No abstract available.
Bacterial Infections* ; Occupational Diseases*

Exophiala species are dark pigmented fungi associated with phaeohyphomycosis that exhibit yeast-like or hyphal forms of the fungus in superficial subcutaneous locations or systemic disease. The incidence of subcutaneous tissue infection of Exophiala species has recently increased, particularly in immunocompromised hosts. In Korea, E. jeanselmei, E. dermatitidis, and E. salmonis were isolated from patients with phaeohyphomycosis. However, there have been no case reports of phaeohyphomycosis caused by E. oligosperma. Here we report the first case of phaeohyphomycosis caused by E. oligosperma in Korea. An 82-year-old female with competent immune function presented with multiple subcutaneous masses on the dorsum of the left hand and wrist. A histopathological examination of the skin specimen revealed granulomatous inflammation with fungal hyphae and yeast. Molecular identification was performed using internal transcribed spacer sequences analysis. The sequence showed 100% identity with the E. oligosperma strains. She was treated with oral itraconazole and showed improvement.
Aged, 80 and over ; Exophiala* ; Female ; Fungi ; Hand ; Humans ; Hyphae ; Immunocompromised Host ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Itraconazole ; Korea ; Phaeohyphomycosis* ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Wrist ; Yeasts

Toothpicks are not uncommonly swallowed, and subsequently, may be impacted into gastrointestinal wall and cause morbidities, and even mortality. Therefore, the early diagnosis and immediate retrieval of an ingested toothpick is important. In many cases, endoscopic removal is attempted initially, but if this fails or a complication is encountered, surgery should be considered. The authors experienced a case of ingested toothpick penetrating the gastric wall. A 51-year-old woman visited our hospital with epigastric pain of one-week duration. Upper endoscopy revealed that the sharp end of a toothpick had been impacted into the distal antrum. Endoscopic removal using an alligator jaw forceps failed because the toothpick broke during removal and our continued attempts to extract the remnant resulted in it becoming more embedded in the stomach wall. In such circumstances, surgical treatment should be considered. However, we incised the mucosa to expose the remnant toothpick, and fortunately, we were then able to grasp and remove the toothpick using an alligator jaw forceps. We report this unusual case of a toothpick impacted in the gastric wall that was resolved endoscopically by mucosal incision.
Alligators and Crocodiles ; Early Diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Jaw ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Stomach ; Surgical Instruments

Toothpicks are not uncommonly swallowed, and subsequently, may be impacted into gastrointestinal wall and cause morbidities, and even mortality. Therefore, the early diagnosis and immediate retrieval of an ingested toothpick is important. In many cases, endoscopic removal is attempted initially, but if this fails or a complication is encountered, surgery should be considered. The authors experienced a case of ingested toothpick penetrating the gastric wall. A 51-year-old woman visited our hospital with epigastric pain of one-week duration. Upper endoscopy revealed that the sharp end of a toothpick had been impacted into the distal antrum. Endoscopic removal using an alligator jaw forceps failed because the toothpick broke during removal and our continued attempts to extract the remnant resulted in it becoming more embedded in the stomach wall. In such circumstances, surgical treatment should be considered. However, we incised the mucosa to expose the remnant toothpick, and fortunately, we were then able to grasp and remove the toothpick using an alligator jaw forceps. We report this unusual case of a toothpick impacted in the gastric wall that was resolved endoscopically by mucosal incision.
Alligators and Crocodiles ; Early Diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Jaw ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Stomach ; Surgical Instruments

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

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Preoperative diagnosis of peritoneal metastasis is extremely important to select the appropriate treatment strategy and predict the prognosis for patients with gastrointestinal cancer. However, imaging techniques have a limited capacity for detecting peritoneal metastasis. We therefore evaluated the feasibility of percutaneous ultrathin flexible peritoneoscopy in an animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Percutanous ultrathin flexible peritoneoscopy was performed on two mini-pigs under general anesthesia. We punctured the abdominal wall at the anti-Mcburney and umbilical regions using a 16-gauge angiocatheter. Guidewire was inserted through the angiocatheter and we then enlarged the puncture using a biliary dilation catheter and a 6- to 8-mm balloon dilator catheter. After track formation, we inserted a 4.9-mm ultrathin endoscope into the abdominal cavity. The peritoneal cavity was examined, and peritoneal and liver biopsy was performed. The puncture was closed with a single suture. After the procedure, we monitored the general condition of the pigs for 2 weeks. RESULTS: Percutaneous ultrathin flexible peritoneoscopy was successfully performed regardless of the puncture site location. Peritoneal and liver biopsy was also successfully executed. The mean procedure time was 20 minutes. Formation of the abdominal track was not easily accomplished with standard endoscopic equipment. Nevertheless, none of the abdominal organs were injured. The post-procedure course was uneventful. Minor scarring was observed at the incision site 2 weeks after the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Percutanous ultrathin flexible peritoneoscopy is a relatively simple and technically feasible method. However, dedicated accessories for fascial dilation should be developed to ensure the safety of human patients undergoing this procedure.
Abdominal Cavity ; Abdominal Wall ; Anesthesia, General ; Animals ; Biopsy ; Catheters ; Cicatrix ; Endoscopes ; Feasibility Studies ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Laparoscopy ; Liver ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Peritoneal Cavity ; Peritoneum ; Prognosis ; Punctures ; Sutures ; Swine

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a highly effective therapy for refractory and recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Despite its excellent efficacy and recent widespread use, FMT has not been widely used in South Korea thus far. We describe our experience with FMT to treat refractory/recurrent CDI. METHODS: We conducted a chart review of patients who underwent FMT for refractory/recurrent CDI at Inha University Hospital, between March 2014 and June 2016. The demographic information, treatment data, and adverse events were reviewed. FMT was administered via colonoscopy and/or duodenoscopy. All stool donors were rigorously screened to prevent infectious disease transmission. RESULTS: FMT was performed in nine patients with refractory/recurrent CDI. All patients were dramatically cured. Bowel movement was normalized within one week after FMT. There were no procedure-related adverse events, except aspiration pneumonia in one patient. During the follow-up period (mean 11.4 months), recurrence of CDI was observed in one patient at one month after FMT due to antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: FMT is a safe, well-tolerated and highly effective treatment for refractory/recurrent CDI. Although there are many barriers to using FMT, we expect that FMT will be widely used to treat refractory/recurrent CDI in South Korea.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Clostridium difficile* ; Clostridium* ; Colonoscopy ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Duodenoscopy ; Fecal Microbiota Transplantation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Korea ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Recurrence ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: Cell cycle deregulation plays a major role in chemical multistage carcinogenesis.Therefore, the evaluation of cell cycle proteins is important. METHODS: In order to induce carcinogenesis in the rat urinary bladder, 0.05% N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN)was administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 30 weeks. Expressions of cyclin D1, A, E, and B1 were examined by immunohistochemical stainings. RESULTS: Urothelial cell hyperplasia appeared at 5 weeks, followed by papilloma at 10 weeks. Superficial carcinoma was observed at 20 weeks, and invasive carcinoma developed in 40% (4/10) of the rats at 30 weeks. Expressions of cyclin D1 and A increased sequentially from normal mucosa throughhyperplasia, papilloma, and carcinoma (p<0.01). Expressions of cyclin D1, B1 and cyclin Ewere higher in invasive carcinomas than in superficial carcinomas (p<0.01). In contrast, therewas no significant difference in the expression of cyclin B1 between hyperplasia, papillomaand superficial carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: The present results indicate the important roles of cyclin D1 and A in the development of BBN-induced urothelial carcinoma of rats. Aberrantexpression of cyclin B1 and E may contribute to the progression from superficial to invasivebladder cancer rather than tumorigenesis.
Animals ; Carcinogenesis* ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; Cyclin B1 ; Cyclin D1 ; Cyclins* ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Papilloma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Urinary Bladder*

Hemobilia is defined as the presence of blood in the biliary tract and gastrointestinal lumen, which is caused by a communication between the biliary tract and blood vessels. Most cases of hemobilia originating in the gallbladder are related to gallstones, or rarely related to acalculous cholecystitis. A 48-year-old woman presented to the hospital secondary to epigastric pain and melena, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed hemobilia originating in her gallbladder. After laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed, pathologic examination of the gallbladder revealed chronic acalculous cholecystitis. Hence, we report a case of hemobilia caused by chronic acalculous cholecystitis.
Acalculous Cholecystitis ; Biliary Tract ; Blood Vessels ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Female ; Gallbladder ; Gallstones ; Hemobilia ; Humans ; Melena ; Middle Aged

Although metastasis from cutaneous malignant melanoma to the small intestine is not uncommon, primary small bowel melanoma (SBM) is extremely rare. This case report describes a rare case of primary SBM, diagnosed by single-balloon enteroscopy. A 74-year-old man presented with recurrent melena. Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy were unremarkable. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed an ileal mass with ileo-ileal intussusception. Subsequent single-balloon enteroscopy identified an ileal tumor, which was histologically diagnosed as melanoma. Extensive clinical examination did not reveal any primary cutaneous lesions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of primary SBM in South Korea.
Aged ; Colonoscopy ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Intestine, Small ; Intussusception ; Korea ; Melanoma* ; Melena ; Neoplasm Metastasis