PURPOSE: To evaluate near, intermediate, and distant vision, optical quality, and patient satisfaction with Acri.LISA aspheric diffractive multifocal IOL. METHODS: Forty eyes of 20 patients received phacoemulsification and implantation of Acri.LISA IOL. Visual acuity was measured postoperatively at 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months. Contrast sensitivity, wavefront aberration, and visual function via questionnaire were measured at postoperative 1 month. RESULTS: Uncorrected near, intermediate, and distanct visual acuity at 1 month were 0.09 +/- 0.14, 0.29 +/- 0.17 and 0.11 +/- 0.12, respectively. At 6 months, similar visual acuity results were measured. Total and higher-order wavefront aberration values were 0.66 +/- 0.29 and 0.24 +/- 0.08, respectively. Photopic contrast sensitivity at 1.5, 3, 6, 12, and 18 cycles/degree were 1.38 +/- 0.32, 1.73 +/- 0.24, 1.75 +/- 0.21, 1.33 +/- 0.18, and 0.77 +/- 23, respectively, and mesopic contrast sensitivity values were 1.37 +/- 0.27, 1.72 +/- 0.16, 1.63 +/- 0.14, 1.01 +/- 0.19, and 0.50 +/- 0.22. Total subjective visual function score was 3,127 +/- 354, near work was 244 +/- 36, distance work was 256 +/- 21, and night driving was 221 +/- 42. CONCLUSIONS: The Acri.LISA 366D multifocal IOL can be effective for improving patient satisfaction after cataract surgery as well as for presbyopia correction.
Cataract ; Contrast Sensitivity ; Eye ; Humans ; Lenses, Intraocular ; Patient Satisfaction ; Phacoemulsification ; Presbyopia ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vision, Ocular ; Visual Acuity

Purpose: Alterations in the structure of the p53 protein are one of the most common changes associated with human cancers. The CREB-binding protein(CBP) is a transcriptional co-activators of various sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factors and is involved in a wide variety of cellular activities, such as DNA repair, cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. This article examined the expression levels of the p53 protein and CBP as well as their diagnostic value in a biopsy sample. METHODS: Immunohistochemical analysis were performed in 60 hyperplastic polyps, 180 adenomatous polyps, and 120 adenocarcinomas which had sampled from colono-fibroscopic exam from January 2000 to August 2003. RESULTS: 1. p53 protein expression was observed in 15% (9/60) of hyperplastic polyps, in 68.9% (124/180) of adenomatous polyps, and in 80% (96/120) of adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 2. p53 protein expression according to the cellular atypia in the adenomatous polyp was observed in 45% (27/ 60) of mild dysplasia, 78.3% (47/60) of moderate dysplasia, and 83.4% (50/60) of severe dysplasia. There was an increasing tendency in high grade dysplasia, which is statistically significant (P<0.05). 3. p53 protein expression according to the level of differentiation was observed in 90% (54/60) of well differentiated adenocarcinomas, 78% (39/50) of moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas, and 30% (3/ 10) of poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 4. CBP expression was observed in 30% (18/60) of hyperplastic polyps, 70.6% (127/180), of adenomatous polyps, and 85% (102/120) of adenocarcinomas (P<0.01). 5. CBP expression according to cellular atypia in adenomatous polyp was observed in 48.3% (29/60) of mild dysplasia, 76.6% (46/60) of moderate dysplasia, and 86.7% (52/60) of severe dysplasia (P<0.05). 6. CBP expression according to cellular differentiation was observed in 90% (36/60) of well differentiated adenocarcinomas, 86% (43/50) of moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas, and 50% (5/10) of poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (P<0.05). Conclusion: The p53 protein and CBP expression can indicate the malignant potentiality of the colon cell indirectly.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adenomatous Polyps ; Apoptosis ; Biopsy ; Colon* ; CREB-Binding Protein* ; DNA Repair ; Humans ; Polyps* ; Transcription Factors

PURPOSE: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of an acute abdomen that needs an emergency operation. However, the preoperative diagnosis is difficult. The purpose of this study is to assess the diagnostic efficacy of the Alvarado score by a comparison with CT and to determine the indication of CT evaluation. METHODS: From August 2006 to October 2006, 111 consecutive patients were admitted to Chung-Ang University hospital under the impression of acute appendicitis, and a CT scan was done. The Alvarado score, which consists of migration, anorexia, nausea-vomitig, tenderness, rebound tenderness, fever, leukocytosis, and left shift, was applied to the patients. RESULTS: Of the 111 patients, 85 patients underwent an operation, and 26 were discharged without an operation on the basis of the CT finding. The negative appendectomy rate were 4.7%. CT showed a sensitivity, of 0.90 a specificity of 0.97 and an accuracy rate of 0.92. Tenderness and leukocytosis were confirmed as the most important tests and showed accuracy rates of 0.73 and 0.70, respectively. The sensitivity was 0.90 at score 5 and 0.85 at score 7. Therefore, there was no single cut-off score that satisfied all diagnostic values. CONCLUSIONS: The Alvarado score alone is not a satisfactory diagnostic method acute appendicitis. Of the appendicitis patients, 90% might be included in the diagnosis for Alvarado scores above 5, and the negative appendectomy could be as high as 15% for Alvarado scores above 7, which is the score generally accepted for a diagnosis of appendicitis.
Abdomen, Acute ; Anorexia ; Appendectomy ; Appendicitis ; Emergencies ; Fever ; Humans ; Leukocytosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. A great majority of GISTs occur in the stomach and small intestine, but multiple GISTs of the jejunum are rare. We experienced a case of multiple GISTs of the jejunum. A 57 year old woman was admitted due to general weakness and abdominal pain. The computer tomography of the abdomen revealed solid tumor in the jejunum. We removed tumor from jejunum by resection. Histological and immunohistochemical studies revealed a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intermediate malignant type.
Abdomen ; Abdominal Pain ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Intestine, Small* ; Jejunum ; Middle Aged ; Stomach

BACKGROUND/AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression. We assess miRNA regulation by Helicobacter pylori infection and elucidate their role in H. pylori-infected gastric epithelial cells. METHODS: The relationship between miRNA expression and DNA methylation was examined. Cells were treated with the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) inhibitor Bay 11-7082 to determine the relationship between miRNA expression and NF-κB signal transduction. RESULTS: In the negative control cells infected with H. pylori 26695, the expression of six miRNAs was increased, whereas the expression of five miRNAs was decreased. The expression of upregulated miRNAs was increased when the host cells were treated with H. pylori and an NF-κB inhibitor. miR-127-5p, -155, and -181 were associated with increased interleukin 6 (IL-6) secretion in H. pylori infected cells treated with anti-miRNA. The expression of miR-155, -127-5p, -195, -216, -206, and -488 increased by approximately 3-fold following treatment with the methylation inhibitor Aza. CONCLUSIONS: We found novel miR-NAs in H. pylori-infected negative control cells using miRNA microarrays. Upregulated miRNA expression was inversely related to the transcription of NF-κB. miR-195 and miR-488 appear to play a pivotal role in controlling IL-6 activity in H. pylori infection. miRNA expression in H. pylori infection was affected by methylation.
Bays ; Cytokines ; DNA Methylation ; Epithelial Cells ; Gene Expression ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Interleukin-6 ; Methylation ; MicroRNAs* ; NF-kappa B ; Signal Transduction

The finding of a left main coronary artery arising from the right sinus of Valsalva is a rare congenital anomaly. The clinical course of patients with a congenital anomaly of the coronary artery may be compromised depending on its anatomic relationship with adjunctive structures. Some anomalous origins of the left main coronary arteries arising from right aortic sinus of Valsalva have been associated with angina pectoris and sudden death, especially if their pathways are between the pulmonary artery and the aorta. We report a rare case with a combined congenital anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery arising with the right coronary artery simultaneously from the right aortic sinus of Valsalva in a patient with a patent ductus arteriosus. The left main coronary artery was extremely long because its pathway went in front of the pulmonary artery. There was no evidence of artherosclerosis or dynamic stenosis on the angiogram.
Angina Pectoris ; Aorta ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Vessels ; Death, Sudden ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; Sinus of Valsalva

