The Diagnostic Validity of Citric Acid-Free, High Dose (13)C-Urea Breath Test After Helicobacter pylori Eradication in Korea.

BACKGROUND: The (13)C-urea breath test ((13)C-UBT) is a noninvasive method for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. The aims of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic validity of the (13)C-UBT cutoff value and to identify influencing clinical factors responsible for aberrant results. METHODS: (13)C-UBT (UBiTkit; Otsuka Pharmaceutical, cutoff value: 2.5‰) results in the range 2.0‰ to 10.0‰ after H. pylori eradication therapy were compared with the results of endoscopic biopsy results of the antrum and body. Factors considered to affect test results adversely were analyzed. RESULTS: Among patients with a positive (13)C-UBT result (2.5‰ to 10.0‰, n = 223) or a negative (13)C-UBT result (2.0‰ to < 2.5‰, n = 66) after H. pylori eradication, 73 patients (34.0%) were false positive, and one (1.5%) was false negative as determined by endoscopic biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, false-positive rate, and false-negative rate for a cutoff value of 2.5‰ were 99.3%, 47.1%, 52.9%, and 0.7%, respectively, and positive and negative predictive values of the (13)C-UBT were 67.3% and 98.5%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that a history of two or more previous H. pylori eradication therapies (OR = 2.455, 95%CI = 1.299-4.641) and moderate to severe gastric intestinal metaplasia (OR = 3.359, 95%CI = 1.572-7.178) were associated with a false-positive (13)C-UBT result. CONCLUSION: The (13)C-UBT cutoff value currently used has poor specificity for confirming H. pylori status after eradication, and this lack of specificity is exacerbated in patients that have undergone multiple prior eradication therapies and in patients with moderate to severe gastric intestinal metaplasia. In addition, the citric-free (13)C-UBT would increase a false-positive (13)C-UBT result.

Phenotypic, immunologic, and clinical characteristics of patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in Korea.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to elucidate the phenotypic, immunologic, and clinical characteristics of Korean patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease and compare them with non-NTM bronchiectasis (BE) patients. METHODS: We prospectively recruited patients between 20 and 80 years of age who had nodular BE type NTM lung disease. Phenotypic, immunologic, and clinical characteristics were evaluated through physical examination, laboratory tests, pulmonary function tests, and radiographic examinations. Questionnaires were also answered. The results of the evaluations were compared with the results of non-NTM BE patients. RESULTS: A total of 84 patients with NTM lung disease and 47 non-NTM BE patients participated in the study. Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease and M. abscessus lung disease were most common. Patients with NTM lung disease had lower body mass index than non-NTM BE patients. Scoliosis was observed more frequently in patients with NTM lung disease than in non-NTM BE patients. CONCLUSIONS: Significant similarities were seen between Korean patients with NTM lung disease and patients from other countries. Differences in phenotypic and clinical characteristics between NTM lung disease and non-NTM BE patients suggest differences in the immunopathogenesis of NTM lung disease and non-NTM BE. TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration number; NCT01616745.

Alteration in lipid and protein profiles of ovarian cancer: similarity to breast cancer.

This study was undertaken to evaluate protein and lipid profiles of ovarian cancer tissue samples. Twenty-three frozen ovarian cancer samples and 6 adjacent normal samples were analyzed using histology-directed, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. Sinapinic acid and 2, 5-dihydroxybenzoic acid/α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid were manually deposited on areas of each tissue section enriched in epithelial cells to identify protein and lipid profiles respectively, and mass spectra were acquired using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight instrument. Protein and lipid profiles classify 11 cancer and 3 adjacent normal samples in 100 random test sets with 92.9% median accuracy. Phosphatidylcholines {32:3} [M + Na] (m/z = 750.66), {34:1} [M + K] (m/z = 798.60), and {36:2} [M + K] (m/z = 824.56) were found to be increased in ovarian cancer. Interestingly, breast cancer-associated changes in lipid and protein profiles were also found in ovarian cancer. Thus, protein and lipid profiles accurately distinguish ovarian cancer from adjacent normal tissue samples. Common cancer-associated alterations in lipid and protein profiles were identified between ovarian and breast cancers.

