PURPOSE: Bone bruises of patients with acute traumatic knee injuries, that are not found on simple radiograph, can be found on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency and locations of bone bruises on MRI in acute traumatic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 25 and 19 MRls, in which acute traumatic ACL and PCL injury was pre sent and there was no abnormality in simple radiograph, were reviewed. MRI was taken within 51 days of injury. A bone bruise was determined as a geographic and nonlinear area of signal loss on T1 images and increased signal intensity on T2 images involving the subcortical bone. RESULTS: In 16 patients with bone bruises and acute ACL injury, bone bruises were found in the lateral compartment of the knee in 15 (93.8%) patients. The most common area was the lateral tibial plateau (11 cases, 68.8%) and the second was lateral femoral condyle (9 cases, 56.3%). In 5 patients with bone bruises and acute PCL injury, bone bruises were found in the lateral compartment of the knee in all 5 (100%) patients. The most common area was lateral tibial plateau (4 cases, 80%) and the second was lateral femoral condyle (2 cases, 40%). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute traumatic ACL or PCL injuries the bone bruises are often found on the lateral compartment of the knee, especially lateral tibial plateau and lateral femoral condyle on MRI.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Contusions* ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Injuries ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Posterior Cruciate Ligament

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of alendronate for prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis this study was taken. METHODS: This prospective randomized clinical trial examined the effects of oral alendronate and HRT(conjugated estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate), in combination and seperately, on BMD, biochemical markers of bone turnover in 79 women with low bone mass. Treatment included alendronate(10mg daily) plus HRT(group I, n=38), or HRT(group II, n=41) for 6 months. Bone density measurements were performed at months 0 and 6 at the lumbar spine. Biochemical markers of bone turnover were also measured every three months. RESULTS: Serum Osteocalcin decreased by 19.2% in group I and by 10.0% in group II at 3 months(p<0.05), and by 30.9% in group I and by 19.8% in group II at 6 months(p<0.05). Urinary deoxypyridinoline showed decrease of 19.75%(I) vs. 10.4%(II) at 3 months, 30.1%(I) vs. 20.7%(II) at 6 months, the difference was significant. Percent change of BMD measurements from baseline at 6 months in group I was 6.2% and in group II 0.6% on the lumbar spine(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The treatment with alendronate is useful to postmenopausal women with osteoporosis by decreasing bone turnover markers, and by increasing the BMD.
Alendronate* ; Biomarkers ; Bone Density ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Medroxyprogesterone ; Osteocalcin ; Osteoporosis* ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; Prospective Studies ; Spine

PURPOSE: Virulent gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus is controlled by regulators such as the accessory gene regulator (agr). Strains can be divided into four major agr groups (agr I-IV) on the basis of agrD and agrC polymorphisms. The purpose of this study was to define the proportion of agr I, II, and III polymorphisms and to compare the clinical characteristics between group I and non-group I polymorphisms of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in a Korean tertiary care teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 158 clinical isolates were evaluated by RFLPs (restriction fragment length polymorphisms). RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 50.2 +/- 21.9 years old. There were 74 (49.3%), 66 (44.0%), 10 (6.7%), 7 (4.4%), and 1 (0.6%) strains in agr group I, II, III, I + II, and I + III polymorphisms, respectively. Only ear infections were a statistically significant clinical parameter according to univariate (p=0.001) and multivariate analysis (OR, 4.721 (1.273-17.508), p=0.020). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that agr group I is the most prevalent in Korea, and ear infections are correlated with the group I polymorphism, which is a different clinical trend from western countries. It can also be inferred that community-acquired MRSA correlates with agr group I.

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the change of pancreatic size after gastric resection in patients with gastric malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the pancreatic sizes on pre- and post-operative abdominal CT scans in 50 patients whose stomach had been resected due to malignancy. The mean interval was 20.3 months (range, 5-81 months). The types of the operation were total gastrectomy with esophagojejunostomy and jejunojejunostomy (n=7), and subtotal gastrectomy with gastrojejunostomy (Billroth II) (n=43). Pancreatic thickness was measured perpendicular to the pancreatic long axis at head, body and tail. RESULT: There was a significant reduction of pancreatic size on postoperative CT scan. The reduction rate was 5.9% in the head (p<0.001), 7.1% in the body (p<0.001) and 14.4% in the tail (p<0.001). CONCLUSION:Significant reduction of pancreatic size was observed after gastric resection due to gastric rnalignancy, especially in tail.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Bypass ; Head ; Humans ; Stomach ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

We developed a population pharmacokinetic model of vancomycin by integrating the effects of cystatin C and other demographic factors in a large population of Korean patients with normal serum creatinine concentrations to elucidate the precise role of serum cystatin C concentrations in the prediction of vancomycin clearance. A population pharmacokinetic model of vancomycin was developed using NONMEM software from a total of 1,373 vancomycin concentration measurements in 678 patients whose serum creatinine concentrations were lower than 1.2 mg/dL. Covariate selection revealed that cystatin C was the most influential factor and had negative influence (-0.78) in the relationship. Total body weight, sex, age, and serum creatinine were also significantly correlated with the clearance. The estimated intersubject variabilities of clearance and volume of distribution were 24.7% and 25.1%, respectively. A 14-fold difference in predicted trough concentrations was observed according to only cystatin C concentrations in a population of simulated individuals with median demographic characteristics. The use of serum cystatin C as marker of vancomycin clearance for more accurate predictions of serum vancomycin concentrations could be useful, particularly among patients with normal serum creatinine concentrations.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/blood/*pharmacokinetics ; Biological Markers/blood ; Body Weight ; Creatinine/*blood ; Cystatin C/*blood ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Statistical ; Sex Factors ; *Software ; Vancomycin/blood/*pharmacokinetics ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: We evaluated the influence of urinary stone components on the outcomes of ureteroscopic removal of stones (URS) by electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) in patients with distal ureteral stones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with a single distal ureteral stone with a stone size of 0.5 to 2.0 cm that was completely removed by use of EHL were included in the study. Operating time was defined as the time interval between ureteroscope insertion and complete removal of ureteral stones. Ureteral stones were classified into 5 categories on the basis of their main component (that accounting for 50% or more of the stone content) as follows: calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), calcium oxalate dihydrate, carbonate apatite (CAP), uric acid (UA), and struvite (ST). RESULTS: A total of 193 patients (131 males and 62 females) underwent EHL. The mean operating time was 25.1+/-8.2 minutes and the mean stone size was 1.15+/-0.44 cm. Calcium oxalate stones accounted for 64.8% of all ureteral stones, followed by UA (19.7%), CAP (8.3%), and ST (7.2%) stones. The mean operating time was significantly longer in the UA group (28.6+/-8.3 minutes) than in the COM group (24.0+/-7.8 minutes, p=0.04). In multivariate analyses, the stone size was negatively associated with the odds ratio (OR) for successful fragmentation. UA as a main component (OR, 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.20 to 0.89; p=0.023) was also found to be significantly important as a negative predictive factor of successful fragmentation after adjustment for stone size. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that successful fragmentation by URS with EHL could be associated with the proportion of the UA component.
Accounting ; Apatites ; Calcium Oxalate ; Carbon ; Humans ; Lithotripsy ; Magnesium Compounds ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Phosphates ; Ureter ; Ureteroscopes ; Ureteroscopy ; Uric Acid ; Urinary Calculi

Our objective was to assess the clinical factors that would reliably distinguish methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) from methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) endocarditis. A retrospective cohort study of clinical features and mortality in patients with MRSA and MSSA endocarditis between March 1986 and March 2004 was performed in a 750-bed, tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 32 patients (10 MRSA [31.3%] vs 22 MSSA [68.7%]) were evaluated. Their mean age and sex ratio (male/female) were as follows: 30.8 +/- 16.0 vs 24.4 +/- 19.6 years old and 6/4 vs 13/9, for MRSA and MSSA infective endocarditis (IE), respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that persistent bacteremia was significantly more prevalent in MRSA IE (OR, 10.0 [1.480- 67.552]; p, 0.018). There was a higher mortality trend for MRSA IE (50.0%) than for MSSA IE (9.1%) (p=0.019). However, persistent bacteremia was not associated with higher mortality (p > 0.05). These results indicate that if persistent bacteremia is documented, the likelihood of MRSA endocarditis should be viewed as high, and the patient's anti- staphylococcal therapy should be prolonged and/or changed to a more "potent" regimen.
Adult ; Bacteremia/drug therapy/microbiology ; Cohort Studies ; Comparative Study ; Endocarditis, Bacterial/drug therapy/*microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; *Methicillin Resistance ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcal Infections/drug therapy/*microbiology ; Staphylococcus aureus/*drug effects

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a generalized connective tissue disorder of unknown etiology. Clinically, there is a broad spectrum of disease ranging from widespread severe skin thickening to skin thickening limited to the distal extremities. In rare cases of systemic sclerosis, no cutaneous change only with internal organ involvement has been reported, which is called ?ystemic sclerosis sine scleroderma (ssSSc)?. We describe a patient with Raynaud? phenomenon, who showed intestinal pseudoobstruction as a presenting symptom but did not show any skin change. She had also an esophageal motility disorder, but other organ involvement was not evident. Antinuclear antibody was positive. Her obstruction symptoms were improved by decompression by nasogastric tube and pharmaceutical treatment with erythromycin and octreotide.
Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Connective Tissue ; Decompression ; Erythromycin ; Esophageal Motility Disorders ; Extremities ; Humans ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction ; Octreotide ; Scleroderma, Systemic* ; Sclerosis ; Skin

Vancomycin is the primary antibiotic administered for treatment of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infection; however, treatment failure of vancomycin is currently not uncommon in patients with in vitro vancomycin susceptibile S. aureus (MIC < or = 2 microg/mL) infection. In this report, we describe a case of septic arthritis caused by persistent MRSA bacteremia and treated successfully with linezolid after failure of initial vancomycin therapy.
Acetamides ; Arthritis, Infectious ; Bacteremia ; Humans ; Linezolid ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Oxazolidinones ; Treatment Failure ; Vancomycin

Podostroma cornu-damae is a rare fungus that houses a fatal toxin in its fruit body. In this case report, two patients collected and boiled the wild fungus in water, which they drank for one month. One patient died, presenting with desquamation of the palms and soles, pancytopenia, severe sepsis and multiple organ failure. The other patient recovered after one month of conservative care after admission. We found a piece of Podostroma cornu-damae in the remaining clusters of mushrooms. Mushroom poisoning by Podostroma cornu-damae has never been previously reported in Korea.
Agaricales/metabolism ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Ascomycota/*metabolism ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Fever ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mushroom Poisoning/*diagnosis ; Pancytopenia/chemically induced ; Republic of Korea