Background: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) based on computed tomography (CT) has been shown to better identify ischemia-causing coronary stenosis. However, this current technology requires high computational power, which inhibits its widespread implementation in clinical practice. This prospective, multicenter study aimed at validating the diagnostic performance of a novel simple CT based fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) calculation method in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods: Patients who underwent coronary CT angiography (CCTA) within 90 days and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) were prospectively enrolled. A hemodynamically significant lesion was defined as an FFR ≤ 0.80, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was the primary measure. After the planned analysis for the initial algorithm A, we performed another set of exploratory analyses for an improved algorithm B. Results: Of 184 patients who agreed to participate in the study, 151 were finally analyzed.Hemodynamically significant lesions were observed in 79 patients (52.3%). The AUC was 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63–0.80) for CCTA, 0.65 (95% CI, 0.56–0.74) for CT-FFR algorithm A (P = 0.866), and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.70–0.86) for algorithm B (P = 0.112). Diagnostic accuracy was 0.63 (0.55–0.71) for CCTA alone, 0.66 (0.58–0.74) for algorithm A, and 0.76 (0.68–0.82) for algorithm B. Conclusion This study suggests the feasibility of automated CT-FFR, which can be performed on-site within several hours. However, the diagnostic performance of the current algorithm does not meet the a priori criteria for superiority. Future research is required to improve the accuracy.

Rhomboid family member 2 gene (Rhbdf2) is an inactive homologue lacking essential catalytic residues of rhomboid intramembrane serine proteases. The protein is necessary for maturation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) converting enzyme, which is the molecule responsible for the release of TNF-α. In this study, Rhbdf2 knockout (KO) mice were produced by CRISPR/CAS9. To see the effects of the failure of TNF-α release induced by Rhbdf2 gene KO, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), which is the representative TNF-α related disease, was induced in the Rhbdf2 mutant mouse using chicken collagen type II. The severity of the CIA was measured by traditional clinical scores and histopathological analysis of hind limb joints. A rota-rod test and grip strength test were employed to evaluate the severity of CIA based on losses of physical functions. The results indicated that Rhbdf2 mutant mice showed clear alleviation of the clinical severity of CIA as demonstrated by the significantly lower severity indexes. Moreover, a grip strength test was shown to be useful for the evaluation of physical functional losses by CIA. Overall, the results showed that the Rhbdf2 gene has a significant effect on the induction of CIA, which is related to TNF-α.
Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental* ; Chickens ; Collagen Type II ; Extremities ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Joints ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout* ; Serine Proteases ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) professional periodontal care program model for patients with hypertension and diabetes. METHODS: This descriptive case study included 151 participants of the professional periodontal care program. The CBPR-based professional periodontal care program consists of 5-steps: ‘Issue identification and prioritization’ (Step 1), ‘Strategy development’ (Step 2), ‘Entry into community’ (Step 3), ‘Implementation’ (Step 4), and ‘Transition’ (Step 5). Quantitative data were analyzed using frequency analysis, and descriptive data with PASW 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The results of the Focus group interview (FGI) were classified as ‘general opinions regarding the program planning and operation receptiveness’, ‘sustainability’, ‘potential spread of the program’, and ‘improvement of program’. The interviews were qualitative research involving seven people. RESULTS: 1. Participants increased their interest in health and oral health by managing their hypertension, diabetes, and periodontal disease using community resources. Through this, healthy practices and improved awareness helped to prevent complications and manage periodontal diseases. 2. Community organizations actively cooperated, resulting in positive changes in oral health practices (increased registration of patients in education centers for hypertension and diabetes, and increased number of patients visiting the local dental clinic). In the future, it was positive to participate in the program continuously. CONCLUSIONS: The most important step is ‘Entry into community’, which has led to active participation and cooperation of community organizations and participants. Therefore, community organizations and strategy development should be discussed, and the role of community leaders should be emphasized to build cooperative relationships. In addition, participation in and collaboration with health-based projects should be achieved through a search of various community organizations.
Chronic Disease ; Community-Based Participatory Research ; Consumer Participation ; Cooperative Behavior ; Education ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Oral Health ; Periodontal Diseases ; Qualitative Research

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the features of endometrial hyperplasia with concurrent endometrial cancer that had been diagnosed by endometrial sampling. Further, we attempted to identify an accurate differential diagnostic method. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 125 patients who underwent a diagnostic endometrial biopsy or were diagnosed after the surgical treatment of other gynecological lesions, such as leiomyoma or polyps. Patients were diagnosed between January 2005 and December 2013 at Busan Paik Hospital. Clinical and histopathological characteristics were compared in patients who had atypical endometrial hyperplasia with and without concurrent endometrial cancer. RESULTS: The patients were grouped based on the final pathology reports. One hundred seventeen patients were diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia and eight patients were diagnosed with endometrioid adenocarcinoma arising from atypical hyperplasia. Of the 26 patients who had been diagnosed with atypical endometrial hyperplasia by office-based endometrial biopsy, eight (30.8%) were subsequently diagnosed with endometrial cancer after they had undergone hysterectomy. The patients with endometrial cancer arising from endometrial hyperplasia were younger (39.1 vs. 47.2 years, P=0.0104) and more obese (body mass index 26.1+/-9.6 vs. 23.8+/-2.8 kg/m2, P=0.3560) than the patients with endometrial hyperplasia. The correlation rate between the pathology of the endometrial samples and the final diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia was 67.3%. CONCLUSION: In patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia, the detection of endometrial cancer before hysterectomy can decrease the risk of suboptimal treatment. The accuracy of endometrial sampling for the diagnosis of concurrent endometrial carcinoma was much lower than that for atypical endometrial hyperplasia. Therefore, concurrent endometrial carcinoma should be suspected and surgical intervention should be considered in young or obese patients who present with atypical endometrial hyperplasia.
Biopsy* ; Busan ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Diagnosis ; Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Endometrial Neoplasms* ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperplasia* ; Hysterectomy ; Leiomyoma ; Pathology ; Polyps ; Retrospective Studies

Sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate (Picolight Powder), which is used as a bowel preparation for the colon and the rectum, can cause a severe electrolyte imbalance like hyponatremia. When hyponatremia gets severe or occurs rapidly, it can lead to death due to associated complications. We have experienced a case of hyponatremia associated with seizure and loss of consciousness in a 76-year-old woman, who took sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate as a bowel preparation for colonoscopy. She was taking thiazide and synthroid for the treatment of hypertension and hypothyroidism, respectively, and she had other underlying medical conditions such as a history of seizure and dementia. Following the diagnosis of hyponatremia, we used an intravenous injection of 3% NaCl to normalize the sodium level in her serum, and her associated symptoms soon disappeared.
Aged ; Citric Acid* ; Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hyponatremia* ; Hypothyroidism ; Injections, Intravenous ; Rectum ; Seizures* ; Sodium* ; Thyroxine ; Unconsciousness

Leuconostoc species are gram-positive cocci and they are rarely pathogenic in human. Leuconostoc infections are commonly associated with immunocompromised status and indwelling medical devices include intravenous catheter, tracheostomy, endotracheal intubation and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Clinical isolates of Leuconostoc were frequently misidentified, usually as viridans streptococci, but they possess inherent resistance to vancomycin despite sensitivity to most other antibiotics. We present a case of Leuconostoc peritonitis in patients receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). A 48-year-old man with hypertensive nephropathy has been treated with peritoneal dialysis, developed peritonitis due to Leuconostoc species. The peritonitis was poorly responded to empirical antibiotics. He was successfully treated with intraperitoneal administration of ampicillin. The dialysis catheter was left in place, and continued to function. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Leuconostoc peritonitis reported in Korea.
Ampicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Catheters ; Dialysis ; Gastrostomy ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Korea ; Leuconostoc* ; Middle Aged ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis* ; Tracheostomy ; Vancomycin ; Viridans Streptococci

