Extrahepatic biliary schwannomas: a case report.

Benign schwannomas arise in neural crest-derived Schwann cells. They can occur almost anywhere in the body, but their most common locations are the central nervous system, extremities, neck, mediastinum, and retroperitoneum. Schwannomas occurring in the biliary tract are extremely rare and mostly present with obstructive jaundice.

Changes in karyotype and azole susceptibility of sequential bloodstream isolates from patients with Candida glabrata candidemia.

We examined the changes in genotypes and azole susceptibilities among sequential bloodstream isolates of Candida glabrata during the course of fungemia and the relationship of these changes to antifungal therapy. Forty-one isolates were obtained from 15 patients (9 patients who received antifungal therapy and 6 patients who did not) over periods of up to 36 days. The isolates were analyzed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and tested for antifungal susceptibility to fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole.

[The role of smoking as a risk factor in inflammatory bowel diseases: single center study in Korea].

Background/aims: Cigarette smoking is the most significant environmental factor identified in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Smoking has a beneficial effect on ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. In contrast, Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with smoking, and a detrimental effect of smoking on the course of CD has been demonstrated.

[Etiology and clinical consequence of spontaneous acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B].

Background/aims: Acute exacerbation (AE) of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) can occur spontaneously, and may be followed by HBeAg clearance. HBeAg seroconversion often coincides with the normalization of liver biochemical tests and clinical remission. The purpose of this study was to identify the etiology and the clinical consequence of severe AE in Korean patients with CHB.