Complete mitochondrial genome of the abalone shell-boring (Polychaeta, Spionidae).

Claparede 1868 (Polychaeta, Spionidae) is a mollusk shell-boring species which has been reported as a harmful species. In the present study, we sequenced and reported the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of from Korea. Its mitogenome was determined by long range PCR and primer walking.

Rapid Detection of Red Rot Disease Pathogens ( and ) in (Rhodophyta) with PCR-RFLP.

Red rot disease is one of the best-known algal diseases infecting red algae species. This disease decreases the quality and quantity of aquaculture products in Korea, Japan, and China. Recently we found that (Oomycetes) infects blades of .

A Comparative Study of Survivor Outcomes between Preoperative Evaluation Using CT Alone and Combined CT and MRI in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: To compare the recurrence pattern, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) after curative surgery for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in patients who underwent preoperative evaluation with CT alone or in combination with MRI, and to compare the prognosis according to the first recurrence site.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 152 patients who underwent R0 resection of PDAC. Preoperative CT or combined CT and MRI were performed for 103 and 49 patients, respectively.

First report of Labyrinthula zosterae (Labyrinthulomycetes) as the causal pathogen of wasting disease in the seagrass Zostera marina in Korea.

Zostera marina L. plants have been seriously impacted by wasting disease along the Atlantic coasts of North America and Europe since the 1930s (Muehlstein 1989). Sudden declines in the population sizes of Zostera marina affect primary and secondary producers of different trophic levels in blue carbon ecosystems (Gleason et al.

Aspartate Aminotransferase-to-Platelet Ratio or Fibros-4 Index Predicts the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients with Sustained Virologic Response to Interferon Therapy.

The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not completely eliminated in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients even after viral eradication. There are few studies in predicting the development of HCC using biomarker in CHC patients with sustained virologic response (SVR). We evaluated the role of the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) in predicting HCC development in 295 patients with SVR after interferon therapy.

Differentiation of hypervascular primary hepatic tumors showing hepatobiliary hypointensity on gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: To determine the imaging features that help differentiate hypervascular primary hepatic tumors showing hepatobiliary hypointensity on gadoxetic acid MRI.

Methods: This study comprised 148 patients with pathologically proven hypervascular hepatic tumors who underwent gadoxetic acid MRI. Tumors included 23 atypical focal nodular hyperplasias (FNHs), 11 hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs), 15 neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), 25 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (ICCs), and 74 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs).

Diagnosis of recurrent HCC: intraindividual comparison of gadoxetic acid MRI and extracellular contrast-enhanced MRI.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with hepatobiliary agents (HBA-MRI) and MRI with extracellular contrast agents (ECA-MRI) for detection of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after multiple treatments.

Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement for informed patient consent. A total of 135 patients with suspected HCC recurrence after 2-5 treatments (surgery, transarterial chemoembolization, and/or radiofrequency ablation) underwent both HBA-MRI and ECA-MRI within a 1 month interval.

Intrahepatic Mass-forming Cholangiocarcinoma: Arterial Enhancement Patterns at MRI and Prognosis.

Purpose To identify whether arterial enhancement pattern at MRI could predict the prognosis after surgical resection of intrahepatic mass-forming cholangiocarcinoma (IMCC). Materials and Methods Patients who underwent curative hepatic resection and preoperative MRI for IMCC from November 2007 to September 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. MRI enhancement pattern was classified by two radiologists.

Usefulness of noncontrast MRI in differentiation between gallbladder carcinoma and benign conditions manifesting as focal mild wall thickening.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a reliable imaging tool for evaluating gallbladder carcinoma, but it is costly and time-consuming.

Purpose: To compare noncontrast MRI with multidetector row CT (MDCT) and gadoxetic acid-enhanced whole MRI in distinguishing gallbladder carcinoma from benign disease.

Materials And Methods: 101 patients (36 with gallbladder carcinoma and 65 with benign disease) with mild focal gallbladder wall thickening were included.

Differentiation between inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor and cholangiocarcinoma manifesting as target appearance on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI.

Purpose: To determine the differential features of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) manifesting as target appearance on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with 36 IMTs (1.2-6.

Intra-individual comparison of gadolinium-enhanced MRI using pseudo-golden-angle radial acquisition with gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI for diagnosis of HCCs using LI-RADS.

Objectives: To determine the usefulness of extracellular contrast agent (ECA)-enhanced multiphasic liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a pseudo-golden-angle radial acquisition scheme by intra-individual comparison with gadoxetic acid-MRI (EOB-MRI) with regard to image quality and the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: This prospective study enrolled 15 patients with 18 HCCs who underwent EOB-MRI using a Cartesian approach and ECA-MRI using the pseudo-golden-angle radial acquisition scheme (free-breathing continuous data acquisition for 64 s following ECA injection, generating six images). Two reviewers evaluated the arterial and portal phases of each MRI for artifacts, organ sharpness, and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels and the hepatic tumors.

Prospective Intraindividual Comparison of Magnetic Resonance Imaging With Gadoxetic Acid and Extracellular Contrast for Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinomas Using the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System.

We intraindividually compared the efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with extracellular contrast agents (ECA-MRI) and MRI with hepatobiliary agents (HBA-MRI) for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS). Between November 2016 and November 2017, we enrolled 91 patients with chronic liver disease who underwent both ECA-MRI and HBA-MRI within a 1-month interval for a first detected hepatic nodule on ultrasound. In total, 117 observations (95 HCCs, 19 benign lesions, and 3 other malignancies; median size, 18 mm) were identified with surgical resection.

