BACKGROUND: Primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy is a major cause of congenital malformation. We detected primary CMV infection in pregnant Korean women by using an algorithm that comprises CMV IgG, IgM, and IgG avidity tests. METHODS: During a 2-month period, 744 pregnant women who were at 10-19 weeks of gestation were consecutively enrolled in this study. Human anti-CMV IgG and IgM levels in their sera were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassays. Serum samples from the women who were positive for CMV IgG and IgM were assayed by the ARCHITECT CMV IgG avidity test in order to distinguish primary from non-primary CMV infection. Gross examination of the neonates of the women who were positive for CMV IgM was conducted. RESULTS: The seroprevalence of CMV IgG and IgM was estimated to be 98.1% and 1.7%, respectively. The samples from all the women who were positive for CMV IgM or with grey zone results contained high avidity CMV IgG. Seven women with positive CMV IgG and IgM results who completed follow-up up to delivery showed no gross evidence of in utero CMV transmission. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal primary CMV infection was not detected in any of the pregnant women included in this study cohort. CMV IgG avidity test enabled the identification of women who were at a low risk of transmitting CMV infection and provided informative for subsequent pregnancy outcomes. Compared to previous studies, the seroprevalence of CMV IgG antibody across pregnant Korean women remained unchanged.
Adult ; Antibodies, Viral/*blood ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chemiluminescent Measurements ; Cytomegalovirus/*immunology ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/*blood ; Immunoglobulin M/blood ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Republic of Korea ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) is used as a marker for early diagnosis, monitoring of therapy, and detection of recurrence of the prostatic tumor or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In Korea, over 15 instruments have been used for measuring PSA. In this study, chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay Architect total PSA (Abbott Lab., Abbott Park, IL, USA) was evaluated for analytical performance and diagnostic usefulness as a marker for prostate cancer. METHODS: The within-run and between-run precision, lower detection limits, correlation with AxSYM total PSA (Abbott Lab., Abbott Park, IL, USA) and clinical investigation were evaluated. Three level control serums (0.5, 4.0, and 23.0 ng/mL) were used for a precision test. The linearity was evaluated using a patient serum sample with a PSA concentration of 100 ng/mL. Functional and analytical sensitivities were tested using a patient serum sample with a PSA concentration of less than 0.1 ng/ mL and saline. A correlation study with AxSYM total PSA was done with 42 serum samples. Clinical evaluation was done with 230 patients of whom 17 had prostate cancer. RESULTS: The total PSA showed a good precision result with less than 5 % of CV and showed linearity to 100 ng/mL. The functional sensitivity was 0.025 ng/mL and analytical sensitivity 0.001 ng/mL. The correlation evaluation showed Y (Architect)=1.0575X(AxSYM)+0.1895, r=0.9960. A Cut-off value of 8.35 ng/mL showed 88.2% sensitivity, 80.3% specificity as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Architect total PSA showed an acceptable analytical performance with its high sensitivity and could be a useful marker for early detection and recurrence of prostate cancer.
Early Diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoassay* ; Korea ; Limit of Detection ; Luminescence* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Prostatic Neoplasms* ; Recurrence ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Statistics as Topic

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the demographic, clinical, and criminal characteristics and legal judgments of criminal cases, in which psychiatric evaluation was requested, and to identify factors affecting criminal responsibility judgments. Methods: The medical records of 100 subjects that committed crimes and the judgment records of 51 subjects admitted to Yongin Mental Hospital from February 2005 to February 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Psychiatric disorder groups were compared with respect to demographic, clinical, criminal characteristics, and legal judgments. Factors affecting criminal responsibility judgments were identified by comparing legal judgment groups. Results: Psychiatric history, criminal motivation, and criminal history differed significantly between psychiatric disorder groups. Differences between the opinions of the appraiser and courts regarding criminal responsibility were significantly dependent on psychiatric disorder type, and there was a consistent tendency according to the psychiatric disorders, but there was a difference of opinion between the two groups. Conclusion The findings of the current study suggest psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms such as psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairments that provoke crime can influence criminal responsibility judgments.

Objectives: . Bone-anchored hearing device (BAHD) is contraindicated in patients younger than 5 years because their calvarial bones are not thick enough to be implanted site. However, it has not been studied in the Korean population. This study was not only to establish a safe guideline for depth of implant device in all age groups who undergo BAHD implant surgery, but also to investigate whether implantation of currently used BAHDs could be done safely in Korean children, especially those younger than 5. Methods: . Two hundred eighty patients, who underwent high-resolution temporal bone computed tomography (TBCT) images between August 2010 and October 2018 were randomly enrolled in all ages. We retrospectively reviewed TBCT imaging to measure skull bone thickness at the recommended BAHD implant site. Results: . The average skull bone thickness was 2.87 mm in patients younger than 5 years and 6.72 mm in patients older than 5 years, respectively, which conforms to the current guideline. The results indicate nearly 50% of calvarial bone thicknesses were less than 3 mm in patients under 5 years old, while 92.78% of the patients older than 5 years of age showed bone thickness greater than 4 mm. Of note, calvarial bone thickness was thicker than 3 mm in all patients who are older than 6 years. Conclusion . This study confirms that the currently approved BAHD implantation guideline is suitable in the Korean population. For safety, we suggest taking TBCTs prior to surgery, especially in pediatric patients. Besides, noninvasive applications are recommended for patients younger than 5.

Mammary-type myofibroblastoma (MFB) is a rare, benign spindle cell neoplasm occurring along the milkline, with extension from the mid-axilla to the medial groin. It is histologically and immunohistochemically identical to MFB of the breast and is part of a spectrum of lesions that includes spindle cell lipoma and cellular angiofibroma. Recently, we experienced two cases of mammary-type MFB involving male patients aged 30 and 58 years, respectively. The tumors were located in the right scrotal sac and in the right axilla. Wide excisions were performed. Microscopically, the masses were composed of haphazardly arranged, variably sized fascicles of bland spindle cells and were admixed with mature fat tissue. The spindle cells in both cases showed immunopositivity for desmin and CD34 and negativity for smooth muscle actin. Loss of retinoblastoma (RB)/13q14 loci is a characteristic genetic alteration of mammary-type MFB, and we identified loss of RB protein expression by immunohistochemical staining. We emphasize the importance of awareness of this rare neoplasm when a spindle cell neoplasm is accompanied by desmin immunopositivity. The second patient was alive without recurrence for 20 months, and the first patient had not been followed.
Actins ; Angiofibroma ; Axilla ; Breast ; Desmin ; Groin ; Humans ; Lipoma ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; Neoplasms, Muscle Tissue* ; Recurrence ; Retinoblastoma ; Retinoblastoma Protein

Reelin, an extracellular glycoprotein has an important role in the proper migration and positioning of neurons during brain development. Lack of reelin causes not only disorganized lamination of the cerebral and cerebellar cortex but also malpositioning of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) neurons. However, the accurate role of reelin in the migration and positioning of mDA neurons is not fully elucidated. In this study, reelin-deficient reeler mice exhibited a significant loss of mDA neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and a severe alteration of cell distribution in the retrorubal field (RRF). This abnormality was also found in Dab1-deficinet, yotari mice. Stereological analysis revealed that total number of mDA neurons was not changed compared to wild type, suggesting that the loss of mDA neurons in reeler may not be due to the neurogenesis of mDA neurons. We also found that formation of PSA-NCAM-positive tangential nerve fibers rather than radial glial fibers was greatly reduced in the early developmental stage (E14.5) of reeler. These findings provide direct evidence that the alteration in distribution pattern of mDA neurons in the reeler mesencephalon mainly results from the defect of the lateral migration using tangential fibers as a scaffold.
Animals ; Brain ; Cerebellar Cortex ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Glycoproteins ; Mesencephalon ; Mice ; Mice, Neurologic Mutants ; Nerve Fibers ; Neurogenesis ; Neurons ; Substantia Nigra

