Young-gil Jeong

In the past, liver cirrhosis was considered an irreversible phenomenon. However, many experimental data have provided evidence of the reversibility of liver fibrosis. Moreover, multiple clinical studies have also shown regression of fibrosis and reversal of cirrhosis on repeated biopsy samples. As various etiologies are associated with liver fibrosis via integrated signaling pathways, a comprehensive understanding of the pathobiology of hepatic fibrogenesis is critical for improving clinical out

Adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) is commonly used as an antiviral agent in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B or human immunodeficiency virus infection. Nephrotoxicity has been shown to occur at daily dosages of 60-120mg. Fanconi’s syndrome is a generalized dysfunction of the renal proximal tubular cells, which is usually accompanied by complications. Here we report a case of Fanconi’s syndrome in a chronic hepatitis B patient who had been treated with a prolonged regimen of ADV at 10 mg/day. A 47-yea

Since sorafenib was introduced in 2007 for treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 15 patients have achieved a complete response (CR) in advanced HCC. However, only four of these reports can be regarded as real CRs involving adequate assessments including imaging, serum tumor markers, and histologic examinations of completely resected specimens. A 54-year-old man with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis (LC) presented to our unit. A CT scan demonstrated a 3.8-cm arterial hy

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection leads to hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations including chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the association between HBV and CKD is not clear. This study investigated the association between chronic HBV infection and CKD in a nationwide multicenter study. Methods: A total of 265,086 subjects who underwent health-check examinations in 33 hospitals from January 2015 to December 2015 were enrolled. HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) positive cases (n = 10

The aim of this study was to validate a new paper and pencil test battery to diagnose minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) in Korea. A new paper and pencil test battery was composed of number connection test-A (NCT-A), number connection test-B (NCT-B), digit span test (DST), and symbol digit modality test (SDMT). The norm of the new test was based on 315 healthy individuals between the ages of 20 and 70 years old. Another 63 healthy subjects (n = 31) and cirrhosis patients (n = 32) were included

There have been few reports on the association between clonorchiasis and pancreatic neoplasms. A case of pancreatic adenocarcinoma associated with C. sinensis has been reported [4], while cases of clonorchiasiscombined pancreatic MCN have not. In the former reports, an ultrasonogram showed marked dilatation of the intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts. Biopsies of the pancreatic lesion revealed well differentiated ductal adenocarcinoma, but C. sinensis was detected in the common bile duct. Th

Constipation is a common disease that reduces life quality. Drugs of various mechanisms are being developed to resolve this affliction. Intestinal motility can be easily monitored in zebrafish, and so we selected this organism to develop a constipation model to measure drug-induced prokinetic effects. In this study, intestinal motility was monitored in zebrafish by tracking intestinal transit using fluorescence, after which an opioid-induced constipation model was established using loperamide. W

Background/Aims: Various clinical scoring systems, including the Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS), Rockall risk score (RS), and AIMS65 score (AIMS65), have been validated to predict the clinical outcomes in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB). We compared the performance of these three scoring systems in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with UGIB in Korea. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 286 patients with UGIB who visited emergency department. The primary outcome was

Background/Aims: Practice guidelines recommend endoscopic band ligation (EBL) and endoscopic variceal obturation (EVO) for bleeding from esophageal varices and fundal varices, respectively. However, the optimal treatment for bleeding from cardiac varices along the lesser curvature of the stomach (GOV1) remains undefined. This retrospective study compared the efficacy between EBL and EVO for bleeding from GOV1. Methods: Patients treated by EBL or EVO via cyanoacrylate injection for bleeding from

Background/Aims: Several previous studies suggest that eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) leads to the disappearance of gastric hyperplastic polyps. However, little is known about the effect of H. pylori status and eradication on the recurrence of gastric polyps after endoscopic removal. Here, we investigated the recurrence of gastric polyps according to the final H. pylori status in patients who underwent endoscopic removal of gastric hyperplastic polyps. Methods: Between January 20

Background/Aims: Clear indicators for stopping antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients are not yet available. Since the level of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is correlated with covalently closed circular DNA, the HBsAg titer might be a good indicator of the off-treatment response. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the HBsAg titer and the entecavir (ETV) off-treatment response. Methods: This study analyzed 44 consecutive CHB patients (age, 44.6±11.4 yea

Ever since direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) have been approved and released into the world, numerous studies on the efficacy, adverse effects and drug-drug interactions of interferon-free DAA combination therapy have been studied and published. With all oral DAA therapy showing sustained virological response rate of 80-90% with minimal adverse events, HCV eradication has now become a realistic goal. DAA combination treatments were approved and adapted to practice in Korea in 2015, and Korean

Background/Aims: The aim of our study was to define the potential role of virologic response at 12months of treatment (VR12) in predicting subsequent virologic and clinical outcomes in adefovir (ADV)-treated lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B. Methods: Two hundred and four patients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) treated with ADV monotherapy were included. Serum HBV DNA was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reactions. VR12was defined as a HBV DNA level of l

목적: 간경직도 측정은 만성 간질환 환자에서 간실질 섬유화를 측정할 수 있는 비침습적인 방법으로 그 유용성에 대한 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 그러나 급성 바이러스 간염 발생 후 회복을 보인 환자에서 장기간 경과 후 간섬유화의 잔존 혹은 발생 여부를 확인하기 위해 간경직도를 측정한 적절한 연구 자료는 없는 실정이다. 이에 급성 바이러스 간염에서 회복된 후 1년 이상 경과한 환자가 정상인 혹은 급성 바이러스 간염 및 만성적으로 간염 바이러스에 이환되어 있는 환자와 간경직도에 있어 어떤 차이를 보일 것인가를 알아보기 위해 이번 연구를 시행하였다. 대상 및 방법: 2006년 1월부터 2007년 1월까지 고려대학교 안산병원에서 급성 바이러스 간염(A형, B형 및 C형간염)으로 입원 치료 후 퇴원하였던 환자 중 혈액 검사에서 간염으로부터 완전히 회복된 것이 확인된 환자(22명)를 대상으로 간경직도를 측정하였다. 또한 정상 간기능 수치와 정상 초음파 소견을 보이는 대조군(23명), 그리고 현

Background/Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA testing can be performed using qualitative or quantitative assays, and it is still unclear which is more useful as a primary test in patients positive for anti-HCV. The present study evaluated the usefulness of anti-HCV signal-to-cutoff ratio (S/CO ratio) for predicting HCV RNA results. Methods: Patients on whom a qualitative HCV RNA test was performed due to a positive anti-HCV enzyme immunoassay were enrolled. Patients were divided into viremia and