A case of spontaneous hemoperitoneum presenting as the initial manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Thrombocytopenia is included in the classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, severe thrombocytopenia causing spontaneous bleeding is rare. Here, we describe a 22-year-old woman who presented with spontaneous hemoperitoneum as the first manifestation of SLE.

Effect of lower dose intravenous cyclophosphamide on remission induction in Korean patients with lupus nephritis.

This study retrospectively investigated the efficacy and adverse events of applying a lower dose (0.5 g/m(2)) of monthly intravenous (IV) cyclophosphamide (CYC) for lupus nephritis in Korean patients. Adverse events occurred in 64 patients (61.

Incidence of tuberculosis in Korean patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA): effects of RA itself and of tumor necrosis factor blockers.

Objective: To elucidate the incidence rate and relative risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in patients with RA treated with tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF) blockers in Korea.

Methods: Using data from the Korean National Tuberculosis Association (KNTA) as a control and data from a single-center cohort of patients with RA, we conducted an evaluation of 1285 patients with RA not exposed to TNF blockers and reviewed medical records of 90 and 103 patients with RA treated with infliximab and etanercept, respectively, between 2001 and 2005.

Results: The mean incidence rate of TB, reported by the KNTA, was 67.

The -169C/T polymorphism in FCRL3 is not associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus in a case-control study of Koreans.

Objective: In Japanese individuals, the -169C/T single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in FCRL3 has been reported to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and autoimmune thyroid diseases. The objective of this study was to test the association of this SNP with RA and SLE, in a case-control study of Korean individuals.

Methods: The -169C/T SNP in FCRL3 was genotyped in 1,060 patients with RA, 457 patients with SLE, and 697 unaffected control subjects, using the MassARRAY SNP genotyping system.

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation presenting as a submucosal mass of the sigmoid colon.

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation (XGI) is a well-recognized disease process in the kidney and gallbladder. However, involvement of the colon is extremely rare. On the other hand, it is important to recognize that clinically and radiologically, XGI could be misinterpreted as an infiltrative cancer.

[Incidence of gallbladder stones in renal transplant recipients].

Background/aims: Gallbladder stone is one of the major cause of morbidity in adults. Renal transplantation has been found to increase the risk of gallbladder stone formation. The real incidence of gallbladder stones in renal transplant recipients is not exactly known.