Ten iridoviruses were isolated from cultured fish from various regions in Korea; 7 from rock bream, 1 from red sea bream, 1 from sea bass, and 1 from rockfish. The full open-reading frame (ORF) encoding the major capsid protein (MCP) (1362 bp) from ten iridoviruses were sequenced and the nucleotide sequences were phylogenetically analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the ten Korean isolates were classified into one cluster. However, their sequences were not identical and, based on the nucleotide sequence variation, they could be further divided into two subgroups. While nine Korean isolates were similar to the Japanese isolate red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV), one isolate was distinct from other iridovirus isolates. These results suggest that a diversity of iridoviruses exist in Korea and that a new variant strain has emerged.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection of the musculoskeletal tissue is a rare disease. An early and accurate diagnosis is often difficult because of the indolent clinical course and difficulty of isolating pathogens. Our goal was to determine the clinical features of musculoskeletal NTM infection and to present the treatment outcomes. A total of 29 patients (nine females, 20 males between 34 and 85 years old, mean age 61.7 years; 34 to 85) with NTM infection of the musculoskeletal system between 1998 to 2011 were identified and their treatment retrospectively analysed. Microbiological studies demonstrated NTM in 29 patients: the isolates were Mycobacterium intracellulare in six patients, M. fortuitum in three, M. abscessus in two and M. marinum in one. In the remaining patients we failed to identify the species. The involved sites were the hand/wrist in nine patients the knee in five patients, spine in four patients, foot in two patients, elbow in two patients, shoulder in one, ankle in two patients, leg in three patients and multiple in one patient. The mean interval between the appearance of symptoms and diagnosis was 20.8 months (1.5 to 180). All patients underwent surgical treatment and antimicrobial medication according to our protocol for chronic musculoskeletal infection: 20 patients had NTM-specific medication and nine had conventional antimicrobial therapy. At the final follow-up 22 patients were cured, three failed to respond to treatment and four were lost to follow-up. Identifying these diseases due the initial non-specific presentation can be difficult. Treatment consists of surgical intervention and adequate antimicrobial therapy, which can result in satisfactory outcomes.

Four isolates of infectious haematopoietic neerosis virus (IHNV) were obtained from rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), and masu salmon, Oncorhynchus mason (Walbaum), fry during epizootics at hatcheries in Korea. The four isolates of IHNV were compared with three from salmonids in the USA (SRCV, OSV and RB-76) by analysis of virion proteins in sodium dodecyi sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and neutralization tests, with two monoelonal antibodies raised against SRCV (MAb SRCV/A4) and RB-76 (MAb RB/B5). Based on the antigenieity and the size of the structural proteins, one Korean isolate from masu salmon (SCS) is similar to RB-76 and is an electropherotype 1. The other three isolates from rainbow trout (PRT, YRT and MRT) were identical to eaeh other in the mobilities of their virion proteins in SDS-PAGE, and although their nueleocapsid (N) proteins comigrated with that of the RB-76 isolate, they differed from RB-76 in the smaller matrix 2 (M2) protein they contained. In addition, the three Korean isolates (PRT, YRT and MRT) could be divided into two groups by reactivity with MAb RB/B5. While the YRT isolate was neutralized by this MAb, the PRT and MRT isolates were not. suggesting that there are at least two neutralizing antigenic variants of IHNV in Korea.

Management of symptomatic carotid near occlusion especially in high-risk patients is different from outcome analysis of NASCET. We evaluated outcome in high-risk patients with symptomatic near occlusion. For 48 patients with near occlusion out of 166 symptomatic high-risk patients who underwent carotid stenting, we assessed the procedural success defined as residual stenosis <30%, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at one and six months following stenting, and the 13 cerebrovascular factors related to the outcome. Initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≥4, 1–3 and 0 were 13, 14 and 21 patients each. We compared the outcome with patients who underwent CAS (n=118) due to symptomatic stenosis without near occlusion during the same period. Our procedural success rate was 98%. A good outcome (mRS ≤2) was achieved in 44 patients (92%) at six months. There were five events (10%) within six months, i.e. three minor strokes, one major stroke caused by hemorrhage, and one death excluding two deaths not related to stroke. Hyperperfusion (n=4) was the most common cause of events leading to two minor strokes and a major stroke. Although initial NIHSS (P = .012) was related to poor outcome (mRS >2) compared to the CAS group, there was no statistical significance between two groups in the event rate of stroke, death or restenosis. The outcome of carotid stenting in high-risk patients with symptomatic near occlusion did not reveal any difference compared with CAS. Poor outcome was related to the initial NIHSS (≥4). Hyperperfusion tended to be more commonly related to an event occurring after stenting.