Purpose: This study aimed to assess the incidence of and factors associated with major complications, delayed discharge, and emergency room (ER) visits or readmission after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) <3 cm in a recent cohort at a tertiary cancer center. Methods: A total of 188 patients with treatment-naïve single HCCs <3 cm who underwent RFA between January 2018 and April 2021 were included in the analysis. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with major complications, delayed discharge, and ER visits or readmission. Local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis. Results: Major complications occurred in 3.2% (6/188) of the patients. The longest diameter of the ablation zone was significantly larger in patients with major complications (P=0.023). Delayed discharge occurred in 5.8% (9/188) of the patients, for which albumin-bilirubin grade 3 was identified as an important determinant. No variables other than major complications were significantly associated with ER visits or readmission, which occurred in 7.0% (13/188) of the patients. Major complications, delayed discharge, and ER visits or readmission were not substantially related to the post-treatment outcomes of LTP and overall survival. Conclusion This study confirmed RFA as a highly safe procedure for single HCCs <3 cm, despite the rapidly changing RFA techniques in the most recent cohort. A large ablation zone and poor liver function were predictors of major complications and delayed discharge, respectively.

Rhinocerebral mucormycosis (RCM) is an opportunistic, potentially life-threatening fungal disease. This infective disease invades not only the facial sinuses, but also the maxilla, zygoma, and rhino-cerebral structures with a massive destruction of the facial skeletons and soft tissue. This disease progresses within various underlying diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hematologic malignancy, renal failure, and systemic immunodepression. The relationship between mucormycosis and these underlying conditions have been discussed extensively in the literature. The authors studied 6 cases of RCM diagnosed by a tissue biopsy and treated at the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, from 1997 to 2012. Patients were treated with several kinds of surgical interventions and antifungal agents, and their clinical & radiological signs, underlying conditions, surgical methods, and outcomes were analyzed.
Antifungal Agents ; Biopsy ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Humans ; Maxilla ; Mucormycosis* ; Renal Insufficiency ; Skeleton ; Surgery, Oral ; Zygoma

PURPOSE: To determine optimal scan time for the early phase of two-phase spiral CT and to evaluate its usefulness in the detection and assessment of extension of urinary bladder lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In four normal adults, we performed dynamic scanning and obtained time-density curves for internal and external iliac arteries and veins, and the wall of the urinary bladder. Sixty patients with 68 lesions of the urinary bladder or prostate underwent precontrast and two-phase spiral CT scanning. After injection of 100ml of noninonic contrast material, images for the early and delayed phases were obtained at 60 seconds and 5 minutes, respectively. We measured CT H.U. of the wall, the lesion, and lumen of urinary bladder as seen on axial scanning, in each image in which the lesion was best shown. For the detection of bladder lesions and assessment of their extension, precontrast, early-, and delayed phase images were compared. RESULTS: Dynamic study of normal adults showed maximum enhancement of bladder wall between 60 and 100 seconds. The difference of CT H.U. between bladder wall and the lesion was greatest in the early phase. The best detection rate (98.5%) was seen during this phase, and for the detection of bladder lesion, this same phase was superior or equal (66/68,97.1%) to the delayed phase. The precontrast image was also superior or equal (31/68,45.6%) to that of the delayed phase. For the assessment of extension of bladder lesion, the early phase was superior (36/68,52.9%) to the delayed phase, and precontrast image was superior (1/68, 1.5%) to that of the delayed phase. For determining the stage of bladder cancer, the early phase was most accurate if the stages was below B2 or D, while for stage C, the delayed phase was most accurate. CONCLUSION: In two-phase spiral CT scanning, we consider the optimal time for the early phase to be between 60 and 100 seconds after injection of contrast material. For the detection and assessment of extension of urinary bladder lesion, the early phase was superior to the late phase, and for evaluation of the ureter, the delayed phase was useful. The precontrast image was inferior to that of the delayed phase. We suggest that for the detection and assessment of extension of urinary bladder lesion without scanning of the precontrast image, two-phase spiral CT is reliable.
Adult ; Humans ; Iliac Artery ; Prostate ; Tomography, Spiral Computed* ; Ureter ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder* ; Veins

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the gallbladder is extremely rare. A review of the literature in English revealed only one case, involving a patient with initial extramedullary plasmacytoma of the maxillary sinus. In this report, we describe the case of a 63-year-old man with surgically confirmed extramedullary plasmacytoma confined to the gallbladder. At ultrasonography and computed tomography, diffuse and uniform thickening of the gallbladder wall without evidence of surrounding tissue infiltration was depicted.
Gallbladder* ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; Middle Aged ; Plasmacytoma* ; Ultrasonography

We investigated a novel process for production of ethanol from glycerol using the yeast Pachysolen tannophilus. After optimization of the fermentation medium, repeated-batch flask culture was performed over a period of 378 hr using yeast cells immobilized on Celite. Our results indicated that the use of Celite for immobilization of P. tannophilus was a practical approach for ethanol production from glycerol, and should be suitable for industrial ethanol production.
Diatomaceous Earth* ; Ethanol* ; Fermentation ; Glycerol* ; Immobilization ; Yeasts*

We evaluated a more practical and cost-effective immobilization carriers for ethanol production using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three candidate materials-rice hull, rice straw, and sawdust-were tested for their cell-adsorption capacity and operational durability. Derivatizations of rice hull, rice straw, and sawdust with the optimal concentration of 0.5 M of 2-(diethylamino)ethyl chloride hydrochloride (DEAE . HCl) resulted in > 95% adsorption of the initial yeast cells at 2 hr for DEAE-rice hull and DEAE-sawdust and in only approximately 80% adsorption for DEAE-rice straw. In addition, DEAE-sawdust was found to be a more practical carrier for immobilizing yeast cells in terms of operational durability in shaking flask cultures with two different speeds of 60 and 150 rpm. Furthermore, the biosorption isotherms of DEAE-rice hull, -rice straw, and -sawdust for yeast cells revealed that the Qmax of DEAE-sawdust (82.6 mg/g) was greater than that of DEAE-rice hull and DEAE-rice straw. During the 404-hr of continuous column reactor operation using yeast cells immobilized on DEAE-sawdust, no serious detachment of the yeast cells from the DEAE-sawdust was recorded. Ethanol yield of approximately 3.04 g/L was produced steadily, and glucose was completely converted to ethanol at a yield of 0.375 g-ethanol/g-glucose (73.4% of the theoretical value). Thus, sawdust is a promising practical immobilization carrier for ethanol production, with significance in the production of bioethanol as a biofuel.
Adsorption ; Biofuels ; Ethanol* ; Glucose ; Immobilization ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae* ; Yeasts

BACKGROUND: The hospital-acquired pneumonia is the most common nosocomial infection. Recently, the Acinetobacter baummannii infections are rapidly increasing, especially the frequency of Multi-drug resistant A. baumannii. Therefore we assessed clinical features and prognosis of patients in the ICU with Multi-drug resistant A. baumannii from the sputum culture using the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score(CPIS). METHODS: The medical records of 43 patients with Multi-drug resistant A. baumannii from sputum culture who were suspected had clinically pneumonia and admitted to the ICU from January 2000 to July 2002 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULT: 19 patients were CPIS greater than 6 and 24 patients were CPIS less than or equal to 6. Mean age for the former was 71+/-11 years old, and the latter was 61+/-19 years old. The mean APACHE II score on admission and on sputum study was not different between two groups(17.4+/-5.7 vs 18.5+/-6.1, p=0.553, 20+/-6 vs 17+/-8, p=0.078). But the mortality rate was 73.7% for the former, and 16.7% for the latter(p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In ICU patients who had clinically suspected pneumonia with sputum culture positive for Multi-drug resistant A. baumannii, the mortality was significantly higher if CPIS was greater than 6.
Acinetobacter baumannii* ; Acinetobacter* ; APACHE ; Cross Infection ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Pneumonia ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum*

