerculosis, treponemal disease and leprosy) were reviewed through osteoarcheological work published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science and International Journal of Paleopathology from 1981 to 2017. A basic objective of this research was to examine many types of research in paleopathology and to characterize research trend in this field. As paleopathological studies becomes more abundant, the approaches to infectious disease have been increasingly specialized and interdisciplinary from 1980. Also, methodology used in paleopathology continues to evolve through the holistic approaches of molecular analysis, radiology and histopathology. Ultimately, this study reinforces the importance for retention of large-scale skeletal collections for paleopathological study in population perspective. In the near future, Korean paleopathology can contribute in the reconstructions of the history of disease and its effect on past human populations.
Anthropology, Physical ; Communicable Diseases* ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Paleopathology ; Syphilis ; Tuberculosis

Purpose: To evaluate the risk factors and effects of fluctuations in oxygen saturation on the occurrence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods: From January 1, 2013 to January 31, 2020, 260 patients hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Ajou University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Sixty-six patients (25%) were diagnosed with ROP; of them 39 required treatment. In the multivariate regression analysis of ROP severity, the odds ratio (OR) of gestational age was 0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.47; P<0.0001). The OR of saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2) fluctuations at the 4th week after birth was 1.02 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.12; P=0.041). Conclusion SpO2 fluctuations in premature infants younger than 30 weeks’ gestational age affects ROP severity, especially at the 4th week of life.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the decreased neutrophil count after the administration of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) or anti-D immunoglobulin (anti-D Ig) to children with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). In addition, post-treatment changes in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) were also analyzed according to patient age.METHODS: We retrospectively performed a chart review of 83 patients who had received IVIG or anti-D Ig to manage the decreased platelet count due to acute ITP. Pre- and post-treatment ANC were analyzed in the IVIG treatment group and anti-D Ig treatment group, and ANC were compared between each group. In addition, all the subjects were divided into two groups according to age: infantile group and other group, and ANC of these two groups were compared.RESULTS: A decrease in ANC in just a day and recovering to its pre-treatment value on the 7th post-treatment day was observed for the IVIG treatment group. Especially, the decrease in ANC observed in the infantile group was found to recover in 14 days, where-as ANC recovery in the other group was seen within 2 days after the treatment. There was no statistically significant decrease in ANC in the anti-D Ig treatment group.CONCLUSION: IVIG used for childhood acute ITP caused a decrease in ANC more severely than with the administration of anti-D Ig. Subjects aged less than 12 months who were treated with IVIG for acute ITP showed more ANC decrease and needed longer time to recover normal ANC compared to those over 12 months of age.
Aged ; Child ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Isoantibodies ; Neutropenia ; Neutrophils ; Platelet Count ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; Retrospective Studies

Purpose: To evaluate the risk factors and effects of fluctuations in oxygen saturation on the occurrence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods: From January 1, 2013 to January 31, 2020, 260 patients hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Ajou University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Sixty-six patients (25%) were diagnosed with ROP; of them 39 required treatment. In the multivariate regression analysis of ROP severity, the odds ratio (OR) of gestational age was 0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.47; P<0.0001). The OR of saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2) fluctuations at the 4th week after birth was 1.02 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.12; P=0.041). Conclusion SpO2 fluctuations in premature infants younger than 30 weeks’ gestational age affects ROP severity, especially at the 4th week of life.

PURPOSE: This study was done to determine the usefulness of serum pepsinogen (PG) levels as a screening method for gastric cancer, and to assess the relationships between serum PG and clinicopathologic factors of gastric adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum PG concentrations were measured in 94 subjects who were classified into (a) a control group (50 subjects) without abnormal endoscopic finding on a health checkup, or (b) a gastric cancer group (44 subjects) who had surgery at Daegu Catholic University Hospital between Nov. 2008 and May 2009. Receiver operator characteristic curves were utilized to select the most suitable test. Using different cutoff points, sensitivity and specificity were calculated. We compared preoperative serum PG levels with several clinicopathologic findings for patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. RESULTS: The Serum PG I:II ratio was the most useful as a screening test. The sensitivity and specificity of PG screening for gastric cancer were, respectively, 81.8% and 82%. The cut off point correlated with the type of intestinal cancer (Lauren classification; P=0.003), tumor stage (P=0.001), and gastric adenocarcinoma with peritumoral chronic atrophic gastritis (P=0.036). CONCLUSION: Serum PG levels were found to be a potentially useful screening test and to correlate with clinicopathologic factors in gastric cancer patients. But, in order to use serum PG found in a health checkup for gastric cancer as a clinical application a large scale study is recommended.
Adenocarcinoma ; Gastritis, Atrophic ; Humans ; Intestinal Neoplasms ; Mass Screening ; Pepsinogen A ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stomach Neoplasms

In this study, the skeletal abnormalities associated with scurvy in subadults crania from three archaeological skeletal collections (Nukdo, Imdang, Yeanri), South Korea was analyzed to examine the prevalence and distribution of childhood scurvy of ancient Korea. For this, 30 subadults crania from the Nukdo, Imdang, Yeanri site were examined. Using criteria described by Ortner and Ericksen (1997) for identifying scurvy in skeletal material we evaluated the cranial skeleton of the subadults for evidence of abnormal porosity. All skeletal materials were macroscopically evaluated for pathological changes associated with scurvy. In results, lesions indicative of probable scurvy were observed in 22 individuals of 30 individuals. Based on the results, childhood disease relating to nutrition and metabolism in ancient Korea might have been widespread, along with scurvy. The results of the present study will be useful for understanding the health condition of the ancient Korean populations. Future work will add significantly to the larger picture of diet and disease within populations of ancient Korea.
Diet ; Korea* ; Malnutrition ; Metabolism ; Paleopathology ; Porosity ; Prevalence ; Scurvy* ; Skeleton ; Vitamins

Stress and trauma research has traditionally focused on negative sequelae of adversity. Recently, research has begun to focus on positive outcomes, specifically post-traumatic growth (PTG) - "positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with trauma" - which emphasizes the transformative potential of one's experiences with highly stressful events and circumstances. This article describes the concept of PTG at three different perspectives. In addition we reviewed the neurobiological factors and mechanism of PTG. It has shown that PTG is mediated by adaptive changes in several neural circuits involving numerous neurotransmitter and molecular pathways. Much more study is required to achieve a deeper understanding the biological and psychological underpinnings of PTG, as well as the interactions between these factors. After all, the clinical phenomenology of PTG is very important for mental growth after trauma. The findings of this article provide further directions for research and clinical implication of PTG.
Fertilization* ; Life Change Events ; Neurobiology* ; Neurotransmitter Agents

OBJECTIVE: The incidence of spinal metastases continues to increase, likely a result of increasing survival times for patients with cancer. This retrospective study was undertaken to analyze the results of surgery and the outcome of patients with extradural metastases in the cervical spine. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with cervical spine metastases who underwent spinal surgery by two surgeon at a single center in a 14-year period(1993-2007) were analyzed. Indications for surgery include intractable pain, neurological deficits, spinal cord compression, and the need for stabilization of impending pathological fractures. Numerous factors affect outcome including the nature of the primary cancer, the presence of fracture or dislocation, approach of surgery, and the severity of spinal cord compression. The change of predominant symptoms and survival time were evaluated after surgery. RESULTS: There were 17 male and 16 female patients aged from 29 to 78 years old(mean age, 59.9 years). Among the metastatic tumors, colon, breast, and liver were the most common primary sites of origin, and lung, kidney, stomach and thyroid were also common. All patients had bony invasion and 24 patients had pathologic vertebral fracture and 6 patients had dislocation. Based on the tumor location, approaches included 12 anterior, 6 posterior and 15 combined. Epidural spinal cord compression on the axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance(MR) image was noted in 31 patients(93.9%). The American Spinal Injury Association(ASIA) impairment scale scores in preoperative state were stable in 29 patients(87.9%) who presented with ASIA Score D and E. The most common predominant symptoms of patients were cervical and/or radiating pain(26 patients) and 23 patients had neurological deficits. At Follow-up, predominant preoperative symptoms improved in 28(84.8%) patients who had pain or neurological deficits. The overall mean survival duration for patients with cervical metastatic tumors after diagnosis was 7.4 months in 28 expired patients and 17.4 months in 5 survived patients. There were four major early and late complications in this study. One patient suffered from the immediate postoperative epidural hematoma and improved after evacuation of hematoma. There were three cases of instrumentation failure. One of them was symptomatic and underwent second-look surgery. CONCLUSION: Surgery for the treatment of cervical spine metastases is effective for improvement of the neurological deficits and relief the local pain in a significant proportion of patients with acceptable complication rates. The tech- nical evolution of cervical implants has improved our ability to achieve long-term rigid fixation, particularly over the cervicothoracic junction.
Aged ; Asia ; Breast ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Colon ; Dislocations ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pain, Intractable ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Compression ; Spinal Injuries ; Spine ; Stomach ; Thyroid Gland