Biopsy-confirmed fenofibrate-induced severe jaundice: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. DILI is mainly caused by painkillers and fever reducers, and it is often characterized by the type of hepatic injury (hepatocellular or cholestatic). This report presents a case of fenofibrate-induced severe jaundice in a 65-year-old Korean male with no prior history of liver disease. We offer a strategy for patients who present signs of severe liver injury with jaundice and high elevations in serum transaminases. CASE SUMMARY: A 65-year-old male visited the gastroenterology outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital due to increased levels of liver enzyme and total bilirubin which were incidentally detected through a preoperative screening test. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography showed no biliary obstruction or non-specific findings in the liver. Liver biopsy was performed and the patient was finally diagnosed with acute cholestatic hepatitis. Following the biopsy, steroid therapy was initiated and after 3 wk of treatment, the total bilirubin level was reduced to 7.22 mg/dL. CONCLUSION: In patients with hyperlipidemia, treatment including fenofibric acid induces rare complications such as severe jaundice and acute cholestatic hepatitis, warranting clinical attention.

Microwave-assisted extraction of human hair proteins.

The effectiveness of microwave-assisted extraction of proteins from human hair samples was evaluated. Extractions were performed from 2-mg hair samples in an extraction solution consisting of 25 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.5), 2.6 M thiourea, 5 M urea, and 5% mercaptoethanol. During extraction, samples were exposed to microwave radiation (600 W) for a specified incubation period (5-120 min). The extraction efficiency of samples that had been incubated for 60 min was similar to that of samples that had been heated at 50°C for 24 h using the conventional Shindai method.

Structural characterization of immunoglobulin G using time-dependent disulfide bond reduction.

Time-dependent reduction of the disulfide bonds of immunoglobulin G (IgG) using dithiothreitol (DTT) was used to characterize the structure of IgG. After treatment with DTT, gel electrophoresis was used to separate the resulting IgG fragments, which were subsequently quantified. Using this approach, the disulfide bond between a light chain and a heavy chain was determined to be cleaved faster than the disulfide bonds between two heavy chains.

Potential vulnerability markers within the affective domain in subjects at genetic and clinical high risk for schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Relative to ample high-risk studies on neurocognitive function, only a few high-risk studies have examined affective functioning components as possible vulnerability markers. In this study, we comprehensively assessed baseline affective functioning in subjects at clinical high risk (CHR) and genetic high risk (GHR) for schizophrenia, and healthy controls (HC), and compared the results to elucidate possible vulnerability markers in the affective domain. METHODS: We studied 3 groups of subjects: those with CHR (n = 28) or GHR (n = 28) and a HC group (n = 24). Affective-process- and affective-content-related functioning were assessed using 5 emotion-related scales. RESULTS: In affective process, CHR subjects showed impairments in emotional awareness and mood repair, with some trend of impaired emotional expressivity as well as aggression control relative to either HC or GHR subjects, whereas GHR subjects showed only a trend of impairment in mood repair. In affective content, CHR subjects had less positive and more negative affect scores than the other 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results correspond to previous findings of prodrome studies of schizophrenia and chronic schizophrenia and suggest that impaired mood repair and emotional awareness, as well as less positive and more negative affect may be potential candidates of vulnerability markers.

Adequacy Criteria of Rapid On-Site Evaluation for Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration: A Simple Algorithm to Assess the Adequacy of ROSE.

BACKGROUND: Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) for endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has been advocated to qualitatively diagnose biopsy samples. However, adequate ROSE criteria during EBUS-TBNA are unclear. The aim of this study was to determine adequacy criteria of ROSE in EBUS-TBNA samples and suggest an appropriate algorithm. METHODS: Patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA for nodal evaluation between March and July 2013 at Seoul National University Hospital were included prospectively. The ROSE slides were reviewed independently by two pathologists, and the results were compared to the final pathologic results. Diagnostic yields, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated in order to make nodal evaluations. RESULTS: EBUS-TBNA was performed on 300 lymph nodes in 133 patients. Samples were nondiagnostic in 7.7%, 6.3%, and 1.7% of the cytologic, histologic, and overall pathologic results, respectively. On the ROSE slides, a large tissue core size (≥2 cm), microscopic anthracotic pigment (MAP), and increased lymphocyte density (LD; ≥40 cells/field [40×, mean of 10 fields]) were significantly associated with adequate final cytologic or histologic results. Malignant cells were not statistically associated with adequacy but were considered a parameter indicating an adequate diagnosis. Using four sequential criteria, tissue core size, the presence of malignant cell, MAP, and LD ≥40 cells/field, the sensitivity and accuracy rates of ROSE increased from 64.4% to 98.6% and from 64.7% to 97.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A high adequacy rate of ROSE in EBUS-TBNA can be achieved by sequentially applying four criteria: tissue core size, malignant cells, MAP, and increased LD.

Efficacy of 14-d vs 7-d moxifloxacin-based triple regimens for second-line Helicobacter pylori eradication.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of the 14-d moxifloxacin-based triple therapy for the second-line eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2013, we conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of 160 patients who had experienced failure of their first-line proton pump inhibitor-based eradication therapy and subsequently received the moxifloxacin-based triple therapy as a second-line eradication treatment regimen. The patients who were treated with the moxifloxacin-based triple therapy (oral 20 mg rabeprazole b.i.d., 1000 mg amoxicillin b.i.d., and 400 mg moxifloxacin q.d.) for 7 d were assigned to the RAM-7 group (n = 79) while those who took them for 14 days were assigned to RAM-14 group (n = 81). The eradication rates for both groups were determined by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. ITT analysis compared the treatment groups as originally allocated while the PP analysis including only those patients who had completed the treatment as originally allocated. Successful eradication therapy for H. pylori infection was defined as the documentation of a negative (13)C-urea breath test 4 wk after the end of the eradication treatment. RESULTS: The overall ITT eradication rate was 76.2% (122/160). The final ITT eradication rates were 70.8% (56/79; 95%CI: 63.3%-77.1%) in the RAM-7 group and 81.4% (66/81; 95%CI: 74.6%-88.3%) in the RAM-14 group (P = 0.034). The overall PP eradication rate was 84.1% (122/145), and the final PP eradication rates were 77.7% (56/72; 95%CI: 70.2%-85.3%) in the RAM-7 group and 90.4% (66/73; 95%CI: 82.8%-98.1%) in the RAM-14 group (P = 0.017). The H. pylori-eradication rates in the RAM-14 group were significantly higher compared with that of the RAM-7 group according to both the ITT (P = 0.034) and the PP analyses (P = 0.017). Both groups exhibited good treatment compliance (RAM-7/RAM-14 group: 100%/100%). The adverse event rates were 19.4% (14/72) and 20.5% (15/73) in the RAM-7 and RAM-14 groups, respectively (P = 0.441). Adverse events occurred in 14 of the 72 patients (19.4) in the RAM-7 group and in 15 of the 73 patients (20.5) in the RAM-14 group. No statistically significant differences (P = 0.441) were observed. CONCLUSION: The 14-d moxifloxacin-based triple therapy is a significantly more effective second-line eradication treatment as compared to the 7-d alternative for H. pylori infection in South Korea.

Fourteen- vs seven-day bismuth-based quadruple therapy for second-line Helicobacter pylori eradication.

AIM: To compare the efficacy of 14- and 7-d bismuth-based quadruple therapies as second-line eradication treatment for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: Between 2004 and 2014, the medical records of 790 patients who had experienced failure of first-line proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based eradication therapy and were then treated with bismuth-based quadruple therapy were retrospectively reviewed. Those who received bismuth-based quadruple therapy [PPI, bismuth, metronidazole, and tetracycline (PBMT)] for either 7 d or 14 d were assigned to a PBMT-7 group (n = 543) or a PBMT-14 group (n = 247), respectively. The eradication rates for both groups were determined by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. ITT analysis compared the treatment groups as originally allocated while the PP analysis including only those patients who had completed the treatment as originally allocated. Successful eradication therapy for H. pylori infection was defined as a negative (13)C-urea breath test 4 wk after the end of eradication treatment. RESULTS: The overall ITT eradication rate was 69.1% (546/790). Final ITT eradication rates were 67.4% (366/543; 95%CI: 63.1%-71.7%) in the PBMT-7 group and 72.8% (180/247; 95%CI: 67.4%-78.2%) in the PBMT-14 group (P = 0.028). The overall PP eradication rate was 80.0% (546/682), and the final PP eradication rates were 78.2% (366/468; 95%CI: 72.1%-84.0%) in the PBMT-7 group and 84.1% (180/214; 95%CI: 76.8%-90.8%) in the PBMT-14 group (P = 0.009). The H. pylori eradication rates in the PBMT-14 group were significantly higher than in the PBMT-7 group according to both ITT (P = 0.028) and PP analysis (P = 0.009). Compliance was similar in both groups (PBMT-7 group: 97.9%; PBMT-14 group: 96.4%). Adverse event rates were 10.7% (51/478) and 17.1% (38/222) in the PBMT-7 and PBMT-14 groups, respectively (P = 0.487). CONCLUSION: The 14-d bismuth-based quadruple therapy is a significantly more effective second-line eradication treatment for H. pylori infection than the 7-d alternative.

Eradication rate and histological changes after Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment in gastric cancer patients following subtotal gastrectomy.

AIM: To investigate the eradication rate and histological changes after Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication treatment following subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. METHODS: A total of 610 patients with H. pylori infection who had undergone surgery for either early or advanced gastric adenocarcinoma between May 2004 and December 2010 were retrospectively studied. A total of 584 patients with proven H. pylori infection after surgery for gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. Patients received a seven day standard triple regimen as first-line therapy and a 10 d bismuth-containing quadruple regimen as second-line therapy in cases of eradication failure. The patients underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) between six and 12 mo after surgery, followed by annual EGDs. A further EGD was conducted 12 mo after confirming the result of the eradication and the histological changes. A gastric biopsy specimen for histological examination and Campylobacter-like organism testing was obtained from the lesser and greater curvature of the corpus of the remnant stomach. Histological changes in the gastric mucosa were assessed using the updated Sydney system before eradication therapy and at follow-up after 12 mo. RESULTS: Eradication rates with the first-line and second-line therapies were 78.4% (458/584) and 90% (36/40), respectively, by intention-to-treat analysis and 85.3% (458/530) and 92.3% (36/39), respectively, by per-protocol analysis. The univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that Billroth II surgery was an independent factor predictive of eradication success in the eradication success group (OR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.41-1.65, P = 0.021). The atrophy and intestinal metaplasia (IM) scores 12 mo after eradication were significantly lower in the eradication success group than in the eradication failure group (0.25 ± 0.04 vs 0.47 ± 0.12, P = 0.023; 0.27 ± 0.04 vs 0.51 ± 0.12, P = 0.015, respectively). The atrophy and IM scores 12 mo after successful eradication were significantly lower in the Billroth II group than in the Billroth I group (0.13 ± 0.09 vs 0.31 ± 0.12, P = 0.029; 0.32 ± 0.24 vs 0.37 ± 0.13, P = 0.034, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients with H. pylori following subtotal gastrectomy had a similar eradication rate to patients with an intact stomach. H. pylori eradication is recommended after subtotal gastrectomy.

Characteristics of gastric cancer in peptic ulcer patients with Helicobacter pylori infection.

AIM: To evaluate the incidence and clinical characteristics of gastric cancer (GC) in peptic ulcer patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2013, the medical records of patients diagnosed with GC were retrospectively reviewed. Those with previous gastric ulcer (GU) and H. pylori infection were assigned to the HpGU-GC group (n = 86) and those with previous duodenal ulcer (DU) disease and H. pylori infection were assigned to the HpDU-GC group (n = 35). The incidence rates of GC in the HpGU-GC and HpDU-GC groups were analyzed. Data on demographics (age, gender, peptic ulcer complications and cancer treatment), GC clinical characteristics [location, pathological diagnosis, differentiation, T stage, Lauren's classification, atrophy of surrounding mucosa and intestinal metaplasia (IM)], outcome of eradication therapy for H. pylori infection, esophagogastroduodenoscopy number and the duration until GC onset were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify factors influencing GC development. The relative risk of GC was evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: The incidence rates of GC were 3.60% (86/2387) in the HpGU-GC group and 1.66% (35/2098) in the HpDU-GC group. The annual incidence was 0.41% in the HpGU-GC group and 0.11% in the HpDU-GC group. The rates of moderate-to-severe atrophy of the surrounding mucosa and IM were higher in the HpGU-GC group than in the HpDU-GC group (86% vs 34.3%, respectively, and 61.6% vs 14.3%, respectively, P < 0.05). In the univariate analysis, atrophy of surrounding mucosa, IM and eradication therapy for H. pylori infection were significantly associated with the development of GC (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the prognosis of GC patients between the HpGU-GC and HpDU-GC groups (P = 0.347). The relative risk of GC development in the HpGU-GC group compared to that of the HpDU-GC group, after correction for age and gender, was 1.71 (95%CI: 1.09-2.70; P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: GU patients with H. pylori infection had higher GC incidence rates and relative risks. Atrophy of surrounding mucosa, IM and eradication therapy were associated with GC.

