BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginitis (BV) and Trichomonas vaginitis are the most frequently recurring infectious diseases in women. Therefore, accurate tests for post-treatment follow-up are required. A multiplex PCR assay allows for the simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in a single specimen. In this study, we assessed the clinical implications of multiplex PCR detection of fastidious microorganisms causing vaginitis. METHODS: A total of 216 vaginitis patients who presented to Chung-Ang University Yongsan Hospital with more than one positive result on multiplex PCR (Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Mycoplasma hominis (MH)) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Each patient's clinical symptoms, initial treatment and follow-up for BV, and other related test results were also retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: The most commonly reported symptom was abnormal discharge, followed by pruritis (73.1%), lower abdominal pain (38.4%), urination difficulties (13%), and others such as fever. According to the multiplex PCR results, there were 116 cases (35.8%) of MH, 86 cases (26.5%) of UU, 62 cases (19.1%) of CT, and 84 cases (38.9%) were mixed infections. Among those patients with single infections, treatment changed for 63 cases (65.6%) while treatment remained unchanged for 17 (17.7%) after PCR results were reported. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of BV using multiplex PCR is clinically effective and the results of which can be incorporated in antibiotic selection for patients with multiple sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Multiplex PCR may be especially helpful in the diagnosis of patients in whom the differentiation of STD pathogens is difficult using traditional methods.
Abdominal Pain ; Chlamydia trachomatis ; Coinfection ; Communicable Diseases ; Female ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Mycoplasma genitalium ; Mycoplasma hominis ; Neisseria gonorrhoeae ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pruritus ; Retrospective Studies ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; Trichomonas Vaginitis ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; Urination ; Vaginitis ; Vaginosis, Bacterial

No abstract available.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Child ; Chromosome Disorders/*diagnosis ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2 ; Gene Deletion ; Humans ; Male ; Matrix Attachment Region Binding Proteins/*genetics ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Republic of Korea ; Transcription Factors/*genetics

Candidemia due to uncommon Candida spp. appears to be increasing in incidence. C. dubliniensis has been increasingly recovered from individuals not infected with HIV. Identification of C. dubliniensis can be problematic in routine clinical practice due to its phenotypic resemblance to C. albicans. We report the first case of C. dubliniensis candidemia in Korea, which occurred in a 64-yr-old woman who presented with partial seizure, drowsiness, and recurrent fever. Germ-tube positive yeast that was isolated from blood and central venous catheter tip cultures formed smooth, white colonies on sheep blood agar and Sabouraud agar plates, indicative of Candida spp. C. dubliniensis was identified using the Vitek 2 system (bioMerieux, USA), latex agglutination, chromogenic agar, and multiplex PCR. The blood isolate was susceptible to flucytosine, fluconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B. After removal of the central venous catheter and initiation of fluconazole treatment, the patient's condition gradually improved, and she was cleared for discharge from our hospital. Both clinicians and microbiologists should be aware of predisposing factors to C. dubliniensis candidemia in order to promote early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Amphotericin B/pharmacology ; Antifungal Agents/pharmacology/therapeutic use ; Candida/drug effects/*isolation & purification ; Candidemia/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Female ; Fluconazole/pharmacology/therapeutic use ; Flucytosine/pharmacology ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Middle Aged ; Pyrimidines/pharmacology ; Triazoles/pharmacology

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma associated with chronic inflammation (DLBCL-CI), specifically arising in ileal neobladder, is a rare neoplasm. We present an unusual case of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)–positive DLBCL-CI arising within neobladder with detailed clinical, histological, and immunophenotypical features in an immunocompetent patient. An 88-year-old male was admitted for gross hematuria. He had undergone radical cystectomy and ileal neobladder 17 years ago for invasive bladder cancer. Computed tomography showed enhancing lesions on dome and posterior wall of neobladder with mucosal thickening and multiple enlarged retroperitoneal lymphadenopathies. Transurethralresection of neobladder lesion revealed the diffuse infiltration of large lymphoid cells which were positive for CD20, CD30, and multiple myeloma oncogen-1 with EBV-encoded small RNAs co-localizing, and diagnosis of EBV-positive DLBCL-CI was made. After multi-agent chemotherapy, the lesion disappeared. We suggest that clinicians should consider the possibility of DLBCL-CI in patients presented with hematuria during follow-up after bladder reconstruction.
Aged, 80 and over ; B-Lymphocytes ; Cystectomy ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Male ; Multiple Myeloma ; RNA ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

OBJECTIVE: Although clinical practice guidelines recommend oral vancomycin for hospitalized patients with severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), oral metronidazole is still the preferred regimen due to its tolerability and low cost. In this study, we aimed to compare the clinical efficacy based on clinical cure, recurrence, and 30-day mortality of oral metronidazole and oral vancomycin in treating severe CDI. METHODS: The medical records of patients with the diagnosis of severe CDI in a tertiary hospital in South Korea, between June, 2006 and December, 2013, were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 162 severe CDI patients were enrolled for this study: 139 received oral metronidazole and 23 received oral vancomycin. The rate of clinical cure was not significantly different between treatments (79.86% for oral metronidazole and 82.61% for oral vancomycin, P>0.99). The rate of recurrence was comparable (20.77% vs. 18.18% for metronidazole and vancomycin, respectively; P>0.99), as was the rate of 30-day mortality (9.35% vs. 4.35%, P=0.69). Risk factors for treatment failure were histamine-2 antagonist treatment (odds ratio [OR], 4.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64–11.51; P=0.0032) and fever (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.0–5.8; P=0.049). CONCLUSION: The clinical efficacy of oral metronidazole for severe CDI was no difference from oral vancomycin, in a real world setting. Oral metronidazole can be a reasonable option for treating severe CDI.
Clostridium difficile* ; Clostridium Infections ; Clostridium* ; Diagnosis ; Fever ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Metronidazole* ; Mortality ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Treatment Failure ; Treatment Outcome ; Vancomycin

No abstract available.
Bone Marrow* ; Isochromosomes* ; Lymphoma, B-Cell*

BACKGROUND: Infectious vaginitis is a common gynecologic disease that is primarily caused by three pathogens (Trichomonas vaginalis, Gardnerella vaginalis, and Candida species). The aim of this study was to confirm the effects of other infectious vaginitis-related test results on the interpretation of Gram stain and Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test results for disease diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 300 vaginal samples were collected from women presenting symptoms of vaginitis. The presence of the three previously mentioned pathogens was evaluated using both a Gram stain and Pap smear test, and interpreted twice by 4 different observers. The first interpretation was performed without any information, and a second interpretation was performed with knowledge of results of an Affirm VPIII test that was used to diagnose infectious vaginitis. The results from the two interpretations were compared and the sensitivity and specificity of both tests were evaluated. RESULTS: For the Gram stain samples, the detection rates of G. vaginalis were increased in the second interpretation by 6.2%, while the detection rates of Candida spp. were decreased by 0.3%. For the Pap smear test samples, the detection rates of G. vaginalis were increased in the second interpretation by 7.0%, and the detection rates of Candida spp. were increased by 2.0%. The sensitivity of both tests was increased in the second interpretation by 5.5% to 66.7%. There was no difference in the specificity between the two interpretations. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that there is significant inter-observer variation when using Gram stain and Pap smear test results to diagnose infectious vaginitis. The detection rates and sensitivity of both tests changed when the results from an additional test were incorporated into the interpretation. Additional studies are needed to develop objective criteria and a standardized interpretation system for the evaluation of results from these diagnostic tests.
Candida ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Female ; Gardnerella vaginalis ; Genital Diseases, Female ; Humans ; Knowledge of Results (Psychology) ; Observer Variation ; Papanicolaou Test* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vaginitis*

We report the case of a patient with gastric adenocarcinoma with multiple liver metastases. This patient showed complete remission for more than 68 months after S-1/cisplatin combination chemotherapy and radical total gastrectomy. The patient, a 63-year-old man, presented with dyspepsia and difficulty in swallowing. Endoscopic findings showed a huge ulcero-infiltrative mass at the lesser curvature of the mid-body, extending to the distal esophagus. Biopsy revealed a poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. An abdominal computed tomography scan demonstrated multiple hepatic metastases. S-1/cisplatin combination chemotherapy was initiated, and following completion of six cycles of chemotherapy, the gastric masses and hepatic metastatic lesions had disappeared on abdominal computed tomography. Radical total gastrectomy and D2 lymphadenectomy combined with splenectomy were performed. The patient underwent three cycles of S-1/cisplatin combination chemotherapy followed by tegafur-uracil therapy for 1 year. He remained in complete remission for more than 68 months after surgery.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Biopsy ; Cisplatin ; Deglutition ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Dyspepsia ; Esophagus ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Liver* ; Lymph Node Excision ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Splenectomy ; Stomach Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: All over the world, chromosomal microarray (CMA) is now the first tier diagnostic assay for genetic testing to evaluate developmental delay (DD), mental retardation (MR), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with unknown etiology. The average diagnostic yield of the CMA test is known to be about 12.2%, while that of conventional G-banding karyotype is below 3%. This study aimed to assess the usefulness of CMA for the purpose of clinical diagnostic testing in the Korean population. METHODS: We performed CMA and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) tests in 96 patients with normal karyotype and unexplained DD, MR, or ASD. The CMA was conducted with CytoScan 750K array (Affymetrix, USA) with an average resolution of 100 kb. RESULTS: Pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) were detected in 15 patients by CMA and in two patients by MLPA for four known microdeletion syndromes (Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome, DiGeorge syndrome, Miller-Dieker syndrome and Williams syndrome) designated by National Health Insurance system in Korea. The diagnostic yield was 15.6% and 2.1%, respectively. Thirteen (13.5%) patients (excluding cases with pathogenic CNVs) had variants of uncertain clinical significance. There was one patient with a 17.1-megabase (Mb) region of homozygosity on chromosome 4q. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the necessity of CMA as a routine diagnostic test for unexplained DD, MR, and ASD in Korea.
Child ; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive ; Classical Lissencephalies and Subcortical Band Heterotopias ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; DiGeorge Syndrome ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Karyotype ; Korea ; Microarray Analysis* ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; National Health Programs

We report a rare case of multiple myeloma with biclonal gammopathy (IgG kappa and IgA lambda type) in a 58-year-old man with prostate cancer who presented with lower back pain. Through computed tomography (CT) imaging, an osteolytic lesion at the L3 vertebra and an enhancing lesion of the prostate gland with multiple lymphadenopathies were found. In the whole body positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), an additional osteoblastic bone lesion was found in the left ischial bone. A prostate biopsy was performed, and adenocarcinoma was confirmed. Decompression surgery of the L3 vertebra was conducted, and the pathologic result indicated that the lesion was a plasma cell neoplasm. Immunofixation electrophoresis showed the presence of biclonal gammopathy (IgG kappa and IgA lambda). Bone marrow plasma cells (CD138 positive cells) comprised 7.2% of nucleated cells and showed kappa positivity. We started radiation therapy for the L3 vertebra lesion, with a total dose of 3,940 cGy, and androgen deprivation therapy as treatment for the prostate cancer.
Adenocarcinoma/complications/*diagnosis/radiotherapy ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Cells/metabolism/pathology ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Immunoelectrophoresis ; Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains/blood ; Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prostatic Neoplasms/complications/*diagnosis/radiotherapy ; Spine/pathology ; Syndecan-1/metabolism ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed