PURPOSE: Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist(IL-1ra) is an endogenous antiinflammatory agent that binds to IL-1 receptor and thus competitively inhibits the binding of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta. Allele 2 in association with various autoimmune diseases has been reported. In order to evaluate the influence of IL-1ra gene VNTR polymorphism on the susceptibility to HSP and its possible association with disease severity, manifested by severe renal involvement and renal sequelae, we studied the incidence of carriage rate and allele frequency of the 2 repeats of IL-1ra allele 2(IL1RN*2) of the IL-1ra gene in children with HSP with and without renal involvement. METHODS: The IL-1ra gene polymorphisms were determined in children with HSP with(n= 40) or without nephritis(n=34) who had been diagnosed at Busan Paik Hospital and the control groups(n=163). Gene polymorphism was identified by PCR amplification of the genomic DNA. RESULTS: The allelic frequency and carriage rate of IL1RN*1 were found most frequently in patients with HSP and in controls. The allelic frequency of IL1RN*2 was higher in patients with HSP compared to that of controls(4.7% vs. 2.5%, P=0.794). The carriage rate of IL1RN*2 was higher in patients with HSP compared to that of controls(8.1% vs. 6.8%, P= 0.916). The allelic frequency of IL1RN*2 was higher in patients with HSP nephritis compared to that of HSP(6.3% vs.2.9%, P=0.356). The carriage rate of IL1RN*2 was higher in patients with HSP nephritis compared to that of HSP(10.0% vs. 5.9%, P=0.523). Among 13 patients with heavy proteinuria(>1.0 g), 11 had IL1RN*1, 1 had IL1RN*2 and the others had IL1RN*4. At the time of last follow up 4 patients had sustained proteinuria and their genotype was IL1RN*1. CONCLUSION: The allelic frequency and carriage rate of IL1RN*1 were found most frequently in patients with HSP and in controls. Our study suggests that the carriage rate and allele frequency of the 2-repeats of IL-1ra allele 2(IL1RN*2) of the IL-1ra gene may not be associated with susceptibility and severity of renal involvement in children with HSP.
Alleles ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Busan ; Child* ; DNA ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Incidence ; Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein ; Interleukin-1* ; Interleukins* ; Nephritis* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteinuria ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch* ; Receptors, Interleukin-1*

BACKGROUND: Endemic areas of Clonorchis sinensis are in Asia including Korea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Its metacercariae consumed in uncooked, or undercooked, unfrozen fish can present human a hazard. Purposes of this study are 1) to observe the effect of each food-processing method and each storage method on C. sinensis metacercariae and 2) to suggest basis to be referred as an indicator in prevention. METHODS: Live metacercariae of C. sinensis in fish collected from Nakdong River in Korea were isolated by pepsin digestion, then were injected into the center of regular-sized muscle protein (1 cm3) of flesh water fish. The sample proteins containing metacercaria were processed according to each food-processing method (heating, frying, boiling) and each storage method (chilling, freezing, pickling with vinegar, salt and soybean sauce). After these procedures, the number of dead metacercariae were counted. RESULTS: It took 10 seconds to kill all the metacercariae in muscle protein in deep frying (180 degrees C), 30 seconds in boiling (100 degrees C) and 60 seconds in dry heating. Metacercariae did not lose all the viability in 4-6 degrees C after 40 days, but lost in -10degrees C and pickling after 5 days, and in salting (salt and soybean sauce) after 3 days. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the storing in low temperature and in such as vinegar, salt, and soybean sauce was not effective to lose the viability unless if it was kept for a long period of time. Among the food-processing methods, frying in soybean oil was the most effective method to lose the viability of metacercariae.
Acetic Acid ; Asia ; China ; Clonorchis sinensis* ; Digestion ; Freezing ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Korea ; Metacercariae ; Muscle Proteins ; Pepsin A ; Rivers ; Soybean Oil ; Soybeans ; Taiwan ; Vietnam

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and the prevalence of wheeze using nation-wide cross-sectional study in Korean children. Total 50,200 children from 427 elementary schools were randomly selected according to residential areas (metropolitan, provincial, rural, and industrial areas) by the cluster sampling method. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaires were used to measure the prevalence of wheeze. Among 31,026 respondents, 25,322 were analyzed. BMI was classified into quartiles based on BMI-for-age percentile. In all residential areas, pets at home and visible mold or moisture were associated with an increased prevalence of wheeze in both genders. However, other living environment factors were not consistently associated among residential areas and gender. Among girls, lowest BMI was negatively associated with prevalence of wheeze and highest BMI was positively associated in all residential areas. In multilevel logistic regression analysis, environmental tobacco smoking exposure, pets at home, visible mold or moisture, and being in the lowest and highest BMI quartile were significantly associated with the prevalence of wheeze in both genders. BMI has become an important risk factor for asthma symptoms among Korean children.
Allergens ; Asthma/*epidemiology ; Body Composition ; *Body Mass Index ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; *Environmental Exposure ; Female ; Fungi/immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Pets/immunology ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; *Residence Characteristics ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution ; Water

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction in young adults may differ from that in the elderly is terms of clinical characteristics and angiographic findings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of various risk factors ; also, coronary angiographic characteristics of acute myocardial infarction in patient under 40 years old were compared to that in patient over 40 years old. METHODS: We studied 239 patients with acute myocardial infarction who were admitted to Wonju Christian Hospital from 1990 to 1995 and evaluated the clinical and coronary angiographic characteristics. RESULTS: The incidence of acute myocardial infarction in patients under 40 years old was 10.8% (26/239) and were predominently. In men, risk factor analysis revealed the followings ; hypertension was more frequent in elderly patients, and in contrast, smoking history was more frequent in younger patients. Other risk factors did not significantly differ between the two groups. Normal coronary artery was more frequent in the younger patients. The diameter stenosis of the infarct related artery was also less servere in the younger patients. In-hospital morbidity and mortality were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Men and smokers were predominent in patients with acute myocardial infarction under 40 years old. The vessel involvement and the diameter stenosis of infarct related artery were less servere in patients with acute myocardial infarction under 40 years old than patients over 40 years old.
Adult ; Aged ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Vessels ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Male ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Young Adult*

Iliopsoas bursitis is known to occur in relation to hip joint lesions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, synovial chondromatosis, pigmented villonodular synovitis and rarely osteonecrosis of the femoral head, but femoral nerve palsy due to iliopsoas bursitis is a very rare condition. A patient visited to the emergency room because of anesthesia of the anterior thigh. A mass had developed and this enlarged to 3x5 cm in size after 2 weeks, and this was probably due to progression of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. The patient was finally diagnosed with femoral nerve palsy that was caused by a distended iliopsoas bursa, which was detected by ultrasonography and enhanced MRI. Total hip arthroplasty via the posterior approach was done and the connected iliopsoas bursa was removed. After operation, the anesthesia of the anterior thigh and the motor power were improved. We report here on a case of femoral nerve palsy due to iliopsoas bursitis that was related to osteonecrosis of the femoral head, and we review the relevant medical literature.
Anesthesia ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthroplasty ; Bursitis ; Chondromatosis, Synovial ; Emergencies ; Femoral Nerve ; Head ; Hip ; Hip Joint ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteonecrosis ; Paralysis ; Synovitis, Pigmented Villonodular ; Thigh

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the conceptualization, development, and implementation processes of the newly established Korean Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Consortium (KoCARC) to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outcomes. METHODS: The KoCARC was established in 2014 by recruiting hospitals willing to participate voluntarily. To enhance professionalism in research, seven research committees, the Epidemiology and Preventive Research Committee, Community Resuscitation Research Committee, Emergency Medical System Resuscitation Research Committee, Hospital Resuscitation Research Committee, Hypothermia and Postresuscitation Care Research Committee, Cardiac Care Resuscitation Committee, and Pediatric Resuscitation Research Committee, were organized under a steering committee. The KoCARC registry was developed with variables incorporated in the currently existing regional OHCA registries and Utstein templates and were collected via a web-based electronic database system. The KoCARC study population comprises patients visiting the participating hospitals who had been treated by the emergency medical system for OHCA presumed to have a cardiac etiology. RESULTS: A total of 62 hospitals volunteered to participate in the KoCARC, which captures 33.0% of the study population in Korea. Web-based data collection started in October 2015, and to date (December 2016), there were 3,187 cases compiled in the registry collected from 32 hospitals. CONCLUSION: The KoCARC is a self-funded, voluntary, hospital-based collaborative research network providing high level evidence in the field of OHCA and resuscitation. This paper will serve as a reference for subsequent KoCARC manuscripts and for data elements collected in the study.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Data Collection ; Emergencies ; Epidemiology ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Hypothermia ; Korea ; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest ; Professionalism ; Registries ; Resuscitation

Purpose: In the present study, we determined the prevalence of obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), hyposecretory MGD, grossly normal MG, and hypersecretory MGD in patients with dry eye syndrome using lipid layer thickness (LLT) and MG dropout. Methods: Eighty-eight patients with dry eye syndrome were included in the study. Patients were categorized into four groups according to the LLT and weighted total meiboscore. The proportion of patients in each group was calculated. The age, sex, Ocular Surface Disease Index, LLT, Schirmer, tear film breakup time, cornea stain, weighted total meiboscore, expressibility, and quality of meibum were compared between the four groups. Results: Fifteen eyes (17.0%) had obstructive MGD, two eyes (2.3%) had hyposecretory MGD, 40 eyes (45.5%) had grossly normal MG, and 17 eyes (19.3%) had hypersecretory MGD. The obstructive MGD group was younger than the grossly normal MG group. In obstructive MGD, the ratio of men to women was higher than that of the other groups. However, Ocular Surface Disease Index, Schirmer, tear film breakup time, and corneal stain did not show statistically significant differences between the four groups. The meibum expressibility of the hyposecretoy MGD group was worse than those of the other groups. The meibum expressibility of the hyposecretoy MGD group was poor than those of the obstructive and hypersecretory MGD group. Conclusions This categorization was expected to help determine the best treatment method for dry eye syndrome, according to the MG status.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) based triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication has an approximately 20% treatment failure rate. The aim of this study is to examine the clinical factors that influence eradication of H. pylori in patients with peptic ulcers. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 597 endoscopy-proven peptic ulcer and H. pylori-positive patients who were treated at our hospital between July 2004 and March 2007. The eradication rate and the effect of age, gender, smoking, alcohol drinking, activity and the location of ulcer and the kind of PPIs were examined. RESULTS: 597 patients were treated with one-week triple therapy (PPI, amoxicillin 1 g, clarithromycin 500 mg all twice daily). The overall eradication rate was 80.2%. Eradication was significantly more successful in the patients with an age under 60, and in patients over 60 and who had a duodenal ulcer (83.2% vs 73.2%, respectively, p=0.005) or a gastric ulcer (82.5% vs 73.6%, respectively, p=0.041). There was no statistically significant difference according to gender, smoking, alcohol, the activity of the ulcer and the kind of PPIs. CONCLUSIONS: An age over 60 and gastric ulcer were associated with a lower H. pylori eradication rate in patients with peptic ulcers. Therefore, H. pylori eradication in old age patients and in patients with gastric ulcer should be managed differently and the treatment duration should be extended or a new treatment regime developed to overcome the lower eradication rate.
Alcohol Drinking ; Amoxicillin ; Clarithromycin ; Duodenal Ulcer ; Helicobacter ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Peptic Ulcer ; Proton Pumps ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stomach Ulcer ; Treatment Failure ; Treatment Outcome ; Ulcer

The poisoning information database (PIDB) provides clinical toxicological information on commonly encountered toxic substances in Korea. The aim of this study was to estimate the coverage rate of the PIDB by comparing the database with the distribution of toxic substances that real poisoning patients presented to 20 emergency departments. Development of the PIDB started in 2007, and the number of toxic substances increased annually from 50 to 470 substances in 2014. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with toxic exposure who visited 20 emergency departments in Korea from January to December 2013. Identified toxic substances were classified as prescription drug, agricultural chemical, household product, animal or plant, herbal drug, or other. We calculated the coverage rate of the PIDB for both the number of poisoning cases and the kinds of toxic substances. A total of 10,887 cases of intoxication among 8,145 patients was collected. The 470 substances registered in the PIDB covered 89.3% of 8,891 identified cases related to poisoning, while the same substances only covered 45.3% of the 671 kinds of identified toxic substances. According to category, 211 prescription drugs, 58 agricultural chemicals, 28 household products, and 32 animals or plants were not covered by the PIDB. This study suggested that the PIDB covered a large proportion of real poisoning cases in Korea. However, the database should be continuously extended to provide information for even rare toxic substances.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Animals, Poisonous ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Databases, Factual ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/poisoning ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pesticides/poisoning ; Plants, Medicinal/poisoning ; Poisoning/*epidemiology ; Prescription Drugs/poisoning ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Advanced Cardiac Life Support* ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*