• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.605-607
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• 2002

Harmonic Scalpel(Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, OH) has many advantages including no muscular stimulation, low heat, less smoke, easy hemostasis using ultrasound and good operation field. In patient with constrictive pericarditis, Harmonic Scalpel was beneficial during pericardiectomy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.184-187
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• 2010

Although it is a rare complication of cardiac surgery, constrictive pericarditis still remains a difficult problem that needs an appropriate treatment after cardiac surgery. We had two patients with constrictive pericarditis presenting with unexplained right heart failure early after cardiac surgery, and the diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis was made by a specific finding of septal bounce shown in echocardiographic study. On the postoperative 40th day and 31st day, they underwent pericardiectomy by a left limited anterolateral thoracotomy. For one to two weeks since pericardiectomy, the cardiac failure symptoms were gradually relieved. For patients without improvement of the constrictive symptom and sign even with conservative medical therapy for constrictive pericarditis developed early after cardiac surgery, pericardiectomy by a left limited anterolateral thoracotomy is considered as a useful therapeutic mode.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.452-455
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• 2004

We report a case of a 40-year-old woman whose right ventricular out-flow tract was moderately obstructed by a heavily calcified pericardial ring. It was passing over the base of pulmonary artery and mid-portion of left ventricle but the other parts of the pericardium was mildly fibrotic. The pericardium and calcified ring were completely removed under cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient was recovered uneventfully and we could not find the specific cause of calcified pericardial ring.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.599-603
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• 2004

Primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma is a lethal and rare cardiac neoplasm of mesodermal origin. Most cases are associated with history of pericarditis with constriction and/or tamponade. Authors experienced a case of primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma in a 55-year old female who had suffered from dyspnea and chest pain. Pericardial nodules revealed intense uptake by FDG-PET scan and confirmed as primary pericardial malignant mesothelioma by thoracoscopic biopsy. Here we report this case with a brief review of the relevant literatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.197-203
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• 2024

Tuberculous pericarditis is an extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis that is most commonly associated with pericardial thickening, effusion, and calcification. We present a case of tuberculous pericarditis mimicking a malignant pericardial tumor in a 77-year-old male. CT revealed an irregular and nodular pericardial thickening. MRI revealed high signal intensity on T1-weighted fat-suppressed images and peripheral rim enhancement after gadolinium administration. MRI can be helpful in determining the differential diagnoses in cases of tuberculous pericarditis with nonspecific imaging findings.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.437-440
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• 2010

Cardiac mesotheliomas are rare. It is difficult to diagnose them at an early stage because the symptoms are nonspecific. Here we report two cases that had been initially diagnosed as constrictive pericarditis but later were definitively diagnosed, after pericardiectomy, as mesothelioma. The two patients complained of dyspnea that lasted 4 months and 10 years. Chest CT showed mild pericardial effusion and thickened pericardium, which was found enveloping the heart without any lumps. Median sternotomy showed that the overall pericardium was thickened by more than 10 mm. Pericardiectomy (phrenic nerve to phrenic nerve) was performed and post-operative histology confirmed malignant mesothelioma. In one patient the disease recurred near the pericardium post-operatively at 7 months and the patient died at 11 months. The other patient received chemotherapy and was still alive at post-operative month 16. Pericardial mesothelioma is an extremely rare disease exhibiting clinical signs similar to those of constrictive pericarditis, and should be diagnosed at an early stage of onset.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.522-526
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• 2008

A 63-year old woman was admitted to our hospital for an evaluation of thrombocytopenia. She had been diagnosed with tuberculous pericarditis three months earlier in a local clinic and treated with anti-tuberculosis medication. Two months later, thrombocytopenia developed. The medication was subsequently stopped because it was suspected that the anti-tuberculosis medication, particularly rifampin, might have caused the severe platelet reduction. However, the thrombocytopenia was more aggravated. A bone marrow biopsy was performed, which showed moderate amounts of histiocytes with active hemophagocytosis. This finding strongly suggested that the critical thrombocytopenia had been caused by hemophagocytic syndrome, not by the side effects of the anti-tuberculosis medication. Furthermore, the development of hemophagocytosis might have been due to an uncontrolled tuberculosis infection and its associated aberrant immunity. Therefore, she was started with both standard anti-tuberculosis medication and chemotherapy using etoposide plus steroid. One month after the initiation of treatment, the thrombocytopenia had gradually improved and she was discharged in a tolerable condition. At the third month of the follow-up, her platelet level and ferritin, the activity marker of hemophagocytic syndrome, was within the normal range.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.327-335
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• 2021

Riemerella anatipestifer (RA) can cause septicemia, polyserositis, and ataxia in ducks. It can also colonize the upper respiratory tract of healthy ducks. These differences in pathogenicity are probably the result of diverse mechanisms of virulence in different strains. Since serum resistance is a feature frequently found in systemic pathogens, 130 RA strains having different clinical origins were tested. A variety of serum susceptibility levels were detected. Pharynx strains from healthy ducks were mainly susceptible to the bactericidal effect of the serum, while systemic strains were serum resistant. Heat-treatment of the sera abolished the bactericidal activity, indicating that complement is a key factor in this effect. In an attempt to associate serum-resistance to surface determinant genes of the bacteria, we screened for six genes involved in lipopolysaccharide synthesis and membrane proteins in RA. Of these, three genes (AS87_09335, AS87_00480, and AS87_05195) encoding outer membrane proteins might be implicated in serum resistance statistically. The results indicate that serum resistance is a virulence mechanism in RA.