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

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*

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

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.

OBJECTIVE: The Ubiquitous Spaced Retrieval-based Memory Advancement and Rehabilitation Training (USMART) program was developed by transforming the spaced retrieval-based memory training which consisted of 24 face-to-face sessions into a self-administered program with an iPAD app. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of USMART in elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: Feasibility was evaluated by checking the satisfaction of the participants with a 5-point Likert scale. The efficacy of the program on cognitive functions was evaluated by the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Assessment Battery before and after USMART. RESULTS: Among the 10 participants, 7 completed both pre- and post-USMART assessments. The overall satisfaction score was 8.0+/-1.0 out of 10. The mean Word List Memory Test (WLMT) scores significantly increased after USMART training after adjusting for age, educational levels, baseline Mini-Mental Status Examination scores, and the number of training sessions (pre-USMART, 16.0+/-4.1; post-USMART, 17.9+/-4.5; p=0.014, RM-ANOVA). The magnitude of the improvements in the WLMT scores significantly correlated with the number of training sessions during 4 weeks (r=0.793; p=0.033). CONCLUSION: USMART was effective in improving memory and was well tolerated by most participants with MCI, suggesting that it may be a convenient and cost-effective alternative for the cognitive rehabilitation of elderly subjects with cognitive impairments. Further studies with large numbers of participants are necessary to examine the relationship between the number of training sessions and the improvements in memory function.
Aged ; Alzheimer Disease ; Cognitive Therapy ; Computer User Training ; Dementia ; Education* ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory* ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; Rehabilitation*

We report a patient developed neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) with myoglobulinemic acute renal failure and lithium intoxication due to lithium-olanzapine combination, who was successfully treated by hemodiafiltration. A 34-year-old woman with a 14-year history of bipolar disorder had been treated with lithium-olanzapine during last four days. She was admitted to our hospital for muscular rigidity, hyperthermia and altered consciousness. On admission, rhabdomyolsis was demonstratd by biochemical methods and serum level of lithium was 3.78 mEq/L which was far above toxic level. After the diagnosis of NMS with acute renal failure and lithium intoxication, olanzapine and lithium were discontinued and conservative measures and continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration were instituted. She recovered without any neurologic sequelae.
Female ; Humans ; Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

No abstract available.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; *Echocardiography, Doppler, Color ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Contraction ; Myocarditis/drug therapy/physiopathology/*ultrasonography ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Stroke Volume ; *Ventricular Function, Left

We report a case of nephrotic syndrome with thymic neuroendocrine tumor. A 50-year-old woman was admitted with generalized edema. 24-hour urine collection revealed proteinuria of 20 gram daily and creatinine clearance of 28 mL/min. During examination, a thymic mass was found, which is unresectable due to metastasis to the lung. Biopsy of the thymus and the kidney revealed large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of thymus origin and minimal change disease, respectively. Despite high dose steroid therapy, massive proteinuria continued for about 30 days. However, when the patient was given a chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, vincristine), proteinuria began to decrease dramatically. The carcinoma showed the partial response after six cycles of chemotherapy. This is the first report on remission of malignancy-related nephrotic syndrome after chemotherapy, especially for thymic neuroendocrine tumor.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; Creatinine ; Doxorubicin ; Edema ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nephrosis, Lipoid ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Proteinuria ; Thymus Gland ; Thymus Neoplasms ; Urine Specimen Collection