To maintain an adequate airway in a patient with tracheobronchial narrowing coming from various causes, prosthetic tracheobronchial stents provide palliative treatment for narrowed airways where surgical resection is inadvisable. After insertion, precious reported complications were granuloma formation, dysphagia, suction catheter entrapment and fatal massive hemoptysis. We report a case of complication associated with expandible metallic scent with endobronchial stenosis due to tuberculosis.
Catheters ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Deglutition Disorders ; Granuloma ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Stents* ; Suction ; Tuberculosis

No abstract available.
Radiation Oncology*

PURPOSE: A delta-shaped anastomosis (DA) is a widely accepted technique used for a totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG). Several studies have suggested various modifications to overcome the drawbacks of an original DA. We present our novel technique―a T-shaped modified delta anastomosis (TDA), and we report the early outcomes with its use in a case series. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 40 patients who underwent a TLDG with TDA for early gastric cancer at OOO between February 2016 and May 2017. Perioperative outcomes, postoperative complications, and operating time were analyzed, and all data were expressed as means±standard deviation. RESULTS: We observed no major complications that required immediate postoperative intervention. Other minor and non-surgical complications were delayed gastric emptying (n=1), pneumonia (n=2), atelectasis (n=3), dumping symptom (n=1), and symptomatic bile reflux (n=1). No wound infection was reported in any patient. The total operative time was 206.5±25.4 min and the estimated blood loss was 27.8±33.5 ml. The mean time required to perform the anastomosis was 20.9±6.7 min, and the mean number of cartridges used during the operation was 4.78±0.66. CONCLUSION: We conclude that a TDA following a laparoscopic distal gastrectomy was successfully developed and showed acceptable clinical outcome.
Bile Reflux ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Emptying ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Medical Records ; Operative Time ; Pneumonia ; Postoperative Complications ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Wound Infection

No abstract available.
Humans

No abstract available.
Eyebrows* ; Tattooing*

BACKGROUND: It has been known that Ginseng extract causes the hypotensive action while it rather produces the hypertensive action. Some studies have suggested that Ginseng extract causes a biphasic response on blood pressure, namely, transient fall followed by prolonged elevation. It has been also shown that administration of Korean Red Ginseng powder has no effect on blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive rats. The present study was designed to examine the effect of total Ginseng saponin on contractile responses of vasoconstrictors in the rat aorta and to establish the mechanism of its action. METHODS: The ring segment of aorta was mounted in a muscle bath filled with oxygenated Krebs solution for the measurement of isometric tension. After the equilibration period, under the presence of total Ginseng saponin, isometric tension induced by some vasoconstrictors were observed and compared to the control responses. The data were expressed as % of the control tension. RESULTS: Phenylephrine (an adrenergic alpha1-receptor agonist) and high potassium (a membrane depolarizing agent) caused greatly contractile responses in the rat aorta, respectively. However, in the presence of total ginseng saponin (600 g/ml), the contractile responses of phenylephrine (10(-6) and 10(-5) M) and high potassium (3.5 x 10(-2) and 5.6 x 10(-2) M) were markedly potentiated whereas prostglandin F2alpha(5 x 10(-6) M)-induced contractile responses was not affected. The contractile responses induced by phenylephrine (10(-5) M) and high potassium (3.5 x 10(-2) M) even under the presence of total ginseng saponin (600 g/ml) were greatly inhibited by the pretreatment of nicardipine (10(-6) M), a calcium channel blocker. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these experimental results suggest that total ginseng saponin can enhance the contractile responses evoked by stimulation of adrenergic alpha1-receptor and the membrane depolarization in the isolated rat aortic strips, which seems to be associated to calcium influx.
Animals ; Aorta* ; Baths ; Blood Pressure ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels ; Membranes ; Nicardipine ; Oxygen ; Panax* ; Phenylephrine ; Potassium ; Rats* ; Saponins* ; Vasoconstriction ; Vasoconstrictor Agents*

