Background/Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is increasing in South Korea. On the other hand, there are no reports of the incidence and prevalence of IBD specific to Jeju Island, prompting the necessity of this study. Methods: In this retrospective design, the medical records of 453 patients diagnosed with IBD at Jeju National University Hospital from January 1990 to December 2019 were analyzed. Results: Of the 453 IBD subjects (165 CD, 288 UC) included, the UC: CD ratio was 1.75:1. The incidence of IBD increased continuously from 0.19/105 in 1990 to 6.39/105 in 2017 and after that decreased to 4.92/105 in 2019. The male:female ratio was 2.24:1 for CD and 1.29:1 for UC. In the CD subjects, the disease activity included remission (33.3%), mild (25.5%), moderate (30.9%), and severe (6.1%). In UC subjects, the disease activity included remission (24.0%), mild (35.4%), moderate (28.8%), and severe (6.2%). According to the Montreal classification, the cases were as follows: CD: terminal ileum (22.4%), colon (9.7%), ileocolon (66.1%), and upper gastrointestinal involvement (27.3%), and perianal fistula/abscess was present in 43.6% of subjects before or at diagnosis: UC: proctitis (43.4%), left-sided colitis (29.1%), and pancolitis (23.3%) at diagnosis. Conclusions The incidence of IBD on Jeju Island has increased steadily for approximately 30 years but has exhibited a decline since 2017. Therefore, the incidence of IBD in Jeju is believed to have plateaued. Further study will be needed for clarification. (Korean J Gastroenterol 2023;81:243-252)

Clinicians should pay close attention to the potential risk of coronary vasospasm, even cardiac arrest, after sugammadex administration.

HemoHIM was used as a Korean traditional medicine for anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. However, there is no study on the effect of HemoHIM on fatigue. We examined the potential use of HemoHIM to determine whether it can induce anti-fatigue effects. Mice were administered with HemoHIM and VEH for 14 days. On the last day of treatment, mice were subjected to behavioral tests. Subsequently, their plasma and muscle were collected after the treadmill test to measure lactate, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ammonia, corticosterone, glycogen, and creatine kinase (CK). We found that HemoHIM moderately increased the running time (s) in the treadmill and mobility duration in the cold swimming tests. In addition, the VEH group showed a significant increase in lactate, LDH, and corticosterone levels in the plasma compared to the group that did not perform the test. However, this was moderately reduced in HemoHIM treatment. Moreover, the HemoHIMtreated group showed significant differences in LDH and glycogen levels, and showed significantly different CK levels in the muscle. HemoHIM is considered to be effective in improving fatigue, given the duration of cold swimming or running time on a treadmill. Also, HemoHIM treatment resulted in reduced concentrations of blood and muscle parameter analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present study evaluated the results of skin prick test using 55 allergens at 20 centers in the Republic of Korea in 2006, 2010, and 2014–2015. The aim was to assess changes in the positive rate of allergens according to temporal, regional, and environmental factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 20 hospitals were selected based on the population distribution in the Republic of Korea. A skin prick test panel comprising 55 aeroallergens was distributed to 18 hospitals for this prospective study. The 2006 and 2010 skin prick test results were collected and analyzed retrospectively from 20 hospitals, while the 2014/2015 skin prick test results (from June 2014 to May 2015) were collected prospectively from 18 hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 14,897 SPT test results were analyzed: 4,319 in 2006, 7,431 in 2010, and 1,852 in 2014/2015. The overall rate of skin prick test positivity to more than two allergens was significantly higher in males than females. The positive rates of alder pollens and birch, oak and ragweed pollen positivity were increased in older patients. Several positive rates were increased according to the temperature in spring. The positive rates for beech pollen, birch pollen, hazel pollen, oak pollen, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, mugwort, cat, Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae were significantly increased, while those of Cult rye pollen and dandelion were significantly decreased over the three test periods. The overall positive rate for allergens in Jeju province varied significantly from Seoul and other cities. CONCLUSION: Change in the positive rate of multiple aeroallergens was evaluated in the Republic of Korea over time. Our findings can be used to recommend aeroallergens suitable for inclusion in skin prick test panels in the Republic of Korea and will facilitate further investigation of changes in the patterns of allergic diseases.
Allergens* ; Alnus ; Ambrosia ; Animals ; Artemisia ; Betula ; Cats ; Demography ; Fagus ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Mites ; Pollen ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Secale ; Seoul ; Skin* ; Taraxacum

Hamamelis japonica (Hamamelidaceae), widely known as Japanese witch hazel, is a deciduous flowering shrub that produces compact clumps of yellow or orange-red flowers with long and thin petals. As a part of our ongoing search for phenolic constituents from this plant, eleven phenolic constituents including six flavonol glycosides, a chalcone glycoside, two coumaroyl flavonol glycosides and two galloylated compounds were isolated from the flowers. Their structures were elucidated as methyl gallate (1), myricitrin (2), hyperoside (3), isoquercitrin (4), quercitrin (5), spiraeoside (6), kaempferol 4'-O-beta-glucopyranoside (7), chalcononaringenin 2'-O-beta-glucopyranoside (8), trans-tiliroside (9), cis-tiliroside (10), and pentagalloyl-O-beta-D-glucose (11), respectively. These structures of the compounds were identified on the basis of spectroscopic studies including the on-line LCNMR- MS and conventional NMR techniques. Particularly, directly coupled LC-NMR-MS afforded sufficient structural information rapidly to identify three flavonol glycosides (2 - 4) with the same molecular weight in an extract of Hamamelis japonica flowers without laborious fractionation and purification step. Cytotoxic effects of all the isolated phenolic compounds were evaluated on HCT116 human colon cancer cells, and pentagalloyl-O-beta-D-glucose (11) was found to be significantly potent in inhibiting cancer cell growth.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chalcone ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Flowers* ; Glycosides ; Hamamelis* ; Humans ; Molecular Weight ; Phenol* ; Plants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is necessary to establish the most efficient diagnostic and therapeutic method for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which is appropriate for Korean healthcare system. We aimed to evaluate current state of Korean clinician's diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for BPPV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 16-item survey was emailed to the members of dizziness department of Otology Research Interest Group in the Korean Otologic Society (n=68). 43 were returned and analyzed. RESULTS: All respondents (100%) used Dix-Hallpike test as a diagnostic tool for vertical canal-BPPV. Supine roll test was used for diagnosing lateral canal BPPV in nearly all the respondents (97.7%). Epley maneuver was chosen as otolith repositioning maneuver (ORM) for posterior canal BPPV in all respondents and barbecue rotation (BBQ) was used for treating lateral canal BPPV with geotropic nystagmus in 95.3% of respondents. Extreme variation was noted for therapeutic approach of lateral canal BPPV with ageotropic nystagmus BBQ, with 4 kinds of ORM and adjunctive measures to liberate otolith from cupula, while BBQ was again the most commonly used ORM (76.7%). CONCLUSION: The development of practical and efficient ORM for lateral canal BPPV with ageotropic nystagmus is necessary.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dizziness ; Electronic Mail ; Korea ; Otolaryngology ; Otolithic Membrane ; Public Opinion ; Vertigo

The present study was carried out to examine the toxicity and target organs of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) after repeated oral administration in Sprague-Dawley rats for 6 weeks (3 administrations, once every 2 weeks). OCV is an inactivated oral cholera vaccine that contains Vibrio cholerae and confers protection against cholera caused by V. cholera serogroups O1 (Inaba and Ogawa serotypes) and O139 (strain 4260B). The animals were orally administered either OCV placebo (negative control) or OCV at a dose equivalent to 240 times the anticipated human dose. Throughout the administration period, no significant change was detected in clinical signs, body weight, food or water consumption, urinalysis results, hematological and clinical biochemistry test results, organ weights, necropsy, or histopathological examination results. Minor changes were found in hematological and clinical biochemistry tests; however, these changes were within normal ranges. The above results suggest that oral administration of OCV in rats did not induce any toxicologically meaningful changes, and the target organs could not be determined. This study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines established by Good Laboratory Practice (2009-183, KFDA, December 22, 2009) and the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (1997).
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Biochemistry ; Body Weight ; Cholera ; Drinking ; Humans ; Organ Size ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reference Values ; Urinalysis ; Vibrio cholerae

We report a case of prenatally diagnosed congenital perineal mass which was combined with anorectal malformation. The mass was successfully treated with posterior sagittal anorectoplasty postnatally. On ultrasound examination at a gestational age of 23 weeks the fetal perineal mass were found on the right side. Any other defects were not visible on ultrasonography during whole gestation. Amniocentesis was performed to evaluate the fetal karyotyping and acetylcholinesterase which were also normal. As the fetus grew up, the mass size was slowly increased more and more. At birth, a female neonate had a perineal mass on the right side as expected. During operation, the anal sphincteric displacement was found near the mass and reconstructed through posterior sagittal incision. This is the first reported case of prenatally diagnosed congenital perineal mass, after birth which was diagnosed as lipoblastoma and even combined with anorectal malformation. This case shows that it can be of clinical importance to be aware of this rare fetal perineal mass in prenatal diagnosis and counseling.
Adult ; Amniocentesis ; *Anal Canal/abnormalities/pathology/ultrasonography ; *Digestive System Abnormalities/diagnosis/pathology/ultrasonography ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; *Lipoma/diagnosis/pathology/ultrasonography ; Male ; *Perineum/pathology/ultrasonography ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; *Rectal Neoplasms/diagnosis/pathology/ultrasonography ; *Rectum/abnormalities/pathology/ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal/*methods

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence and clinical features of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Korea. METHODS: Web-based (www.armd-nova.or.kr) registration was conducted for AMD patients aged 50 or more who were newly diagnosed by retinal specialists in Korea from August 20, 2005 to August 20, 2006. Patient data including ophthalmologic examination, fundus photography, fluorescein angiogram and/or indocyanin green angiogram (ICG), past medical history, behavioral habit, combined systemic diseases were up-loaded. RESULTS: Among finally enrolled 1,141 newly diagnosed AMD patients, 690 patients (60.5%) were male and 451 patients (39.5%) were female. The average age of AMD patients was 69.7+/-8.0. Early AMD was observed in 190 patients and 951 patients had late AMD. Classic choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) was observed in 18.6% of exudative AMD patients and 63.4 % had occult CNVM. Subfoveal CNVM was observed in 80.4% of the patients with CNVM. Among the 580 exudative AMD eyes that performed indocyanin green angiography (ICG), 184 eyes (31.7%) had polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and 36 eyes (6.2%) showed retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). Age, male gender, smoking, diabetes and hypertension significantly increased the risk of the AMD among Koreans. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the low rate of participation by retinal specialists, definite incidence of AMD was not obtainable. However, the estimated 1-year AMD incidence in the Pusan area of Korea is at least 0.4%. In contrast to Western people, 31.7% of exudative AMD cases were revealed to be PCV and 6.2% were revealed to be RAP. This discrepancy between ethnic groups should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment modality selection of Korean AMD patients.
Aged ; Angiography ; Choroid ; Ethnic Groups ; Eye ; Female ; Fluorescein ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Korea ; Macular Degeneration ; Male ; Membranes ; Photography ; Retinaldehyde ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Specialization

PURPOSE: Few studies have compared the outcomes, complications and revision rate of a total elbow replacement (TER) prosthetic design. This study examined a series of patients with semiconstrained and unconstrained total elbow replacements (TER) and evaluated them for any functional differences, complications and revision rates that might be attributable to the prosthetic design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total 78 cases of primary TER was performed in 71 patients. Their mean age at TER was 54 years. The causes of TER were rheumatoid arthritis in 42, post-traumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis 24 and 5 patients, respectively. Unconstrained and semiconstrained TER was employed in 35 and 43 cases, respectively. The end results of TER by the Mayo elbow performance score (MEPS), their elbow range of motion before and after surgery, their complications and revision rates after an average 13 year follow-up were evaluated. RESULTS: The MEPS was improved from 33 points pre-operatively to 87 points post-operatively (p<0.001). Active flexion-extension elbow motions were also improved markedly from 27degrees-86degrees pre-operatively to 16degrees-128degrees postoperatively (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the semiconstrained and unconstrained TER in the post-operative MEPS (p=0.764) and range of motion (p=0.728). The complication rate was much higher in the unconstrained groups than in the semiconstrained group (p=0.014). The mean total revision rate was 29.5%. There was no significant difference in revision rate between the unconstrained and semiconstrained groups (p=0.402). Loosening was found in a total of 12 cases (15.4%). There was also no significant difference in loosening between the semiconstrained and unconstrained groups (p=0.382). CONCLUSION: Favorable results of MEPS and elbow motion were obtained in both the unconstrained and semiconstrained types after an average 13 year follow up after TER. However, the semiconstrained type of TER showed a lower complication rate than the unconstrained type of TER.
Arthritis ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Elbow ; Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Osteoarthritis ; Prostheses and Implants ; Range of Motion, Articular