• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.122-134
• /
• 2011

Objectives: Seven cases of malignant lymphohematopoietic (LHP) disorder were claimed to have developed from occupational exposure at two plants of a semiconductor company from 2007 to 2010. This study evaluated the possibility of exposure to carcinogenic agents for the cases. Methods: Clinical courses were reviewed with assessing possible exposure to carcinogenic agents related to LHP cancers. Chemicals used at six major semiconductor companies in Korea were reviewed. Airborne monitoring for chemicals, including benzene, was conducted and the ionizing radiation dose was measured from 2008 to 2010. Results: The latency of seven cases (five leukemiae, a Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and an aplastic anemia) ranged from 16 months to 15 years and 5 months. Most chemical measurements were at levels of less than 10% of the Korean Occupational Exposure Limit value. No carcinogens related to LHP cancers were used or detected. Complete-shielded radiation-generating devices were used, but the ionizing radiation doses were 0.20-0.22 uSv/hr (background level: 0.21 ${\mu}Sv/hr$). Airborne benzene was detected at 0.31 ppb when the detection limit was lowered as low as possible. Ethylene oxide and formaldehyde were not found in the cases' processes, while these two were determined to be among the 263 chemicals in the list that was used at the six semiconductor companies at levels lower than 0.1%. Exposures occurring before 2002 could not be assessed because of the lack of information. Conclusion: Considering the possibility of exposure to carcinogenic agents, we could not find any convincing evidence for occupational exposure in all investigated cases. However, further study is needed because the semiconductor industry is a newly developing one.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-48
• /
• 2005

Purpose: Non-A, B, C viral hepatitis is the name given to the disease with clinical viral hepatitis, but in which serologic evidence of A, B, C hepatitis has not been found. Little is known about the etiology and clinical features of non-A, B, C viral hepatitis in children. Methods: A clinical analysis of 45 cases with non-A, B, C viral hepatitis who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Pusan National University Hospital, from January 2001 to June 2004 was carried out retrospectively. Patients who were positive for HBsAg, anti-HAV and anti-HCV and had toxic, metabolic, autoimmune, or neonatal hepatitis were excluded in this study. Results: Among 45 cases of non-A, B, C viral hepatitis, the etiology was unknown in 26 (57.8%), CMV (cytomegalovirus) in 14 (31.1%), EBV (Epstein Barr virus) in 2 (4.4%), HSV (herpes simplex virus) in 2 (4.4%) and RV (rubella virus) in 1 (2.2%). Twenty seven out of 45 (60.0%) patients were under 1 year of age. Sixteen (33.3%) patients had no specific clinical symptoms and were diagnosed incidentally. On physical examination, twenty seven out of 45 patients (60.0%) had no abnormal findings. Forty three out of 45 patients (95.6%) showed classic clinical course of acute viral hepatitis, whereas fulminant hepatitis developed in two patients. Mean serum ALT (alanine aminotransferase) level was $448.7{\pm}771.9IU/L$. Serum ALT level was normalized in 31 out of 45 patients (81.6%) within 6 months and all patients within 18 months. Aplastic anemia was complicated in a case. Conclusion: Although most patients with non-A, B, C viral hepatitis showed a good prognosis, a careful follow-up would be necessary because some of them had a clinical course of chronic hepatitis, fulminant hepatitis and severe complication such as aplastic anemia.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2001

Background: Acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura(ITF) is one of the common hematologic disorders in children. Bone marrow aspiration (BMA) is often performed in children with acute ITP to rule out leukemia, aplastic anemia or other hematologic diseases. However, whether BMA is needed in children with typical clinical and hematological features of acute ITP have been questioned. This study was performed to examine the proper indication of BMA in acute childhood ITF. Materials and Methods: The medical records and BMA reports of children with the provisional diagnosis of acute ITP were reviewed from January 1984 to December 2000. Patients were divided into two groups, one with typical and another with atypical clinical and hematological features of acute ITP. Typical acute ITP group was characterized by the history of previous viral infection, well being appearance, no hepatosplenomegaly, no lymphadenopathy, normal Hb, WEC, neutrophil count and peripheral blood smear except thrombocytopenia. A platelet count of $50{\times}l0^9/L$ or lower was the cutoff level. Results: Total 120 children with the provisional diagnosis of acute ITP were included. One hundred eighteen of them were confirmed to have acute ITP by BMAs. Of these, 66 had typical and 54 had atypical features. All of typical features and 52 of 54 with atypical features of acute ITP were confirmed to have acute ITP by BMAs. Two patients with atypical features of acute ITP were diagnosed as aplastic anemia and myelodyspalstic syndrome, respectively, by BMAs. Conclusion: This study concludes that BMA is not needed for the children with typical features of acute ITP but it is needed for the children with atypical features of acute ITP to rule out other hematologic disorders.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.72 no.3
• /
• pp.284-292
• /
• 2012

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate therapeutic outcomes and assess factors associated with therapeutic outcomes in hematologic patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Methods: We analyzed all consecutive cases of IPA in adults with hematologic diseases from January 2008 to January 2009 at a Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Center in Seoul, Korea. Results: A total of 54 patients were identified. Underlying diseases were acute myelogenous leukemia (n=25), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n=10), myelodysplastic syndrome (n=7), chronic myelogenous leukemia (n=3), multiple myeloma (n=3), severe aplastic anemia (n=2) and other hematologic diseases (n=4). Twenty six patients (48.2%) were assessed as having a favorable response, of which 16 patients (29.6%) showed complete response. Overall 12-week mortality and IPA attributable mortality were 38.9% (n=21) and 33.3% (n=18), respectively. In multivariate analysis, uncontrolled underlying disease (odds ratio [OR], 7.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49~35.94; p=0.014) was associated with an unfavorable response, and for 12-week mortality, uncontrolled underlying disease (OR, 11.79; 95% CI, 1.49~93.46; p=0.020) and hypoalbuminemia (OR, 9.89; 95% CI, 1.42~68.99; p=0.021) were significantly poor prognostic factors. Conclusion: IPA still remains as a poor therapeutic outcome, especially in patients with refractory hematologic diseases.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.46 no.7
• /
• pp.710-713
• /
• 2003

Purpose : Although chloramphenicol and doxycycline have been used for the treatment of tsutsugamuchi disease, a difficulty exists in determining which drugs to use in treating children because of potential complications such as aplastic anemia or teeth discoloration. We evaluated the effect of roxithromycin, a macrolide antibiotic, on tsutsugamushi disease in children. Methods : A retrospective analysis was conducted on 39 children with tsutsugamuchi disease(scrub typhus) who were treated with doxycycline(DC), chloramphenicol(CM), or roxythromycin(RM) between 1991 and 2000. We divided the patients into a DC-treated group(DC group; 16 children), a CM-treated group(CM group; 14 children), and RM-treated group(RM group; 9 children) and compared these groups. Results : Most cases(97%) developed in October and November. Fever and rash were observed in all 39 cases and an eschar was noted in 36 cases(92%). No statistical differences could be found between the three groups in mean age, duration of fever before admission, white blood cell(WBC) count, and complications including abnormal liver enzymes. In most cases defervescence after treatment was within 24 hours(34 cases, 87%), and during 24-48 hours in two cases in the DC group, one in the CM group, and two in the RM group(no statistical difference). Conclusion : Roxythromycin was as effective as conventional doxycycline or chloramphenicol, in children with scrub typhus and may be safer to use.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.135-141
• /
• 2004

Human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF) is a hematopoiesis agent that principally affects the differentiation of neutrophils in the bone marrow. At present, recombinant hG-CSF is used successfully in the treatment of chemotheraphy-induced neutropenia and its indication has been expanded to bone marrow transplantation and aplastic anemia. In this study, we have constructed rhG-CSF secretion plasmid pYRC1 in which OmpA signal sequence/hG-CSF gene was expressed under the control of the T7 promoter. rhG-CSF produced in E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) grown at $37{\circ}C$ was found in aggregates. However, 15% of the periplasmic protein was soluble rhG-CSF when the E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) was cultured at $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 h in the modified MBL medium containing 10 g/$\ell$ glucose with 10 $\mu$M IPTG induction. The production of soluble rhG-CSF in E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) using fed batch culture was also studied. In the fed batch culture system, the final yield of rhG-CSF produced from E. coli BL21 (pYRC1) was increased from 4.4 mg/$\ell$to 24 mg/$\ell$by controlling the specific growth rate from $0.43 h^{-1}$ to $0.14 h^{-1}$, and optimizing the time of induction.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.524-530
• /
• 2010

Chloramphenicol is one of the most effective antibiotics for treatment of food-producing animals for typhoid fever. However, it has been reported that it caused severe side effects such as aplastic anemia in human, therefore the use of chloramphenicol for food-producing animal is prohibited by European Union and other countries. In this study, the analytical method using isotope dilution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (ID-LC/MS) was established for accurate determination of chloramphenicol in meat. Chloramphenicol was extracted with ethylacetate from porcine and solid phase extraction cartridge was used for enhancing the recovery. The residue of chloramphenicol in porcine was analyzed using the liquid chromatography mass spectrometer (LC/MS) interfaced with electrospray ionization source. Analysis was performed in negative mode with selected reaction mornitoring mode at m/z 321${\rightarrow}$257 of $[M-H]^-$ ${\rightarrow}$ $[M-H-(HCOCl)]^-$ and m/z 326 ${\rightarrow}$ 262 channels for its isotope. The established method was tested using fortified samples at the level of 0.2 1, 10, $25\;{\mu}g$/kg and analytical results agreed with the gravimetrically fortified values within their uncertainties. This method was validated by analyzing a certified reference material, BCR 445, from IRMM (Institute for Reference Materials and Measurement). Our measurement values agreed with the certified value within their uncertainties. The uncertainty of our measured value was much lower than that the certified value from IRMM.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.182-189
• /
• 2007

Purpose : The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth and neuropsychologic function following treatments for pediatric hematologic and oncologic diseases. Healthy monozygotic twins served as ideal controls for comparison to exclude possible confounding factors. Methods : Seven children treated with various hematologic and oncologic diseases were included in the study: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; n=2), Diamond-Blackfan anemia twins (n=2), and aplastic anemia (n=3). The median age at the diagnosis was 5.2 (0.3-15) years. The median duration of follow-up was 7.2 (4.9-10) years. Controls were healthy monozygotic twins. Growth was measured and the percentile channels were evaluated sequentially for patients. The K-WISC III was applied and compared in 5 pairs of patients and controls. Results : Similar growth profiles were noted for the twins. The percentiles at diagnosis was 3-10 in 3, 25-50 in 2, and 50-75 in 2 cases. All patients stayed in their growth percentiles through follow-up, except for 1 patient who became obese. For IQ tests, the mean behavioral, verbal and full scale IQ scores of patients were 88.0, 93.8, and 89.8, respectively, and those from their corresponding controls were 92.2, 97.0, and 91.7 (P>0.05). However, 2 children who were treated for ALL had lower IQ scores. Conclusion : Similar growth profiles were observed in the monozygotic twins in terms of height and weight. The IQ scores of patients were similar to those of monozygotic twins. However, prophylactic CNS-directed therapy for leukemia might adversely affect the IQ scores. A further prospective study on larger number of twins is warranted.