PURPOSE: Colonic diverticulitis is an uncommon disease in Korea, but the incidence of the disease is increasing. The right colon is the more preferred site for diverticulitis in Korea, but the incidence of left diverticulitis is increasing. Therefore, comparing the clinical features and treatments for right diverticulitis with those for left diverticulitis may help us to treat the disease more properly. METHODS: This study was performed retrospectively by reviewing the medical records of 96 patients with colonic diverticulitis, in whom either conservative or operative treatments were performed. RESULTS: Eighty-six patients had right diverticulitis (RD), and 10 patients had left diverticulitis (LD). The mean age of the patients was older for LD. Sixteen patients (18.6%) with RD had complications, and 7 patients (8.1%) underwent operations. On the other hand, 4 patients (40%) with LD had complications, and 3 patients (30%) underwent operations. The rates of complications and operations among old-aged patients were higher. The operations for 7 patients with RD who underwent surgery were 6 ileocecectomies and 1 diverticulectomy. On the other hand, the operations for the 3 patients with LD who underwent surgery were 2 resections and anastomoses and 1 diverticulectomy. The reasons for the operations were abscess formation, recurrence, perforation, and development of generalized peritonitis without response to conservative treatment. CONCLUSION: The incidence of LD is lower than that of RD in Korea, but the rate of complications and operations seems higher in LD. Therefore, patients who complain of left lower abdominal pain need to be thoroughly examined for LD.
Abdominal Pain ; Abscess ; Colon ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Peritonitis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

The complications of bile duct stone are cholangitis, pancreatitis, obstructive jaundice, liver abscess, and secondary biliary cirrhosis. Liver abscess may produce pyothorax, peritonitis, subphrenic abscess, and pyogenic pericarditis. The case studies of pyogenic pericarditis secondary to pyogenic liver abscess are rarely reported. Stones greater than 20mm in diameter are difficult or impossible to remove with a standard basket or balloon after sphincterotomy. There are several nonsurgical treatment options for large bile duct stone: mechanical lithotripsy, endoprosthesis, extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL), electrohydraulic lithotripsy, contact dissolution therapy, and laser lithotripsy. We experienced a case of large bile duct stone which complicated by pyogenic pericarditis, liver abscess, and pyothorax. He treated with antibiotics, closed thoracostomy, partial pericardiectomy, and removal of bile duct stones by extracorporeal shock-wave and mechanical lithotripsy after endoscopic sphincterotomy and nasobiliary drainage.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bile Ducts* ; Bile* ; Cholangitis ; Drainage ; Empyema ; Empyema, Pleural* ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Lithotripsy ; Lithotripsy, Laser ; Liver Abscess* ; Liver Abscess, Pyogenic ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver* ; Pancreatitis ; Pericardiectomy ; Pericarditis* ; Peritonitis ; Sphincterotomy, Endoscopic ; Subphrenic Abscess ; Thoracostomy

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of posterior cruciate ligament retaining total knee arthroplasty on its clinical results in patients with varus deformity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed clinical and radiologic results of the 61 cases (39 patients) with varus deformity more than 15 degrees retrospectively. The average follow up period was 6.1 years (range, 5~8 years old). The cases were divided into posterior cruciate ligament retaining group A (42 cases) and substituted group B (19 cases). RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in Knee Society knee score (A group: 88.1, B group: 88.9), functional score (A group: 79.3, B group: 75.6) activity level (A group: 67.5, B group: 62.5), flexion contracture (A group: 4.5 degree, B group: 4.9 degree), tibiofemoral angle (A group: 4.7 degree, B group: 5.2 degree) and roentgenographic findings. Patients with PCL retaining knees showed significantly increased activity levels in going up and down stairs, and walking. CONCLUSION: It is considered that the preservation of the posterior cruciate ligament is better than the substitution of the ligament if technical problems are solved.
Arthroplasty* ; Congenital Abnormalities* ; Contracture ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee* ; Ligaments ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament ; Retrospective Studies ; Walking

A thymic cyst in the middle mediastinum adjacent to the right pericardium is extremely rare. We report a case of a large thymic cyst in the right cardiophrenic angle, compressing the right atrium, which was presented as a cardiomegaly on the chest radiograph and a pericardial cyst on the echocardiography. The definitive diagnosis was confirmed using surgical resection and biopsy.
Biopsy ; Cardiomegaly ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Heart Atria ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mediastinal Cyst* ; Mediastinum* ; Pericardium ; Radiography, Thoracic

Polymorphism in the angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE) gene may confer an increased risk of vascular disease. DD type of ACE polymorphism predispose a person to myocardial infarction and IgA nephropathy. The roles of the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism are unknown in the patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH). Our objective is to test and to identify whether genotype distribution of the insertion/deletion polymorphism in ACE gene is different in HICH patients from control subjects. Fifty six HICH patients and sixty one control subjects were studied. Genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction(PCR) with specific oligonucleotide primers flanking the polymorphic region in intron 16 of ACE gene to amplify genomic DNA isolated from patients blood PCR products were separated in 2% agarose gels and bands were visualized by ethidium bromide staining. The PCR reaction amplified a 490bp DNA fragment(II type) from genomic DNA if the subjects had an intact intron 16, and amplified a both 490bp and 190bp DNA fragments(ID type) if subjects had heterozygous polymorphism. While the distribution of ACE polymorphism in control subjects was 26.2%:57.4%:6.4%(II:ID:DD), and the distribution of it in patients with HICH was 37.5%:35.7%:26.8%. Thus, the pattern of distribution was no significant different between control subjects and patients with HICH. The factors of age and sex did not influence on the ratio of distribution in both control and HICH subjects. From these results, we conclude that there is no significant association between I/D polymorphism and HICH.
Angiotensins* ; DNA ; DNA Primers ; Ethidium ; Gels ; Genotype ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhage, Hypertensive* ; Introns ; Myocardial Infarction ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sepharose ; Vascular Diseases

Candida is the most common etiologic agent causing endogenous endophthalmitis resulting due to hematogenous spread from a remote primary focus. Risk factors for the infection include intravenous drug use, hyperalimentation, surgery, malignancy, diabetes, neutropenia, and the use of broad- spectrum antibiotics and immunosuppressive agents, especially corticosteroids. The outcome of candida endophthalmitis is disappointing. One main problem in the management of this infection is that early diagnosis is difficult. Thus, treatment may be delayed and this which often leads to a poor outcome. Candida endophthalmitis, particularly candida guilliermondii endophthalmitis, is extremely rare, although it is becoming more common as the number of chronically debilitated patients and the use of invasive procedures increase. It is an ophthalmologic emergency and commonly takes a tragic course. Therefore, early suspicion and aggressive management are imperative to prevent visual loss. The authors report a case of candida endophthalmitis caused by Candida guilliermondii in a 65-year-old man with mixed gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) and stomach adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Candida* ; Early Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Endophthalmitis* ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Neutropenia ; Risk Factors ; Stomach*

Candida is the most common etiologic agent causing endogenous endophthalmitis resulting due to hematogenous spread from a remote primary focus. Risk factors for the infection include intravenous drug use, hyperalimentation, surgery, malignancy, diabetes, neutropenia, and the use of broad- spectrum antibiotics and immunosuppressive agents, especially corticosteroids. The outcome of candida endophthalmitis is disappointing. One main problem in the management of this infection is that early diagnosis is difficult. Thus, treatment may be delayed and this which often leads to a poor outcome. Candida endophthalmitis, particularly candida guilliermondii endophthalmitis, is extremely rare, although it is becoming more common as the number of chronically debilitated patients and the use of invasive procedures increase. It is an ophthalmologic emergency and commonly takes a tragic course. Therefore, early suspicion and aggressive management are imperative to prevent visual loss. The authors report a case of candida endophthalmitis caused by Candida guilliermondii in a 65-year-old man with mixed gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) and stomach adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Candida* ; Early Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Endophthalmitis* ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Neutropenia ; Risk Factors ; Stomach*

PURPOSE: Interindividual genetic differences in susceptibility to chemical carcinogens are one of the most important host factors in human cancer. The genetically determined differences in metabolism, related to cytochrome P450 (CYP450) genes have been reported to be associated with various cancer susceptibility. The present study was set up to establish the frequency of the polymorphic genotypes of two CYP450 (CYP2E1/PstI and CYP2E1/DraI) isozymes in Korea, to evaluate a possible increased incidence of the genotype associated with higher cervical cancer risks among Korean cervical cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, extracted DNAs from 228 cervical cancer patients and 360 normal healthy controls were analysed with the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymosphism (PCR-RFLP) method. RESULTS: In the CYP 2E1 genotypes, detected by PstI or RsaI digestion, there were no statistically remarkable differences between the cervical cancer patients and control groups. And when the cervical cancer patients were divided into subgroups with respect to the age, the frequency of CYP 2E1/PstI polymorphisms in the cervical cancer patients under the 40 years old was not significantly higher compared to the controls or the patients above the 40 years old and, c1/c1 genotype was prominent in this type of polymorphism. The frequency of CYP 2E1/DraI polymorphisms in the cervical cancer patients was not significantly higher compared to the controls, and D/D genotype was prominent in this type of polymorphism. In cervical carcinoma, the polymorphic genotypes of CYP 2E1 were not correlated to other parameters including clinical stage, histological tumor type, and degree of differentiation. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that individuals carrying CYP 2E1/PstI (c1/c1) or CYP 2E1/DraI (D/D) alleles are not genetically susceptible to cervical cancer in Korea.
Adult ; Alleles ; Carcinogens ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1* ; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System* ; Cytochromes* ; Digestion ; DNA ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Incidence ; Isoenzymes ; Korea ; Metabolism ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

The recent novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to unprecedented changes in behavior. We evaluated the current status of precautionary behavior and physical activity in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A population of CKD patients (n = 306) registered in the Study on Kidney Disease and Environmental Chemicals (SKETCH, Clinical Trial No. NCT04679168) cohort recruited from June 2020 to October 2020 was included in the study. We conducted a questionnaire survey related to risk perception of COVID-19, precautionary behavior, and physical activity. Results: There were 187 patients (61.1%) with estimated glomerular filtration rate of <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 . This population showed a higher degree of risk perception for COVID-19 than the general population. Age was the most significant determinant of risk perception among CKD patients. During the pandemic, social distancing and hygiene-related behavior were significantly increased (p < 0.001). The frequency of exercise was decreased only in those who took regular exercise, without diabetes, or with a lower Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) (p < 0.001), with no change among the other groups. Socioeconomic status and comorbidities significantly affected behavioral characteristics regardless of the category. Education and income were significantly associated with precautionary behaviors such as staying at home and hand sanitizer use. Patients with higher CCI status significantly increased frequency of exercise (adjusted odds ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–4.38). Conclusion: CKD patients showed higher risk perception with active precautionary behavioral changes than the general population. Healthcare providers should be aware of the characteristics to comprise precautionary behavior without reducing physical activity.