Life-Sustaining Treatment in End-Stage Liver Disease Patients: Patients’ Decisions and Results / 한국호스피스완화의료학회지

Purpose@#In 2018, the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients in Hospice and Palliative Care or at the End of Life was implemented and the scope of official recognition for terminally ill patients was expanded. The purpose of this study was to investigate the decisions made by patients with end-stage liver disease about their life-sustaining treatment in a clinical setting. @*Methods@#The subjects of this study were patients with endstage liver disease hospitalized at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea who wrote physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST). Data collection was done using patients’ electronic medical records, and a retrospective analysis of POLST was conducted. @*Results@#Among 101 patients, 18.8% were female and 81.2% were male, and their mean age was 61.8 (±10.61) years. Sixty-three patients (62.4%) wrote their POLST by themselves. Three patients withdrew the POLST, of whom two did so for liver transplantation, and one did so for chemotherapy. @*Conclusion@#This study shows that sufficient consideration of liver transplantation is needed for end-stage liver disease patients before making decisions on life-sustaining treatment. The self-determination of patients must be respected and effective guidelines are urgently needed.

Impact of Self-esteem and Social support on Self-care Performance in Liver Transplantation Recipients / 재활간호학회지

Purpose@#This study examined the impact of self-esteem and social support on self-care performance of liver transplantation recipients. @*Methods@#In this correlational study, 101 recipients were recruited from a general hospital-affiliated outpatient clinic using a convenience sampling. Participants were asked to administer questionnaires of the self-esteem, the social support, and self-care performance. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical linear regression. @*Results@#Self-care performance of patients with liver transplantation was significantly different by gender, age, education level, and support group meeting. After controlling for these covariates, social support significantly influenced on self-care performance (β=.25, p=.010, adjusted R 2 .=.058). @*Conclusion@#Social support from medical team and family members is a critical factor to promote self-care performance level for liver transplantation recipients.

Fabrication of palatal lift prosthesis using thermoplastic resin for a patient with velopharyngeal insufficiency / 대한치과보철학회지

Recently, flexible removable prosthesis with thermoplastic resin clasp has increasingly become popular. In comparison with conventionally used acrylic resin, thermoplastic resin has lower flexural strength and elastic modulus. Thus, flexible removable prosthesis has low risk of fracture, so denture base can be made thin and light, increasing patient comfort. Also, it can passively sit at tooth undercut during rest, so abutment teeth need minimum or no preparation. In this case report, a 44 year old female patient with mild velopharyngeal insufficiency was treated with a palatal lift prosthesis made of polyester thermoplastic resin. Since the patient had no missing tooth and desired conservative treatment, the flexible removable prosthesis provided relatively satisfactory results.

Combination Effects of Capsicum Plaster at the Korean Hand Acupuncture Points K-D2 with Prophylactic Antiemetic on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting after Gynecologic Laparoscopy

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the combination effects of capsicum plaster at the Korean hand acupuncture points K-D2 with prophylactic antiemetic on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV). METHODS: An experimental research design (a randomized, a double-blinded, and a placebo-control procedure) was used. The participants were female patients undergoing gynecologic laparoscopy; the control group (n=34) received intravenous prophylactic ramosetron 0.3mg, while the experimental group (n=34) had Korean Hand Therapy additionally. In the experimental group, capsicum plaster was applied at K-D2 of both 2nd and 4th fingers by means of Korean Hand Therapy for a period of 30 minutes before the induction of anesthesia and removed 8 hours after the laparoscopy. RESULTS: The occurrence of nausea, nausea intensity and need for rescue with antiemetic in the experimental group was significantly less than in the control group 2 hours after surgery. CONCLUSION: Results of the study show capsicum plaster at K-D2 is an effective method for reducing PONV in spite of the low occurrence of PONV because of the prophylactic antiemetic medication.

Clinical Characteristics and Analysis of CLCN1 in Patients with "EMG Disease"

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: While the etiology and clinical features of "EMG disease" - which is characterized by diffusely increased insertional activity on needle electromyography (EMG) in the absence of neuromuscular disease - are not well known, some authorities believe it may be a form of myotonia congenita (MC). The aims of this study were to determine the clinical features of EMG disease and its relationship with CLCN1 mutations in patients. METHODS: The detailed clinical and electrophysiological features of EMG disease were evaluated in six patients. All 23 coding exons and exon-intron boundaries in CLCN1 gene were analyzed by direct sequencing to detect nucleotide changes. RESULTS: The common clinical symptoms of EMG disease were chronic muscle stiffness or generalized myalgia, which were aggravated in a cold environment. Four patients complained of action myotonia several times a year. Short trains of provoked positive sharp waves were documented on needle EMG, but myotonic discharges, fibrillation potentials, and fasciculations were not. Increased insertional activity was identified at the asymptomatic muscles studied. One novel heterozygous mutation was identified in one patient following genetic testing for CLCN1 mutations (c.1679T>C, p.Met560Thr). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical features of EMG disease might be quite similar to those of MC, but CLCN1 mutation was found in only one subject. It is thus difficult to accept that EMG disease lies within the phenotypic spectrum of MC. Additional testing is needed to verify the pathogenetic cause of the diffusely increased insertional activity associated with this condition.

Clinical Manifestations and Neuro-otological Findings of Migrainous Vertigo / 대한평형의학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Migrainous vertigo (MV) is one of the recurrent vestibular syndromes and may present episodic vestibular and concurrent migraine symptoms. The clinical manifestations and neuro-otological findings of MV have been delineated over the last couple of decades, however, there are still lots of uncertainties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a comprehensive literature search regarding the clinical manifestations and neuro-otological findings of MV compatible with the diagnostic criteria proposed by Neuhuaser. We found the published articles that addressed the clinical and neuro-otological findings and we performed a pooled analysis. RESULTS: Even though the duration of MV attack was variable from seconds to days, the most common durations investigated in this study was minutes (range, 5-60 minutes). During MV attack, most patients had a migraine headache, but instead the other migraine symptoms (i.e., photophobia, phonophobia) could be found. There were positional nystagmus which may not meet a stimulated canal plane and spontaneous nystagmus and, less commonly, gaze-evoked nystagmus. Regarding bithermal caloric test, unilateral canal paresis could be found in 15-20% of MV patients as well as hyperexcitability in some patients. Oculomotor tests might show impaired pursuits (mainly saccadic pursuit) and saccadic abnormalities such as delayed latency and hypometric saccade. CONCLUSION: From the result of the pooled analysis, we have found several clinical and neuro-otological findings. However, vital neuro-otological findings which can provide a clue for the diagnosis of MV are still lacking. So the diagnosis of MV should depend on the clinical manifestations and a process of differential diagnosis.

Recurrent Vasospasm of Internal Carotid Artery Causing Recurrent Ischemic Stroke

The etiology of ischemic stroke in young adults often remains unclear. Extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) vasospasm is uncommon and has been reported in only a few cases. We present a case of migrainous headache and recurrent ischemic stroke due to recurrent extracranial ICA vasospasm without evidence of carotid artery dissection or fibromuscular dysplasia.

Myasthenia Gravis Aggravated by Steroid-Induced Isolated Mediastinal Tuberculous Lymphadenitis

BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is occasionally aggravated by chronic infection, of which there are many kinds. CASE REPORT: We report herein the case of a 56-year-old woman with MG aggravated by the activation of isolated mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis (MTL) during corticosteroid administration. The possibility of MTL had been disregarded in the differential diagnosis of aggravation of MG weakness, because MTL without pulmonary manifestations is uncommon even in areas where tuberculosis is endemic. CONCLUSIONS: This case suggests that chronic infections such as tuberculosis should be considered in myasthenic patients with progressive exacerbation if definite evidence for aggravating factors of MG is not obtained.

Churg-Strauss Syndrome Complicated With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is a rare systemic vasculitis that is accompanied by asthma and peripheral eosinophilia. We report herein a case of a 32-year-old man with untreated CSS complicated by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the right basal ganglia. On admission, a hematologic examination revealed eosinophilia and increased perinuclearantineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody levels. A thorough stroke risk-factor evaluation was conducted, but the only risk factor found was CSS. This is the first case of CSS complicated by ICH reported in Korea.

Gastric Metastasis from Ovarian Adenocarcinoma Presenting as a Submucosal Tumor without Ulceration

Metastatic gastric cancer is extremely rare and gastric metastasis from ovarian adenocarcinoma has rarely been reported. All of the previously reported metastatic lesions presented as an ulcerative lesions. We report a case of 49-year-old woman in which gastric metastasis from ovarian adenocarcinoma presented as a submucosal tumor without ulceration on endoscopic examination. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor was suspected on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) examination. It was confirmed histopathologically as metastatic ovarian adenocarcinoma after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) with enucleation. Submucosal tumor of the stomach in patients with ovarian carcinoma should not be overlooked and ESD with enucleation may be a viable option when EUS with fine needle aspiration is not available.

A Case of Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Active Ulcerative Colitis / 대한소화기학회지

Inflammatory bowel disease often involves extra-intestinal organs. Cerebral thrombosis, portal vein thrombosis and pulmonary thrombosis have been reported. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism are significant causes of mortality in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. A 48-year-old woman was diagnosed as inflammatory bowel disease on colonoscopy and histology. We used hydrocortisone and mesalazine for the treatment of disease. Nineteen days later, she complained of abrupt dyspnea. Pulmonary CT angiography revealed a thromboembolism in right pulmonary arteries. After the treatment of heparin therapy, follow-up pulmonary CT angiography showed significant improvement of previously thrombosed pulmonary arteries.

Inter-Physician Variation in Treatment for Patients with Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The incidence and prevalence of Crohn's disease are increasing in Korea. However, the guidelines for the management of Crohn's disease have not been established in Korea. In the current study we determined the difference in the treatment methods between physicians in Korea for Crohn's disease. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the use of medical and surgical treatment modalities in 92 patients with newly diagnosed Crohn's disease. We compared the treatment strategies among 4 physicians at 3 different institutions. RESULTS: Prednisone, 5-aminosalicylates, antibiotics, immunomodulators, infliximab, and surgery were prescribed or preformed in 64%, 92%, 24%, 35%, 9%, and 22% of the patients, respectively. The surgical procedures included 12 bowel resections and 8 fistulectomies. The prescription rates for 5-aminosalicylates, prednisone, antibiotics, and infliximab did not differ, but of the use of immunomodulators was significantly different between physicians (p=0.012). The mean interval between diagnosis and the start of immunomodulators was 14 months, and was not different between physicians. The median dosage of immunomodulators was 50 mg per day, and was not different between physicians. CONCLUSIONS: A difference in medical treatment strategies for Crohn's disease between physicians exists in Korea. Specifically, there was a significant difference in the use of immunodulators between physicians. The development of treatment guidelines for Crohn's disease, together with efforts to decrease the inter-physician difference for treating Crohn's disease are needed.

Eight-And-a-Half Syndrome in Pontine Infarction

Eight-and-a-half syndrome is a clinical syndrome with the combination of a one-and-a-half syndrome and an ipsilateral seventh cranial nerve palsy usually due to a paramedian pontine tegmental lesion. A 57-year-old man presented with dizziness, diplopia, and a left facial palsy. Ocular motor manifestations showed combined left conjugate horizontal gaze palsy and left internuclear ophthalmoplegia (one-and-a-half syndrome). In addition, he had a left lower motor neuron pattern of facial palsy. Brain MR images showed an acute infarction in the left paramedian pontine tegmentum.

The Re-infection of Helicobacter pylori and the Presence of Metachronous Lesions after Endoscopic Mucosal Resection of Gastric Neoplasias / 대한소화기내시경학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the H. pylori re-infection rate in patients that underwent endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) due to a gastric adenoma and gastric adenocarcinoma, and to define the correlation between H. pylori re-infection and the presence of metachronous lesions. METHODS: An endoscopic examination with a biopsy was performed at six months, 12 months, and every year thereafter to determine if H. pylori re-infection occurred and if metachronous lesions were present in patients that had undergone EMR (EMR group). At least a three-year follow-up examination was performed, and patients with an on-site recurrent lesion were excluded. The re-infection rate was compared to the rate in patients with peptic ulcers (control group). RESULTS: Six patients (24%) among the 25 patients included in this study had H. pylori re-infection, an indication of a high re-infection rate as compared to the rate in patients with peptic ulcers (p=0.03). Two patients (33.3%) who were re-infected with H. pylori had metachronous lesions (p=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Determination of the H. pylori status during a follow-up study after EMR is essential and re-eradication therapy is recommended in patients with H. pylori re-infection to prevent metachronous lesions.

A Benign Ulcer of the Gastric Fundus Reminiscent of a Malignant Submucosal Tumor / 대한소화기내시경학회지

The gastric fundus is a rare site for benign ulcer occurrence as it consists of parietal cells, which secret gastric acid. It is resistant to gastric acid and pepsin, and has an abundant blood supply. Varices or other vascular lesions, such as polyps and submucosal tumors, are more frequently found in the gastric fundus. When an ulcer is found in the gastric fundus, it is important to consider underlying conditions such as a malignancy. In this case, a benign gastric ulcer in the gastric fundus dome formed a protruding mass-like lesion with central necrosis, which was reminiscent of a malignant submucosal tumor. Proper follow-up gastroscopy with endoscopic ultrasonography helped to differentiate these similar lesions. We report here a case of a benign gastric ulcer in the fundus dome that was reminiscent of a malignant submucosal tumor, with a review of the literature.

Lithium-Induced Downbeat Nystagmus with Reversible Splenial Lesion

Lithium is recognized as a cause of reversible or permanent downbeat nystagmus. Many patients who were treated with lithium for psychiatric illness developed downbeat nystagmus and other neurological manifestations. Reversible splenial lesions of corpus callosum are commonly seen on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in various neurological disorders including metabolic/toxic encephalopathy, encephalitis, patients with epilepsy receiving antiepileptic drugs. Herein, we report a patient with reversible downbeat nystagmus, disturbance of smooth pursuit, and gait ataxia who was treated with lithium. Also, we can observe reversible splenial lesion of corpus callosum on DWI in this patient.

A Case of Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis Representing Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis in an Elderly Patient / 대한신장학회잡지

Postinfectious streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN) presenting as a rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) and nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a rare disease in elderly patients. Here we report a case of PSGN with RPGN and NS in an elderly male patient with a complete recovery from his illness. A 73-year-old man was admitted for dyspnea, oliguria and generalized edema appearing after acute upper respiratory infection. On admission, he presented nephrotic range of proteinuria, decreased renal function with elevated ASO, and decreased C3 and CH50 concentrations. The renal biopsy showed marked cellular crescents in the glomeruli with collapsed glomerular tufts and inflammatory cell infiltration. There were prominent and various sizes of "humps" in subepithelial areas in electron microscopy. Under the diagnosis of PSGN with RPGN, we successfully treated the patient with steroid pulse therapy and hemodialysis. We would suggest that early diagnosis and aggressive steroid therapy should be indicated in the treatment of PSGN with RPGN.

Successful Resolution of Left Renal Artery Stenosis by Interventional Renal Angioplasty with Stent in a Patient with Renal Insufficiency Underlying Ischemic Nephropathy / 대한신장학회잡지

Ischemic nephropathy is defined as renal dysfunction due to renal hypoperfusion mainly through renal artery stenosis. It is a common cause of chronic renal failure in old patients with atherosclerosis and is also a potentially correctable cause of renal failure if diagnosed earlier. We experienced a case of sudden Rt. main renal artery occlusion and renal failure after femoral artery angioplasty in an aged male patient with underlying atherosclerotic bilateral renovascular stenosis associated with ischemic nephropathy. He received successful Lt. renal artery angioplasty with stenting and restored Lt. renal artery blood flow. His blood pressure was more easily controlled with fewer antihypertensive drugs after renal artery revascularization. His renal function was recovered to his baseline level and became stabilized thereafter. Early diagnosis of ischemic nephropathy with MRA and timely renal angioplasty with stenting are beneficial to avoiding progression to irreversible renal failure.

A Case of Acute Pancreatitis Associated with Fasciola Hepatica / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic helminthiasis caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica, which is a parasite that infects the hepatobiliary system of herbivorous animals such as cattle and sheep. Humans are accidentally infected after ingestion of the water, raw aquatic plants and raw liver of herbivorous animals that are all contaminated by metacercaria. Fascioliasis produces no symptoms in most patients, but adult Fasciola hepatica occasionally gives rise to intestinal obstruction or pancreatobiliary disease. The metacercaria can migrate along the vessels or lymphatic ducts, and they can induce disease of the liver, lung and heart. We report here on a rare case of a 68-year-old male who presented with acute abdominal pain. He was diagnosed as acute pancreatitis associated with Fasciola hepatica.

A Case of Patient with Coincident Lung Cancer and Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Docetaxel-Cisplatin Chemotherapy / 대한류마티스학회지

A 54-year-old male was admitted due to lung cancer and polyarthralgia involving wrist, hand, shoulder, and ankle joints. Five months ago, he had been diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, and treated with three cycles of chemotherapy using gemcitabine and cisplatin. In the course of chemotherapy, he had complained symmetrical polyarthralgia of hand and shoulder joints, resembling rheumatoid arthritis (RA). After treatment with chemotherapeutic agents, he still had severe polyarthritis refractory to anti-rheumatic drugs, including prednisolone, hydroxychloroquine, and methotrexate, and thus referred to our hospital. We changed the previous anti-cancer regimens to cisplatin plus docetaxel, a semisyntheic taxane molecule, which is known to suppress experimental polyarthritis. With additional three cycles of cisplatin plus docetaxel, RA disease activity as well as polyarthralgia was nearly completely resolved, and the extent of lung cancer was not aggravated. Although RA patients have an increased risk of malignancy, the outbreak of RA was very rare in lung cancer patients. Here we report a case of coincident lung cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, which was successfully treated by docetaxel plus cisplatin chemotherapy.