No abstract available.
Aged ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Myositis/*complications/diagnosis/drug therapy/immunology ; *Paraspinal Muscles/drug effects/immunology/pathology ; Polymyalgia Rheumatica/diagnosis/drug therapy/*etiology/immunology ; Risk Factors ; Sacroiliitis/*complications/diagnosis/drug therapy/immunology ; Treatment Outcome

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disorder that predominantly affects women of reproductive age. Risk of SLE flare during pregnancy is dependent on disease activity of SLE and proteinuria at the time of conception, which affect pregnancy outcome. We report on three patients who developed renal flares during pregnancy after remission of lupus nephritis before pregnancy. Two patients were treated successfully, with pregnancy outcomes of live births however, another patient's pregnancy was terminated with induced abortion. For SLE patients, family planningis needed until disease activity of SLE has been stable for at least six months prior to the pregnancy. Nevertheless, flares of lupus could develop and influence maternal and fetal outcome. Therefore, renal flares during pregnancy should be recognized and treated immediately.
Abortion, Induced ; Female ; Fertilization ; Humans ; Live Birth ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Lupus Nephritis* ; Nephritis ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnant Women* ; Proteinuria

Postoperative acute cholecystitis is a rare complication of orthopaedic surgery and is unrelated to the biliary tract. In particular, in the case of immediate postoperative state after surgery such as kyphoplasty at the thoracic vertebra, symptoms related to inflammation mimic those of abdominal origin, so the diagnosis and the treatment of acute cholecystitis can be delayed leading to a fatal outcome. It is important that physicians should be aware of the postoperative patient's condition in order to make an early diagnosis and determine treatment.
Biliary Tract ; Cholecystitis, Acute ; Early Diagnosis ; Fatal Outcome ; Hydrazines ; Inflammation ; Kyphoplasty ; Spine

No abstract available.
Colitis* ; Dasatinib* ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive*

Objective: The study’s aim was to evaluate the validity of the Korean version of the University of California San Diego Performance-based Skills Assessment, Validation of Intermediate Measures (K-UPSA-2-VIM) in patients with dementia (D), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and cognitive normal control group (CN). Methods: Study participants were 25 patients with D, 43 patients with MCI, and 111 controls with CN group, respectively. For cognitive assessment, Mini Mental State Examination, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease neuropsychological battery, and Clinical Dementia Rating were used. For functional assessment, Barthel-Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Dementia Screening questionnaire, and K-UPSA-2-VIM were used. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in all subdomains and total score of the K-UPSA-2-VIM among three cognitive groups. K-UPSA-2-VIM demonstrated 75.7% of sensitivity and 65.1% of specificity, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.731 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.641-0.821, p<0.001) in discriminating between CN and MCI groups. In discriminating between MCI and D groups, 76.7% of sensitivity and 64.0% of specificity, with an AUC of 0.706 (95% CI: 0.580-0.833, p=0.005) were demonstrated. Conclusion The K-UPSA-2-VIM is useful to evaluate activities of daily living function in Korean patients with D and MCI.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease is a relatively rare cause of neutropenic fever in patients with hematologic malignancies. During the neutropenic period, performing invasive procedures for microbiological or pathological confirmation is difficult. In addition, the optimal treatment duration for NTM disease in patients with leukemia, especially prior to stem cell transplantation (SCT), has not been documented. Therefore, we report a case of pneumonia with necrotizing lymphadenitis caused by Mycobacterium kansasii diagnosed during chemotherapy being performed for acute myeloid leukemia. The radiologic findings were similar to those of invasive fungal pneumonia; however, a bronchoalveolar washing fluid culture confirmed that the pathogen was M. kansasii. After 70 days from starting NTM treatment, allogeneic SCT was performed without any complications. The patient fully recovered after 12 months of NTM treatment, and neither reactivation of M. kansasii infection nor related complications were reported.
Drug Therapy ; Fever ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* ; Lymphadenitis* ; Mycobacterium kansasii* ; Mycobacterium* ; Pneumonia* ; Stem Cell Transplantation* ; Stem Cells*

No abstract available.
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Imatinib Mesylate*

The prognostic role of aberrant serum miRNA expression for predicting response to sorafenib treatment in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients has not been well characterized. We aimed to identify specific serum miRNAs that are associated with positive radiologic responses or improved survival in sorafenib-treated HCC patients. miR-18a, miR-21, miR-139-5p, miR-221, miR-224, and miR-10b-3p, were selected for analysis. Serum samples from 24 patients with advanced stage HCC and 25 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) were analyzed. All of the miRNAs except miR-21 were found to be upregulated in serum samples from HCC patients. None of the miRNAs assayed differed significantly in terms of expression between the responder and non-responder groups among HCC patients. However, miR-10b-3p levels were significantly higher in the subgroup of HCC patients with worse overall survival (fold change = 5.8, P = 0.008). Serum miRNA-10b-3p was upregulated in the presence of macrovascular invasion (MVI), and those with higher serum miRNA-10b-3p had significantly shorter survival during treatment (P = 0.042). Although no single serum miRNA was predictive of response to sorafenib treatment, analysis of serum miR-10b-3p levels may be valuable for diagnosis of HCC and prediction of survival of sorafenib-treated patients.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; MicroRNAs