A 66-year-old male was admitted for increasing azotemia. He was diagnosed with chronic antibody- mediated rejection and had received a livingdonor renal transplant from his 32-year-old son prior to his admission. The peritubular capillaries of his kidney were diffusely positive on C4d immunostaining. It is known that there is an agreement between C4d staining and serological and histopathological data during rejection that is thought to have a humoral component. The role of alloantibodies in chronic renal allograft deterioration and the corresponding morphologic changes have been increasingly recognized during the recent years. However the treatment guidelines for chronic antibody-mediated rejection have not yet been established. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been shown to decrease the titers of anti-HLA antibodies in highly sensitized patients awaiting transplant. There are also numerous proposed mechanisms regarding how IVIG exerts its immunomodulatory action. As we have experienced chronic antibody-mediated rejection and how IVIG treatment improves renal function, we recognize that IVIG has the potential to be used for treating certain subgroups of chronic allograft nephropathy patients with positive C4d staining and anti-HLA antibodies.
Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies ; Azotemia ; Capillaries ; Complement C4b ; HLA Antigens ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Isoantibodies ; Kidney ; Male ; Peptide Fragments ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants

A 41-year-old female was admitted for a subcapsular hematoma of her graft kidney six weeks after she underwent a kidney transplant. No report on subcapsular hematomas of graft kidneys has been published in Korea. Subcapsular hematoma of graft kidneys is one of a few very rare causes of bleeding. The clinical manifestations of subcapsular hematoma are the abrupt onset of flank pain or upper abdominal pain, nausea, anorexia, dizziness, and decrease in hemoglobin. If it is diagnosed late, it can result in renal insufficiency, hypovolemic shock, and even death. During the authors' management of a subcapsular hematoma of a renal graft, pure red cell aplasia induced by the parvovirus B19 was found to coexist. Bone marrow suppression, immunosuppressants and other drugs, bleeding, iron deficiency, and renal graft function insufficiency can result in anemia after a kidney transplant. Even though pure red cell aplasia is a rare cause of anemia, it should not be forgotten that pure red cell aplasia induced by parvovirus B19 infection can cause anemia after a kidney transplant.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Anemia ; Anorexia ; Bone Marrow ; Dizziness ; Female ; Flank Pain ; Hematoma ; Hemoglobins ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Iron ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Korea ; Nausea ; Parvovirus ; Red-Cell Aplasia, Pure ; Renal Insufficiency ; Shock ; Transplants

PURPOSE: TATA box mutation/polymorphism in the promoter region of the bilirubin uridinediphosphoglucuronate glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT-1A1) gene is known to be an etiology of hyperbilirubinemia. This study examined if a TATA box mutation/polymorphism in UGT-1A1 gene promoter could be associated with the development of severe early neonatal jaundice in Korean infants. METHODS: Thirty-nine neonatal jaundice patients and 40 controlled infants were analyzed for UGT-1A1 promoter genotypes by using DNA sequencing. RESULTS: The homozygote for (TA)7TAA mutation was not found in this study. Comparison of the prevalence of UGT-1A1 promoter (TA)7TAA heterozygotes revealed no difference between the group with jaundice and the controlled group (15.4% vs. 10%). The peak bilirubin level was higher and the onset of jaundice was earlier in the jaundice group with (TA)7TAA heterozygote compared to the jaundice group without (TA)7TAA heterozygote (23.2+/-1.0 mg/dL vs. 19.7+/-2.4 mg/dL, P=0.004, 5.0+/-1.5 days vs. 8.3+/-4.1 days, P= 0.057). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that TATA box polymorphism in UGT-1A1 gene promoter did not increase the prevalence of severe early neonatal jaundice in Korean infants.
Bilirubin ; Genotype ; Glucuronosyltransferase ; Heterozygote ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Hyperbilirubinemia ; Hyperbilirubinemia, Neonatal* ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; Prevalence ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; TATA Box

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Syncope is defined as a sudden temporary loss of consciousness associated with a loss of postural tone with spontaneous recovery. It is a common clinical problem with complex and heterogeneous etiologies, but vasovagal syncope is the main cause of unexplained syncope. Bradycardia and hypotension by transient dysfunction of cardiac autonomic nervous system have been cited as the main pathophysiology of the vasovagal syncope. Therefore, we studied whether analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) by 24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring would reflect autonomic imbalance between cardiac sympathetic and vagal efferent activity in the patients of vasovagal syncope. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 45 patients (male=2, female=3, mean age=2.214 years) with syncope were enrolled, and divided into 2 subgroups according to the results of head-up tilt test: head-up tilt test positive (group S1) and negative (group S0). A sex-matched control group consisted of 9 healthy volunteers (male=, female=, mean age=16 years, Group C). The 24-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring was performed in all groups, and R-R intervals were analyzed by time- and frequency-domain methods. The time-domain measurements of HRV were mean NN(mean of all coupling intervals between normal beat), ASDNN(mean of the standard deviations of all normal R-R intervals for 5-minute segments of the entire recording), SDNN(standard deviation of all normal R-R intervals over 24 hours), SDANN(standard deviation of average R-R intervals in all 5 minutes segments of the entire recording), rMSSD(square root of the mean squared differences of successive R-R interval) and pNN50(percent of differences between adjacent normal R-R intervals more than 50ms during 24 hours), and frequency-domain measurements were low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) components and LF/HF ratio. RESULTS: The LF/HF ratio was significantly higher in syncope patients with positive results of head-up tilt test and syncope patients with negative results than in control (p<0.05). The LF, HF, mean NN, ASDNN, SDNN, SDANN, rMSSD, and pNN50 were not significantly different among these three groups. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the cardiac autonomic nervous system in patients with vasovagal syncope has sympathetic-activated balanced without changes of total power of both sympathetic and parasympathetic components.
Autonomic Nervous System ; Bradycardia ; Electrocardiography ; Healthy Volunteers ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Syncope ; Syncope, Vasovagal* ; Unconsciousness

BACKGROUND: We wanted to find an adjunctive marker(s) in renal allograft biopsies for predicting acute cellular rejection (ACR), and so the expression patterns of immune-related molecules were compared between ACR, borderline ACR and non-ACR cases. METHODS: The expression patterns of Fas ligand (FasL), HLA-DR, granzyme B, caspase-3, CD56, interferon stimulated growth factor-3 (ISGF-3), and CD53 were assessed via immunohistochemical study in 75 allograft biopsies from patients with ACR (n=19), borderline ACR (n=22), and non-ACR (n=34). RESULTS: Compared to those of the non-ACR group, the ACR group revealed an elevated number of FasL positive interstitial inflammatory cells, HLA-DR positive tubular inflammatory cells, cytoplasmic caspase-3 positive tubular epithelial cells, granzyme B positive interstitial mononuclear inflammatory cells and CD53 positive interstitial inflammatory cells. The expression patterns of the borderline ACR group were similar to those of non-ACR group, except for the intensity of FasL in the tubular epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: Immunohistochemical investigations of the adjunctive markers FasL, HLA-DR, granzyme B, caspase-3 and CD56 can be useful for making the diagnosis of ACR.
Allografts* ; Biopsy ; Caspase 3 ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Epithelial Cells ; Fas Ligand Protein ; Graft Rejection ; Granzymes ; HLA-DR Antigens ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunohistochemistry ; Interferons ; Kidney Transplantation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Infection of pancreatic necrosis is one of the leading cause of death in patients with severe necrotizing pancreatits. Because of high mortality rate up to 50%, immediate surgical debridement including pancreatectomy is recommended. However, early surgical treatment still showed high mortality rate and better treatment strategy is required. This study was conducted to evaluate the outcomes of early intensive non-surgical treatments in patients with infected necrotizing pancreatitis. METHODS: This study was based on retrospective analysis of 71 patients with acute severe necrotizing pancreatitis (APACHE II score>or=8, or Ranson's score>or=3, and pancreatic necrosis on CT scan), who were admitted to medical center during past 16 years. Infection of pancreatic necrosis was confirmed by fine needle aspiration, and early intensive medical treatments comprised of prophylactic antibiotics coverage, fluid resuscitation, organ preserving supportive measures, and percutaneous catheter drainage were carried out. RESULTS: Among the enrolled patients, infections were suspected in 46 patients, but fine needle aspirations were done only in 32 patients. In 21 patients, infections of necrotic tissue were confirmed by bacteriology, while other 11 patients showed no evidence of bacterial growth. Of 21 patients with infected necrosis, initial surgical interventions were performed in 2 patients, while initial medical treatments were performed in 19 patients. The success rate of medical treatment group in infected necrotizing pancreatitis was 79% (15/19). The mortality rate of medical treatment group and surgical treatment group was 5% (1/19) and 50% (1/2). CONCLUSIONS: Early intensive medical treatment seems to be a good therapeutic strategy, even if the infection has developed in pancreatic necrosis. Further prospective randomized studies are required to confirm this finding.
Bacterial Infections/diagnosis/*prevention & control ; Humans ; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/complications/diagnosis/*therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

Although renal artery aneurysms (RAAs) rarely occur, rupture of RAAs may be life-threateningand result in nephrectomy. To date, there has been only one case report providing histologic evidence of a true aneurysm in a transplanted renal artery. We report here a 51-year-old male with a de novo trueaneurysm in a donor renal artery that was detected 12 years postoperatively. This RAA was corrected by ex vivo repair and allograft autotransplantation.
Aneurysm ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephrectomy ; Renal Artery ; Rupture ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants

Lactic acidosis commonly occurs in association with shock. We encountered lactic acidosis in a patient with normal blood pressure. The patient was a 17 year-old man with acute lymphocytic leukemia. He was admitted for bone marrow transplantation. During hospitalization, he relied on total parenteral nutrition due to his poor oral intake. On the 37th day after admission, he developed lactic acidosis without an episode of hypotension or any causative medication. Because vitamins were not included in the parenteral nutrition, we prescribed thiamine replacement, and this corrected the acidosis within a few hours. Thiamine (in its active derivative) is a coenzyme for pyruvate dehydrogenase; thus, its deficiency causes accumulation of pyruvate and lactate. This case suggests that thiamine deficiency should be included in a differential diagnosis of lactic acidosis in patients who are on total parenteral nutrition without vitamin supplementation.
Acidosis ; Acidosis, Lactic* ; Adolescent ; Blood Pressure ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Lactic Acid ; Oxidoreductases ; Parenteral Nutrition ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Pyruvic Acid ; Shock ; Thiamine Deficiency* ; Thiamine* ; Vitamins

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a pleomorphic sarcoma in adults, which occurs principally as a mass on an extremity or in the abdominal cavity or retroperitoneum. It typically involved deep fascia or skeletal muscle and only rarely was confined to the subcutis without fascial involvement. Malignant fibrous histiocytomas developed in the intraabdominal organs are very rare and only few cases have been reported until now. Here, we report a case of malignant fibrous histiocytomar developed in the stomach of a 46-year old male who showed clinical and histologic features of malignant fibrous histiocytoma without any identified etiologic factors. The patient was treated successfully with surgery, and has had no recurrence since, during the ensuring one and a half yars.
Abdominal Cavity ; Adult ; Extremities ; Fascia ; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Recurrence ; Sarcoma ; Stomach*

PURPOSE: We aim to compare the erythropoietic effects of epoetin-alpha (EA, 4000 IU SC thrice a week) with those of darbepoetin-alpha (DA, 60ug IV weekly, conversion rate to EA=200:1). METHODS: Forty one stable hemodialysis patients were enrolled in this randomized crossover study. After a washout period of erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESA), the patients with hemoglobin (Hb) level of < or =11.0 g/dL were randomly assigned to DA or EA and we measured Hb and reticulocyte levels. When Hb reached >11.0 g/dL, we stopped ESA. When Hb level decreased to < or =11.0 g/dL again, we switched to alternative ESA and repeated the rest of the steps. RESULTS: Thirty six patients (M:F=20:16, age 62+/-11 years, Kt/V 1.65, nPCR 1.13 g/kg/day) completed the study. No significant differences were observed in baseline parameters between DA and EA during the period of the clinical trial. The rate of Hb level increase (EA 0.29 g/dL/week, DA 0.30 g/dL/week, p=0.76) and decrease (EA 0.45 g/dL/week, DA 0.38 g/dL/week, p=0.14) were not different between two periods. After ESA stopped, the duration of decreased Hb level of < or =11.0 g/dL was not significantly different (4 weeks in EA vs. 3.9 weeks in DA, p=0.86). Erythropoietin resistance index was 10.59 in the EA period. It was not significantly different from 10.97 in DA period (p=0.49). Nine patients (25%) showed a >30% change in EA efficiency relative to DA efficiency. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in erythropoietic parameters for both EA and DA.
Anemia ; Cross-Over Studies ; Erythropoietin ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Recombinant Proteins ; Renal Dialysis ; Reticulocytes ; Darbepoetin alfa ; Epoetin Alfa