Lower back pain and sciatica are common symptoms in pregnancy. Treatment options for these conditions include physical therapy, medication, interventional treatment, and surgery. This case report involved a 32 weeks pregnant woman, who visited the emergency room with a three day history of lower back and right leg pain and a visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 9 - 10. Spinal computed tomography revealed lumbar 4/5 and 5/S1 disc protrusions. An epidural catheter was placed around the L3/4 vertebrae, and 6 ml of 0.15% ropivacaine was administered for pain control. Subsequently, her VAS score reduced to 2 - 3 and she was discharged five days later.

Background: In this study, we aim to examine the effects of pre-analytical factors such as specimen type (serum or plasma), collection and storage conditions, and time, on the results of chemiluminescence immunoassay. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 10 individuals and aliquoted into two sets of K3-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and serumseparating tubes (SST) each, for plasma and serum collection, respectively.For all the samples, one set of tubes was centrifuged within 1 hour and other set was centrifuged after 4 hours, followed by cell separation.Chemiluminescence assay was performed for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), parathyroid hormone (PTH), osteocalcin, C-telopeptide, and insulin at 0, 6, 24, and 48 hours after centrifugation; all the samples were assayed in duplicate. The samples were stored at 4℃ before the assay. Results: The results obtained showed that the levels detected in plasmas were more consistent and stable as compared to serum. After a 6-hour storage at 4℃, a significant decrease was observed in the levels of ACTH and osteocalcin in plasma and serum; whereas, PTH and C-telopeptide levels were stable in plasma but decreased significantly in serum. Insulin levels in serum showed a decrease after a 6-hour storage while the levels in plasma were found to be stable until 24-hour storage. Serum samples separated after 4 hours showed a significant decrease in all hormone levels, while C-telopeptide and insulin levels were stable in plasma samples separated after 4 hours. Conclusions The results were found to be more stable in plasma samples from K3-EDTA tubes as compared to serum samples from SST in the measurement of unstable biological analytes. These results suggest that K3-EDTA tubes are preferable in the specimen collection for assaying biological analytes.

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a clinicopathological syndrome associated with a variety of disease entities. The aim of this study was to review cases with initial diagnosis of BOOP applying uniform histopathologic criteria, and analyze the clinical characteristics of proven cases of BOOP including rapidly progressive form. A total of 81 cases, initially diagnosed as BOOP and with available tissue sections, was collected. Thirty six cases (44.4%) were excluded from the study, more than two thirds of which were given a revised diagnosis of interstitial pneumonitis/fibrosis other than BOOP. Thirty one patients were classified as idiopathic BOOP, 8 patients as secondary BOOP, and 6 patients as rapidly progressive BOOP. Open lung biopsy specimen from all six cases with lethal outcome showed more severe interstitial inflammation and septal fibrosis and/or alveolar exudate with a varying degree than those with good prognosis. There was no difference by the sexes. The two most frequent presenting symptoms were cough and dyspnea. Bilateral multifocal consolidation was a common radiological finding. More than 70% cases of idiopathic BOOP experienced clinical improvements. The diagnosis of BOOP is usually suggested by clinicoradiologic findings, but needs to be confirmed histopathologically, preferably through surgical open or video-assisted thoracoscopic biopsy.
Adult ; Blood Gas Analysis ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage ; Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia/drug therapy/pathology/*physiopathology ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome