Patellar instability in children and adolescents is caused by abnormalities of various knee structures. Instability of the patellofemoral joint can manifest as an acute dislocation, recurrent dislocation, habitual dislocation, and congenital dislocation. Patellar instability is associated with abnormalities in the anatomical structures around the knee, and a comprehensive analysis of the cause should be undertaken. Surgery can be performed to reconstruct any abnormal musculo-skeletal alignment. Considerable progress has been made in the treatment of patellar instability in recent years, and surgical methods include lateral release, soft tissue realignment procedure, transfer of the autologous tendon, trochleaplasty, and reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral ligament.
Adolescent* ; Child* ; Dislocations ; Humans ; Joint Instability ; Knee ; Ligaments ; Patella ; Patellofemoral Joint ; Tendons

BACKGROUND: Measurement of HbA1c levels is widely used to diagnose diabetes mellitus and to evaluate and monitor plasma-glucose concentrations over 6-8 weeks. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the newly developed latex immunoturbidimetric method by using Autolab HbA1c. METHODS: We analyzed and compared the diagnostic performance of Autolab HbA1c with that of Toshiba 200FR between April 2009 and July 2009. According to guidelines (EP5-A2, EP6-P, EP9-A2) of the clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI), we compared linearity, precision and correlation of Autolab HbA1c with those of G7 (Tosoh Corp., Kyoto, Japan) by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. RESULTS: Data obtained using Autolab HbA1c showed good linearity in mixtures of samples with low (3.1%) and high (15.1%) levels of HbA1c (r2 = 0.9997). In the analysis of within-run precision of the samples with HbA1c levels of 5.1% and 12.1%, the SDs were 0.04 and 0.06 and covariances of these samples were 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. In the Deming regression model, the regression equation was as follows: Autolab HbA1c = 1.0859xTosoh HPLC-0.6957. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, Autolab HbA1c method showed better performance characteristics than Tosoh G7 did. In reference review, there was no interference of variant hemoglobin. The data acquisition time of Autolab HbA1c was lower than that of Tosoh G7. The advantages of Autolab HbA1c are that it can be used as an autoanlyzer in routine chemical analysis, it does not require pre-analytical treatment, and the samples are automatically treated with distilled water for hemolysis.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Hemoglobins ; Hemolysis ; Latex ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Water

BACKGROUND: In the Korean Red Cross Blood Center, ABO blood typing are routinely performed only via red cell grouping at blood donations sites. However, when an error occurs in this process, it is impossible to issue a blood product contrary to the result of the blood type of the Blood Laboratory Center, thereby resulting in delayed supply. Therefore, efforts are needed to reduce typing errors at blood donation sites. METHODS: We analyzed 656,786 donor screenings between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016;we also analyzed the statistical data of donor ABO typing between 2013 and 2015. To reduce ABO typing error, we notified and trained nurses at Busan, Gyeongnam, Ulsan, and Daegu-Gyeongbuk Blood centers in June, 2016. We tried to confirm the improvement of ABO typing error at blood donation sites by comparing ABO typing before and after training. For data comparison, chi-square test was conducted (95% confidence interval, 0.05 significant level). RESULTS: The blood typing error rate was significantly lower (P=0.003) four months after training (0.005%) than before training (0.015%), and the blood typing error rate was significantly higher for the first blood donor (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Educational training for nurses at blood donation sites may be effective in reducing ABO typing error. Continuous and regular training seems to be needed in future to reduce ABO typing error.
Blood Donors* ; Blood Grouping and Crossmatching* ; Busan ; Donor Selection ; Humans ; Red Cross ; Tissue Donors ; Ulsan

Psoriasis is one of the most common inflammatory skin disorders, with a global prevalence of 2% – 3%. It is an autoimmune skin disorder characterized by excessive generation of plaques on the skin with typical long-lasting red, itchy, and scaly lesions. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the anti-psoriatic effect of the methanolic extract of Persicaria senticosa (PS), a bioactive edible plant extract used in traditional medicine, using a mouse model of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis. The daily topical application of IMQ could induce human psoriasis-like lesion. The extract ameliorated IMQ-induced psoriasis. Furthermore, hematoxylin and eosin staining and the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores indicated that topical application of PS led to an improvement in erythema, scaling, and thickness scores of the mouse dorsal skin and a considerable decrease in the epidermal thickness of the ear and dorsal skin in the IMQ-induced psoriatic mouse model. We also studied the effect of PS on the proliferation of keratinocytes using HaCaT cells. The extract inhibited cell proliferation and IL-6 and pSTAT3 expression induced by M5 cocktail (comprising interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-17A, IL-22, oncostatin M, and tumor necrosis factor-α) in HaCaT cells. Thus, PS might serve as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of psoriasis.

Hemispatial neglect is a symptom where patients do not show response to stimuli on the contralesional side of their brain lesion. Although it is most common in the context of hemispheric stroke, several pathological processes including neurodegenerative disease, neoplasia, and trauma may cause this. Prevalence of hemispatial neglect is unknown and rarely reported among patients with hypoxic brain injury. Also, hemispatial neglect accompanying neglect dyslexia is rather hard to be recognized and symptoms involving numbers are exceptionally rare. We report a patient with hypoxic brain injury following cardiac arrest who showed signs of neglect dyslexia for numbers that provided a primary clue for the diagnosis of left hemispatial neglect. Early detection of different forms of cognitive dysfunction of hypoxic brain injury is highly essential in providing early neurorehabilitation for better prognosis.

Bertolotti’s syndrome (BS) refers to chronic low back pain (LBP) associated with lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV). Many studies suggest that the anomalous articulation alters biomechanics, resulting in discomfort on the ipsilateral side. Herein, we present an unusual case of BS presenting pain on the non-articulated side. A 46-year-old man visited our clinic with history of chronic LBP, refractory to treatment of analgesics, modalities and manual therapies. Electrodiagnostic studies showed no evidence of lumbosacral radiculopathy. Radiographies noted unilateral pseudoarticulation of L5∼S1 vertebrae, on the contralateral side of his pain. The pain improved dramatically after sacroiliac joint block and facet joint block with iliolumbar ligament infiltration on the non-articulated side. Clinicians should be cautious that the unaffected joint in BS may serve an important role in altered lumbopelvic biomechanism, since it might eventually lead to intractable chronic LBP when overlooked.

An African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in wild boars was first reported on October 2, 2019, in South Korea. Since then, additional cases were reported in South Korea's border areas. We here report the identification of ASF virus (ASFV) DNAs from two out of eight environmental abiotic matter samples collected from areas where ASF-positive wild boar carcasses were found. Comparative genomic investigations suggested that the contaminating ASFV DNAs originated from the wild boar whose carcass had been found near the positive sample sites.This is the first report on the identification of ASF viral material in wild boar habitats.

We have previously reported that Acer tegmentosum extract, which is traditionally used in Korea to reduce alcohol-related liver injury, suppresses liver inflammation caused by excessive alcohol consumption and might improve metabolism. The active ingredient, 6-O-galloylsalidroside (GAL), was isolated from A.tegmentosum, and we hypothesized that GAL could provide desirable pharmacological benefits by ameliorating physiological conditions caused by alcohol abuse. Therefore, this study focused on whether GAL could ameliorate alcoholic fat accumulation and repair liver injury in mice. During chronic alcohol consumption plus binge feeding in mice, GAL was administered orally once per day for 11 days. Intrahepatic lipid accumulation was measured in vivo using a noninvasive method, 1H magnetic resonance imaging, and confirmed by staining with hematoxylin and eosin and Oil Red O. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured using a Konelab system, and the triglyceride content was measured in liver homogenates using an enzymatic peroxide assay. The results suggested that GAL alleviated alcohol-induced steatosis,e as indicated by decreased hepatic and serum triglyceride levels in ethanol-fed mice. GAL treatment also correlated with a decrease in the Cd36 mRNA expression, thus potentially inhibiting the development of alcoholic steatosis via the hepatic de novo lipogenesis pathway. Furthermore, treatment with GAL inhibited the expression of cytochrome P450 2E1 and attenuated hepatocellular damage, as reflected by a reduction in ALT and AST levels. These findings suggest that GAL extracted from A.tegmentosum has the potential to serve as a bioactive agent for the treatment of alcoholic fatty liver and liver damage.

Hemispatial neglect is a symptom where patients do not show response to stimuli on the contralesional side of their brain lesion. Although it is most common in the context of hemispheric stroke, several pathological processes including neurodegenerative disease, neoplasia, and trauma may cause this. Prevalence of hemispatial neglect is unknown and rarely reported among patients with hypoxic brain injury. Also, hemispatial neglect accompanying neglect dyslexia is rather hard to be recognized and symptoms involving numbers are exceptionally rare. We report a patient with hypoxic brain injury following cardiac arrest who showed signs of neglect dyslexia for numbers that provided a primary clue for the diagnosis of left hemispatial neglect. Early detection of different forms of cognitive dysfunction of hypoxic brain injury is highly essential in providing early neurorehabilitation for better prognosis.

Bertolotti’s syndrome (BS) refers to chronic low back pain (LBP) associated with lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV). Many studies suggest that the anomalous articulation alters biomechanics, resulting in discomfort on the ipsilateral side. Herein, we present an unusual case of BS presenting pain on the non-articulated side. A 46-year-old man visited our clinic with history of chronic LBP, refractory to treatment of analgesics, modalities and manual therapies. Electrodiagnostic studies showed no evidence of lumbosacral radiculopathy. Radiographies noted unilateral pseudoarticulation of L5∼S1 vertebrae, on the contralateral side of his pain. The pain improved dramatically after sacroiliac joint block and facet joint block with iliolumbar ligament infiltration on the non-articulated side. Clinicians should be cautious that the unaffected joint in BS may serve an important role in altered lumbopelvic biomechanism, since it might eventually lead to intractable chronic LBP when overlooked.