No abstract available.
Appendicitis* ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch*

Little is known about the benefits of statin use on liver cancer mortality among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) considering hypercholesterolemia and obesity. A nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from a Health Examination Cohort of the National Health Insurance Service of Korea. Data on CHB patients with no other concurrent liver disease were acquired, and statin use was defined as a cumulative daily dose ≥28. A 3-year landmark analysis was performed to avoid immortal time bias. Patients who started statin therapy within the landmark date were considered statin users. A Cox regression analysis was applied to assess associations between statin use and liver cancer mortality considering hypercholesterolemia and obesity. Among 13063 patients, 193 (1.5%) died of liver cancer during the mean follow-up period of 10.6 years. After adjusting for demographic and metabolic factors, statin use [hazard ratio (HR), 0.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.04–0.70] and hypercholesterolemia (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24–0.88 for total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL) were associated with a decreased risk of liver cancer mortality, whereas body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m² was associated with an increased risk of liver cancer mortality (HR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.20–5.06). This study showed that statin use was associated with decreased liver cancer mortality when adjusting for cholesterol levels and BMI. This study found that hypercholesterolemia was independently associated with decreased liver cancer mortality regardless of statin use.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Body Mass Index ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Cholesterol ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Neoplasms ; Liver ; Mortality ; National Health Programs ; Obesity ; Retrospective Studies

Aged ; Contrast Media ; adverse effects ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Arrest ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; therapy

No abstract available.
Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Laminectomy*

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has an important role in the regulation of the proliferation and differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes, as well as in the survival, angiogenesis and metastasis of various cancer cells. There have been some reports of acneiform skin lesions that occurred in the cancer patients treated with ZD1839(Iressa(R)), an inhibitor of EGF tyrosine kinase. We report a case of acneiform eruption related to the anticancer drug, ZD1839(Iressa(R)).
Acneiform Eruptions ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Humans ; Keratinocytes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Skin*

Precocious puberty (PP) is defined as the early development of secondary sexual characteristics (before the ages of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys). The aim of this study is to identify characteristics of the dental maturity in girls with PP that discriminate them from normal healthy girls. This study included 99 girls aged 6 - 8 years with PP and 99 girls without past medical history of same chronological age (control group). The study was performed on 198 panoramic radiographs (99 PP girls, 99 control group girls). Demirjian method was used to evaluate the panoramic radiographs and determine dental maturity. Difference in dental maturity score and tooth formation stages between the two groups were analyzed. The PP group showed significant higher maturity score than control group. Among mandibular teeth, mandibular 2nd premolar and 2nd molar were significantly more mature in the PP group than control group. Logistic regression analysis showed that mandibular 2nd molar was only significant predictor for PP girls.

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence, clinical manifestations, and risk factors of dry eye syndrome (DES) among people over 50 years old in the Incheon area. METHODS: A cross-sectional prevalence study was performed on 462 people over 50 years old in Dong-gu, Incheon. DES was defined as the constant or frequent presence of symptoms of both dryness and irritation. Symptoms and past medical history were assessed by a survey. Eye examination included slit lamp examination, Schirmer test, and tear break-up time (T-BUT). Age, sex, living habits, systemic and eye diseases were also analyzed to determine the risk factors of DES. RESULTS: The prevalence of DES was 26.2%. The major symptoms were as follows in descending order: dryness (77.9%), tearing (75.2%), and sandiness (72.7%). An average of 12.1 +/- 6.0 mm in the Schirmer test and 6.7 +/- 2.4 seconds in the T-BUT were significantly different in the DES group from the normal group (p < 0.001). Variables such as age, sex, living habits, and eye diseases were not related to the diagnosis of DES, whereas diabetes was the only risk factor of DES with statistical significance (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, the prevalence of DES among people over 50 years old in the Incheon area was 26.2%. Schirmer test and T-BUT were considered to be helpful tools for the diagnosis of DES, and diabetes was a significant risk factor of DES.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Dry Eye Syndromes ; Eye ; Eye Diseases ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Tears

BACKGROUND: The multidrug resistance (mdr1), multidrug resistance associated protein (mrp1), and glutathione-s-transferase (gst) pi genes have been associated with treatment failure in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activity is increased in response to chemotherapeutic agent. METHODS: To investigate the significance of multidrug resistance (mdr) parameters and JNK activity, bone marrow or peripheral blood cells from 52 patients with AML were analyzed. RT-PCR was performed for mdr1, mrp1, and gst pi gene expression. JNK expression and activity were measured using an immunoe- nzymatic kinase assay and a western blot method. RESULTS: High level expression of mdr1, mrp1, and gst pi mRNA was observed in 38.5%, 48.1% and 54.3% of AML cases, respectively. The remission rate was significantly low in cases with an older age (>55 yr), a high WBC count, poor chromosomal abnormalities, a high level expression of mdr1 and mrp1. The WBC count and mdr1 mRNA expression were independent predictors for the outcome to induction chemotherapy. There was a shorter duration of overall survival in the patients with an older age, a high WBC count, chromosome aberrations, high level expressions of mdr1 and mrp1 mRNA, and JNK activation. The patient's age, WBC count and chromosomal abnormalities were independent predictors for overall survivals. The majority (28/30) of AML cases did not show any levels of JNK activation except for two cases, which were associated with an extremely high WBC count, chromosomal aberration, high level expressions of mdr1, mrp1 and gst pi mRNA, and treatment resistance. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate the influences of mdr1 and mrp1 mRNA expression on the clinical outcome of AML to induction chemotherapy. But it will be necessary to investigate further whether blast cells of AML resistant to chemotherapy retain the capacity to activate JNK, and relate to MDR parameters.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; *Drug Resistance, Multiple/genetics ; *Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/genetics ; Female ; Glutathione S-Transferase pi/genetics ; Humans ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/*metabolism ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/*drug therapy/genetics/metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins/genetics ; P-Glycoprotein/genetics ; RNA, Messenger/*metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Survival Analysis ; Treatment Outcome

Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy is a relatively rare glomerular disease characterized by the accumulation of spiraled frayed collagen fibrils in mesangial and subendothelial areas. Clinically, patients with the disease usually present with moderate proteinuria and edema. They tend to have hypertension and their renal function deteriorates slowly. We report the case of a patient with collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy who also had Takayasus arteritis and presented with hypertension, proteinuria and dyspnea on exertion. Electron microscopy of the renal biopsy revealed massive accumulation of peculiar collagen fibers and immunohistology using monoclonal antibodies to collagen type III revealed positive stain in glomerular tufts.
Biopsy

Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy is a relatively rare glomerular disease characterized by the accumulation of spiraled frayed collagen fibrils in mesangial and subendothelial areas. Clinically, patients with the disease usually present with moderate proteinuria and edema. They tend to have hypertension and their renal function deteriorates slowly. We report the case of a patient with collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy who also had Takayasus arteritis and presented with hypertension, proteinuria and dyspnea on exertion. Electron microscopy of the renal biopsy revealed massive accumulation of peculiar collagen fibers and immunohistology using monoclonal antibodies to collagen type III revealed positive stain in glomerular tufts.
Biopsy