OBJECTIVES: The clinical features of various facial deformities in Korean leprosy patients were evaluated according to the type of leprosy. METHODS: One hundred ninety six patients with leprosy were examined for various facial deformities using a nasal speculum, endoscope, and digital camera. The frequency and severity of external nasal deformities and septal perforations were evaluated according to the type of leprosy. Eye deformities, ear deformities, and facial palsy were also assessed. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients (36.2%) displayed external nasal deformities: 28 minimal contractures, three cartilage contractures, two bony-cartilage contractures, and 38 skin defects. The external nasal deformity and severe form deformity in lepromatous types were more frequent compared to other types (P<0.05 for each variable). Twenty-three patients (9%) displayed septal perforations, among whom 11 had cartilaginous perforations and 12 had bony-cartilaginous perforations. The frequency of septal and bony-cartilaginous perforations did not differ significantly between the types of leprosy (P>0.05 for each variable). Sixty-one patients (31.1%) had eye deformities and 19 patients (9.7%) had facial nerve palsy, common in the borderline type. No cases of ear deformities were observed. CONCLUSION: Korean patients had characteristic deformities according to the type of leprosy. They were different from those seen in the prior analyses of Caucasian populations.
Cartilage ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Contracture ; Ear ; Endoscopes ; Eye ; Facial Nerve ; Facial Paralysis ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Paralysis ; Skin ; Surgical Instruments

OBJECTIVE: Correlations between semen parameters and sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) were investigated to identify characteristics of sperm without DNA damage that could be used in selecting sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Pregnancy outcomes were compared to determine whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) or ICSI is a better choice for patients who have sperm with a high-DFI. METHODS: Semen analysis was carried out in 388 patients who visited our IVF center for the first time to investigate correlations between sperm DFI and semen parameters. In addition, 1,102 IVF cycles in 867 patients were carried out in the present study; 921 cycles in the low-DFI group (DFI <30%) and 181 cycles in the high-DFI group (DFI ≥30%). Both the low- and high-DFI groups were subdivided into IVF and ICSI cycle groups. RESULTS: Sperm DFI showed significant inverse correlations with sperm motility (r=−0.435, p<0.001) and morphology (r=−0.153, p<0.05). Sperm DFI also showed significant correlations with rapid motility (r=−0.436, p<0.001), and the kinetic parameters of average-path velocity (r=−0.403) and linearity (r=−0.412). Although there was no significant difference in the pregnancy rates between IVF (48.6%) and ICSI (44.8%) in the low-DFI group, the pregnancy rate of ICSI cycles (44.8%, p<0.05) was significantly higher than IVF cycles (25.0%) in the high-DFI group. No significant difference was observed in the abortion rates between the low-DFI (52 of 921, 5.6%) and high-DFI groups (7 of 181, 3.8%). CONCLUSION: ICSI is a better choice than IVF for improving the pregnancy outcomes of patients who have sperm with a high DFI.
Abortion, Induced ; DNA Damage ; DNA Fragmentation* ; DNA* ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnancy Rate* ; Pregnancy* ; Semen ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic* ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa*

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Neuroinflammation plays critical role in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the effect of three licorice varieties, Glycyrhiza uralensis, G. glabra, and Shinwongam (SW) on a mouse model of inflammation-induced memory and cognitive deficit. MATERIALS/METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 2.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and orally administrated G. uralensis, G. glabra, and SW extract (150 mg/kg/day). SW, a new species of licorice in Korea, was combined with G. uralensis and G. glabra. Behavioral tests, including the T-maze, novel object recognition and Morris water maze, were carried out to assess learning and memory. In addition, the expressions of inflammation-related proteins in brain tissue were measured by western blotting. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in spatial and objective recognition memory in LPS-induced cognitive impairment group, as measured by the T-maze and novel object recognition test; however, the administration of licorice ameliorated these deficits. In addition, licorice-treated groups exhibited improved learning and memory ability in the Morris water maze. Furthermore, LPS-injected mice had up-regulated pro-inflammatory proteins, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6, via activation of toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NFκB) pathways in the brain. However, these were attenuated by following administration of the three licorice varieties. Interestingly, the SW-administered group showed greater inhibition of iNOS and TLR4 when compared with the other licorice varieties. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain of LPS-induced cognitively impaired mice that were administered licorice, with the greatest effect following SW treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The three licorice varieties ameliorated the inflammation-induced cognitive dysfunction by down-regulating inflammatory proteins and up-regulating BDNF. These results suggest that licorice, in particular SW, could be potential therapeutic agents against cognitive impairment.
Alzheimer Disease ; Animals ; Behavior Rating Scale ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cognition Disorders ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; Glycyrrhiza* ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-6 ; Korea ; Learning ; Memory ; Mice* ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; Water

Gastrointestinal involvement by a lymphoma occurs in 20% of patients with a lymphoma and frequently involves the stomach, small bowel or colon, but rarely involves the esophagus. Esophageal lymphomas are usually secondary to an adjacent lymph node invasion or the contiguous spread from a gastric lymphoma. Primary involvement of the esophagus by a lymphoma is quite rare. Primary versus secondary esophageal involvement by a lymphoma is difficult to determine. The radiological features of esophageal lymphomas may manifest nodules of various sizes, enlarged folds, polypoid mass, ulceration, stenosis, varicoid appearance, and aneurysmal dilatation. The presentation of multiple discrete ulcers in the esophagus on the background of the normal mucosa is most unusual. We describe a case of an esophageal T-cell lymphoma with multiple discrete ulcers on the background of the normal mucosa. The patient was treated with chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, the endoscopic findings of the esophagus showed a normal esophageal mucosa. We report this case with a review of the relevant literature.
Aneurysm ; Colon ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Drug Therapy ; Esophagus ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, T-Cell* ; Mucous Membrane* ; Stomach ; T-Lymphocytes* ; Ulcer*

BACKGROUND: Several types of three-dimensional (3D)-printed tracheal scaffolds have been reported. Nonetheless, most of these studies concentrated only on application of the final product to an in vivo animal study and could not show the effects of various 3D printing methods, materials, or parameters for creation of an optimal 3D-printed tracheal scaffold. The purpose of this study was to characterize polycaprolactone (PCL) tracheal scaffolds 3D-printed by the 4-axis fused deposition modeling (FDM) method and determine the differences in the scaffold depending on the additive manufacturing method. METHODS: The standard 3D trachea model for FDM was applied to a 4-axis FDM scaffold and conventional FDM scaffold. The scaffold morphology, mechanical properties, porosity, and cytotoxicity were evaluated. Scaffolds were implanted into a 7 × 10-mm artificial tracheal defect in rabbits. Four and 8 weeks after the operation, the reconstructed sites were evaluated by bronchoscopic, radiological, and histological analyses. RESULTS: The 4-axis FDM provided greater dimensional accuracy and was significantly closer to CAD software-based designs with a predefined pore size and pore interconnectivity as compared to the conventional scaffold. The 4-axis tracheal scaffold showed superior mechanical properties. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the 4-axis FDM process is more suitable for the development of an accurate and mechanically superior trachea scaffold.
Animals ; Methods ; Porosity ; Printing, Three-Dimensional* ; Rabbits ; Trachea*

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether fragment removal on in vitro fertilization (IVF) day 2 improved the subsequent development and pregnancy outcomes of fragmented embryos compared to similar-grade embryos without fragment removal. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis involving 191 IVF cycles in which all embryos had over 10% fragmentation (grade 3 or 4) on day 2 of the IVF-embryo transfer cycle from March 2015 to December 2017. IVF cycles were divided into the fragment removal group (n=87) and the no fragment removal group (n=104) as a control cohort. Before fragment removal, embryos with fragmentation on day 2 were incubated in Ca2+- and Mg2+-free biopsy medium under paraffin oil for 30 minutes. Microsurgical fragment removal was performed with later-assisted hatching and a handmade suction micropipette that had an outer diameter of 30 µm. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the characteristics of the patients between the control and the fragment removal groups. After fragment removal and subsequent in vitro culture for 24 hours, the number of blastomeres (7.1±1.7 vs. 6.9±1.6) was comparable between the transferred embryos in the two groups, but the morphological grade of the embryos in the fragment removal group (1.9±0.7) was significantly higher than that of the control group (3.1±0.5, p < 0.01). The clinical pregnancy (43.7%) and implantation rates (25.8%) in the fragment removal group were significantly higher than those in the control group (28.8% and 14.0%, respectively; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Early fragment removal on day 2 significantly improved the subsequent development and pregnancy outcomes of fragmented embryos.
Biopsy ; Blastomeres ; Cohort Studies ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Humans* ; In Vitro Techniques* ; Paraffin ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Retrospective Studies ; Suction

Crohn's disease is a condition of chronic inflammation potentially involving any location of the alimentary tract from mouth to anus. Numerous extraintestinal manifestations can also be present. Urologic complications of inflammatory bowel disease are seen in up to 25% of patients, but renal parenchymal disease has been rarely reported. IgA nephropathy is recognized worldwide as a most common form of primary glomerulonephritis. Clinical manifestations vary, ranging from microscopic hematuria to nephrotic syndrome. Recently, IgA nephropathy associated with systemic diseases has been reported. We describe a case of a 22 year-old man with Crohn's disease associated with IgA nephropathy. At the age of 8 years, microscopic hematuria appeared. After fourteen years, he presented with melena, mild fever, recurrent oral ulcer, microscopic hematuria and proteinuria. Colonoscopic examination revealed characteristic features of Crohn's disease such as multiple ulcers. Microscopic findings showed superficial ulceration with small noncaseating granulomas. Renal biopsy revealed IgA nephropathy. The patient was treated with oral prednisolone, olsalazine, and metronidazole followed by maintenance therapy with sulfasalazine and azathioprine resulting in clinical improvement of Crohn's disease and IgA nephropathy.
Adult ; Crohn Disease/*complications/pathology ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA/*complications/pathology ; Humans ; Male

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of repeated photodynamic therapy (PDT) for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Korean patients. METHODS: Clinical data of patients who were treated with repeated (3 times or more) PDT for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to AMD and followed up for more than 6 months were collected from 17 hospitals around the country. Visual outcomes at 12 and 24 months, follow-up were compared between subtypes of choroidal neovascularization. The factors related to final visual prognosis and PDT-related adverse effects were evaluated. RESULTS: 244 patients (244 eyes) were recruited (male: 60%, age: 67.7+/-9.1 years). The portion of patients with predominantly classic, minimally classic, and occult without classic choroidal neovascularization was 57%, 13%, and 24%, respectively and that of patients with visual improvements or less than moderate visual loss at 24 months follow-up were 28%, 38%, 30% and 47%, 56%, and 65%, respectively. Baseline visual acuity and age were significantly related to the final visual prognosis (p<0.05). PDT-related adverse events developed in 15 (6.1%) patients, but most were mild and transient. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated PDT for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to AMD has effects comparable to those of previous prospective, controlled trials without any significant safety concerns in Korea.
Choroid* ; Choroidal Neovascularization* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Macular Degeneration* ; Photochemotherapy* ; Prognosis ; Visual Acuity