Background and Objectives: Pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) significantly affects children’s quality of life and learning abilities. This study aimed to evaluate the postoperative outcomes in pediatric patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for CRS. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on pediatric patients who underwent FESS for CRS at 11 university hospitals. The inclusion criteria were patients under 20 years old with bilateral disease who were operated on between January 2005 and December 2021. The data collected included demographics, clinical history, blood tests, preoperative computed tomography, and preoperative and postoperative symptom control. The Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests were used to compare the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results: In total, 213 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 13.4±3.0 years, and 145 (68.1%) were male. One hundred sixty-four patients (77.0%) had nasal polyps and 33 patients (15.5%) underwent revision FESS. The preoperative symptoms, in order of prevalence, included nasal obstruction (87.8%), rhinorrhea (71.8%), a sense of postnasal drip (58.2%), hyposmia (44.6%), cough (24.4%), and facial fullness (18.3%). These symptoms were significantly alleviated for up to 3 years after surgery (p<0.001). At the time of the last follow-up, 121 patients (56.8%) were controlled, 80 (37.6%) were partly controlled, and 12 (5.6%) were uncontrolled. Patients in the uncontrolled group had higher Lund-Mackay scores, longer follow-up durations, and more instances of revision surgery compared to those in the controlled and partly controlled groups. When age was categorized into three groups, those aged 16 years or older tended to have lower Lund-Mackay scores and better control. Conclusion FESS significantly improves both the postoperative symptoms and the long-term quality of life in pediatric CRS patients. Better symptom control is associated with older age and a lower disease burden.

Background and Objectives: Pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) significantly affects children’s quality of life and learning abilities. This study aimed to evaluate the postoperative outcomes in pediatric patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for CRS. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on pediatric patients who underwent FESS for CRS at 11 university hospitals. The inclusion criteria were patients under 20 years old with bilateral disease who were operated on between January 2005 and December 2021. The data collected included demographics, clinical history, blood tests, preoperative computed tomography, and preoperative and postoperative symptom control. The Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests were used to compare the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results: In total, 213 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 13.4±3.0 years, and 145 (68.1%) were male. One hundred sixty-four patients (77.0%) had nasal polyps and 33 patients (15.5%) underwent revision FESS. The preoperative symptoms, in order of prevalence, included nasal obstruction (87.8%), rhinorrhea (71.8%), a sense of postnasal drip (58.2%), hyposmia (44.6%), cough (24.4%), and facial fullness (18.3%). These symptoms were significantly alleviated for up to 3 years after surgery (p<0.001). At the time of the last follow-up, 121 patients (56.8%) were controlled, 80 (37.6%) were partly controlled, and 12 (5.6%) were uncontrolled. Patients in the uncontrolled group had higher Lund-Mackay scores, longer follow-up durations, and more instances of revision surgery compared to those in the controlled and partly controlled groups. When age was categorized into three groups, those aged 16 years or older tended to have lower Lund-Mackay scores and better control. Conclusion FESS significantly improves both the postoperative symptoms and the long-term quality of life in pediatric CRS patients. Better symptom control is associated with older age and a lower disease burden.

Background and Objectives: Pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) significantly affects children’s quality of life and learning abilities. This study aimed to evaluate the postoperative outcomes in pediatric patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for CRS. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on pediatric patients who underwent FESS for CRS at 11 university hospitals. The inclusion criteria were patients under 20 years old with bilateral disease who were operated on between January 2005 and December 2021. The data collected included demographics, clinical history, blood tests, preoperative computed tomography, and preoperative and postoperative symptom control. The Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher exact tests were used to compare the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results: In total, 213 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 13.4±3.0 years, and 145 (68.1%) were male. One hundred sixty-four patients (77.0%) had nasal polyps and 33 patients (15.5%) underwent revision FESS. The preoperative symptoms, in order of prevalence, included nasal obstruction (87.8%), rhinorrhea (71.8%), a sense of postnasal drip (58.2%), hyposmia (44.6%), cough (24.4%), and facial fullness (18.3%). These symptoms were significantly alleviated for up to 3 years after surgery (p<0.001). At the time of the last follow-up, 121 patients (56.8%) were controlled, 80 (37.6%) were partly controlled, and 12 (5.6%) were uncontrolled. Patients in the uncontrolled group had higher Lund-Mackay scores, longer follow-up durations, and more instances of revision surgery compared to those in the controlled and partly controlled groups. When age was categorized into three groups, those aged 16 years or older tended to have lower Lund-Mackay scores and better control. Conclusion FESS significantly improves both the postoperative symptoms and the long-term quality of life in pediatric CRS patients. Better symptom control is associated with older age and a lower disease burden.

BACKGROUND: Although kidney transplantation outcomes have improved dramatically after using calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), CNI toxicity continues to be reported and the mechanism remains uncertain. Here, we investigated the neurotoxicity of CNIs by focusing on the viability of glioma cells.METHODS: Glioma cells were treated with several concentrations of CNIs for 24 hours at 37℃ and their cell viability was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay.RESULTS: Exposure to 0, 0.25, 0.5, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mM concentrations respectively showed 100%, 64.3%, 61.3%, 68.1%, 62.4%, and 68.6% cell viability for cyclosporine and 100%, 38.6%, 40.8%, 43.7%, 37.8%, and 43.0% for tacrolimus. The direct toxic effect of tacrolimus on glioma cell viability was stronger than that of cyclosporine at the same concentration.CONCLUSION: CNIs can cause neurological side effects by directly exerting cytotoxic effects on brain cells. Therefore, we should carefully monitor the neurologic symptoms and level of CNIs in kidney transplant patients.
Animals ; Brain ; Calcineurin Inhibitors ; Calcineurin ; Cell Survival ; Cyclosporine ; Glioma ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Rats ; Tacrolimus

BACKGROUND: Although kidney transplantation outcomes have improved dramatically after using calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), CNI toxicity continues to be reported and the mechanism remains uncertain. Here, we investigated the neurotoxicity of CNIs by focusing on the viability of glioma cells. METHODS: Glioma cells were treated with several concentrations of CNIs for 24 hours at 37℃ and their cell viability was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. RESULTS: Exposure to 0, 0.25, 0.5, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mM concentrations respectively showed 100%, 64.3%, 61.3%, 68.1%, 62.4%, and 68.6% cell viability for cyclosporine and 100%, 38.6%, 40.8%, 43.7%, 37.8%, and 43.0% for tacrolimus. The direct toxic effect of tacrolimus on glioma cell viability was stronger than that of cyclosporine at the same concentration. CONCLUSION CNIs can cause neurological side effects by directly exerting cytotoxic effects on brain cells. Therefore, we should carefully monitor the neurologic symptoms and level of CNIs in kidney transplant patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: With the present methods for assessing speech, there are procedures that make effective diagnostics possible for voice disorders. One such procedure is cepstrum. Spectrum is produced by Fourier transformation of sound waves, and if Fourier transformation is performed again about the spectrum, cepstrum is produced. This study compared cepstrum to jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR) for assessment of its usefulness. Cepstrum was measured by Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP) calculated by the Hillenbrand method and Cepstral Mean Values (CMV) calculated using the Computerized Speech Laboratory software. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We included in the study 30 patients with vocal nodule and unilateral vocal cord palsy who were diagnosed in Kangbuk Samsung Hospital between March 2010 and May 2011, and 30 normal controls. Phonation of sustained vowel /a/ sample and running speech was subjected to acoustic analysis using CMV and CPP. Then we compared the correlation of cepstrum with other acoustic methods. RESULTS: The measured values of CPP-a were 14.16, 17.25, 20.00 and the age adjusted CPP-s values were 11.21, 12.85, 15.00 for vocal cord palsy, vocal nodule and normal group, respectively. There was significant correlation with perceptions of dysphonia (p<0.001), but in CMV-a, CMV-s, there was no significant correlation. When jitter, shimmer, and NHR were compared with cepstrum, the result showed negative correlation among the three groups but CPP values showed significant difference (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In the assessment of voice disorders, cepstrum may be used as a reliable method for comparing other complementary analysis tools. For the acoustic analysis of voice by cepstrum, however, CPP has more reliable correlations with dysphonia than CMV.
Acoustics ; Dysphonia ; Fourier Analysis ; Hoarseness ; Humans ; Phonation ; Running ; Sound ; Vocal Cord Paralysis ; Voice ; Voice Disorders

Vancomycin has been associated with acute kidney injury, particularly in the concomitant treatment with aminoglycoside or in the presence of other risk factor such as preexisting renal disease, sepsis, or hemodynamic instability. Vancomycin-related nephrotoxicity typically manifests as acute tubulointerstitial nephritis. Biopsy-proven acute tubular necrosis associated with vancomycin intoxication in the absence of aminoglycoside has been reported only in very few cases. We report a case of biopsy-proven acute tubular necrosis associated with vancomycin intoxication that was treated by continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration. A 28-year-old male without preexisting renal disease received a massive overdose of vancomycin. The plasma vancomycin level was 440.3 microg/mL. Renal biopsy revealed acute tubular necrosis that there is marked thinning of the tubular epithelium with dilatation of the tubular lumens and severe foamy epithelial cell changes in tubules. Continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration resulted in efficient reduction of serum vancomycin levels, which was followed clinically by recovered of renal function.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Dilatation ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Hemodiafiltration ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Kidney Tubular Necrosis, Acute ; Male ; Necrosis ; Nephritis, Interstitial ; Plasma ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis ; Vancomycin

Cholethorax is a bilious pleural effusion caused by a pleurobiliary fistula or leakage of bile into the pleural space. Most cases of cholethorax arise from a complication of abdominal trauma, hepatobiliary infection, or invasive procedures or surgery of hepatobiliary system. However, we experienced a case of a patient with cholethorax of unknown origin. There was no evidence of pleurobiliary fistula or leakage of bile from the hepatobiliary system although we examined the patient with various diagnostic tools including chest and abdominal computed tomography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, tubography, bronchofiberscopy, hepatobiliary scintigraphy and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Herein we report a case of cholethorax for which the specific cause was not identified. The patient was improved by percutaneous drainage of pleural bile.
Bile ; Biliary Fistula ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diaphragm ; Drainage ; Fistula ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Thorax

Developing Cushing's syndrome during pregnancy is rare because menstruation is irregular and hypercortisolism causes infertility. Developing Cushing's disease during pregnancy is very rare because there is even less ovulation than those with the adrenal adenoma. The clinical manifestations of Cushing's syndrome may easily be missed during pregnancy as the features of weight gain, hypertension, and hyperglycemia overlap with those that occur during a pregnancy. Diagnosing Cushing's syndrome during a pregnancy is complex because the biochemical features are obscured by the natural changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that occur during pregnancy. Having Cushing's syndrome during a pregnancy results in increased fetal and maternal complications, so early diagnosis and treatment are critical. We report the clinical and endocrine findings of a pregnant women with Cushing's disease who underwent transsphenoidal surgery after delivery.
Adenoma ; Cushing Syndrome ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypertension ; Infertility ; Menstruation ; Ovulation ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Weight Gain ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra

Locating a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)- or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting tumor is challenging. A 69-year-old woman admitted to our hospital for generalized edema was diagnosed with ectopic Cushing's syndrome. We attempted to find an ectopic tumor and could establish no ectopic focus except a retropharyngeal mass in the neck. We diagnosed the retropharyngeal mass as thyroid papillary carcinoma and examined whether the thyroid papillary carcinoma was the ectopic focus. No relationship between thyroid papillary carcinoma and ectopic Cushing's syndrome has been established. We failed to find another ectopic focus, except for the increased uptake of the retropharyngeal mass on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Ectopic Cushing's syndrome combined with thyroid papillary carcinoma is very rare, so we report this case along with reviews of related literatures.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Aged ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Cushing Syndrome ; Edema ; Female ; Humans ; Neck ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms