No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Pseudomyxoma Peritonei*

Podophyllin is known as a neurotoxin, We recently observed a 34-year-old woman with podophyllin induced peripheral neuropathy. She was treated with topical podophyllin for perianal multiple condyloma acuminata. One day after application, she complained of G-I symptoms ( abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), followed by tingling sensation on all extremities. We confirmed peripheral neuropathy with electrophysiologic study and sural nerve biopsy. She has improved on follow-up.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Extremities ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Nausea ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases* ; Podophyllin* ; Sensation ; Sural Nerve ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: Recently, a key role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially Crohn's disease (CD), has emerged. In Japan, 3 single base pair polymorphisms in the 5'-flanking region of the TNF-alpha gene at position 1031, 863, and 857, which are related to high transcriptional promoter activity, have been identified in the Japanese CD patients. And the polymorphisms of the TNF-alpha gene at position 308, 238 have been reported in western CD patients. So, in order to find the same polymorphisms in Korean population and CD patients, the author evaluate the patients diagnosed with CD, ulcerative colitis (UC) and healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from 70 patients with CD, 72 patients with UC and 52 healthy controls. Polymorphisms in the TNF-alpha gene at their respective positions were analyzed by single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP), and allele frequencies in CD and UC patients were compared with those in healthy controls. RESULTS: Allele frequencies of 1031C, 863A, and 857T in health controls were 18.3%, 8.7%, and 19.2%, respectively. Polymorphic allele frequencies of 1031C, 863A, 857T were 22.9%, 27.1%, and 24.3% in CD patients respectively. The frequencies at all 3 positions were higher in CD patients than in HCs. However, the frequency at 863A was statistically significant (P=0.000). The allele frequencies of 308A and 238A alleles were 0.7% and 3.6% in CD, 0.7% and 2.1% in UC, and 1.9% and 4.8% in HCs, respectively. The allele frequency of 1031C was significantly higher in B3 than in B2 (P=0.033). CONCLUSION: Polymorphisms of 5'-flanking region of the TNF-alpha at positions 1031 (T/C), 863 (C/A) and 857 (C/T) may be associated with susceptibility of CD.
Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Base Pairing ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease* ; Gene Frequency ; Humans* ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Japan ; Korea ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

Relapsing polychondritis is an uncommon disease associated with inflammation in cartilaginous tissues throughout the body, particularly affecting the cartilaginous structures of ears, nose, joints, and respiratory tract. Several autoimmune diseases, including vasculitis, are associated with the concurrent relapsing polychondritis. However, ankylosing spondylitis primarily affecting the sacroiliac joints and spine is rare in patients with relapsing polychondritis. We report on a 54-year-old man with concurrently relapsing polychondritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Ear ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Joints ; Middle Aged ; Nose ; Polychondritis, Relapsing* ; Respiratory System ; Sacroiliac Joint ; Spine ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing* ; Vasculitis

A case of papillary ependymoma in the left frontal lobe was presented, because in Korea the cerebral ependymoma with noattachment to the ventricles was very rare. The patient was 40 years old female who had complained of severe headache and experienced occasional generalized tonic convulsions for 2 years prior to admission. We could treat the patient successfully by surgery. The tumor mass was attached to a part of the wall of a large cystic cavity which located within the brain substance of left frontal lobe. The tumor tissue was soft and papillary, and looked like a choroid plexus in the ventricles or a mural nodule in the wall of a large cyst which we may find occasionally in cerebellar hemangioblastomas. The cyst was filled with clear limpid yellow fluid of about 120cc. The cyst-wall was not lined with any membrane, and was devoid of tumor tissue. The microscopic findings of tumor showed many papillary growths with the stroma having telangiectasias and irregular mixture of fibrous connective tissue and neuroglial cells.
Adult ; Brain ; Choroid Plexus ; Connective Tissue ; Ependymoma* ; Female ; Frontal Lobe* ; Headache ; Hemangioblastoma ; Humans ; Korea ; Membranes ; Neuroglia ; Seizures ; Telangiectasis

No abstract available.
Hyperplasia*

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic destructive inflammatory bowel disease that affects young people and is associated with significant morbidity. The clinical spectrum and disease course of CD are heterogeneous and often difficult to predict based on the initial presentation. In this article, changes in the disease location, behavior, clinical course during long-term follow-up, and predictive factors are reviewed. Generally, four different patterns of clinical course are discussed: remission, stable disease, chronic relapsing disease, and chronic refractory disease. Understanding the long-term disease course of CD is mandatory to reveal the underlying pathophysiology of the disease and to move toward a more optimistic disease course, such as remission or stability, and less adverse outcomes or devastating sequelae.

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care (POC) testing is expanding because of the many advantages, such as faster turnaround time, immediate decision making and patient management. However, POC testing has problems; poor maintenance and quality control of devices and management of test results. We installed data management system (DMS) for POC blood gas analyzers using local area network for the resolution of those problems. METHODS: We connected nine POC blood gas analyzers Rapidpoint 400 (Bayer Diagnostics Ltd., Newbury, UK) to POC data manager Rapidlink (Bayer Diagnostics Ltd.) by device interface using local area network and developed in-house program for connecting POC data manager to laboratory information system (LIS)/hospital information system (HIS). We surveyed user acceptability and reliability of test results. We examined patterns of problems detected and solved in operating DMS based on quality records. We calculated the change of the yearly test numbers of arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA) after installation of DMS. RESULTS: Test results of POC blood gas analyzers were transferred to LIS and could be checked in HIS. By means of user survey, we judged that the users of POC blood gas analyzers operated the devices with ease and thought test results reliable. POC data manager server implemented in central laboratory enabled remote maintenance and quality control of devices with little workload. POC ABGA test number increased by 3.7 fold during the two years. CONCLUSIONS: We developed DMS for POC blood gas analyzers, enabling test result retrieval and remote maintenance and quality control of devices. This is very informative study for other hospitals installing DMS for POC testing in Korea.
Blood Gas Analysis ; Clinical Laboratory Information Systems ; Decision Making ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Korea ; Local Area Networks* ; Quality Control

In the present study, we investigated whether ambroxol, S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine, dextromethorphan and noscapine affect mucin release from airway goblet cells. Confluent primary hamster tracheal surface epithelial cells were metabolically radiolabeled and chased for 30 min in the presence of varying concentrations of the above agents to assess the effects on 3H-mucin release. Noscapine stimulated mucin release during 30 min of treatment period in a dose-dependent manner. However, ambroxol, S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine and dextromethorphan showed no significant effect on mucin release during 30 min of treatment period. We conclude that noscapine can affect mucin release by acting on airway mucin-secreting cells.
Ambroxol* ; Animals ; Carbocysteine* ; Cricetinae ; Dextromethorphan* ; Epithelial Cells ; Goblet Cells* ; Mucins* ; Noscapine*