Removal of leukocytes from blood components may prevent alloimmunization to leukocyte antigens, febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions, transmission of leukotropic viruses or bacteria, and graft-versus-host disease. New surface-modified fibrous polyester filters were evaluated; they require no special processing of blood components and can be used at the patient's bed-side. Pall RC100TM(Pall Co., USA) was used to filter 2 units of RBCs at a time for a total of 8 filtrations: mean red cell recovery rate was 88.7%, mean WBC removal rate 99. 99%, and mean residual WBC count after filtration 2.77x 10 5. Twelve units of apheresis platelets were filtered with Pall PL50TM(Pall Co., USA): mean platelet recovery rate was 90.7%, mean WBC removal rate 99.95%, and mean residual WBC count after filtration 6.99 x 10 5. This study indicates that these filters efficiently remove WBCs without significant loss of red cells or platelets and that this kind of filters can be easily used at the patient's bed side.
Bacteria ; Blood Component Removal ; Blood Group Incompatibility ; Blood Platelets ; Filtration ; Graft vs Host Disease ; HLA Antigens ; Leukocytes* ; Polyesters

A case of tinea unguium caused by Aspergillus sydowi in 45 year old female was described. Through the literature this was the first case report in Korea, The characteristic clical findings noted the yellowish discoloration of the affeced nail which including KOH wet mount and culture. However, animal inoculation was failed.
Animals ; Aspergillus* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Onychomycosis*

No abstract available.
Chloroquine* ; Edetic Acid* ; Glycine* ; Immunoglobulin G*

We found a case of Ael for the first time in Korea. The patient was 28-year-old woman admitted for the delivery of her first baby. Patient's red cells were typed as O, while the serum typing was A. The red cells were agglutinated by anti-H, but not agglutinated by anti-A1 or anti-AB. Adsorption of anti-A by patient's RBC was confirmed on the adsorption-elution test. In the saliva, only H substance was demonstable. A substance was not demonstrated either in the serum or in the saliva. A transferase was not demonstrated in patient's serum. One of the patient's sister and her daughter, and the patient's son also had same Ael phenotype.
Adsorption ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Nuclear Family ; Phenotype ; Saliva ; Siblings ; Transferases

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vestibular schwannoma is a benign neoplasm originating from the vestibular nerve, and the most common symptom caused by the tumor is unilateral hearing loss. This study is aimed to review the clinical outcomes of tumor growth and hearing changes in the natural progress of vestibular schwannoma.SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed 28 patients who were diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma and treated with the ‘wait and scan’ modality for more than a year. We analyzed the patients' audiological changes and tumor growth by reviewing the temporal bone MR images. Patients were classified into an intrameatal group and extrameatal group according to the involvement of the cerebropontine angle. RESULTS: The overall mean follow-up was 45.6±25.8 months. Among the 28 patients, 6 (21.4%) showed tumor growth after ‘wait and scan.’ Hearing thresholds and speech discrimination scores showed deterioration after ‘wait and scan’ in both groups. Among the 12 patients with serviceable hearing at initial diagnosis, 9 (75.0%) preserved serviceable hearing after ‘wait and scan.’ When the pure tone average and speech discrimination scores were applied to the scattergram, most values were positioned near the center of the scattergram, which implied slight changes after ‘wait and scan.’ CONCLUSION The percentage of patients showing tumor growth after the ‘wait and scan’ policy was low. Patients with serviceable hearing at diagnosis would most likely preserve their hearing after ‘wait and scan.’ Considering the limited tumor growth and minimal hearing changes, rather than microsurgery or radiation surgery, the conservative ‘wait and scan’ policy can be an alternative treatment modality in patients with small-sized, non-growing vestibular schwannomas.

Amelanotic melanoma comprises only 1.8~8.1% of malignant melanomas, and is difficult to diagnose clinically due to the lack of the diagnostic evidence of clinical pigmentation. To our knowledge, it is rarely reported, and only 10 cases have been reported in the Korean dermatological literature. It presents rather conflicting features such as a pink or red macule, papule, plaque, or nodule mimicking various benign and malignant conditions; therefore, it is difficult to diagnose. We performed a review of six patients with amelanotic melanoma focusing on differential diagnosis, particularly at the time of the initial visit. Clinical impressions included pyogenic granuloma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, eccrine poroma, epidermal cyst, keloid, pilomatricoma, and squamous cell carcinoma in addition to malignant melanoma. The biopsy specimens were consistent with malignant melanoma with little or no melanin pigment on hematoxylin and eosin and Fontana-Masson stains. Four of the six patients were positive for S-100 and HMB-45, but two patients were positive for S-100 only. We report these cases to remind clinicians of the necessity of including malignant melanoma in the differential diagnosis process when patients show poor and unpredictable responses to treatment after a clinical diagnosis of other benign and malignant conditions.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Coloring Agents ; Dermatofibrosarcoma ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Epidermal Cyst ; Granuloma, Pyogenic ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Keloid ; Melanins ; Melanoma ; Melanoma, Amelanotic* ; Pigmentation ; Pilomatrixoma ; Poroma

Entamoeba histolytica is an enteric tissue-invading protozoan parasite that can cause amebic colitis and liver abscess in humans. E. histolytica has the capability to kill colon epithelial cells in vitro; however, information regarding the role of calpain in colon cell death induced by ameba is limited. In this study, we investigated whether calpains are involved in the E. histolytica-induced cell death of HT-29 colonic epithelial cells. When HT-29 cells were co-incubated with E. histolytica, the propidium iodide stained dead cells markedly increased compared to that in HT-29 cells incubated with medium alone. This pro-death effect induced by ameba was effectively blocked by pretreatment of HT-29 cells with the calpain inhibitor, calpeptin. Moreover, knockdown of m- and micro-calpain by siRNA significantly reduced E. histolytica-induced HT-29 cell death. These results suggest that m- and micro-calpain may be involved in colon epithelial cell death induced by E. histolytica.
Calpain/antagonists & inhibitors/genetics/*metabolism ; *Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/drug effects ; Dipeptides/metabolism ; Entamoeba histolytica/*pathogenicity ; Epithelial Cells/*parasitology ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Anti-K is one of the most significant unexpected antibodies that cause hemolytic transfusion reactions. Individuals with anti-K have to be transfused with K antigen-negative red cells. Although Koreans rarely have the K antigen, we have detected three cases of anti-K and we analyzed the Kell blood group genotypes for the KEL*1/KEL*2 alleles at the same time. METHODS: We analyzed the KEL*1/KEL*2 allele genotypes from 261 blood donors at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Kell genotyping were carried out using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme length polymorphism (RFLP). Identification of anti-K was performed using three kinds of methods; 37degrees C albumin, an anti-human globulin phase tube, a bead cassette and a gel card. Three cases of anti-K also underwent PCR with a sequence specific primer (SSP) for Kell genotyping. For comparison, the KEL*1 allele (698C>T) was synthesized by site-directed-mutagenesis. RESULTS: All 261 donors were KEL*2/KEL*2 homozygotes and a digested KEL*1 allele was not found. The three patients with anti-K were also KEL*2/KEL*2 homozygotes and the reactivities of the anti-K identification test were the same. CONCLUSION: The KEL gene frequency for the KEL*1/KEL*2 allele corresponded with that of the Kell phenotype, as was previously reported. We experienced three cases of anti-K and two out of the three were assumed that they had been transfused with the K antigen-positive blood of foreigners. This study revealed that the possibility of anti-K alloimmunization and hemolytic transfusion reactions cannot be excluded in Koreans.
Alleles ; Antibodies ; Antigens, Bacterial ; Antigens, Surface ; Blood Donors ; Blood Group Incompatibility ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: Alloimmunization of human platelet antigens (HPA) is associated with clinically significant disease, such as platelet refractoriness, neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, or posttransfusion purpura. It is determined by single nucleotide polymorphism of genes for platelet membrane glycoprotein. To date, approximately 27 HPAs have been discovered, and their frequencies differ depending on ethnicity and country. METHODS: We conducted an investigation of prevalence of HPA in the Korean population using a multiplex single-base primer extension reaction (SNaPshot). With 84 specimens from healthy donors, HPA genotyping was performed on 11 different HPAs, including HPA-1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9, -13, and -15. RESULTS: A total of 90 blood samples were genotyped. The genotype frequencies of HPA were as follows: HPA-1a/1a: 100.0%, -2a/2a: 83.3%, -2a/2b: 14.3%, -2b/2b: 2.4%, -3a/3a: 39.3%, -3a/3b: 52.4%, -3b/3b: 8.3%, -4a/4a: 100.0%, -5a/5a: 95.2%, -5a/5b: 4.8%, -6a/6a: 94.0%, -6a/6b: 6.0%, -7a/7a: 100.0%, -8a/8a: 100.0%, -9a/9a: 97.6%, -9a/9b: 2.4%, -13a/13a: 100.0%, -15a/15a: 23.8%, -15a/15b: 51.2%, and -15b/15b: 25.0%. CONCLUSION: The SNaPshot assay was employed for detection of SNPs in various clinically significant HPA genes. In addition to well-known frequencies of previously reported HPA-1 to -8, this study showed frequencies of HPA-9, -13, and -15 in Koreans for the first time. The SNaPshot technique might be suitable for use in actual clinical testing in patients with platelet alloimmunization.
Antigens, Human Platelet ; Blood Platelets ; Genotype ; Humans ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prevalence ; Purpura ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic ; Thrombocytopenia, Neonatal Alloimmune ; Tissue Donors

OBJECTIVES: Mindfulness-base cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been used to treat patients with depression to prevent relapse. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness- Base Cognitive Therapy for patients who suffer with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder for 1 year. METHODS: 19 patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder were assigned to receive MBCT for a period of 8 weeks. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used at 0 weeks, 8 weeks and 1 year to assess the results. RESULTS: MBCT demonstrated significantly decreases on all the anxiety scale scores (HAM-A, p=0.00 ; BAI, p=0.00) and depressive scale scores (HAM-D, p=0.00 ; BDI, p=0.00). The patients who received 8-week of MBCT showed a higher remission rate (15/19, 78%) during the 1-year followup period. CONCLUSION: MBCT may be effective at relieving the anxiety and depressive symptoms of patients who suffer with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder for 1 year. However, further well-designed controlled trials are needed to assess the value of MBCT.
Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders ; Cognitive Therapy ; Depression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Panic ; Panic Disorder ; Recurrence