Tuberculosis of the esophagus is rare. We experienced four patients with esophageal tuberculosis proven by esophagoscopic biopsy or surgical specimens. Case 1 was a patient with primary esophageal tabereulosis, case 2 was a patient with teberculous esophagobronchial fistula and case 3,4 were patients with esoyhageal perforation due to tuberculous traetion diverticulum of the esophagus. The clinical, radiological and esapbagoscopic findings may be nonspecific in diagnosis of esophageal tuberculosis. Therefore early diagnosis should be rested on a high index of suapieion and a cautious attention.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulum ; Early Diagnosis ; Esophagus* ; Fistula ; Humans ; Tuberculosis

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) on hemiplegic shoulder subluxation in post-acute stroke patients. METHOD: Forty-four patients who had shoulder subluxation as a consequence of their first stroke were included and randomly assigned to either a control group (22 subjects) or a study group (22 subjects). Patients in both groups received physiotherapy and used an arm sling. The study group received, FES therapy to shoulder muscles (supraspinatus and posterior deltoid) for 30 minutes, five days a week for 6 weeks. The effect of FES therapy was evaluated by assessment of the severity of subluxation using radiologic measurements before and after treatment. RESULTS: 1) The severity of subluxation was significantly increased after 6 weeks (p<0.05) in the control group. In the study group, it was reduced but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). 2) In the group of patients with early treatment (onset duration, less than 6 months), the control group showed a significant increase in subluxation (p<0.05), but the study group showed significantly reduced (p<0.05) shoulder subluxation after treatment period. 3) In the group of patients with mild shoulder subluxation before treatment (less than 1 finger breadth), the control group showed a significant increase in subluxation (p<0.05), but the study group showed significantly reduced (p<0.05) shoulder subluxation after treatment period. CONCLUSION: The FES therapy is effective in preventing and reducing the severity of hemiplegic shoulder subluxation in post-acute stroke patients, especially if duration since stroke onset was less than six months and the severity of subluxation before treatment was mild.
Arm ; Electric Stimulation* ; Fingers ; Humans ; Muscles ; Shoulder* ; Stroke

PURPOSE: Surgical hemorrhoidectomy has a reputation for being a painful procedure. Many surgical methods have been devised for reducing posthemorrhoidectomy pain. Nevertheless, the result are unsatisfactory. Stapled hemorrhoidectomy is performed without leaving painful perianal wounds. The aim of this study was to assess any benefits, compared among three hemorrhoidectomy methods. METHODS: A total of 150 consecutive patients with 3rd and 4th degree of prolapsed hemorrhoids underwent hemorrhoidectomy with stapler group (n=50) or hemorrhoidectomy with ultrasonic dissector group (n=50) or Milligan's hemorrhoidectomy using by diathermy (n=50) (by same surgeon between January and September 2001). We evaluated the difference among three techniques in operative time, postoperative pain, and patient satisfaction (using visual analogue scale). RESULTS: Mean operative time for hemorrhoidectomy with ultrasonic dissector was 19 minute; for stapler group, it was 18 minute; for Milligan's group, it was 23.6 minute (P<0.05). There was significant difference in operative time between stapler and Milligan's group. There were significant difference in pain measurement reported on immediate (5.8 for stapler, 7.2 for ultrasonic dissector, and 9.2 for Milligan's group, P<0.01), day 1 (4.3, 5.5, and 6.8, P<0.01), day 2 (3.7, 4.7, and 6, P<0.01), day 3 (3.0, 3.6, and 4.6, P<0.01), day 4 (3.1, 3.5, and 4.6, P<0.01), day 5 (2.5, 3.4, and 4.6, P<0.01), day 6 (2.0, 3.2, and 4.3, P<0.01), day 7 (1.8, 3, and 4.2, P<0.01), and defecation (4.0, 7.0, and 8.9, P<0.01). The mean analgesic (piroxicam 20 mg) requirement was 0.3 times for stapler, 1.9 for Ultrasonic dissector, and 3.1 for Milligan's group (P<0.01). Mean hospital stay was 1.6 days for stapler, 1.7 for ultrasonic dissector, 2.8 for Milligan's group (P<0.01). Patient satisfaction on day 7 was 8.2 for stapler, 6.2 for ultrasonic dissector, and 5.2 for Milligan's group (P<0.01). There was no difference in catheterization for urinary retention. It is probably due to spinal anesthesia. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates significantly reduced postoperative pain and shorter hospital day after stapled hemorrhoidectomy compared among three groups. This resulted in an earlier return to working activities for stapled technique.
Anesthesia, Spinal ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Defecation ; Diathermy ; Hemorrhoidectomy* ; Hemorrhoids ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Operative Time ; Pain Measurement ; Pain, Postoperative ; Patient Satisfaction ; Return to Work ; Ultrasonics* ; Urinary Retention ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: Helicobacter pylori infection is thought to be correlated with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) at puberty. The H. pylori feoB gene, a high-affinity ferrous iron transporter, plays a central role in iron acquisition. This study aims to analyze the H. pylori feoB status according to the presence of antral gastritis with or without IDA. METHODS: Fourteen H. pylori-positive patients aged from 10~18 years were categorized into subgroups based on the presence or absence of IDA. Eight patients had IDA, and the other six showed normal hematological findings. Genomic DNA was isolated from cultured H. pylori. Five sets of primers were used for PCR amplification of the feoB gene. The feoB region, 1.93 kb, was generated by linking of the PCR products and sequenced. The feoB gene sequences of H. pylori J99 and 26695 were used to compare with the clinical strains. Sequence comparisons of the feoB regions between the IDA (+) and (-) groups were performed. RESULTS: Sequence analysis of the complete coding region of the feoB revealed 16 sites of polymorphism. Among these, 3 polymorphisms-Glu/Thr254Ala, Ile263Val, and Lys511Gln - were indigenous to Korean strains. Although statistically significant differences appear in 4 sites between IDA (+) and (-), the number of specimens are too low to assess the real differences. CONCLUSION: The 4 polymorphisms in the feoB gene seem to be related with IDA, but it is unclear yet because of small number of study strains. Further studies are required to prove the correlation of IDA and H. pylori infection.
Adolescent ; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency* ; Clinical Coding ; DNA ; Gastritis ; Genes, vif ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Iron ; Korea* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Puberty ; Sequence Analysis

Today, the duodenal tuberculosis is a very rare disease. Final diagnosis of duodenal tuberculosis is difficult due to inconsistent symptoms and nonspecific duodenal lesions. We found 2 cases of duodenal tuberculosis by gastrascopy. In gastroscopic findings, there were undetermined ulcers and irregular nodular mucosal changes.
Diagnosis ; Rare Diseases ; Tuberculosis* ; Ulcer

Cystic dilatation of bile duct, so called choledochal cysts are a well documented abnormalities. Although choledochal cyst is a relatively rare disease, the number of reports have been increasing especially in tht Orient. It may be easily overlooked by the conventional diagnostic methods, such as upper gastrointestinal series, intravenous cholangiography and abdominal ultrasonogrsphy. Recent advances on diagnostic methods, such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography had been helpful in demonstrating choledochal cysts. 29 patients with choledochal cysts who had been admitted in Hanyang Universty Hospital between September l981 and August 1991 were reviewed and the clinical endoseopic and rediographic findings were discussed comparing with that from foreign literatures. (continue...)
Bile Ducts ; Cholangiography ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Choledochal Cyst* ; Dilatation ; Humans ; Rare Diseases

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancers occurring in young people are usually found in advanced stage and have worse prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of young patients with colorectal cancer and survival rate of patients with colorectal cancer younger than 40 years. METHODS: The total of 534 patients with colorectal cancer underwent surgeries between March 1997 and February 2003. 487 patients were 40 or older than 40 years (control group) and the remaining 47 patients were younger than 40 years (study group). We compared age, sex, curability, tumor location, stage, histological type between the two groups. The survival rate by stages and overall survival rate were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: No significant difference was shown in the comparison of the distribution by stage and histologic grade at the time of diagnosis. There were more female in the study group (P=0.005). The three-year and five-year overall survival rates were 79.3% and 74.0% in study group, and 68.2% and 60.2% in control group (P>0.05). The three-year and five-year survival rates according to stage were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In the comparison of patients with colorectal cancer younger than 40 years old and 40 or older than 40 years old, no significant difference was shown in clinical characteristics and survival rate except sex distribution.
Adult ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Distribution ; Survival Rate*

BACKGROUND: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors are associated with cutaneous adverse events, including papulopustular eruption, xerosis, paronychia, hair abnormality and mucositis. In particular, acneiform eruptions might serve as the visible markers of anti-tumor activity and the therapeutic efficacy of EGFR inhibitors. OBJECTIVE: Our aims are to investigate the common cutaneous adverse events induced by cetuximab, which is one of the EGFR inhibitors approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and to analyze whether the presence and severity of papulopustular eruptions have a correlation with the tumor response. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and clinical photographs of 114 Korean patients who had been treated with cetuximab at Asan Medical Center from September 2004 to March 2007. Results: Papulopustular eruptions occurred in 100 patients (87.7%) and this usually happened 10 days after starting chemotherapy. There was a tendency that the better the tumor responded to the chemotherapeutic agents including cetuximab, the more severe were the papulopustular eruptions. The papulopustular eruptions prominently improved after the treatment with topical agents such as benzoyl peroxide, metronidazole, clindamycin and retinoid, and with systemic agents such as minocycline and tetracycline, and there was no adverse event induced by this treatment for papulopustular eruptions. Xerosis appeared in 67 patients (58.8%), and there was a tendency that the more severe papulopustular eruptions were, the more frequently xerosis occurred. Paronychia occurred in 8 patients (7.0%). CONCLUSION: Although the cutaneous adverse events are burdensome to the patients, they might serve as visible markers of the anti-tumor activity and therapeutic efficacy of cetuximab and they can be easily and safely controlled with many topical and systemic agents. Therefore, it is important for dermatologists to properly treat these cutaneous adverse events and to reassure the patient to continue with the cetuximab treatment.
Acneiform Eruptions ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; Benzoyl Peroxide ; Clindamycin ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Hair ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Metronidazole ; Minocycline ; Mucositis ; Paronychia ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Retrospective Studies ; Tetracycline ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Cetuximab

Typhoid fever is a systemic infectious disease which affects many organs. In children, few cases have been reported of acute nephritic syndrome in typhoid fever. We report an immunocompetent 9-year old girl with typhoid fever complicated by acute tubulointerstitial nephritis who presented with prolonged fever and acute renal failure.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Child ; Communicable Diseases ; Fever ; Humans ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; Renal Insufficiency ; Typhoid Fever

DNA barcoding has been widely used in species identification and biodiversity research. A short fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequence serves as a DNA bio-barcode. We collected DNA barcodes, based on COI sequences from 156 species (529 sequences) of fish, insects, and shellfish. We present results on phylogenetic relationships to assess biodiversity the in the Korean peninsula. Average GC% contents of the 68 fish species (46.9%), the 59 shellfish species (38.0%), and the 29 insect species (33.2%) are reported. Using the Kimura 2 parameter in all possible pairwise comparisons, the average interspecific distances were compared with the average intraspecific distances in fish (3.22 vs. 0.41), insects (2.06 vs. 0.25), and shellfish (3.58 vs. 0.14). Our results confirm that distance-based DNA barcoding provides sufficient information to identify and delineate fish, insect, and shellfish species by means of all possible pairwise comparisons. These results also confirm that the development of an effective molecular barcode identification system is possible. All DNA barcode sequences collected from our study will be useful for the interpretation of species-level identification and community-level patterns in fish, insects, and shellfish in Korea, although at the species level, the rate of correct identification in a diversified environment might be low.
Biodiversity ; DNA ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; Insects ; Korea ; Shellfish