Objective: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a major immunoregulatory cytokine and its gene plays a fundamental role in anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity. This study aimed to examine the association between the IL10 gene promoter -1082G/A polymorphism (rs1800896) and tardive dyskinesia (TD) in schizophrenia. Methods: Two hundred and eighty unrelated Korean schizophrenic patients participated in this study (105 TD and 175 non-TD patients). TD was diagnosed using the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TD and Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). Genotyping was performed by RT-PCR and high-resolution melting curve analysis. Results: The distributions of genotypic frequencies did not differ between patients with and without TD (χ2=4.33, p=0.115). However, allelic frequencies of the two groups were different (χ2=4.45, p=0.035); the A allele frequency was higher in TD. The total AIMS scores of the three genotypes were not different (F=1.33, p=0.266). However, the total AIMS scores of the A allele carrier and the A allele non-carrier were significantly different (t=5.79, p<0.001). Logistic regression analaysis showed that IL10 -1082G/A genotype significantly predicts presence of TD (p=0.045) after adjusting for covariates such as age and treatment duration. Conclusion This finding suggests that the A allele of rs1800896 may be associated with TD development following a low IL-10 function.

PURPOSE: This clinical pilot study was performed to determine the effectiveness of dual-energy cone-beam computed tomography (DE-CBCT) in measuring bone mineral density (BMD).MATERIALS AND METHODS: The BMD values obtained using DE-CBCT were compared to those obtained using calibrated multislice computed tomography (MSCT). After BMD calibration with specially designed phantoms, both DE-CBCT and MSCT scanning were performed in 15 adult dental patients. Three-dimensional (3D) Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine data were imported into a dental software program, and the defined regions of interest (ROIs) on the 3-dimensional surface-rendered images were identified. The automatically-measured BMD values of the ROIs (g/cm³), the differences in the measured BMD values of the matched ROIs obtained by DE-CBCT and MSCT 3D images, and the correlation between the BMD values obtained by the 2 devices were statistically analyzed.RESULTS: The mean BMD values of the ROIs for the 15 patients as assessed using DE-CBCT and MSCT were 1.09±0.07 g/cm³ and 1.13±0.08 g/cm³, respectively. The mean of the differences between the BMD values of the matched ROIs as assessed using DE-CBCT and calibrated MSCT images was 0.04±0.02 g/cm³. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the BMD values of DE-CBCT and MSCT images was 0.982 (r=0.982, P<0.001).CONCLUSION: The newly developed DE-CBCT technique could be used to measure jaw BMD in dentistry and may soon replace MSCT, which is expensive and requires special facilities.
Adult ; Bone Density ; Calibration ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Dentistry ; Humans ; Jaw ; Methods ; Miners ; Multidetector Computed Tomography ; Pilot Projects

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to describe portal stenting for postoperative portal occlusion with delayed (≥ 3 months) variceal bleeding in the afferent jejunal loop. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven consecutive patients (age range, 2–79 years; eight men and three women) who underwent portal stenting between April 2009 and December 2015 were included in the study. Preoperative medical history and the postoperative clinical course were reviewed. Characteristics of portal occlusion and details of procedures were also investigated. Technical success, treatment efficacy (defined as disappearance of jejunal varix on follow-up CT), and clinical success were analyzed. Primary stent patency rate was plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: All patients underwent hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer surgery except two children with liver transplantation for biliary atresia. Portal occlusion was caused by benign postoperative change (n = 6) and local tumor recurrence (n = 5). Variceal bleeding occurred at 27 months (4 to 72 months) and portal stenting was performed at 37 months (4 to 121 months), on average, postoperatively. Technical success, treatment efficacy, and clinical success rates were 90.9, 100, and 81.8%, respectively. The primary patency rate of portal stent was 88.9% during the mean follow-up period of 9 months. Neither procedure-related complication nor mortality occurred. CONCLUSION: Interventional portal stenting is an effective treatment for delayed jejunal variceal bleeding due to portal occlusion after hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery.
Biliary Atresia ; Child ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Methods ; Mortality ; Portal Vein* ; Recurrence ; Stents* ; Treatment Outcome ; Varicose Veins*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the technical feasibility, performance, and interobserver agreement of a computer-aided classification (CAC) system for regional ventilation at two-phase xenon-enhanced CT in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with COPD underwent two-phase xenon ventilation CT with resulting wash-in (WI) and wash-out (WO) xenon images. The regional ventilation in structural abnormalities was visually categorized into four patterns by consensus of two experienced radiologists who compared the xenon attenuation of structural abnormalities with that of adjacent normal parenchyma in the WI and WO images, and it served as the reference. Two series of image datasets of structural abnormalities were randomly extracted for optimization and validation. The proportion of agreement on a per-lesion basis and receiver operating characteristics on a per-pixel basis between CAC and reference were analyzed for optimization. Thereafter, six readers independently categorized the regional ventilation in structural abnormalities in the validation set without and with a CAC map. Interobserver agreement was also compared between assessments without and with CAC maps using multirater kappa statistics. RESULTS: Computer-aided classification maps were successfully generated in 31 patients (81.5%). The proportion of agreement and the average area under the curve of optimized CAC maps were 94% (75/80) and 0.994, respectively. Multirater kappa value was improved from moderate (kappa = 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56-0.62) at the initial assessment to excellent (kappa = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.79-0.85) with the CAC map. CONCLUSION: Our proposed CAC system demonstrated the potential for regional ventilation pattern analysis and enhanced interobserver agreement on visual classification of regional ventilation.
Aged ; Area Under Curve ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Observer Variation ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/physiopathology/*radiography ; Pulmonary Emphysema/physiopathology/radiography ; *Respiration ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods ; Xenon/*diagnostic use

The pneumonia severity index (PSI) and CURB-65 are widely used tools for the prediction of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This study was conducted to evaluate validation of severity scoring system including the PSI and CURB-65 scores of Korean CAP patients. In the prospective CAP cohort (participated in by 14 hospitals in Korea from January 2009 to September 2011), 883 patients aged over 18 yr were studied. The 30-day mortalities of all patients were calculated with their PSI index classes and CURB scores. The overall mortality rate was 4.5% (40/883). The mortality rates per CURB-65 score were as follows: score 0, 2.3% (6/260); score 1, 4.0% (12/300); score 2, 6.0% (13/216); score 3, 5.7% (5/88); score 4, 23.5% (4/17); and score 5, 0% (0/2). Mortality rate with PSI risk class were as follows: I, 2.3% (4/174); II, 2.7% (5/182); III, 2.3% (5/213); IV, 4.5% (11/245); and V, 21.7% (15/69). The subgroup mortality rate of Korean CAP patients varies based on the severity scores and CURB-65 is more valid for the lower scores, and PSI, for the higher scores. Thus, these variations must be considered when using PSI and CURB-65 for CAP in Korean patients.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cohort Studies ; Community-Acquired Infections/*mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia/*mortality ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; *Severity of Illness Index ; Young Adult

Giant congenital melanocytic nevi are very rare skin lesions with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 20,000 live births, and have high risk of malignant melanoma development and leptomeningeal melanocytosis. Hence, its early and exact diagnosis in the neonatal period is important and essential. Only seven cases of giant congenital melanocytic nevi have been reported in Korea, of which none of the cases were associated with hemangioma. Herein, the authors describe a case of giant congenital melanocytic nevi with huge hemangioma with the pathologic findings that exhibited benign and provide a literature review.
Hemangioma ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Live Birth ; Melanoma ; Nevus, Pigmented ; Prevalence ; Skin

Carnitine (beta-hydroxy-gamma-trimethylaminobutyric acid) is involved in the transport of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix and the removal of potentially toxic acylcarnitine esters. Transient carnitine transport defect is a rare condition in newborns reported in 1/90,000 live births. In this paper, we describe a case of transient carnitine transport defect found in a premature baby who had prolonged cholestatic jaundice and poor weight gain, and who responded dramatically to oral carnitine supplementation.
Carnitine ; Esters ; Fatty Acids ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Live Birth ; Weight Gain

Carnitine (beta-hydroxy-gamma-trimethylaminobutyric acid) is involved in the transport of long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix and the removal of potentially toxic acylcarnitine esters. Transient carnitine transport defect is a rare condition in newborns reported in 1/90,000 live births. In this paper, we describe a case of transient carnitine transport defect found in a premature baby who had prolonged cholestatic jaundice and poor weight gain, and who responded dramatically to oral carnitine supplementation.
Carnitine ; Esters ; Fatty Acids ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Live Birth ; Weight Gain

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is one of the causes of pubertal failure and primary amenorrhea, it is related to uterine hypotrophy. If the uterus is extremely hypotrophied, it is difficult to identify in imaging studies and can be misdiagnosed as a structural anomaly of internal genitalia. We report a case of extreme uterine hypotrophy in 18-year-old girl with primary amenorrhea that was finally diagnosed as hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. The patient was initially suspected of Mullerian agenesis owing to the invisible uterus. After 4 months of treatment with estrogen, she showed significant growth of the uterus.
Adolescent ; Amenorrhea ; Estrogens ; Female ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Uterus

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is one of the causes of pubertal failure and primary amenorrhea, it is related to uterine hypotrophy. If the uterus is extremely hypotrophied, it is difficult to identify in imaging studies and can be misdiagnosed as a structural anomaly of internal genitalia. We report a case of extreme uterine hypotrophy in 18-year-old girl with primary amenorrhea that was finally diagnosed as hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. The patient was initially suspected of Mullerian agenesis owing to the invisible uterus. After 4 months of treatment with estrogen, she showed significant growth of the uterus.
Adolescent ; Amenorrhea ; Estrogens ; Female ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Uterus