OBJECTIVES: Outbreaks of pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) occur every 3-4 years in Korea, most recently in 2011. The aim of our study was to determine the optimal time to perform indirect particle agglutination antibody assays to improve early diagnosis of MP pneumonia in children. METHODS: A database of 206 pediatric patients treated for pneumonia at the Hanyang University Hospital from June to October 2011 was analyzed retrospectively for demographic characteristics and laboratory test results. RESULTS: Among the 206 patients treated for pneumonia during the study period, there were 160 children (mean age, 5.44 years) diagnosed with MP pneumonia, who were studied further. The mean age of these MP pneumonia patients was 5.44 years. Antibody titers increased with increasing time between symptom onset and the collection of serum collection: MP titers were <1:640 for sera collected after 5.44 days and titers > or =1:640 for those collected after 8.58 days; P<0.001). Antibody titers were considered positive when they reached > or =1:640. In 42 MP pneumonia patients in whom there was a four-fold or greater increase in titer between successive serum samples, the optimal cut-off time-point for distinguishing between the initial and second titer groups was 7.5 days after the onset of symptoms (sensitivity, 90.5%; specificity, 92.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Negative MP antibody titers earlier than 8 days after the onset of symptoms in children with pneumonia may require repeating to confirm the diagnosis. This finding could optimize diagnosis and result in better therapeutic outcomes of MP pneumonia in children.
Agglutination ; Child ; Disease Outbreaks ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Korea ; Mycoplasma ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy is a recently established disease entity, proposed by Mizuguchi et al in 1995, that shows a characteristic symmetric and multifocal involvement of both thalamus, brainstem tegmentum, cerebral periventricular white matter, and cerebellar medulla. It is known to be prevalent in Japan and other Far Ease countries. The etiology of the acute necrotizing encephalopathy remains unknown. The typical course of acute necrotizing encephalopathy is the development of the irreversible neurologic symptoms related to brain lesions. The diagnosis can be made on the basis of the combination of a typical clinical profile and characteristic radiologic findings. We experienced a first case of acute necrotizing encephalopathy in a 9 month old boy in Korea. We report this case with the brief review of related literatures.
Brain ; Brain Stem ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Japan ; Korea ; Male ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Thalamus

We report a rare cause of lung cavities, occurring in a patient with intrapulmonary cystic teratoma. Computed tomography (CT) provided us more detailed informations about the tumor characteristics containing fat and calcification, which could not be distinguished on the plain radiographs. In addition, CTscans clearly demonstrated the dilated anterior segmental bronchus of the left upper lobe entering the posterior aspect of the cavity.
Bronchi ; Humans ; Lung* ; Teratoma*

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnancy*

OBJECTIVES: We performed anterior spinal fusion and instrumentation in treatment of spinal tuberculosis. The clinical results of this operation and metal-related complications were evaluated to determine the rationale of anterior instrumentation in active tuberculous lesion. METHODS: From July 1989 to February 1993, we treated twenty-one patients with spinal tuberculosis by radical resection of the tuberculous lesion and bone grafting, followed by anterior instrumentation using Zielke rod system. The changes in spinal deformity were measured from lateral spinal radiographs obtained preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and final follow-up. The recurrence of infection and possible complications were also observed clinically and radiologically. RESULTS: The mean kyphotic angle was decreased preoperatively from 21 degrees to 16 degrees at final follow-up in patients with thoracolumbar tuberculous lesions. The mean deformity angle was corrected 7 degrees in thoracolumbar tuberculosis and 12 degrees in lumbar tuberculosis compared with the preoperative deformity angle. There was not any persistence or recurrence of infection possibly related to the instrumentation. All patients were allowed early ambulation with the aid of a light brace. CONCLUSION: The clinical and radiological results suggested that the anterior instrumentation seemed to be one of the rational approaches for providing immediate stability in treating severe spinal tuberculosis without any significant risk of persistence or recurrence of infection.
Bone Transplantation ; Braces ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Early Ambulation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Recurrence ; Spinal Fusion ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Spinal*

No abstract available.
Neuralgia* ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation*

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Osteoporosis* ; Uterine Prolapse*

No abstract available.
Nephrotic Syndrome* ; Venous Thrombosis*

PURPOSE: The use of antiepileptic drugs for the seizure control has been a remarkable breakthrough. However, excessive body weight gain is a common side effect of some antiepileptic drugs. Topiramate is a novel and highly effective antiepileptic drug that has been associated with weight loss in some patients. This study was undertaken to compare the change of body weight in children treated with valproic acid and topiramate for epilepsy. METHODS: Children who took medications for epilepsy with either valproic acid or topiramate were recruited. We collected the data of the initial weight and the follow-up weight on average, 10 months documented in the medical records. We analyzed the change of body weight due to antiepileptic drugs in the study subjects. RESULTS: Statistically significant weight gains after treatment with valproic acid were observed(mean+/-SD, 3.7+/-3.2 kg). However, there have nearly no change of body weight after the treatment with topiramate(mean+/-SD, -0.9+/-2.3 kg). There were significant difference in weight changes between two groups of two different antiepileptic drug. CONCLUSION: This study showed that topiramate caused little weight gain in children with epilepsy. Antiepileptic drugs should be selected by individual patient's characteristics.
Anticonvulsants* ; Body Weight* ; Child* ; Epilepsy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Seizures ; Valproic Acid ; Weight Gain ; Weight Loss

As a result of comparing the phenolic components of cinnamon medicines, the total phenolic component content of Cinnamomi Cortex in China was about 2.65 times higher than that of Cinnamomi Cortex in Vietnam. In addition, the total phenolic component content of Vietnamese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus was about 1.80 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus. Meanwhile, Vietnamese Cinnamomi Ramulus showed a content about 3.29 times higher than that of Chinese Cinnamomi Ramulus. Cinnamaldehyde, the main component of cinnamon medicines, showed the same tendency as the total phenolic component content. In terms of the average content of the total phenolic components, Cinnamomi Cortex showed the highest content at 23964 μg/g, followed by Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus at 17489 μg/g and Cinnamomi Ramulus at 5435.8 μg/g. These results showed that Cinnamomi Cortex and Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus with stem bark as usage sites had about 3.22 to 4.41 times higher content of phenolic components than Cinnamomi Ramulus with young branches as usage sites.