Purpose: Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is characterized by prolonged fever and radiological progression despite macrolide treatment. Few studies have examined serum procalcitonin (PCT) level in children with MPP. We aimed to investigate the association of acute inflammation markers including PCT with clinical parameters in children with MPP. Methods: A total of 147 children were recruited. The diagnosis of MPP... |
Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a hypersensitivity lung disease due to bronchial colonization of |
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory relapsing skin disorder. Vitamin D plays a pivotal role in the development of AD, and interleukin (IL) 31 is known to be related to pruritus in AD. The aim of our study was to determine whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are related to IL-31 levels or to the severity of AD. We enrolled 91... |
A nationwide outbreak of |
In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of year-round respiratory viral infection in children with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and the relationship between respiratory viral infection and allergen sensitization in exacerbating asthma. We investigated the sources for acute LRTIs in children admitted to our hospital from May 2010 to April 2011. The 6 most common respiratory viruses were... |
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We investigated the mRNA levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α, PPAR-γ, adipokines, and cytokines in the lung tissue of lean and obese mice with and without ovalbumin (OVA) challenge, and the effect of rosiglitazone, a PPAR-γ agonist. We developed 6 mice models: OVA-challenged lean mice with and without rosiglitazone; obese mice with and without rosiglitazone; and OVA-challenged obese mice with and... |
Dramatic improvement of hemangioma to propranolol has been recently reported; however, details on dose and duration of treatment, potential risks, and monitoring have not been determined. The objective of this study is to describe and analyze the use of propranolol as a first-line treatment or as a single therapy in management of complicated hemangioma. A retrospective chart review of eight patients... |
Purpose : The human lung fibroblast may act as an immunomodulatory cell by providing pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which are important in airway remodeling. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces mucosal edema and angiogenesis. Thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC) induces selective migration of T helper 2 cells. We investigated whether human lung fibroblasts produced VEGF and TARC, and the... |
Purpose : The aim of this study was to determine whether improved survival of extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) was associated with decreased neurodevelopmental disability later in life, and also to identify the factors influencing this disability. Methods : ELBWI admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Samsung Medical Center, survived, and followed up until the corrected age... |
Idiopathic renal hypouricemia is a disorder characterized by impaired urate handling in the renal tubules. This disease usually produces no symptoms, but hematuria, uric acid nephrolithiasis or acute renal failure may develop. A defect in the SLC22A12 gene, which encodes the human urate transporter, is the known major cause of this disorder. We describe a 10-month-old boy with idiopathic renal... |
Purpose : Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) is a common and benign congenital disorder of the musculoskeletal system in neonates and infants. The pathophysiology is that the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) is shortened on the involved side by fibrosis, leading to ipsilateral tilt and contralateral rotation of the face and chin. In this study, we investigated the clinical features of CMT, the... |
Purpose : Asthma is characterized by the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness(AHR) and inflammation. The extensive eosinophil infiltration into the lung is the hallmark of asthma and contributes to the damage of respiratory epithelium during late phase airway responses. Eotaxin is the major eosinophil chemoattractant found in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) fluid of allergic inflammation. IL-13 has been known to induce the... |
Purpose : The headache, one of the symptoms of meningitis, is related to abrupt elevation of intracranial pressure(ICP) or stimulation of intracranial nociceptive structure. However, in cases of mild elevation of ICP or normal findings of cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) analysis, patients sometimes complain of headaches. Therefore, other pathways may contribute to the occurrence of headaches in aseptic meningitis or meningismus. We... |
Purpose : Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is a key cytokine for controlling vascular permeability and angiogenesis, which is one of the major findings in airway remodeling. However, it is not well known if it is associated with acute lower respiratory tract disease such as lobar pneumonia. The aim of this study is to compare serum VEGF levels in patients with... |
Purpose : Because migraine in children has different characteristics from that in adults, it is inappropriate to apply migraine criteria for adults to children. Recently, the International Headache Society(IHS) revised criteria regarding children's characteristics. Therefore, we reviewed the characteristics of childhood migraines without auras based on the revised criteria and compared the data with the findings of childhood migraine by... |
We encountered two children with lead poisoning who were administered herb medicinal pills recommended by their clergyman. These patients presented anemia and severe coliky abdominal pain, but no neurologic symptoms. For this reason, they were initially misdiagnosed with gastrointestinal hemorrhagic disease. However, we got a clue that they took herb medicinal pills. Finally, based on the assay of blood lead... |
Purpose : The purpose of this study was to report outcome of fetal infants with birth weight below 500 g known as lower limit of viability and to evaluate treatment characteristics and short-term morbidity of their survivors. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of all fetal infants with birth weight below 500 g who were delivered at Samsung Medical... |
Purpose : We performed this study to evaluate the mean serum levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein(IGFBP)-2 and IGFBP-3 in healthy Korean children according to age and sex. Methods : Ninety two healthy children, consisting of 42 boys and 50 girls, were classified into five groups according to age : neonate; infancy; early childhood; late childhood;... |
Purpose : Flow cytometric automated reticulocyte analysis is a superior method to manual reticulocyte counting, with respect to precision and sensitivity. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis is able to measure immature reticulocyte fraction(IRF) and reticulocyte cellular indices(RCI : cell hemoglobin content : CHr, mean cell volume : MCVr, cell hemoglobin concentration mean : CHCMr, distribytion width : RDWr, HDWr, CHDWr). In... |
Purpose : The pathologic mechanisms of central nervous system(CNS) injuries in human meningitis are not yet completely understood. Recent studies indicate that the host inflammatory responses are as important in brain damage as the infecting organisms and toxins. There have been some reports on the relationship of nitric oxide(NO), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α(MIP-1α), and lactoferrin in bacterial meningitis, but few reports... |
Purpose : To determine the change in the limit of viability in fetal infants and the incidence of major complications in neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) at Samsung Medical Center(SMC). Methods : Sevety-three infants weighing less than 800 g at birth and 117 infants born earlier than 27 weeks gestational age, who were admitted to NICU at SMC between November 1994... |
Purpose : Kawasaki disease is an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology with a predilection for the coronary arteries. Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is a cytokine which promotes vascular permeability and angiogenesis. We investigated serum VEGF(sVEGF) levels in Kawasaki disease to determine whether sVEGF level can be used as a risk factor to predict the occurrence of coronary artery lesions(CAL)... |
Purpose : The nephrotic syndrome is characterized by proteinuria, hypoproteinemia, edema and hyperlipidemia. These can change body homeostasis and cause hypertension. This study was designed to determine the relationship between the forearm vasodilating capacity and serum cholesterol level of nephrotic syndrome patients. Methods : 15 Nephrotic syndrome patients and 17 normal control children who visited Chung-ang University Youngsan Hospital from Sep.... |