PURPOSE: The present study investigated associations between dopamine transporter (DAT) availability and α-synuclein levels in cerebrospinal fluid, as well as synuclein gene (SNCA) transcripts, and the effect of single nucleotide polymorphism of SNCA on DAT availability in healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population comprised healthy controls who underwent 123I-FP-CIT single-photon emission computed tomography screening. Five SNCA probes were used to target the boundaries of exon 3 and exon 4 (SNCA-E3E4), transcripts with a long 3′UTR region (SNCA-3UTR-1, SNCA-3UTR-2), transcripts that skip exon 5 (SNCA-E4E6), and the rare short transcript isoforms that comprise exons 1–4 (SNCA-007). RESULTS: In total, 123 healthy subjects (male 75, female 48) were included in this study. DAT availability in the caudate nucleus (p=0.0661) and putamen (p=0.0739) tended to differ according to rs3910105 genotype. In post-hoc analysis, DAT availability in the putamen was lower in subjects of TT genotype than those of CC/CT (p=0.0317). DAT availability in the caudate nucleus also showed a trend similar to that in the putamen (p=0.0597). Subjects of CT genotype with rs3910105 showed negative correlations with DAT availability in the putamen with SNCA-E3E4 (p=0.037, rho=−0.277), and SNCA-E4E6 (p=0.042, rho=−0.270), but not those of CC/TT genotypes. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to investigate the association of rs3910105 in SNCA with DAT availability. rs3910105 had an effect on DAT availability, and the correlation between DAT availability and SNCA transcripts were significant in CT genotypes of rs3910105.
Biomarkers ; Caudate Nucleus ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins* ; Dopamine* ; Exons ; Female ; Genotype ; Healthy Volunteers* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Protein Isoforms ; Putamen ; Synucleins* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed

Echinostoma cinetorchis is an oriental intestinal fluke causing significant pathological damage to the small intestine. The aim of this study was to determine a full-length cDNA sequence of E. cinetorchis endoribonuclease (RNase H; EcRNH) and to elucidate its molecular biological characters. EcRNH consisted of 308 amino acids and showed low similarity to endoribonucleases of other parasites (<40%). EcRNH had an active site centered on a putative DDEED motif instead of DEDD conserved in other species. A recombinant EcRNH produced as a soluble form in Escherichia coli showed enzymatic activity to cleave the 3′-O-P bond of RNA in a DNA-RNA duplex, producing 3′-hydroxyl and 5′-phosphate. These findings may contribute to develop antisense oligonucleotides which could damage echinostomes and other flukes.
Amino Acids ; Catalytic Domain ; DNA, Complementary ; Echinostoma* ; Endoribonucleases ; Escherichia coli ; Intestine, Small ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; Parasites ; Ribonuclease H* ; Ribonucleases* ; RNA ; Trematoda

Background and Objectives: Inherited arrhythmia (IA) is a more common cause of sudden cardiac death in Asian population, but little is known about the genetic background of Asian IA probands. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and analyze the genetic underpinnings of IA in a Korean cohort. Methods: This study was conducted in a multicenter cohort of the Korean IA Registry from 2014 to 2017. Genetic testing was performed using a next-generation sequencing panel including 174 causative genes of cardiovascular disease. Results: Among the 265 IA probands, idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) and Brugada Syndrome (BrS) was the most prevalent diseases (96 and 95 cases respectively), followed by long QT syndrome (LQTS, n=54). Two-hundred-sixteen probands underwent genetic testing, and 69 probands (31.9%) were detected with genetic variant, with yield of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant as 6.4%. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower in genotype positive probands (54.7±11.3 vs. 59.3±9.2%, p=0.005). IVF probands showed highest yield of positive genotype (54.0%), followed by LQTS (23.8%), and BrS (19.5%). Conclusions There were significant differences in clinical characteristics and genetic yields among BrS, LQTS, and IVF. Genetic testing did not provide better yield for BrS and LQTS. On the other hand, in IVF, genetic testing using multiple gene panel might enable the molecular diagnosis of concealed genotype, which may alter future clinical diagnosis and management strategies.