This study inquired the relationship between serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and extracellular water in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 30 CAPD patients. Each patient was admitted to the department of internal medicine, Chosun University Hospital between February and October, 2006. Echocardiography was performed using HDI 5000, allowing M-mode, two-dimensional measurement. A multifrequency bioimpedance analyzer was used; extracellular water was calculated as a percentage of total body water and was understood as the index of volume load of CAPD patients. The mean age was 47+/-12 years. Underlying causes of renal failure were 14 with diabetes mellitus, 7 with hypertension, and 9 with chronic glomerulonephritis. The mean serum NT-proBNP level was 14236.56 (83-35,000) pg/mL. LV mass index and LV ejection fraction were 151.67+/-42.5 g/m2 and 57.48+/-12.9%, respectively. The mean extracellular water was 35.97+/-1.04%. Serum NT-proBNP levels correlated positively with LV mass index (r=0.768, p=0.01) and extracellular water (r=0.866, p=0.01) and negatively with LV ejection fraction (r= -0.808, p=0.01). Serum NT-proBNP levels significantly correlated with LV mass index, LV ejection fraction, and extracellular water. Therefore, serum NT-proBNP levels can be a clinical predictive marker for LV hypertrophy, LV dysfunction, and volume status in CAPD patients.
Body Water ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Echocardiography ; Extracellular Fluid ; Glomerulonephritis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy ; Internal Medicine ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Peptide Fragments ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Renal Insufficiency ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left

One lung ventilation for thoracic surgery may reduce arterial oxygen saturation by ventilation-perfusion mismatching and by increasing intrapulmonary shunting. We experienced a 52 year old male patient with a lung abscess, who showed arterial desaturation after one-lung ventilation. The authors tried to increase arterial oxygen saturation by applying positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to dependent and nondependent lung, respectively. However, arterial oxygen saturation did not increase. So, we applied partial differential lung ventilation using an open-close valve designed by the authors, and arterial oxygen saturation increased rapidly. The advantages of the open-close valve are its straightforward use and ease of manipulation. We report a case involving the use of this open-close valve in a desaturated patient during one lung ventilation.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Abscess ; Male ; Middle Aged ; One-Lung Ventilation* ; Oxygen ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; Thoracic Surgery ; Ventilation

Chikungunya infection is caused by an arbovirus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. A 19-year-old man who had traveled to the Republic of Surinam to perform volunteer work complained of a fever, arthralgia, articular stiffness, and a skin rash on both the arm and trunk. Chikungunya fever was diagnosed using a Chikungunya virus specific IgM antibody in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using blood samples obtained during follow-up visits. In this report, we describe a case of imported Chikungunya fever that presented with arthralgia and a skin rash, with islands of normal skin, that occurred following travel to Surinam, South America.
Aedes ; Arboviruses ; Arm ; Arthralgia ; Chikungunya virus* ; Culicidae ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; Islands ; Skin ; South America* ; Suriname* ; Volunteers ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: We recently encountered a case of typhoid fever in a patient who visited us after travelling India. The patient received ciprofloxacin therapy, but developed typhoid pneumonia and typhoid hepatitis, and nalidixic acid resistance Salmonella Typhi (NARST) was identified. The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro efficacy of several antimicrobial combinations, which are commonly used in clinical practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Time-kill studies were performed for a clinical NARST strain to evaluate synergy. Synergy was defined as a > or = 2 log10 decrease (100-fold drop) in CFU per mL at 24 hours by a drug combination compared to the most active constituent. RESULTS: The combination regimen of cefotaxime plus ciprofloxacin significantly reduced the bacterial counts (> 3 log CFU) at 3/4 MIC and at 24 hours compared to the ciprofloxacin or cefotaxime alone and showed synergistic effect against a NARST strain. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our time-kill studies showed that ciprofloxacin plus cefotaxime was the best in vitro combination against a NARST. This combination may improve efficacy compared to fluoroquinolone alone in typhoid fever patient with NARST. Time kill studies with more NARST strains and clinical studies are required to test the relevance of our findings
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacterial Load ; Cefotaxime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; India ; Nalidixic Acid ; Pneumonia ; Salmonella ; Salmonella enterica ; Salmonella typhi ; Sprains and Strains ; Typhoid Fever

BACKGROUND: We recently encountered a case of typhoid fever in a patient who visited us after travelling India. The patient received ciprofloxacin therapy, but developed typhoid pneumonia and typhoid hepatitis, and nalidixic acid resistance Salmonella Typhi (NARST) was identified. The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro efficacy of several antimicrobial combinations, which are commonly used in clinical practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Time-kill studies were performed for a clinical NARST strain to evaluate synergy. Synergy was defined as a > or = 2 log10 decrease (100-fold drop) in CFU per mL at 24 hours by a drug combination compared to the most active constituent. RESULTS: The combination regimen of cefotaxime plus ciprofloxacin significantly reduced the bacterial counts (> 3 log CFU) at 3/4 MIC and at 24 hours compared to the ciprofloxacin or cefotaxime alone and showed synergistic effect against a NARST strain. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our time-kill studies showed that ciprofloxacin plus cefotaxime was the best in vitro combination against a NARST. This combination may improve efficacy compared to fluoroquinolone alone in typhoid fever patient with NARST. Time kill studies with more NARST strains and clinical studies are required to test the relevance of our findings
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacterial Load ; Cefotaxime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; India ; Nalidixic Acid ; Pneumonia ; Salmonella ; Salmonella enterica ; Salmonella typhi ; Sprains and Strains ; Typhoid Fever

We aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on admissions of patients with acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and severe trauma, and their excess mortality in emergency departments (EDs) in South Korea using registry data from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) for patients attending EDs of regional and local emergency medical centers. During the outbreak period of 2020, there were 350,698 ED visits, which was lower than the total in 2019 (392,627 visits).Multiple logistic regression revealed that, compared with 2019, there was significantly higher ED mortality rate during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.10;95% confidence interval, 1.07–1.13). This finding implies that during the early outbreak period, people might have avoided seeking medical care even for acute and life-threatening conditions, or transfer times at the scene to the hospital arrival were delayed, or treatment for the patients in EDs were delayed.

This study was performed to investigate the association between hair mineral levels and nutrient intakes, age, and BMI in female adults who visited a woman's clinic located in Seoul. Dietary intakes were assessed by food frequency questionnaire and mineral levels were measured in collected hairs, and the relationship between these was examined. The average daily nutrient intakes of subjects were compared to those of the KDRIs, and the energy intake status was fair. The average intake of calcium in women of 50 years and over was 91.35% of KDRIs and the potassium intake was greatly below the recommended levels in all age groups. In the average hair mineral contents in subjects, calcium and copper exceeded far more than the reference range while selenium was very low with 85.19% of subjects being lower than the reference value. In addition, the concentrations of sodium, potassium, iron, and manganese in the hair were below the reference ranges in over 15% of subjects. The concentrations of sodium, chromium, sulfur, and cadmium in the hair showed positive correlations (P < 0.05) with age, but the hair zinc level showed a negative correlation (P < 0.05) with age. The concentrations of sodium, potassium, chromium, and cadmium in the hair showed positive correlations (P < 0.05) with BMI. Some mineral levels in subjects of this study showed significant correlations with nutrient intakes, but it seems that the hair mineral content is not directly influenced by each mineral intake. As described above, some hair mineral levels in female adults deviated from the normal range, and it is considered that nutritional intervention to control the imbalance of mineral nutrition is required. Also, as some correlations were shown between hair mineral levels and age, BMI, and nutrient intakes, the possibility of utilizing hair mineral analysis for specific purposes in the future is suggested.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Cadmium ; Calcium ; Chromium ; Copper ; Energy Intake ; Female ; Hair ; Humans ; Iron ; Manganese ; Potassium ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reference Values ; Selenium ; Sodium ; Sulfur ; Zinc

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of ultrasonogram in the detection of cornual pregnancy and the factors that might be affected on early diagnosis. METHOD: We studied 26 cases which were diagnosed as a cornual pregnancy from Jan, 1, 2000 to Dec, 31, 2004 at department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Vincent's Hospital, the Catholic University of Korea. We compared two groups about clinical characteristics and outcomes. One group (A group) was diagnosed as cornual pregnancy before beginning of treatment, another group (B group) was not diagnosed as cornual pregnancy until operation. RESULTS: A group was 8 cases (30.8%) and B group was 18 cases (69.2%). There were no significant differences in age (33.0+/-6.21 years : 31.0+/-5.82 years), duration of amenorrhea (7.32+/-1.07 weeks : 8.90+/-5.44 weeks), previous cesarian section history (25.0% : 27.8%), present myoma (12.5% : 11.1%) and abdominal pain (50% : 77.78%), vaginal bleeding (50% : 55.6%), shock (0% : 27.8%) between two groups. There were significant differences in parity (1.63+/-0.74 : 1.0+/-0.77, p=0.032), number of abortions (2.25+/-1.16 : 1.11+/-1.18, p=0.016), previous history of ectopic pregnancy (37.5% : 0%, p=0.022). Of the method of treatments, only cornual resection (50% : 94.4%) showed significant differences between two groups. CONCLUSION: 30.8% of cornual pregnancy was early diagnosed by ultrasonogram. The important early detective factors for cornual pregnancy might be parity, previous ectopic pregnancy history and abortion history. Therefore if the patient has the previous ectopic pregnancy and abortion history, she can visit early to the hospital and the doctors do pay attention to the possibility of cornual pregnancy.
Abdominal Pain ; Abortion, Induced ; Amenorrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Korea ; Myoma ; Obstetrics ; Parity ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; Shock ; Ultrasonography ; Uterine Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of time-resolved contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (4D MRA) after stent-assisted coil embolization by comparing it with time of flight (TOF)-MRA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TOF-MRA and 4D MRA were obtained by 3T MRI in 26 patients treated with stent-assisted coil embolization (Enterprise:Neuroform = 7:19). The qualities of the MRA were rated on a graded scale of 0 to 4. We classified completeness of endovascular treatment into three categories. The degree of quality of visualization of the stented artery was compared between TOF and 4D MRA by the Wilcoxon signed rank test. We used the Mann-Whitney U test for comparing the quality of the visualization of the stented artery according to the stent type in each MRA method. RESULTS: The quality in terms of the visualization of the stented arteries in 4D MRA was significantly superior to that in 3D TOF-MRA, regardless of type of the stent (p < 0.001). The quality of the arteries which were stented with Neuroform was superior to that of the arteries stented with Enterprise in 3D TOF (p < 0.001) and 4D MRA (p = 0.008), respectively. CONCLUSION: 4D MRA provides a higher quality view of the stented parent arteries when compared with TOF.
Adult ; Aged ; Cerebral Arteries/pathology ; *Contrast Media ; *Embolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; *Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Intracranial Aneurysm/*diagnosis/therapy ; *Magnetic Resonance Angiography/methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; *Stents ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: To assess the effect of the epidural steroid injection for patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients at the pain intervention clinic that received a lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection and were suspected of having an internal disc disruption were prospectively enrolled in this study. The treatment outcome was assessed using a 5-point patient satisfaction scale (no pain, much improved, slightly improved, no effect, aggravated) two weeks after injection. A successful outcome required a patient satisfaction scale of "much improved" or "no pain". All patients received follow-up for two months. Two radiologists evaluated the presence of HIZ (high intensity zone), a dark disc by MR (n = 10) and a diffuse bulging disc by CT (n = 3). RESULTS: Nine (69%) of the 13 patients achieved a successful outcome two weeks after injection. These nine patients showed no recurrence during the two months months follow-up. Of the 22 abnormal discs demonstrated by MRI and CT, MRI showed a dark disc in six patients and HIZ in 13 patients. CT showed diffuse bulging in three discs. Nine of 10 patients showed at least one HIZ. CONCLUSION: An lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection might be an effective tool for managing patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Patient Satisfaction ; Prospective Studies* ; Radiology, Interventional ; Recurrence ; Treatment Outcome