Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of COL2A1 affect the development of ankylosing spondylitis (AS).Summary of Literature Review: Many factors have been reported to be involved in the etiology of AS. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 has been established as a genetic factor involved in the development of AS; however, it has been reported in recent studies that various genetic polymorphisms may be related to the development of AS. The collagen, type II, alpha 1 gene (COL2A1 ) plays a role in cartilage formation and maintaining the vitreous humor in the eye. Several previous studies have investigated the associations of COL2A1 with spinal degenerative diseases, but no case-control comparative study has yet investigated the effect of COL2A1 variants on the development of AS. Materials and Methods: The study was planned with 96 AS patients in the study group and 330 healthy individuals in the control group. We searched the gene region of the COL2A1 gene in the NCBI SNP database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp), and 3 SNPs (rs3803183, rs2070739 and rs1793949) were found using sequencing to be significantly different between the AS and control groups. Multiple logistic regression models for genetic analysis were applied Results: Three SNPs (rs3803183, rs2070739 and rs1793949) of COL2A1 showed significant associations with AS patients compared to control subjects (p<0.05). Conclusions SNPs of COL2A1 may be associated with the development of AS in the Korean population.

The object of this study was to investigate the influences of hypoglycemia and hypothermia on the direct current(DC) pontetial changes during cortical spreading depression(CSD) in rats. The induction of CSD was achieved by the application of KCI solution on the cortex of the frontal lobe. Hypoglycemia and hypothermia were induced respectively by insulin injection and the application of an ice pack. The DC potential changes during progressive hypoglycemia and hypothermia were measured with microelectrodes from the cortex of the parietal lobe of rats. Under contril condition, the rate of CSD was one per 5-10 min and the negative shift of DC potential was about 30 mV. The recovery time from negative shift to base line of DC potential was about 40 sec. In rats treated with insulin, the amplitude of DC potential shift was unaffected by hypoglycemia. The recovery time of DC shift was 40+/-2.26 sec at normoglycemia and it was delayed progressively as the blood glucose level lowered. The mean of it was 63+/-8.02 sec at 30 mg/dl and 77.1+/-22.0 sec with the blood glucose falling below 20 mg/dl. The same delay in the recovery time as seen in the hypogylcemia group was observed in rats treated with hypothermia. The recovery time of DC shift was 39.4+/-3.02 sec in normothermia(36.5degrees C), but it was delayed to 61.15+/-4.15 sec at 30degrees C and 96.67+/-14.92 sec at 26degrees C body temperature. This study suggested that each condition of profound hypoglycemia below 30 mg/dl and hypothermia below 30degrees C was to be harmful to the ion homeostasis and the integrity of the cell membrane and it may lead neurons to death.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Body Temperature ; Cell Membrane ; Cortical Spreading Depression* ; Frontal Lobe ; Homeostasis ; Hypoglycemia* ; Hypothermia* ; Ice ; Insulin ; Microelectrodes ; Neurons ; Parietal Lobe ; Rats*

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare non-Langerhans-cell histiocytosis involving bones and multiple organs. Its clinical course can vary, from an asymptomatic state to a fatal disease, with renal involvement being a common cause of death. A 41-year-old man presented with a 10-month history of bilateral lower limb pain. Left perirenal soft-tissue infiltration had been found incidentally two years earlier. No progression of the lesion or deterioration of renal function was observed for a period of two years. At admission, plain radiography and magnetic resonance imaging of the patient's lower limbs showed patchy osteosclerosis. Biopsy of the tibia revealed histiocytic infiltration, which was found to be positive for CD68 and negative for CD1a. This report describes an unusual case of Erdheim-Chester disease involving a stationary course of disease with no specific treatment for a long period of time.
Adult ; Asymptomatic Diseases ; Biopsy ; Cause of Death ; Erdheim-Chester Disease ; Histiocytosis, Non-Langerhans-Cell ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteosclerosis ; Retroperitoneal Fibrosis ; Tibia

PURPOSE: To provide the morphometric data about the Korean proximal tibia to design a total knee prosthesis for Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We measured morphologic data from the proximal part of the tibia from 60 knees of 30 male and 30 female cadavers. The 3D images were reconstructed from the data obtained by computed tomography scanning from femoral head to ankle joint. These image were processed as a ideal tibial resection surface which was made during a total knee arthroplasty operation. Then, antero-posterior lengths, medio-lateral lengths and aspect ratios of the cut surface were measured. Measurements were analyzed and compared with those of five popular total knee prosthesis models. RESULTS: The average medio-lateral length, lateral antero-posterior length, aspect ratio of male was 79.4 +/- 3.8 mm, 39.6 +/- 5.0 mm, 49.8 +/- 5.1% respectively. And that of female was 70.4 +/- 3.7 mm, 34.3 +/- 3.6 mm, 48.8 +/- 4.7% respectively. Component size of medio-lateral length of 65~85 mm and lateral antero-posterior length of 30~45 mm, would be required for the Korean population. Aspect ratios were correlated to antero-posterior lengths positively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: No prostheses had fulfilled all the requirements for Korean knees in this study. These data could be used for design the optimal components for Korean.
Ankle Joint ; Arthroplasty* ; Cadaver ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Knee Prosthesis ; Knee* ; Korea* ; Male ; Prostheses and Implants ; Tibia*

PURPOSE: To provide the morphometric data about the Korean proximal tibia to design a total knee prosthesis for Korean population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We measured morphologic data from the proximal part of the tibia from 60 knees of 30 male and 30 female cadavers. The 3D images were reconstructed from the data obtained by computed tomography scanning from femoral head to ankle joint. These image were processed as a ideal tibial resection surface which was made during a total knee arthroplasty operation. Then, antero-posterior lengths, medio-lateral lengths and aspect ratios of the cut surface were measured. Measurements were analyzed and compared with those of five popular total knee prosthesis models. RESULTS: The average medio-lateral length, lateral antero-posterior length, aspect ratio of male was 79.4 +/- 3.8 mm, 39.6 +/- 5.0 mm, 49.8 +/- 5.1% respectively. And that of female was 70.4 +/- 3.7 mm, 34.3 +/- 3.6 mm, 48.8 +/- 4.7% respectively. Component size of medio-lateral length of 65~85 mm and lateral antero-posterior length of 30~45 mm, would be required for the Korean population. Aspect ratios were correlated to antero-posterior lengths positively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: No prostheses had fulfilled all the requirements for Korean knees in this study. These data could be used for design the optimal components for Korean.
Ankle Joint ; Arthroplasty* ; Cadaver ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Knee Prosthesis ; Knee* ; Korea* ; Male ; Prostheses and Implants ; Tibia*

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in Wuhan, China, has rapidly flared up all over the world, evolving into a pandemic. During these critical times, we should give emphasis on infection prevention for the health care staff as well as appropriate patient management in order to maintain the health care system. We report our experience in protecting a surgical team from COVID-19 infection during a bipolar hemiarthroplasty in an infected patient. This case highlights the importance of appropriate protection of the health care staff and education in minimizing the risk of transmission of the infection and maintaining the health care system.

PURPOSE: The endoscopic surgery has been widely used and developed in operations of the thyroid and parathyroid gland because of the cosmetic advantage and the development of laparoscopic instrument. Since the first endoscopic thyroid surgery in late 1990's, many endoscopic operations for thyroid tumors have been performed in Korea. The authors analyzed the current status of endoscopic thyroid surgery performed in Korea. METHODS: We have collected and analyzed the data of endoscopic thyroid operations using survey. RESULTS: The surgeons working in 16 hospitals answered the questions in survey. The total endoscopic thyroid operations were performed over 1,200 cases until the end of 2004. In the pathologic diagnosis, nodular hyperplasia was most frequent in 64.5%. The axillary approach was most frequently applied in 9 hospitals (56.2%). Most of endoscopic thyroid operations were performed in 2~3 hours. The operation time was decreased according to the experience. The endoscopic surgery for malignant tumors were also performed in 11 hospitals, The hospital stay was usually 3~4 days. The most common complications in endoscopic thyroid surgery were temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis and anteior chest wall discomfort or paresthesia. The most common reason for conversion to conventional surgery was the intraoperative diagnosis as for a malignancy. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic thyroid surgery has been perfomed in many hospitals not only special thyroid clinic in Korea. The operation cases are increasing rapidly in these days. According to the development of technique and instrument, the endoscopic surgery are applied to various neck disease involving malignancy. The safety and efficacy of endoscopic surgery for malignancy should be further evaluated with accumulation of experience of endoscopic operation and long term follow-up of thyroid cancer patients.
Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Korea* ; Length of Stay ; Neck ; Paralysis ; Parathyroid Glands ; Paresthesia ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve ; Surgeons ; Thoracic Wall ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy*

