Analytical and Clinical Performance Evaluation of the Abbott Architect PIVKA Assay.

Protein induced by vitamin K absence (PIVKA) is measured using various assays and is used to help diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study evaluated the analytical and clinical performances of the recently released Abbott Architect PIVKA assay. Precision, linearity, and correlation tests were performed in accordance with the Clinical Laboratory Standardization Institute guidelines.

Novel Levofloxacin-Resistant Multidrug-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 11A Isolates, South Korea.

Of 608 Streptococcus pneumoniae clinical strains isolated at a hospital in South Korea during 2009-2014, sixteen (2.6%) were identified as levofloxacin resistant. The predominant serotype was 11A (9 isolates).

Abnormalities in Chromosomes 1q and 13 Independently Correlate With Factors of Poor Prognosis in Multiple Myeloma.

Background: We comprehensively profiled cytogenetic abnormalities in multiple myeloma (MM) and analyzed the relationship between cytogenetic abnormalities of undetermined prognostic significance and established prognostic factors.

Methods: The karyotype of 333 newly diagnosed MM cases was analyzed in association with established prognostic factors. Survival analysis was also performed.

Changes in the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia and its serotypes over 10 years in one hospital in South Korea.

Here, we examined the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes and the antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae in clinical blood isolates. The serotypes of 91 S. pneumoniae blood isolates, collected from January 2003 to March 2014, were identified by multiplex PCR and sequencing.

HMOX1 gene promoter polymorphism is not associated with coronary artery disease in Koreans.

Background: The heme oxygenase-1 gene (HMOX1) promoter polymorphisms modulate its transcription in response to oxidative stress. This study screened for HMOX1 polymorphisms and investigated the association between HMOX1 polymorphisms and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Korean population.

Methods: The study population consisted of patients with CAD with obstructive lesions (n=110), CAD with minimal or no lesions (n=40), and controls (n=107).

Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity after twinrix vaccination: a case report.

Travelers might have an increased risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We report a case of prolonged transient hepatitis B surface antigenemia in a healthy Canadian female 8 days after administration of a combined hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine. Travel health providers providing hepatitis B vaccines need to be aware of this phenomenon and educate their patients accordingly.

Genetic polymorphisms and plasma levels of tissue factor and tissue factor pathway inhibitor in venous thromboembolism.

Tissue factor (TF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) play important roles in coagulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the distributions of TF and TFPI polymorphisms in Koreans and to analyze the association of these genetic polymorphisms with plasma levels and development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The polymorphisms TF 5466 A > G, TF -603 A > G, TFPI -287 T > C and TFPI -33 T > C were investigated in 40 Korean VTE patients and 40 age-matched and sex-matched controls by real-time PCR followed by melting curve analysis and DNA sequence analysis.

Contamination of X-ray cassettes with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus in a radiology department.

Background: We performed surveillance cultures of the surfaces of X-ray cassettes to assess contamination with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Methods: The surfaces of 37 X-ray cassettes stored in a radiology department were cultured using mannitol salt agar containing 6 µg/mL oxacillin. Suspected methicillin-resistant staphylococcal colonies were isolated and identified by biochemical testing.

Spontaneous immortalization of oligodendroglial cells derived from an SV40 T antigen-positive human glioblastoma multiforme.

The polyoma group of viruses, including SV40, is known to be oncogenic in certain species. Here we report for the first time naturally occurring, immortalized tumor cells from a patient with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM); the cells were shown to be oligodendroglia; cells had developed remarkable chromosomal changes and were positive for SV40 T antigen. Therefore, we postulated that the main cause of immortalization of these cells was the expression of SV40 T antigen gene and protein.

[A case of mosaic ring chromosome 4 with subtelomeric 4p deletion].

Ring chromosome is a structural abnormality that is thought to be the result of fusion and breakage in the short and long arms of chromosome. Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a well-known congenital anomaly in the ring chromosome 4 with a partial deletion of the distal short arm. Here we report a 10-month-old male of mosaic ring chromosome 4 with the chief complaint of severe short stature.

[Molecular typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood on the basis of coagulase gene polymorphism and toxin genes].

Background: Coagulase is produced by all strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The 3' coding region of the coagulase (coa) gene contains varying numbers of 81 bp tandem repeats. S.

[Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia with a Variant Philadelphia Translocation: t(11;22)(q25;q11.2).].

We report a case of chronic myelogenous leukemia displaying a variant Philadelphia translocation t(11;22)(q25;q11.2). Breakpoint 11q25 has not previously been reported.

[Evaluation of Abbott Fourth Generation HIV Antigen and Antibody Assays.].

Background: In order to reduce the diagnostic window period between the time of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and serological diagnosis, new fourth generation screening assays which detect HIV p24 antigen and specific antibody simultaneously have been developed. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a new fourth generation assay.

Methods: We compared a new fourth generation assay, Architect HIV Ag/Ab combo, with another fourth generation assay AxSYM HIV Ag/Ab combo and a third generation assay, AxSYM HIV 1/2 gO for their performance.

[Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood in Korea].

Background: Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin secreted by some Staphylococcus aureus strains and associated with skin and soft tissue infections; these strains are epidemiologically associated with current outbreaks of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and with necrotizing pneumonia in healthy adults in USA and Europe. This study was performed to investigate the presence of PVL-positive S.

[Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates with toxic shock syndrome toxin and staphylococcal enterotoxin C genes].

Background: Many methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in Korea possess a specific profile of staphylococcal enterotoxins in that the toxic shock syndrome toxin gene (tst) coexists with the staphylococcal enterotoxin C gene (sec). Because the analysis of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), a mobile genetic element mecA gene encoding methicillin resistance, showed that majority of these are SCCmec type II, these MRSA isolates with tst and sec may be genetically related with each other. This study was performed to investigate the genetic relatedness of tstand sec-harboring MRSA strains isolated in Korea by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

Pseudooutbreak of Pantoea species bacteremia associated with contaminated cotton pledgets.

A total of 22 isolates of Pantoea strains, unusual causative agents of clinical infection, was isolated from blood cultures from 9 patients and 1 ear swab from 1 of the patients within a period of 1 month in a tertiary-care hospital. Pseudooutbreak was suspected because specimens were collected from a limited number of places and the patients did not show consistent signs or symptoms of bacterial sepsis. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and partial 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing were performed to determine the clonal relationship among the isolates.

Association between the methicillin resistance of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, their staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) subtype classification, and their toxin gene profiles.

Virulence and antimicrobial resistance are important determinators of the clinical manifestations and of the treatments of bacterial infections. Here, we studied the associations between the methicillin resistance of clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates, their classifications as particular staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) subtypes, and their toxin gene profiles. In total, 252 S.

High incidence of complement C9 deficiency in Koreans.

Complement 9 deficiency is the most common complement deficiency in Japan, but it is rare in western countries. Because of Korea's geographical proximity to Japan, C9 deficiency in Korea has also been assumed to be common although this has never before been proven. We investigated complement deficiency in the serum samples of 6,159 Korean hospital outpatients.

Solitary dural extramedullary plasmacytoma with inv(9)(p13q21).

The authors report the case of a 24-year-old man who presented with a solitary dural extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) with inv(9)(p13q21). Chromosome 9 aberrations may be associated with the pathogenesis. This is the first reported case of solitary dural EMP associated with inv(9)(p13q21).