Alcoholic fatty liver disease elevates estimated coronary heart disease risk to levels comparable with those of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the Korean population: a cross-sectional study.

Background/aims: A close relationship has been established between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and an elevated risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but little is known about the association between alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and CHD risk. The aim of this study was to determine whether AFLD is associated with elevated CHD risk.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 10,710 subjects out of 11,469 individuals who visited the Konkuk University Health Care Center for a routine health checkup in 2010.

Usefulness of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity as a predictive marker of multiple coronary artery occlusive disease in Korean type 2 diabetes patients.

Multiple coronary artery occlusive disease (multiple CAOD) is the most fatal and frequently observed coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes patients, but no simple, non-invasive screening tool is available yet. The aim of this study is to evaluate the arterial stiffness in type 2 diabetes patients using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), to demonstrate the correlation between arterial stiffness and multiple CAOD, and to suggest the cutoff point of baPWV for predicting multiple CAOD in Korean type 2 diabetes patients. One hundred and eighty-one diabetes and 262 non-diabetes patients were enrolled in the study.

Association of abdominal obesity with atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korea.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between obesity, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Total 530 patients with T2DM were included. To evaluate the severity of atherosclerosis, we measured the coronary artery calcification (CAC) score, intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery, and the ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI).

A case of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 combined with papillary thyroid carcinoma.

This is the first report of papillary thyroid carcinoma combined with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) in Korea. MEN1 is a hereditary disease comprising neoplastic disorders such as pituitary, parathyroid and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, such as gastrinoma. But papillary thyroid cancer was never regarded as its component before in Korea.

Visceral fat thickness predicts fatty liver in Koreans with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Our aim was to study whether visceral adiposity is a predictor of diabetic fatty liver in Korean type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, abdominal ultrasonography was used to assess the presence of fatty liver in 1,898 patients with type 2 diabetes. We measured visceral fat thickness by high-resolutional ultrasonography and insulin resistance by Kitt.

Cerebral arterial pulsatility and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients.

Diabetic patients have a threefold risk for cerebrovascular disease compared with nondiabetic controls. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of insulin resistance with the pulsatility index (PI) of cerebral arteries in type 2 diabetic patients. We compared a group of 90 patients with stroke-free, type 2 diabetes and an age- and sex-matched control group of 45 healthy subjects without diabetes.

The effects of pioglitazone on cerebrovascular resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Atherosclerosis is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pioglitazone has been reported to have antiatherogenic effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pioglitazone affects pulsatility index (PI) of the cerebral arteries and the carotid intima-media thickness in type 2 diabetic patients.

Relationship of low-density lipoprotein particle size to insulin resistance and intima-media thickness in nondiabetic Koreans.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle size is associated with insulin resistance and to explore the association between LDL particle size and preclinical atherosclerosis in nondiabetic Korean population. We measured the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), LDL particle size, and insulin resistance in 136 nondiabetic subjects. Low-density lipoprotein particle size was significantly correlated with insulin resistance, but the independent risk factors of LDL particle size determined by the multiple regression analysis were age, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).

Bilateral peripheral facial palsy in a patient with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection.

Neurological complications are important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. They can occur at any stage of the disease and can affect any level of the central or peripheral nervous systems. In the literature, several cases of HIV-associated facial paralysis have been reported; however, bilateral facial palsy is rarely reported.

Effects of growth hormone on insulin resistance and atherosclerotic risk factors in obese type 2 diabetic patients with poor glycaemic control.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the combined effects of GH treatment and diet restriction on lipolysis and anabolism, insulin resistance and atherosclerotic risk factors in obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Subjects: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 24 obese T2DM patients (male : female = 12 : 12, mean age 53.7 +/- 7.

Phase II Study of Gemcitabine and Vinorelbine as Second-Line Chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: With the increased use of chemotherapy for non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a growing group of patients can now be considered for second-line chemotherapy. However, guidelines for the second line treatment remain to be developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the gemcitabine and vinorelbine combination therapy in patients with advanced NSCLC, pretreated with taxane and platinum based regimens.