Efficacy of moxifloxacin-based sequential therapy for first-line eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastrointestinal disease.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of 14-d moxifloxacin-based sequential therapy as first-line eradication treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: From December 2013 to August 2014, 161 patients with confirmed H. pylori infection randomly received 14 d of moxifloxacin-based sequential group (MOX-ST group, n = 80) or clarithromycin-based sequential group (CLA-ST group, n = 81) therapy. H. pylori infection was defined on the basis of at least one of the following three tests: a positive (13)C-urea breath test; histologic evidence of H. pylori by modified Giemsa staining; or a positive rapid urease test (CLOtest; Delta West, Bentley, Australia) by gastric mucosal biopsy. Successful eradication therapy for H. pylori infection was defined as a negative (13)C-urea breath test four weeks after the end of eradication treatment. Compliance was defined as good when drug intake was at least 85%. H. pylori eradication rates, patient compliance with drug treatment, adverse event rates, and factors influencing the efficacy of eradication therapy were evaluated. RESULTS: The eradication rates by intention-to-treat analysis were 91.3% (73/80; 95%CI: 86.2%-95.4%) in the MOX-ST group and 71.6% (58/81; 95%CI: 65.8%-77.4%) in the CLA-ST group (P = 0.014). The eradication rates by per-protocol analysis were 93.6% (73/78; 95%CI: 89.1%-98.1%) in the MOX-ST group and 75.3% (58/77; 95%CI: 69.4%-81.8%) in the CLA-ST group (P = 0.022). Compliance was 100% in both groups. The adverse event rates were 12.8% (10/78) and 24.6% (19/77) in the MOX-ST and CLA-ST group, respectively (P = 0.038). Most of the adverse events were mild-to-moderate in intensity; there was none serious enough to cause discontinuation of treatment in either group. In multivariate analysis, advanced age (≥ 60 years) was a significant independent factor related to the eradication failure in the CLA-ST group (adjusted OR = 2.13, 95%CI: 1.97-2.29, P = 0.004), whereas there was no significance in the MOX-ST group. CONCLUSION: The 14-d moxifloxacin-based sequential therapy is effective. Moreover, it shows excellent patient compliance and safety compared to the 14-d clarithromycin-based sequential therapy.

Diagnostic yield of bronchial washing fluid analysis for hemoptysis in patients with bronchiectasis.

PURPOSE: Bronchiectasis is the main cause of hemoptysis. When patients with bronchiectasis develop hemoptysis, clinicians often perform bronchoscopy and bronchial washing to obtain samples for microbiological and cytological examinations. Bronchial washing fluids were analyzed from patients with bronchiectasis who developed hemoptysis, and the clinical impacts of these analyses were examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study of patients who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy for hemoptysis in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, a university affiliated tertiary referral hospital, between January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. Among them, patients who had bronchiectasis confirmed by computed tomography and had no definite cause of hemoptysis other than bronchiectasis were reviewed. The demographic characteristics, bronchoscopy findings, microbiological data, pathology results and clinical courses of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 130 patients were reviewed. Bacteria, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were isolated from bronchial washing fluids of 29.5%, 21.3%, and 0.8% patients, respectively. Suspected causal bacteria were isolated only from bronchial washing fluid in 19 patients, but this analysis led to antibiotics change in only one patient. Of the 27 patients in whom NTM were isolated from bronchial washing fluid, none of these patients took anti-NTM medication during the median follow-up period of 505 days. Malignant cells were not identified in none of the patients. CONCLUSION: Bronchial washing is a useful method to identify microorganisms when patients with bronchiectasis develop hemoptysis. However, these results only minimally affect clinical decisions.

Correlations among endoscopic, histologic and serologic diagnoses for the assessment of atrophic gastritis.

BACKGROUND: Atrophic gastritis is a precancerous condition, which can be diagnosed by several methods. However, there is no consensus for the standard method. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations among endoscopic, histologic, and serologic findings for the diagnosis of atrophic gastritis. METHODS: From March 2003 to August 2013, a total of 2,558 subjects were enrolled. Endoscopic atrophic gastritis was graded by Kimura-Takemoto classification and histological atrophic gastritis was assessed by updated Sydney system. Serological assessment of atrophic gastritis was based on serum pepsinogen test. RESULTS: The serum pepsinogen I/II ratio showed a significant decreasing nature when the extent of atrophy increased (R(2)=0.837, P<0.001) and the cut-off value for distinguishing between presence and absence of endoscopic atrophic gastritis was 3.2. The serum pepsinogen I and pepsinogen I/II ratio were significantly lower when the histological atrophic gastritis progressed and the cut-off value was 3.0 for a diagnosis of histological atrophic gastritis. A significant correlation between endoscopic and histological atrophic gastritis was noted and the sensitivity and specificity of endoscopic diagnosis were 65.9% and 58.0% for antrum, 71.3% and 53.7% for corpus, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic, histological, and serological atrophic gastritis showed relatively good correlations. However, as these three methods have a limitation, a multifactorial assessment might be needed to ameliorate the diagnostic accuracy of atrophic gastritis.

Embolization of multiple systemic artery to pulmonary artery fistula with recurrent hemoptysis.

Herein, we report a case of multiple systemic arteries to pulmonary artery fistulas without any underlying causes, presenting recurrent hemoptysis. Transcatheter embolization was successfully performed several times on multiple systemic feeding arteries. Multiple systemic arteries to pulmonary fistulas can be a source of uncontrolled bleeding, and embolization may be a reasonable therapeutic option to control the bleeding.

Adjuvant treatment of proper endobronchial management in leiomyosarcoma.

Endobronchial metastasis of leiomyosarcoma is rare, but it can cause life-threatening complications, such as massive hemoptysis, respiratory failure or even death. The development of new endoscopic modalities allows for effective endobronchial management. We report three patients with endobronchial metastases from advanced leiomyosarcomas which caused bronchial obstruction. The bronchoscopic examinations revealed masses obstructing the left main bronchus in all three patients. After removing the endobronchial tumor via interventional bronchoscopy, there was symptomatic and radiologic improvement. Moreover, the patients were able to undergo additional palliative chemotherapy. Therefore, endobronchial management of endobronchial tumors should be considered in the treatment of endobronchial metastasis, even in patients with advanced malignancies.

A case of bilateral giant bullae in young adult.

Giant bullae are large bullae occupying at least one-third of the hemithorax and surgical bullectomy is the treatment of choice. We report a case with symptomatic giant bullae which were resected successfully. A 35-year-old man presented with bilateral giant bullae that occupied almost the entire left hemithorax and a third of the right hemithorax. He was a current smoker with a 30 pack-year history and he presented with dyspnea on exertion. An elective surgical bullectomy was performed with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The patient recovered without any adverse events and stayed well for 1 month after surgery.

Laser-induced thermal desorption facilitates postsource decay of peptide ions.

We investigated the thermal mechanism involved in laser desorption/ionization (LDI) of thermally labile molecules from the flat surfaces of amorphous Si (a-Si) and crystalline Si (c-Si). a-Si was selected for this study because of its thermal property, such as low thermal conductivity; thus, it was predicted to be highly susceptible to laser-induced surface heating. By virtue of lack of surface nanostructures, the flat surfaces offer a simple model system to focus on the thermal mechanism, avoiding other effects, including possible non-thermal contributions that can arise from the physical existence of surface nanostructures. For the energetics study, the internal energies of substituted benzylpyridinium ions produced by LDI on the bare and coated surfaces of a-Si and c-Si were obtained using the survival yield method. The results, including LDI thresholds, ion yields, and internal energies all suggested that the LDI mechanism would be indeed thermal, which is most likely promoted by thermal desorption caused by laser-induced surface heating. In addition, the LDI process driven by laser-induced thermal desorption (LITD) was also found to be capable of depositing an excessive internal energy in resulting LDI ions, which underwent a dissociation. It exhibited the essentially same features as in postsource decay (PSD) in MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. We report that the LDI process by LITD offers not only a way of intact ionization but also a facile means for PSD of peptide ions, which this work demonstrates is well suited to peptide sequencing using TOF/TOF mass spectrometry.

Enrichment of phosphopeptides using bare magnetic particles.

Magnetic iron(II, III) oxide (magnetite, Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles were used to selectively enrich phosphopeptides from tryptic digests of bovine beta-casein and from tryptic digest mixtures containing bovine beta-casein, cytochrome c, bovine serum albumin, and horse heart myoglobin. The magnetic property of the particles permits an easy and speedy enrichment process. No enrichment of phosphopeptides was observed from ferric magnetic iron(III) oxide (Fe(2)O(3)) nanoparticles. These data collectively demonstrate that the enrichment of phosphopeptides using magnetic iron(II, III) oxide nanoparticles is a practical method for the selective analysis of phosphopeptides and could be helpful in isolating and analyzing phosphorylated peptides from complex biological samples.