Many pathological surveys of brain tissue in patients with intractable epilepsy have been reported. There have been, however, few studies focused on the differences between childhood and adults in pathological alterations of brain. We retrospectively analyzed histopathology of 164 lobectomy specimens for intractable epilepsy in view of the differences between children and adults. Among 164 cases, 28 cases were children (less than 15 years) and 136 cases adults. We compared frequency of histopathologic features, distribution of involved cortex (temporal or extratemporal lobe), previous injury histories, such as brain trauma, encephalitis or febrile seizure, and coexistence of other lesions (dual pathology) between two groups. Pathologic alterations were encountered in 92% of 164 patients. In children focal cortical dysplasia (n=16, 57.1%), neoplasm (n=8, 28.6%), hippocampal sclerosis (n=6, 21.4%), cortical tuber (n=1, 3.6%), leukomalacia (n=1, 3.6%), and Rasmussen's encephalitis (n=1, 3.6%) were observed, whereas focal cortical dysplasia (n=81, 59.6%), hippocampal sclerosis (n=80, 58.8%), neoplasm (n=19, 14%), and cerebral cysticercosis (n=3, 2.2%) were found in adults. Pediatric patients had a higher proportion of severe focal cortical dysplasia (17.9% in children, 0.7% in adults). Neoplasia and extratemporal lobe involvement were more commonly found in children (28.6%, 50%) than in adults (14.0%, 24.3%), whereas hippocampal sclerosis and dual pathology were more common in adults (58.8%, 44.9%) than in children (21.4%, 17.9%). Previous injury history was statistically significant in patients with hippocampal sclerosis, and lent support to the hypothesis that hippocampal sclerosis is related with acquired lesions. Incidence of focal cortical dysplasia was nearly similar in both adult (59.6%) and pediatric groups (57.1%), and supported the hypothesis that focal cortical dysplasia is developmental abnormality occurring during a prenatal period.
Adult* ; Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Child* ; Cysticercosis ; Encephalitis ; Epilepsy ; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malformations of Cortical Development ; Pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Sclerosis ; Seizures* ; Seizures, Febrile

BACKGROUND: Fever is a very common complication that has been related to poor outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). The incidence of acalculous cholecystitis is reportedly 0.5%–5% in critically ill patients, and cerebrovascular disease is a risk factor for acute cholecystitis (AC). However, abdominal evaluations are not typically performed for febrile patients who have recently undergone aSAH surgeries. In this study, we discuss our experiences with febrile aSAH patients who were eventually diagnosed with AC. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 192 consecutive patients who underwent aSAH from January 2009 to December 2012. We evaluated their characteristics, vital signs, laboratory findings, radiologic images, and pathological data from hospitalization. We defined fever as a body temperature of >38.3℃, according to the Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines. We categorized the causes of fever and compared them between patients with and without AC. RESULTS: Of the 192 enrolled patients, two had a history of cholecystectomy, and eight (4.2%) were eventually diagnosed with AC. Among them, six patients had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In their pathological findings, two patients showed findings consistent with coexistent chronic cholecystitis, and two showed necrotic changes to the gall bladder. Patients with AC tended to have higher white blood cell counts, aspartame aminotransferase levels, and C-reactive protein levels than patients with fevers from other causes. Predictors of AC in the aSAH group were diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 8.758; P = 0.033) and the initial consecutive fasting time (OR, 1.325; P = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: AC may cause fever in patients with aSAH. When patients with aSAH have a fever, diabetes mellitus and a long fasting time, AC should be suspected. A high degree of suspicion and a thorough abdominal examination of febrile aSAH patients allow for prompt diagnosis and treatment of this condition. Additionally, physicians should attempt to decrease the fasting time in aSAH patients.
Acalculous Cholecystitis ; Aneurysm* ; Aspartame ; Body Temperature ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Cholecystitis ; Cholecystitis, Acute* ; Critical Care ; Critical Illness ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diagnosis ; Fasting ; Fever* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units ; Leukocyte Count ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* ; Urinary Bladder ; Vital Signs

We report a first Korean case of presumably dominantly inherited primary tubular aggregate myopathy in a 19-yr-old man, who presented with slowly progressive proximal muscle stiffness and weakness. In hematoxylin and eosin stain, it showed subsarcolemmal, or central pale basophilic granular vacuoles, which stained red with modified Gomori's trichrome and intensive blue with nicotinamide adenonine dinucleotide-tetrazolium reductase, respectively. Ultrastructurally, aggregates of 60 nm-sized hexagonal tubules were found in both type 1 and type 2 fibers. We briefly review the pathologic findings of the previously reported cases of tubular aggregate myopathy and discuss the possible pathogenesis of this disease. We briefly discuss the possible pathogenesis of sarcoplasmic reticulum and review the ultrastructural characteristics.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Frozen Sections ; Genes, Dominant ; Genes, Recessive ; Human ; Korea ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Microtubules/ultrastructure ; Mitochondria, Muscle/ultrastructure ; Muscle, Skeletal/pathology* ; Myopathies, Structural, Congenital/diagnosis ; Myopathies, Structural, Congenital/genetics ; Myopathies, Structural, Congenital/pathology* ; Pedigree

Rhinoscleroma is a chronic, granulomatous infectious lesion most frequently affecting the respiratory tract mucosa. This disease is endemic to Africa, Central and South America, South Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and China. We report an extremely rare disease of nasal rhinoscleroma in Korea. The patient was a 63-yr-old man, who suffered from chronic nasal obstruction and septal deviation. Characteristic histology from a nasal biopsy was proven and special stains for bacteria were employed: periodic acid-Schiff, Warthin-Starry silver, Giemsa, and Gram stains. Isolation of Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis from a culture of nasal discharge was failed, but ultrastructural examination of numerous phagocyzed bacilli in the Mikulicz cells confirmed the diagnosis. The histiocytic nature of the Mikulicz cells was confirmed, using CD 68 and alpha-1 antitrypsin, and by the ultrastructural features of Mikulicz cells. Here, we emphasize the recognition of this rare entity in nonendemic regions, frequently leading to delayed diagnosis.
Endemic Diseases ; Fibrosis ; Human ; Klebsiella pneumoniae/*isolation & purification ; Korea ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Mucosa/*microbiology/pathology/ultrastructure ; Rhinoscleroma/*pathology

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure may have different effects on cardiovascular disease, but limited data is available for hypertension subtypes in the Korean population. Thus, the prevalence, and absolute number of hypertension subtypes among Korean adults was estimated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998-2012 was used to estimate the prevalence and absolute number of each hypertension subtype among Korean adults aged > or =20 years. Hypertension was classified into four subtypes: treated hypertension (TH), isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH), and combined systolic and diastolic hypertension (SDH). RESULTS: In 2012, approximately 9.5 million adults were estimated to have hypertension, which consists of 5675671 TH (60.0%), 954253 ISH (10.1%), 1649486 IDH (17.4%), and 1175506 SDH (12.4%). Between 2010 and 2012, the proportion of IDH steadily decreased with age, but ISH increased especially in older ages (> or =40). Between 1998 and 2012, TH markedly increased from 1.4 million to 5.7 million while the number of untreated hypertension remained relatively constant. During the same time, the number of hypertensive elderlies increased from 507000 to 2822000 along with rapid ageing of the Korean population. Despite of significant improvement in treatment rate, there are still around 583000 elderlies with untreated hypertension (423000 ISH; 42000 IDH; 118000 SDH) as of 2012. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of hypertension has been constant over the last decades, absolute number of people with hypertension has been increasing. Along with the rapid population ageing, the number of elderly hypertension is increasing and the ISH is also becoming more prevalent.
Adult* ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Korea* ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Prevalence*

Liver biopsies are used routinely in the assessment of graft dysfunction following liver transplantation and generally considered to be the most reliable method for the diagnosis of posttransplant complications with overlapping clinical and laboratory findings. To investigate posttransplant complications causing graft dysfunction and usefulness of liver biopsy, we analysed clinicopathologic features of 65 posttransplant liver biopsies, 2 autopsies and an explanted liver, taken from 20 patients. The frequencies of posttransplant complications were acute cellular rejection in 9 patients (45%), postoperative infection in 11 patients (55%), of which cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and systemic invasive aspergillosis with candidiasis occured in 10 patients (50%) and 1 patient (5%), respectively. Remainders were hepatic arterial thrombosis in two (10%), primary graft dysfunction due to fatty donor liver in one (5%), and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) in two (10%). There were no chronic rejection or recurrent disease. Postoperative mortality was 25%. Histologic grade by Banff schema was well correlated with clinical parameters associated with unfavorable short term prognosis. CMV infection was associated with acute cellular rejection in 6 out of 10 patients (60%). Immunohistochemical staining for CMV was more sensitive method than CMV in situ hybridization or histologic detection of viral inclusion on tissue section. It was unique that one case of PTLD developed under the circumstances of the lowest dosage of immunosuppression and took grave outcome. Based on these results, we concluded that clinicopathologic correlation with integration of all the clinical and laboratory findings is necessary in the interpretation of accurate and early diagnosis of posttransplant liver biopsies. The interrelationship between chronic rejection and CMV infection as well as pathogenetic factors of PTLD remains to be clarified through further ongoing observation.
Aspergillosis ; Autopsy ; Biopsy* ; Candidiasis ; Cytomegalovirus ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; In Situ Hybridization ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver* ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Mortality ; Primary Graft Dysfunction ; Prognosis ; Thrombosis ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Primary intrasellar schwannomas or neurilemmomas occur rarely and mimic pituitary adenoma, radiologically and clinically. The authors describe the 6th case of primary intrasellar schwannoma mimicking a nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma, clinically as well as radiologically. Light microscopically, the present case did not show the typical histology of conventional schwannoma and the confirmative diagnosis was made with the aid of immunohistochemistry and electron microscope. Here, we review the possible hypotheses for pathogenesis of sellar schwannomas on unusual locations.
Diagnosis ; Immunohistochemistry ; Neurilemmoma* ; Pituitary Neoplasms

A 60-year-old woman who had experienced two episodes of amaurosis fugax in her right eye presented with vision loss. Two weeks earlier, at a private clinic, she was diagnosed with impending central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) of the right eye and received an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab. Two weeks after this injection she was diagnosed with ischemic CRVO. At 11-weeks post-presentation, extremely ischemic features were observed with fluorescein angiographic findings of severe vascular attenuation and extensive retinal capillary obliteration. At 22-weeks post-presentation she was diagnosed with neovascular glaucoma; she experienced no visual improvement over the following several months.
Antibodies, Monoclonal/*administration & dosage ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Glaucoma, Neovascular/complications ; Humans ; Injections, Intraocular ; Ischemia/diagnosis/*etiology/physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Retinal Vein Occlusion/*complications/*drug therapy/physiopathology ; *Retinal Vessels ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/antagonists & inhibitors ; Visual Acuity/drug effects ; Vitreous Body

Recently the rate of adolescent smoking in Korea has increased rapidly, and various health problems related to smoking can be expected to increase in the future. Studies on smoking behavior report that assertiveness is important factor influencing on the adolescent smoking. PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develope a educational video for the purpose of adolescent's smoking prevention. METHOD: The 533 participating subjects, 269 in experimental group and 264 control group, in the study were 7th grade students. The content of video introduces three smoke tempting situations. The experimental group received 17 minute video education, and the control group did not receive any treatments. RESULT: The results show that the student's assertiveness was increased significantly in the experimental group after the video education. Student's attitude on smoking became more negative in the experimental group. However, in the control group, the intention, assertiveness, attitude was not changed. CONCLUSION: This assertiveness video can be useful educational resource for the smoking prevention program for adolescents. Also further study on longitudinal effect and application on drinking, drug abuse are needed.
Adolescent* ; Assertiveness ; Drinking ; Education ; Humans ; Intention ; Korea ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Substance-Related Disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the isolation methods of inner cell mass from mouse blastocyst, types of feeder cells and treatment time of mitomycin C on the formation rate of ICM colony. METHODS: The inner cells were isolated by conventional immunosurgery, partial trophoblast dissection with syringe needles and whole blastocyst co-culture method. Commercially available STO and primary cultured mouse embryonic fibroblast (pMEF) feeder cells were used, and mitomycin C was treated for 1, 2 or 3 hours, respectively. The formation rate of ICM colony was observed after isolation of ICM and culture of ICM on the feeder cells for 7 days. RESULT: The ICM colony formation rate on STO were significantly higher in partial trophoblast dissection group (58%) than that in immunosurgery (12%) or whole blastocyst culture (16%) group (p<0.05). The formation rate on pMEF feeder layer was higher in partial trophoblast dissection (88%) and whole blastocyst culture (82%) group than that in immunosurgery (16%) group (p<0.05). When mitomycin C treated to pMEF for 2 hours, the formation rate of 88% was significantly higher than those of other conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Above results showed that the efficient isolation method of ICM from blastocyst was the partial trophoblast dissection and the appropriate treatment time of mitomycin C was 2 hours. However, the subculture of ICM colony and characterization of stem cells should be carried out to confirm the efficacy of the partial trophoblast dissection method.
Animals ; Blastocyst ; Coculture Techniques ; Feeder Cells* ; Fibroblasts ; Mice* ; Mitomycin* ; Needles ; Stem Cells ; Syringes ; Trophoblasts