Azathioprine is an immunosuppressant that has been widely used in the prevention of organ post-transplantation rejection, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and myasthenia gravis. The adverse effects reported with this drug have been classified as early events that include fever, hypotension, vasculitis and erythema nodosum-like eruptions or as late events that include bone marrow depression, nausea and vomiting. Although erythema nodosum-like eruptions could be useful for recognition of azathioprine hypersensitivity, this eruption has not yet been reported in Korean dermatological literature. We report, herein, a 68-year-old female with myasthenia gravis, who presented with tender, erythema nodosum-like eruptions on both upper and lower extremities 14 days after the first administration of azathioprine. Her symptoms improved 2 days after discontinuation of azathioprine and healed with no scarring change.
Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Azathioprine ; Bone Marrow ; Cicatrix ; Depression ; Erythema ; Erythema Nodosum ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Hypotension ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Lower Extremity ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Nausea ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Vasculitis ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Delay in symptom-to-door time (SDT) in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the most important factor in the prediction of short and long-term mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social and clinical factors affecting SDT in patients with STEMI. METHODS: We analyzed 784 patients (61.0 +/- 13.2 years, 603 male) diagnosed with STEMI from November 2005 to February 2012. The patients were divided into four groups according to SDT: Group I (n = 163, < or = 1 h), Group II (n = 183, 1-2 h), Group III (n = 142, 2-3 h) and Group IV (n = 296, > 3 h). RESULTS: Delay in SDT increased with age (Group I, 58.4 +/- 12.0; Group II, 59.4 +/- 13.3; Group III, 62.0 +/- 12.8; Group IV, 63.0 +/- 13.8 years, p = 0.001). In 119 patients, transportation was less frequently used as the delay in SDT (41.7% vs. 29.0% vs. 26.1% vs. 9.8%, p < 0.001). By multiple logistic regression analysis, family history [OR, 0.488; CI, 0.248-0.959; p = 0.037], previous ischemic heart disease [OR, 0.572; CI, 0.331-0.989; p = 0.045], no occupation [OR, 1.600; CI, 1.076-2.380; p = 0.020] and method of transportation [OR, 0.353; CI, 0.239-0.520; p < 0.001] were independent predictors of delay in SDT. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that general education about cardiovascular symptoms and a prompt emergency call could be important to reduce SDT in STEMI.
Education ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Occupations ; Transportation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Accurate risk stratification is important in the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study aimed to develop a new assessment tool for the prediction of 1-year mortality in patients with AMI, including biochemical markers. The author developed a new assessment tool (new risk score) that takes biochemical markers into account for 1-year mortality in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and identifies the risk factors related to 1-year mortality. METHODS: A total of 1,427 patients (65 +/- 11.8 years of age, 985 males) who were admitted to the Chonnam National University Hospital with NSTEMI from November 2005 to March 2012 were retrospectively analyzed for score derivation. Multivariable Cox-regression analysis was used to select correlates of 1-year mortality that were subsequently weighted and integrated into an integer scoring system. RESULTS: Seven variables selected from the initial multivariate model were weighted proportionally to their respective hazard ratio for 1-year mortality; age > or = 65 years (2 points), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) > 991 pg/mL (1 point), baseline left ventricular ejection fraction < 40% (1 point), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) > 3 mg/dL (1 point), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (1 point), heart rate > 82 beats/min (2 points), and final thrombolysis In myocardial infarction flow < 3 (2 points). CONCLUSIONS: In NSTEMI patients, our new score that incorporates seven risk factors accurately predicts the 1-year mortality. Additionally, the biochemical markers hs-CRP, NT pro-BNP, and GFR are reliable predictors of 1-year mortality.
Biomarkers ; C-Reactive Protein ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Mortality* ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stroke Volume

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the clinical outcomes were associated with socioeconomic status (SES) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The author analyzed 2,358 patients (64.9 +/- 12.3 yr old, 71.5% male) hospitalized with AMI between November 2005 and June 2010. SES was measured by the self-reported education (years of schooling), the residential address (social deprivation index), and the national health insurance status (medical aid beneficiaries). Sequential multivariable modeling assessed the relationship of SES factors with 3-yr major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and mortality after the adjustment for demographic and clinical factors. During the 3-yr follow-up, 630 (26.7%) MACEs and 322 (13.7%) all-cause deaths occurred in 2,358 patients. In multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression modeling, the only lower education of SES variables was associated with MACEs (hazard ratio [HR], 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.91) and mortality (HR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.16-3.20) in the patients with AMI who underwent PCI. The study results indicate that the lower education is a significant associated factor to increased poor clinical outcomes in patients with AMI who underwent PCI.
Acute Disease ; Age Factors ; Aged ; *Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Cohort Studies ; Demography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/economics/mortality/*therapy ; *Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Social Class ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Treatment Outcome