Systemic Steroid Therapy for Serous Retinal Detachment Caused by Excessive Endolaser during Diabetic Retinopathy Surgery

PURPOSE: To report cases of macular serous retinal detachment caused by excessive intraoperative endolaser in patients with diabetic vitreous hemorrhage. Macular serous retinal detachment was improved by systemic steroid therapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 64-year-old male (case 1) and a 67-year-old female (case 2) treated with vitrectomy and endolaser (case 1, 3,184 shots; case 2, 1,734 shots) because of diabetic vitreous hemorrhage visited our out-patient clinic with blurred vision. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in case 1 was hand motion and 0.03 in case 2. Fundus examination and optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed extensive subretinal fluid accumulation of the posterior pole. With the diagnosis of macular serous retinal detachment caused by excessive intraoperative endoaser, oral steroid (40 mg/qd, 5 days) was administered and then later reduced in case 1. In case 2, we administered intravenous high-dose steroid (250 mg/qid, 3 days). After systemic steroid therapy, BCVA was improved to 20/30 in case 1 and 20/40 in case 2 and OCT showed the subretinal fluid was resolved. CONCLUSIONS: During diabetic retinopathy surgery, excessive endolaser induced macular serous retinal detachment and systemic steroid therapy was necessary in diabetic patients. Thus, physicians should be well acquainted with this complication.

The cross-sectional relationship between dietary calcium intake and metabolic syndrome among men and women aged 40 or older in rural areas of Korea

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Studies conducted in Western populations have suggested that dietary calcium may protect against metabolic abnormalities, but there is little evidence of this effect in Asians, who have relatively low calcium intake. We evaluated the cross-sectional relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic syndrome among Korean men and women aged 40 years and over. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 6,375 subjects aged 40 years and over and were recruited between January 2005 and February 2010 from the baseline study of the Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study in Rural Communities (MRCohort). A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the modified criteria published in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel. RESULTS: Calcium intake was related inversely to metabolic syndrome in women (P-value = 0.0091), but not in men (P = 0.1842). Among metabolic components, high waist circumference (WC) (P = 0.0426) and high blood glucose (P = 0.0027) in women and hypertriglyceridemia (P = 0.0017) in men were inversely correlated with calcium intake. Excluding those who used calcium or multinutrient supplements did not attenuate the relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Dietary calcium intake from foods may be inversely related to metabolic syndrome, WC, and blood glucose among women in rural areas of Korea.

High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults Aged 50 Years and Older in Gwangju, Korea: the Dong-gu Study

Vitamin D plays an important role in bone metabolism and maintaining bone health. Recently, new evidence has revealed that vitamin D affects chronic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vitamin D status and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in an urban Korean population. This study included 8,976 participants (3,587 men and 5,389 women) aged 50 yr and older. Serum 25(OH)D level was measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL] was 59.7% and 86.5% in men and women, respectively. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency increased significantly with age in men, but not in women and it decreased from April to July, more prominently in men than in women. These results suggest that sun exposure, intake of vitamin D supplement, and regular physical activities is recommended in an urban Koreans, especially in women.

Lidocaine Induced Status Epilepticus

No abstract available.

Studies on anti-oral cancer activities of medicinal plant extracts

Treatment of oral cancers with chemotherapeutic agents are evaluated as an effective method for remission to reduce cancer proliferation nowadays. But, minimization of side-effects such as bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal toxicity and renal damage is another problem to be solved. Thus, a possible approach to develop a clinically applicable chemotherapeutic agents is to screen anticancer activity among traditional medicinal plants which have been used for thousands of years with very low side-effects in orient. In this study we focused on screening anti-oral cancer activities among 14 traditional medicinal plant extracts that revealed anticancer activities on other solid tumors. The results were as follow: 1. Methanol extract of Lepidium apetalum showed the highest anti-oral cancer activity against A253 cells. At concentration of 4 microgram/ml, the cell viability was 48% under our experimental condition. IC50 value obtained was 4 microgram/ml. 2. Methanol extract of Coptis japonica and Solanum nigrum were effective on KB cells. Cell viability observed were 62% and 67% at concentration of 4 microgram/ml, and IC50 values were 12 microgram/ml and 10 microgram/ml respectively. 3. When the methanol extract of Lonicera caerule was combined with 2 microgram/ml of cisplatin, the anticancer activity was synergistically increased. One hundred microgram/ml of Lonicera caerule showed 92% (alone) or 59% (combined with cisplatin) cell viabilities. IC50 value of Lonicera caerule extract against KB cells was reduced from 301 microgram/ml to 126 microgram/ml when combined with 2 microgram/ml of cisplatin. 4. Medicinal plant extracts effective on both A253 and KB cells were Coptis japonica, Lepidium apetalum, Solanum nigrum, Caesalpiniae Lignum, Curcuma aromatica.