Protein C exerts anticoagulatory effects by inactivating factor V and VII and stimulating fibrinolysis. Hereditary protein C-deficient individuals have an increased risk of venous thrombosis and thromboembolism at young age. To our knowledge, the deep cerebral venous thrombosis associated with protein C deficiency has not been reported in Korea. A 34-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of sudden onset of headache with nausea, vomiting and ocular pain. He had suffered from recurrent deep vein thrombosis of the right lower extremity for one year. Brain MRI showed thrombosis of the straight and confluent sinuses and venous infarction of the right thalamus. The result of cerebral angiography corresponded to MRI findings. Protein C antigen concentration was decreased to 65% and its functional activity was 37%. Other coagulation test and routine blood examination was normal. The protein C level of his mother was low in both antigen and activity, but protein C levels of three siblings were normal in functional activity. We speculate that the etiology of the deep cerebral venous thrombosis in this patient is associated with protein C deficiency and suggest it is valuable to measure protein C level in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis.
Adult ; Brain ; Cerebral Angiography ; Factor V ; Fibrinolysis ; Headache ; Humans ; Infarction ; Korea ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mothers ; Nausea ; Protein C Deficiency* ; Protein C* ; Siblings ; Thalamus ; Thromboembolism ; Thrombosis* ; Venous Thrombosis ; Vomiting

Multiple primary cancer is defined as the case of primary malignant tumors of different histologic origins each other in one person, The incidence of multiple primary cancer has been increasing recently due to more developed diagnostie procedure and long survival of cancer patients. In esophageal cancer patients, comibined prevalence of other malignancy is rela tively high. We have experienced three cases of gastric adenocarcinoma with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and report these cases with a review of literatures.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Esophagus* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prevalence ; Stomach*

Congenital factor VII deficiency is a rare coagulation disorder transmitted in autosomal recessive pattern and is characterized by prolonged prothrombin time with normal activated partial thromboplastin time. It is confirmed by specific factor VII assay. Heterozygotes are generally asymptomatic and homozygotes may present variety of bleeding symptom. But heterozygotes are not always asymptomatic and that patients should receive replacement of factor VII for their operation or abnormal bleeding. We experienced 2 cases of congenital factor VII deficiency diagnosed by prolonged prothrombin time and factor VII assay in routine preoperative evaluation. One was a 27-year-old female who seemed to be an asymptomatic heterozygote underwent orthopedic surgical procedure successfully without abnormal bleeding after receiving fresh frozen plasma. Another was a 18-year-old male who also seemed to be a heterozygote including his family had bleeding symptom such as epistaxis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Epistaxis ; Factor VII Deficiency* ; Factor VII* ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Heterozygote ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Male ; Orthopedic Procedures ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Plasma ; Prothrombin Time

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a syndrome of obscure origin, occurs particularly in fat adolescent girls and young women. The usual symptoms are headache, blurred vision, a vague dizziness, horizontal diplopia and transient visual obscurations etc., and ophthalmoscopic examination reveals papillederma, due to increased ICP. Visual field testing usually shows slight peripheral constrictions with enlargement of the blind sports. CSF pressure is elevated in the range of 250 to 450 mm of water. Radiological or the other laboratory tests show no specific abnormalities. Treatment for idiopathic intracranial hypertension is focused on early detection and prevention of vision loss, the only permanent morbidity. Many different modes of medical treatment, including weight reduction, repeated lumber puncture, corticosteroids, diuretics, glycerol or carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, have successfully been tried up to 90% of the patients. In the remaining patients, particularly in those with measurable impairment of vision that does not respond to conventinal medical therapies, surgical procedure should be considered. We report a case of idiopathic intracranial hypertension successfully treated with optic nerve sheath fenestration.
Adolescent ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors ; Constriction ; Diplopia ; Diuretics ; Dizziness ; Female ; Glycerol ; Headache ; Humans ; Optic Nerve* ; Pseudotumor Cerebri* ; Punctures ; Sports ; Visual Field Tests ; Water ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: To report a case of bilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) after blunt trauma with rapid remission. CASE SUMMARY: A 44-year-old man visited our clinic after blunt trauma around the right eye. At the first examination, no ocular problem was detected except a periorbital contusion. After one week, the patient complained of visual disturbance in his right eye. Fundus examination showed subretinal fluid in his right eye, and fluorescein angiography (FAG) showed typical smoke-stack pattern leakage, which lead to a diagnosis of CSC. Three days later, the patient complained of visual disturbance in his left eye, which was then also diagnosed as CSC. After 2 more weeks, the subretinal fluid in the right and left eyes had decreased. After 3 weeks, the subretinal fluid was almost completely absorbed in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Central serous chorioretinopathy can develop after blunt trauma, especially with a rapid clinical course. Thus, periodic ophthalmologic examination is needed after the first examination for blunt trauma of the eye.
Adult ; Central Serous Chorioretinopathy* ; Contusions ; Diagnosis ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Humans ; Subretinal Fluid

Cholelithiasis is rarely recognized in children, especially in infants. Hemolytic disorders, long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN), congenital anomalies of the biliary tree leading to stasis of bile flow, congenital IgA-deficiency, furosemide treatment, and prolonged fasting have been reported as predisposing factors for cholelithiasis in childhood. Hemolytic disease of the newborn due to anti-E has rarely been reported as a risk factor for cholelithiasis. We report a case of gallbladder stones in a neonate associated with anti-E antibody hemolytic disease.
Bile ; Biliary Tract ; Child ; Cholelithiasis ; Fasting ; Furosemide ; Gallbladder ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical aspects of peri-implant bone upon root contact of orthodontic microimplant. METHODS: Axisymmetric finite element modeling scheme was used to analyze the compressive strength of the orthodontic microimplant (Absoanchor SH1312-7, Dentos Inc., Daegu, Korea) placed into inter-radicular bone covered by 1 mm thick cortical bone, with its apical tip contacting adjacent root surface. A stepwise analysis technique was adopted to simulate the response of peri-implant bone. Areas of the bone that were subject to higher stresses than the maximum compressive strength (in case of cancellous bone) or threshold stress of 54.8MPa, which was assumed to impair the physiological remodeling of cortical bone, were removed from the FE mesh in a stepwise manner. For comparison, a control model was analyzed which simulated normal orthodontic force of 5 N at the head of the microimplant. RESULTS: Stresses in cancellous bone were high enough to cause mechanical failure across its entire thickness. Stresses in cortical bone were more likely to cause resorptive bone remodeling than mechanical failure. The overloaded zone, initially located at the lower part of cortical plate, proliferated upward in a positive feedback mode, unaffected by stress redistribution, until the whole thickness was engaged. CONCLUSIONS: Stresses induced around a microimplant by root contact may lead to a irreversible loss of microimplant stability.
Bone Remodeling ; Compressive Strength ; Finite Element Analysis ; Head

BACKGROUND: The medical service delivery system in Korea works inefficiently and patients tend to visit tertiary hospitals by means of the emergency department (ED). Overcrowding of the ED threatens the health and life of emergency patients as a result of the inability to effectively distribute emergency medical resources in the community. To solve this problem, improvement in the medical delivery system and dispersion of patients by strengthening primary care may be helpful. In order to make policy decisions for this, it is necessary to estimate the scale of patients who can be distributed to primary care.METHODS: From January 1 to December 31, 2016, we analyzed the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data of patients who visited a tertiary ED to examine the proportion of patients eligible for primary medical care. The inclusion and exclusion criteria for primary care were made through the consensus of three physicians.RESULTS: A total of 65,061 NEDIS records were analyzed. Among them, by inclusion criteria, 29,818 cases were Korean Triage and Acuity Scale level 4 and 5, and 11,791 patients visited the ED during the day. After considering the exclusion criteria, there were 6,468 cases who may be suitable for primary medical care.CONCLUSION: Of the patients who visited the ED of tertiary hospitals, approximately 10% of them may be suitable for primary care. There should be a discussion and social consensus to reduce overcrowding in EDs and deliver better medical services.
Consensus ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Korea ; Primary Health Care ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Triage

Background: As an indicator of electro-mechanical coupling, electromechanical window (EMW) can be used to predict fatal ventricular arrhythmias. We investigated the additive effect of EMW on the prediction of fatal ventricular arrhythmias in high-risk patients. Methods: We included patients who had implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implanted for primary or secondary prevention. The event group was defined as those who received an appropriate ICD therapy. We acquired echocardiograms at ICD implantation and follow-up. The EMW was calculated as the difference between the interval from QRS onset to aortic valve closure and QT interval from the electrocardiogram embedded in the continuous wave doppler image. We evaluated the predictive value of EMW for predicting fatal ventricular arrhythmia. Results: Of 245 patients (67.2 ± 12.8 years, 63.7% men), the event group was 20.0%. EMW at baseline (EMW-Baseline) and follow-up (EMW-FU) was significantly different between event and control groups. After adjustment, both EMW-Baseline (odds ratio [OR]adjust 1.02 [1.01– 1.03], P = 0.004) and EMW-FU (ORadjust 1.06 [1.04–1.07], P < 0.001) remained as significant predictors for fatal arrhythmic events. Adding EMW-Baseline significantly improved the discriminating ability of the multivariable model including clinical variables (area under the curve [AUC] 0.77 [0.70–0.84] vs. AUC 0.72 [0.64–0.80], P = 0.004), while a univariable model using EMW-FU alone showed the best performance among models (AUC 0.87 [0.81– 0.94], P = 0.060 against model with clinical variables; P = 0.030 against model with clinical variables and EMW-Baseline). Conclusion The EMW could effectively predict severe ventricular arrhythmia in ICD implanted patients. This finding supports the importance of incorporating the electro-mechanical coupling index into the clinical practice for predicting future fatal arrhythmia events.

PURPOSE: Many gene polymorphisms are associated with coronary artery abnormalities in Kawasaki disease. Catechol-O-methyltransfe rase (COMT) plays an important role in the metabolism of catecholamines, catechol estrogen, and catechol drugs. Polymorphisms of the COMT gene are reported to be associated with myocardial infarction and coronary artery abnormalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between COMT gene polymorphisms and coronary artery abnormalities in Kawasaki disease patients. METHODS: One hundred and one Korean children with Kawasaki disease and 306 healthy Korean control subjects were enrolled in this study. The polymorphisms of the COMT gene were analyzed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: There were no differences in the genotype and allelic frequency of the rs4680 and rs769224 polymorphic sites between Kawasaki disease and control subjects. Further, no significant difference was found in the rs4680 polymorphism between patients with coronary artery abnormalities and patients without coronary artery abnormalities (codominant P=0.32, dominant P=0.74, recessive P=0.13). However, the distribution of the rs769224 polymorphism was significantly different between patie nts with coronary artery abnormalities and patients without coronary artery abnormalities (codominant P=0.0077, dominant P=0.0021, recessive P=0.16). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the polymorphisms of the rs769224 gene might be related to the development of coronary artery abnormalities in Kawasaki disease.
Catechol O-Methyltransferase ; Catecholamines ; Catechols ; Child ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Estrogens ; Genotype ; Humans ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Myocardial Infarction ; Polymorphism, Genetic