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of participants in '1998 Korean Depression Screening Day' and to evaluate the results of the screening test. METHODS: By using the survey results of 619 volunteers from 8 hospitals, the authors examined the prevalence of depression detected at the screening test and sociodemographic characteristics and the psychiatric treatment history of respondents. The assessment measure was the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. RESULTS: The mean depression score of all participants was 57.5+/-13.8 and it came under mild depression. Of all participants, 69.5% (N=430)had at least mild depressive symptoms, 43.1% (N=267)had at least moderate symptoms, and 18.4% (N=114)had severe symptoms. Never have 56.8% of respondents in the severely depressed range and 63.9% of those in the moderately depressed range had psychiatric treatment. The results suggest that the age group of 29-year-old or younger (relative to 60-year-old or older group)and full-time employment status (relative to unemployment)are protective factors of depression. CONCLUSIONS: By '1998 Korean Depression Screening Day', many depressed patients were detected and their depressive symptoms had statistically significant relationships with some sociodemographic characteristics. The results suggest that the education and screening test programs for depressive illness facilitated by Depression Screening Day are useful to the patients regardless of being under current treatment or not.
Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Depression* ; Education ; Employment ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Volunteers

In cryptogenic stroke patients, early detection of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) and recurrent stroke is required to prevent poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, we investigated the predictors of new-onset AF and recurrent stroke in cryptogenic stroke patients without previously diagnosed AF. In total, 390 patients who were diagnosed with stroke and non-sustained atrial tachycardia (NSAT) on 24-hour Holter monitoring were followed up to assess new-onset AF and recurrent stroke. The 5-year event-free survival as well as the predictors of recurrent stroke or new-onset AF were investigated. Based on receiver operating characteristic analysis, frequent premature atrial contractions (PACs) were defined as PACs >44 beats/day. The median follow-up period was 35 months. The composite event rate was 11.5%. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 5-year cumulative incidence of composite events was higher in cryptogenic stroke patients with frequent PACs than in those without frequent PACs. Multivariate analysis revealed that current smoking, increased left atrial volume index, and frequent PACs were poor prognostic predictors of composite event, and frequent PACs were an independent poor prognostic factor of new-onset AF in cryptogenic stroke patients. Therefore, frequent PACs might be associated with poor clinical outcomes (new-onset AF and recurrent stroke) in cryptogenic stroke patients with concomitant NSAT.

Voriconazole is a triazole with broad spectrum antifungal activity, and it is currently considered to be the first-line agent for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis. We report here on a case of visual and auditory hallucinations during intravenous treatment with voriconazole in association with a high trough level. A 28-year-old man with acute myelogenous leukemia was admitted for re-induction remission chemotherapy. During the persistent neutropenic fever, intravenous voriconazole was administered for the suspected invasive fungal pneumonia. He began to have visual hallucinations on the 1st day and auditory hallucinations on the 3rd day of voriconazole therapy. The plasma peak and trough concentration levels of voriconazole were 9.9 and 7.4 microg/ml, respectively, on the 3rd day. The hallucinations resolved after changing to amphotericin B deoxycholate, and the plasma concentration of voriconazole dropped to less than 0.5 microg/ml. The genotype of the CYP2C19 alleles was classified as a heterozygous extensive metabolizer. We suggest that therapeutic drug monitoring of voriconazole is indicated for a case that is suspicious for a voriconazole-related adverse event.
Adult ; Alleles ; Amphotericin B ; Aspergillosis ; Deoxycholic Acid ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Monitoring ; Fever ; Genotype ; Hallucinations ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Plasma ; Pneumonia ; Pyrimidines ; Triazoles