Spondylometaphyseal dysplasia (SMD) is an extremely rare, which affects the spine and metaphy-ses of the tubular bones on terms of enchondrogenesis. Children who had Kozlowski dwarfism, type of SMD are not recognized until they reach school age since they have normal clinical feature, weight and size in early childhood. Authors experienced a typical case of Kozlowski type of SMD in a 10 years old male who had i) generalized platyspondyly with anterior tapering of vertebrae ii) generalized metaphyseal dysplasia iii) minimal changes in the carpal and tarsal bones. This case is to be reported with review of references.
Child ; Dwarfism ; Humans ; Male ; Spine ; Tarsal Bones

It is well established that health care workers (HCWs) have a considerably higher risk of occupationally acquired tuberculosis (TB). To reduce the transmission of TB to HCWs and patients, TB infection control programs should be implemented in health care settings. The first and most important level of all protection and control programs is administrative control. Its goals are to prevent HCWs, other staff, and patients from being exposed to TB, and to reduce the transmission of infection by ensuring rapid diagnosis and treatment of affected individuals. Administrative control measures recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization include prompt identification of people with TB symptoms, isolation of infectious patients, control of the spread of the pathogen, and minimization of time spent in health care facilities. Another key component of measures undertaken is the baseline and serial screening for latent TB infection in HCWs who are at risk of exposure to TB. Although the interferon-gamma release assay has some advantages over the tuberculin skin test, the former has serious limitations, mostly due to its high conversion rate.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Diagnosis ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Interferon-gamma Release Tests ; Mass Screening ; Occupations ; Skin Tests ; Tuberculin ; Tuberculin Test ; Tuberculosis* ; World Health Organization

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: Doppler-guided hemorrhoidal artery ligation and recto-anal repair (DG-HAL & RAR) is known for low recurrence, high patient satisfaction, and less postoperative pain. The purpose of this study is to analyze the 1-year follow-up results in patients who underwent a DG-HAL & RAR and to establish the benefits of the procedure. METHODS: Among the hemorrhoid patients who were admitted to our hospital from March 2008 to May 2010 and who underwent a DG-HAL & RAR, 97 patients who were followed up for a year were investigated. Recurrence, complications, admission period, difference in preoperative and postoperative pain, operation time, and time to return to daily activities were investigated. RESULTS: The average admission period was 1.6 +/- 1.1 days. Pain at postoperative day 7 showed no significant difference from preoperative pain (P > 0.05). The operation time was 34.0 +/- 7.3 minutes on average, and return to daily activities was timed at 2.3 +/- 2.0 days postoperatively. At the one year follow-up, no serious complications were noted, and preoperative symptoms recurred only in 14 patients (14.4%). CONCLUSION: In most patients with hemorrhoids, excluding those with severe prolapsed hemorrhoids, less pain, no serious complications, and good long-term outcome can be expected from a DG-HAL & RAR.
Arteries ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhoids ; Humans ; Ligation ; Pain, Postoperative ; Patient Satisfaction ; Recurrence

In South Korea, bacteria in the Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC), a group of rapidly growing mycobacteria, are second to those in the Mycobacterium avium complex as a cause of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease. The MABC includes several subspecies, including M. abscessus subsp. abscessus (M. abscessus) and M. abscessus subsp. massiliense (M. massiliense), the former of which is difficult to treat owing to its antibiotic resistance.Current Concepts: M. abscessus encodes a functional erythromycin ribosomal methylase gene, erm(41), that causes inducible macrolide resistance. Contrastingly, M. massiliense lacks a functional erm(41) gene owing to a partial deletion. Accordingly, culture conversion rates using currently recommended macrolide-based antibiotic treatments are considerably higher among patients with M. massiliense infection than in those infected with M. abscessus. Phase therapy (intensive and continuous) is recommended for MABC pulmonary disease and, depending on the subspecies and antimicrobial susceptibility test results, should include an initial treatment of ≥3 to 4 injectable and oral antibiotics, followed by inhaled or intravenous amikacin and ≥1 to 2 oral antibiotics. Recommended injectable antibiotics include amikacin, imipenem or cefoxitin, and tigecycline, and oral antibiotics include macrolides (azithromycin or clarithromycin), clofazimine, linezolid, and rifabutin. For some patients, surgery should be considered as an adjunctive treatment option.Discussion and Conclusion: Given that M. abscessus expresses the inducible resistance gene erm(41) associated with macrolide resistance, the identification of MABC subspecies is important for disease management. However, despite the combined application of several injectable/oral antibiotics, the treatment outcomes for M. abscessus pulmonary disease remain unsatisfactory.

No abstract available.
Cryptococcosis* ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

No abstract available.
Cryptococcosis* ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

In the spring of 2011, a cluster of lung injuries caused by humidifier disinfectant (HD) usage were reported in Korea. Many patients required mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and even lung transplantation (LTPL). However, the long-term course of HD-associated lung injury remains unclear because the majority of survivors recovered normal lung function. Here we report a 33-year-old woman who underwent LTPL approximately four years after severe HD-associated lung injury. The patient was initially admitted to the intensive care unit and was supported by a high-flow nasal cannula. Although she had been discharged, she was recurrently admitted to our hospital due to progressive lung fibrosis and a persistent decline in lung function. Finally, sequential double LTPL was successfully performed, and the patient's clinical and radiological findings showed significant improvement. Therefore, we conclude that LTPL can be a therapeutic option for patients with chronic inhalation injury.
Adult ; Catheters ; Disinfectants ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Humidifiers* ; Inhalation ; Inhalation Exposure ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea ; Lung Injury* ; Lung Transplantation* ; Lung* ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Respiration, Artificial ; Survivors

OBJETIVE: To investigate the efficacy of high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen on pregnancy in human embryo after freezing and thawing. MATERIALS AND METHODS:: 150 infertile patients underwent 162 consecutive thawing-ET cycles. In the high infusion frequency group (Group A), 47 patients (50 cycles) underwent cryopreservation with high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen. In the low infusion frequency group (Group B), 103 patients (112 cycles) underwent cryopreservation with low infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, fertilization rates, development of embryo, good quality embryo ratio, implantation rates, and pregnancy rates between these two groups. RESULTS: There was no difference between the groups with regard to clinical characteristics (mean age, infertility duration, infertility factors, hormone profile), mean number of oocyte retrieval, fertilization rates, and mean embryo number of transfers. The survival rates in group A was 64.9% (228 of 350 embryos), and among the 228 embryos 190 embryos (83.3%) which progressed to the two- to eight-cell stage. After thawing, the embryo numbers were 65 (34.2%), 29 (15.3%), 35 (18.4%), and 37 (19.5%) of grades 1, 2, 3, and above 4, respectively. The survival rates in group B was 63.8% (482 of 755 embryos), and among the 482 embryos 465 embryos (96.5%) which progressed to the two- to eight-cell stage. After thawing, the embryo numbers were 106 (22.8%), 94 (20.2%), 89 (19.1%), and 112 (24.1%) of grades 1, 2, 3, and above 4, respectively. There was no difference in embryo quality change after the freezing-thawing procedure between the groups. Implantation rates (31.1% vs. 34.3%) were not significant. However hCG positive rates in group A (40%) were higher than group B, but not statistically significant. Clinical pregnancy rate (26% vs. 25.9%), on going pregnancy rates (>20 weeks) were not significant (26% vs. 25%). CONCLUSION: We compared embryo quality change, survival rates, and pregnancy rates between high infusion frequency group and low infusion frequency group and the results were similar between the two groups. Therefore, high infusion frequency of liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation is a worthy method to preserve in human embryos.
Cryopreservation ; Embryonic Development* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fertilization ; Freezing* ; Humans* ; Infertility ; Nitrogen* ; Oocyte Retrieval ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate* ; Pregnancy* ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.