Background: Atherogenic dyslipidemia, which is frequently associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and insulin resistance, contributes to the development of vascular complications. Statin therapy is the primary approach to dyslipidemia management in T2D, however, the role of non-statin therapy remains unclear. Ezetimibe reduces cholesterol burden by inhibiting intestinal cholesterol absorption. Fibrates lower triglyceride levels and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels via peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor alpha agonism. Therefore, when combined, these drugs effectively lower non-HDL-C levels. Despite this, few clinical trials have specifically targeted non-HDL-C, and the efficacy of triple combination therapies, including statins, ezetimibe, and fibrates, has yet to be determined. Methods: This is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, active-comparator controlled trial involving 3,958 eligible participants with T2D, cardiovascular risk factors, and elevated non-HDL-C (≥100 mg/dL). Participants, already on moderate-intensity statins, will be randomly assigned to either Ezefeno (ezetimibe/fenofibrate) addition or statin dose-escalation. The primary end point is the development of a composite of major adverse cardiovascular and diabetic microvascular events over 48 months. Conclusion This trial aims to assess whether combining statins, ezetimibe, and fenofibrate is as effective as, or possibly superior to, statin monotherapy intensification in lowering cardiovascular and microvascular disease risk for patients with T2D. This could propose a novel therapeutic approach for managing dyslipidemia in T2D.

Postoperative infections following spine surgery are usually attributable to bacterial organisms. Staphylococcus aureus is known to be the most common single pathogen leading to this infection, and the number of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is increasing. However, there is a paucity of literature addressing postoperative infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We encountered a case of tuberculous spondylitis after spine surgery. A man had fever with low back pain three weeks after posterior interbody fusion with instrumentation for a herniated intervertebral disc at the L4-L5 level. He had been treated with antibiotics for an extended period of time under the impression that he had a bacterial infection, but his symptoms and laboratory data had not improved. Polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis turned out to be positive. The patient's symptoms finally improved when he was treated with antituberculosis medication.
Adult ; Humans ; Low Back Pain/etiology ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery ; Male ; Postoperative Complications/*microbiology ; Spondylitis/etiology/*microbiology ; Thoracic Vertebrae/*microbiology/pathology ; Tuberculosis/drug therapy/*microbiology ; Tuberculosis, Spinal/complications/drug therapy/*microbiology

PURPOSE: Due to its size and locatin, the liver is frequently injured in abdominal trauma. Recently, nonoperative management for liver injuries has been extended due to the development CT imaging, intensive care units, and their equipment and techniques. Herein, patients with traumatic liver injury were analyzed to evaluate its treatment and prognostic factors. METHODS: From 2001, January to 2003, July, 65 patients at our facility were confirmed to have traumatic liver injury. The operative or nonoperative managements were decided on the basis of the systolic blood pressure if no peritoneal irritation sign was noted. If the systolic blood pressure was stable, or recovered to within the normal range following hydration and transfusion at the emergency room, patients were managed nonoperatively. Hemodynamically unstable patients were managed operatively. The data were analysed using the SPSS program (Chi-squared tests and logistic regression analyses). RESULTS: 48 patients were treated nonoperatively, with 3 mortalities. The overall mortality rate was 15.8%, but only 6.4% in the nonoperative management group, compared to 67% in operative management group. In a Multivariate analysis the systolic blood pressure was found to be a reliable factor in traumatic liver injury and the mentality and ISS (injury severity score) reliable in finding complications in the nonoperative management group. The mentality was found statistically reliable for determining mortality in the operative management group, with the exception for the systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION: The systolic blood pressure was an important indicator when considering the treatment plan in traumatic liver injury. An extensive study will be required that incorporates both nonoperative and operative management groups.
Blood Pressure ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Liver* ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Reference Values

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis can be associated with ingestion of a specific food. We experienced a case of exercise-induced anaphylaxis followed by ingestion of parsely. A 22- year old female patient was presented with angioedema of the face and chest tightness induced by running after ingestion of parsley within 15 minutes. She had suffered from allergic rhinitis. She had positive reactions to mugwort pollen and parsely extract on skin prick test in a dose dependent manner. Although the oral provocation test with parsely could not induce bronchoconstriction, we could diagnosed as parsely dependent exercise induced anaphylaxis based upon skin prick test and history.
Anaphylaxis ; Angioedema ; Artemisia ; Bronchoconstriction ; Eating ; Female ; Humans ; Petroselinum ; Pollen ; Rhinitis ; Running ; Skin ; Thorax

Hughes-Stovin Syndrome is an exceedingly rare combination of distal pulmonary arterial aneurysm and deep vein thrombosis, mostly found in young patients. There are striking similarities between the vascular manifestation of Behcet's disease and Hughes-Stovin Syndrome. It has been suggested that they may have a similar pathogenesis. Most patients died of massive hemoptysis due to rupture of aneurysm. Recently we have experienced the first case of Hughes-Stovin Syndrome in Korea. A 37 year old male patient was admitted because of recurrent hemoptysis and intermittent fever. He had a history of recurrent aphthous ulcers and erythema nodosum-like skin rash, But no other findings of Behcet's disease was found. Angiography showed multiple pulmonary arterial aneurysm and deep vein thrombosis in Right lower extremity. Histologic examination of specimens of open lung biopsy revealed leukocyto- clastic angiitis. Pulmonary arterial aneurysms were successfully treated by coil embolization and he is in good condition with corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide therapy.
Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Biopsy ; Cyclophosphamide ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Erythema ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Korea ; Lower Extremity ; Lung ; Male ; Rupture ; Stomatitis, Aphthous ; Strikes, Employee ; Vasculitis ; Venous Thrombosis

BACKGROUND: In case of tuberculous pneumonia, differentiation from bacterial lobar pneumonia is sometimes very difficult because clinical symptoms, signs and radiological images are very similar. So we investigated the usefulness of CA125, which is known to increase in tuberculous diseases, in differential diagnosis between tuberculous pneumonia (TBPN) and community acquired bacterial lobar pneumonia (LP). METHODS: Serum CA125 level was measured in 20 patients with TBPN (female 12 male 8: mean age 36.1 years) and 14 patients with LP (female 5 male 9: mean age 45.1 years) by radioimmunoassay (Centocor(R) CA125 RIA kit). RESULTS: 1) The serum CA125 level in TBPN (333.7 283.5 u/ml) was higher than in LP (60.9 66.2 u/ml). (P < 0.05) 2) If we took cut-off value as 195 u/ml in differential diagnosis between TBPN and LP, the sensitivity and specificity of CA125 level in the diagnosis of TBPN were 70% and 93%, respectively. 3) There was no significant difference in serum CA125 level between noncavitary TBPN (242.1 +/- 16.6 u/ml,n=10) and cavitary TBPN (399.6 +/- 318.4 u/ml,n=10). (P > 0.05) 4) Following up of serum CA125 level after initiation of antituberculosis treatment showed rapid decline and approach to near normal range in 6 months. CONCLUSION: High serum CA125 level (> 195 u/ml) was useful in differential diagnosis of TBPN from LP.
Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumonia* ; Radioimmunoassay ; Reference Values ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Background: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis(MDR-Tb) has been increased not only in Asia but also in Western society, which may cause public health problems and reduce the efficacy of treatment of tuberculosis. In Western society HIV infection is believed to do a central role in increasing incidence of MDR tuberculosis, but MDR-Tb in Korea may be somewhat different about clinical features, underlying disorders, and prognosis. Goble et al reported that overall treatment failure rate in MDR-Tb including resistance to isoniazid(INH) and rifampin(RFP) was 44%. The aim of this study is to find the treatment result in Korea and the factors determining the prognosis. Methods: A retrospective study of pulmonary tuberculosis cultured M. tuberculosis from sputum or bronchial washing fluid between 1986 through 1992 was conducted in the Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University. We reviewed clinical courses of 141 patients, who had a tuberculosis with resistance to 2 or more drugs including isoniazid(INH) and rifampin(RFP). One hundred and 4 patients of 141 patients had completed treatment and followed up for more than one year. Results: Of 104 (mean age 43.6+/-16.7, M: F=63: 41) patients with sufficient follow-up data, 73(84.6%) patients responded which is defined as negative sputum cultures for at least 3 consecutive months. Seven patients(6.7%) had a failure in negative conversion and 9(8.7%) of the patients who initially responded relapsed. Overall treatment failure rate was 15.4%. Patients who were treated for less than 12 months had a higher relapse rate(12.3%) than 18 months(4.9%). And there was a statistically significant correlation between the relapse rate and the number of drugs to which isolates wera resistant(p<0.05). Conclusion: The treatment failure rate of MDR-Tb in Korea was lower than previous studies in western country and the major determining factor of prognosis was the number of resistant drugs to M. tuberculosis at drug sensitivity test. For reducing the relapse rate, we recommend more than 12 months of treatment for MDR tuberculosis.
Asia ; Follow-Up Studies ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Prognosis ; Public Health ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Sputum ; Treatment Failure ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

The obstruction of inferior vena cava(IVC) is uncommon condition. The classification is based on the obstructive sites of major anatomic segments of IVC. The main collateral pathways of interruption of IVC were central channels through ascending lumbar veins, intervertebral veins and azygos-hemiazygos complex. However, the complete obstruction of mid-portion of IVC, accompanying collateral cirulation with pericardiacophrenic vein was rarely reported. We had experienced a case of complete obstruction of mid-portion of IVC with lobulated left cardiac border, which was unforgettable characteristic finding on chest radiograph. It was confirmed by venographic examination that the lobulated left cardiac shadow was a collateral circulation of pericardiacophrenic vein.
Classification ; Collateral Circulation* ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Inferior*

The diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease is based on the morphologic identification of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells and its variants in paraffin-embedded sections. The origin of RS cells remains a subject of controversy, and cells resembling RS cells are observed in some non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of T-cell lineage. In this study, eighteen cases of Hodgkin's disease (3 nodular sclerosis, 6 diffuse lymphocyte predominance, and 9 mixed cellularity) were studied with peanut agglutinin(PNA), anti-Leu-M1(CD15), LN2(CD74), Ber-H2(CD30) and bauhinia purpurea (BPA) by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex(ABC) method in paraffin-embedded sections. RS cells and their variants revealed positive reactions with one or more of the reagents in all examined cases. BPA staining was positive in 17 of 18 cases (94.4%), PNA staining was positive in 9 of 18 cases (50.0%), Leu MI was positive in 7 of 18 cases(38.9%), Ber-H2 was positive in 11 of 18 cases (61.1%), and LN2 was positive in 8 of 18 cases(44.4%). The staining properties of examined markers were recognized as paranuclear, diffuse cytoplasmic and cellular membranous patterns, but LN2 disclosed diffuse cytoplasmic staining in the positive cells. BPA also showed dense cytoplasmic staining reaction with macrophage-histiocytes. BPA reactivity was not affected by fortnalin fixation or paraffm embedding. Thirty six cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas(IO T-cell and 26 B-cell type) were also examined. The neoplastic cells of those cases did not stain positive with BPA, PNA, and Leu-Mi, but stained positively with LN2 in 3 cases of T-cell lymphomas and 14 cases of B-cell lymphomas, and BeT-H2 in T-cell lymphomas. In conclusion, to facilitate the detection of RS cells and related variants in paraffm sectionse of Hodgkin's disease, BPA can be used as a useful marker because of its high-detection rate, reproducible staining pattem, and resistance to fixative.

A hypoplastic internal carotid artery is rare condition of uncertain etology, but the associated arterial anomaly in the circle of willis suggests a congenital origin. We report a case of hypoplasia of the right internal carotid artery in 55 year old female suffering from hypertension and showing cerebral ischemic symptoms. The patient was diagnosed with computed tomography(CT), single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT), and conventional angiography and magnetic resonance angiography(MRA). The angiographic examination raised a suspision of right internal carotid agenesis, but the MRA demonstrated conclusively a correct diagnosis as a right internal carotid artery hypoplasia.
Angiography ; Brain Ischemia* ; Carotid Artery, Internal* ; Circle of Willis ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon