OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the psychosocial characteristics of functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) in patients with psychiatric disorders. METHODS: This study was conducted with 144 outpatients visiting the psychiatric clinic at a university hospital. FGIDs were screened according to the Rome III questionnaire-Korean version. Demographic factors were investigated, and psychosocial factors were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-15, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Korean, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Chi-squared test and student's t-test were used as statistical analysis methods. RESULTS: There were differences in education level between two groups divided according to FGID status (χ²=10.139, p=0.017). Comparing the psychiatric disorder by FGID group, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) group showed significant differences (χ²=11.408, p=0.022). According to FGID status, IBS group showed significant differences for anxiety (t=−3.106, p=0.002), depressive symptom (t=−2.105, p=0.037), somatic symptom (t=−3.565, p < 0.001), trait anger (t=−3.683, p < 0.001), anger-in (t=−2.463, p=0.015), and anger-out (t=− 2.355, p=0.020). Functional dyspepsia group showed significant differences for anxiety (t=−4.893, p < 0.001), depressive symptom (t=−3.459, p < 0.001), somatic symptom (t=−7.906, p < 0.001), trait-anger (t=−4.148, p < 0.001), state-anger (t=−2.181, p=0.031), anger-in (t=−2.684, p=0.008), and anger-out (t=−3.005, p=0.003). Nonerosive reflux disease group showed significant differences for anxiety (t=−4.286, p < 0.001), depressive symptom (t=−3.402, p < 0.001), somatic symptom (t=−7.162, p < 0.001), trait anger (t=−2.994, p=0.003), state anger (t=−2.259, p=0.025), anger-in (t=−2.772, p=0.006), and anger-out (t=−2.958, p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with psychiatric disorders had a high prevalence of FGID, and various psychosocial factors contributed to such differences. Therefore, the psychiatric approach can offer better understandings and treatments to patients with FGID.
Anger ; Anxiety ; Demography ; Depression ; Dyspepsia ; Education ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Outpatients ; Prevalence ; Psychology

This study was conducted to investigate the association between the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment test (CAT) and depression in COPD patients. The Korean versions of the CAT and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to assess COPD symptoms and depressive disorder, respectively. In total, 803 patients with COPD were enrolled from 32 hospitals and the prevalence of depression was 23.8%. The CAT score correlated well with the PHQ-9 score (r=0.631; P<0.001) and was significantly associated with the presence of depression (beta+/-standard error, 0.452+/-0.020; P<0.001). There was a tendency toward increasing severity of depression in patients with higher CAT scores. By assessment groups based on the 2011 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, the prevalence of depression was affected more by current symptoms than by airway limitation. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the CAT was 0.849 for predicting depression, and CAT scores > or =21 had the highest accuracy rate (80.6%). Among the eight CAT items, energy score showed the best correlation and highest power of discrimination. CAT scores are significantly associated with the presence of depression and have good performance for predicting depression in COPD patients.
Aged ; Depression/*epidemiology ; Depressive Disorder/*epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*diagnosis/*epidemiology/psychology ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Severity of Illness Index

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Carnitine and vitamin complex (Godex(R)) is widely used in patients with chronic liver disease who show elevated liver enzyme in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to identify the efficacy and safety of carnitine from entecavir combination therapy in Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevated Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) patients. METHODS: 130 treatment-naive patients with CHB were enrolled from 13 sites. The patients were randomly selected to the entecavir and the complex of entecavir and carnitine. The primary endpoint of the study is ALT normalization level after 12 months. RESULTS: Among the 130 patients, 119 patients completed the study treatment. The ALT normalization at 3 months was 58.9% for the monotherapy and 95.2% for the combination therapy (P<0.0001). ALT normalization rate at 12 months was 85.7% for the monotherapy and 100% for the combination group (P=0.0019). The rate of less than HBV DNA 300 copies/mL at 12 months was not statistically significant (P=0.5318) 75.9% for the monotherapy, 70.7% for the combination and it was. Quantification of HBsAg level was not different from the monotherapy to combination at 12 months. Changes of ELISPOT value to evaluate the INF-gamma secretion by HBsAg showed the increasing trend of combination therapy compare to mono-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: ALT normalization rate was higher in carnitine complex combination group than entecavir group in CHB. Combination group was faster than entecavir mono-treatment group on ALT normalization rate. HBV DNA normalization rate and the serum HBV-DNA level were not changed by carnitine complex treatment.
Adult ; Alanine Transaminase/blood ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; Carnitine/*therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay ; Female ; Guanine/*analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B e Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma/metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitochondria/physiology ; Treatment Outcome ; Vitamin B Complex/*therapeutic use

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. PURPOSE: To evaluate the advantages and effects of posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) using allograft and posterior instrumentation in the lumbar pyogenic discitis, which are resistant to antibiotics. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: To present preliminary results of PLIF using a compressive bone graft with allograft and pedicle screw fixation in the lumbar pyogenic discitis. METHODS: Fifteen patients who had lumbar pyogenic discitis were treated by posterior approach from May 2004 to July 2008. The mean follow-up duration was 27.2 +/- 18.68 months. The standing radiographs of the lumbar spine and clinical results were compared and analyzed in order to assess the bony union, the changes in the distance between the two vertebral bodies and the changes in the lordotic angle formed between the fused bodies immediately after surgery and at the final follow-up. RESULTS: Fifteen solid unions at an average of 15.2 +/- 3.5 weeks after operation. The mean preoperative lordotic angle of the affected segments was 14.3 +/- 15.1degrees, compared to 20.3 +/- 12.3degrees after surgery and 19.8 +/- 15.2degrees at last follow-up. For the functional result according to the Kirkaldy-Willis criteria, the outcome was excellent in 9, good in 5, fair in 1, and there were no poor cases. The average visual analogue scale score was decreased from 7.4 before surgery to 3.4 at 2 weeks postoperative. CONCLUSIONS: The main advantage in the procedure of PLIF using compressive bone graft with allograft and post instrumentation is early ambulation. We believe that this is another good procedure for patients with poor general condition because a further autograft bone harvest is not required.
Discitis ; Early Ambulation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Imidazoles ; Nitro Compounds ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by multisystem involvement. Skin is the second most frequently affected organ in SLE, and various forms of cutaneous LE (CLE), such as acute, subacute, and chronic CLE, are observed in higher than 75% of patients with SLE. Discoid LE (DLE) is the most common form of chronic CLE, and a small subset of patients with SLE also has concomitant DLE. A 32-year-old woman diagnosed with SLE 6 years ago visited our clinic with a 2-month history of multiple hyperpigmented macules and patches over the entire body. She also complained of arthralgia, auditory, and visual hallucinations. Her clinical presentation, laboratory findings, and histopathologic features were consistent with generalized DLE and aggravation of her SLE. Herein, we report an unusual case of generalized DLE occurring in a patient with SLE.
Adult ; Arthralgia ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Female ; Hallucinations ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Discoid ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Skin

Steatocystoma multiplex is a rare autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by asymptomatic multiple, skin-colored to yellowish nodules on the trunk, proximal extremities, and axillae. Although surgical excision is the most effective method, treatment is difficult when lesions occur in multiple numbers. Therefore, various treatments such as CO2 laser therapy, needle aspiration, and oral isotretinoin have been attempted, but results are variable. A 37-year-old man presented with multiple skin-colored subcutaneous nodules on the abdomen and both axillae. A histopathological examination was consistent with steatocystoma multiplex. The lesions were removed by dermal shaving with a suction-assisted cartilage shaver. It was an effective therapeutic method for multiple lesions with no significant adverse events. Herein, we report a case of steatocystoma multiplex treated with a suction-assisted cartilage shaver.
Abdomen ; Adult ; Axilla ; Cartilage ; Extremities ; Humans ; Isotretinoin ; Lasers, Gas ; Needles ; Steatocystoma Multiplex

PURPOSE: A chemotherapy response assay test is performed to evaluate the degree of tumor growth inhibition by a chemotherapeutic agent. Several studies have been done on its usefulness; however, to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies concerning the relationship between chemotherapy response assay test results and breast cancer patients' prognoses have been conducted. Thus, we performed this study to analyze this relationship. METHODS: Among breast cancer patients who underwent curative surgery and neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy between August 2004 and December 2009, 102 were enrolled in this study. Chemotherapeutic regimens for patients were doxorubicin plus taxane or doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide followed by taxane. We divided these patients into two groups (sensitive group [n=19] and resistant group [n=83]) and analyzed the relationship between chemosensitivity results and patient prognosis. RESULTS: The sensitive group was associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) (p=0.003) and overall survival (OS) (p<0.001). No significant differences were observed in tumor histology (p=0.548), tumor size (p=0.479), number of metastatic lymph nodes (p=0.326), histologic grade (p=0.077), or nuclear grade (p=0.216) between the two groups. However, in respect to molecular subtype, the HER2-positive type and triple negative breast cancer were more frequently observed in the sensitive group (p=0.001). In a univariate and multivariate analysis for DFS, doxorubicin sensitivity was significantly associated with a poor prognosis (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Better chemosensitivity results are associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer patients who have undergone anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy, however, examination of additional cases and the use of a longer study period are needed.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Bridged Compounds ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cyclophosphamide ; Disease-Free Survival ; Doxorubicin ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Taxoids

Hidradenoma papilliferum is a rare benign neoplasm that usually occurs in the female anogenital area. We present a 43-year-old female with a non-anogenital (ectopic) hidradenoma papilliferum on her nose. The patient had had a skin-colored subcutaneous nodule on her nose for 7 years. The histopathological findings showed variously shaped cystic spaces in the tumor. And the lumina were surrounded by a single or double layer of cell which showed decapitation secretion. In the English dermatological literature, only one case of ectopic hidradenoma papilliferum arising in nasal skin has been reported. Hence we suggest hidradenoma papilliferum occurring on the nasal skin is a peculiar and interesting event.
Acrospiroma ; Adult ; Decapitation ; Female ; Humans ; Nose ; Skin

Large surgical defects are often difficult to repair and extensive adjacent skin transfer may be necessary. The purse-string suture can be used to reduce the size of large defects, but a second intervention may be necessary and requires several weeks for complete healing. Therefore, reconstruction of large defects is a challenge to the dermatologist. We report a case of basal cell carcinoma on the back in which the skin defect was reconstructed by a quadripolar advancement flap. Because the large O-shaped defect resulted in an X-shaped closure, we named this flap the O-X flap.
Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Skin ; Sutures

Lichen planus pigmentosus (LPP) is chronic pigmentary disorder that shows diffuse or reticulated hyperpigmented, dark brown macules on the sun-exposed areas such as the face, neck and other flexural folds. Clinically, it is different from classical lichen planus because LPP has a longer clinical course and it manifests with dark brown macules. In case of LPP, involvement of the scalp, nail or mucosal area is rare. The histopathological findings of the lesions show an atrophic epidermis, the presence of melanophages and a vacuolar alteration of the basal cell layer with a sparse lymphohistiocytic lichenoid infiltration. Although there have been a few reports of LPP, there have only 3 cases of linear LPP along the lines of Blaschko in the Korean dermatologic literature. Our patient had lesions on the neck and chin with a linear pattern. In this report, we describe a very rare case of LPP with a linear distribution related to Blaschko's lines on the neck and chin areas.
Chin ; Epidermis ; Humans ; Lichen Planus ; Lichens ; Nails ; Neck ; Scalp