The authers have recently experienced a case of cysticercosis in the left lateral rectus muscleof 9 years old Korean boy. The cyst, 3 X 3 X 5mm of size, was located within the muscle sheath and removed surgically in its capsule, confirmed as cysticercosis microscopically. We presents here a report of cysticercosis with a brief review of literature.
Child ; Cysticercosis* ; Humans ; Male

The authers have recently experienced a case of cysticercosis in the left lateral rectus muscleof 9 years old Korean boy. The cyst, 3 X 3 X 5mm of size, was located within the muscle sheath and removed surgically in its capsule, confirmed as cysticercosis microscopically. We presents here a report of cysticercosis with a brief review of literature.
Child ; Cysticercosis* ; Humans ; Male

Authors repGrted one case of malignant melanoma which is located in the conjunctiva of the left eye This male patient, aged 45, has been a history of progressive enlargement of this melanoma since over ten years. At the time of first visit to the hospital, this melanoma revealed dark brownish strawbery-like pedunclated mass in his medial bulbar conjunctiva, and extended to fornix, palpebral conjunctiva, and lidmargin. Subtotal exenteration, BCG therapy, and X-ray radiation was performed successfully and was conformed histopathologically. In addition to some clinical observation, a brief review of literature has been described.
Conjunctiva* ; Humans ; Male ; Melanoma* ; Mycobacterium bovis

Neisseria cinerea is bacteria known as non-pathogenic strain. However, in rare cases, it can cause opportunistic infections. Those diseases caused by N. cinerea include neonatal ophthalmia, proctitis, pneumonia, peritonitis in patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, endocarditis and meningitis. In this report, we describe a patient with septic arthritis and skin abscess of finger joints that was caused by N. cinerea. A 27-year-old man visited the hospital due to swelling, redness and pain of proximal interphalangeal joint of the left second finger. After blood culture test, ceftriaxone was administered on admission and debridement was performed the affected joints. N. cinerea was identified in the blood culture. The patient was improved with ceftriaxone.
Abscess* ; Adult ; Arthritis, Infectious* ; Bacteria ; Ceftriaxone ; Debridement ; Endocarditis ; Endophthalmitis ; Finger Joint ; Fingers ; Humans ; Joints ; Meningitis ; Neisseria cinerea* ; Opportunistic Infections ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Peritonitis ; Pneumonia ; Proctitis ; Skin* ; Soft Tissue Infections

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemispherectomy reportedly produces remarkable results in terms of seizure outcome and quality of life for medically intractable hemispheric epilepsy in children. We reviewed the neuroradiologic findings, pathologic findings, epilepsy characteristics, and clinical long-term outcomes in pediatric patients following a hemispheric disconnection. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 12 children (8 males) who underwent a hemispherectomy at Asan Medical Center between 1997 and 2005. Clinical, EEG, neuroradiological, and surgical data were collected. Long-term outcomes for seizure, motor functions, and cognitive functions were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 12.7 years (range, 7.6-16.2 years) after surgery. RESULTS: The mean age at epilepsy onset was 3.0 years (range, 0-7.6 years). The following epilepsy syndromes were identified in our cohort: focal symptomatic epilepsy (n=8), West syndrome (n=3), and Rasmussen's syndrome (n=1). Postoperative histopathology of our study patients revealed malformation of cortical development (n=7), encephalomalacia as a sequela of infarction or trauma (n=3), Sturge-Weber syndrome (n=1), and Rasmussen's encephalitis (n=1). The mean age at surgery was 6.5 years (range, 0.8-12.3 years). Anatomical or functional hemispherectomy was performed in 8 patients, and hemispherotomy was performed in 4 patients. Eight of our 12 children (66.7%) were seizure-free, but 3 patients with perioperative complications showed persistent seizure. Although all patients had preoperative hemiparesis and developmental delay, none had additional motor or cognitive deficits after surgery, and most achieved independent walking and improvement in daily activities. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term clinical outcomes of hemispherectomy in children with intractable hemispheric epilepsy are good when careful patient selection and skilled surgical approaches are applied.
Child ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cohort Studies ; Electroencephalography ; Encephalitis ; Encephalomalacia ; Epilepsy* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemispherectomy ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infarction ; Paresis ; Patient Selection ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Spasms, Infantile ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome ; Walking

Betulinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene isolated from Jujube tree (Zizyphus jujuba Mill), has been known for a wide range of biological and medicinal properties such as antibacterial, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, antihelmintic, antinociceptive, and anticancer activities. In the study, we investigated the antiviral activity on influenza A/PR/8 virus infected A549 human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line and C57BL/6 mice. Betulinic acid showed the anti-influenza viral activity at a concentration of 50 muM without a significant cytotoxicity in influenza A/PR/8 virus infected A549 cells. Also, betulinic acid significantly attenuated pulmonary pathology including increased necrosis, numbers of inflammatory cells and pulmonary edema induced by influenza A/PR/8 virus infection compared with vehicle- or oseltamivir-treated mice in vivo model. The down-regulation of IFN-gamma level, which is critical for innate and adaptive immunity in viral infection, after treating of betulinic acid in mouse lung. Based on the obtained results, it is suggested that betulinic acid can be the potential therapeutic agent for virus infection via anti-inflammatory activity.
Adaptive Immunity ; Adenocarcinoma ; Animals ; Down-Regulation ; Epithelial Cells ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Influenza, Human* ; Lung ; Mice ; Necrosis ; Pathology ; Pulmonary Edema ; Trees ; Ziziphus*

We describe the case of a 70-year old female who had developed acute renal failure following high dose methotrexate therapy for malignant lymphoma. Previously, she showed normal renal function and tolerance to high dose methotrexate therapy. Serum methotrexate level reached 9.25 micro mol/L and sustained elevated level for 1 week, although folic acid rescue was intensified to 150 mg intravenously every 3 hours. Therefore, 3 times total plasma exchange and one hemodialysis were performed, and serum methotrexate level returned to normal range. Acute renal failure induced by methotrexate can be complicated by prolonged high serum level of methotrexate, resulting in bone marrow suppression and severe mucositis. To lower the serum methotrexate level, dialysis, plasma exchange, hemoperfusion with charcoal only or combined with hemodialysis and carboxypeptidase-G2 were tried. Successful rescue was obtained by plasma exchange and hemodialysis. No rebound phenomenon was developed.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Aged ; Bone Marrow ; Charcoal ; Dialysis ; Female ; Folic Acid ; Hemoperfusion ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Methotrexate ; Mucositis ; Plasma Exchange* ; Plasma* ; Reference Values ; Renal Dialysis*

BACKGROUND: Simian virus 40 (SV40), a polyomavirus, was discovered as a contaminant of a human polio vaccine in the 1960s. It is known that malignant mesothelioma (MM) is associated with SV40, and that the virus works as a cofactor to the carcinogenetic effects of asbestos. However, the reports about the correlation between SV40 and MM have not been consistent. The purpose of this study is to identify SV40 in MM tissue in Korea through detection of SV40 protein and DNA. METHODS: We analyzed 62 cases of available paraffin-blocks enrolled through the Korean Malignant Mesothelioma Surveillance System and performed immunohistochemistry for SV40 protein and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for SV40 DNA. RESULTS: Of 62 total cases, 40 had disease involving the pleura (64.5%), and 29 (46.8%) were found to be of the epithelioid subtype. Immunostaining demonstrated that all examined tissues were negative for SV40 protein. Sufficient DNA was extracted for real-time PCR analysis from 36 cases. Quantitative PCR of these samples showed no increase in SV40 transcript compared to the negative controls. CONCLUSIONS: SV40 is not associated with the development of MM in Korea.
Asbestos ; DNA ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Korea ; Mesothelioma ; Pleura ; Poliomyelitis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polyomavirus ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Simian virus 40 ; Viruses

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is one of the glycoproteins families synthesized by the placenta, and consists of 2 noncovalently joined subunits, namely, alpha and beta. The alpha and beta-subunits have a structural homology with the alpha and beta-subunits of TSH and LH. The thyrotropic action of HCG results from its structural similarity to TSH, so beta-HCG can bind to the TSH receptor in the thyroid gland. A high level of HCG, accompanied by an increased thyroid hormone level, can be observed in gestational trophoblastic diseases (GTD), such as a hydatidiform mole or a choriocarcinoma. However, the clinical symptoms of hyperthyroidism in GTD are rarely observed. A 27-years-old woman, admitted due to an amenorrhea of 11 weeks duration, with thyrotoxic symptoms, such as weight loss, palpitation, sweating, tremor, heat intolerance and anxiety, was evaluated. Her serum free T4 level was 8 times higher than normal, and her serum beta-HCG level was over 1,000,000IU/L. She had a curettage operation, with the pathological findings of a complete hydatidiform mole. These thyrotoxic symptoms developed due to a hydatidiform mole, and were accompanied with a highly increased serum beta-HCG level. After evacuation of the molar tissue, the thyroid hormone and thyrotoxic symptoms normalized. Here, this case is reported, with brief review of the literature.
Amenorrhea ; Anxiety ; Choriocarcinoma ; Chorionic Gonadotropin ; Curettage ; Female ; Gestational Trophoblastic Disease ; Glycoproteins ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Hydatidiform Mole* ; Hyperthyroidism ; Molar ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Receptors, Thyrotropin ; Sweat ; Sweating ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyrotoxicosis* ; Tremor ; Weight Loss

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This observational, non-randomized study evaluated the effect of rosuvastatin loading before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on the incidence of CIN in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 824 patients who underwent PCI for ACS were studied (408 patients in the statin group=40 mg rosuvastatin loading before PCI; 416 patients of control group=no statin pretreatment). Serum creatinine concentrations were measured before and 24 and 48 hours after PCI. The primary endpoint was development of CIN defined as an increase in serum creatinine concentration of > or =0.5 mg/dL or > or =25% above baseline within 72 hours after PCI. RESULTS: The incidence of CIN was significantly lower in the statin group than that in the control group (18.8% vs. 13.5%, p=0.040). The maximum percent changes in serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate in the statin group within 48 hours were significantly lower than those in the control group (5.84+/-22.59% vs. 2.43+/-24.49%, p=0.038; -11.44+/-14.00 vs. -9.51+/-13.89, p=0.048, respectively). The effect of rosuvastatin on preventing CIN was greater in the subgroups of patients with diabetes, high-dose contrast medium, multivessel stents, high baseline C-reactive protein, and myocardial infarction. A multivariate analysis revealed that rosuvastatin loading was independently associated with a decreased risk for CIN (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.95, p=0.026). CONCLUSION: High-dose rosuvastatin loading before PCI was associated with a significantly lower incidence of CIN in patients with ACS.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; C-Reactive Protein ; Contrast Media ; Creatinine ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention* ; Stents ; Rosuvastatin Calcium