The prevalence of right-sided infective endocarditis is increasing with a growing number of intravenous drug abusers. A case of right-sided endocarditis is reported in a 18-year-old female heroin addict. Tricuspid valve vegetation, septic pulmonary emboli and staphyloccus aureus in blood cultures are noted. During antimicrobial therapy, she developed remittent fever and skin rash due to vancomycin. After a change of the antibiotic to teicoplanin, she was freed from fever and discharged in an improved condition.
Adolescent ; Drug Users ; Endocarditis* ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fever ; Heroin ; Humans ; Malaria ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Teicoplanin ; Tricuspid Valve* ; Vancomycin

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease that affects approximately 50,000 people annually in Asia, causing 10,000 deaths. Considering the role of pigs as the virus-amplifying host and the economic loss in the swine industry, JE is an important disease for both public and animal health. A nationwide JE virus (JEV) vaccination program has been conducted annually for more than 30 years to prevent severe reproductive disorders in the Korean sow population. Remarkable progress in molecular biology has made it possible to analyze the genome of the vaccine strain at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. However, the scientific record of the current JEV veterinary vaccine has not been reported. Therefore, this article outlines the current JEV vaccine strain used in animals and discusses future directions for developing new veterinary JEV vaccines.
Animals ; Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Encephalitis Viruses, Japanese ; Encephalitis, Japanese* ; Genome ; Humans ; Korea* ; Molecular Biology ; Swine ; Vaccination ; Vaccines* ; Zoonoses

PURPOSE: A retrospective analysis was performed to investigate the proper management of maxillary sinus carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Authors analysed 33 patients of squamous cell carcinoma of maxillary sinus treated at Chonnam University Hospital from January 1986 to December 1992. There were 24 men and 9 women with median age of 55 years. According to AJCC TNM system of 1988, a patient of T2, 10 patients of T3 and 22 patients of T4 were available, respectively. Cervical lymph node metastases was observed in 5 patients(N1;4/33, N2b;1/33). Patients were classified as 3 groups according to management method. The first group, named as "FAR" (16 patients), was consisted of preoperative intra-arterial chemotherapy with5-fluorouracil(5-FU;mean of total dosage;3078mg) through the superficial temporal artery with concurrent radiation(mean dose delivered;3433cGy, daily 180-200cGy) and vitamin A(50,000 IU daily), and followed by total maxillectomy and postoperative radiation therapy(mean dose;2351cGy). The second group, named as "SR"(7 patients), was consisted of total maxillectomy followed by postoperative radiation therapy(mean dose 5920 cGy). Her third group, named as "R"(6 patients), was treated with radiation alone(mean dose;7164cGy). Kaplan-Meier product limit method was used for survival analysis and Mantel-Cox test was performed for significance of survival difference between two groups. RESULTS: Local recurrence free survival rate in the end of 2 year was 100%, 5-% and 0% in FAR, SR and R group, repectively. Disease free survival rate in 2 years was 88.9%, 40% and 50% in Far, SR and R group, respectively. There were statistically significant difference between FAR and SR or FAR and R group in their local recurrence free, disease free and overall survival rates. But diffeence of each survival rate between SR and R group was not significant. CONCLUSION: In this study FAR group revealed better results that SR or R group. In the future prospective randomized study is in need.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Maxillary Sinus* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Temporal Arteries ; Vitamins

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated efficacy of combining proximal balloon guiding catheter (antegrade flow arrest) and distal access catheter (aspiration at the site of occlusion) in thrombectomy for anterior circulation ischemic stroke.METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 116 patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy with stent retriever. The patients were divided by the techniques adopted, the combined technique (proximal balloon guiding catheter and large bore distal access catheter) group (n=57, 49.1%) and the conventional (guiding catheter with stent retriever) technique group (n=59, 50.9%). We evaluated baseline characteristics (epidemiologic data, clinical and imaging characteristics) and procedure details (the number of retrieval attempts, procedure time), as well as angiographic (thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (TICI) score, distal thrombus migration) and clinical outcome (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale at discharge, modified Rankin Scale [mRS] at 3 months) of them.RESULTS: The number of retrieval attempts was lower (p=0.002) and the first-pass successful reperfusion rate was higher (56.1% vs. 28.8%; p=0.003) in the combined technique group. And the rate of final result of TICI score 3 was higher (68.4% vs. 28.8%; p<0.01) and distal thrombus migration rate was also lower (15.8% vs. 40.7%; p=0.021) in the combined technique group. Early strong neurologic improvement (improvement of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale ≥11 or National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale ≤1 at discharge) rate (57.9% vs. 36.2%; p=0.02) and favorable clinical outcome (mRS at 3 months ≤2) rate (59.6% vs. 33.9%; p=0.005) were also better in the combined technique group.CONCLUSION: The combined technique needs lesser attempts, decreases distal migration, increases TICI 3 reperfusion and achieves better clinical outcomes.
Academies and Institutes ; Brain Ischemia ; Catheters ; Cerebral Infarction ; Humans ; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ; Reperfusion ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Stroke ; Thrombectomy ; Thrombosis

PURPOSE: This study was performed to find out the prognostic factors affecting local control, survival and disease free survival rate in nasopharyngeal carcinomas treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed 47 patients of nasopharyngeal carcinomas, histologically confirmed and treated at Chonnam University Hospital between July 1986 and June 1996, retrospectively. Range of patients' age were from 16 to 80 years (median; 52 years). Thirty three (70%) patients was male. Histological types were composed of 3 (6%) keratinizing, 30 (64%) nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and 13 (28%) undifferentiated carcinoma. Histological type was not known in 1 patient (2%). We restaged according to the staging system of 1997 American Joint Committee on Cancer. Forty seven patients were recorded as follows: T1; 11 (23%), T2a; 6 (13%), T2b; 9 (19%), T3; 7 (15%), T4; 14 (30%), and N0; 7 (15%), N1; 14 (30%), N2; 21 (45%), N3; 5 (10%). Clinical staging was grouped as follows: Stage I; 2 (4%), IIA; 2 (4%), IIB; 10 (21%), III; 14 (30%), IVA; 14 (30%) and IVB; 5 (11%). Radiation therapy was done using 6 MV and 10 MV X- ray of linear accelerator. Electron beam was used for the lymph nodes of posterior neck after 4500 cGy. The range of total radiation dose delivered to the primary tumor was from 6120 to 7920 cGy (median; 7020 cGy). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was performed with cisplatin+5-fluorouracil (25 patients) or cisplatin+pepleomycin (17 patients) with one to three cycles. Five patients did not received chemotherapy. Local control rate, survival and disease free survival rate were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. Generalized Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the difference of survival rates between groups. Multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard model was done for finding prognostic factors. RESULTS: Local control rate was 81% in 5 year. Five year survival rate was 60% (median survival; 106 months). We included age, sex, cranial nerve deficit, histologic type, stage group, chemotherapy, elapsed days between chemotherapy and radiotherapy, total radiation dose, period of radiotherapy as potential prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. As a result, cranial nerve deficit (P=0.004) had statistical significance in local control rate. Stage group and total radiation dose were significant prognostic factors in survival (P=0.006, P=0.012), and in disease free survival rates (P=0.003, P=0.008), respectively. Common complications were xerostomia, tooth and ear problems. Hypothyroidism was developed in 2 patients. CONCLUSION: In our study, cranial nerve deficit was a significant prognostic factor in local control rate, and stage group and total radiation dose were significant factors in both survival and disease free survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We have concluded that chemotherapy and radiotherapy used in our patients were effective without any serious complication.
Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cranial Nerves ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Ear ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Jeollanam-do ; Joints ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neck ; Particle Accelerators ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tooth ; Xerostomia

One hundred ninety-five rabies cases in cattle were identified in South Korea since 1993. As most of rabies cases have a relation to rabid Korean raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis), vaccination to animals including cattle is mandatory in rabies risk region. In order to minimize fatal rabies in animals, eradication policy of the disease has been achieved by controlling reservoirs and by mass vaccination. In this study, we compared the antibody response in cattle and guinea pigs inoculated with rabies vaccines commercially available in Korea. Each group of cattle in Gangwon-do was vaccinated intramuscularly with either one of five commercial inactivated vaccines or a live attenuated rabies vaccine (designated as A to F). Serum samples at the time of vaccination and four weeks post vaccination were obtained from the cattle and guinea pigs and were analyzed with virus neutralizing assay (VNA). Each group of cattle inoculating rabies vaccines showed significant virus neutralizing antibody titers (p < 0.05) ranging from 1.55 to 17.8 mean IU/ml compared with the non-vaccinated cattle and guinea pigs inoculated with 1/20 dose of vaccine showed relatively low VN antibody titers ranging from 0.23 to 6.1 mean IU/ml. All cattle immunized with A, C and F showed high VN antibody titers over 0.5 IU/ml and 62.5% and 37.5% of cattle inoculated with D and E showed protective antibody titer, respectively. This finding suggests that the inactivated or live attenuated rabies vaccination commercially available in Korea could induce protective antibody response in Korean cattle, but sero-conversion rate and sero-positive rate showing VN antibody titer over 0.5 IU/ml depend on vaccines.
Animals ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Antibody Formation* ; Cattle* ; Gangwon-do ; Guinea Pigs* ; Guinea* ; Korea ; Mass Vaccination ; Rabies Vaccines* ; Rabies* ; Raccoon Dogs ; Vaccination ; Vaccines ; Vaccines, Inactivated

BACKGROUND: The decision to administer oral anticoagulation therapy depends on accurate assessment of stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Various stroke risk stratification schemes have been developed to help inform clinical decision making. The CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores have been used in estimating the risk of stroke in patients with AF. Recently R2CHA2DS2-VASc score was developed. The objective of the current study is to validate the usefulness of the R2CHA2DS2-VASc score and to compare the accuracy of the CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, and R2CHA2DS2-VASc scores in predicting a patient's risk of stroke. METHODS: Based on medical records, we conducted a retrospective study of patients hospitalized with AF from March 2011 to July 2013. A total of 448 AF patients were included in this study. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in MedCalc was used for comparison with respective diagnostic values. RESULTS: The patient characteristics showed male predominance (60.9%). Among the 448 AF patients, 131 (29.2%) patients had strokes during the study. A R2CHA2DS2-VASc score of more than 5 is the optimal cut-off value for prediction of stroke. A risk score of three, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of R2CHA2DS2-VASc score (AUC 0.631; 95% confidence interval, 0.585-0.679) was the highest. A significant difference was observed between AUC for R2CHA2DS2-VASc, CHADS2, and CHA2DS2-VASc scores, but no meaningful difference between CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores. CONCLUSION: We determined the usefulness of the R2CHA2DS2-VASc score, which showed better association with stroke than the CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores.
Area Under Curve ; Atrial Fibrillation* ; Clinical Decision-Making ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Stroke

We report the findings of a patient with an asymptomatic Arc of Buhler (AOB) aneurysm, which was successfully treated by transcatheter coil embolization. An abdominal CT and angiography revealed an intact pancreaticoduodenal artery arcade (PDAA) and an anomalous communication between the SMA and celiac axis, termed an AOB. An aneurysm was observed at the origin of the AOB and treated with a transcatheter embolization using coils. A follow-up CT imaging confirmed the total occlusion of the aneurysm with a patent PDAA. The successful results of this treatment suggest that the endovascular therapy of an AOB aneurysm with a celiac axis occlusion and an intact PDAA is feasible and safe.
Adult ; Aneurysm/radiography/*therapy ; Angiography ; Celiac Artery/*abnormalities ; *Embolization, Therapeutic ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenteric Artery, Superior/*abnormalities ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Teicoplanin is a glycopeptide antibiotic that is widely used in clinical practice for the treatment of infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. The aim of this study was to analyze plasma teicoplanin concentrations to determine the percentage of patients in whom therapeutic concentrations of teicoplanin were achieved in clinical practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The plasma teicoplanin concentrations of hospitalized patients receiving treatment at a teaching hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The target level was defined as a plasma teicoplanin concentration of 10 mg/L or greater, since this was generally regarded as the lower limit of the optimal concentration range required for the effective treatment of a majority of infections. RESULTS: Patients with sub-optimal (< 10 mg/L) plasma teicoplanin concentrations constituted nearly half of the total study population. The majority of these patients received the recommended loading dose, which were three 400 mg doses administered every 12 hours. Sub-group analysis showed a trend that the group receiving loading dose was more likely to reach the optimal teicoplanin concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The data revealed that a significant proportion of patients in clinical practice achieved only sub-optimal teicoplanin concentrations, which emphasizes the importance of the mandatory use of loading dose and routine therapeutic drug monitoring. Treatment reassessment and simulation of individual dose regimens may also be necessary to achieve optimal drug concentrations.
Drug Monitoring ; Gram-Positive Bacteria ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Plasma ; Retrospective Studies ; Teicoplanin*

PURPOSE: E-cadherin, a cell adhesive molecule that plays a diverse role in cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction, is essential for maintaining epithelial intercellular adhesion and acts particularly as a suppressor of invasive ability of cancer. To detennine the potential pro- gnostic values of membranous E-cadherin, we evaluated the correlation between the clin- ical outcome and its expression in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Membranous E-cadherin immunoreactivity was evaluated in 75 cases of transitional bladder cancer and 15 controls (5 cases of cystitis and 10 normal controls). The expression of membranous E-cadherin were compared with histological grade, T category of TNM stage, and survival. RESULTS: Abnonnal immunohistochemical expression of membranous E-cadherin was observed in 53 (70.7%) patients with bladder cancer and undetected in controis. Abnormal immunohistochemical expression of membranous E-cadherin was significantly correlated with grade (p<0.01) and T category of TNM stage (p<0.01) of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. Progression to invasive cancer occurred in 6 patients with 45 superficial bladder cancer and 5 of them showed abnormal expression of E-cadherin, which had statistical significance (p<0.05) but not with recurrence. There was statistically significant correlation between the abnormal expression of E-cadherin and poor prognosis (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that abnormal expression of membranous E-cadherin is a useful prognostic marker in patients with transitional bladder cancer.
Adhesives ; Cadherins* ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell* ; Cystitis ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder*