Background: To evaluate the degree of deformation in patients with ankle osteoarthritis (OA), it is essential to measure the threedimensional (3D), in other words, stereoscopic alignment of the ankle, subtalar, and foot arches. Generally, measurement of radiological parameters use two-dimensional (2D) anteroposterior and lateral radiographs in a weight-bearing state; however, computeraided 3D analysis (Disior) using weight-bearing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has recently been introduced. Methods: In this study, we compared the 2D human radiographic method with a stereoscopic image in patients with ankle arthritis. We enrolled 57 patients diagnosed with OA (28 left and 29 right) and obtained both standing radiographs and weight-bearing CBCT. Patients were divided by the Takakura stage. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for each result was confirmed. Results: On the ICC between 2D radiographs and 3D analysis, the tibiotalar surface angle and lateral talo-1st metatarsal angle showed a good ICC grade (> 0.6), while other parameters did not have significant ICC results. Three-dimension was superior to radiographs in terms of statistical significance. Conclusions We demonstrated that 2D and stereoscopic images are useful for the diagnosis of OA. Our study also confirmed that the radiographic features affected by ankle OA varied. However, according to the results, the typical radiography is not sufficient to diagnose and determine a treatment plan for ankle OA. Therefore, the method of using 3D images should be considered.

BACKGROUND: Since 1982, many countries has reported outbreaks or sporadic cases caused by enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) serogroup strains, mainly E. coli O157:H7 type strain. However, systemic investigation about EHEC agents, including E. coli O157:H7, have not been done in Korea. Therefore, we investigated serogroup and verotoxin productivity of E. coli strains isolated from diarrheal patients and estimated risk of human infection in comparison with the EHEC strains isolated from cow, pig, and food material in Korea. METHODS: Diarrheal patient stool samples were collected and E. coli strains were isolated, according to biochemical characteristics. In order to isolate E. coli O157:H7, D-Sorbitol negative E. coli strains were selected. Serogrouping of the E. coli isolates was done by agglutination test. Verocytotoxin productivity was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reversed passive latex agglutination (RPLA). Human infection risk was estimated in comparison with EHEC strains isolated from cow, pig and food materials in Korea. RESULTS: Twenty-five E. coli strains were isolated from the diarrheal patients who were suspected to be infected with EHEC. However, none of these E. coli strains produced verocytotoxin. Out of 25 E. coli isolates, 16 serogroups of E. coli O1, O6, O8, O15, O20, O25, O26, O28, O29, O44, O86a, O119, O126, O128, O152 and 157:H- were found. In each of the E. coli O157:H- and O25 serogrorps 3 strains were found. CONCLUSION: None of 25 E. coli isolated from diarrheal patients who were suspected of EHEC infection produced verocytotoxin producing E. coli have been reported recently in Korea.
Agglutination ; Agglutination Tests ; Disease Outbreaks ; Efficiency* ; Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Latex ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Shiga Toxins

No abstract available.
Korea* ; Salmonella*

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated whether a mobile health (mHealth) application can instigate healthy behavioral changes and improvements in metabolic disorders in individuals with metabolic abnormalities. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Participants were divided into an mHealth intervention group (IG), which used a mobile app for 24 weeks, and a conventional IG. All mobile apps featured activity monitors, with blood pressure and glucose monitors, and body-composition measuring devices. The two groups were compared after 24 weeks in terms of health-behavior practice rate and changes in the proportion of people with health risks, and health behaviors performed by the IG that contributed to reductions in more than one health risk factor were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Preference for low-sodium diet, reading nutritional facts, having breakfast, and performing moderate physical activity significantly increased in the mHealth IG. Furthermore, the mHealth IG showed a significant increase of eight items in the mini-dietary assessment; particularly, the items “I eat at least two types of vegetables of various colors at every meal” and “I consume dairies, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese, every day.” The proportion of people with health risks, with the exception of fasting glucose, significantly decreased in the mHealth IG, while only the proportion of people with at-risk triglycerides and waist circumference of females significantly decreased in the control group. Finally, compared to those who did not show improvements of health risks, those who showed improvements of health risks in the mHealth IG had an odds ratio of 1.61 for moderate to vigorous physical activity, 1.65 for “I do not add more salt or soy sauce in my food,” and 1.77 for “I remove fat in my meat before eating.” CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the additional use of a community-based mHealth service through a mobile application is effective for improving health behaviors and lowering metabolic risks in Koreans.
Blood Pressure ; Breakfast ; Cheese ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diet ; Diet, Sodium-Restricted ; Disease Management ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Meat ; Milk ; Mobile Applications ; Motor Activity ; Odds Ratio ; Public Health ; Risk Factors ; Smartphone ; Soy Foods ; Telemedicine ; Triglycerides ; Vegetables ; Waist Circumference ; Yogurt

