The Age-specific Seroprevalence of Hepatitis A Virus Antibody in Korea / 대한간학회지

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: The epidemiology of hepatitis A is associated with socioeconomic and hygiene status. Recently, the prevalence of hepatitis A in young adults has been steadily increasing in Korea. This study is to investigate the age-specific seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus in Korea. METHODS: Stored sera from 250 healthy adult subjects who visited the health promotion center in Samsung Medical Center between July and August 2006 were tested for IgG hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV). RESULTS: The prevalence of anti-HAV was 2%, 72%, 92%, 94%, 100% in 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's, respectively. The prevalence of anti-HAV was significantly lower in subjects below age 40 compared to those above 40 (37.0% vs. 95.3%, p<0.001). The seroprevalence was higher in area outside of Seoul compared to those living in Seoul in age group below 40 (25.6% vs. 55.6%, p=0.01). In Seoul area, the prevalence was significantly lower in Kangnam-Gu, Seocho-Gu, and Songpa-Gu district compared to the other areas of Seoul in the age group below 40 (20.0% vs. 42.1%, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus antibody in Korean population below 40 is quite low and immunity to hepatitis A virus in those subjects can be a public health issue. In view of changing seroepidemiology, a policy for hepatitis A vaccination in population below 40 might be warranted.

A Case of Gastric Bezoar Treated by an Endoscopic Coca-Cola Injection / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Bezoars are the most common foreign bodies in the stomach as seen endoscopically with a frequency of approximately 0.4%. They consist of persistent concretions or hard accumulations of non-digestible vegetable matter, hair or more unusual materials. Gastric bezoars develop in patients with previous gastric surgery, gastric outlet obstruction, or poor gastric emptying such as gastroparesis due to hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus or mixed connective tissue disease. The clinical presentations of gastric bezoars include epigastric pain, a palpable mass, a gastrointestinal obstruction and peptic ulceration. The treatment options include surgery, enzymatic dissolution or endoscopic mechanical fragmentation and/or removal. Recently, the efficacy of the administration or lavage of 'Coca-Cola' for the effective dissolution of gastric bezoars has been reported. We report a case of a 27-year-old woman with a large gastric bezoar that was successfully removed by the direct endoscopic injection of a carbonated beverage ('Coca-Cola light', a sugar free product; Coca cola Co., Seoul, South Korea) into the bezoar, which led to fragmentatio

A Case of Vanishing Bile Duct Syndrome Associated with Hypersensitivity to Allopurinol / 대한간학회지

Allopurinol is frequently used for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout. Sometimes, a life-threatening reaction develops, as is illustrated by the following case report. We describe a 60-year-old male patient who was treated with allopurinol because of asymptomatic hyperuricemia, and he was presented with fever, skin rash, eosinophilia, worsening renal function and vanishing bile duct syndrome. In this report, we discussed vanishing bile duct syndrome as a serious side effect of allopurinol, and we briefly reviewed the etiology, prevention, and treatment modalities for vanishing bile duct syndrome.

A case of swallow syncope with sinus pause and vasovagal syncope / 대한내과학회지

A 73 year-old male presented with recurrent episodes of syncope associated with swallowing. Head up tilt test revealed positive response and electrocardiogram revealed a sinus pause with swallowing of carbonated beverages. Underlying esophageal or cardiac disease was not found after evaluation. These findings suggest that a disturbance in the autonomic feedback loop of cardiovascular reflex led to the vasovagal syncope and swallow syncope in this patient. We experienced a case of swallow syncope with sinus pause and vasovagal syncope diagnosed by head up tilt test. This is the first case in Korea that presented with both swallow syncope and vasovagal syncope.