(AECOPD). While critically ill patients requiring admission need proper antibiotic treatment for the causative pathogen, little is known about the bacterial etiology of AECOPD in Korea. We therefore studied the bacterial etiology of hospitalized patients with COPD in our institution. METHODS: The study enrolled 149 patients who were admitted to the hospital in Sungnam with the diagnosis of AECOPD between July 1, 2004 and June 1, 2007. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data and results of sputum cultures. RESULTS: Of the 149 subjects with sputum collected, 51% (76 cases) had positive bacterial cultures [age 70.7+/- 9.2 years (mean+/- SD); 116 males] of sputum. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (24 cases, 30.4%) was the organism cultured in sputum most commonly, followed by Streptococcus pneumonia (15 cases, 18.9%), Acinetobacter sp. (9 cases, 11.4%), and Klebsiella pneumonia (7 cases, 8.9%). Patients whose FEV1 was <50% of the predicted value had a greater chance of showing positive growth of P. aeruginosa than patients having a FEV1 >50% (17/96 vs. 4/53, respectively, p=0.002). Patients taking systemic steroids also had a higher rate of sputum culture of P. aeruginosa (85.7%). CONCLUSIONS: P. aeruginosa was the pathogen most commonly isolated in hospitalized patients with COPD. This species should be considered when physicians select empirical antibiotics to treat patients with AECOPD.
Acinetobacter ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacterial Infections ; Critical Illness ; Humans ; Klebsiella ; Korea ; Pneumonia ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum ; Steroids ; Streptococcus

OBJECTIVES: The respiratory compensation threshold(RCT) is thought to be one of parameters by some for the evaluation of physical performance despite its controversial status. The purpose of this investigation is to establish the reference values of the RCT in healthy Korean adults, and to examine the usefulness of this parameter in evaluating physical performance. METHODS: Symptom-limited maximal exercise test by Bruce protocol was carried out, and RCT and AT were determined by the aid of the computerized V-slope method, along with the VO2 max, in 441 healthy Korean adults consisting of 284 men and 157 women aged from 20`s to 60`s. In addition, correlation between RCT and AT was observed, and regression equations of the RCT were also derived. RESULTS: The RCT VO2 was tended to decrease with age in men, but not in women and the RCT VO2 of women was 26-30% less than that of men. The ratio of RCT VO2 to VO2 max (RCT VO2/VO2 max) was tended to increase with age and the RCT V was significantly correlated with AT VC4 and VO2 max in both sexes. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that the RCT is another useful submaximal index along with the AT in evaluating physical performance. The regression equation of the RCT was RCT VO2(L/min)=1.4232-0.0102 A(age in year)+0.0204 W(weight in kg)-0.4889 S (sex, coded O for males and 1 for females).
Adult* ; Anaerobic Threshold ; Compensation and Redress* ; Exercise Test ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND: Increase in extended-spectrum -lactamase(ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have been reported in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the nationwide prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae, and to investigate the types of ESBLs. METHODS: A total of 2,221 E. coli and 1,128 K. pneumoniae consecutive isolates were yearly collected from 12 hospitals in 1999 and 2000. ESBL production was performed by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards methods and double synergy tests. The type of ESBL was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), isoelectric focusing, and nucleotide sequence analysis. RESULTS: ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were detected from all 12 hospitals participated. The proportion of ESBL-producers was 9.1%(2.0-19.6%) of the E. coli and 29.2% (10.0-60.8%) of the K. pneumoniae isolates. Among the 22 isolates sequenced, SHV-12 was found in six isolates, SHV-2a in three isolates, TEM-52 in five isolates, TEM-106 in three isolates, and each of TEM-15, TEM-20, TEM-43, and TEM-107 in one isolate. CTX-M-14 was also found in one isolate. CONCLUSION: ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae are widespred to all levels of Korean hospitals. The most common types of ESBLs in Korea are SHV-12, SHV-2a, and TEM-52. In addition, we also identified new TEM-derived ESBLs.
Base Sequence ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Korea* ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence*