No abstract available.
Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Korea* ; Prevalence*

BACKGROUND: Korean national cancer screening program selected fecal occult blood test (FOBT) as a primary screening method of colorectal carcinoma in adult > or =50 yr old irrespective of symptom. Notice to pre-analytical errors is especially important for the FOBT because examinees collect and submit their specimens to laboratories by themselves. We examined the influences of the fecal storage temperatures, durations and with or without buffer on the FOBT results. METHODS: Thirty FOBT-positive specimens above 100 ng/mL were used for the study from July to August 2008. Quantitative FOBT was performed with OC-sensors II (Eiken Chemical Co., Japan). Each specimen was divided into 4 groups. Two groups in plastic buffer-free containers were kept either at 4degrees C or room temperature (25-28degrees C), respectively. Another two groups in buffer-tubes were also kept either at 4degrees C or room temperature. Each group was repeatedly examined with same method every 24 hr up to 120 hr. RESULTS: Eleven specimens (36.7%) in buffer-free containers converted to negative results (below the 100 ng/mL) after 24 hr and 17 specimens (56.7%) did after 48 hr at room temperature. Ten specimens (33.3%) in buffer-free containers converted to negative after 48 hr at 4degrees C. Specimens contained in buffer-tubes showed little change; 3 specimens (10.0%) at room temperature and no specimen at 4degrees C showed negative conversions after 48 hr. CONCLUSIONS: Buffer-tube minimizes false negative FOBT results during pre-analytical delay of specimen. The examinees using buffer-free containers need to be educated to hand in their specimens to laboratories as soon as possible.
Buffers ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; *Occult Blood ; *Specimen Handling ; Temperature ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the performance of four commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs: Xpert C. difficile, BD MAX Cdiff, IMDx C. difficile for Abbott m2000, and Illumigene C. difficile) for direct and rapid detection of Clostridium difficile toxin genes. METHODS: We compared four NAATs on the same set of 339 stool specimens (303 prospective and 36 retrospective specimens) with toxigenic culture (TC). RESULTS: Concordance rate among four NAATs was 90.3% (306/339). Based on TC results, the sensitivity and specificity were 90.0% and 92.9% for Xpert; 86.3% and 89.3% for Max; 84.3% and 94.4% for IMDx; and 82.4% and 93.7% for Illumigene, respectively. For 306 concordant cases, there were 11 TC-negative/NAATs co-positive cases and 6 TC-positive/NAATs co-negative cases. Among 33 discordant cases, 18 were only single positive in each NAAT (Xpert, 1; Max, 12; IMDx, 1; Illumigene, 4). Positivity rates of the four NAATs were associated with those of semi-quantitative cultures, which were maximized in grade 3 (>100 colony-forming unit [CFU]) compared with grade 1 (<10 CFU). CONCLUSIONS: Commercial NAATs may be rapid and reliable methods for direct detection of tcdA and/or tcdB in stool specimens compared with TC. Some differences in the sensitivity of the NAATs may partly depend on the number of toxigenic C. difficile in stool specimens.
Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Bacterial Toxins/genetics ; Clostridium Infections/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Clostridium difficile/*genetics/isolation & purification ; DNA, Bacterial/*analysis/metabolism ; Enterotoxins/genetics ; Feces/*microbiology ; Humans ; *Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is one of the most important serological markers used to diagnose hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Automated immunoassays have been developed, meeting the current clinical requirement of HBsAg assays over the years. This study was performed to determine the degree of agreements between 3 kinds of HBsAg assay systems. METHODS: Serum samples from 425 patients were assayed by the HBsAg assay systems of Elecsys (Roche Diagnostics, Germany), ADVIA Centaur (Bayer Diagnostics, USA), and AxSYM (Abbott Laboratories, USA). RESULTS: The concordance rates among the 3 assays were 100%. A total of 249 (58.6%) specimens were positive, and their index values showed a weak correlation between the 3 assays; nevertheless, positive specimens with low levels (<10) of index values in one system also presented low values in other systems, and all of them were confirmed by neutralization assays. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 automated HBsAg assay systems presented a high level of concordance.
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Immunoassay*

BACKGROUND: In patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic stable angina, the coronary flow reserve (CFR) is reduced not only in the region of myocardium perfused by the ischemia-related artery but also in the regions supplied by angiographically normal coronary arteries. The effect of myocardial stunning on the remote CFR is unknown, however. METHODS: In ten open-chest anesthetized dogs, left circumflex coronary artery was occluded for 15 minutes (myocardial stunning group, n=5) or for 30 minutes (MI group, n=5) and was followed by a reperfusion for 60 minutes. Before coronary occlusion and at 30 minutes and at 60 minutes after reperfusion, resting coronary blood flow (CBF) and maximal CBF after IV injection of each of adenosine (ADE) and acetylcholine (Ach) was measured with electromagnetic flow probe located in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. CFR was calculated as the ratio of maximal and resting CBF. RESULTS: At 30 minutes and 60 minutes after reperfusion, the remote resting CBF were significantly increased in both groups and the remote CFR was significantly decreased in both groups. The CFR of the MI group was lower than myocardial stunning group. The coronary vasodilator response to Ach was significantly lower than the response to ADE in both groups. CONCLUSION: After MI and myocardial stunning, there was severe coronary vasodilator abnormality in the remote myocardium and that was more marked after MI. The coronary vasodilator response to Ach was significantly lower than the response to ADE in both groups, suggesting endothelial dysfunction in remote myocardium.
Acetylcholine ; Adenosine ; Angina, Stable ; Animals ; Arteries ; Coronary Occlusion ; Coronary Vessels ; Dogs ; Humans ; Magnets ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Stunning* ; Myocardium ; Reperfusion

BACKGROUND: We intended to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of a multiplex reverse transcriptase- PCR (mRT-PCR) assay kit under dual priming oligonucleotide system (DPO) for the childhood acute respiratory tract infections. METHODS: Two hundred nasopharyngeal aspirates were taken from children < or = 5 yr old admitted due to acute respiratory infections in 2004. Direct fluorescent antibody (FA) assays were performed with fresh specimens; then, mRT-PCRs for the detection of 12 respiratory viruses (Seeplex RV detection kit, SeeGene, Seoul, Korea) were tested with frozen specimens. RESULTS: FA assays for five common respiratory viruses showed positive results in 66 patients (33.0%), while mRT-PCR detected causative viruses in 112 patients (56.0%), including 16 co-infected cases (8.0%). A total of 129 viruses were identified: respiratory syncytial virus A/B (38.0%/7.8%), influenza virus A/B (10.1%/5.4%), parainfluenza virus 1/2/3 (7.0%/3.1%/7.8%), coronavirus 229E or NL63 (6.2%), human metapneumovirus (4.7%), adenovirus (4.7%), rhinovirus (3.9%), and coronavirus OC43 (1.6%). CONCLUSIONS: DPO-based mRT-PCR was found as a sensitive tool for the detection of the viruses that cause childhood respiratory infections. Clinical significances of the agents detected by mRTPCR need further evaluations.
Child, Preschool ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Oligonucleotide Probes ; Reproducibility of Results ; Respiratory Tract Infections/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Virus Diseases/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Viruses/genetics/*isolation & purification

BACKGROUND: During coronary angiography, some electrocardiographic changes occured due to contrast media, which do life threatening influences. METHODS: We compared the electrocardiographic changes which were induced by injection of three radiopaque contrast media during selective coronary angiography in 49 patients with chest pain. One of the contrast media was high osmolar ionic(Urografin_76) and the another was low osmolar ionic(Hexabrix) and the last was non-ionic(Ioversol). Electrocardiograms were obtained before, during and after selective coronary angiography. RESULTS: The changes of S-T segment or T were decreased in non-ionic group rather than high osmolar or ionic group. And there was significant Q-Tc interval prolongation among all three groups except comparision of low osmolar ionic contrast dye and non-ionic contrast dye in left coronary angiography. CONCLUSION: Non-ionic low osmolar contrast media was safer than high osmolar or ionic contrast medial because of lesser change of Q-Tc interval during selective coronary angiography.
Chest Pain ; Contrast Media* ; Coronary Angiography* ; Diatrizoate Meglumine ; Electrocardiography* ; Humans ; Ioxaglic Acid ; Osmolar Concentration

To evaluate changes in olfactory bulb size in patients with reduced or no sense of smell, 23 normals and 20 hyposmics or anosmics were examined with nasal endoscopy, olfactory testing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the olfactory bulb. Olfactory testing consisted of a threshold test by bounded three-alternative forced-choice modified ascending method of limits (CCCRC test) and the step method using threefold dilutions of 1-butanol and an olfactory identification test using 32 natural odors familiar to Koreans. The MR evaluation involved the estimation of olfactory bulb size by using a 13 cm diameter general purpose surface coil with 3 mm T1-weighted MR coronal sections without interval. The cut areas of the olfactory bulb in MR coronal sections were measured with a Hope Graph Planimeter (model No. 9-003) after fivefold enlargement. The olfactory bulb was observed in three cuts of MR imaging in all subjects. In the measured area of the olfactory bulb, the anterior portion of the olfactory bulb was significantly smaller than the middle and posterior areas in normals, but hyposmics or anosmics showed decreased olfactory bulb area, especially in height, when compared with normals. There was good correlation between olfactory bulb area and olfactory threshold as well as olfactory identification in normals and patients. MR imaging can be a useful tool for patients with hyposmia or anosmia.
1-Butanol ; Endoscopy ; Hope ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Odors ; Olfaction Disorders ; Olfactory Bulb* ; Smell

No abstract available.
Hepatitis E virus* ; Hepatitis E* ; Hepatitis* ; Korea* ; Prevalence*

We studied the seroprevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc and the vaccination histories among health care workers (HCWs) at a large suburban referral hospital in Korea. The purpose of this study was to determine the immune status of HCWs against hepatitis B virus and we also wanted to prepare a practical guideline to protect HCWs from occupational exposure. During December, 2003, 571 HCWs (56 physicians, 289 nurses, 113 technicians and 113 aid-nurses) aged between 21 and 74 yr were included in the surveillance. The positive rates of HBsAg and anti-HBs were 2.4% (14/571) and 76.9% (439/571), respectively. The positive rate of anti-HBs was lower in the physician group, and this was associated with the male gender and older age. Of the 439 anti-HBs positive cases, 320 cases (73.1%) were anti-HBc negative and this was significantly associated with a past history of HBV vaccination. The distribution of the anti-HBs levels was not associated with age (except for HCWs in their sixties), gender or occupation. Our study revealed that the seroprevalence rates of HBsAg and anti-HBs in HCWs in Korea were not different from those of the general population. Based on this surveillance, we can make reasonable decisions in case of occupational exposure to hepatitis B virus.
Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Female ; *Health Personnel ; Hepatitis B/*epidemiology/virology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/blood ; Hepatitis B virus/immunology ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Occupational Diseases/*epidemiology/virology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Vaccination/statistics & numerical data