Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease and is currently a global pandemic. The disease presents mainly with respiratory symptoms, but a broad spectrum of extrapulmonary complications have also been reported in the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems. Peripheral nerve injury associated with COVID-19 infections can be caused by direct viral invasion or secondary immune response to neural tissue with the same receptors as alveoli, but its clinical course is poorly understood. Anterior interosseous nerve syndrome is a pure motor neuropathy that causes paralysis of the flexor pollicis longus, the flexor digitorum profundus of the index finger, and the pronator quadratus muscles. The cause of this syndrome is not clearly understood, but may be related to viral infection, autoimmune response, or vaccination. This paper reported a case of partial recovery with conservative treatment in acute anterior interosseous nerve syndrome following COVID-19 infection.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound in detecting and estimating the size of pneumothorax METHODS: This was a prospective study with convenience sampling, based on researcher availability. Inclusion criteria were chest pain, sudden dyspnea, and chest trauma. Bedside ultrasound examination was performed to determine the presence of "lung sliding" and "comet tail" artifacts in order to rule out pneumothorax and the location of "lung point" when pneumothorax was detected. RESULTS: There were 97 patients enrolled; The cause of pneumothorax was spontaneous in 64 cases and traumatic in 33 cases. The Pearson correlation coefficient between ultrasound estimates and pneumothorax size by Collins method on erect chest X-ray was 0.874 (p<0.000), and the coefficient between ultrasound estimates and pneumothorax size on computed tomography was 0.820 (p<0.000). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound is more sensitive and specific than supine chest X-ray and even erect chest PA for the diagnosis of pneumothorax. Ultrasound allowed skilled physicians to approximate the size of pneumothorax accurately with good correlation with results obtained by both computed tomography and erect chest X-ray.
Artifacts ; Chest Pain ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Pneumothorax* ; Prospective Studies ; Thorax ; Ultrasonography*

BACKGROUNDS:During the past two decades, a dramatic increase has been seen in the diagnosis and treatment of alkaline reflux gastritis (ARG). Recently, the number of symptomatic, medically resistant postgastrectomy patients with ARG experiencing enterogastric reflux has increased as documented by clinical symptoms, gastroscopy, quantitative radionuclide biliary scanning, and biochemical study. Even the number of asymptomatic patients experiencing enterogastris refluy or ARG after gastrectomy has increased. METHODS: In a retrospective study, we evaluated an efficacy of an additional Braun enteroenterostomy (BEE) in preventing the ARG by diverting bile away from the stomach in 72 patients with gastric cancer (51 with BEE and a control of 21 without BEE) who underwent a subtotal gastrectomy. The BEE was performed about 20 to 30 cm from the gastrojejunostomy. Seventy-two patients had their clinical symptoms recorded and underwent radiologic study, gastroscopy, and biopsy. RESULTS: The present study demonstrated the following:1) Of the 51 patients who underwent BEE, twelve (23.5%) developed ARG symptoms and required medication. Of the 21 control patients without BEE, twelve (54.6%) developed ARG symptoms and required medical treatment. 2) The postoperative gastroendoscopic findings in the 51 patients who underwent BEE were grade 1 in 27 (52.9%) patients, grade 2 in 16 (31.4%) patients and grade 3 in only one patient versus grade 1 in 5 (22.7%) patients, grade 2 in 13 (59.1%) patients and grade 3 (9.1%) patients without BEE. CONCLUSIONS: BEE was an effective procedure for reducing the risk of ARG caused by reflux of bile.
Bees ; Bile ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastric Bypass ; Gastritis ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Although tetanus infections have diminished dramatically since the advent of tetanus vaccination, this disease has not disappeared. Those 60 years and older are still very much at risk for this infection. Thus, we investigated the tetanus antibody titers in people 60 years and older in Korea. METHODS: Our subjects included those visiting eight emergency departments from March 2009 to February 2010 after an injury with stable vital signs and without acute disease. Samples obtained were tested using the tetanus immunoglobulin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The resultant tetanus antibody titers were analyzed. RESULTS: The number of subjects enrolled was 462. The mean titer was 0.09+/-0.14 IU/mL. Twenty-two percent of the subjects had a safe titer level (>0.1 IU/mL). Males and urban subjects had higher tetanus antibody titers than did females and suburban subjects. Subjects living in Incheon, Gangwon-do, Chungcheong-do, and Jeju-do had lower titers. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that Koreans 60 years and older did not have a protective mean level of tetanus antibody titer and that 78% of the subjects did not have a seroprotective level after tetanus exposure. Therefore, a national effort to administer tetanus vaccination to elderly Koreans is needed.
Acute Disease ; Aged ; Emergencies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Korea ; Male ; Tetanus ; Vaccination ; Vital Signs