Purpose: Early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a challenging issue after hepatic resection (HR) because of the associated poor prognosis. Models for tumor recurrence after liver transplantation (MoRAL) have been designed to predict tumor recurrence in HCC patients in the liver transplantation setting. This study aimed to validate the predictability of MoRAL for HCC recurrence or patient death and to evaluate the predictors of early HCC recurrence in hepatectomy patients with treatment-naïve solitary HCC. Methods: This study included 443 patients with HCC recurrence after HR from January 2005 to December 2011. Patients were stratified into early recurrence (n = 312) and late recurrence (n = 131) groups according to the development of recurrence either within or more than 2 years after hepatectomy. Results: The median levels of alpha-fetoprotein and protein induced by vitamin K absence-II and the median MoRAL score were significantly higher in the early recurrence group than in the late recurrence group. Regarding pathologic characteristics, the median tumor size, prevalence of tumor grade 3 or 4, microvascular invasion, presence of tumor necrosis, and macrovascular invasion in the early recurrence group were greater than those in the late recurrence group.Multivariate analysis showed that tumor grade 3 or 4, microvascular invasion, and high preoperative MoRAL score were predisposing factors for early HCC recurrence after HR. Conclusion The MoRAL score can be used to predict early recurrence in patients with HCC who undergo curative HR.Using this model, other treatments could be considered for patients with early recurrence predicted after HR.

Transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap is one of the best flap in breast reconstruction. Even though many trials have been attempted to increase the rate of the flap survival, the necrosis of distal flap area due to vascular compromise is troublesome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prostaglandin E1(PGE1), surgical delay and the combined procedure on TRAM flap survival rate in vascular compromised rat by diabetes. Left inferior epigastric vessel pedicled TRAM flaps(5.0 x 2.5 cm) were elevated in 40 Sprague-Dawley rats. In control group(N=10), there was no procedure before the flap elevation. In surgical delay group(N=10), the left superior epigastric vessels and the contralateral rectus perforators were ligated 2 weeks before the flap elevation. In PGE1 injection group(N=10), PGE1(0.5microgram) was given intraperitoneally for 2 weeks before the flap elevation daily. In combined procedure group(N=10), the same surgical delay and injection of PGE1 were done simultaneously. On the seventh postoperative day, we evaluated and compared the flap survival rates, the vessel distribution status through Microfil casts, the vessel area rates by histomorphometric analysis in each group. The results were as follows 1) The mean percentages of surviving flap areas of surgical delay group(73.41+/- 10.43%), PGE1 injection group(68.95 +/- 7.13%) and combined procedure group(79.39 +/- 13.44%) were greater than that of control group(44.85 +/- 18.08%) with a statistical significance(p< 0.05). 2) The vessel distributions of each procedure group were more abundant than those of control group in Microfil casts. 3) The mean percentages of vessel areas of surgical delay group(2.74 +/- 0.23%), PGE1 injection group(2.58 +/- 0.49%) and combined procedure group(3.15+/- 0.25) were greater than that of control group(1.24 +/- 0.40%) with a statistical significance(p< 0.05). The results indicated that PGE1 injection or surgical delay procedure could be used to increase the TRAM flap survival area in diabetic condition and the effect of PGE1 was comparable to that of surgical delay procedure. But, the synergistic effect of surgical delay and PGE1 injection was not observed statistically.
Alprostadil* ; Animals ; Female ; Mammaplasty ; Myocutaneous Flap* ; Necrosis ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rectus Abdominis* ; Silicone Elastomers ; Survival Rate

Malignant eccrine spiradenoma is an exceedingly rare neoplasm. To date about 30 cases have been reported in the literature and there have been 2 reports in Korea. Herein we report a case of malignant eccrine spiradenoma in a 56-year-old female, who had 25-year history of solitary mass on the abdomen. Histologically, the mass consisted of benign eccrine spiradenomas adjacent to carcinomatous area showing nuclear pleomorphism and marked mitotic activity.
Abdomen ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged

Ten eels (Anguilla japonica) from a fish farm in Korea were examined and diagnosed with a Heterosporis infection. The gross lesions on the trunk were uneven and the concave parts were pasty. Histopathologically, lyses of the trunk muscles, degenerative muscle fibers and the scattered spores were observed. The sporophorocyst (SPC) contained several spores with a variety of shapes. Some SPC were disrupted and the spores in the SPC were scattered in the muscle tissues. Macrophages existed near the scattered spores. Electron microscopy revealed special structures such as sporophorocyst containing various developmental parasitic stages such as meronts, sporonts, sporophorous vesicles and spores.
*Anguilla ; Animals ; Aquaculture ; Fish Diseases/*parasitology/pathology ; Histocytochemistry/veterinary ; Korea ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning Transmission/veterinary ; Microsporidia/*growth & development/ultrastructure ; Microsporidiosis/parasitology/pathology/*veterinary ; Muscular Diseases/parasitology/pathology/*veterinary

Many congenital dysplasias of the osseous labyrinth have been identified, and the differential diagnosis of these dysplasias is essential for delivering proper patient management. We retrospectively reviewed the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings of 20 children who had congenital sensorineural hearing loss. The children included cases of enlarged vestibular aqueduct and endolymphatic sac (n=8), aplasia of the semicircular canal (n=4), lateral semicircular canal-vestibule dysplasia (n=3), common cavity malformations with a large vestibule (n=1), cochlear hypoplasia (n=1), Mondini's dysplasia with large vestibular aqueduct (n=1), Mondini's dysplasia with a large vestibule (n=1), and small internal auditory canal (n=1). Six cases were unilateral. Nine cases had combined deformities, and nine cases had cochlear implants. CT was performed with a 1.0-mm thickness in the direct coronal and axial sections with using bone algorithms. MR was performed with a temporal 3D T2 FSE 10-mm scan and with routine brain images. We describe here the imaging features for the anomalies of the inner ear in patients suffering from congenital sensorineural hearing loss.
Brain ; Child ; Cochlear Implants ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ear, Inner* ; Endolymphatic Sac ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Retrospective Studies ; Semicircular Canals ; Vestibular Aqueduct

The virus neutralization (VN) test was used to determine potency of the infectious bronchitis (IB) vaccine. The results of VN, hemagglutination inhibition (HI), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were compared with those of the IBV M41. The r² values between VN and HI titers and the ELISA antibody titer were 0.8782 and 0.0336, respectively, indicating a high correlation between VN and HI, but not VN and ELISA. The Cohen's kappa coefficient between the VN titer of 2 log₁₀ and HI titer of 5 log₂ was 0.909. Our results showed that VN could be replaced with HI for testing the potency of IBV M41.
Bronchitis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests* ; Hemagglutination* ; Infectious bronchitis virus* ; Neutralization Tests* ; Vaccine Potency*

The cDNA nucleotide sequence of genome segment B encoding the VP1 protein was determined for the aquatic birnavirus GC1 isolated from the rockfish Sebastes schlegeli in Korea. The VP1 protein of GC1 contains a 2,538 bp open reading frame, which encodes a protein comprising 846 amino acid residues that has a predicted MW of 94 kDa. The sequence contains 6 potential Asn-X-Ser/Thr motifs. Eight potential Ser phosphorylation sites and 1 potential Tyr phophorylation site were also identified. GC1 contains the Leu-Lys-Asn (LKN) motif instead of the typical Gly-Asp- Asp (GDD) motif found in other aquatic birnaviruses. We also identified the GLPYIGKT motif, the putative GTPbinding site at amino acid position 248. In total, the VP1 regions of 22 birnavirus strains were compared for analyzing the genetic relationship among the family Birnaviridae. Based on the deduced amino acid sequences, GC1 was observed to be more closely related to the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) from the USA, Japan, and Korea than the IPNV from Europe. Further, aquatic birnaviruses containing GC1 and IPNV have genogroups that are distinct from those in the genus Avibirnaviruses and Entomo-birnaviruses. The birnavirusstrains were clustered into 5 genogroups based on their amino acid sequences. The marine aquatic birnaviruses (MABVs) containing GC1 were included in the MABV genogroup; the IPNV strains isolated from Korea, Japan, and the USA were included in genogroup 1 and the IPNV strains isolated primarily from Europe were included in genogroup 2. Avibirnaviruses and entomobirnaviruses were included in genogroup 3 and 4, respectively.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Birnaviridae/classification/*genetics ; Capsid Proteins/chemistry/*genetics ; Cell Line ; Fishes/*virology ; Korea ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) of the H5N1 subtype have spread since 2003 in poultry and wild birds in Asia, Europe and Africa. In Korea, the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks took place in 2003/2004, 2006/2007 and 2008. As the 2006/2007 isolates differ phylogenetically from the 2003/2004 isolates, we assessed the clinical responses of chickens, ducks and quails to intranasal inoculation of the 2006/2007 index case virus, A/chicken/Korea/IS/06. All the chickens and quails died on 3 days and 3-6 days post-inoculation (DPI), respectively, whilst the ducks only showed signs of mild depression. The uninoculated chickens and quails placed soon after with the inoculated flock died on 5.3 and 7.5 DPI, respectively. Both oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs were taken for all three species during various time intervals after inoculation. It was found that oropharyngeal swabs showed higher viral titers than in cloacal swabs applicable to all three avian species. The chickens and quails shed the virus until they died (up to 3 to 6 days after inoculation, respectively) whilst the ducks shed the virus on 2-4 DPI. The postmortem tissues collected from the chickens and quails on day 3 and days 4-5 and from clinically normal ducks that were euthanized on day 4 contained the virus. However, the ducks had significantly lower viral titers than the chickens or quails. Thus, the three avian species varied significantly in their clinical signs, mortality, tissue virus titers, and duration of virus shedding. Our observations suggest that duck and quail farms should be monitored particularly closely for the presence of HPAIV so that further virus transmission to other avian or mammalian hosts can be prevented.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Brain/virology ; *Chickens ; *Coturnix ; *Ducks ; Heart/virology ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype/*pathogenicity ; Influenza in Birds/epidemiology/transmission/*virology ; Kidney/virology ; Korea/epidemiology ; Lung/virology ; Virus Shedding

BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentary disorder of the skin and hair. The etiology is unknown, however an autoimmune hypothesis is favored. OBJECTIVE: We performed this study to develop a better understanding of the clinical features of vitiligo patients. METHOD: We evaluated clinical manifestations of 1203 vitiligo patients(556 males and 647 females). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The mean age of onset and that of the first visits made by patients were 22.9+/-18 and 27.9+/-19 years, respectively. 2. The face(37.4%) was the most common site of initial involvement. In decreasing order of frequency, the common sites of involvement were the face and neck(65.9%), thorax and abdomen(42.9%), upper extremities(42.3%). 44.5% of the cases had the vulgaris type, 26.1% the focal type, and 21.1% the segmental type. During the three months before a visit, 44% of patients experienced progression of disease. Within one year, about 75% of patients reported that the disease had progressed. 3. Precipitating or aggravating factors such as trauma(13.1%), psychological stress(9.2%), sun light (2.8%) and pregnancy(2.5%), were found in 30.9% of patients. Thyroid disease was the most common associated disease.
Age of Onset ; Hair ; Humans ; Male ; Skin ; Solar System ; Thorax ; Thyroid Diseases ; Vitiligo*

PURPOSE: The proportion of liver recipients with HCV is gradually increasing in Korea. Limited data are available regarding the efficacy of direct antiviral agents (DAAs) in liver transplant recipients in Asia. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of DAAs in HCV-infected liver recipients in Korea. METHODS: Forty HCV-infected patients from 2 centers received DAAs in the pretransplant or posttransplant period between May 2015 and November 2016. RESULTS: DAA was administered in the pretransplant period in 6 patients and the posttransplant period in 34 patients. Dalastavir and asunaprevir (n = 2) and sofosbuvir/ledipasvir and ribvarin (n = 4) were used in the pretransplant period. HCV RNA was not detected before liver transplantation in all patients. Sustained virological response (SVR) at 12 and 24 weeks after liver transplantation was 100%. In the posttransplant period, 33 of 34 patients received sofosfovir-based therapy. SVR at 12 weeks in those patients was 94%. Recurrent virologic relapse developed in 2 patients because of HCC recurrence or treatment failure. Adverse events included anemia (n = 2) and abdominal discomfort (n = 1). CONCLUSION: DAAs are an effective and well-tolerated treatment for HCV-infected recipients in Korea.
Anemia ; Antiviral Agents* ; Asia ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver* ; Recurrence ; RNA ; Transplant Recipients* ; Treatment Failure ; Treatment Outcome