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the interaction of multiple mediators, especially cytokines. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine and has been shown to be involved in RA. This study explored the association of the MIF gene polymorphism with RA in Korean. METHODS: 114 patients with RA, and 114 age and gender matched healthy controls were studied. Patients and controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 5'-flanking region at position -173 of the MIF gene. RESULTS: No significant differences in MIF gene polymorphism were observed in RA compared to healthy controls. No association with disease severity was detected for the MIF gene polymorphism. CONCLUSION: MIF -173 G/C polymorphism did not appear to be associated with genetic susceptibility and disease severity in Korean RA patients.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Cytokines ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Macrophages* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is a need for new anti-asthmatic medications with fewer side effects. NDC-052, an extract of the medicinal herb Magnoliae flos, which has a long history of clinical use, was recently found to have anti-inflammatory effects. Herein, we evaluated the effects of NDC-052 as an add-on therapy in patients with mild to moderate asthma using inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). METHODS: In a non-comparative, multi-center trial, 148 patients taking ICS received NDC-052 for eight weeks. We evaluated their forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), morning and evening peak expiratory flow rate (AM and PM PEFR), AM/PM asthma symptom scores, visual analogue symptom (VAS) scores, night-time wakening, frequency of short-acting beta2-agonist usage, and adverse events. RESULTS: After eight weeks, both AM and PM PEFRs were significantly improved. Asthma symptom scores, VAS scores, the frequency of nights without awakening, and the frequency of beta2-agonist use were also reduced. Most of the adverse drug reactions were mild and resolved spontaneously. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of NDC-052 to ICS had a beneficial effect on asthma control in patients with mild to moderate asthma, with good tolerability and fewer side effects. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the effects of NDC-052 in patients with severe and/or refractory asthma.
Administration, Inhalation ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones/*administration & dosage ; Adrenergic beta-2 Receptor Agonists/therapeutic use ; Adult ; Anti-Asthmatic Agents/administration & dosage/*therapeutic use ; Asthma/diagnosis/*drug therapy/physiopathology ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/*therapeutic use ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Lung/drug effects/physiopathology ; *Magnolia ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; Severity of Illness Index ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a propeptide of calcitonin which is found in elevated concentration in the serum during systemic bacterial, fungal or protozoal infection. To evaluate clinical value of PCT for early differential diagnosis of causes in febrile patients, its levels were serially measured and compared with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). METHODS: Thirty-six patients meeting criteria for the systemic inflammatory response syndrome with fever were allocated into four groups. Sera were collected to measure PCT (immunoluminometric assay), ESR (Westergren method) and CRP (nephelometry) at the onset of fever and twice thereafter at 48 hours intervals. Group I included nineteen patients with bacterial infection who were diagnosed as acute pyelonephritis (n=7), sepsis (n=6), pneumonia (n=2), soft tissue infection (n=3) and infective endocarditis (n=1). Group II included patients diagnosed as viral meningitis (n=2), chickenpox (n=1), cryptococcal meningitis (n=1), and tuberculosis (n=4). Group III included four patients with malaria. Group IV included non-infectious febrile patients diagnosed as adult onset Still's disease (n=2), Kikuchi's disease (n=2) and drug fever (n=1). RESULTS: Patients in group I (median 1.34 ng/mL) and III (2.41 ng/mL) had markedly elevated serum PCT concentrations at the onset of fever, whereas patients in group II (0.20 ng/mL) and IV (0.11 ng/mL) had normal range PCT levels at the onset of fever (P<0.01). All the groups had elevated ESR and CRP levels at the onset of fever. After 48 hours and 96 hours, in patients group I and III, elevated PCT levels were declined with time course (P<0.05). But all the measured ESR and CRP levels had not changed significantly (ESR; P=0.89, CRP; P=0.23). CONCLUSION: Procalcitonin is a more useful serum marker than ESR and CRP for initial differential diagnosis of febrile systemic inflammatory response syndrome. It also provide patient's information earlier than ESR and CRP in febrile patients with bacterial infection and malaria.
Bacterial Infections ; Biological Markers ; Blood Sedimentation* ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Calcitonin ; Chickenpox ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endocarditis ; Erythrocytes* ; Fever ; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis ; Humans ; Malaria ; Meningitis, Cryptococcal ; Meningitis, Viral ; Pneumonia ; Pyelonephritis ; Reference Values ; Sepsis ; Soft Tissue Infections ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome ; Tuberculosis

PURPOSE: Epidemiological data indicate that obesity is a risk factor in asthma, however effects related to obesity and adipokines on airway inflammation and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) have not yet been demonstrated in the human airway. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum adipokine levels and BHR to mannitol in asthmatic children. METHODS: Serum adipokine levels were measured and pulmonary function tests were perfomed: baseline, postbronchodilator inhalation, methacholine inhalation, and mannitol inhalation. The response to mannitol was expressed as the dose causing a 15% decrease in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (PD15), and as the response-dose ratio (RDR) (% fall in FEV1/cumulative dose). RESULTS: Sixty-nine prepubertal children between the ages of 6 and 10 years were participated in the study. They comprised asthmatic children (n=40) and healthy (n=29). Twenty-two subjects (55.5%) with asthma had a positive mannitol bronchial provocation test (BPT) result. The body mass index (BMI) was higher in those asthmatics with positive mannitol BPTs than in asthmatics with negative mannitol BPTs and in the control group (19.30 kg/m2 vs. 17.60 kg/m2 vs. 17.93 kg/m2, P=0.035, P=0.046). Serum leptin levels were also significantly higher in asthmatics with positive mannitol BPTs than in asthmatics with negative mannitol BPTs and in the control group (10.58 ng/mL vs. 5.49 ng/mL vs. 6.75 ng/mL, P=0.002, P=0.016). Leptin values were significantly associated with a PD15 (r=-0.498, P=0.022) and RDR to mannitol (r=0.346, P=0.033) in asthmatic children after adjustment for BMI. CONCLUSION: Serum leptin levels were significantly associated with BHR to mannitol in asthmatic children.
Adipokines ; Asthma ; Body Mass Index ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Child* ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inhalation ; Leptin* ; Mannitol* ; Methacholine Chloride ; Obesity ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Risk Factors