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the surgical outcomes of the clavicle lateral end fracture fixed with an oblique T locking compression plate (LCP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen clavicle lateral end fractures were fixed with the oblique T-LCP and followed up for at least 1 year after the surgery. Thirteen cases were unstable Neer type II fractures and one case was nonunion of the Neer type I fracture. The mean age was 46 years of age (range, 26~70). In ten cases, augmenting sutures with the absorbable suture material were placed in the coraco-clavicular ligament and around the plate and the clavicle to improve the stability of fracture fixation. Autogenous iliac bone graft was done in four cases. The clinical outcomes were evaluated by using UCLA scoring system and KSS (Korean Shoulder Score). RESULTS: The mean UCLA score was 33.5 and the mean KSS was 94.9. Average time of bone union was 11.9 weeks (range, 6~28), including 1 case with a delayed union. There was no complication such as loss of fixation or nonunion. CONCLUSION: Fixation with the oblique T-LCP is a good option providing reliable functional results in clavicle lateral end fractures.
Clavicle ; Fracture Fixation ; Ligaments ; Shoulder ; Sutures ; Transplants

Gossypiboma is retained surgical sponge or swab. We experienced a case of gossypiboma resulting from a retained surgical sponge, which had been left in intraperitoneal cavity for 4 years after appendectomy. Abdominal CT scan revealed a non-calcified soft tissue mass with wall enhancement. We thought this lesion was an abscess or hematoma. So we tried to perform aspiration and drainage guided by ultrasonography. Ultrasonography showed illdefined hyperechoic stripe with strong posterior acoustic shadow within the mass, which has hypoechoic fibrous capsule. We could not puncture the lesion with aspiration needle due to its hardness, and the mass was removed by surgery. We report a case of gossypiboma confirmed by surgery, which was suspected by ultrasonographic feature and difficulty in puncture of mass.

BACKGROUND: IGFBP-3 inhibits the mitogenic and anti-apoptotic activity of IGF by blocking the binding of IGF to its receptor. However, under certain circumstances, IGFBP- 3 can enhance the activity of IGF by protecting IGF from its degradation. More than half of the inter- individual variations in IGFBP-3 levels are known to be genetically determined by the polymorphism at -202 locus of IGFBP-3 gene. METHOD: We attempted to ascertain whether A-202C poly?morphic variation of IGFBP-3 gene constitutes a risk factor for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Our study included 104 NSCLC patients and 104 age-, gender-, and smoking status-matched control subjects. RESULT: In the 104 NSCLC subjects, the genotypic freque?ncies at the -202 site were as follows: AA = 67 (64.4%), AC = 35 (33.7%), and CC = 2 (1.9%). We did detect significant differences in the genotypic distribution between the NSCLC and the control subjects (p<0.05), and the NSCLC risk correlated significantly with AA genotype at the -202 locus (AA>AC>CC). Using CC genotype as a reference, the odds ratio (OR) for the subjects with AC genotype was 2.60 (95% CI: 0.89 - 8.60), and the OR associated with AA genotype was 5.89 (95% CI: 1.92 - 21.16). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the dysregulation of IGF axis should now be considered as another important risk factor for NSCLC, and a potential target for novel antineoplastic therapies and/or preventative strategies in high-risk groups.
Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

The term MYH9-related disorders indicates a group of autosomal dominant illnesses, formerly known as May-Hegglin anomaly, Sebastian syndrome, Fechtner syndrome and Epstein syndrome, caused by mutations of MYH9, the gene encoding for the heavy chain of non-muscle myosin IIA (NMMHC-IIA). We experienced a family with macrothrombocytopenia without leukocyte inclusion. A 5-year-old girl was found to have macrothrombocytopenia incidentally. Her father also had macrothromtocytopenia, but had been suffering from hearing loss and chronic renal failure. Meticulous search by light and electron microscopy failed to detect leukocyte inclusions. To our knowledge, these cases seem to be the first description of autosomal dominant Epstein giant platelet syndrome in Korea.
Bernard-Soulier Syndrome* ; Child, Preschool ; Fathers ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Korea ; Leukocytes ; Microscopy, Electron ; Nonmuscle Myosin Type IIA