Dysphagia Caused by Giant Granuloma Arising from the Oropharyngeal Posterior Wall

Granuloma is an uncommon benign disease that develops in the process of wound healing. Pharyngeal or laryngeal granuloma can be associated with gastric reflux, mechanical injury or trauma including intubation, voice abuse, or foreign body. 50-year-old female was transferred to our institute with a huge mass occupying the upper aerodigestive tract causing dysphagia. The patient has been suffering from a brain hemorrhage for several months and was kept in bed due to the quadriplegia with stuporous mental status, and was tracheotomized. On examination, the whole oropharynx and hypopharynx was covered by a smooth-surfaced soft big diffuse granular mass, which extended down to the upper trachea through the larynx. The huge granuloma was successfully removed with surgery and was found to have a pedunculating stalk on the oropharyngeal posterior wall with a small mucosal defect, suggestive of the origin of the mass. The defect was closed primarily after the cauterization. The patient is now followed up regularly without any recurrence of the disease.

Dysphagia Caused by Giant Granuloma Arising from the Oropharyngeal Posterior Wall

Granuloma is an uncommon benign disease that develops in the process of wound healing. Pharyngeal or laryngeal granuloma can be associated with gastric reflux, mechanical injury or trauma including intubation, voice abuse, or foreign body. 50-year-old female was transferred to our institute with a huge mass occupying the upper aerodigestive tract causing dysphagia. The patient has been suffering from a brain hemorrhage for several months and was kept in bed due to the quadriplegia with stuporous mental status, and was tracheotomized. On examination, the whole oropharynx and hypopharynx was covered by a smooth-surfaced soft big diffuse granular mass, which extended down to the upper trachea through the larynx. The huge granuloma was successfully removed with surgery and was found to have a pedunculating stalk on the oropharyngeal posterior wall with a small mucosal defect, suggestive of the origin of the mass. The defect was closed primarily after the cauterization. The patient is now followed up regularly without any recurrence of the disease.

Internal Fixation of Pauwels Type-3 Undisplacedincomplete Insufficiency Femoral Neck Fractures with Cephalomedullary Nails / 대한고관절학회지

Femoral neck stress fractures are rare and when treating are difficult to achieve favorable outcomes. This study characterizes outcomes associated with the use of cephalomedullary nails for fixation of Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck undisplaced-incomplete insufficiency fractures. Four consecutive patients with a Pauwels type-3 vertical femoral neck tensile insufficiency fracture from 2016 to 2018 were reviewed. Magnetic resonance imaging data revealed tensile visible fracture lines and hip-joint effusions with a high shear angle. For all patients, bone mineral density and vitamin D levels were low; vitamin D therapy was initiated immediately. Surgical procedures were conducted with cephalomedullary nails (Gamma 3 locking nail system; Stryker) under general anesthesia. A cephalomedullary nail appears to be a safe and effective alternative to the use of multiple parallel screws or a sliding hip screw for fixation of vertical femoral neck stress fractures (level of evidence: Level V).

Epigenetic modulation as a therapeutic approach for pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare but progressive and currently incurable disease, which is characterized by vascular remodeling in association with muscularization of the arterioles, medial thickening and plexiform lesion formation. Despite our advanced understanding of the pathogenesis of PAH and the recent therapeutic advances, PAH still remains a fatal disease. In addition, the susceptibility to PAH has not yet been adequately explained. Much evidence points to the involvement of epigenetic changes in the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases including cancer, peripheral hypertension and asthma. The knowledge gained from the epigenetic study of various human diseases can also be applied to PAH. Thus, the pursuit of novel therapeutic targets via understanding the epigenetic alterations involved in the pathogenesis of PAH, such as DNA methylation, histone modification and microRNA, might be an attractive therapeutic avenue for the development of a novel and more effective treatment. This review provides a general overview of the current advances in epigenetics associated with PAH, and discusses the potential for improved treatment through understanding the role of epigenetics in the development of PAH.

Paper-Based Analytical Device for Quantitative Urinalysis / 대한배뇨장애요실금학회지

Paper-based analytical devices are fluidic chips fabricated with extremely inexpensive materials, namely paper, thereby allowing their use as a zero-cost analytical device in third-world countries that lack access to expensive diagnostic infrastructures. The aim of this review is to discuss: (1) microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (microPADs) for quantitative analysis, (2) fabrication of two- or three-dimensional microPADs, (3) analytical methods of microPADs, and (4) our opinions regarding the future applications of microPADs for quantitative urinalysis.

Anti-angiogenic effects of water extract of a formula consisting of Pulsatilla koreana, Panax ginseng and Glycyrrhiza uralensis / 中西医结合学报

This study aimed to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of the water extract of Pulsatilla koreana (Yabe ex Nakai) Nakai ex T. Mori., Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch (WEPPG).

Simple and Novel Three Dimensional Neuronal Cell Culture Using a Micro Mesh Scaffold

Conventional method of cell culture studies has been performed on two-dimensional substrates. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture platforms have been a subject of interest as cells in 3D has significant differences in cell differentiation and behavior. Here we report a novel approach of 3D cell culture using a nylon micro mesh (NMM) as a cell culture scaffold. NMM is commonly used in cell culture laboratory, which eliminates the requirement of special technicality for biological laboratories. Furthermore, it is made of a micro-meter thick nylon fibers, which was adequate to engineer in cellular scales. We demonstrate the feasibility of the NMM as a 3D scaffold using E18 rat hippocampal neurons. NMM could be coated with cell adhesive coatings (polylysine or polyelectrolyte) and neurons showed good viability. Cells were also encapsulated in an agarose hydrogel and cultured in 3D using NMM. In addition, the 3D pattern of NMM could be used as a guidance cue for neurite outgrowth. The flexible and elastic properties of NMMs made it easier to handle the scaffold and also readily applicable for large-scale tissue engineering applications.

Association between I/D, G14480C, A22982G Polymorphisms of Angiotesin I-Converting Enzyme Gene and Essential Hypertension in the Korean Population

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) genes have been studied extensively as etiologic essential hypertension (EH) candidate genes in human populations worldwide. The angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) plays an important role in the RAS for the regulation of blood pressure. Recent reports on the association of ACE gene polymorphisms with EH and the related cardiovascular diseases have been controversial. Therefore, this study investigated the association of three polymorphisms (I/D, G14480C and A22982G) in the ACE gene with EH in Koreans. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study recruited a sample population of 887 Koreans (comprising of 461 controls and 426 EH cases) from Cardiovascular Genome Center in Korea. The ACE gene polymorphisms were determined by a polymerase chain reaction and a SNP-IT assay. RESULTS: The genotype and the allele frequencies of all three polymorphisms in the hypertensives and the normotensives not significantly different (p>0.05). In the female control group, there was a significant difference in SBP among the genotype with the I/D polymorphism (p<0.05). There was also an association between the ACE polymorphisms and the hypertensive male group with the total cholesterol level. Haplotype analysis showed that none of the haplotypes were significantly associated with hypertension. CONCLUSION: ACE polymorphisms do not appear to have any apparent association with essential hypertension in Koreans, who have a more homogeneous genetic structure than other ethnic groups.