BACKGROUND: The etiology of Behçet's disease(BD) is not yet certain, and various hypotheses are suggested. In order to determine the role of dietary intake behavior in the pathogenesis of BD, we analyzed BD patients by questionnaire regarding their personal, social, and economic characteristics, and dietary intake behavior. METHODS: A series. of 79 patients who were registered at the Behçet's Disease Specialty Clinic at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea were studied. The patients were classified and the data from the patients were analyzed according to the revised Japanese criteria. RESULTS: All patients except for suspected type patients took an average amount of nutrition close to the Korean Recommended Dietary Allowance(RDA). However, on the whole, the amount of consumption of Vitamin B2 and C was low and in the case of females, the consumption of Ca and Fe was makedly insufficient in accordance with the Korean RDA. In case of the level of dietary and serum zinc, there was no significant difference in patients or among groups. CONCLUSION: Since the consumption of some vitamins and minerals of patients were low, the behavior of dietary intake of BD patients which is considered to have a possible role in development of disease should be studied further.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Minerals ; Miners ; Riboflavin ; Seoul ; Vitamins ; Zinc

Bronchogenic cyst has been recognized as remnants of foregut which abnormally were developed tracheobronchial tree during embryonic period. The anomaly was found in the lung or mediastinum but rarely in the neck. Histologic diagnosis can be made by the identification of the airway tissue lined by ciliated pseudostratified columnar or cuboid epithelium. A 4-year-old patient was admitted due to increase in the size of right neck mass which was incidentally found 2 years ago. In anterior triangle of neck, soft, non-tender and movable mass was presented in right lymph node measured by 1.2X0.7 cm in size. On admission, soft and non-tender mass was palpated at the right neck between right thyroid gland and right sternocleidomastoid muscle measured by 2.0x1.0 cm in size. After the excisional operation, histopathologic examination revealed the smooth muscle and muco-serous gland lined by ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium, and was diagnosed of bronchogenic cyst surrounded by enlarged lymph nodes which were reflecting reactive hyperplasia. We are reporting a case of bronchogenic cyst presenting as neck mass with brief review of the literature.
Bronchogenic Cyst* ; Child ; Child, Preschool* ; Diagnosis ; Epithelium ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Male* ; Mediastinum ; Muscle, Smooth ; Neck* ; Thyroid Gland

Despite abundant blood supply, metastatic tumors of the penis are rare. We report herein a case of metastatic cancer of the penis from urinary bladder carcinoma in a 80-year-old man. He presented with 1 month history of erythematous tender mass on the penis which developed 16 months later after the diagnosis of carcinoma of the urinary bladder had been made. Skin biopsy from this lesion revealed variable sized atypical cells with hyperchromatic and pleomorphic nuclei similar to those of the urinary bladder. On immunohistochemical staining, infiltrating cells of both bladder and penis showed positive reaction to thrombomodulin and carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), but negative reaction to cytokeratin20 and C-erB-2 oncogene.
Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Oncogenes ; Penile Neoplasms* ; Penis ; Skin ; Thrombomodulin ; Urinary Bladder*

Dysphagia can cause aspiration pneumonia, a critical condition that increases the risk of morbidity and mortality in immunosuppressed patients. The facial nerve plays an important role in oropharyngeal swallowing. Here, we present a rare case of a leukemia patient with bilateral facial palsy and dysphagia, detected by a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS), which revealed oropharyngeal phase dysfunction. Severe drooling was observed due to poor lip sealing in the oral phase. The tongue movement was normal, but the patient had difficulty controlling dense food between his teeth and tongue, and under the tongue. In the pharyngeal phase, decreased elevation and closure of the larynx were observed. Penetration and aspiration were observed during liquid tests, however there was no cough. This case highlights the fact that the facial nerve plays an important role in the oropharyngeal phase of swallowing. VFSS should be preferentially considered to rule out aspiration pneumonia in bilateral facial palsy with suspected dysphagia.

Objective: Patients recovering from moderate-to-severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reportedly have dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing. The current study compares the differences in dysphagia characteristics arising from COVID-19 pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia. We further identify factors affecting the severity of dysphagia. Methods: Fifty-four patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia with dysphagia and 44 patients with aspiration pneumonia were referred for a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) since they presented with signs and symptoms of dysphagia. The electronic medical records were reviewed to compare the dysphagia characteristics of the patients. Results: Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation, tracheostomy, and a diagnosis of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) after admission were more common in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (P＜0.001 for other variables and P=0.007 for tracheostomy) than in patients with aspiration pneumonia. Compared to patients with aspiration pneumonia, the COVID-19 patients had a significantly higher total modified videofluoroscopic dysphagia scale (mVDS) score, indicating more severe dysphagia (P=0.038). Among the mVDS sub-scores, tracheal aspiration was significantly higher in the COVID-19 pneumonia group (P＜0.001). In logistic regression analysis, age (P=0.034), COVID-19 (P=0.001), ICU admission (P=0.012), tracheostomy (P=0.029), and ARDS diagnosis after admission (P=0.036) were significantly associated with tracheal aspiration. After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, and clinical variables, COVID-19 was still significantly associated with worse tracheal aspiration scores (P=0.042). Conclusion Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia showed more severe dysphagia than subjects with aspiration pneumonia. This is particularly related to tracheal aspiration, as revealed by the VFSS. The dysphagia also correlated with a greater incidence of ICU admission, intubation, tracheostomy, and ARDS diagnosis in the COVID-19 pneumonia group.

Several theories emphasize that aging is closely related to oxidative stress and disease. The formation of excess ROS can lead to DNA damage and the acceleration of aging. Vigna angularis is one of the important medicinal plants in Korea. We isolated vitexin from V. angularis and elucidated the lifespan-extending effect of vitexin using the Caenorhabditis elegans model system. Vitexin showed potent lifespan extensive activity and it elevated the survival rates of nematodes against the stressful environments including heat and oxidative conditions. In addition, our results showed that vitexin was able to elevate antioxidant enzyme activities of worms and reduce intracellular ROS accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. These studies demonstrated that the increased stress tolerance of vitexin-mediated nematode could be attributed to increased expressions of stress resistance proteins such as superoxide dismutase (SOD-3) and heat shock protein (HSP-16.2). In this work, we also studied whether vitexin-mediated longevity activity was associated with aging-related factors such as progeny, food intake, growth and movement. The data revealed that these factors were not affected by vitexin treatment except movement. Vitexin treatment improved the body movement of aged nematode, suggesting vitexin affects healthspan as well as lifespan of nematode. These results suggest that vitexin might be a probable candidate which could extend the human lifespan.
Acceleration ; Aging ; Caenorhabditis elegans* ; Caenorhabditis* ; DNA Damage ; Eating ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Korea ; Longevity ; Oxidative Stress ; Plants, Medicinal ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Survival Rate

Recent reports have described an increasing incidence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in patients who do not exhibit established risk factors for healthcare exposure. We report two cases of CA-MRSA bacteremia complicated by vertebral osteomyelitis. Both of CA-MRSA isolates were resistant to beta-lactam agents, but susceptible to clindamycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline. Both isolates carried staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IVA, and were identified as sequence type (ST) 72 by mlultilocus sequence typing (MLST). However, the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene was not identified.
Bacteremia ; Bacterial Toxins ; Ciprofloxacin ; Clindamycin ; Delivery of Health Care ; Exotoxins ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocidins ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Osteomyelitis ; Risk Factors ; Tetracycline ; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination

Recent reports have described an increasing incidence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in patients who do not exhibit established risk factors for healthcare exposure. We report two cases of CA-MRSA bacteremia complicated by vertebral osteomyelitis. Both of CA-MRSA isolates were resistant to beta-lactam agents, but susceptible to clindamycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline. Both isolates carried staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IVA, and were identified as sequence type (ST) 72 by mlultilocus sequence typing (MLST). However, the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene was not identified.
Bacteremia ; Bacterial Toxins ; Ciprofloxacin ; Clindamycin ; Delivery of Health Care ; Exotoxins ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leukocidins ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Osteomyelitis ; Risk Factors ; Tetracycline ; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination

OBJECTIVES: In the third trimester hypertensive pregnancies, we would like to evaluate effects of white coat hypertension, severity of hypertension and diurnal variation of blood pressure on the fetal outcome by using 24- hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. METHODS: Hypertensives(n=50) and normotensives (n=14) in the third trimester of the pregnancy underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. We excluded hypertensives(n=5) who became pre-eclampsia patients. Hypertensives(n=45) were classified as white coat hypertensives(n=14, mean ambulatory blood pressure <139/87mmHg) and sustained hypertensives(n=31). Sustained hypertensives(n=31) were divided as moderate to severe hypertensives(n=5, systolic blood pressure >160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure >100mmHg) and mild hypertensives(n=26). Sustained hypertensives were also divided into two groups which had diurnal variation of blood pressure or not. To exclude effects of hypertension severity, effects of diurnal variation were evaluated in hypertensives with similar mean arterial blood pressure. Gestational age, body weight, body weight for gestational age were used as parameters of the fetal outcome. RESULTS: 1) The prevalence of white coat hypertension was 28%(14/50). 2) There were no significant differences in the fetal outcome between normotensives(n=14) and white coat hypertensives(n=14). 3) Body weight of fetus and body weight for gestational age in moderate to severe hypertensives(n=5) were less than those of mild hypertensives(n=26), but gestational age was not significantly different between two groups. 4) Body weight of fetus and body weight for gestational age in sustained hypertensives without diurnal variation(n=10) were less than those with diurnal variation(n=8), but gestational age was not significantly different between two groups. 5) All hypertensives who became pre-eclampsia (n=5) were severe hypertensives and had no diurnal variation of blood pressure. CONCLUSION: White coat hypertension in the third trimester was quite often and did not affect on the fetal outcome. The more severe hypertension and/or absence of diurnal variation of blood pressure caused poor fetal outcome. Patients who became pre-eclampsia were severe hypertensives and had no diurnal variation of blood pressure. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may have several roles in the antenatal management of hypertenison.
Arterial Pressure ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory* ; Body Weight ; Female ; Fetus ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Pregnancy* ; Prevalence ; White Coat Hypertension

Since 1993, vivax malaria has been recognized as a public health burden in Korea. Despite of pan-governmental malaria-control efforts and the dramatic reduction in the burden of this disease over the last 10 years, vivax malaria has not been well controlled and has remained continuously endemic. We focused interviewed and examined the charts of 28 confirmed vivax malaria patients given malarial therapy for whom daily records were kept from Gimpo-si, Gyeonggido of Korea. Various epidemiological characteristics of vivax malaria, including the incubation period, medication used, and recurrence, and an evaluation of the parasitic characteristics from the focused interviews of patients from this region are described here. Most of the participants indicated the 3 most common symptoms of malaria (headache, chills and fever). Of the 28 cases, 2 experienced a second attack and there were 17 and 11 cases with short- and long-term incubation periods, respectively, yielding a short-term to long-term ratio of 1.5. Based on the parasitemia stages, most of the participants were tested at 5 to 7 days (11 cases) and 7 to 15 days (11 cases) after initial wave of asexual parasites. In conclusion, public health authorities should consider developing management measures to decrease the time lag for diagnosis and drafting unified and robust guidelines for drug use for malaria and drawing up unified and robust guidelines on the use of medication for malaria. It also suggests that routine monitoring, surveillance, and precise medical surveys in high-risk vivax malaria endemic areas are pivotal to controlling this persistent public disease and finally eliminating it from Korea.