Stab Injury of the Thoracic Spine with Remaining Metal Fragment: A Case Report

Spinal stab injury is very rare. We report on a case of a 49-year-old female who was stabbed in the left posterior thoracolumbar area. Image study revealed that the remaining tip of the knife penetrated the spinal canal at the T11 level. After emergency T11 hemilaminectomy, the remaining tip of the knife was removed safely. She was discharged with no other complications; however, mild paresthesia persisted. If the metal fragment remains in the wound, surgery should be considered in order to prevent further delayed complications.

Accuracy and Safety of Bedside External Ventricular Drain Placement at Two Different Cranial Sites : Kocher's Point versus Forehead

OBJECTIVE: External ventricular drain (EVD) is commonly performed with a freehand technique using surface anatomical landmarks at two different cranial sites, Kocher's point and the forehead. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the accuracy and safety of these percutaneous ventriculostomies. METHODS: A retrospectively review of medical records and head computed tomography scans were examined in 227 patients who underwent 250 freehand pass ventriculostomy catheter placements using two different methods at two institutions, between 2003 and 2009. Eighty-one patients underwent 101 ventriculostomies using Kocher's point (group 1), whereas 146 patients underwent 149 forehead ventriculostomies (group 2). RESULTS: In group 1, the catheter tip was optimally placed in either the ipsilateral frontal horn or the third ventricle, through the foramen of Monro (grade 1) in 82 (81.1%) procedures, in the contralateral lateral ventricle (grade 2) in 4 (3.9%), and into eloquent structures or non-target cerebrospinal space (grade 3) in 15 (14.8%). Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) >1 mL developed in 5 (5.0%) procedures. Significantly higher incidences of optimal catheter placements were observed in group 2. ICH>1 mL developed in 11 (7.4%) procedures in group 2, showing no significant difference between groups. In addition, the mean interval from the EVD to ventriculoperitoneal shunt was shorter in group 2 than in group 1, and the incidence of EVD-related infection was decreased in group 2. CONCLUSION: Accurate and safe ventriculostomies were achieved using both cranial sites, Kocher's point and the forehead. However, the forehead ventriculostomies provided more accurate ventricular punctures.

Mutations of katG and inhA in MDR M. tuberculosis / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUNDS: Mutations of katG and inhA (ORF and promoter) are known to be related to isoniazid (INH) resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Because reports on these mutations in Korean isolates are limited (i.e. only the frequency of katG codon 463 was evaluated.), we tried to know the kinds of mutations of two genes and their frequencies in INH resistant Korean M. tuberculosis strains. METHODS: PCR was performed to amplify katG (2,223 bp), inhA ORF (-77~897, 975 bp), and inhA promoter (-168~80, 248 bp) from 29 multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB) DNAs prepared by bead beater-phenol method. Their sequences were determined and analyzed by ABI PRISM 3730 XL Analyzer and MegAlign package program, respectively. RESULTS: All of the isolates had more than one mutation in katG or inhA gene. Twenty seven (93%) of 29 tested strains had katG mutations, which suggests that katG is a critical gene determining INH resistance of M. tuberculosis. Amino acid substitutions, such as Arg463Leu and Ser315Thr, due to point mutations of the katG were the most frequent (62.1% and 55.2%) mutations. In addition, deletion of the katG gene was frequently observed (17.2%). Analyzed Korean MDR-TB isolates also had variable inhA mutations. Point mutation of inhA promoter region, such as -15 (C-->T) was frequently found. Substitution of amino acid (Lsy8Asn) due to point mutation (AAA-->AAC) of inhA ORF was found in 1 isolate. Interestingly, 14 point mutated types that were not previously reported were newly found. While four types resulted in amino acid change, the others were silent mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is not clear that the relationship of these newly found mutations with INH resistance, they show marked diversity in Korean MDR-TB strains. It also suggests their feasibility as a molecular target to supplement determining the INH resistance of clinical isolates because of the possible existence of low-level INH resistant strains.

Mutations of katG and inhA in MDR M. tuberculosis / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUNDS: Mutations of katG and inhA (ORF and promoter) are known to be related to isoniazid (INH) resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Because reports on these mutations in Korean isolates are limited (i.e. only the frequency of katG codon 463 was evaluated.), we tried to know the kinds of mutations of two genes and their frequencies in INH resistant Korean M. tuberculosis strains. METHODS: PCR was performed to amplify katG (2,223 bp), inhA ORF (-77~897, 975 bp), and inhA promoter (-168~80, 248 bp) from 29 multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB) DNAs prepared by bead beater-phenol method. Their sequences were determined and analyzed by ABI PRISM 3730 XL Analyzer and MegAlign package program, respectively. RESULTS: All of the isolates had more than one mutation in katG or inhA gene. Twenty seven (93%) of 29 tested strains had katG mutations, which suggests that katG is a critical gene determining INH resistance of M. tuberculosis. Amino acid substitutions, such as Arg463Leu and Ser315Thr, due to point mutations of the katG were the most frequent (62.1% and 55.2%) mutations. In addition, deletion of the katG gene was frequently observed (17.2%). Analyzed Korean MDR-TB isolates also had variable inhA mutations. Point mutation of inhA promoter region, such as -15 (C-->T) was frequently found. Substitution of amino acid (Lsy8Asn) due to point mutation (AAA-->AAC) of inhA ORF was found in 1 isolate. Interestingly, 14 point mutated types that were not previously reported were newly found. While four types resulted in amino acid change, the others were silent mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is not clear that the relationship of these newly found mutations with INH resistance, they show marked diversity in Korean MDR-TB strains. It also suggests their feasibility as a molecular target to supplement determining the INH resistance of clinical isolates because of the possible existence of low-level INH resistant strains.

Construction of Recombinant BCGs Overexpressing Antigen 85 Complex and Their Protective Efficacy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection in a Mouse Model / 결핵및호흡기질환

Tuberculosis (TB) remains an enormous global health problem, and a new vaccine against TB more potent than the current inadequate BCG vaccine is urgently needed. We constructed three recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG (rBCG) strains over-expressing antigen (Ag) 85A, Ag85B, or both of M. tuberculosis using their own promoter and secretory sequence, or hsp60 promoter. SDS-PAGE analysis of rBCG proteins showed over-expression of Ag85A and Ag85B proteins in higher level than of those in their parental strain of BCG. In addition, rBCG(rBCG/B.FA) over-expressing Ag85A and Ag85B induced strong IFN-gamma production in splenocytes. However, there was no significant difference in protective efficacy between rBCG and their parental BCG strain. In this study, therefore, rBCG over-expressing Ag85A, Ag85B, or both failed to show enhanced protection against M. tuberculosis infection in a mouse model.

Molecular Taxonomic Survey of Mycobacteria Clinical Isolates from Patients in Jeju Island by rpoB Gene Based Molecular Biological Methods

The rpoB gene based sequencing analysis enabled not only the detection of rifampin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but also the differentiation of species in the genus Mycobacterium. In the present study, we applied the method to 68 isolates of M. tuberculosis (29 from initial treatment cases and 39 from recurrent cases) and 11 clinical isolates of nontuberculous mycobacteia (NTM) isolated from patients in Jeju island. Among rifampin resistant M. tuberculosis, two of 29 strains isolated from patients of initial cases (6.9%) and five of 39 strains isolated from patients of recurrent cases (12.8%) were confirmed to have rifampin resistant genotypes harboring mutations in rif r region of the rpoB gene. In NTM strains, M. fortuitum complex was the most frequently isolated species at the frequency of 54.5% (6/11).

Vitrectomy in Severe Giant Retinal Tear

PURPOSE: To determine the results of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for the treatment of severe giant retinal tear. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical records of patients who had 150degrees or greater of giant retinal tear and underwent PPV. RESULTS: Of all 10 patients (10 eyes), 7 were male patients and mean age was 29.8 years. Giant retinal tear was idiopathic in 6 eyes and traumatic in 1 eye, and occurred after vitrectomy in 3 eyes. Primary operations were scleral buckle in 1 eye, PPV with intraocular gas injection in 2 eyes and with silicone oil (SO) injection in 7 eyes. In 3 eyes without SO injection, secondary operations were PPV with intraocular gas injection in 1 eye and with SO injection in 2 eyes. In 1 eye with PPV and intraocular gas injection, tertiary operation was PPV with SO injection. Removal of SO was done in all 10 eyes and SO was re-injected due to proliferative vitreoretinopathy in 2 eyes. Visual acuity was counting fingers or worse in 8 eyes before the primary operation and, on the final visit, 0.1 or better in 6 eyes and 0.3 or better in 3 eyes. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that PPV with SO injection might be better for the treatment of severe giant retinal tear than with intraocular gas injection.