In community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, pyogenic liver abscess is common as a primary site of infection, particularly in Asia, that can progress to bacteremia. Diabetes mellitus is a usual predisposing factor. Pneumonia as primary site of infection by community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection is not common but carries a poor outcome. Early administration of appropriate antibiotics is extremely important to avoid the development of bacteremia and septicemia. An infective endocarditis caused by community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection is very rare; particularly, such a case of endocarditis in which pneumonia was the primary site of infection has never been reported previously. In this report we described a case of community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection that started with pneumonia and progressed to bacteremia, leading to endocarditis, liver abscess, and other systemic septic complications. Delayed administration of appropriate antibiotics may have played a role in this case.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Asia ; Bacteremia ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Endocarditis ; Klebsiella ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Liver Abscess ; Liver Abscess, Pyogenic ; Pneumonia ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic

PURPOSE: Blind individuals who have photoreceptor loss are known to perceive phosphenes with electrical stimulation of their remaining retinal ganglion cells. We proposed that implantable lateral geniculate body (LGB) stimulus electrode arrays could be used to generate phosphene vision. We attempted to refine the basic reference of the electrical evoked potentials (EEPs) elicited by microelectrical stimulations of the optic nerve, optic tract and LGB of a domestic pig, and then compared it to visual evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by short-flash stimuli. METHODS: For visual function measurement, VEPs in response to short-flash stimuli on the left eye of the domestic pig were assessed over the visual cortex at position Oz with the reference electrode at Fz. After anesthesia, linearly configured platinum wire electrodes were inserted into the optic nerve, optic track and LGB. To determine the optimal stimulus current, EEPs were recorded repeatedly with controlling the pulse and power. The threshold of current and charge density to elicit EEPs at 0.3 ms pulse duration was about ±10 microA. RESULTS: Our experimental results showed that visual cortex activity can be effectively evoked by stimulation of the optic nerve, optic tract and LGB using penetrating electrodes. The latency of P1 was more shortened as the electrical stimulation was closer to LGB. The EEPs of two-channel in the visual cortex demonstrated a similar pattern with stimulation of different spots of the stimulating electrodes. We found that the LGB-stimulated EEP pattern was very similar to the simultaneously generated VEP on the control side, although implicit time deferred. CONCLUSIONS: EEPs and VEPs derived from visual-system stimulation were compared. The LGB-stimulated EEP wave demonstrated a similar pattern to the VEP waveform except implicit time, indicating prosthetic-based electrical stimulation of the LGB could be utilized for the blind to perceive vision of phosphenes.
Animals ; Electric Stimulation ; Electrodes, Implanted ; Evoked Potentials, Visual/*physiology ; Geniculate Bodies/*physiology ; Male ; Optic Nerve/physiology ; Optic Tract/physiology ; Photic Stimulation ; Sus scrofa ; Visual Cortex/*physiology

BACKGROUND: Propofol, a new intravenous anesthetic agent, is now used for brief operation and day surgery for its rapid recovery and controllability. Propofol, rapid acting sedatives hypnotics, is known to no analgesic effect. This study was taken to evaluate the analgesic effect of propofol, compared to those of fentanyl. METHODS: Forty patients (ASA physical status 1, 2) scheduled for surgery of short duration (within 1 hour) were randomly allocated into two groups. Induction of anesthesia was performed by injection of thiopental (5 mg/kg) and succinylcholine (1 mg/kg) and ventilated with O2-N2O (50%) after endotracheal intubation. Maintenance of anesthesia was performed by vecuronium (1 mg/kg) and continuous infusion of propofol (group I) or fentanyl (group II). RESULTS: There was no significant differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both groups. In heart rate, there was significant difference at preincision and postincision between two groups. Time to extubation (4.5 +/- 4.6 vs 6.3 +/- 4.6 min), time to eye open (7.5 +/- 7.1 vs 6.6 +/- 5.4 min), time to complain pain after stop dropping at recovery room (30.5 +/- 8.0 vs 35.5 +/- 17.9 min), the average flow rate of drugs (6.0 +/- 2.2 mg/kg/hr vs 6.7 +/- 2.4 microgram/kg/hr) has no significant difference between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: A single continuous infusion of propofol is applied as one of general anesthesia methods with O2-N2O, muscle relaxants. Propofol has a appropriate and similar analgesic effect compared with fentanyl in operation of little hemodynamic changes and short operation, and rapid recovery compared with fentanyl.
Ambulatory Surgical Procedures ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Blood Pressure ; Fentanyl* ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Propofol* ; Recovery Room ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental ; Vecuronium Bromide

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore characteristics of and risk factors for accidental inpatient falls. METHODS: Participants were classified as fallers or non-fallers based on the fall history of inpatients in a tertiary hospital in Seoul between June 2014 and May 2015. Data on falls were obtained from the fall report forms and data on risk factors were obtained from the electronic nursing records. Characteristics of fallers and non-fallers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Risk factors for falls were identified using univariate analyses and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Average length of stay prior to the fall was 21.52 days and average age of fallers was 61.37 years. Most falls occurred during the night shifts and in the bedroom and were due to sudden leg weakness during ambulation. It was found that gender, BMI, physical problems such elimination, gait, vision and hearing and medications such as sleeping pills, antiarrhythmics, vasodilators, and muscle relaxant were statistically significant factors affecting falls. CONCLUSION: The findings show that there are significant risk factors such as BMI and history of surgery which are not part of fall assessment tools. There are also items on fall assessment tools which are not found to be significant such as mental status, emotional unstability, dizziness, and impairment of urination. Therefore, these various risk factors should be examined in the fall risk assessments and these risk factors should be considered in the development of fall assessment tools.
Accidental Falls* ; Dizziness ; Gait ; Hearing ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Leg ; Length of Stay ; Logistic Models ; Nursing Records ; Patient Safety ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors* ; Seoul ; Tertiary Care Centers* ; Urination ; Vasodilator Agents ; Walking

PURPOSE: Despite recent advances in the surgical and postoperative management of infants with congenital heart disease, nutritional support for this population is often suboptimal. The purpose of this study was to develop a nutritional program for the postoperative period for infants who have had cardiac surgery and to evaluate effects of the program. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures was used. A newly developed nutritional program including a feeding protocol and feeding flow was provided to the study group (n=19) and usual feeding care to the control group (n=19). The effects of the feeding program were analyzed in terms of total feed intake, total calorie intake, gastric residual volume, and frequency of diarrhea. RESULTS: Calorie intake and feeding amount in the study group were significantly increased compared to the control group. However, the two groups showed no significant differences in gastric residual volume and frequency of diarrhea. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the nutritional program used in the study is an effective nursing intervention program in increasing feeding amount and calorie intake in infants postoperative to cardiac surgery and does not cause feeding-related complications.
Diarrhea/complications/etiology ; Enteral Nutrition/*methods/standards ; Female ; Heart Diseases/*surgery ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Nutritional Requirements ; *Postoperative Care/methods ; Postoperative Complications ; Program Development ; Program Evaluation

Autoinflammatory disease (AID) is a newly proposed category of disorders characterized by unprovoked episodes of inflammation without any infectious or autoimmune evidence. We aimed to characterize the clinical and genetic features of patients who had recurrent fever and multi-system inflammation but remain unclassified for any established AIDs. Medical records of 1,777 patients who visited our Rheumatology Clinic between March 2009 and December 2010 were reviewed to identify those who met the following criteria; 1) presence of fever, 2) inflammation in two or more organ systems, 3) recurrent nature of fever or inflammation, 4) no evidence of infection or malignancy, 5) absence of high titer autoantibodies, and 6) failure to satisfy any classification criteria for known AIDs. Genotyping was performed for common missense variants in MEFV, NOD2/CARD15, and TNFRSF1A. A small number of patients (17/1,777, 0.95%) were identified to meet the above criteria. Muco-cutaneous and musculoskeletal features were most common, but there was a considerable heterogeneity in symptom combination. Although they did not satisfy any established classification criteria for AIDs, substantial overlap was observed between the clinical spectrum of these patients and known AIDs. According to the newly proposed Eurofever criteria for periodic fevers, eleven of them were classified as TNF receptor-associated periodic syndrome and two as mevalonate kinase deficiency. However, no examined genetic variants including those in TNFRSF1A were found in these patients. A new set of classification criteria needs to be developed and validated for Asian patients with unclassified AIDs.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/genetics ; Female ; Fever/*etiology ; Genotype ; Hereditary Autoinflammatory Diseases/classification/*diagnosis/genetics ; Humans ; Inflammation/*etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation, Missense ; Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein/genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I/genetics ; Recurrence ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Autoinflammatory disease (AID) is a newly proposed category of disorders characterized by unprovoked episodes of inflammation without any infectious or autoimmune evidence. We aimed to characterize the clinical and genetic features of patients who had recurrent fever and multi-system inflammation but remain unclassified for any established AIDs. Medical records of 1,777 patients who visited our Rheumatology Clinic between March 2009 and December 2010 were reviewed to identify those who met the following criteria; 1) presence of fever, 2) inflammation in two or more organ systems, 3) recurrent nature of fever or inflammation, 4) no evidence of infection or malignancy, 5) absence of high titer autoantibodies, and 6) failure to satisfy any classification criteria for known AIDs. Genotyping was performed for common missense variants in MEFV, NOD2/CARD15, and TNFRSF1A. A small number of patients (17/1,777, 0.95%) were identified to meet the above criteria. Muco-cutaneous and musculoskeletal features were most common, but there was a considerable heterogeneity in symptom combination. Although they did not satisfy any established classification criteria for AIDs, substantial overlap was observed between the clinical spectrum of these patients and known AIDs. According to the newly proposed Eurofever criteria for periodic fevers, eleven of them were classified as TNF receptor-associated periodic syndrome and two as mevalonate kinase deficiency. However, no examined genetic variants including those in TNFRSF1A were found in these patients. A new set of classification criteria needs to be developed and validated for Asian patients with unclassified AIDs.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/genetics ; Female ; Fever/*etiology ; Genotype ; Hereditary Autoinflammatory Diseases/classification/*diagnosis/genetics ; Humans ; Inflammation/*etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation, Missense ; Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein/genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I/genetics ; Recurrence ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Dental Implants ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gingivitis ; Humans ; Male ; Membranes ; Prognosis ; Prosthodontics ; Retrospective Studies ; Sinusitis ; Survival Rate ; Tooth ; Transplants

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is an uncommon, serious disease known to be related with infection, toxin, pregnancy and autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease-related TTP is rare, difficult to diagnose and can rapidly become fatal if left untreated. We report the case of a 59 year-old Korean female with TTP associated with dermatomyositis flare. The patient was suspected to have amyopathic dermatomyositis and was treated with moderate doses of oral glucocorticoids. One month later, muscle weakness developed with dermatomyositis flare, and the patient showed confusion, acute renal failure, thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. She was diagnosed with TTP associated with dermatomyositis flare. After prompt plasmapheresis treatment with high dose glucocorticoid therapy, her confusion, thrombocytopenia and anemia were improved. However, oliguric renal failure and myopathy remained, and thrombocytopenia and anemia recurred. After starting additional rituximab treatment, the clinical manifestation of dermatomyositis and TTP improved markedly.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Anemia ; Anemia, Hemolytic ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Dermatomyositis* ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscular Diseases ; Plasmapheresis ; Pregnancy ; Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic* ; Renal Insufficiency ; Thrombocytopenia ; Rituximab

PURPOSE: Staphylococcus aureus causes a variety of infections, ranging from benign skin infections to fatal invasive infections. Recently, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections have emerged in patients who do not have established risk factors. This study was conducted to characterize S. aureus infections in children with an emphasis on community- associated MRSA infections at a tertiary care pediatric facility during a 3-year period. METHODS: Four hundred twenty-nine cases of S. aureus infections diagnosed at the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between January 2004 and December 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. The cases were classified as hospital- onset (HO) or community-onset (CO), healthcare-associated (HA), or community-associated (CA) infections. RESULTS: Among the 206 cases <1 year of age, 72%, 7%, and 21% were HO-HA, CO-HA, and CA infections, respectively, as compared to 48%, 28%, and 24% among the 223 cases >1 year of age. The proportion of CO-HA infections among HA infections (8.6% vs. 37.1%, P<0.001) and the proportion of HA infections among the CO infections (24.5% vs. 54.3%, P<0.001) were greater in older children than in infants. Overall, 57% of the isolates were methicillin-resistant. Twenty-nine (30%) of 96 CA strains were MRSA, and the most common site of CA-MRSA infection was the skin and soft tissues (26 cases). CONCLUSION: The methicillin resistance rate of S. aureus from CA infections was high and CA-MRSA was most often associated with skin and soft tissue infections.
Child ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Staphylococcus ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Tertiary Healthcare