No abstract available.
Angioedema*

Globally, the prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) has significantly increased. Consequently, interest in non-pharmacological treatment approaches has risen.Current Concepts: Nutritional and immunological status plays a pivotal role in the onset, treatment, and prognosis of NTM-PD. A lower body mass index is associated with an increased disease risk. Reduced abdominal fat and hypoalbuminemia have also been linked to the progression of NTM-PD. As a result, nutritional therapy aims to overcome underweight and meet energy, protein, and micronutrient requirements. In addition, exercise, and respiratory rehabilitation are essential for patients. Moderate aerobic and strength training is recommended, while strenuous activities need to be avoided, especially in cases of hemoptysis. Environmental management includes minimizing exposure to potential NTM sources like aerosols from showers, public baths, and gardening. Recommendations include regular cleaning of showerheads, adequate bathroom ventilation, and avoiding public baths and indoor swimming. For patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, consuming water boiled for at least 10 minutes is advised.Discussion and Conclusion: Although antibiotics remain central to NTM-PD treatment, they may not be suitable for every patient due to their potential side effects. Therefore, a comprehensive approach encompassing nutritional management, exercise, and environmental control is essential. Continued research into developing non-pharmacological interventions remains vital for holistic treatment strategies to address NTM-PD.

Purpose: Disseminated nontuberculous mycobacterial (D-NTM) disease occurs primarily in immunocompromised hosts. However, these cases have rarely been reported in South Korea. This study aimed to describe the clinical manifestations, disease course, and underlying immune deficiencies of patients with D-NTM disease. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of D-NTM disease from January 2005 to December 2019 at a tertiary referral hospital in South Korea. D-NTM disease was defined as a bloodstream infection or infection of two or more non-contiguous body organs with species identification. Results: Of the 53342 mycobacterial samples from 23338 patients, extrapulmonary NTM was detected in 104 patients, and 3 (2.9%) were diagnosed with D-NTM disease. Mycobacterium avium was isolated from two patients, while M. abscessus subspecies abscessus was identified in one. The patients were aged between 18 and 25 years, and two patients were male. All patients were immunocompromised – one received lung transplantation, one was diagnosed with anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with T-cell immune deficiency, and one had monocytopenia and mycobacterial infection syndrome associated with GATA2 mutations. All patients underwent a standard macrolide-based regimen for >5 months, and their sputum tested negative. However, one patient died of bacterial sepsis, while the other two survived. Conclusion D-NTM disease is rare in a tertiary referral center in South Korea. They occur primarily in immunocompromised patients at a relatively young age. Careful investigation of the underlying immune status is required when treating patients with DNTM disease.

Brain metastasis affects one third of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer after treatment with trastuzumab. Surgical resection and radiation therapy are often unsuccessful at accomplishing complete control of metastasis. Lapatinib is presumed to cross the blood-brain barrier, and exhibits clinical activities for treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. A 43-year-old woman was treated for early breast carcinoma with total mastectomy, axillary lymph-node dissection, and adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide plus doxorubicin. After the end of adjuvant trastuzumab therapy, she was diagnosed with panhypopituitarism due to pituitary metastasis. Surgical removal and whole brain radiation therapy were performed, but a portion of viable tumor remained. Only taking lapatinib, the size of the metastatic lesion began to shrink. Trastuzumab may have controlled the micro-metastasis of breast cancer, but it was unable to control its progression to the central nervous system. Lapatinib is a possible option for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients with brain metastasis.
Adult ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Brain ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Central Nervous System ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cyclophosphamide ; Doxorubicin ; Female ; Humans ; Hypopituitarism ; Mastectomy, Simple ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

Digital technologies have emerged in various dimensions of human life, ranging from education to professional services to wellbeing. In particular, health products and services have expanded by the use and development of artificial intelligence, mobile health applications, and wearable electronic devices. Such advancements have enabled accurate and updated tracking and modeling of health conditions. For instance, digital health technologies are capable of measuring environmental pollution and predicting its adverse health effects. Several health conditions, including chronic airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, can be exacerbated by pollution. These diseases impose substantial health burdens with high morbidity and mortality. Recently, efforts have been made to develop digital technologies to alleviate such conditions. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has facilitated the application of telemedicine and telemonitoring for patients with chronic airway diseases. This article reviews current trends and studies in digital technology utilization for investigating and managing environmental exposure and chronic airway diseases. First, we discussed the recent progression of digital technologies in general environmental healthcare. Then, we summarized the capacity of digital technologies in predicting exacerbation and self-management of airway diseases. Concluding these reviews, we provided suggestions to improve digital health technologies’ abilities to reduce the adverse effects of environmental exposure in chronic airway diseases, based on personal exposure-response modeling.

Background/Aims: Although the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), a chronic infectious disease, is increasing, lung and gut microbiota dysbiosis in NTM patients has rarely been studied and was therefore the focus of this study. Methods: We analyzed the microbiota diversity in sputum and stool samples from 10 healthy subjects and 10 patients with NTM-PD through sequencing of the V3 and V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene. In NTM-PD patients, we comparatively evaluated the microbiota diversity according to the body mass index (BMI), with BMI ≤ 18.5 kg/m2 defined as “underweight” and BMI > 18.5 kg/m2 as “others.” Results: The sputum microbiota from NTM-PD patients tended to have lower index values of amplicon sequence variant richness, Shannon evenness, and beta diversity than those from the control group. Furthermore, NTM-PD patients with a low BMI had a lower microbiota diversity than patients with high BMI. Fecal samples from NTM-PD patients also significantly differed in alpha and beta diversity compared with the control group and exhibited a diversity pattern similar to that found in sputum samples. Conclusions Our results reveal that the lung and gut microbiota of patients with NTM-PD exhibit an altered distribution and reduced richness and diversity.

Background: Current research on nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is multidisciplinary, necessitating proper organization to obtain comprehensive insight. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify NTM research characteristics in South Korea. Methods: The Web of Science was searched for NTM articles authored by Koreans at Korean institutions until March 2023. We collected data on authors, publication year, article type, study design, research area, citations, research institutes, and funding sources. Results: Of the 28,092 articles on NTM, Koreans authored 868. After excluding 167 unrelated studies, 701 relevant articles were analyzed. The first study was from 1992, with publication rates markedly increasing from 2004 onward. Basic research constituted 41.3% (n=290) of the papers, whereas clinical research represented 44.7% (n=313). Basic research consisted mostly of biochemistry studies (n=73, 10.4%), whereas clinical research primarily involved retrospective studies (n=118, 16.8%). Fifty-four institutions participated in NTM research, with the top five contributing to 71% (n=498) of the publications. The National Research Foundation of Korea was the most significant funding source, supporting 181 studies (32.5% of funded articles). Citation analysis revealed a median citation count of 10 (interquartile range, 3 to 13), with clinical research dominating the top-cited articles and a rise in publications in high-impact journals over time. Conclusion The quality and quantity of NTM research in South Korea has improved. However, it is concentrated in a few institutions and is largely funded by a few sources. Future research should use more diverse funding sources, be conducted in more institutions, and prioritize prospective study designs to enhance the understanding and treatment of NTM.

Background: Current research on nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is multidisciplinary, necessitating proper organization to obtain comprehensive insight. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify NTM research characteristics in South Korea. Methods: The Web of Science was searched for NTM articles authored by Koreans at Korean institutions until March 2023. We collected data on authors, publication year, article type, study design, research area, citations, research institutes, and funding sources. Results: Of the 28,092 articles on NTM, Koreans authored 868. After excluding 167 unrelated studies, 701 relevant articles were analyzed. The first study was from 1992, with publication rates markedly increasing from 2004 onward. Basic research constituted 41.3% (n=290) of the papers, whereas clinical research represented 44.7% (n=313). Basic research consisted mostly of biochemistry studies (n=73, 10.4%), whereas clinical research primarily involved retrospective studies (n=118, 16.8%). Fifty-four institutions participated in NTM research, with the top five contributing to 71% (n=498) of the publications. The National Research Foundation of Korea was the most significant funding source, supporting 181 studies (32.5% of funded articles). Citation analysis revealed a median citation count of 10 (interquartile range, 3 to 13), with clinical research dominating the top-cited articles and a rise in publications in high-impact journals over time. Conclusion The quality and quantity of NTM research in South Korea has improved. However, it is concentrated in a few institutions and is largely funded by a few sources. Future research should use more diverse funding sources, be conducted in more institutions, and prioritize prospective study designs to enhance the understanding and treatment of NTM.

Background: Current research on nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is multidisciplinary, necessitating proper organization to obtain comprehensive insight. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify NTM research characteristics in South Korea. Methods: The Web of Science was searched for NTM articles authored by Koreans at Korean institutions until March 2023. We collected data on authors, publication year, article type, study design, research area, citations, research institutes, and funding sources. Results: Of the 28,092 articles on NTM, Koreans authored 868. After excluding 167 unrelated studies, 701 relevant articles were analyzed. The first study was from 1992, with publication rates markedly increasing from 2004 onward. Basic research constituted 41.3% (n=290) of the papers, whereas clinical research represented 44.7% (n=313). Basic research consisted mostly of biochemistry studies (n=73, 10.4%), whereas clinical research primarily involved retrospective studies (n=118, 16.8%). Fifty-four institutions participated in NTM research, with the top five contributing to 71% (n=498) of the publications. The National Research Foundation of Korea was the most significant funding source, supporting 181 studies (32.5% of funded articles). Citation analysis revealed a median citation count of 10 (interquartile range, 3 to 13), with clinical research dominating the top-cited articles and a rise in publications in high-impact journals over time. Conclusion The quality and quantity of NTM research in South Korea has improved. However, it is concentrated in a few institutions and is largely funded by a few sources. Future research should use more diverse funding sources, be conducted in more institutions, and prioritize prospective study designs to enhance the understanding and treatment of NTM.

Background: Current research on nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is multidisciplinary, necessitating proper organization to obtain comprehensive insight. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify NTM research characteristics in South Korea. Methods: The Web of Science was searched for NTM articles authored by Koreans at Korean institutions until March 2023. We collected data on authors, publication year, article type, study design, research area, citations, research institutes, and funding sources. Results: Of the 28,092 articles on NTM, Koreans authored 868. After excluding 167 unrelated studies, 701 relevant articles were analyzed. The first study was from 1992, with publication rates markedly increasing from 2004 onward. Basic research constituted 41.3% (n=290) of the papers, whereas clinical research represented 44.7% (n=313). Basic research consisted mostly of biochemistry studies (n=73, 10.4%), whereas clinical research primarily involved retrospective studies (n=118, 16.8%). Fifty-four institutions participated in NTM research, with the top five contributing to 71% (n=498) of the publications. The National Research Foundation of Korea was the most significant funding source, supporting 181 studies (32.5% of funded articles). Citation analysis revealed a median citation count of 10 (interquartile range, 3 to 13), with clinical research dominating the top-cited articles and a rise in publications in high-impact journals over time. Conclusion The quality and quantity of NTM research in South Korea has improved. However, it is concentrated in a few institutions and is largely funded by a few sources. Future research should use more diverse funding sources, be conducted in more institutions, and prioritize prospective study designs to enhance the understanding and treatment of NTM.