The Korean journal of internal medicine
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Korean J. Intern. Med. · Mar 2011
Treatment outcome of combination therapy including clarithromycin for Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease.
The frequency of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease in HIV-negative patients is increasing; the most common pathogen in Korea is the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). However, few studies have evaluated the treatment outcome of MAC pulmonary disease in Korea. ⋯ The combined regimen including clarithromycin was effective against MAC pulmonary disease. High-dose clarithromycin of more than 500 mg/day may improve the outcome of patients with MAC pulmonary disease.
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Korean J. Intern. Med. · Mar 2011
Case ReportsComplete atrioventricular block-induced Torsade de pointes, manifested by epilepsy.
Complete atrioventricular (AV) block is frequently regarded as a cause of informed syncopal attacks, even though the escape rhythm is maintained. Torsade de pointes (TdP) may be a significant complication of AV block associated with QT prolongation. Here, we report the case of a 42-year-old female who was referred to our hospital due to recurrent seizure-like attacks while taking anti-convulsant drugs at a psychiatric hospital. ⋯ Even after the medication was stopped, however, the QT interval remained within an abnormal range and multiple episodes of TdP and related seizure-like symptoms were found via ECG monitoring. A permanent pacemaker was thus implanted, and the ventricular rate was set at over 80 beats/min. There was no recurrence of tachyarrhythmia or other symptoms.
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Korean J. Intern. Med. · Mar 2011
Citation analysis of The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine from KoMCI, Web of Science, and Scopus.
The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine (KJIM) is the international journal published in English by the Korean Association of Internal Medicine. To understand the position of the journal in three different databases, the citation indicators were elucidated. From databases such as Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI), Web of Science, and Scopus, citation indicators such as the impact factor, SCImago journal rank (SJR), or Hirsch Index were calculated according to the year and the results were drawn. ⋯ The 2009 SJR in Scopus was 0.073, with a ranking of 27/72 (37.5%) in the category of internal medicine and 414/1,618 (25.6%) in the category of medicine, miscellaneous. The Hirsch Index from KoMCI, Web of Science and Scopus were 5, 14, and 16, respectively. The KJIM is now cited more by international researchers than Korean researchers, indicating that the content of the journal is now valued at the international level.
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Korean J. Intern. Med. · Mar 2011
Predictive value of post-transplant bone marrow plasma cell percent in multiple myeloma patients undergone autologous transplantation.
Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has become the treatment of choice for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Studies have shown that maintenance treatment with interferon-alpha is associated with improved survival rates following ASCT. However, despite these recent advances in regimes, relapses are inevitable; thus, the prediction of relapse following ASCT requires assessment. ⋯ Post-transplant D+14 BMPCp is a useful parameter for predicting the outcome for patients with MM receiving ASCT.
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Korean J. Intern. Med. · Dec 2010
Role of (68)Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT in the evaluation of primary pulmonary carcinoids.
Although carcinoid tumors usually have good prognosis, early and specific diagnosis is important. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging do not provide findings that are specific for carcinoids, and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy suffers from low spatial resolution. 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) has limited sensitivity for carcinoids due to low uptake of the marker. A PET/CT system that uses the somatostatin receptor-based PET tracer 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N(I),N(II),N(III),N(IIII)-tetraacetic acid (D)-Phe(1)-thy(3)-octreotide ((68)Ga-DOTATOC) has also been used in the evaluation of carcinoids, although information regarding its use for the detection of primary pulmonary carcinoids is limited. Thus, we investigated the value of (68)Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT for the diagnosis of primary pulmonary carcinoid tumors. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that (68)Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT is useful in the evaluation of primary pulmonary carcinoids and should be included in the diagnostic work-up of these patients.