BACKGROUND: As bladder cancer is a superficial tumor with frequent recurrences, early detection and confirmation of recurrence are important. We evaluated the usefulness of NMP22 BladderChek (NMP22BC) for the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer. METHODS: From July to December 2004, we enrolled in the study 670 patients who visited the urology clinic in Ewha Womans University, Dongdaemun Hospital with hematuria or dysuria and were tested with NMP22BC. We also performed the NMP22BC and BTA stat tests simultaneously in 21 patients and interference test in 10 patients. RESULTS: NMP22BC tests were negative in 97% of the patients who had been cured of bladder cancer and were positive in 95% of the patients with recurred bladder cancer. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and efficiency were 95.0%, 91.5%, 25.7%, 99.8%, and 91.6%, respectively, with 8.5% false positive and 5% false negative rates. Fifty-five patients showed false positive in the NMP22BC test, the main cause of which was the presence of WBCs in urine. There was a good agreement between the NMP22BC and BTA stat tests (kappa agreement value, 0.5; P=0.008). According to the interference test, two patients with more than 3+ in leukocyte esterase results showed false positive in the NMP22BC test. CONCLUSIONS: NMP22BC test was simple to perform, rapid to produce the results, and useful in diagnosing a bladder cancer recurrence; the test shows a high efficiency with a high sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and low false negative rate.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; Nuclear Matrix-Associated Proteins/*urine ; Nuclear Proteins/*urine ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/*diagnosis

Background: Long thoracic nerve (LTN) neuropathy occasionally occurs in young people who engage in various sports. It may have a traumatic or non-traumatic etiology. The landmark manifestation of LTN neuropathy is scapular winging; however, it can also occur without scapular winging and specific magnetic resonance imaging findings.Case: An 18-year-old male complained of right-sided lateral chest pain for 7 months. He was treated with medication, trigger point injection, and physical therapy but showed no improvement. Electromyelogram findings suggested LTN neuropathy in the right lateral chest. We performed a serratus anterior (SA) plane block with ultrasound (US)-guided hydrodissection and achieved pain relief. Conclusions We report the successful treatment of LTN neuropathy with an SA plane block and US-guided hydrodissection.

Myxoma is a locally invasive neoplasm usually involving the jaw bones, typically occurs between the second and fourth decades. This tumor may comprise 3%-6% of odontogenic tumors. Myxomas of the soft tissue of the face are very rare. We present an unusual case of myxofibroma occurring in a 13-year-old man involving the soft tissue of the face. It congenitally occurred and was a 1 cm sized, ovoid in shape, swelling located on the glabella without any symptoms. An excisional biopsy was performed. A well encapsulated ovoid mass was attached to the corrugator supercilli muscle below the frontalis muscle. It was measured 1.1 x 1 x 0.8 cm and completely excised. Histological examination revealed myxofibroma showing stellate and spinde-shaped cells throughout myxoid ground substance. The unusual features of this case are the site of the tumor, which was localized to the non-tooth bearing area of the mandible and its congenital occurrence history.

Typhoid fever, a serious systemic infection caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, breaks out in developing countries. However, existing vaccines only induce relatively low protective effects with humoral responses and do not stimulate secondary immune response, especially to young people. The objective of this study is to evaluate the immunogenicity of the vaccine containing virulence capsular polysaccharide (Vi) conjugated with the optimal ratios of non-toxic variant of diphtheria toxin (CRM(197)) in mice. Six-week-old BALB/c female mice were injected intraperitoneally three times at intervals of 14 days and sera were collected on days 0, 14, 28, 42 and 56 post-injection. The efficacy of the vaccine was evaluated by comparing between negative control group injected with PBS and vaccine groups injected with Vi or Vi-CRM(197) conjugate of different ratio. Vi and CRM(197)-specific antibody responses were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The result showed that Vi-CRM(197)-1 group revealed the highest and significant Vi-specific IgG immune responses among the other groups and Vi group (p < 0.01). In conclusion, Vi-CRM(197)-1 conjugate vaccine induced the highest humoral immune response in mice and may be used as an effective vaccine to replace the existing typhoid vaccine for infants under 2 years old.
Animals ; Antibody Formation ; Child, Preschool ; Developing Countries ; Diphtheria Toxin ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Immunity, Humoral ; Immunoglobulin G ; Infant ; Mice* ; Salmonella enterica* ; Salmonella typhi* ; Salmonella* ; Typhoid Fever ; Typhoid-Paratyphoid Vaccines ; Vaccines ; Virulence