PURPOSE: Streptococcus pyogenes is an important cause of invasive diseases in children. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of invasive infections due to S. pyogenes in children in Korea. METHODS: A retrospective study of children under 18 years of age with invasive infections due to S. pyogenes at Seoul National University Children's Hospital between March 1992 and December 2012, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between March 2003 and December 2012 was conducted. Demographic factors, clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment, mortality and morbidity of all patients were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 30 among 36 cases identified as invasive disease due to S. pyogenes were available for review. There was a predominance for male subjects (male:female=2.75:1). The median age was 50 months (range 12 days to 15 years) and 53.3% were under 5 years of age. Skin and soft tissue infections (9/30, 30.0%), bacteremia without identified focus (4/30, 13.3%) and bone and joint infections (6/30, 20.0%) were the most frequent clinical presentations. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (3/30, 10.0%) pulmonary, abdomen and central nervous system infections (2/30, 6.7%) were also seen. There was a peak in number of patients in year 2012 (9/30, 30.0%). There were no cases of mortality. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance rates were low by 3.8% and 7.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We studied the clinical presentations of invasive infections due to S. pyogenes during the past 20 years in Korean children. The findings of this study help us understand the characteristics of the disease, enhancing early recognition and prompting adequate antibiotic therapy which is important in reducing morbidity and mortality.
Abdomen ; Bacteremia ; Bacterial Infections ; Central Nervous System Infections ; Child* ; Clindamycin ; Demography ; Erythromycin ; Humans ; Joints ; Korea ; Male ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Shock, Septic ; Skin ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Streptococcus pyogenes*

Background: To assess the clinical efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) administration combined with low-dose aspirin in women with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients who had been diagnosed with unexplained RPL and treated with IVIG and low-dose aspirin between January 2000 and March 2020 at Asan Medical Center. We analyzed pregnancy outcomes and their association with the percentage of natural killer (NK) cells. Results: The study analyzed a total of 93 patients and 113 natural and assisted reproductive technology pregnancy cycles. The live birth rate per cycle was 73.5% (83/113), and the term delivery rate was 86.7% (72/83). The live birth rate was high regardless of the type of RPL, method of pregnancy, timing of IVIG treatment, and presence or absence of autoantibodies.In addition, the live birth rate was significantly higher in patients who received IVIG more than once, compared with patients who received IVIG only once (77.8% vs. 42.9%, P = 0.006). There was no significant association between the NK cell counts and live birth rate (65.5% in the group with NK cell < 12%, and 69.7% in that with NK cell ≥ 12%, P = 0.725). Among all patients, 87.6% had no complications, and there were no congenital malformation among newborn babies. Conclusion IVIG combined with low-dose aspirin treatment showed favorable pregnancy outcomes regardless of the patient’s NK cell counts (%).

BACKGROUND: Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) is the most reliable marker for regulatory T cells, which play an important role in maintaining renal allograft tolerance. Recently, Foxp3 polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with graft outcome in kidney transplantation. We analyzed the association of Foxp3 polymorphisms with renal allograft outcome. METHODS: Foxp3 polymorphisms (rs3761548 A/C, rs2280883 C/T, rs5902434 del/ATT, and rs2232365 A/G) were tested by PCR with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) in 231 adult kidney transplantation recipients from 1996-2004 at Seoul National University Hospital. RESULTS: Patients with the rs3761548 CC genotype showed better graft survival than those with the AC or AA genotype (log rank test, P=0.03). Patients with the rs3761548 CC genotype also showed a lower rate of recurrence of the original glomerular disease than those with the AC or AA genotype (P=0.01). The frequency of acute rejection (AR) in patients with the rs2280883 TT genotype was lower than that in patients with the rs2280883 CT or CC genotype (26.9% vs 53.3%, P=0.038). Patients with the rs2280883 TT genotype also showed better graft survival than those with the CT or CC genotype (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Foxp3 rs3761548 CC and rs2280883 TT genotypes were associated with superior graft outcome of kidney transplantation. Further studies involving a larger number of patients are needed.
Adult ; Allografts* ; Genotype ; Graft Survival ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Recurrence ; Seoul ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Transplantation Tolerance ; Transplants

PURPOSE: This study was designed to assess the outcome of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in liver transplantation (LT) recipients with refractory septic shock and predict the prognosis of those cases. METHODS: From February 2005 to October 2012, ECMO was used in 8 cases of refractory septic shock. Laboratory values including lactate and total bilirubin level just before starting ECMO were obtained and sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACH) II score and simplified acute physiology score (SAPS) 3 were calculated. Subsequent peak serum lactate and total bilirubin level, and SOFA score after 24 hours of starting ECMO were measured. RESULTS: Comparisons were made between survivors and nonsurvivors. ECMO was weaned off successfully in 3 patients (37.5%) and 2 patients (25%) survived to hospital discharge. Clinical scores including SOFA, APACH II, and SAPS3 and laboratory results including lactate, total bilirubin and CRP were not significantly different between survivor and nonsurvivor groups. Lactate level and SOFA score tended to decrease after ECMO support in survivor group and total bilirubin and CRP level tended to increase in nonsurvivor group. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the implantation of ECMO might be considered in highly selected LT recipients with refractory septic shock.
APACHE ; Bilirubin ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* ; Humans ; Lactic Acid ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Physiology ; Prognosis ; Shock, Septic* ; Survivors