Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor encephalitis is a type of autoimmune encephalitis that causes characteristic symptoms through the formation of antibodies against NMDA receptors. If ovarian teratomas are detected, surgical removal under general anesthesia is often considered. Many general anesthetic agents inhibit NMDA receptors. As such, anesthetic agents may have unexpected effects on disease progression. For anesthesiologists, providing general anesthesia for these patients is challenging and there are few studies on which anesthetic is most appropriate Case: Two female patients were diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and ovarian teratomas. Successful teratoma resection was performed under general anesthesia using remimazolam and remifentanil. After the surgery, one patient showed some improvement but died a month later. The other patient progressively improved over time. Conclusions Remimazolam and remifentanil are useful general anesthetic agents for patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Further studies are warranted.

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Cervix Uteri* ; Female

PURPOSE: We conducted the immunoassay of pertussis according to ages, in order to evaluate protective immunity against pertussis in Korean populations. METHODS: Healthy subjects were enrolled at four university hospitals in Korea. The subjects were grouped as seven age groups (every 10 years). Antibodies against pertussis toxin (PT) in sera were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Geometric mean concentrations (GMC) of antibodies and the ratios of the subjects with seroprotective antibody levels were determined. The subjects with antibody titers > or =24.0 EU/mL were considered to seroprotective as the manufacturer's protocol. RESULTS: Total 1,605 subjects (age: 2 months-65 years) participated in this study, and their GMC was 56.16+/-50.54 EU/mL. Among seven age groups, age group <11 year showed the highest GMC (64.78+/-53.24 EU/mL) (P<0.001). In the analysis of the ratios of the subjects with seroprotective antibody titers, 68.2% of the subjects were proven to seroprotective, and age group <11 year also showed the highest ratio (76.5%) (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We found that adolescences or adults (age group > or =11 year) showed lower levels of antibody against pertussis and lower ratio of the subjects with seroprotective antibody titers than children (age group <11 year).
Adult ; Antibodies ; Child ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Immunization ; Immunoassay ; Korea ; Pertussis Toxin ; Whooping Cough

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment to increase platelet counts in Korean patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). METHODS: A total of 102 patients were evaluated against two criteria. First, those diagnosed with H. pylori infections in whom eradication was successful were assigned to the H. pylori-positive and -eradicated group (n=39), whereas those diagnosed with H. pylori infections in whom eradication failed were assigned to the H. pylori-positive and -non-eradicated group (n=3), and those without H. pylori infections were assigned to the H. pylori-negative group (n=60). Second, patients with complete remission in whom the platelet recovery effect was maintained over the average follow-up period of 6 months after eradication therapy were defined as the responder group (n=58), whereas those with partial or no response were defined as the nonresponder group (n=44). RESULTS: The platelet counts of the H. pylori-positive and -eradicated group were significantly increased 6 months after eradication therapy compared to those of the H. pylori-positive and -non-eradicated group and the H. pylori-negative group (43.2±29.1 to 155.3±68.7×10(3)/μL vs 42.5±28.1 to 79.8±59.7×10(3)/μL vs 43.1±28.9 to 81.2±62.2×10(3)/μL; p=0.041). The eradication therapy success rate in the responder group was 100.0% (39/39), in contrast to the nonresponder group (0%, 0/3) (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: H. pylori eradication therapy was related to increased platelet count, and successful eradication affected the increased platelet count in Korean patients with chronic ITP.
Blood Platelets ; Follow-Up Studies ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Platelet Count ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic*

PURPOSE: There are many cases of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) presenting to the emergency department (ED) with palpitation as the presenting symptom. Adenosine is usually administered for conversion to normal sinus rhythm, with a possible second dose in the case of no response. As adenosine has a short acting time, administration of the drug at a vessel as close to the heart as possible is recommended, followed by an extra normal saline bolus infusion. In this study, we hypothesized a better outcome when adenosine was administered after proper injection method instruction was given to the medical staff. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the population of PSVT patients treated with adenosine. The cases were divided into two groups: one group consisted of cases a year before instruction for adenosine use became routine practice, and the second was comprised of cases a year after instruction protocols had been put into place. We further analyzed the proportion of patients who converted to normal sinus rhythm after a single dose of adenosine. RESULTS: All 306 patients were included. Before instruction, 46 patients (40.0% of 115) converted to normal sinus rhythm after the first dose. After instruction, 108 patients (56.5% of 191) converted to normal sinus rhythm after the first dose, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: After receiving proper education, more patients converted to normal sinus rhythm after the first dose. Instruction for proper adenosine injection technique for PSVT cases can increase the success rate of rhythm conversion on the first attempt.
Adenosine* ; Education ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Heart ; Humans ; Medical Staff ; Retrospective Studies ; Tachycardia, Supraventricular*

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, pigmentary disturbances of the skin, hair, and iris, and other developmental defects such as lateral displacement of both medial canthi and lacrimal puncta called dystopia canthorum. While mutations of the PAX3 (paired box) gene have been identified in about 99% of WS type 1 cases, WS type 2 is a heterogeneous group, with about 15% of cases caused by mutations in microphthalmia associated transcription factor (MITF). We have experienced three cases of typical WS type 2 in a Korean family, for whom full ocular examination and genetic studies were performed. The genetic studies revealed no mutation in either PAX3 or MITF genes. The genetic basis, as yet unknown for most cases of WS type 2, might be found with further investigation.
Child ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Transcription Factors/genetics ; Waardenburg's Syndrome/*genetics

A sixty-eight year old female patient was transferred to our department for the resection of a solitary pulmonary nodule on the right lower lobe. An intraoperative frozen-section revealed a bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. Therefore, a right lower lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection were performed. The permanent pathologic diagnosis of this patient was a sclerosing hemangioma. Herein, our experience of the treatment of a sclerosing hemagioma presenting with a solitary pulmonary nodule by a lobectomy is reported with a review of the literature
Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous* ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Solitary Pulmonary Nodule

Atrial flutter occurs most often in patients with organic heart disease. It appears that chronic atrial flutter is associated with a remarkably high risk of clinically apparent thromboembolism and effective anticoagulation appears to reduce this risk, but acute or recent onset, postoperative atrial flutter may have a lower risk of thromboembolism than those with chronic atrial flutter. In chronic atrial flutter or fibrillation with organic heart disease, anticoagulation is generally justified but there is some debate about anticoagulation in paroxysmal atrial flutter. The spontaneous echo contrast is generally accepted one of the major risk factor of thromboembolism and usually occurred in mitral stenosis, dilated cardiomyopathy, and enlarged left atrium, but rarely observed in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We experienced a patient with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, who visited to emergency medical center due to dizziness and suffered from cerebral thromboembolism after restoration of sinus rhythm. In transesophageal echocardiography, there was moderate to severe spontaneous echo contrast in left atrium. This patient showed that transesophageal echocardiography evaluation of left atrium might be mandatory in patients with paroxysmal atrial flutter and organic heart disease.
Atrial Flutter* ; Cardiomyopathies* ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic ; Dizziness ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Emergencies ; Heart Atria ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; Risk Factors ; Thromboembolism*

Hypereosinophilic syndrome, the disease with continuous over production of eosinophil from bone marrow without any identifiable underlying disorder, causes various symptoms or signs by infiltrating organs. As many as 28,780/mm3 eosinophils in peripheral blood, the eosinophilic hyperplasia in bone marrow and features of hepatic involvement -revealed elevated serum AST, ALT and ultrasonogram of abdomen showed the multiple nodules scattered throughout the liver, we have reached to make a diagnosis of the rare hyper eosinophilic syndrome carrying the eosinophil-rich exudate in pleural effusion. The patient showed improvement of clinical symptoms with oral administration of predinisolone, and we report this case with literature consideration.
Abdomen ; Administration, Oral ; Bone Marrow ; Diagnosis ; Eosinophils ; Exudates and Transudates ; Humans ; Hypereosinophilic Syndrome ; Hyperplasia ; Liver ; Pleural Effusion* ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: The authors performed lumbar arthrodesis with expandable cage at L3-4 to L5-S1 intervertebral space for one year and report the analysis of the factors influencing the successful results. METHODS: The authors included thirty-five patients whose bony fusion had been watched over the 12 month after a posterior interbody fusion procedure with one-level expandable cage. All patients were classified into group A(satisfactory results) and group B(unsatisfactory results) according to their answers to comprehensive low back questionnairies. The intervertebral disc height, segmental lordosis and total lumbar lordosis in the standing neutral lateral radiography were checked and the comparison in the changes of this radiological profiles before and after the surgery was done. RESULTS: Seventeen cases(48.6%) of "excellent" results, and 14 cases(40.0%) of "good" results were included in Group A. In group B, 2 cases(5.7%) of "fair" results and 2 cases(5.7%) of "poor" results were included. Over twelve months after the operation, the mean intervertebral disc height and segmental lordotic angle in group A significantly increased, but those in group B did not significantly increase; however, the improvement of total lumbar lordotic angle could not be observed on both groups. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the recovery of both intervertebral disc height and segmental lordosis is absolutely essential in order to get a successful result in addition to the solid arthrodesis. However, significant influences of one-level segmental lordotic improvement on the total lumbar lordosis can not be observed after the expandable cage fusion in the lower lumbar spine.
Animals ; Arthrodesis ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Lordosis ; Radiography ; Spine