The Effect of Vildagliptin on Visfatin in Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Prospective Study / 임상당뇨병

BACKGROUND: The effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors on adipokines remain obscure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of vildagliptin on visfatin, an adipokine that represents inflammatory biomarkers of adipose tissue, in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with prior metformin monotherapy. METHODS: In this 16-week, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study, 71 patients were randomly assigned to vildagliptin 50 mg twice a day (n = 35) or placebo (n = 36) added to ongoing metformin therapy. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), plasma lipids, and visfatin levels were measured at baseline and 16 weeks after treatment. RESULTS: After 16 weeks, significant reduction in HbA1c and FPG was observed with vildagliptin addon treatment compared to placebo (-0.54 +/- 0.52%, P = 0.001 and -14.80 +/- 19.21 mg/dL, P = 0.004, respectively). However, no other clinically meaningful changes in lipid parameters or visfatin were observed. CONCLUSION: Vildagliptin add-on to metformin significantly improved fasting blood glucose and HbA1c. However, in this study, no significant differences in lipid parameters or visfatin level were observed between the two groups.

Comparison of Postoperative Pain and Nausea and Vomiting between Desflurane and Desflurane-remifentanil Anesthesia for Gynecologic Laparoscopic Surgery

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare desflurane anesthesia with desflurane-remifentanil anesthesia by measuring postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting after gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. METHODS: Data were collected using a random double blind method. The experimental group treated with desflurane-remifentanil anesthesia had a total of 25 patients. The control group had 20 patients who were treated with desflurane anesthesia. Pain (VAS), pushing PCA button, nausea and vomiting (VAS) were assessed at PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) arrival, 10 min, 20 min, 30 min in PACU and 2 hrs, 6 hrs, 24 hrs, 48 hrs in ward. INVR was assessed at 24 hrs. Extra analgesics and extra antiemetics were measured in PACU and the ward. Data were analyzed using t-test and repeated measure using ANOVA. RESULTS: The experimental group presented with more postoperative pain (F=7.55, p<.001) than the control group. The experimental group took more extra analgesics in PACU and pressed the PCA button more often for 6 hours. The experimental group complained more postoperative nausea (F=2.11, p=.043) than the control group and took extra antiemetics during postoperative period of 24 hours. CONCLUSION: We conclude that desflurane-remifentanil anesthesia needs better management than desflurane anesthesia due to increased pain, nausea & vomiting after gynecologic laparoscopic surgery.

Muscular Sarcoidosis Detected by F-18 FDG PET/CT in a Hypercalcemic Patient

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology that involves many organs, occasionally mimicking malignancy. We herein report a 50-yr-old woman of muscular sarcoidosis of chronic myopathic type, manifested by hypercalcemia and muscle wasting. Besides insignificant hilar lymphadenopathy, her sarcoidosis was confined to generalized atrophic muscles and therefore, F-18 FDG PET/CT alone among conventional imaging studies provided diagnostic clues for the non-parathyroid-related hypercalcemia. On follow-up PET/CT during low-dose steroid treatment, FDG uptake in the muscles disappeared whereas that in the hilar lymph nodes remained. PET/CT may be useful in the evaluation of unexpected disease extent and monitoring treatment response in suspected or known sarcoidosis patients.

A Case of Incidental Struma Ovarii Confounded with the Metastasis of Papillary Thyroid Cancer

A focal radioactive iodine uptake in the pelvis of a patient with differentiated thyroid cancer needs differential diagnosis besides bone metastasis. Struma ovarii is a rare monodermal ovarian teratoma composed predominantly of mature thyroid tissue; 5-10% of these tumors are malignant. As diagnosis and surgery of thyroid cancer have increased recently, incidental cases of struma ovarii, after radioactive iodine treatment, were occasionally reported. Rare cases of ovary metastasis of thyroid cancer were also reported. We report a case of benign struma ovarii incidentally found in a patient with papillary thyroid cancer. The patient showed a sustained high level of thyroglobulin and focal radioactive iodine uptake in the right pelvis, confused with distant metastasis, after total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine treatment.

A Case of Sporotrichoid Cutaneous Infection Caused by Mycobacterium marinum / 감염과화학요법

Mycobacterium marinum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium responsible for skin infection. Risk factors include a history of trauma and water/fish-related hobbies or occupations. This infection is characteristically limited to the skin but deep soft tissue may be involved. We report a case of M. marinum infection in a 51-year-old man with ulcer and erythematous nodules on his right hand. The patient owned a tropical fish tank and remembered having previous hand trauma. The lesions extended to his forearm and formed sporotrichoid appearance. M. marinum was isolated from tissue specimens. The patient was treated with rifampin, etambutol and clarithromycin for 5 months, then the skin lesions were cured. The key to the diagnosis of this case are clinical awareness and a detailed history. M. marinum infection should be considered in chronic sporotrichoid skin lesions, particularly when there is a clinical suspicion on an infectious cause, and it could lead to successful treatment.

A Case of Sporotrichoid Cutaneous Infection Caused by Mycobacterium marinum / 감염과화학요법

Mycobacterium marinum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium responsible for skin infection. Risk factors include a history of trauma and water/fish-related hobbies or occupations. This infection is characteristically limited to the skin but deep soft tissue may be involved. We report a case of M. marinum infection in a 51-year-old man with ulcer and erythematous nodules on his right hand. The patient owned a tropical fish tank and remembered having previous hand trauma. The lesions extended to his forearm and formed sporotrichoid appearance. M. marinum was isolated from tissue specimens. The patient was treated with rifampin, etambutol and clarithromycin for 5 months, then the skin lesions were cured. The key to the diagnosis of this case are clinical awareness and a detailed history. M. marinum infection should be considered in chronic sporotrichoid skin lesions, particularly when there is a clinical suspicion on an infectious cause, and it could lead to successful treatment.

Health Risk Behaviors and Related Variables in Students Rewriting College Entrance Examinations / 아동간호학회지

PURPOSE: To provide basic information for developing a nursing program by examining health risk behavior of students rewriting college entrance examinations. METHOD: Data were gathered using questionnaires from 804 examinees in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and analyzed with the SAS program using t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The mean score for health risk behaviors was 17.70 and the highest score for sub-areas of health risk behavior was drinking alcohol while substance use ranked lowest. There were significantly different scores for health risk behavior according to the following general characteristics; frequency of rewriting college entrance examinations, parents' marital status, level of father's education, grades, satisfaction with rewriting of college entrance examinations, parents' health concerns, need for health education and health status. Each behavior had positive or negative correlation with more than one other behavior. A negative correlation was found between health risk behavior and family support and self-esteem, while positive correlations were found between health risk behavior and general stress, studying stress and anxiety. CONCLUSION: This study suggest that these results be used to developed a prevention program to decrease health risk behaviors by promoting family support and self esteem and decreasing stress and anxiety.

A Case of Unilateral Femoral Neuropathy Secondary to Recurrent Colon Cancer

No abstract available.

A Case of Bell's Palsy with Narrowing of the Palpebral Fissure

Widened palpebral fissure has been regarded as one of the hallmarks of Bell's palsy. However, the palpebral fissure on the affected side may be narrower than that of the unaffected side. The narrowing of the palpebral fissure has been often thought as a sign caused by weakness of the levator palpebrae and Muller's muscles. However, weakness of the frontal muscle may cause drooping of the eyebrow, resulting in the narrowing of the palpebral fissure. We describe a patient of Bell's palsy with a narrowing of the palpebral fissure.