Monoclonal Gammopathy in Patients with Neuropathy.

Background: The incidence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) in the population of over 50-year-olds is approximately 3% and increases with age. The association between MG and neuropathy has been of interest for several years, but the causal relationship has not yet been clarified.

Methods: For 682 patients who visited the Department of Neurology and requested tests for MG work-up, we retrospectively collected demographic and clinical information, such as age, gender, diagnosis, and neurologic and laboratory test results, from their medical records.

Clinical effect of prophylactic pegfilgrastim in patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia who receive intensive chemotherapy.

Background: Using granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) after completing chemotherapy reduces the duration of neutropenia and infections. However, the efficacy and safety of prophylactic pegfilgrastim in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients have not yet been evaluated after intensive cytotoxic chemotherapy compared to the daily G-CSF. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pegfilgrastim for ALL patients who received intensive chemotherapy compared with a short-acting G-CSF.

Magnesium from Deep Seawater as a Potentially Effective Natural Product against Insulin Resistance: A Randomized Trial.

: Deep seawater has been shown to restore pancreatic function in obese diabetic mice and considerably improve the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations in patients with impaired fasting glucose or glucose tolerance. In this study, the effect of 12-week daily consumption of magnesium (Mg)-containing deep seawater mineral extracts on blood glucose concentration and insulin metabolism-associated indicators was investigated in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. : In this 12-week randomized, double-blind trial, patients ( = 37) with impaired glucose tolerance consumed deep seawater mineral extracts.

Synergistic Effect of Venetoclax and Bendamustine in Early T-cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Background/aim: To date, therapeutic options for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) remain very limited. This study evaluated the efficacy of monotherapies and combination therapies including a selective BCL-2 inhibitor for T-ALL cell lines, namely Jurkat, CCRF-CEM, and Loucy.

Materials And Methods: Loucy is an early T-precursor ALL (ETP-ALL) cell line characterized by an immature phenotype, whereas Jurkat and CCRF-CEM are late T-cell progenitor ALL (LTP-ALL) cell lines.

A Study on the Retrospective Reinterpretation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Variants.

Background: Hereditary breast/ovarian cancer is associated with BRCA gene mutations. As large volumes of clinical data on BRCA variants are continuously updated, their clinical interpretation may change, leading to their reclassification. This study analyzed the class and proportion of the changed clinical interpretations of BRCA variants to validate the need for periodic reviews of these variants.

Circulating-tumor DNA Assessment in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma to Determine Up-front Stem Cell Transplantation: A Pilot Study.

Background/aim: This study evaluated the possibility of clinical use of circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker to determine up-front autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) for patients with high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in practice.

Patients And Methods: To explore the dynamics of ctDNA in DLBCL, blood samples were collected sequentially before and after treatment from patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL who received rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy. To conduct ctDNA genotyping and ctDNA monitoring simultaneously, targeted sequencing by cancer personalized profiling using deep sequencing was used.

Incidence and Distribution of the Pathogens Causing GI Infections at a University Hospital of Korea.

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) infections, caused by various pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and parasites, are the second most common infectious diseases. Molecular diagnostics that can simultaneously detect these pathogens are commonly used in syndromic approaches. The authors aimed to identify the causative pathogens of GI infections to provide clinically useful information.

Recent Changes in the Human Metapneumovirus Outbreak at a University Hospital in Korea.

Background: Although the detection of respiratory viruses other than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was significantly reduced because of quarantine due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, an epidemic of several viruses was reported unexpectedly. We also detected a change in the pattern of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) outbreak compared to that before the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the authors intended to identify the incidence and altered distribution pattern of the HMPV outbreak and provide useful information for clinical practice.

The Diagnostic Yield and Difficulties of Utilizing Soft-clipped Read Clusters Encountered in Clinical Exome Sequencing.

Background: Despite the wide use of next generation sequencing, there are still many difficulties in detecting structural variants. A split read is one of the clues of structural variants and is represented as a soft-clipped read in the raw sequencing data. Considering that most of the breakpoints of structural variants reside in non-coding regions, split read information has not been routinely used in exome sequencing or targeted panel sequencing.

Diagnostic Performance of Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) for Cell-Mediated Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2.

Background: As SARS-CoV-2 infection became a pandemic, much effort has been made to measure both antibody production and T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 to diagnose COVID-19 patients or find out their immune status. Authors tried to determine the optimal cutoff value and evaluate clinical performance of one interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) kit and compared their results with serological antibody assay in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Study subjects included 100 patients confirmed as COVID-19 with RT-PCR method and 88 healthy volunteers who were PCR negative.

Evaluation of two SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM Rapid Tests in Capillary Blood Samples.

Background: As COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world, it has become essential to detect the virus quickly and accurately for disease prevention and control. Therefore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for rapid serological point-of-care test has increased. Recently, many antibody tests have been developed to detect IgM and/or IgG to SARS-CoV-2 in human blood.

Outbreak of Parainfluenza Virus During the COVID-19 Pandemic at a University Hospital in Korea.

Background: The incidence of respiratory viral diseases including parainfluenza virus (PIV) infection has decreased noticeably due to strict quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the recent outbreak of PIV in children occurred unexpectedly and the distribution pattern showed prominent differences from before the COVID-19 pandemic. PIV is one of the major viral pathogens related to acute lower respiratory infection in young children and the elderly.

Analysis of the fluid contents of simple bone cyst in the mandible.

Description of simple bone cyst (SBC) content has been controversial. This study aimed to assess and give a clearer picture of the SBC cavity contents. Between 2014 and 2016, 19 patients with SBC verified by histopathological examination were included in this study.

Changes in the Distribution of Respiratory Microorganisms before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Daegu, Korea.

Background: Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is the most common infectious disease in all ages and genders worldwide. Respiratory microorganisms such as respiratory viruses, are commonly responsible for causing ARI. COVID-19 is still prevalent in Korea.

Feasibility of targeted cascade genetic testing in the family members of BRCA1/2 gene pathogenic variant/likely pathogenic variant carriers.

The pathogenic variant (PV) or likely pathogenic variant (LPV) BRCA1/2 gene is strongly associated with hereditary breast or ovarian cancer. Therefore, it is important to screen blood relatives to establish preventive modalities and surveillance. This study evaluated the feasibility of targeted cascade genetic testing for family members of BRCA1/2 gene PV or LPV carriers.

Serological evaluation of patients with coronavirus disease-2019 in Daegu, South Korea.

Background: Early and accurate detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical to prevent spread of the infection. Understanding of the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is insufficient, particularly in relation to those whose responses persist for more than 1 month after the onset of symptoms. We conducted a SARS-CoV-2 antibody test to identify factors affecting the serological response and to evaluate its diagnostic utility in patients with COVID-19.

Age-Related Variation of Syndecan-1 Levels in Saliva and Plasma of Healthy Individuals.

Background: Saliva contains various cells, proteins, and molecules, and it is emerging as a material for diagnosing various diseases. Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) is a member of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans and is mainly expressed in epithelial cells and plasma cells. SDC-1 is known to be associated with various cancers and inflammatory response, but there are few studies related to the change of SDC-1 levels in the saliva and plasma of healthy individuals due to aging process.

Clinical impact of cell-free serum Epstein-Barr virus status in patients with newly diagnosed malignant lymphoma.

Background: We analyzed cell-free serum Epstein‒Barr virus (EBV) DNA to identify its prognostic role in patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients diagnosed with lymphoma between January 2014 and July 2020. Patients were enrolled according to the following criteria: i) pathologically confirmed lymphomas according to the World Health Organization criteria, ii) age over 18 years, iii) serum EBV DNA measurement using polymerase chain reaction prior to first-line therapy, and iv) receipt of curative standard chemotherapy.

Characterization of the novel DQA1*01:01:09 allele by next-generation sequencing.

HLA-DQA1*01:01:09 differs from HLA-DQA1*01:01:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution in codon-12 in exon 1.

Confirmation of COVID-19 in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients and Postmortem Management in the Emergency Department during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Background: There is currently a lack of evidence-based postresuscitation or postmortem guidelines for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the setting of an emerging infectious disease. This study aimed to develop and validate a multimodal screening tool that aids in predicting the disease confirmation in emergency situations and patients with OHCA during a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter observational study of adult patients with OHCA in Daegu, Korea.

Molecular evidence of parvovirus B19 in the cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa tissue from a patient with parvovirus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome: Case report.

Rationale: Parvovirus B19 has been linked to polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), but there is some controversy about its pathogenesis regarding whether it is triggered by the immune complex or by the activated immune cells that phagocytose viruses.

Patient Concerns: A 38-year-old woman was admitted with fever and bicytopenia. She also complained of a painful palpable nodule in the left forearm.

How to keep patients and staff safe from accidental SARS-CoV-2 exposure in the emergency room: Lessons from South Korea's explosive COVID-19 outbreak.

Objectives: We report our experience with an emergency room (ER) shutdown related to an accidental exposure to a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who had not been isolated.

Setting: A 635-bed, tertiary-care hospital in Daegu, South Korea.

Methods: To prevent nosocomial transmission of the disease, we subsequently isolated patients with suspected symptoms, relevant radiographic findings, or epidemiology.