PURPOSE: To report a case of a Comamonas acidovarans corneal ulcer treated with antibiotics in Korea. Comamonas acidovarans corneal ulcer has not been previously reported to our knowledge. METHODS: A 70-year-old woman visited our clinic complaining of left ocular pain and decreased visual acuity for six days. We performed a smear and culture on the corneal lesion and treated it with topical and systemic antibiotics. RESULTS: Comamonas acidovorans was cultured from ulcer lesion. Corneal ulcer improved with the administration of ciprofloxacin and tobramycin.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ciprofloxacin ; Comamonas* ; Corneal Ulcer* ; Delftia acidovorans* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Tobramycin ; Ulcer ; Visual Acuity

OBJECTIVE: Major depression is known to have immunologic dysfunctions, the recent studies revealed that cytokines including Il-6 and IL-1beta were increased in patients with major depression. Since molecular genetic methods have been progressed, this study was to investigate the relationship between major depression and immunologic aspects by analyzing polymorphism of IL-10 gene. METHOD: 92 patients with major depression were included and data of 146 normal controls obtained from the Catholic Hemopoietic Stem Cell Information Bank of Korea were used in this study. DNA was extracted from whole blood, thereafter amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and digested by Mae III. After that procedure, we obtained and assessed RFLP of two alleles, IL-10T and IL-10C. All data were analyzed by chi2 test. RESULTS: 1) There were no significant difference in genotype frequencies of IL-10*T/T, IL-10*T/C, and IL-10*C/C between major depression patients group and control group. 2) There were no significant difference in allelic frequencies of IL-10*T and IL-10*C between major depression patients group and control group. CONCLUSION: We did not verified the differences in frequencies of IL-10*T/IL-10*C gene between the major depression patients group and control group, respectively. But the results of this study do not declare that the IL-10 gene has no association with major depression. We do suggest that further systematic studies including various clinical variables should be conducted.
Alleles ; Cytokines ; Depression* ; DNA ; Genotype ; Humans ; Interleukin-10* ; Interleukin-6 ; Korea ; Molecular Biology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length* ; Stem Cells

There had been few reports of arachnoid cyst accompanying psychiaric disturbance and no report treated with low-dose resperidone administration. We report a patient, developed first-transient psychotic episode considered to be provoked by an arachnoid cyst, responsive to risperidone, which was found in the middle cranial fossa as follows. A 57-year-old man was admitted by suddenly developed headache, auditory hallucination, delusion of persecution and, an arachnoid cyst in the anteromedial aspect of middle cranial fossa was found on MRI after admission. The psychotic episode was first to him and he was also negative to other clinical evaluation including endocrine abnormality, his psychotic symptom was suspected to be induced by arachnoid cyst and was well controlled to low-dose risperidone administration. He left hospital free from psychotic symptoms on 14 hospital days.
Arachnoid* ; Cranial Fossa, Middle ; Delusions ; Hallucinations ; Headache ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Psychotic Disorders* ; Risperidone*

Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy is a hereditary disease of unknown etiology, and characterized by bilateral subepithelial corneal opacification with crystalline or diffuse deposits of cholesterol or other lipid. It is rare and has never been reported in Korea. The authors experienced a case of Schnyder's crystallin corneal dystrophy examined in a 36-year-old man who had bilateral corneal crystalline deposits since 15 years old and significant reduction in vision for two years. Light microscopic examination of patient's keratoplasty specimen showed lipid deposits in the superficial stroma, and electron microscopy disclosed multiple lipid vacuoles in basal epithelium, Bowman slayer, superficial stroma and keratocytes. In this report, we describe the histopathological findings of Schnyder's crystalline corneal dystrophy.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Cholesterol ; Corneal Opacity ; Corneal Transplantation ; Crystallins* ; Epithelium ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; Humans ; Korea ; Microscopy, Electron ; Vacuoles

OBJECTIVE: Atypical antipsychotics have been reported to induce the elevation of serum transaminase frequently in Korea, although most of them don't cause severe liver injury. Some hepatoprotectants are commonly prescribed in order to reduce the serum level of transaminase in patients with schizophrenia. We performed the chart review retrospectively for investigating the effect of two hepatoprotectants, biphenyl dimethyl dicarboxylate+garlic oil combination (BDD), and silymarin+silybin combination (SMR14) on the serum transaminase (AST/ALT) elevated by atypical antipsychotics. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of 54 schizophrenic patients who experienced the elevation of serum AST/ALT after the treatment with atypical antipsychotics. Patients with preexisting liver disease or elevated AST/ALT above in-house normal limitation at admission were excluded. We obtained the level of serum AST/ALT at the time of hepatoprotectants administration, 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the administration. Repeated Analyses of variance were conducted in order to identify sequential change of serum AST/ALT level, and Fisher's exact test were performed to compare the number of patients whose AST/ALT levels were normalized after 4 weeks between two groups. RESULTS: 33 males and 21 females were included in this study and the mean age of those subjects was 36.28+/-10.92. Among all the patients, 35 were treated with BDD and 19 were treated with SMR14. After administration of hapatoprotectants, both serum AST and ALT level were significantly reduced during 4 weeks (F=10.56, p<0.001;F=17.92, p<0.001). BDD was superior to SMR14 in the number of patients whose ALT level reduced below in-house upper limitation after 4 weeks of treatment with hepatoprotectants (p=0.012), but there was no difference between BDD and SMR14 in aspect to AST level. CONCLUSION: Both hepatoprotectants, BDD and SMR14 were effective in reducing serum AST/ALT level which had been elevated by atypical antipsychotics. BDD was superior to SMR14 in normalizing serum ALT level within 4 weeks. Increased liver enzyme is prevalent in patients during the treatment with atypical antipsychotics. More research will be needed in this field.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Caplan originally described a condition, now reffered to as Caplan's syndrome or Caplan's disease, where progressive massive fibrosis was exhibited by coal miners with multiple pulmonary nodules, and rheumatoid arthritis. This syndrome is very rare in Korea. CASE REPORT: The patient was a 49-year old male, with occupational history as a stonemason for 25 years. Silicosis was diagnosed by chest X-ray, while rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed by immunological examination. Caplan's syndrome was confirmed based on these findings, occupational history, and clinical symptoms. DISCUSSION: The authors report on the patient's Caplan's syndrome, with a particular focus on his silicosis.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Caplan Syndrome ; Coal ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Multiple Pulmonary Nodules ; Pneumoconiosis ; Silicosis ; Thorax

