Fournier's gangrene is a fulminating gangrene of the male genitalia. It is associated with severe systemic toxic effect and a high motality rate, and it requires early diagnosis and intensive care with surgical intervention. We report a case of Fournier's gangrene in 33-year-old man, who showed marked swelling and necrosis of the scrotum, and extending cellulitis on the right flank and chest. With prompt excision of all the gangrenous scrotal skin and drainage incisions made on the flank and chest, the healing was successful.
Adult ; Cellulitis ; Drainage ; Early Diagnosis ; Fournier Gangrene* ; Gangrene ; Genitalia, Male ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Male ; Necrosis ; Scrotum ; Skin ; Thorax

No abstract available.
Thanatophoric Dysplasia*

Peyronie's disease is characterized by localized fibrosis in the tunica albuginea of the corpus cavernosum with no confirmed etiology. We report 2 cases of Peyronie's disease, in which surgical1y corrected with the dermal graft technique. One patient is performed with the penile prosthesis be. cause of sexual impotence after correction of penile curvature.
Erectile Dysfunction ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Male ; Penile Induration* ; Penile Prosthesis ; Transplants*

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to know the prevalence of cognitive disorders in patients with thyroid cancer, and identify related variables to them. METHODS: Subjects were consisted of fourty-two patients with thyroid cancer, who were admitted for radioiodine ablative therapy at 6-12 months after total thyroidectomy. The data were obtained from interviews about history and assessments of depression and cognitive function(Korean Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA-K). RESULTS: 1) Among subjects, those with below 22 of total score of the MoCA-K were twenty-one(50.0%). 2) Upon age, education, Pre-radioiodine therapy thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH), there were statistically significant difference between subgroup with above 23 of the total MoCA-K score and those below 22. 3) The total scores of the MoCA-K in subjects had significant correlation with age, education, comorbidity, Pre-radioiodine therapy TSH, total score of the HDRS-17. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive disorders were more prevalent among patients with thyroid cancer before radioiodine therapy. Therefore, further study should be needed to clarify the mechanism for the cognitive disorders in thyroid cancer. Furthermore, physicians should pay attention to the cognitive function and prepare preventative measures for cognitive disorder during management of thyroid cancer.
Carcinoma, Papillary* ; Comorbidity ; Depression ; Education ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Thyrotropin

The orbital blowout fracture has been increasingly noticed due to trauma and traffic accidents. The diagnostic confirmation is early established by CT scan, but indication for surgical treatment, the technique for repair, and timing of repair are still controversial. The main symptoms of orbital fracture include diplopia, enophthalmos and hypesthesia in distributions of the infraorbital nerve. These are usually accompained by other symptoms such as emphysema of the eyelids, ptosis, epistaxis and ocular injury. Among these diplopia and enophthalmos are considered as main surgical indications. Especially operation is performed when the contractibility of extraocular muscle(EOM) is changed due to incarceration of EOM and persistent diplopia at straight forward gaze or downward gaze. Many theories for sugical repiar timing are insisted but at present the accepted timing for operation is posttraumatic 1-2 weeks. To prevent the fibrosis and atrophy of extraocular muscle from the incarceration of EoM due to orbital fracture is the indication of surgery. To estimate the optimal time to perform the operation, we checked the EOM contractivilty by electromyography before and after artificial muscle incareceration in the rabbit. The results were as follows. The differences in RMS(root mean square) and MRV(mean rectified voltage) were not shown before or after the artivicial incarceration of extraocular muscle until the 5th day of the surgery. But the RMS and MRV measurements performed on the 7th day decreased significantly and these decreases were sustained. According to the results of this experiment. if the incarceration of the extraocular muscle due to the orbital fracture is diagnosed, relieving the incarceration by surgery before the 7th day can prevent the change of EOM contractibility. It will provide significant benefit, in maintaining the normal functioin of the extraocualr muscle.
Accidents, Traffic ; Atrophy ; Diplopia ; Electromyography ; Emphysema ; Enophthalmos ; Epistaxis ; Eyelids ; Fibrosis ; Hypesthesia ; Orbit ; Orbital Fractures ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) is a major risk factor for chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and low grade gastric lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue(MALT). Eradication of H. pylori can induce prevention of peptic ulcer relapse and regression of gastric MALT lymphoma. Smoking has also been knawn to be a mapr risk factor for peptic ulcer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of smoking on eradication of H. pylori according to smoking status, amount of smoking, and smoking cessation. METHODS: We studied 132 patients with H. pylori-positive gastroduodenal diseases. Diseases composed of gastritis in 36.4%, peptic ulcer 62.1%, gastric MALT lymphoma 1.5%. Patients were treated with amoxacillin 1.0g, clarithromycin 500mg, omeprazole 20mg bid for a period of 7 days. Patients underwent a follow-up gastroendoscopy 6 weeks later after eradication treatment. H. pylori status was confirmed by initial and follow up biopsies of gastric antrum and corpus using Hematoxylin-Eosin stain and Wharthin-Starry silver stain. At the begining of treatment, 66.7% of 132 patients were smokers, 9.8% ex-smokers, 23.5% non-smokers. Smokers were advised to stop smoking through education and counseling at each office visit. RESULTS: H. pylori eradication was achieved in 111 patients(84.1%). The number of smokers who had quit smoking sucessfully during treatment were 25(28.4%). The rate of eradication did not seem to influenced by initial smoking status and total amount of smoking(pack-years). Hawever, during treatment, success group for smoking cessation(100%) had a higher rate of eradication than non-cessation group. Daily amount of smoking had an effect on eradication with significant statistical difference ; Non-smokers showed 89.9% eradication rate, mild smokers(<20 cigarettes/day) 81.8%, and heavy smokers ( >20/day) 50%. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that current smoking status and daily amount of smoking during treatment seem to influence the rate of eradication of H. pylori rather than past smoking history alone. There was some improvement in the eradication rate by quitting or reducing smoking together with H. pylori eradication treatment.
Biopsy ; Clarithromycin ; Counseling ; Education ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastritis ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; Office Visits ; Omeprazole ; Peptic Ulcer ; Pyloric Antrum ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Silver ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation ; Smoking*

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to develop a serodiagnostic test for differentiation infected from vaccinated animal (DIVA) strategy accompanying the marker vaccine lacking an immunodominant epitope (IDE) of nucleoprotein of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Recombinant epitope-repeat protein (rERP) gene encoding eight repeats of the IDE sequence (ETQFLDLMRAVANSMR) by tetra-glycine linker was synthesized. Recombinant baculovirus carrying the rERP gene was generated to express the rERP in insect cells. Specificity and sensitivity of an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) employing the rERP was evaluated. RESULTS: The rERP with molecular weight of 20 kDa was successfully expressed by the recombinant baculovirus in an insect-baculovirus system. The rERP was antigenically functional as demonstrated by Western blotting. An indirect ELISA employing the rERP was developed and its specificity and sensitivity was determined. The ELISA test allowed discrimination of NDV infected sera from epitope deletion virus vaccinated sera. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results represent rERP ELISA as a promising DIVA diagnostic tool.
Animals ; Baculoviridae ; Blotting, Western ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Insects ; Molecular Weight ; Newcastle disease virus* ; Newcastle Disease* ; Nucleoproteins ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Three QIAG93 strains, QIAG9301, QIAG9302 and QIAG9303 that have been identified as Getah virus (GETV) are analyzed in this study. The morphological features of three virus isolates were observed by using electron microscopy, suggesting that the QIAG9301, QIAG9302 and QIAG9303 isolate can be classified as tentative member of Alphavirus species in the Semliki Forest complex. The full length of the structural polyprotein gene of each QIAG93 isolate (QIAG9301, QIAG9302 and QIAG9303) was determined that are identical in size, comprising 3759 nucleotides that encoded 1253 amino acids. The sequence analysis of the structural polyprotein gene, including the C, E3, E1, 6K and E2 domain, showed that each QIAG93 isolate shares >98.9% sequence identity. The phylogenetic analysis and evolutionary distance (ED) estimation based on the structural polyprotein gene sequence showed that the QIAG9301 isolate is closely related to GETV South Korea strain (99.9% sequence identity and ED value 0.001) and Chinese GETV YN0540 strain (99.3% sequence identity ED value 0.007) than other Alphavirus species analyzed in this study. Both QIAG9032 and QIAG9303 isolate exhibited genetically close relationship with Mongolian GETV LEIV17741MPR strain (at least 99.3% sequence identity and mean ED value 0.0065). Therefore, our findings will be valuable for molecular epidemiological analyses of GETV in Korea and contribute to a further study on pathogenicity of three QIAG93 isolates in animals.
Alphavirus* ; Amino Acids ; Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Korea* ; Microscopy, Electron ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Nucleotides ; Sequence Analysis ; Trees ; Virulence

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In this study we investigated the association between the polymorphism of apolipoprotein E and the development of myocardial infarction, and assessed whether this polymorphism produces any changes of plasma lipid level. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 182 patients participated in this study and were divided into two groups; 91 patients with myocardial infarction (MI group) and 91 patients with no known heart disease (control group). For both groups we analyzed the clinical parameters, the changes of plasma lipid level and the degree of polymorphism of apolipoprotein E. RESULTS: Total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels were significantly higher in the MI group, while the HDL cholesterol level was significantly lower. Compared with the control group, the frequency of epsilon2 allele was significantly lower while that of epsilon3 allele was significantly higher in the MI group. As for the control group, the triglyceride level was significantly higher in the patients with epsilon 2 allele than in those without epsilon 2 allele, and the total cholesterol level was significantly higher in the patients with epsilon 4 allele than in those without epsilon 4 allele. In the MI group, the plasma lipid levels were not significantly different from those in the control group. CONCLUSION: We suggested that apolipoprotein E polymorphism could affect the lipid metabolism as well as the development of myocardial infarction. However further study is needed in patients with myocardial infarction.
Alleles ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipoproteins ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Plasma ; Triglycerides

OBJECTIVES: We have investigated the toxic effects of the inhalation of subchronic and acute levels of n-octane. METHODS: The rats were exposed to n-octane of 0, 2.34, 11.68 and 23.36 mg/L (n = 5 rats/group/gender) in an acute inhalation test (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) TG 403), or to 0, 0.93, 2.62 and 7.48 mg/L (n = 10 rats/group/gender) for a subchronic inhalation test (OECE TG 413), to establish a national chemical management system consistent with the Globally Harmonized Classification System (GHS). RESULTS: Acutely-exposed rats became lethargic but recovered following discontinuation of inhalation. Other clinical symptoms such as change of body weight and autopsy finds were absent. The LC50 for the acute inhalation toxicity of n-octane was determined to exceed 23.36 mg/L and the GHS category was 'not grouping'. Subchronically-treated rats displayed no significant clinical and histopathological differences from untreated controls; also, target organs were affected hematologically, biochemically and pathologically. Therefore, the no observable adverse effect level was indicated as exceeding 7.48 mg/L and the GHS category was 'not grouping' for the specific target organ toxicity upon repeated exposure. CONCLUSION: However, n-octane exposure should be controlled to be below the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists recommendation (300 ppm) to prevent inhalation-related adverse health effects of workers.
Animals ; Autopsy ; Body Weight ; Inhalation ; Octanes ; Rats