The introduction of device-assisted enteroscopy (DAE) in the beginning of the 21st century has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the small intestine. In contrast to capsule endoscopy, the other main diagnostic modality of small bowel diseases, DAE has the unique advantages of allowing the observation of the region of interest in detail and enabling tissue acquisition and therapeutic intervention. As DAE becomes an essential procedure in daily clinical practice, there is an increasing need for correct guidelines on when and how it is to be performed and what technical factors should be taken into consideration. In response to these needs, the Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases has developed an expert consensus statement on the performance of DAE by reviewing current evidence. This expert consensus statement particularly focuses on the indications, choice of insertion route, therapeutic intervention, complications, and relevant technical points.

The introduction of device-assisted enteroscopy (DAE) in the beginning of 21st century has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the small intestine. In contrast to capsule endoscopy, the other main diagnostic modality of the small bowel diseases, DAE has the unique advantages of observing the region of interest in detail and enabling tissue acquisition and therapeutic intervention. As DAE becomes an essential procedure in daily clinical practice, there is an increasing need for correct guidelines on when and how to perform it and what technical factors should be considered. In response to these needs, the Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases developed an expert consensus statement on the performance of DAE by reviewing the current evidence. This expert consensus statement particularly focuses on the indications, choice of insertion route, therapeutic intervention, complications, and relevant technical points.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an uncommon autosomal dominant disorder resulting in vascular malformation, such as pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM). Here, we report a rare case of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation caused by HHT in a hemodialysis (HD) patient. A 34-year-old man receiving maintenance HD via radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula developed progressive dyspnea without definite pulmonary edema. His mother had been diagnosed with HHT. He had experienced multiple episodes of epistaxis and had been intermittently treated with blood transfusions because of severe anemia. Blood gas analysis showed hypoxia. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple dilated vessels of variable sizes, continuous with the pulmonary artery throughout both lung fields, consistent with PAVM. After treating pulmonary artery embolization at the largest PAVM, he recovered from his dyspnea symptoms and hypoxia.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an uncommon autosomal dominant disorder resulting in vascular malformation, such as pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM). Here, we report a rare case of pulmonary arteriovenous malformation caused by HHT in a hemodialysis (HD) patient. A 34-year-old man receiving maintenance HD via radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula developed progressive dyspnea without definite pulmonary edema. His mother had been diagnosed with HHT. He had experienced multiple episodes of epistaxis and had been intermittently treated with blood transfusions because of severe anemia. Blood gas analysis showed hypoxia. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple dilated vessels of variable sizes, continuous with the pulmonary artery throughout both lung fields, consistent with PAVM. After treating pulmonary artery embolization at the largest PAVM, he recovered from his dyspnea symptoms and hypoxia.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death globally. The classification of advanced GC (AGC) according to molecular features has recently led to effective personalized cancer therapy for some patients. Specifically, AGC patients whose tumor cells express high levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) can now benefit from trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal Ab that targets HER2. However, patients with HER2negative AGC receive limited clinical benefit from this treatment. To identify potential immune therapeutic targets in HER2negative AGC, we obtained 40 fresh AGC specimens immediately after surgical resections and subjected the CD45 + immune cells in the tumor microenvironment to multi-channel/multi-panel flow cytometry analysis. Here, we report that HER2 negativity associated with reduced overall survival (OS) and greater tumor infiltration with neutrophils and non-classical monocytes. The potential pro-tumoral activities of these cell types were confirmed by the fact that high expression of neutrophil or non-classical monocyte signature genes in the gastrointestinal tumors in The Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression and Gene Expression Omnibus databases associated with worse OS on Kaplan-Meir plots relative to tumors with low expression of these signature genes. Moreover, advanced stage disease in the AGCs of our patients associated with greater tumor frequencies of neutrophils and non-classical monocytes than early stage disease. Thus, our study suggests that these 2 myeloid populations may serve as novel therapeutic targets for HER2negative AGC.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Helicobacter pylori is a distinctive pathogen that lives in the gastric mucosa and is a well known risk factor of gastric adenocarcinoma. Iron deficiency aggravates the development of H. pylori-induced premalignant and malignant lesions in a cagA-dependent manner, enhancing H. pylori virulence. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between iron deficiency and H. pylori eradication rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants who received 7 days of first-line triple therapy with serum iron level measured in parallel were retrospectively investigated between 2005 and 2014. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by the rapid urease test or 13C-urea breath test at least 4 weeks after completion of triple therapy. Iron deficiency was defined as either a serum iron level less than 50 µg/dL or a serum ferritin level less than 12 ng/mL. RESULTS: A total of 194 patients received 7 days of first-line triple therapy along with parallel serum iron level measurements over the 10-year period. The mean average age was 53.3 years (range, 21~86 years), and 135 patients (69.6%) were male. The overall H. pylori eradication rate was 83.5%. Proportions of eradication success with ferritin level less than 12 ng/mL and iron less than 50 µg/dL were 90.5% and 88.6%, respectively. However, there was no statistical difference in eradication rates according to iron deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency might not be related with H. pylori eradication rates in this study. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm this result.
Adenocarcinoma ; Breath Tests ; Disease Eradication ; Ferritins ; Gastric Mucosa ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Iron* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Urease ; Virulence

We found an title error in our published article.

Longitudinal standards for height and height velocity are essential to monitor for appropriate linear growth. We aimed to construct standards in Korean children and adolescents through the population-based longitudinal Kangwha study. Our study was a part of a community-based prospective cohort study from 1986 to 1999 with 800 school children. Height and height velocity were recorded annually from age 6 until final height. Results were compared with cross-sectional data from the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. Final height was 173.5 cm in boys and 160.5 cm in girls. Although final height was similar between longitudinal and cross-sectional standards, the mean height for age was higher in the longitudinal standard by 1-4 cm from age 6 until the completion of puberty. Using the longitudinal standard, age at peak height velocity (PHV) was 12 in boys and 10 in girls; height velocity at PHV was 8.62 cm/yr in boys and 7.07 cm/yr in girls. The mean height velocity was less than 1 cm/yr at age 17 in boys and 15 in girls. Thus, we have presented the first report of longitudinal standards for height and height velocity in Korean children and adolescents by analyzing longitudinal data from the Kangwha cohort.
Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Body Height ; Child ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; *Growth Charts ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) type 1A (CMT1A) is the demyelinating form of CMT that is significantly associated with PMP22 duplication. Some studies have found that the disease-related disabilities of these patients are correlated with their compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs), while others have suggested that they are related to the nerve conduction velocities. In the present study, we investigated the correlations between the disease-related disabilities and the electrophysiological values in a large cohort of Korean CMT1A patients. METHODS: We analyzed 167 CMT1A patients of Korean origin with PMP22 duplication using clinical and electrophysiological assessments, including the CMT neuropathy score and the functional disability scale. RESULTS: Clinical motor disabilities were significantly correlated with the CMAPs but not the motor nerve conduction velocities (MNCVs). Moreover, the observed sensory impairments matched the corresponding reductions in the sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs) but not with slowing of the sensory nerve conduction velocities (SNCVs). In addition, CMAPs were strongly correlated with the disease duration but not with the age at onset. The terminal latency index did not differ between CMT1A patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: In CMT1A patients, disease-related disabilities such as muscle wasting and sensory impairment were strongly correlated with CMAPs and SNAPs but not with the MNCVs or SNCVs. Therefore, we suggest that the clinical disabilities of CMT patients are determined by the extent of axonal dysfunction.
Action Potentials ; Axons ; Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease ; Cohort Studies ; Humans ; Muscles ; Neural Conduction

The publisher wishes to apologize for incorrectly displaying the author (Seok Beom Gwon) name. We correct his name from Seok Beom Gwon to Seok Beom Kwon.