Human cases of echinostomiasis have been sporadically diagnosed by extracting worms in the endoscopy in Korea and Japan. Most of these were caused by Echinostoma hortense infection. However, in the present study, we detected 2 live worms of Echinostoma cinetorchis in the ascending colon of a Korean man (68-year old) admitted to the Gyeongsang National University Hospital with complaint of intermittent right lower quadrant abdominal pain for 5 days. Under colonoscopy, 1 worm was found attached on the edematous and hyperemic mucosal surface of the proximal ascending colon and the other was detected on the mid-ascending colon. Both worms were removed from the mucosal surface with a grasping forceps, and morphologically identified as E. cinetorchis by the characteristic head crown with total 37 collar spines including 5 end-group ones on both sides, disappearance of testes, and eggs of 108x60 microm with abopercular wrinkles. The infection source of this case seems to be the raw frogs eaten 2 months ago. This is the first case of endoscopy-diagnosed E. cinetorchis infection in Korea.
Aged ; Animals ; Colon/*parasitology ; Colonoscopy ; Echinostoma/anatomy & histology/classification/*isolation & purification ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis/parasitology ; Humans ; Korea ; Male

BACKGROUND: Nitrous oxide is a safe analgesics which has analgesic and sedative effects without loss of consciousness. The advantage of Nitrous oxide is that it has a rapid onset time and that we can modulate duration of its action. The purpose of this experiment is to obtain the safe and effective concentration of Nitrous oxide in Emergency Department as use of analgesics and sedative drugs. METHODS: Twenty volunteers were investigated according to double blind method. Nitrous oxide was administrated to volunteer subjects at different concentrations ; 33%, 50%, 67% each. Then we evaluated the Pain score, Blood pressure, Heart rate, Respiratory rate, Oxygen saturation and its side effects. RESULTS: Pain Score were 8.4+/-2.1 at 33%, 6.1+/-1.5 at 50%, and 3.65+/-2.2 at 67% of Nitrous oxide. Pain Score is decreased significantly following administration of Nitrous oxide at concentration of 50%, 67%(P<0.05). There was no difference between preadministration group and postadministration group. While no remarkable change in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation. Respiratory rate showed significant increase when 679o of Nitrous oxide was administrated. There was no side effect in administration of 33% of Nitrous oxide. When 50% of Nitrous oxide was administrated, there were dizziness 5(25%), paresthesia 2(10%), nausea 1(5%), palpitation 1(5%) and hyperethesia 1(5%). At 679o of Nitrous oxide, there were nausea 7(35%), dizziness 6(30%), paresthesia 5(25%), headache 5(25%), diplopia 2(10%), dysphoria 2(10%), salivation 1(5%), dyspnea 1(5%), nystagmus 1(5%), tinnitus 1(5%) and euphoria1 (5%). Incidence of side effect increased as the concentration of Nitrous oxide was increased. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that safe and effective concentration of Nitrous oxide is 50% as analgesics and sedative drugs in the emergency department.
Analgesics ; Blood Pressure ; Diplopia ; Dizziness ; Double-Blind Method ; Dyspnea ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Headache ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Nitrous Oxide* ; Oxygen ; Paresthesia ; Respiratory Rate ; Salivation ; Tinnitus ; Unconsciousness ; Volunteers

The cystic teratoma is the most common germ cell tumors in reproductive age women. The malignant change of cystic teratoma is rare, about 1~2%, and mostly change to squ-amous cell carcinoma. We experienced 4 cases of squamous cell carcinoma arising in cystic teratoma and re- port our cases with a brief review of the literature.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal ; Ovary* ; Teratoma*