Craniopharyngiomas are rare primary intracranial tumors. Despite their benign histological appearance, they are often associated with an unfavorable prognosis. The typical manifestations upon diagnosis are headache, visual impairment, polyuria/polydypsia, growth retardation, disturbance of pubertal development, and significant weight gain. The treatment options include radical surgery or radiotherapy, or a combination of these modalities. Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is the most common adolescent hip disorder. SCFE occurs when the capital femoral epiphysis displaces posteriorly on the femoral neck at the level of the physis. The etiology of SCFE is thought to be multifactorial and may include obesity, growth surges, and less common endocrine disorders. The related endocrine disorders include hypothyroidism, growth hormone supplementation, hypogonadism, and panhypopituitarism. Reported herein is a case of panhypopituitarism caused by craniopharyngioma combined with SCFE.
Adolescent ; Craniopharyngioma* ; Diagnosis ; Epiphyses ; Femur Neck ; Growth Hormone ; Headache ; Hip ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Hypopituitarism ; Hypothyroidism ; Obesity ; Prognosis ; Radiotherapy ; Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphyses* ; Vision Disorders ; Weight Gain

BACKGROUND: Polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) detection is useful to diagnosis of pertussis at initial stage because the growth rate of Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) is relatively slow. Currently, the primer set for the insertion sequence IS481 (BP primer) is used widely for PCR detection of B. pertussis. However, the cross-reactivity of BP primer set with Bordetella holmesii (B. holmesii) was reported recently. Therefore, discrimination of B. pertussis and B. holmesii is needed in PCR step. For this reason, we developed new primer sets based on 16S rDNA sequence for diagnostic use and estimated the efficiency of these new primer sets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The specific PCR primers were designed from the aligned sequence matrix of 16S rDNA genes of various Bordetella species. The specificity of designed primers were estimated using clinically important 4 Bordetella species, B. pertussis, B. holmesii, Bordetella parapertussis (B. parapertussis) and Bordetella bronchiseptica (B. bronchiseptica). The sensitivity to B. pertussis of designed primers was also estimated and compared with BP primer set. RESULTS: As the results, the developed new primer set successfully distinguished B. pertussis and other Bordetella species containing B. holmesii. In the sensitivity assay, the detectable limits of 16S-F2/16S-R1 primer set for B. pertussis were revealed as 5 pg of genomic DNA and 105 cells/mL of cell suspension. In addition to these, identical results between BP with primer and new primer were obtained in clinical samples. CONCLUSION: In this study, the specific primer set for B. pertussis was developed based on 16S rDNA sequence and this primer set did not show cross-reactivity to B. holmesii. In addition to these, the applicability of this primer set to the clinical specimens was also confirmed.
Bordetella ; Bordetella bronchiseptica ; Bordetella parapertussis ; Bordetella pertussis ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Whooping Cough

BACKGROUND: Polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) detection is useful to diagnosis of pertussis at initial stage because the growth rate of Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) is relatively slow. Currently, the primer set for the insertion sequence IS481 (BP primer) is used widely for PCR detection of B. pertussis. However, the cross-reactivity of BP primer set with Bordetella holmesii (B. holmesii) was reported recently. Therefore, discrimination of B. pertussis and B. holmesii is needed in PCR step. For this reason, we developed new primer sets based on 16S rDNA sequence for diagnostic use and estimated the efficiency of these new primer sets. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The specific PCR primers were designed from the aligned sequence matrix of 16S rDNA genes of various Bordetella species. The specificity of designed primers were estimated using clinically important 4 Bordetella species, B. pertussis, B. holmesii, Bordetella parapertussis (B. parapertussis) and Bordetella bronchiseptica (B. bronchiseptica). The sensitivity to B. pertussis of designed primers was also estimated and compared with BP primer set. RESULTS: As the results, the developed new primer set successfully distinguished B. pertussis and other Bordetella species containing B. holmesii. In the sensitivity assay, the detectable limits of 16S-F2/16S-R1 primer set for B. pertussis were revealed as 5 pg of genomic DNA and 105 cells/mL of cell suspension. In addition to these, identical results between BP with primer and new primer were obtained in clinical samples. CONCLUSION: In this study, the specific primer set for B. pertussis was developed based on 16S rDNA sequence and this primer set did not show cross-reactivity to B. holmesii. In addition to these, the applicability of this primer set to the clinical specimens was also confirmed.
Bordetella ; Bordetella bronchiseptica ; Bordetella parapertussis ; Bordetella pertussis ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Whooping Cough

BACKGROUND: The clinical results of a Natural stent in patients with a benign tracheobronchial stenosis were examined by comparing the clinical outcomes and complications of those patients who underwent Dumon and Natural stenting in the management of benign airway stenosis. METHODS: The medical records of 94 patients (39 Dumon and 55 Natural stent) with a benign tracheobronchial stenosis were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Post-tuberculous stenosis was the leading indication for airway stenting (74%), which was followed by post-intubation stenosis (21%). After intervention, the dyspnea had improved among those patients who underwent Dumon (90%) and Natural (86%) stenting. After stabilizing the dyspnea, the stent could be successfully removed in half of the patients who underwent both Dumon (54%) and Natural (49%) stenting. During the 42 month follow-up period, the complication rate was similar in those patients who underwent Dumon and Natural stenting: migration (46% vs 53%), granulation tissue formation (36% vs 49%), mucostasis (21% vs 16%) and restenosis (51% vs 36%). CONCLUSION: The clinical results of Natural airway stent was similar to those of Dumon stent in the management of benign tracheobronchial stenosis.
Airway Obstruction ; Bronchoscopy ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Dyspnea ; Follow-Up Studies ; Granulation Tissue ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Silicones* ; Stents* ; Tracheal Stenosis ; Tuberculosis

Pertussis is a representative vaccine-preventable disease. However, there have been recent outbreaks in countries where even higher vaccination against the disease. One reason is the emergence of antigenic variants, which are different to vaccine type. In Korea, reported cases have rapidly increased since 2009. Therefore, we analyzed genotype of strains isolated in 2011-2012 by multilocus sequence typing method. As expected, the genotype profiles of tested genes dramatically changed. The major sequence type changed from ST1 to ST2, and new sequence type (ST8) appeared. In the minimum spanning tree, recent isolates belonging to the ACC-I-ST3 subgroup were detected that were composed of ST2, ST3, and ST6. In particular, the ST2 frequency increased to 81%. The novel ST8 was linked to the increased frequency of ST2. In addition, toxic strains carrying the ptxP3 promoter type were confirmed. This ptxP3 type emerged from 2009 and its frequency had increased to 100% in 2012. Based on these results, it can be inferred that the genotypic changes in the currently circulating strains are strongly associated with the recent increasing of pertussis in Korea. Therefore, the surveillance system should be strengthened, and genetic characterization of the isolates should be expanded to the whole genome sequence level.
*Antigenic Variation ; Antigens/*genetics/immunology/metabolism ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Bordetella pertussis/*genetics/isolation & purification/*metabolism ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genotype ; Humans ; Pertussis Toxin/genetics/metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Whooping Cough/immunology/*microbiology/pathology

We compared genetic variations in virulence mega plasmids pXO1 and pXO2 of twenty-seven Bacillus anthracis strains from Korean patients and environmental samples together with those of Bacillus anthracis Sterne, Pasteur and A2012 standard strains. Genetic variations were analyzed in twenty-three variable regions (ten and thirteen variablenumber tandem repeats and insertion/deletions in pXO1 and pXO2, respectively). The pXO1 plasmids were classified into 7 groups and pXO2 plasmids to 12 groups. Discrete phylogenic lineages could be differentiated between environmental and clinical strains by UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with average) method. In addition, clinical strains showed more variations than environmental isolates. The pXO2 plasmid appeared genetically more unstable than pXO1. A general plasmid genotype could be suggested for Korean soil isolates since they mostly clustered into a representative group.
Bacillus anthracis* ; Bacillus* ; Genetic Variation* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Korea* ; Plasmids* ; Soil ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Virulence