PURPOSE: To report the long-term follow-up results after cyclocryotherapy, applied to the 3-o'clock and 9-o'clock positions in blind refractory glaucoma patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 19 blind patients, and a total of 20 eyes with refractory glaucoma who were treated with cyclocryotherapy. Cyclocryotherapy treatments were performed using a retinal cryoprobe. The temperature of each cyclocryotherapy spot was -80degrees C and each spot was maintained in place for 60 seconds. Six cyclocryotherapy spots were placed in each quadrant, including the 3-o'clock and 9-o'clock positions. RESULTS: The mean baseline pretreatment intraocular pressure (IOP) in all eyes was 50.9 ± 12.5 mmHg, which significantly decreased to a mean IOP at last follow-up of 14.1 ± 7.1 mmHg (p < 0.001). The mean number of antiglaucoma medications that patients were still taking at last follow-up was 0.3 ± 0.6. Devastating post-procedure phthisis occurred in only one eye. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclocryotherapy, performed at each quadrant and at the 3-o'clock and 9-o'clock position, is an effective way to lower IOP and, thus, is a reasonable treatment option for refractory glaucoma patients who experience with ocular pain and headaches.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blindness/etiology/*surgery ; Cryosurgery/*methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma/complications/physiopathology/*surgery ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure/*physiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; *Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: In the past days, the majority of 2nd degree burns were treated conservatively, and deep 2nd degree burns were usually covered by skin grafts. However, conservative treatment spends a long time in complete healing and accompanies severe pain and discomfort. Additionally, covering the wound with skin graft causes recipient site scarring and donor site morbidity. Since keratinocyte graft was introduced, nowadays it is widely used in burn wound. These treatment methods are proved to be clinically successful by many clinical and experimental studies. However, there are several disadvantages such as inconvenient using methods and limited usage in several cases. For that reason, at 2004, alloplastic material was first introduced to come over these problems of keratinocyte graft. There had been no precious reports comparing theses two methods, so we planned to focus on differences of two methods in our institute. METHODS: From March 2013 to september 2014, among the 47 patients with burn wound (2nd degree - partial 3rd degree) underwent biologic dressing with cultured keratinocyte allograft (Kaloderm(R) (Tegoscience, Korea)) alloplastic material (Suprathel(R) (Polymedics Innovations GmbH, Germany). The outcomes were assessed using time for epithelization, TBSA (%), Vancouver Scar Scale and complication. RESULTS: All burn wounds were completely epithelized without any complication. The average time for epithelization was 13.4/13.4 days. CONCLUSION: The result of this study suggests that Kaloderm(R) and Suprathel(R) did not show significant difference. Therefore, Suprathel(R) may be considered as an alternative choice for treating 2nd and 3rd degree burns in some clinical settings.
Allografts* ; Biological Dressings ; Burns* ; Cicatrix ; Humans ; Keratinocytes* ; Skin ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy and reproducibility of central corneal thickness measured by non-contact specular microscopy, ultrasound pachymetry, and Orbscan in the post-penetrating keratoplasty eyes. METHODS: Central corneal thickness was prospectively measured in eyes that had recieved penetrating keratoplasty at least 1 month before. One experienced technician measured all eyes using three methods; non-contact specular microscopy (Topcon SP-2000P; Topcon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), Orbscan IIz (Orbtek; Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, USA), and ultrasound pachymetry (AL-2000; Tomey, Erlangen, Germany). Three consecutive measurements were performed using each method and the mean values and coefficient of variation were compared. RESULTS: The mean values of central corneal thickness were 550.7+/-63.3 micrometer with specular microscopy, 548.2+/-72.5 micrometer with ultrasound pachymetry, and 472.5+/-151.7 micrometer with Orbscan. There was no significant difference between the measurements obtained by specular microscopy and ultrasound pachymetry (p=0.53), and both methods showed high reproducibility. The corneal thickness measured by Orbscan was remarkably variable and in some patients, Orbscan was unable to measure corneal thickness. CONCLUSIONS: Non-contact specular microscopy appears to be an effective technique, potentially replacing ultrasound pachymetry for measuring central corneal thickness in the post-penetrating keratoplasty eyes.
Corneal Transplantation ; Humans ; Keratoplasty, Penetrating ; Microscopy ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND: Histological analysis of tuberculosis shows a spectrum of findings, from well formed granulmatous inflammation with few bacilli in patient with normal immune response to M. tuberculosis to poorly formed granulomatous inflammation with many bacilli in patient with defective immune response. To evaluate the degree of immune response to M. tuberculosis, we studied the histologic features, including the presence of acid fast bacilli(AFB) in lymph node of patients with cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis, and compared them with clinical characteristics. METHODS: We reviewed the histologic features of 33 cases of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis and processed the excised nodes for auramine-rhodamine staining to detect AFB. The AFB positivity in tissue was compared with the histologic features(degree of granuloma formation, presence of caseation necrosis, presence of neutrophilic infiltration) and clinical characteristics (lymph node size, duration of symptom, presence of local symptom or radiologic evidence of pulmonary tuberculosis). RESULTS: 1) The mean age at diagnosis was 42.4 years, and male to female ratio was 1 : 45. 2) Histologically, all cases showed well formed granuloma and variable degrees of caseation necrosis, and 39% of the cases showed neutrophilic infiltration in the granulomatous inflammation. 3) AFB were confirmed in 52% of the cases, and they were found extracellularly and at the periphery of caseation necrosis. 4) There was no association between AFB Positivity and histological features or clinical characteristics. CONCLUSION: Cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis showed well formed granulomatous inflammation with caseation necrosis, and there was no association between AFB positivity in the tissue and histological or clinical characteristics.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis ; Male ; Necrosis ; Neutrophils ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Lymph Node*