Regression of esophageal varices and splenomegaly in two patients with hepatitis-C-related liver cirrhosis after interferon and ribavirin combination therapy.

Some recent studies have found regression of liver cirrhosis after antiviral therapy in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis, but there have been no reports of complete regression of esophageal varices after interferon/peg-interferon and ribavirin combination therapy. We describe two cases of complete regression of esophageal varices and splenomegaly after interferon-alpha and ribavirin combination therapy in patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis. Esophageal varices and splenomegaly regressed after 3 and 8 years of sustained virologic responses in cases 1 and 2, respectively.

Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Functional Constipation in Korea, 2015 Revised Edition.

The Korean Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility first published guidelines for chronic constipation in 2005 and was updated in 2011. Although the guidelines were updated using evidence-based process, they lacked multidisciplinary participation and did not include a diagnostic approach for chronic constipation. This article includes guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of chronic constipation to realistically fit the situation in Korea and to be applicable to clinical practice.

Prediction of nonresponsiveness to medium-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (1 g/kg) treatment: an effective and safe schedule of acute treatment for Kawasaki disease.

Purpose: Medium-dose (1 g/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective in the majority of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) but some patients who do not respond to medium-dose IVIG are at high risk for the development of coronary artery lesions (CALs). The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical predictors associated with unresponsiveness to medium-dose IVIG and the development of CALs.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 91 children with KD who were treated with medium-dose IVIG at our institution from January 2004 to December 2013.

Usefulness of anterior uveitis as an additional tool for diagnosing incomplete Kawasaki disease.

Purpose: There are no specific tests for diagnosing Kawasaki disease (KD). Additional diagnostic criteria are needed to prevent the delayed diagnosis of incomplete Kawasaki disease (IKD). This study compared the frequency of coronary artery lesions (CALs) in IKD patients with and without anterior uveitis (AU) and elucidated whether the finding of AU supported the diagnosis of IKD.

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia with generalized warts.

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia (PIL) is a rare protein-losing enteropathy with lymphatic leakage into the small intestine. Dilated lymphatics in the small intestinal wall and mesentery are observed in this disease. Laboratory tests of PIL patients revealed hypoalbuminemia, lymphocytopenia, hypogammaglobulinemia and increased stool α-1 antitrypsin clearance.

Missed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Assessment of early imaging findings on prediagnostic magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: To investigate the early imaging findings and growth rate of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and to assess whether MR imaging detects early PDAC better than CT.

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement for informed consent. Twenty-two patients were included, and two radiologists, by consensus, assessed the presence of focal lesions, interruption of the main pancreatic duct (MPD), MPD dilatation, and pancreatitis, volume doubling time (VDT) of PDAC on prediagnostic MR imaging.

Normal left ventricular torsion mechanics in healthy children: age related changes of torsion parameters are closely related to changes in heart rate.

Background And Objectives: This study was aimed at assessing left ventricular torsion (LVtor) mechanics using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), establishing normal reference values of principal LVtor parameters, and analyzing the age-related changes in normal children.

Subjects And Methods: Eighty children (aged 3 months to 15 years) with normal cardiac function and rhythm were recruited. LVtor parameters including rotations, twist and untwist, torsion, and their rate indices were measured using STE.

Diagnostic accuracy and prognostic impact of restaging by magnetic resonance imaging after preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer.

Background: The prognostic role of restaging rectal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with preoperative CRT has not been established. The goal of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic role of radiological staging by rectal MRI after preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) in patients with rectal cancer.

Methods: A total of 231 consecutive patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative CRT and radical resection from January 2008 to December 2009 were prospectively enrolled.

Is colonoscopy necessary after computed tomography diagnosis of acute diverticulitis?

Background/aims: A diagnosis of acute diverticulitis is based on computed tomography (CT). Colonoscopy is commonly performed after the acute event to exclude other diagnoses. This study aimed to determine whether colonoscopy is necessary and what additional information is gained from a colonoscopy after acute diverticulitis.

Value of diffusion-weighted MRI for differentiating malignant from benign intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the use of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) increases diagnostic accuracy in the differentiation of malignant from benign intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) of the pancreas over the accuracy of contrast-enhanced MRI with MRCP.

Materials And Methods: A total of 61 patients with surgically resected IPMNs (19 malignant, 42 benign) who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI, DWI, and MRCP were included. Two blinded observers evaluated two image sets, that is, conventional MRI with MRCP images versus combined conventional MRI with MRCP and DW images, and scored their confidence for malignancy of IPMNs.

Differentiation of malignant from benign focal splenic lesions: added value of diffusion-weighted MRI.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate the added value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for distinguishing between malignant and benign focal splenic lesions.

Materials And Methods: This study included 53 patients with 11 malignant and 42 benign splenic lesions who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and DWI. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted for splenic lesions.

Features of Epstein-Barr virus reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in Korean children living in an area of high seroprevalence against Epstein-Barr virus.

The present study was conducted to investigate Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in Korean children living in an area of a high seroprevalence against EBV and to determine the impact of recipient age on EBV reactivation. Medical records of 248 children and adolescents who had received allogeneic HCT were retrospectively reviewed. The trends of EBV reactivation and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) were evaluated and compared between younger (≤10 years old) and older (11-20 years old) groups.

Baseline heart rate variability in children and adolescents with vasovagal syncope.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the autonomic imbalance in syncope by comparing the baseline heart rate variability (HRV) between healthy children and those with vasovagal syncope.

Methods: To characterize the autonomic profile in children experiencing vasovagal syncope, we evaluated the HRV of 23 patients aged 7-18 years and 20 healthy children. These children were divided into preadolescent (<12 years) and adolescent groups.