Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2014
Serum leptin and adiponectin levels in Korean patients with psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a disorder caused by genetic and immunological factors. Leptin, a peptide hormone secreted predominantly from adipose tissue, regulates energy intake and expenditure, as well as the T-helper response. There have been conflicting reports regarding serum levels of leptin and adiponectin in patients with psoriasis. ⋯ Leptin levels in vitamin D-deficient patients were statistically significantly higher than in vitamin D-sufficient patients. Serum adiponectin concentrations showed a negative correlation with body mass index (BMI) and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) in patients with psoriasis. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that leptin and adiponectin may play a role in the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis and may be useful biomarkers indicating severity of psoriasis in Korean patients.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2014
Case ReportsGastroplasty for esophageal perforation after endoscopic balloon dilatation for achalasia: two cases.
Esophageal perforation after endoscopic forceful pneumatic dilatation for achalasia is a devastating complication and surgical treatment is necessary. A 65-yr-old man and a 54-yr-old woman referred for esophageal perforation two hours after pneumatic dilatation and during the procedure, respectively. Gastroplasties through thoracotomy were performed in both cases and their recoveries were uneventful. ⋯ On the follow-up endoscopy 4 to 6 months after operation revealed that reflux esophagitis of LA classification A were noted in the both patients. They did not complain any reflux symptom or dysphagia for 9 to 13 months after operation. Instead of the most widely used procedure; primary repair of perforation site, wrapping with intercostal muscle flap and esophagomyotomy, gastroplasty was performed in two cases of iatrogenic esophageal perforation in achalasia and experienced good results.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2014
Prevention of comorbidity and acute attack of gout by uric acid lowering therapy.
The object of this study was to evaluate the effect of uric acid lowering therapy in reducing the new development of comorbidities and the frequency of acute attacks in gout patients. We retrospectively reviewed patients who were diagnosed to have gout with at least 3 yr of follow up. They were divided into 2 groups; 53 patients with mean serum uric acid level (sUA)<6 mg/dL and 147 patients with mean sUA≥6 mg/dL. ⋯ Frequency of acute gout attacks were also compared between the groups. During the mean follow up period of 7.6 yr, the yearly rate of acute attack and the new development of HTN, DM, CVD and urolithiasis was lower in the adequately treated group compared to the inadequately treated group. Tight control of uric acid decreases the incidence of acute gout attacks and comorbidities of gout such as HTN, DM, CVD and urolithiasis.
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This study aimed to investigate the effect of bortezomib in the desensitization and treatment of acute antibody mediated rejection (AAMR) in kidney transplantation. Nine patients who received bortezomib therapy for desensitization (DSZ group, n = 3) or treatment of AAMR (AAMR group, n = 6) were included in this study. In the DSZ group, 2 patients required DSZ owing to positive cross match and 1 owing to ABO mismatch with high baseline anti-ABO antibody titer (1:1,024). ⋯ In the DSZ group, negative conversion of T-CDC (complement-dependent cytotoxicity) was achieved, and HLA-DSA was decreased to lower than a weak level (median fluorescence intensity [MFI] < 5,000) in 2 patients. In the case of ABO mismatch kidney transplantation, the anti-A/B antibody titer decreased to below the target (≤ 1:16) after bortezomib therapy. Therefore, bortezomib could be an alternative therapeutic option for desensitization and treatment of AAMR that is unresponsive to conventional therapies.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2014
The relationship between J wave on the surface electrocardiography and ventricular fibrillation during acute myocardial infarction.
We investigated whether the presence of J wave on the surface electrocardiography (sECG) could be a potential risk factor for ventricular fibrillation (VF) during acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We performed a retrospective study of 317 patients diagnosed with AMI in a single center from 2009 to 2012. Among the enrolled 296 patients, 22 (13.5%) patients were selected as a VF group. ⋯ We also confirmed that several conventional risk factors of VF were significantly related to VF during AMI; time delays from the onset of chest pain, blood concentrations of creatine phosphokinase and incidence of ST-segment elevation. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of J wave and the presence of a ST-segment elevation were independent predictors of VF during AMI. This study demonstrated that the presence of J wave on the sECG is significantly related to VF during AMI.