There are limited data evaluating the relationship between influenza treatment and hospitalization duration. Our purpose assessed the association between different treatments and hospital stay among Korean pediatric influenza patients. Total 770 children < or = 15 yr-of-age hospitalized with community-acquired laboratory-confirmed influenza at three large urban tertiary care hospitals were identified through a retrospective medical chart review. Demographic, clinical, and cost data were extracted and a multivariable linear regression model was used to assess the associations between influenza treatment types and hospital stay. Overall, there were 81% of the patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza who received antibiotic monotherapy whereas only 4% of the patients received oseltamivir monotherapy. The mean treatment-related charges for hospitalizations treated with antibiotics, alone or with oseltamivir, were significantly higher than those treated with oseltamivir-only (P < 0.001). Influenza patients treated with antibiotics-only and antibiotics/oseltamivir combination therapy showed 44.9% and 28.2%, respectively, longer duration of hospitalization compared to those treated with oseltamivir-only. Patients treated with antibiotics, alone or combined with oseltamivir, were associated with longer hospitalization and significantly higher medical charges, compared to patients treated with oseltamivir alone. In Korea, there is a need for more judicious use of antibiotics, appropriate use of influenza rapid testing.
Adolescent ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*therapeutic use ; Antigens, Viral/analysis/immunology ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cohort Studies ; Demography ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Influenza A virus/metabolism ; Influenza B virus/metabolism ; Influenza, Human/*drug therapy ; Male ; Oseltamivir/*therapeutic use ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of specific behavioral problems on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children and adolescents with epilepsy. METHODS: Children and adolescents with epilepsy (n=92; age range=6–17 years) and their mothers completed questionnaires about behavioral problems, HRQOL, socio-demographics, and epilepsy-related variables. To determine significant predictor variables of the HRQOL, the stepwise regression analyses and partial correlations were performed to adjust for other behavioral problems and covariates. RESULTS: The analyses revealed that an increase in social behavioral problems and delinquent behavior was associated with a decrease in the HRQOL. Lower levels of maternal education and the number of antiepileptic drugs were also associated with a decline in the HRQOL; the HRQOL and social behavioral problems remained significantly correlated after adjusting for maternal education level, number of antiepileptic drugs, and non-social behavioral problems. CONCLUSION: Parents and practitioners should provide intervention if behavioral problems, particularly social behavioral problems, are observed in children or adolescents with epilepsy.
Adolescent* ; Anticonvulsants ; Child* ; Education ; Epilepsy* ; Humans ; Mothers ; Parents ; Problem Behavior ; Quality of Life* ; Social Behavior*

Allopurinol is frequently used for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout. Sometimes, a life-threatening reaction develops, as is illustrated by the following case report. We describe a 60-year-old male patient who was treated with allopurinol because of asymptomatic hyperuricemia, and he was presented with fever, skin rash, eosinophilia, worsening renal function and vanishing bile duct syndrome. In this report, we discussed vanishing bile duct syndrome as a serious side effect of allopurinol, and we briefly reviewed the etiology, prevention, and treatment modalities for vanishing bile duct syndrome.
Allopurinol/*adverse effects ; Bile Duct Diseases/*etiology/pathology ; Drug Hypersensitivity/*complications ; English Abstract ; Gout Suppressants/*adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

A case of primary choriocarcinoma in the stomach of a 60-year-old male is herein presented. The tumor was diagnosed as a choriocarcinoma by histologic examination and the immunohistochemical method of endoscopic biopsy of a specimen. Serum alpha- fetoprotein and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin were found to be significantly elevated. Multiple distant metastasis of the liver, intraabdominal lymph nodes and malignant ascites were also discovered. The high alpha-fetoprotein level in the serum might have been due to the coexistence of embryonal cell carcinoma or hepatoid adenocarcinoma or both in the stomach.
Adenocarcinoma ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; Ascites ; Biopsy* ; Choriocarcinoma* ; Chorionic Gonadotropin ; Female ; Fetal Proteins ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pregnancy ; Stomach

This study evaluated clinical and radiographic results after open reduction and lag-screw fixation of mandibular condyle fractures. PATIENTS AND Methods : 26 patients had been treated by lag-screw fixation for madibular condyle fracures via submandibular approach and follow up for over 6 months. The lag-screw used in this study was designed by Eckelt. Radiographically, resorption of the condyle head found in 4 cases (15%) and minimal displacement of the condyle head was found in 3 cases (12%). Post-operative infection were not found in all cases. Clinically, All patiens had a stable occlusion and normal mouth opening (over 40mm). TMD problems with crepitus or some discomfort encountered in 4 patients but tolerable to the patients. CONCLUSION: Lag screw fixation can be a good option especially high level condylar fractures, however this procedure must be used in cautiously because of slipping of the fragments and possible to resorption of the fragments.
Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Humans ; Mandible* ; Mandibular Condyle ; Mouth

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the correlations between expressions of angiogenic cytokines VEGF-A, C, D of primary colorectal cancer and liver metastasis. METHODS: We examined paraffin-embedded primary colorectal cancer tissue from 45 patients who had liver resection due to colorectal liver metastasis (metastasis group) and 37 patients who had surgical resection due to colorectal cancer only (control group). In the control group, local recurrence and distant metastasis had not occurred. Immunohistochemical staining for VEGF-A, C and D was performed. We analysed the correlations between expression of VEGF-A, C and D in primary colorectal cancer tissues and clinicopathologic parameters. RESULTS: VEGF-A expressions of primary colorectal carcinoma were not different between the two groups. VEGF-C was more frequently expressed in the metastasis group (P=0.008) but VEGF-D was more expressed in the control group (P=0.003). Patients with VEGF-C negative and VEGF-D positive expression were predominant in the control group (P=0.020). Tumor location, T stage, lymph node metastasis and tumor differentiation were not related with the expressions of VEGF-A, C, D but only preoperative CEA was positively correlated with VEGF-A and C expression. CONCLUSION: Expressions of VEGF-C in primary tumor were more frequent in metastatic colorectal cancer and expressions of VEGF-D were more frequent in nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. More large-scale prospective studies for VEGF-C and D expression in colorectal cancer are necessary.
Colorectal Neoplasms ; Cytokines ; Humans ; Liver ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D

We report a case of adult-onset tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome with Fanconi syndrome. A 31-year-woman presented with fever, anorexia, nausea, general weakness and weight loss for two months. Her initial laboratory findings showed anemia, high serum creatinine, hypouricemia, hypophosphatemia, hypokalemia, glucosuria, and proteinuria. She was diagnosed as having acute tubulointerstitial nephritis by renal biopsy. The etiology of tubulointerstitial nephritis was unclear. She was treated with systemic corticosteroid. Six months later and while the patient was still on systemic corticosteroid (Deflazacort 36 mg), bilateral uveitis developed. Renal function was recovered by systemic corticosteroid and mycophenolic acid. But ocular symptoms relapsed twice despite systemic corticosteroid treatment. The ocular symptoms improved after topical ophthalmic steroid drops and injection. Tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the unexplained tubulointerstitial nephritis. And the need of the steroid treatment also should be considered in the case of adult-onset.
Adult ; Anemia ; Anorexia ; Biopsy ; Creatinine ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fanconi Syndrome ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypokalemia ; Hypophosphatemia ; Korea ; Mycophenolic Acid ; Nausea ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; Proteinuria ; Steroids ; Uveitis ; Weight Loss

A total of 9,281 larval chigger mites were collected from small mammals captured at Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (Province) (2,754 mites from 30 small mammals), Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do (3,358 mites from 48 mammals), and Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (3,169 for 62 mammals) from April-November 2009 in the Republic of Korea (= Korea) and were identified to species. Leptotrombidium pallidum was the predominant species in Hwaseong (95.8%) and Asan (61.2%), while Leptotrombidium scutellare was the predominant species collected from Jangseong (80.1%). Overall, larval chigger mite indices decreased from April (27.3) to June (4.9), then increased in September (95.2) and to a high level in November (169.3). These data suggest that L. pallidum and L. scutellare are the primary vectors of scrub typhus throughout their range in Korea. While other species of larval chigger mites were also collected with some implications in the transmission of Orientia tsutsugamushi, they only accounted for 11.2% of all larval chigger mites collected from small mammals.
Animals ; Arachnid Vectors ; Larva/*microbiology ; Orientia tsutsugamushi/*isolation & purification ; Republic of Korea ; Rodentia ; Scrub Typhus/*microbiology ; Trombiculidae/*classification/*microbiology

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) ensures adequate gas exchange during bronchoscopy in spontaneously breathing, hypoxemic patients, thus avoiding endotracheal intubation. However, in some patients, endotracheal intubation is eventually required after bronchoscopy. This study investigated the incidence of intubation and predictors of a need for emergency intubation prior to NPPV bronchoscopy initiation. METHODS: On a retrospective basis, we reviewed the medical records of 36 patients (median age, 55 years; interquartile range [IQR], 43~65 years) with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure who required NPPV during bronchoscopy between January 2005 and October 2007. RESULTS: All patients were hypoxemic (median PaO2/FiO2 ratio 155; IQR 90~190), but tolerated bronchoscopy with NPPV support. SOFA score and SAPS II score immediately before NPPV initiation were 4 (3~7) and 36 (30~42), respectively. Seventeen (47%) patients needed endotracheal intubation at a median time of 22 (2~50) hours after bronchoscopy. Patients who needed intubation after bronchoscopy had a higher in-hospital mortality (11 [65%] vs. 4 [21%], p=0.017). Upon multiple logistic regression analysis, the need for intubation after bronchoscopy was independently associated with a PaO2/FiO2 ratio (OR, 0.961; 95% CI, 0.924~0.999; p=0.047) immediately before NPPV initiation for bronchoscopy. CONCLUSION: The severity of the hypoxemia immediately prior to NPPV initiation for bronchoscopy was associated with the need for intubation after bronchoscopy in patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure.
Anoxia ; Bronchoscopy ; Emergencies ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Positive-Pressure Respiration ; Respiration ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies

This study investigated the presence of nucleic acids of various Rickettsial agents in ticks collected in Jeju Island, Korea from June 2007 to August 2008, through the nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing analysis of partial citrate synthase (gltA), Rickettsial outer membrane protein B (ompB), and 17-kDa genes. Examination of the 1,584 ticks showed that the subspecies distribution of Haemaphysalis longicornis was 99.81% (n=1,581) and H. flava was 0.19% (n=3). A total 224 out of 250 pools from one to 15 ticks were found to be positive in ompB-PCR assay (minimal infection rate 141 ticks/1,000 tested). From the positive samples, 26 were analyzed by gltA- and 17-kDa-PCR assays. The nucleotide sequences of the ompB- and gltA-PCR products showed a high degree of similarity with those of the Rickettsia japonica (98.7~99.2% and 98.7~99.3%, n=25) and R. monacensis (99% and 99.7%, n=1). However, analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the 17-kDa-PCR amplicons showed that the sequences of the 25 PCR amplicons were more close to R. marmionii (99.4~100%) than R. japonica (98.6~99.1%). These findings suggest that various rickettsial diseases could be transmitted via the bite of tick vectors in Jeju Island, Korea.
Base Sequence ; Bites and Stings ; Citrate (si)-Synthase ; Fever ; Korea ; Membrane Proteins ; Nucleic Acids ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Fc ; Rickettsia ; Ticks