Suicide through naphthalene poisoning is rare. Prolonged hemolytic anemia and hemoglobinuria are typical symptoms of naphthalene poisoning. We report an unusual case of naphthalene poisoning. The decedent was an 87-year-old female who intentionally ingested over 5 g of naphthalene. After more than 5 hours, she was found in a drowsy state. During initial examination, hemoglobin level and urine test results were normal. Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were elevated (854 and 1,197 U/L, respectively). Metabolic acidosis was found on arterial blood gas analysis. The patient was treated conservatively by administration of activated charcoal, calcium gluconate, insulin, and glucose. However, the patient died after 1 day of hospital admission. On autopsy, the liver showed toxic hepatitis with confluent necrosis. Naphthalene concentrations in the blood and gastric contents were 5.4 and 5.8 mg/L, respectively. In conclusion, the decedent ingested naphthalene and died due to liver failure without hemolysis.
Acidosis ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alanine Transaminase ; Anemia, Hemolytic ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Autopsy* ; Blood Gas Analysis ; Calcium Gluconate ; Charcoal ; Drug-Induced Liver Injury* ; Female ; Glucose ; Hemoglobinuria ; Hemolysis ; Humans ; Insulin ; Intention ; Liver ; Liver Failure ; Naphthalenes ; Necrosis ; Poisoning* ; Suicide

Median raphe canal is an uncommon disease and represents a defect abnormality of the male genitalia. It occurs along the ventral median raphe from the glans penis to the anus. Histologically the canal is lined by stratified squamous epithelium which dose not communicate with the urethra. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice. Recently we observed a 25-year-old male patient who had had a median raphe canal located in the ventral aspect of penis.
Adult ; Anal Canal ; Epithelium ; Genitalia, Male ; Humans ; Male ; Penis* ; Urethra

We report an extremely specific case of Pendred's syndrome, originally described with an association of thyroid organification defect and hearing impairment; normal-sized thyroid, severe hypothyroidism manifested by profoundly retarded physical and mental development, cardiomegaly and severe hypochromic & microcytic anemia associated with asymmetrical septal hypertrophy.
Adolescent* ; Anemia* ; Cardiomegaly ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Hypertrophy* ; Hypothyroidism ; Thyroid Gland

No abstract available.
Nipples* ; Paget's Disease, Mammary*

BACKGROUND: The information on nasal transport and the metabolism of peptides have been obtained from pharmacokinetic investigations in experimental animals. However, there are no transport and metabolic studies of human nasal epithelial cells. In this study, the permeability characteristics and the metabolic properties of in vitro human nasal cell monolayers were investigated. Material and METHODS: Normal human inferior nasal conchal tissue samples were obtained from patients undergoing endoscopic nasal cavitary surgery. The specimens were cultured in a transwell using an air-liquid interface (ALI) culture, and the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) value of the blank filter and confluent cell monolayers were measured. To determine the % leakage of mannitol, 4µmol 14C-labelled mannitol was added and the % leakage was measured every 10 minute for 1 hour. RESULT: Human nasal epithelial cells in the primary culture grew to a confluent monolayer within 7 days and expressed microvilli. The tight junction between the cells was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The TEER value of the blank filter, fifth day and seventh day reached 108.5 ohm.cm2, 141 ohm.cm2 and 177.5 ohm.cm2, respectively. Transcellular % leakage of the 14C-mannitol at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes was 35.67±5.43, 34.42±5.60, 32.75±5.71, 31.76±4.22, 30.96±3.49 and 29.60±3.68 %, respectively. CONCLUSION: The human nasal epithelial monolayer using ALI using techniques is suitable for a transcellular permeability study. The data suggests that human nasal epithelial cells in as ALI culture technique shows some promise for a nasal transport and metabolism study.
Animals ; Culture Techniques* ; Electric Impedance ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans* ; Mannitol ; Metabolism ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Microvilli ; Peptides ; Permeability ; Tight Junctions

Measurable residual disease (MRD) testing, a standard procedure in B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) diagnostics, is assessed using multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements. We evaluated the concordance between eight-color, two-tube MFC-MRD the LymphoTrack NGS-MRD assays using 139 follow-up samples from 54 pediatric patients with B-ALL. We also assessed the effect of hemodilution in MFC-MRD assays. The MRD-concordance rate was 79.9% (N = 111), with 25 (18.0%) and 3 (2.2%) samples testing positive only by NGSMRD (MFC − NGS + MRD) and MFC-MRD (MFC + NGS − MRD), respectively. We found a significant correlation in MRD values from total nucleated cells between the two methods (r = 0.736 [0.647–0.806], P < 0.001). The median MRD value of MFC − NGS + MRD samples was estimated to be 0.0012% (0.0001%–0.0263%) using the NGS-MRD assays. Notably, 14.3% of MFC − NGS + MRD samples showed NGS-MRD values below the limit of detection in the MFC-MRD assays. The percentages of hematogones detected in MFC-MRD assays significantly differed between the discordant and concordant cases (P < 0.001). MFC and NGS-MRD assays showed relatively high concordance and correlation in MRD assessment, whereas the NGS-MRD assay detected MRD more frequently than the MFC-MRD assay in pediatric B-ALL. Evaluating the hematogone percentages can aid in assessing the impact of sample hemodilution.

PURPOSE: We investigated the effects of proteinuria and renal insufficiency on all-cause mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, with special emphasis on cancer staging and cancer-related deaths. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer. In protocol 1, patients were classified into four groups based on the operability of cancer and proteinuria: group 1, early-stage cancer patients (colorectal cancer stage < or =3) without proteinuria; group 2, early-stage cancer patients with proteinuria; group 3, advanced-stage cancer patients without proteinuria (colorectal cancer stage=4); and group 4, advanced-stage cancer patients with proteinuria. In protocol 2, patients were classified into four similar groups based on cancer staging and renal insufficiency (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2009, 3379 patients were enrolled in this cohort and followed until May 1, 2012 or until death. RESULTS: The number of patients with proteinuria was 495 (14.6%). The prevalence of proteinuria was higher in advanced-stage cancer (n=151, 22.3%) than in early-stage cancer patients (n=344, 12.7%). After adjusting for age, gender and other clinical variables, the proteinuric, early-stage cancer group was shown to be associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.67 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.38-2.01, compared with non-proteinuric early-stage cancer patients. However, renal insufficiency was not associated with colorectal cancer mortality. CONCLUSION: Proteinuria is an important risk factor for cancer mortality, especially in relatively early colorectal cancer.
Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms/complications/*mortality/pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prevalence ; Proteinuria/*complications/epidemiology ; Renal Insufficiency/complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

A 30-year-old male presented with pitting edema. He had received a kidney transplantation 3 months previously. His serum creatinine level was increased, and a renal ultrasound showed hypoechoic fluid collection in the perirenal space and pelvic cavity. We conducted sono-guided percutaneous drainage of the fluid collected in the pelvic cavity. The chemistry of the peritoneal fluid was more equivalent to serum chemistry values than to urinary values. Simple aspiration and treatment with antibiotics were performed. We have presented a case of lymphocele after kidney transplantation. This case suggests that physicians should remember how to differentiate the pelvic cavity fluid collection in patients who have received a kidney transplant.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ascitic Fluid ; Creatinine ; Drainage ; Edema ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Lymphocele ; Male ; Transplants

A 59-year-old female with diabetes mellitus presented with hypercalcemia and polycythemia. Her serum calcium and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels were increased, and Tc-99m sesta-MIBI scanning showed hot uptake in the lower portion of the left thyroid lobe. After parathyroidectomy, her calcium, iPTH, and polycythemia were normalized. In conclusion, the differential diagnosis of polycythemia and hypercalcemia should also include the possibility of a parathyroid tumor in addition to other neoplasms.
Calcium ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercalcemia ; Middle Aged ; Parathyroid Hormone ; Parathyroidectomy ; Polycythemia ; Polycythemia Vera ; Thyroid Gland

We report a case of Serratia marcescens peritonitis in a 45-year-old man with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The patient presented with abdominal pain and cloudy dialysate. Empiric antibiotic therapy was initiated intraperitoneally with cefazolin and ceftazidime for 5 days. Cultures of the dialysate revealed S. marcescens, and the treatment was subsequently changed to gentamicin and ceftazidime. Oral ciprofloxacin was also added. The patient's abdominal pain and the dialysate white blood cell (WBC) count, however, did not improve. The indwelling CAPD catheter was therefore removed. This is an unusual case report in the Korean literature of S. marcescens peritonitis in a patient receiving CAPD.
Abdominal Pain ; Catheters ; Cefazolin ; Ceftazidime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Peritonitis ; Serratia ; Serratia marcescens