Orchids live with mycorrhizal fungi in mutualism. This symbiotic relationship plays an essential role in the overall life cycle of orchids from germination, growth, settlement, and reproduction. Among the 1000 species of the orchid, the Korean lady’s slipper, Cypripedium japonicum, is known as an endangered species. Currently, only five natural habitats of the Korean lady’s slipper remain in South Korea, and the population of Korean lady’s slipper in their natural habitat is not increasing. To prevent extinction, this study was designed to understand the fungal community interacting in the rhizosphere of the Korean lady’s slipper living in the native and artificial habitats. In-depth analyses were performed to discover the vital mycorrhizal fungi contributing to habitat expansion and cultivation of the endangered orchid species. Our results suggested that Lycoperdon nigrescens contributed most to the increase in natural habitats and Russula violeipes as a characteristic of successful cultivation. And the fungi that helped L. nigrescens and R. violeipes to fit into the rhizosphere community in Korean lady’s slipper native place were Paraboeremia selaginellae and Metarhizium anisopliae, respectively. The findings will contribute to restoring and maintaining the endangered orchid population in natural habitats.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus is an extremely rare malignant mediastinal neoplasm, and to our knowledge, only 13 cases have been reported. We report a case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus that was seen in a 53-yr-old man with right chest pain. Chest CT scan showed a huge, cystic mass having a focal solid portion with direct invasion of the adjacent anterior chest wall and pericardium in the anterior mediastinum. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus should be included in the differential diagnosis for masses of the anterior mediastinum associated with extensive cystic changes, although the carcinoma is exceedingly rare.
Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid/*diagnosis/pathology ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Middle Aged ; Thymus Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology

PURPOSE: We wanted to determine the diagnostic accuracy of 16-slice MDCT arthrography (CTA) for glenoid labral and rotator cuff tears of the shoulder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled forty-five patients who underwent arthroscopy after CTA for pain or instability of the shoulder joint. The CTA images were analyzed for the existence, sites and types of glenoid labral tears and the presence and severity of rotator cuff tears. We determined the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CTA for detecting glenoid labral and rotator cuff tears on the basis of the arthroscopy findings. RESULTS: At arthroscopy, there were 33 SLAP lesions (9 type I, 23 type II and 1 type III), 6 Bankart lesions and 31 rotator cuff lesions (21 supraspinatus, 9 infraspinatus and 1 subscapularis). On CTA, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for detecting 24 SLAP lesions, excluding the type I lesions, were 83%, 100% and 91%, the total rotator cuff tears were 90%, 100% and 98%, the full thickness supraspinatus tendon tears were 100%, 94% and 96%, and the partial thickness supraspinatus tendon tears were 29%, 100% and 89%, respectively. CONCLUSION: 16-slice MDCT arthrography has high accuracy for the diagnosis of abnormality of the glenoid labrum or rotator cuff tears and it can be a useful alternative to MRI or US.
Arthrography* ; Arthroscopy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Rotator Cuff* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Shoulder Joint ; Shoulder* ; Tendons

PURPOSE: The aim of this project is to report the successful removal of a free - floating pigmented iris cyst in a patient ' s anterior chamber, which was causing visual disturbance. CASE SUMMARY: A 27 - year - old man visited our hospital because of an intermittent visual disturbance in his right eye developed two months prior to admission. There was no history of ocular trauma, surgery, inflammation, or a general medical problem. On slit lamp examination, we found a free - floating translucent pigmented iris cyst, which was ovoid in shape and about 3 mm in size in the right eye near the pupil margin. Moving in the anterior chamber, the cyst caused visual disturbance because it partly covered the pupil. It was also near the endothelium. Through the clear cornea incision, the iris cyst was removed successfully. From histopathologic investigation of the cyst, the tissue was found to consist of mature pigment epithelium, including pigment granules CONCLUSIONS: A free - floating pigmented iris cyst in the anterior chamber generally does not result in any complications and maintains its condition stably without changing in size. Hence, as long as it does not cause complications, no treatment is necessary. However, if it causes visual disturbance or it damages endothelial cells or causes glaucoma or any other intraocular complication, it needs to be treated. In the case of our patient, visual disturbance did occur and we removed the iris cyst through an operation. Such a case has not been reported before in South Korea.
Anterior Chamber ; Cornea ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium ; Epithelium ; Eye ; Glaucoma ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Iris ; Pupil ; Republic of Korea

Cervical spondylolysis is a rare condition, and less than 100 cases have been reported in the world literature. Cervical spondylolysis is defined as a well corticated defect in the posterior element of a cervical vertebra. Although the etiology of cervical spondylolysis is unknown, its association with dysplastic changes and spina bifida occulta suggest that the lesion is congenital. Here, we describe the radiographs and CT images of cervical spondylolysis involving four levels in a 9 year old boy.
Child* ; Humans ; Male ; Spina Bifida Occulta ; Spine ; Spondylolysis*

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study is to evaluate the plain radiographic features of pulmonary tuberculosis in adult diabetic patients compared with those in patients without any underlying diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the chest PA and lateral views of 100 patients having active pulmonary tuberculosis;40 patients had diabetes mellitus and 60 patients had no other underlying diseases. images were assesed for anatomical distributions, extents of lesions, size and number of cavity and patterns radiographic findings. RESULTS: Diabetic tuberculosis had higher prevalence and wider involvement of unusual segments for the tuberculosis such as anterior segment, lingular segment of upper lobe and basal segment of the lower lobe, and they showed the tendency of having more cavities than those who had no other underlying diseases, but there were no meaningful differences in the cavity size between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary tuberculosis in diabetic patients tends to have wider extent with unusual segmental involvement and multiple cavities than in the patients who had no other underlying diseases.
Adult* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Equidae ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

PURPOSE: This study compared the WHO criteria with the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) in the same patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in order to determine the significance of the RECIST. In addition, this study compared the estimations of medical oncologists with those of a radiologist. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2002 and 2005, a total of 48 patients (male: female ratio, 29: 19; median age, 58 years) with measurable lesions receiving chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Two medical oncologists and one radiologist, who were blinded to the patients' condition, independently reviewed all the CT images. The results were compared using a kappa test. RESULTS: The kappa test for concordance between the WHO and RECIST criteria of the medical oncologists and the radiologist were 0.908 and 0.841, respectively. The level of concordance between the investigators using the WHO and RECIST were 0.722 and 0.753, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The RECIST criteria are comparable to the WHO criteria in evaluating the response of colorectal carcinoma, but have simple and reproducible guidelines. The use of RECIST is recommended for evaluating the treatment efficacy in clinical trials and practice.
Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Research Personnel ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVES: To describe the distributions of blood pressure level and risk group, and the current state of life style modification in the population of a large factory. METHODS: We surveyed 1,088 workers in a large factory from June 2002 to August 2002. Information related to hypertension was collected through a questionnaire and medical examination. We classified the blood pressure level and risk group using JNC-VI criteria, and the current state of life style modification and medication according to the blood pressure level in the entire study population. REULTS: The prevalence of hypertension was 30.1% in all workers. The distribution of blood pressure level was 656 (60.3%) in normal stage, 160 (14.7%) in high normal stage, 190 (17.5%) in stage 1, 67 (6.1%) in stage 2, and 15 (1.4%) in stage 3. The numbers of workers in risk groups A, B and C were 296 (27.2%), 690 (63.4%) and 102 (9.4%), respectively. Among all workers, 432 (39.7%) needed to modify their lifestyle; 106 of whom (24.5%) needed to go on hypertensive drug medication. Overweight subjects were more common in stage 2 than in other stages (p=0.02). The numbers of smokers and low-exercisers were signigicantly lower in the higher blood pressure group than the lower blood pressure group (p<0.01). Alcoholic drinking was evenly distributed in all blood pressure level. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertension was 30.1% in all workers. The most common stage of blood pressure level was normal, followed by stage 1, high normal stage, stage 2, stage 3. The number of subjects in risk group B was more than that in the other risk groups. We recommend total worker education and the practice of lifestyle modification.
Alcoholics ; Blood Pressure* ; Drinking ; Education ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Life Style* ; Male* ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Anaphylaxis is an acute, life-threatening systemic reaction which should be treated by epinephrine, and patients should be prescribed epinephrine auto-injector after the event. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of pediatric anaphylaxis, including the rate of using epinephrine at hospital and prescribing epinephrine auto-injector. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 68 anaphylactic patients at in-hospital, out-hospital, and Emergency Department of Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea, who were under 15 years of age, from January 2013 through December 2014. We reviewed their clinical features, doctor's treatment methods, rate of follow-up and prescribing epinephrine auto-injectors. RESULTS: Causes of anaphylaxis were food (76.5%), drug (10.3%), and idiopathic (13.2%). The involved organs were the skin (86.8%), respiratory tract (80.9%), cardiovascular system (23.5%), and gastrointestinal tract (17.7%). Patients were treated with systemic steroids (91.2%), antihistamines (88.2%), and epinephrine (75.0%). Fifty-three patients (77.9%) revisited our pediatric allergy clinic and epinephrine auto-injectors were prescribed for 25 patients (36.8%). CONCLUSION: Physicians should make an effort to use epinephrine as an initial treatment of anaphylaxis, to prescribe epinephrine auto-injectors, and to give proper information about disease.
Anaphylaxis* ; Cardiovascular System ; Child ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Epinephrine* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Histamine Antagonists ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Korea ; Respiratory System ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Steroids

Hepatic paragonimiasis is a rare form of ectopic infestation caused by Paragonimus. We experienced a case of hepatic paragonimiasis that showed characteristic imaging findings. CT and MR images showed a cluster of small cysts with rim enhancement in the subcapsular area of the liver. This finding seems to be characteristic for hepatic paragonimiasis, considering imaging findings in paragonimiasis involving other organs.
Adult ; Humans ; Liver/*parasitology/pathology/radiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Paragonimiasis/*pathology/*radiography ; *Paragonimus westermani ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed