BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) with 2D echocardiography (2DE) is one of the time-consuming procedures in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Moreover, the accuracy of DSE with 2DE depends on the operator's skill or bias during the image acquisition. This study was conducted to determine the feasibility and accuracy of DSE with real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) for the diagnosis of CAD. SUBJECT AND METHODS: 62 patients (RT3DE: 36, 2DE: 26), suspected of angina pectoris and post-revascularization ischemia, underwent DSE and coronary angiography (CAG). Image acquisition was performed at the baseline, and at 4 times during the dobutamine infusion and recovery stages. The procedure time (from the baseline to the end of the peak dose stage) was recorded. Off-line analyses of the volumetric images acquired with RT3DE were performed using 3D computer software (TomTec, Co.). Digitized quad-screen images acquired with 2DE were analyzed using the 2DE review system (ProSolv 4.0). >50% luminal diameter stenosis of any coronary artery on CAG was defined as significant coronary artery stenosis. RESULTS: The procedure time of DSE with RT3DE was significantly shorter than that of DSE with 2DE (25+/-4 vs. 37+/-4 mins, p<0.001). There was no significant difference in the sensitivity (p>0.05) or specificity (p>0.05) between the two procedures. CONCLUSION: DSE with RT3DE seems to be a feasible and less time consuming diagnostic procedure, probably providing comparable sensitivity and specificity for the detection of coronary artery stenosis, than DSE with 2DE.
Angina Pectoris ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Stenosis ; Coronary Vessels* ; Diagnosis* ; Dobutamine* ; Echocardiography* ; Echocardiography, Stress* ; Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional* ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Phenobarbital ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: We wanted to review the clinical results of staged reimplantation in patients who had candidal infection after total knee arthroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed five patients who had a candidal prosthetic knee infection, as was assessed by synovial fluid culture. Amphotericin B was intravenously administrated to all five patients during the postoperative period for six weeks and followed for at least twelve months. We carried out two-stage re-implantations with using antifungal agent-impregnated bone cement. Whether or not infection recurred was evaluated according to the symptoms and radiologic and hematologic studies. The clinical results were analyzed on the basis of the range of motion and hospital for special surgery (HSS) score. RESULTS: The final review showed that all of the symptoms disappeared. We could not find any loosening on the radiologic studies and all five patients had normal C-reactive protein values on serological exams. The mean postoperative range of motion was 1degrees (range: 0~5)~99degrees (range: 70~130) and the mean HSS score improved from 49.4 (range: 44~64) points to 73 (range: 65~90) after the re-implantation. CONCLUSION: We successfully controlled five candidal prosthetic knee infections by removing the components in conjunction with using an antifungal- impregnated bone cement and staged re-implantation after a 6 week course of intravenous antifungal drugs.
Amphotericin B ; Arthroplasty ; C-Reactive Protein ; Candida ; Humans ; Knee ; Postoperative Period ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Replantation ; Synovial Fluid

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer, for which surgery following preoperative staging and risk assessment is the standard treatment. Afatinib is an orally active irreversible ErbB-family inhibitor that binds to the kinase domain of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), HER2, and HER4, and has been approved as monotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with activated EGFR mutations. Recently, we observed an unexpected effect of afatinib administered to treat lung cancer on untreated papillary thyroid carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The modification of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scoring system (Refit MELD) and the modification of MELD-Na (Refit MELDNa), which optimized the MELD coefficients, were published in 2011. We aimed to validate the superiority of the Refit MELDNa over the Refit MELD for the prediction of 3-month mortality in Korean patients with cirrhosis and ascites. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of patients admitted with hepatic cirrhosis and ascites to the Konkuk University Hospital between January 2006 and December 2011. The Refit MELD and Refit MELDNa were compared using the predictive value of the 3-month mortality, as assessed by the Child-Pugh score. RESULTS: In total, 530 patients were enrolled, 87 of whom died within 3 months. Alcohol was the most common etiology of their cirrhosis (n=271, 51.1%), and the most common cause of death was variceal bleeding (n=20, 23%). The areas under the receiver operating curve (AUROCs) for the Child-Pugh, Refit MELD, and Refit MELDNa scores were 0.754, 0.791, and 0.764 respectively; the corresponding values when the analysis was performed only in patients with persistent ascites (n=115) were 0.725, 0.804, and 0.796, respectively. The significant difference found among the Child-Pugh, Refit MELD, and Refit MELDNa scores was between the Child-Pugh score and Refit MELD in patients with persistent ascites (P=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: Refit MELD and Refit MELDNa exhibited good predictability for 3-month mortality in patients with cirrhosis and ascites. However, Refit MELDNa was not found to be a better predictor than Refit MELD, despite the known relationship between hyponatremia and mortality in cirrhotic patients with ascites.
Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Area Under Curve ; *Ascites ; End Stage Liver Disease/complications/*diagnosis/mortality ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/etiology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications/*diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Models, Theoretical ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Survival Analysis

PURPOSE: Adrenal schwannomas are very rare and are usually incidentally found on autopsy and imaging. The aim of this study was to describe our experience of adrenal schwannoma and review the literature regarding this rare tumor. METHODS: To identify patients with adrenal schwannoma, the MEDLINE database was searched via the major electronic database PubMed using the medical subject heading terms “adrenal” and “schwannoma”. Thirty-nine adrenal schwannoma cases, including two from our institution were included. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 47.95 years (range, 11~89 years). The female:male ratio was 21:17. Sixteen patients had tumors on the right side, 19 on the left, while one patient had bilateral tumors. The mean tumor size was 6.12 cm (range, 0.6~14.5 cm), and the mean tumor weight was 161.3 g (range, 31.5~600.0 g). Sixteen tumors were solid, four cystic, one solid and cystic, and 18 were not described. Histologically, 14 cases were Antoni A, two were Antoni B, and 12 had concomitant Antoni A and B. CONCLUSION: Adrenal schwannoma is usually an incidental finding, and the clinician must have a high index of suspicion to recognize it when imaging reveals suggestive features.
Adrenal Glands ; Autopsy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Medical Subject Headings ; Neurilemmoma* ; Tumor Burden

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare tumor, which is difficult to diagnose. A 65-year-old man was admitted complaining of abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a cystic mass in the pancreatic body. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) showed an approximate 1.0 cm-sized hypoechoic cystic mass with a solid portion in the pancreatic body and narrowing of the main pancreatic duct. Under the impression of acute pancreatitis with a pseudocyst diagnosis, medical therapy including pancreatic stent insertion was administered to the patient for 4 weeks. A distal pancreatectomy was performed with the suspicion of pancreatic cancer due to the remaining mass on a follow-up CT scan, and the tumor was histopathologically diagnosed as stage I (TNM classification) adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreatic body. The patient was discharged without any problems and has been on follow-up without recurrence. We report a case of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas that was diagnosed relatively early with the help of EUS.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Pancreas ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Pancreatitis ; Recurrence ; Stents

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is recommended that duodenal ulcer patients who are infected with H. pylori should be treated with eradication therapy, whether the ulcer is active or in remission. However, there has been no report on the effect of eradication treatment in patients with incidentally found S-2 stage duodenal ulcer scar. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 80 H. pylori-positive patients with S-2 stage duodenal ulcer scar who have no past history of ulcer treatment. Treatment group received triple therapy consisted of omeprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin for 2 weeks, whereas control group received no treatment. The follow-up endoscopy was performed every 1 year and when the patients have symptoms of ulcer disease. Fifty-three patients were followed up for more than 1 year. RESULTS: The eradication rate of the treatment group was 92.9%. During the follow-up period of 14.7 months, 20% (5/25) of patients in the control group (2 gastric ulcers and 3 duodenal ulcers) and 3.6% (1/28) of patients in the treatment group (1 duodenal ulcer) developed active or healing stage peptic ulcers (p=0.089). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that H. pylori eradication may he effective in preventing peptic ulcers in patients with S-2 stage duodenal ulcer scar.
Amoxicillin ; Cicatrix* ; Clarithromycin ; Duodenal Ulcer* ; Endoscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Omeprazole ; Peptic Ulcer ; Prospective Studies ; Stomach Ulcer ; Ulcer

Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) is a rare T-cell lymphoma characterized by involvement of the subcutaneous tissue of neoplastic T lymphocytes. SPTCL with hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is associated with an aggressive clinical course and treatment of SPTCL with HPS is not well established. Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone (CHOP) therapy is not successful in most patients suffering from SPTCL with HPS. The role of high dose chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains controversial. We report a case of relapsed SPTCL after CHOP chemotherapy and salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous HSCT, which had rapid improvement within weeks after cyclosporine and prednisolone. Immunosuppressive therapy may be an important and successful treatment option in SPTCL patients, even though they may have clinically aggressive disease.
Cyclophosphamide ; Cyclosporine ; Doxorubicin ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Panniculitis ; Prednisolone ; Stress, Psychological ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; T-Lymphocytes ; Vincristine

The typical manifestation of repeated migraine headache followed by ophthalmoplegia can be diagnosed as a ophthalmoplegic migraine. The diagnosis requires exclusion of other causes. MRI was useful in excluding other causes of ophthalmoplegia with headache and there is few abnormal findings on MRI in ophthalmoplegic migraine patients. A 55-year-old man with a familial and personal history of migraine was admitted due to left ptosis and diplopia followed by insidiously developed headache. The migraine headache and ophthalmoplegia were improved spontaneously within 3 days and within 4 weeks, respectively. MRI demonstrated gadolinium enhancement on the cisternal portion of left oculomotor nerve.
Diagnosis ; Diplopia ; Gadolinium* ; Headache ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Middle Aged ; Migraine Disorders ; Oculomotor Nerve* ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Ophthalmoplegic Migraine*

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge about the management status of diabetic melitus (DM) is essential to improve diabetic management. Moreover, low income is associated with poor adherence to treatment and increased mortality. This study was performed to evaluate the management status of DM in low-income patients in a rural area. METHODS: We enrolled 370 patients with type 2 DM living in Gokseong county, JeollaNamdo. A well-trained examiner measured the height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Carotid ultrasonography was used to measure carotid artery carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT) and plaque. ankle-brachial index (ABI) was used to evaluate peripheral artery disease. A fundoscopic examination was performed to evaluate diabetic retinopathy. A history of diabetes complications and health-related questionnaires were also completed. RESULTS: The age of diabetic subjects was 68.7+/-8.7 years and the duration of diabetes was 8.9+/-8.2 years. Most (63.5%) had hypertension, and 45.7% had triglycerides below 150 mg/dl, 38.1% had low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) cholesterol below 100 mg/dl, 48.7% had urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) below 30 mg/g. Less than half (45.9%) achieved the goal of HbA1c less than 7% suggested by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). 10.6% had peripheral vascular disease, 11.9% had retinopathy, and 60.8% had chronic kidney disease. CONCLUSIONS: DM management in low income patients is very poor and requires further work to improve.
Aged ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Weights and Measures ; Carotid Arteries/ultrasonography ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications/*therapy ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated/analysis ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Lipids/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Compliance ; *Poverty ; *Rural Population ; Socioeconomic Factors