Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
A reverse dipping pattern predicts cardiovascular mortality in a clinical cohort.
An abnormal dipping pattern in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is a cardiovascular (CV) risk factor. However, its impact on CV mortality has not been investigated sufficiently in clinical practice to be considered a standard parameter. We assessed the association between abnormal dipping patterns and increased CV mortality in a tertiary hospital in Korea. ⋯ A Cox regression analysis found a significant association between dipping pattern and CV mortality, after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and hypercholesterolemia. Risers were at greater risk of CV death than others (RR, 3.02, P=0.022), but there was no difference in event rates between dippers and non-dippers. The reverse dipping pattern may be more frequent in clinical settings than in the population at large, and it is strongly associated with increased risk of CV mortality in Korea.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
Hepatoportal sclerosis in childhood: descriptive analysis of 12 patients.
Hepatoportal sclerosis (HPS) is defined as sclerosis of portal areas in the absence of cirrhosis. There is little information about HPS in children in the literature. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, associated disorders, laboratory characteristics and outcome of children who were diagnosed as HPS. ⋯ Another patient had Turner's syndrome. Mean follow-up time was 39 months (3.3 yr) after biopsy. Hepatoportal sclerosis does not necessarily present with portal hypertension in children.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
Case ReportsSecondary prophylaxis of docetaxel induced diarrhea with loperamide: case report.
Diarrhea is a common adverse event of docetaxel with 20%-40% of incidence and severe diarrhea occurs in 5%-6%. Several treatment guidelines for chemotherapy induced diarrhea (CID) exist, however the prophylaxis for that is not well known. We describe a new prophylactic approach for the CID with loperamide. ⋯ His diarrhea persisted despite treatment including loperamide and fasting. However, the diarrhea was successfully prevented when loperamide was given before and after the chemotherapy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of prophylactic approach for the CID with loperamide.
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Crossed aphasia (CA) refers to language impairment secondary to right hemisphere lesion. Imaging analysis on the lesion location of CA has not yet been reported in the literature. This study was proposed to analyze the most prevalent lesion site related to CA. ⋯ Anatomical lesions where more than 3 patients' images were overlapped were considered significant. The overlayed ROIs of 7 patients revealed the lentiform nucleus as the most frequently involved area, overlapping in 6 patients. Our study first demonstrates the areas involved in CA by lesion mapping using brain MRI, and lentiform nucleus is the responsible neural substrate for crossed aphasia.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Oct 2013
ReviewNLRP3 inflammasome and host protection against bacterial infection.
The inflammasome is a multi-protein complex that induces maturation of inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 through activation of caspase-1. Several nucleotide binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family members, including NLRP3, recognize unique microbial and danger components and play a central role in inflammasome activation. The NLRP3 inflammasome is critical for maintenance of homeostasis against pathogenic infections. ⋯ In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of the roles and regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome during bacterial infections. Activation and regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome should be tightly controlled to prevent virulence and pathology during infections. Understanding the roles and regulatory mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome is essential for developing potential treatment approaches against pathogenic infections.