For the better success in the society, it is important to collect opinions from members. The progress was slow before because it was hard to collect the opinions from each member. But since we have opened the web site it gets easier to evolve with the society for microsurgery, and expect to have active participations from the members. We make 20 questions in three different groups. The researches are made on participation, development in science council that starting from 2005 October to 2007 June, education on training with member's preference to thesis and individuality and suggestion. Thus we have results following to that research. 1. 75% of the members vote for the lecture has to be substantial, and also want the atmosphere of the council to be more sincere. 46.2% of members want the council to be not only exchange information but also the place to experience the social intercourse. 2. When the thesis is present and submitted that will also connect to main society. It will be counted as equal as board thesis, only if the thesis can count in both plastic & reconstructive surgery and orthopedic surgery. Then it will be scored as same as examination of board, and will be a receipt of paper by home page 3. The information-oriented project on our council is slower than what members expected. 100% of members voted yes to online thesis examination, and 66.7% of members voted for preference of web site. We need to make improvements on our web pages as soon as possible such as online payment with credit card. 4. According to the result of questionnaire, our web site helps member's participation in council and eventually become a bridge between members. We hope the questionnaires would help us to develop the council and eventually would help us to society with each other in the council. We also hope this council would be the one that connect all of us in society.
Atmosphere ; Education ; Hope ; Individuality ; Microsurgery* ; Orthopedics ; Plastics ; Surveys and Questionnaires*

Pertussis is a representative vaccine-preventable disease. However, there have been recent outbreaks in countries where even higher vaccination against the disease. One reason is the emergence of antigenic variants, which are different to vaccine type. In Korea, reported cases have rapidly increased since 2009. Therefore, we analyzed genotype of strains isolated in 2011-2012 by multilocus sequence typing method. As expected, the genotype profiles of tested genes dramatically changed. The major sequence type changed from ST1 to ST2, and new sequence type (ST8) appeared. In the minimum spanning tree, recent isolates belonging to the ACC-I-ST3 subgroup were detected that were composed of ST2, ST3, and ST6. In particular, the ST2 frequency increased to 81%. The novel ST8 was linked to the increased frequency of ST2. In addition, toxic strains carrying the ptxP3 promoter type were confirmed. This ptxP3 type emerged from 2009 and its frequency had increased to 100% in 2012. Based on these results, it can be inferred that the genotypic changes in the currently circulating strains are strongly associated with the recent increasing of pertussis in Korea. Therefore, the surveillance system should be strengthened, and genetic characterization of the isolates should be expanded to the whole genome sequence level.
*Antigenic Variation ; Antigens/*genetics/immunology/metabolism ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Bordetella pertussis/*genetics/isolation & purification/*metabolism ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genotype ; Humans ; Pertussis Toxin/genetics/metabolism ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Whooping Cough/immunology/*microbiology/pathology

Choriocarcinoma is one of the malignant tumors of trophoblastic cells characterized by secretion of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Choriocarcinoma often metastasizes to the lung, liver, and brain but skin metastasis is rare. To our knowledge, only one case of cutaneous metastasis was reported in Korea. A 35-year-old female presented with hemoptysis for 1 month. Biopsy from lung nodules revealed metastatic choriocarcinoma. She was subsequently referred to our clinic for evaluation of a rapidly growing, reddish nodule with bleeding tendency on the scalp. Histologic examination demonstrated biphasic pattern of cytotrophoblasts and hCG-positive syncytiotrophoblasts with multiple foci of hemorrhage - typical histologic features of choriocarcinoma. The patient was diagnosed with metastatic choriocarcinoma. We herein report a case of choriocarcinoma with cutaneous metastasis.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Choriocarcinoma ; Chorion ; Female ; Hemoptysis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pregnancy ; Scalp ; Skin ; Trophoblasts

Muir-Torre syndrome is defined by concurrent or sequential development of internal malignancy - most commonly colorectal cancer - and sebaceous neoplasm or multiple keratoacanthomas. Recent studies revealed it was caused by mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes, and suggested screening for mismatch repair gene defects may be of value for patients with Muir-Torre syndrome. We, herein, report a patient with Muir-Torre syndrome, who developed breast cancer and extra-ocular sebaceous carcinoma. In addition, we discussed our experience of immunohistochemical staining for mismatch repair protein with a review of the literature.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; DNA Mismatch Repair ; Humans ; Keratoacanthoma ; Mass Screening ; Muir-Torre Syndrome

Precalcaneal congenital fibrolipomatous hamartomas (PCFHs) are characterized clinically by the presence of unilateral or bilateral, asymptomatic nodules in the medial precalcaneal plantar region of the heel. They are skin colored and usually painless nodules. In most patients, the lesions appear within the first few months of life, but they may also be present at birth. Generally PCFHs are benign, but they can grow in proportion to the growth of the infants. Here, we report the case of a 4-month-old boy with a solitary, localized skin-colored nodule on the precalcaneal plantar region of his right heel, diagnosed as a PCFH.
Hamartoma ; Heel ; Humans ; Infant ; Parturition ; Skin

STATs (signal transducers and activators of transcription) are proteins with dual functions: signal transducers in the cytoplasm and transcriptional activators in the nucleus. STAT proteins act as transcription factors activated by phosphorylation on its tyrosine residues upon stimulation by various cytokines. The phosphorylated STAT molecules then form homo- or heterodimers through SH2-mediated interaction and translocate into the nucleus to activate the transcription of various target genes. STAT5 recognizes the interferon-gamma activated site TTCNNNGAA (GAS sequence) in the promoter region of the beta-casein gene. Except for prolactin-dependent beta-casein production in mammary gland cells, the biological consequences of STAT5a activation in various systems are not clear. Here we showed that STAT5a was phosphorylated 10 min after desferrioxamine (DFO) treatment, and reached a maximum induction at 4 h in mammary epithelial cells (HC11) and transfected COS-7 cells. Under hypoxic conditions (2% O2), a maximal phosphorylation of STAT5a was observed within 6 h. EMSA (electrophoretic mobility shift assay) showed that DFO or hypoxia enhanced the binding activities of STAT5a DNA to beta-casein gene promoter in mammary epithelial cells (HC11) and transfected COS-7 cells. These results showed that DFO or hypoxia induces tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT5a and also increases the binding activity of STAT5a DNA in mammary epithelial cells. Our data suggest that the STAT5 may act as a mediator in hypoxia-mediated gene expression.
Animals ; Anoxia/*genetics/*metabolism ; Caseins/genetics ; Cell Line ; DNA/genetics/metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins/*metabolism ; Deferoxamine/pharmacology ; Epithelial Cells/drug effects/*metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Mammary Glands, Animal/cytology/*metabolism ; Mice ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Phosphotyrosine/metabolism ; Promoter Regions (Genetics)/genetics ; Protein Binding ; Response Elements/*genetics ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Trans-Activators/*metabolism

BACKGROUND: Limited data on the incidence and clinical characteristics of adult pertussis infections are available in Korea. METHODS: Thirty-one hospitals and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of pertussis infections among adults with a bothersome cough in non-outbreak, ordinary outpatient settings. Nasopharyngeal aspirates or nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture tests. RESULTS: The study enrolled 934 patients between September 2009 and April 2011. Five patients were diagnosed as confirmed cases, satisfying both clinical and laboratory criteria (five positive PCR and one concurrent positive culture). Among 607 patients with cough duration of at least 2 weeks, 504 satisfied the clinical criteria of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (i.e., probable case). The clinical pertussis cases (i.e., both probable and confirmed cases) had a wide age distribution (45.7+/-15.5 years) and cough duration (median, 30 days; interquartile range, 18.0~50.0 days). In addition, sputum, rhinorrhea, and myalgia were less common and dyspnea was more common in the clinical cases, compared to the others (p=0.037, p=0.006, p=0.005, and p=0.030, respectively). CONCLUSION: The positive rate of pertussis infection may be low in non-outbreak, ordinary clinical settings if a PCR-based method is used. However, further prospective, well-designed, multicenter studies are needed.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Incidence ; Outpatients ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sputum ; Whooping Cough