No abstract available.
Fistula*

No abstract available.
Adenoma*

PURPOSE: To report a case of herpes simplex keratitis after descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). CASE SUMMARY: A 66-year-old male underwent DSAEK in his right eye due to bullous keratopathy after cataract surgery. The corneal epithelium which was removed during surgery was healed, but the patient was experiencing pain and decreased visual acuity in his right eye 1 month after surgery. Increasing corneal epithelial defects and corneal edema were observed on slit-lamp examination. Therapeutic soft contact lenses and artificial tears were used for treatment but were not effective, thus amniotic membrane transplantation was performed. Three months after transplantation, the epithelial defect appeared as a geographic ulcer suspecting to be herpes simplex keratitis; therefore, ganciclovir ophthalmic ointment and oral acyclovir were administered. Six months after antiviral therapy, the epithelial lesion of herpes simplex keratitis completely disappeared, leaving only mild corneal opacity. CONCLUSIONS: If corneal epithelial defects are persistent after DSAEK in patients even with no past history of herpes simplex keratitis, herpes simplex keratitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis.
Acyclovir ; Aged ; Amnion ; Cataract ; Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic ; Corneal Edema ; Corneal Transplantation ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Epithelium, Corneal ; Eye ; Ganciclovir ; Herpes Simplex ; Humans ; Keratitis, Herpetic ; Male ; Methylmethacrylates ; Ophthalmic Solutions ; Polystyrenes ; Transplants ; Ulcer ; Visual Acuity

The zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) functions as a buttress for the face and is the cornerstone to a person's aesthetic appearance, by both setting the midfacial width and providing prominence to the cheek. Malar deficiency is often acquired by blunt injury incurred in a traumatic accident, resulting in ZMC fracture. A 48-year-old male patient presented a right ZMC fracture after contusion injury by a baseball. He only received conservative management and later he suffered discomfort during mouth opening at the moment of mastication, due to trismus involving the temporomandibular joint. In the current case, we describe a surgical technique, by which the malar body is shifted anteriorly and laterally after combined oblique-vertical osteotomy. The technique presented, eventually restored the former aesthetic position of the malar complex and symmetry, and, moreover, improved mastication function.
Baseball ; Cheek ; Contusions ; Fractures, Malunited ; Humans ; Male ; Mastication ; Middle Aged ; Mouth ; Osteotomy* ; Temporomandibular Joint ; Transplants* ; Trismus ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The "closing-in" phenomenon refers to the tendency to copy near or overlap a model while performing figure-copying tasks. The mechanisms underlying the closing-in phenomenon have not been fully elucidated, and previous studies only investigated the mechanisms through neuropsychological tests. We investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of the closing-in phenomenon using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). METHODS: Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 21 normal controls were included. All subjects underwent neuropsychological testing to diagnose dementia and magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo brain magnetic resonance imaging for the voxel-based statistical analysis. The subjects were asked to copy the modified Luria's alternating squares and triangles to quantify the closing-in phenomenon. We applied SPM8 for the VBM analysis to detect gray matter loss associated with the closing-in phenomenon. RESULTS: The patients with probable AD showed a higher closing-in score than that of the normal control subjects (p<0.0001). The VBM analysis revealed more parietal and temporal atrophy in the patients with AD than that in the normal control group. Moreover, atrophy of the orbito-frontal area was associated with the closing-in phenomenon. CONCLUSIONS: The closing-in phenomenon is dysfunction while performing figure-copying tasks and is more common in patients with AD. The analysis of the orbito-frontal area, which is associated with inhibiting primitive reflexes, revealed that the closing-in phenomenon is an imitation behavior commonly observed in patients with frontal lobe damage.
Alzheimer Disease ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Dementia ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Rabeprazole ; Reflex

No abstract available.
Colon* ; Colonoscopy* ; Mediastinal Emphysema* ; Pneumoperitoneum* ; Retropneumoperitoneum* ; Subcutaneous Emphysema*

No abstract available.
Colon* ; Colonoscopy* ; Mediastinal Emphysema* ; Pneumoperitoneum* ; Retropneumoperitoneum* ; Subcutaneous Emphysema*

Objective: To validate the performance of 3T spin-echo echo-planar imaging (SE-EPI) magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for staging hepatic fibrosis in a large population, using surgical specimens as the reference standard. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study initially included 310 adults (155 undergoing hepatic resection and 155 undergoing donor hepatectomy) with histopathologic results from surgical liver specimens. They underwent 3T SE-EPI MRE ≤ 3 months prior to surgery. Demographic findings, underlying liver disease, and hepatic fibrosis pathologic stage according to METAVIR were recorded. Liver stiffness (LS) was measured by two radiologists, and inter-reader reproducibility was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The mean LS of each fibrosis stage (F0–F4) was calculated in total and for each etiologic subgroup. Comparisons among subgroups were performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test and Conover post-hoc test. The cutoff values for fibrosis staging were estimated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Inter-reader reproducibility was excellent (ICC, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.97–0.99). The mean LS values were 1.91, 2.41, 3.24, and 5.41 kPa in F0–F1 (n = 171), F2 (n = 26), F3 (n = 38), and F4 (n = 72), respectively. The discriminating cutoff values for diagnosing ≥ F2, ≥ F3, and F4 were 2.18, 2.71, and 3.15 kPa, respectively, with the ROC curve areas of 0.97–0.98 (sensitivity 91.2%–95.9%, specificity 90.7%–99.0%). The mean LS was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis (F4) of nonviral causes, such as primary biliary cirrhosis (9.56 kPa) and alcoholic liver disease (7.17 kPa) than in those with hepatitis B or C cirrhosis (4.28 and 4.92 kPa, respectively). There were no statistically significant differences in LS among the different etiologic subgroups in the F0–F3 stages. Conclusion The 3T SE-EPI MRE demonstrated high interobserver reproducibility, and our criteria for staging hepatic fibrosis showed high diagnostic performance. LS was significantly higher in patients with non-viral cirrhosis than in those with viral cirrhosis.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a disease with a wide variety of clinical progressions such as the rate of disease progression or the degree of metastasis. About 30% of ccRCC patients suffer from metastatic diseases, and about 30% develop metastasis after diagnosis. In the case of metastatic RCC, early prediction of the disease is important because of the poor prognosis, but ccRCC-specific molecular markers for clinical use are not available yet. As an alternative, liquid biopsy, which can find molecules released from tumor tissues in circulating blood and obtain information on metastatic dissemination and recurrence of ccRCC, is emerging. In this article, we will introduce molecules such as cell free DNA, cell free RNA, protein, and exosomes available as circulating biomarkers for liquid biopsy. We will also introduce some promising technologies that can compensate for the limitations of liquid biopsy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore genetic relation between schizophrenia and COMT gene which plays an important role in metabolizing dopamine, one of the most intriguing neuro-transmitters for schizophrenia. METHODS: 1) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) on exons of COMT gene was searched by F-CSGE (Fluorescent-Conformation Sensitive Gel Electrophoresis) method with 50 patients with schizophrenia to look for any SNP unique to Korean patients with schizophrenia. 2) Genotyping was done for five SNPs on COMT gene for 218 patients with schizophrenia and 199 normal controls by SNaPShot method. Allele frequencies, genotype frequencies and simulated haplotype frequencies were compared between patients with schizophrenia and normal controls. RESULTS: 1) No unique SNPs for Koreans was found on exons of COMT gene and seven SNPs were found, all of them are already reported to be found in other ethnic groups. 2) No significant difference between patients with schizophrenia and normal controls in terms of allele frequencies, genotype frequencies and haplotype frequencies was found in our sample. CONCLUSION: Genetic association between five SNPs on COMT gene and DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia among Koreans was not able to be found in this study.
Diagnosis ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Dopamine ; Ethnic Groups ; Exons ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* ; Schizophrenia*