No abstract available.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation* ; Malaria*

No abstract available.
DNA* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin*

No abstract available.
Leukemia*

Anaphylaxis to polyethylene glycol (PEG) is rare and mainly occurs with the use of laxatives containing PEG. Recently, an increasing number of PEG allergies have been reported, particularly those related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines, contain PEG2000 as an excipient and are contraindicated when allergy to a vaccine component exist. We report a 55-year-old woman’s history as a case of successful mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and colonoscopy after oral desensitization to PEG in a patient with PEG allergy who required both COVID-19 vaccination and colon evaluation. Allergy to PEG was diagnosed based on clinical history, skin test results, and basophil histamine release testing. Oral desensitization effectively suppressed histamine release from basophils in response to PEG stimulation, suggesting that oral desensitization using PEG-based laxatives may be an effective treatment option for patients with allergy to the substance.

BACKGROUND: Free fatty acids are well known as an energy source. However, theoretically it could be destructive through oxygen free radical chain reactions unless they are bound to albumin in blood. Recently, the toxicity of oxidative agents in several diseases, and additionally the behavior of antioxidants including albumin against this have been suggested. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between free fatty acid/albumin molar ratio and erythrocyte injury in this study. METHODS: Free fatty acid and albumin were analysed in thirty-eight hypoalbuminemia patients and fifty-six healthy controls. To measure the erythrocyte injury, hemoglobin, absolute and relative reticulocyte counts, and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) were also examined. In addition, glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined in both fifteen patients and fifteen controls, respectively. RESULTS: The albumin levels in study group (3.06+/-0.28 g/dL) were significantly lower than those of control group (4.94+/-0.21 g/dL). The hemoglobin, reticulocyte counts, and LD levels in study group were significantly different from those of control group (P<0.01), but the free fatty acid concentrations showed no difference between two groups. The free fatty acid/albumin molar ratio in study group was significantly higher than control values. In study group, there were significant correlations between the free fatty acid/albumin molar ratio and (a) LD (r=0.43, P< 0.05), (b) relative reticulocyte count (r=0.39, P<0.05), and (c) hemoglobin (r=-0.31, P<0.01), respectively. The GPX and SOD activities in study group were not statistically different from the control values. There was an inverse correlation between albumin and GPX concentrations in study group (r=-0.36, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that toxic effect of unbound free fatty acid with decreased albumin activity as antioxidant may be involved in the cellular injury in hypoalbuminemia patients. Further studies for the correlation of free fatty acid/albumin molar ratio with individual antioxidant status are needed.
Antioxidants ; Erythrocytes* ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; Humans ; Hypoalbuminemia* ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Molar* ; Oxygen ; Reticulocyte Count ; Superoxide Dismutase

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to antibody formation against the A or B antigen in renal transplant recipients has been reported on rare occasions. We experienced a case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia which developed 11 days after renal transplantation during CsA and prednisolone administration as immunosuppressive agents. The patient was a 46 year old male, blood group was Rh(+) A, who had received a kidney from his Rh(+) O, HLA haploty'pe identical elder brother. He was transfused with three units of Rh(+) A RBCs preoperatively and his hemoglobin level was 9.2g/dl 1 day after transplantation. After 11 to 12 days posttransplantation, the hemoglobin level dropped to 3.8g/dl. A peripheral blood smear showed marked spherocytosis and polychromatophilia. The reticulocyte count was increased to 4.2%, and total bilirubin was increased to 2.91mg/dl. The LDH was raised to 561 IU/L and the plasma Hb level was 6.Smg/dl. Blood bank tests confirmed that the autoantibody cause hemolytic anemia was anti-A. If transplant recipients of blood groups A, B, or AB, who recieve organs from blood group 0 donors, have hemolytic anemia and ABO discrepancy, the possibility of AIHA due to anti-A or anti-B should be considered.
Anemia, Hemolytic ; Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune* ; Antibody Formation ; Bilirubin ; Blood Banks ; Blood Group Antigens ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasma ; Prednisolone ; Reticulocyte Count ; Siblings ; Tissue Donors* ; Transplantation*

A schwannoma is a benign tumor that originates from the peripheral nerve sheath. Schwannomas occur most commonly in the head and neck region involving the brachial plexus and the spinal nerves. The lower limbs are less commonly affected. This paper presents a case of a patient with a schwannoma showing atypical localization at the digital nerve of the foot causing neurological symptoms.
Brachial Plexus ; Foot ; Head ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Neck ; Neurilemmoma* ; Peripheral Nerves ; Spinal Nerves ; Toes*

No abstract available.
Humans

BACKGROUND: Recently elderly people have increased in Korea and increased demands of medical service. To solve the problem of emergency medical service in elderly patients, it is very important to analyze the emergency patients who visit medical service and to accumulate date bases of various hospitals. So the purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of emergency services by the elderly to provide better understanding of the emergency care needs of this specialized populations and provide a basis planning to meet the needs of the expanding geriatric population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 2380 elderly patients who visited Emergency room of national medical center, from August 1, 1999 to July 31, 2000. We analyzed the patients gender, age, arrival time, final diagnosis, admission rate, mortality, ects. RESULT: Male to female ratio is 1:1.29, and most common age group was between 65 and 69 years old. The peak time of patients entrance was between 10 AM and 11AM, in a week monday was most crowding day. The most predomint monthly distribution of visit was January. The respiratory disease are most common problem (14.7%), and cardivascular disease (12.01%) are next, and cerebrovascular disease (11.17%) are following. Diabetic complication (7.53%) are common problems and hypoglycemia and diabetic foot infection are frequent. Admission rates was 32.53%. ICU admission rate is 2.77%. Emergency operation rate is 5.91%. During admission, mortality case was 127 patients. The cause of death were cerebrovascular disease (16.94%) and advanced respiratory disease (15.43%). CONCLUSION: The results show that cerebrovascular disease and respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease that needed prompt medical service are major problem who visit emergency room. And diabetic complications that are prevented by proper educations are common. So more concentrated medical service and preventive effort focused on these disease.
Aged* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cause of Death ; Crowding ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetic Foot ; Diagnosis ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Korea ; Male ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies

Central venous catheterization is used to provide a large amount of fluid, total parenteral nutrition and to administer antitumor agents with few complications reported. We report an uncommon case of pleural effusion that occurred after central venous catheterization. In many cases, the mechanism for the pleural effusion after central venous catheterization occurs through an injury to the superior vena cava by the continuous mechanical force of the catheter tip, the flow of large amount of fluid and an osmotic injury to the wall of the vein. This case is somewhat different in that the central catheter was placed in an aberrant vessel resulting in the pleural effusion. A post-placement chest roentgenogram and the correct approach of catheterization are important for preventing this complication.
Antineoplastic Agents ; Catheterization ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Catheters ; Central Venous Catheters* ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total ; Pleural Effusion* ; Thorax ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Superior