BACKGROUND: The major transmission route of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is transfusion of blood or blood products. But transfusion history is found only in half of HCV infected patients. In half of the patients the transmission routes of HCV were not determined. We estimate the prevalence of anti HCV in family members of the patients with HCV. METHODS: We tested anti-HCV by using the second generation enzyme immunoassay and measured HCV-RNA by PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Serum samples from 135 adults who are family members of patients with anti-HCV positive liver disease were tested for serum aminotrasferase activities, hepatitis B viral markers by radioimmunoassay, and anti-HCV by EIA. RESULTS: anti-HCV positive rate in family members of the patients with HCV was 1.48% (2/135). This positive rate was not different from the studies of anti-HCV in general population in Korea (1.44%). CONCLUSION: Interfamilial transmission of HCV may probably occur, but it is uncommon being compare with other diseases such as HBV or HIV.
Adult ; Biomarkers ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B ; HIV ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Korea ; Liver Diseases ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Radioimmunoassay

Juvenile dermatomyositis is a common inflammatory muscle disease of childhood, characterized by weakness in proximal muscles and specific skin rash. In case of juvenile dermatomyositis without characteristic clinical features, non-invasive imaging tools such as (99m)Tc-HDP three-phase bone scan are very helpful in diagnostic workup of myopathies. We report a case of 13-year old female with juvenile dermatomyositis, in which (99m)Tc-HDP three-phase bone scan was useful in diagnosis and assessing therapy response.
Dermatomyositis ; Exanthema ; Female ; Humans ; Muscles ; Muscular Diseases ; Myositis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Transradial intervention (TRI) is becoming the preferred method over transfemoral intervention (TFI) because TRI is associated with lower incidence of major bleeding and vascular complications. However, there has been limited published data regarding the clinical outcomes of TRI versus TFI in Korean patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: A total of 689 consecutive STEMI patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DESs) from January to December of 2009 at nine university hospitals were enrolled in this study. Mid-term angiographic and 12-month cumulative clinical outcomes of the TRI group (n = 220, 31.9%) were compared to those of the TFI group (n = 469, 28.1%). RESULTS: After propensity score matching, in-hospital complications and the 12-month major clinical outcomes during follow-up in the two groups were similar to each other. However, the incidence rates of repeat revascularization (6.4% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.003), target vessel revascularization (6.4% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.003), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE; 11.6% vs. 4.6%, p = 0.018) in the TFI group were higher than those in the TRI group during the 12-month of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, TRI in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI with DESs was associated with lower incidence of access site hematoma, 12-month repeat revascularization, and MACE compared to TFI. Therefore, TRI might play an important role in reducing bleeding complications while improving major clinical outcomes in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI with DESs.
Drug-Eluting Stents ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Incidence ; Methods ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Propensity Score