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) during pregnancy is a rare condition. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature. CAH patients has lower pregnancy rate compared to normal women. A 27-year-old nulliparous woman, a diagnosed case of 21-hydroxylase deficient simple virilising form of classic CAH visited. She got pregnant spontaneously without any trial of assisted reproductive technology. At the age of 12, she underwent clitoral resection and vaginoplasty. She took dexamethasone or prednisolone after operation. She delivered healthy singleton female baby by cesarean section. Four years later, she delivered healthy singleton female baby by repeat cesarean section. Two female babies have shown normal external genitalia. Here, we report a case of successful pregnancy and delivery in a patient with CAH.
Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital* ; Adult ; Cesarean Section ; Cesarean Section, Repeat ; Dexamethasone ; Female ; Fertility ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Prednisolone ; Pregnancy Rate ; Pregnancy* ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase

DiGeorge syndrome is the developmental anomalies of the third and fourth pharngeal pouches. Recently, damages or abnormal development of the neural crest is suggested as a possible pathogenetic factor, because neural crest cells play a crucial role in development of pharyngeal pouch derivatives, e.g. thymus and parathyroid glands, as well as the aortic arches and conotruncal part of the heat. Most cases have abnormal findings of chromosome 22 and are sporadic, but familial cases have been described. Typical features of DiGeorge syndrome are congenital heart disease, aplasia or hypoplasia of the thymus and parathyroid glands and facial dysmorphism. The main problems and cause of death are severe congestive heart failure due to cardiac anomlies, hypocalcemic complications or immunocompromised conditions. As these results, most cases were expired at infantal period or early childhood. Recently, we have a case of Digeorge syndrome which was associated with complex cardiovascular anomalies(tetralogy of Fallot, atrial septal defect, right aortic arch, left hemitruncus), severe hypocalcemia, aplasia of thymus and facial dysmorphism.
Aorta, Thoracic ; Cause of Death ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 ; DiGeorge Syndrome* ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Failure ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia ; Infant ; Neural Crest ; Parathyroid Glands ; Thymus Gland

We encountered an indigenous case of intestinal capillariasis with protein-losing enteropathy in the Republic of Korea. A 37-year-old man, residing in Sacheon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, admitted to the Gyeongsang National University Hospital (GNUH) due to long-lasting diarrhea, abdominal pain, anasarca, and weight loss. He recalled that he frequently ate raw fish, especially the common blackish goby (Acanthogobius flavimanus) and has never been abroad. Under the suspicion of protein-losing enteropathy, he received various kinds of medical examinations, and was diagnosed as intestinal capillariasis based on characteristic sectional findings of nematode worms in the biopsied small intestine. Adults, juvenile worms, and eggs were also detected in the diarrheic stools collected before and after medication. The clinical symptoms became much better after treatment with albendazole 400 mg daily for 3 days, and all findings were in normal range in laboratory examinations performed after 1 month. The present study is the 6th Korean case of intestinal capillariasis and the 3rd indigenous one in the Republic of Korea.
Adult ; Albendazole/administration & dosage ; Animals ; Anthelmintics/administration & dosage ; Biopsy ; Capillaria/cytology/drug effects/*isolation & purification ; Diarrhea ; Enoplida Infections/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Helminthiasis/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology ; Intestines/parasitology/pathology ; Male ; Protein-Losing Enteropathies/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology ; Republic of Korea ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by an incompletely reversible airflow limitation. Pulmonary function test (PFT) has been considered the gold standard test for diagnosis and severity evaluation in COPD. However, PFT by spirometry does not provide information about exercise performance in COPD patients. Therefore, the present study was performed to compare pulmonary function determined by spirometry with exercise function determined by cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) for grading of COPD. METHODS: A total of 105 patients with airway obstruction were examined. The patients' mean age was 65 years, and the mean smoking history was 27 pack-years. The patients underwent spirometry and CPET. The results were analyzed by categorical statistical comparison, based on the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and American Thoracic Society guidelines. RESULTS: The two methods agreed on the classification of only 44 patients (42%). Of the remaining patients, 21 (20%) were found to be less severe according to CPET than according to PFT, whereas 40 (38%) were more severe. Those who were more severe according to CPET had significantly low maximal minute ventilation, low anaerobic threshold, low oxygen pulse, and high breathing reserve. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed the large disagreement between the results of resting and exercise pulmonary function tests, and therefore suggests the need for a novel approach or guideline. Additional cardiological evaluation may be needed in patients classified as more severe according to CPET, who are assumed to have a greater degree of impairment of cardiovascular function.
Airway Obstruction ; Anaerobic Threshold ; Bacterial Toxins ; Exercise Test ; Humans ; Oxygen ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiration ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spirometry ; Ventilation

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) are unusual mesenchymal neoplasms composed of histologically and immunohistochemically distinct perivascular epithelioid cells (PECs). Although PEComas have the potential to behave in a malignant fashion, malignant PEComas arising from the retroperitoneum are extremely rare. A 68-year-old woman presented with a painful palpable mass in her left upper abdomen. Computed tomography of the abdomen showed a 9 cm sized heterogeneous mass in left para-aortic space and multiple hypervascular nodules in the liver. 18F-fludeoxyglucose-PET/CT showed multifocal hypermetabolic lesions in retroperitoneum, liver, and skeletal bones. Percutaneous needle biopsies were done on the retroperitoneal and hepatic mass. Both specimens were positive for human melanoma black-45 (HMB-45) on histological and immunohistochemical staining which was compatible with PEComas. Herein, we report a rare case of retroperitoneal PEComa with multiple metastases involving liver and bone at initial diagnosis that exhibited aggressive behavior and resulted in a devastating prognosis.
Aged ; Bone Neoplasms/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Acute A viral hepatitis is a mild, self-limiting disease of liver and acute renal failure (ARF) is a rare complication. We report two cases of chronic renal failure (CRF) in nonfulminant acute A viral hepatitis and ARF. A 40-year-old man was admitted with ARF and acute A viral hepatitis, and underwent temporary hemodialysis therapy. The renal biopsy showed acute tubular necrosis with tubulointerstitial nephritis. At 13 months after discharge serum creatinine was 1.33 mg/dL and protein-creatinine ratio of spot urine was 0.47 (mg/mg Cr). The second case was a 28-year-old man and was managed conservatively. At discharge the serum creatinine was 3.14 mg/dL and the urinalysis showed hematuria, and protein-creatinine ratio 0.56 (mg/mg Cr). Thirty-nine months after discharge, the creatinine was 1.23 mg/dL, the urinalysis showed persistent nephritis findings and the protein-creatinine ratio 1.28. Kidney biopsy revealed the membranous glomerulopathy with mild tubulointerstitial nephritis, and all of findings suggested the systemic disease-associated secondary glomerulopathy. To our knowledge our case is the first one of chronic glomerulapathy that is confirmed by kidney biopsy.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Creatinine ; Glomerulonephritis ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; Hematuria ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Liver ; Necrosis ; Nephritis ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; Renal Dialysis ; Urinalysis

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a relatively safe therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, complications are not unknown. A hepatocolic fistula is a rare complication after RFA. We report a case of a hepatocolic fistula following a liver abscess after RFA for HCC in a 58-year-old male. The patient was diagnosed with HCC and liver cirrhosis from hepatitis B infection 3 years prior to admission. The HCC was in segment 6 of the liver and was treated with transarterial chemoembolization and RFA. One month after the second RFA, he was diagnosed with a liver abscess, for which he was treated with antibiotics for 2 months, but continued to have intermittent fever and chills. We made a diagnosis of hepatocolic fistula using colonoscopy, fluoroscopy, and liver dynamic computed tomography. The patient underwent a surgical procedure after antibiotic therapy. Although a hepatocolic fistula is a rare complication following RFA, clinicians should be aware of its existence.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Chills ; Colonoscopy ; Fever ; Fistula ; Fluoroscopy ; Hepatitis B ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Abscess ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Male ; Middle Aged