A Case of Thyroid Abscsess in Subacute Thyroiditis During Glucocorticoid Therapy / 대한내분비학회지

Subacute thyroiditis is a frequent benign thyroid disease associated with previous viral upper respiratory tract infection. Known complications of this disease are long-standing subclinical hypothyroidism, persistent anterior neck pain and rarely Graves disease. In general, thyroid abscess is an uncommon disease because of anatomic isolation of the gland and its rich system of drainage for blood and lymph. Especially, development of thyroid abscess in subacute thyroiditis is extremely rare phenomenan, but significant bad outcomes can be resulted. Its clinical BACKGROUND containes immune-suppressed state, anatomic defect, presence of underlying other thyroid disease and of non-thyroidal infectious foci. We experienced a case of subacute thyroiditis complicated with streptococcal thyroid abscess during glucocorticoid therapy. The patient was a 19-year-old female who was admitted due to anterior neck pain for 1 month. Typical subacute thyroiditis was suggested from initial laboratory findings including CBC, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum T3, T4, TSH levels, thyroid scan & thyroid uptake. But during oral prednisolone therapy, unexpected bacterial thyroid abscess was developed. We report this unusual case with review of literatures.

A Case of Eosinophilic Enteritis / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare disorder of the stomach, small intestine and colon, characterized by variable eosinophilic infiltration of the bowel wall and peripheral blood eosinophilia, abnormal gastrointestinal symptoms and signs. The pathogenesis of this disease still remains unknown, but several studies support allergic or immunologic etiology. Considerable variability in clinical presentation depends on the site of the gastrointestinal tract and the depth of bowel wall involvement. Herein we experienced a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis confined to small intestine presenting progressive weight loss, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Enteroscopic findings showed diffuse multiple nodularity of mucosal folds in small bowel, especially duodenum and proximal jejunum. Jejunal and duodenal biopsy specimen demonstrated marked eosinophilic infiltration. These symptoms and signs were improved within 3 weeks after short course of prednisone therapy.

A Case of Interstitial Pneumonitis developed by Interferon- alpha Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis C / 결핵

Interstitial pneumonitis associated with interferon alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis C was first described in 1994 by Kazuo et al in Japan. The mechanism of interstitial pneumonitis deveoped by interferon alpha was still unknown but immunologic, allergic or direct lung toxicity were suggested. We experienced a case of interstitial pneumonitis developed during interferon alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis C in a 52-year-old male patient. He was treated with 6 million units of interferon alpha intramuscularly 3 times per week for 4 weeks and noted progressive dyspnea and cough. These symptoms were subsided after 6 weeks' discontinuation of interferon alpha therapy. And so, he was retreated with 3 million units of interferon alpha 3 times per week for 8 weeks and felt dyspnea again. He was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of progressive dyspnea. Arterial blood gas(ABG) values were PaO2 90.7 mmHg and PaCO2 31.9 mmHg, and antinuclear antibody(ANA) was negative. A chest X-ray film revealed diffuse reticulo-nodular shadows in bilateral lung fields, suggesting a diagnosis of interstitial pneumonitis. A marked increase in lymphocyte count and suppressor T cell were observed in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) fluid. Lymphocyte stimulation test with interferon alpha was positive. Interstitial pneumonitis was confirmed by transbronchial lung biopsy. After discontinuation of interferon alpha, we gave oral steroid in the condition that clinical symptoms were being improved gradually.

The Changes of Coronary Artery Stenosis by Sequential Coronary Angiographies

BACKGROUND: QT dispersion(QTd) has been shown to be ventricular electrical instability, especially predictor of ventricular arrythmia and indicator of antiarrythmic effect. It was reported that there was a relationship between acute myocardial infarction and increased QTd in that QTd is dependent of the degree of reperfusion as well as the site and size of infarction. In this study, we intended to verify a significant association between myocardial ischemia and QTd by comparing the changes in QTd with or without chest pain in patients with unstable angina who had proven myocardial ischemic changes. METHOD: We studied 20 patients (12 men and 8 women : mean age, 58+/-3.4 years) with unstable angina who had proven myocardial ischemic changes and perfusion defect by 24 hour Holter monitoring, Treadmill test, or coronary angiography. Each case was measured QTd during chest patin and resting state 24 hours after chest pain. All standard 12-lead ECGs were recorded at a speed of 25 mm/sec and examined retrospectively by one observer. QTd corrected for heart rate (QTcd) was calculated by Bazett's formula. The difference of QTd was assessed by comparing by paired t-test. RESULTS: The mean values of QTd were 117.9+/-49.9 msec and 69.7+/-30.2 msec with existence and the absence of chest pain. There was significant increment of QTd when the paients with unstable angina had chest pain(p<0.01). QTcd also significantly increased with the mean value of 119.7+/-57.1 and 74.9+/-36.6 msec (p=0.015). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study clarified the change of QTd with myocardial ischemia. We expect QTd using a single, noninvasive method to indicate that the chest pain is induced by myocardial ischemic changes. For the furture, it may be possible to study as to the significance of QTd as a predictor of cardiovascular accidents in patients with unstable angina by measuring the serial QTd.

Correlation between High-Resolution CT and PulmonaryFunction Tests in Patients with Emphysema / 결핵

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of emphysema during life is based on a combination of clinical, functional, and radiographic findings, but this combination is relatively insensitive and nonspecific. The development of rapid, high-resolution third and fourth generation CT scanners has enabled us to resolve pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities with great precision. We compared the chest HRCT findings to the pulmonary function test and arterial blood gas analysis in pulmonary emphysema patients to test the ability of HRCT to quantify the degree of pulmonary emphysema. METHODS: From October 1994 to October 1995, the study group consisted of 20 subjects in whom HRCT of the thorax and pulmonary function studies had been obtained at St. Mary's hospital. The analysis was from scans at preselected anatomic levels and incorporated both lungs. On each HRCT slice the lung parenchyma was assessed for two aspects of emphysema: severity and extent. The five levels were graded and scored separately for the left and right lung giving a total of 10 lung fields. A combination of severity and extent gave the degree of emphysema. We compared the HRCT quantitation of emphysema, pulmonary function tests, ABGA, CBC, and patients characteristics(age, sex, height, weight, smoking amounts etc.) in 20 patients. RESULTS: 1) There was a significant inverse correlation between HRCT scores for emphysema and percentage predicted values of DLco(r = -0.68, p < 0.05),DLco/VA(r = -0.49, p < 0.05),FEVl(r = -0.53, p < 0.05),, and FVC(r = -0.47, p < 0.05). 2) There was a significant correlation between the HRCT scores and percentage predicted values of TLC(r = 0.50, p < 0.05),RV(r = 0.64, p < 0.05). 3) There was a significant inverse correlation between the HRCT scores and PaO2(r = -0.48, p < 0.05) and significant correlation with D(A-a)02(r = -0.48, p < 0.05) but no significant correlation between the HRCT scores and PaCO2. 4) There was no significant correlation between the HRCT scores and age, sex, height, weight, smoking amounts in patients, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and wbc counts. CONCLUSION: High-Resolution CT provides a useful method for early detection and quantitating emphysema in life and correlates significantly with pulmonary function tests and arterial blood gas analysis.