This erratum is being published to correct the printing error on page 286 of the article entitled 'Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood in Korea' by Kim JS, Park JS, Song W, Kim HS, Cho HC, Lee KM, Kim EC in Korean J Lab Med 2007;27:286-91. DOI 10.3343/kjlm. 2007.27.4.286 as follows. The heading of the right column of the Table 1 was misprinted as methicillin-resistant, so it should be corrected to methicillin-susceptible.
Adult ; Amino Acid Substitution ; Brain Neoplasms/radiotherapy/surgery ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis/radiotherapy/surgery ; Female ; *Genetic Counseling ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; *Germ-Line Mutation ; Humans ; Li-Fraumeni Syndrome/*diagnosis/genetics/therapy ; Mutation, Missense ; Pedigree ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/*genetics

Effective noninvasive modalities such as radiotherapy and pharmacologic treatments have become highly developed in the treatment of intractable cancer pain. Although epidural narcotics have been considered particularly useful, limitations still remain in their effectiveness for some patients. Surgical therapy can be a useful alternative to these treatments. Cordotomy is one of the most effective surgical treatments. The first percutaneous cordotomy was attempted by Mullan and his associates in 1963. Rosomoff and his associates modified the procedure using radiofrequency two years later. Cordotomy was widely used by the late 1960's but due to its limited effectiveness and serious complications it was abandoned until 1980 when a new electrode was developed by Levin. A thermocouple cordotomy electrode such as the Levin electrode allows monitoring of impedance and tissue temperature. A radiofrequency lesion can be made by increasing the current directly to the desired temperature rather than by gradual heating with the usual incremental increases in lesion current and time. With the use of this electrode, consistent clinical effects are assured and operating time is reduced. The chances of boiling or charring are also minimized. Since this electrode was developed, cordotomy has received renewed attention virtually everywhere except in Korea. Five terminal cancer patients in whom conservative treatments had failed were treated by cordotomy using the three types of thermocouple electrodes: the levin cordotomy electrode; the TCE thermocouple electrode, and the Kanpolat CT electrode. Due to the small number of patients, a comparison of the effectiveness of these three types could not be made. Although complete pain relief was not achieved in every case, dosages of narcotics could be reduced as a result of this procedure. There were no serious complications except a transient paralysis of the ipsilateral arm in one case and headaches in four cases.
Arm ; Cordotomy* ; Electric Impedance ; Electrodes* ; Headache ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Korea ; Narcotics ; Paralysis ; Radiotherapy ; Trout

BACKGROUND: The cerebellum and its neural circuitry have been assumed to play a major role in the pathophysiology of essential tremor (ET). In this study, we sought to find associations between ET and cerebellar dysfunction. METHODS: We performed tandem gait test in 41 ET patients and 44 age-matched controls. Investigators assessed tandem gait by counting the number of missteps during ten-step tandem walk and each subject repeated the trial three times. RESULTS: ET patients had a higher average and total numbers of missteps during tandem gait tests than control subjects (p<0.05). Sex-adjusted odds ratio of the association between tandem gait abnormality and ET was 3.40 (95% confidence intervals 1.06-10.85). According to age stratification, aged ET patients (age > or =70 years) showed significantly higher prevalence of tandem gait abnormality than young ones. Interaction terms determined by a likelihood ratio test was also statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Dysfunction of cerebellar neural circuitry may be associated with the pathophysiological mechanism of ET. In addition, aging may be an important factor modifying the association.
Aging ; Cerebellar Diseases* ; Cerebellum ; Essential Tremor* ; Gait ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Research Personnel

Blepharospasm is a focal dystonia that consists of repetitive involuntary spasmodic contractions of the orbicularis oculi muscle. A 27-year-old man was admitted with ptosis and involuntary blinking in both eyes. He was diagnosed as having schizophrenia when he was 15 years old and medicated with chlorpromazine for 12 years. After excluding all the possible etiopathological causes of the blepharospam, the offending drug was discontinued and changed to an atypical antipsychotic, clozapine. Clozapine was increased up to 75 mg in the 7th day of admission, and the symptoms were slowly ameliorated.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Blepharospasm* ; Blinking ; Chlorpromazine ; Clozapine ; Dystonic Disorders ; Humans ; Schizophrenia

Arterial restenosis frequently develops after open or endovascular surgery due to intimal hyperplasia. Since tissue transglutaminase (TG2) is known to involve in fibrosis, wound healing, and extracellular matrix remodeling, we examined the role of TG2 in the process of intimal hyperplasia using TG2-null mice. The neointimal formation was compared between TG2-null and wild-type (C57BL/6) mice by two different injury models; carotid ligation and carotid loop injury. In ligation model, there was no difference in intimal thickness between two groups. In loop injury model, intimal hyperplasia developed in both groups and the intimal/medial area ratio was significantly reduced in TG2-null mice (P = 0.007). TG2 was intensely stained in neointimal cells in 2 weeks. In situ activity of TG2 in the injured arteries steadily increased until 4 weeks compared to uninjured arteries. Taken together, intimal hyperplasia was significantly reduced in TG2-null mice, indicating that TG2 has an important role in the development of intimal hyperplasia. This suggests that TG2 may be a novel target to prevent the arterial restenosis after vascular surgery.
Animals ; Carotid Arteries/pathology/*surgery ; Disease Models, Animal ; GTP-Binding Proteins/deficiency/genetics/*metabolism ; Hyperplasia ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Transglutaminases/deficiency/genetics/*metabolism ; Tunica Intima/*pathology

PURPOSE: In recent years, the authors experienced a distinctive clinical entity of multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations in infants. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of this entity, examine th possible pathogenesis and the effective treatment. METHODS: Seven infants underwent abdominal exploration under suspicion of surgical abdomen and were noted to have multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations without evidence of necrotizing enterocolitis by the members of the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons. The clinical courses, operative findings, bacterial cultures, pathologic findings, treatment and prognosis of these seven cases were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: The characteristics of this entity are as follows : The initial presenting symptoms were all different. Despite conservative treatment with a broad spectrum of antibiotics, diarrhea and abdominal distention developed and progressively grew worse. At laparotomy, all patients exhibited numerous typical transverse linear ulcerative lesions with pin-point perforations scattered mainly in the small bowel. Histologic evaluations of the resected specimens revealed mucosal ulcerations with neutrophil infiltration, submucosal microabscesses and colonies of gram-positive cocci. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) was the predominant organism cultured from the body fluid. Only two cases, the completely-resected one and the one immediately treated with vancomycin after operation, survived. CONCLUSION: We think this distinct clinical entity exhibiting multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations is caused by MRSA occurring in infants. It has a high mortality because it is verydifficult to diagnosis in young infants before laparotomy. Vancomycin is highly effective in treating MRSA, so we think the early diagnosis of this entity can make the treatment successful.
Abdomen ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Body Fluids ; Diagnosis ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Infant* ; Intestinal Perforation ; Laparotomy ; Methicillin Resistance* ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus* ; Mortality ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcus ; Ulcer* ; Vancomycin

PURPOSE: In recent years, the authors experienced a distinctive clinical entity of multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations in infants. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of this entity, examine th possible pathogenesis and the effective treatment. METHODS: Seven infants underwent abdominal exploration under suspicion of surgical abdomen and were noted to have multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations without evidence of necrotizing enterocolitis by the members of the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons. The clinical courses, operative findings, bacterial cultures, pathologic findings, treatment and prognosis of these seven cases were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: The characteristics of this entity are as follows : The initial presenting symptoms were all different. Despite conservative treatment with a broad spectrum of antibiotics, diarrhea and abdominal distention developed and progressively grew worse. At laparotomy, all patients exhibited numerous typical transverse linear ulcerative lesions with pin-point perforations scattered mainly in the small bowel. Histologic evaluations of the resected specimens revealed mucosal ulcerations with neutrophil infiltration, submucosal microabscesses and colonies of gram-positive cocci. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) was the predominant organism cultured from the body fluid. Only two cases, the completely-resected one and the one immediately treated with vancomycin after operation, survived. CONCLUSION: We think this distinct clinical entity exhibiting multiple intestinal ulcerations and perforations is caused by MRSA occurring in infants. It has a high mortality because it is verydifficult to diagnosis in young infants before laparotomy. Vancomycin is highly effective in treating MRSA, so we think the early diagnosis of this entity can make the treatment successful.
Abdomen ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Body Fluids ; Diagnosis ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Infant* ; Intestinal Perforation ; Laparotomy ; Methicillin Resistance* ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus* ; Mortality ; Neutrophil Infiltration ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcus ; Ulcer* ; Vancomycin

Glutathione (GSH) is a chief cellular antioxidant, affecting stem cell functions. The cellular GSH level is dynamically altered by the redox buffering system and transcription factors, including NRF2. Additionally, GSH is differentially regulated in each organelle. We previously reported a protocol for monitoring the real-time GSH levels in live stem cells using the reversible GSH sensor FreSHtracer. However, GSH-based stem cell analysis needs be comprehensive and organelle-specific. Hence, in this study, we demonstrate a detailed protocol to measure the GSH regeneration capacity (GRC) in living stem cells by measuring the intensities of the FreSHtracer and the mitochondrial GSH sensor MitoFreSHtracer using a high-content screening confocal microscope. This protocol typically analyses the GRC in approximately 4 h following the seeding of the cells onto plates. This protocol is simple and quantitative. With some minor modifications, it can be employed flexibly to measure the GRC for the whole-cell area or just the mitochondria in all adherent mammalian stem cells.

Here we describe a case of ergotism that presented with ischemia in all four extremities. A 48-year-old man was admitted for pain and weakness in both upper extremities. He had a long history of migraine and had taken 3 mg of ergotamine daily for more than 21 years. Angiography demonstrated vasospasm involving all four extremities, which resolved partially following intra-arterial prostaglandin infusion. Intravenous nitroprusside was administered, and the patient stopped smoking and stopped taking ergotamine in an attempt to counteract the vasospasm. Follow-up computed tomography angiogram revealed that both brachial arteries had normalized. Thus, in this case of ergotism, severe vasospasm in all of the extremities was resolved with appropriate management.
Angiography ; Brachial Artery ; Ergotamine ; Ergotism* ; Extremities* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Ischemia* ; Middle Aged ; Migraine Disorders ; Nitroprusside ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Upper Extremity

BACKGROUND: Plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamases (PABL) are cephalosporinases that confer resistance to a wide variety of beta-lactam drugs and that may thereby create serious therapeutic problems. The PABL-producing organisms are a major concern in nosocomial infections and should there-fore be monitored in surveillance studies. Although reported with increasing frequency in Korea, the occurrence and genotypic distributions of PABL in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae remain unknown. METHODS: We tested a total of 911 consecutive, nonduplicate isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae at 12 university hospitals and a commercial laboratory in Korea. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were tested using the disk diffusion method. PABL production was determined by the modified Hodge test and multiplex PCR. The PCR differentiated the six PABL-specific families in E. coli and K. pneumoniae. RESULTS: Overall, 110 (12.1%) yielded cefoxitin non-susceptible isolates and that 28 (3.1%) demonstrated PABL producers by multiplex PCR. Based on the species, of 544 E. coli and 367 K. pneumoniae isolates tested, 8 (1.5%) and 20 (5.4%), respectively, demonstrated PABL producers. The genotypes of PCR amplification showed that the MOX, DHA, and CIT family were harbored by 4, 2, and 2 of 8 PABL-producing E. coli, and the DHA, MOX, and EBC family were harbored by 13, 6, and 1 of 20 PABL-producing K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm that the occurrence of PABL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae is relatively high and the kinds of genotypes are variously distributed in Korea.
beta-Lactamases ; Cefoxitin ; Cross Infection ; Diffusion ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Genotype ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Korea* ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction