Most of the gastric outlet obstruction symptoms like vomiting and abdominal distension were caused by congenital anatomical abnormality in a neonate. Abnormal structures associated with congenital gastric outlet obstruction have been categorized by its site and extent of obstruction. We report one case of persisting vomiting in a premature infant caused by serosal fibrous band in gastric outlet lesion, excluded from the category of congenital gastric outlet obstruction.
Fibrosis ; Gastric Outlet Obstruction* ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: The ophthalmologic screening examination in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants shoud be done at a postconceptional age (PCA) of 31 to 33 weeks or the chronological age (CA) of 4 to 6 weeks. If the first ophthalmologic examination in ELBW infants is perfomed at 31 to 33 weeks PCA, there is a risk of threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) having already developed on the first examination. The risk of a visual loss is high if threshold ROP has already developed before the initial screening examination of ROP. Therefore, we investigated the ideal timing of the initial ophthalmologic screening examination based on PCA and CA in ELBW infants. SUBJECTS: The medical records of 38 ELBW infants (<1000 g at birth) admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of Severance hospital between January 1991 and December 2000, whose follow-up ophthalmologic examinations were available, were reviewed retrospectively. We investigated the PCA and CA at the diagnosis of prethreshold ROP and threshold ROP. RESULTS: Sixty-five percent of subjects was diagnosed with prethreshold ROP and 64% of the infants progressed to threshold ROP. The median time of progression from prethreshold ROP to threshold ROP was 14 days (2-33). Twenty-four percent was diagnosed with prethreshold ROP on the first eye examination. Prethreshold ROP was diagnosed as early as 33 weeks PCA and threshold ROP was diagnosed as early as 35 weeks PCA. Prethreshold ROP was diagnosed as early as 4 weeks CA and threshold ROP was diagnosed as early as 6 weeks CA. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the initial screening examination for ROP should be performed by CA or PCA in ELBW infants, whichever is earlier, to detect prethreshold ROP before its progression to threshold ROP.
Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Mass Screening* ; Medical Records ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Retinopathy of Prematurity* ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Ureaplasma colonization is related with perinatal complications in preterm infants. Little is known about the difference in virulence among various Ureaplasma urealyticum serovars. The aim of this study was to determine U. urealyticum serovars of preterm infants in order to assess whether any of the serovars were associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). METHODS: Three hundred forty-four preterm infants with a gestational age less than 34 weeks admitted to Gangnam Severance Hospital neonatal intensive care unit from July 2011 to December 2012 were included in this study. Tracheal and gastric aspirations were conducted on infants to confirm Ureaplasma colonization. Ureaplasma colonization was confirmed in 9% of infants, of these, serovars were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: A total of 31 infants (gestational age, 29.3+/-3.1 weeks; birth weight, 1,170+/-790 g) were U. urealyticum positive. The Ureaplasma positive group treated for more days with oxygen and ventilation than the negative group (P<0.05). Histologic chorioamnionitis and moderate to severe BPD were more frequent in the Ureaplasma positive group than in the negative group (P<0.05). U. urealyticum isolates were either found to be a mixture of multiple serovars (32%), serovar 9 alone or combined with other serovars (39%), serovar 11 (26%), 2 (13%), 8 (10%), 10 (13%), and 13 (25%). No individual serovars were significantly associated with moderate to severe BPD and chorioamnionitis. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to describe the distribution of U. urealyticum serovars from Korean preterm infants. Ureaplasma-colonized infants showed higher incidence of BPD and chorioamnionitis.
Aspirations (Psychology) ; Birth Weight ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; Chorioamnionitis ; Colon ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Oxygen ; Pregnancy ; Ureaplasma urealyticum* ; Ureaplasma* ; Ventilation ; Virulence

PURPOSE: The vancomycin dosage regimen is regularly modified according to the patient's glomerular filtration rate (GFR). In the present study, we aimed to assess the usefulness of serum cystatin C (Cys-C) concentration, compared with serum creatinine (SCr) concentration, for predicting vancomycin clearance (CLvcm) in neonates. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the laboratory data of 50 term neonates who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and received intravenous vancomycin, and assessed the pharmacokinetic profiles. Creatinine clearance (CLcr) and GFR based on Cys-C (GFRcys-c) were estimated using the Schwartz and Larsson formulas, respectively. RESULTS: The mean CLvcm (+/-standard deviation) was 74.52+/-31.17 L/hr, the volume of distribution of vancomycin was 0.67+/-0.14 L, and vancomycin half-life was 9.16+/-17.42 hours. The SCr was 0.46+/-0.25 mg/dL and serum Cys-C was 1.43+/-0.34 mg/L. The peak and trough concentrations of vancomycin were 24.65+/-14.84 and 8.10+/-5.35 mcg/mL, respectively. The calculated GFR based on serum creatinine concentration (GFR-Cr) and GFRcys-c were 70.2+/-9.45 and 63.6+/-30.18 mL/min, respectively. The correlation constant for CLvcm and the reciprocal of Cys-C (0.479, P=0.001) was significantly higher than that for CLvcm and the reciprocal of SCr (0.286, P=0.044). GFRcys-c was strongly correlated with CLvcm (P=0.001), and the correlation constant was significantly higher than that for CLvcm and CLcr (0.496, P=0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that only GFRcys-c was independently and positively correlated with CLvcm (F=41.9, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The use of serum Cys-C as a marker of CLvcm could be beneficial for more reliable predictions of serum vancomycin concentrations, particularly in neonates.
Creatinine ; Cystatin C* ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Half-Life ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Linear Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Vancomycin*

Objective: To identify the factors affecting anger in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients who underwent Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent CAPS and MMPI-2 at Veteran Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Based on the CAPS score, the patients were divided into the PTSD group (n=46) and the trauma exposed without PTSD group (n=29). After checking the correlation between anger, CAPS, and MMPI-2 scales, logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for clinically relevant symptoms. Results: The PTSD group showed significant differences in schizophrenia-related symptoms, ideas of persecution, aggressiveness, psychoticism, and anger scales compared to the trauma-exposed without PTSD group. There was a significant correlation between anger, CAPS, and MMPI-2 except masculinity/femininity, disconstraint, and MacAndrew Alcoholism-Revised. In particular, anger has been shown to have a substantial connection with paranoia, schizophrenia-related symptoms, ideas of persecution, aberrant experiences, and psychoticism. Multiple regression analysis identified that the only significant risk factor for anger was the negative emotionalityeuroticism scale (odds ratio=1.152, p<0.001). Conclusion The PTSD group had increased anger compared to the trauma-exposed without PTSD group, and that negative emotions may be a risk factor for PTSD.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in pediatric patients is rare, but the incidence of this disease is much higher in neonates. It is one of the important causes of neonatal seizures, and also can cause long term neurologic deficits. So far, there has been only one retrospective study of 10 neonatal CVST patients reported in Korea. However, there are no reported cases of prenatally diagnosed patient. We report a patient prenatally diagnosed with CVST which might cause severe neurologic complication, as we experienced significant decrease in size and number of thrombi without anticoagulation therapy and relatively benign clinical progress from birth to 1-year-old age.
Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Parturition ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial

Hypertension is common medical problem encountered during pregnancy. However medication administered for maternal hypertension may cause fetal or neonatal complications. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker are rarely used during pregnancy, and there are few reports about the effect of them, because administration of these drugs during pregnancy may cause oligohydramnios, renal tubular dysplasia, hypocalvaria, pulmonary hypoplasia, intrauterine growth retardation, neonatal anuria and persistent ductus arteriosus. We report a case of neonatal acute renal failure by angiotensin II receptor blocker during pregnancy. In this case, the neonate with meconium aspiration was admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). During the NICU stay, neonatal anuria occurred, and there was a medical history that his mother took Candesartan Cilexeril (Atacand(R)), one of angiotensin II receptor blockers during pregnancy. The neonate showed intrinsic acute renal failure, so fluid was restricted and diuretics were administered to the neonate, and after 10 days, anuria improved.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Angiotensin II ; Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ; Angiotensins ; Anuria ; Benzimidazoles ; Diuretics ; Ductus Arteriosus ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Maternal Exposure ; Meconium Aspiration Syndrome ; Mothers ; Oligohydramnios ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Pregnancy ; Receptors, Angiotensin ; Tetrazoles

PURPOSE: Functional loss of mismatch repair has been reported to be the reason for resistance to several chemotherapeutic drugs. The expressions of hMLH1 and hMSH2 were examined to assess whether they correlated with the biological behavior and the chemotherapeutic responsiveness in paflents with sporadic colon cancers. METHODS: Ninety-one patients with stage III primary colon cancer were included from the tumor registry of the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. All patients underwent a curative operation and postoperative chemotherapy with 5- fluorouracil and leucovorin for 6 cycles between 1993 and 1997. Immunohistochemical staining for hMLH1 and hMSH2 was performed using archival paraffin blocks. A positive expression was determined when unequivocal nuclear staining was identified in more than 10% of the cancer cells. The survival and the clinicopathologic variables regarding hMLH1 and hMSH2 expressions were assessed using the log-rank test and the Cox proportional regression method. RESULTS: Either hMLH1 or hMSH2 expression was lost in nine cases (9.9%). hMLH1 and hMSH2 expressions were significantly correlated with tumor invasion (P=0.012) and tumor differentiation (P=0.017). The disease-free survival did not differ with respect to hMLH1 and hMSH2 expressions. The number of metastatic lymph nodes and the preoperative serum CEA level were independent predictors of disease-free survival on a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The loss of hMLH1 or hMSH2 expresscon appears to be involved in the differentiation of and the invasion by colon cancer. However, nether hMLH1 nor hMSH2 expression was correlated withthe 5-fluorouracil responsiveness.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Disease-Free Survival ; DNA Mismatch Repair ; Drug Therapy ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Korea ; Leucovorin ; Lymph Nodes ; Microsatellite Instability ; Multivariate Analysis ; Paraffin ; Seoul

Congenital intracranial pial arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are rare cerebrovascular lesions. Their clinical manifestations tend to vary according to age, with pediatric populations being more likely to have symptoms like congestive cardiac failure and seizures because of arteriovenous shunting; hemorrhage is the major presentation in adult populations. Pediatric populations, especially newborn infants, seldom experience a hemorrhagic event. Here, we report two rare cases of neonates with congenital pial AVF presenting as intraventricular and subdural hemorrhage, respectively, which were treated with endovascular embolization.
Adult ; Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Brain* ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Heart Failure ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Intracranial Hemorrhages* ; Seizures

PURPOSE: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is common in preterm infants, and about 30% of preterm infants undergo surgical ligation of the PDA. Cardiopulmonary instability, defined as hypotension and respiratory failure after PDA ligation, is reported to occur at a frequency of 40-50%. This study investigated the factors affecting cardiopulmonary instability after PDA ligation in preterm infants. METHODS: The medical records of 45 very low birth weight (VLBW) infants who underwent PDA ligation in the neonatal intensive care unit from January 2009 to December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. PDA ligation was only performed when medical treatment for hemodynamically significant PDA failed or was contraindicated. The cases were categorized into the hemodynamic instability (n=20) and control (n=25) groups. RESULTS: Patients underwent ligation at the mean age of 14.3+/-13.3 days. There were no significant differences between groups in mortality or weaning from ventilation after PDA ligation. In the hemodynamic instability group, birth weight was significantly lower (P=0.046) and the pre-operation C-reactive protein (CRP) level was significantly higher (P=0.042) than in the control group. The use of high-frequency ventilation was higher in the hemodynamic instability group (P=0.033). There were no differences in use of inotropics, mean airway pressure at ligation, timing of ligation, or PDA size between groups. The birth weight and pre-operation CRP level at the time of ligation remained a significant risk factor for cardiopulmonary instability on multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: In VLBW infants, lower birth weight and a higher pre-operation CRP level are related to unstable conditions after PDA ligation.
Birth Weight ; C-Reactive Protein ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent* ; Hemodynamics ; High-Frequency Ventilation ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Ligation* ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Ventilation ; Weaning