PURPOSE: It is difficult to obtain biopsies from gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) prior to surgery because GISTs are submucoal tumors, despite being the most common nonepithelial neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Unlike anatomic imaging techniques, PET-CT, which is a molecular imaging tool, can be a useful technique for assessing tumor activity and predicting the malignant potential of certain tumors. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of PET-CT as a pre-operative prognostic factor for GISTs by analyzing the correlation between the existing post-operative prognostic factors and the maximum SUV uptake (SUVmax) of pre-operative 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 26 patients who were diagnosed with gastric GISTs and underwent surgery after being examined with pre-operative FDG PET-CT. An analysis of the correlation bewteen (i) NIH risk classfication and the Ki-67 proliferation index, which are post-operative prognostic factors, and (ii) the SUVmax of PET-CT, which is a pre-operative prognostic factor, was performed. RESULTS: There were significant correlations between (i) SUVmax and (ii) Ki-67 index, tumor size, mitotic count, and NIH risk group (r=0.854, 0.888, 0.791, and 0.756, respectively). The optimal cut-off value for SUVmax was 3.94 between "low-risk malignancy" and "high-risk malignancy" groups. The sensitivity and specificity of SUVmax for predicting the risk of malignancy were 85.7% and 94.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The SUVmax of PET-CT is associated with Ki-67 index, tumor size, mitotic count, and NIH classification. Therefore, it is believed that PET-CT is a relatively safe, non-invasive diagnostic tool for assessing malignant potential pre-operatively.
Biopsy ; Electrons ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Molecular Imaging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Hand-foot syndrome is also known as palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, and it is a side effect that mostly occurs with chemotherapy or biologic therapy. It is characterized by a painful erythema and edema, which may be followed by dry or moist desquamation of the palms and soles. Mizoribine (MZR) is an imidazole nucleoside that blocks purine biosynthesis. It was found to inhibit both humoral and cellular immunity by selectively inhibiting proliferation of lymphocytes. MZR has been used for preventing renal transplant rejection and treating rheumatoid arthritis, nephritic syndrome and lupus nephritis. The principal adverse reactions are leukopenia, abnormal hepatic function and hyperuricemia. The cutaneous side effects are skin rash, prurigo and epilation, with an incidence of about 1.32%, 0.77% and 0.55%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, no case of hand-foot syndrome associated with MZR has ever been published. Herein, we report that MZR, which has been widely used, may induce drug-induced hand-foot syndrome.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Biological Therapy ; Edema ; Erythema ; Exanthema ; Graft Rejection ; Hair Removal ; Hand-Foot Syndrome ; Hyperuricemia ; Imidazoles ; Immunity, Cellular ; Incidence ; Leukopenia ; Lupus Nephritis ; Lymphocytes ; Prurigo ; Purines ; Ribonucleosides