BackgroundBronchiectasis and asthma are different in many respects, but some patients have both conditions. Studies assessing the effect of bronchiectasis on asthma exacerbation are rare. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of bronchiectasis on asthma exacerbation.MethodsWe enrolled 2,270 asthma patients who were followed up in our hospital. Fifty patients had bronchiectasis and asthma. We selected fifty age- and sex-matched controls from the 2,220 asthma patients without bronchiectasis, and assessed asthma exacerbation and its severity based on the annual incidence of total asthma exacerbation, annual prevalence of steroid use, and frequency of emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to asthma exacerbation in each group.ResultsFifty patients (2.2%) had bronchiectasis and asthma. The annual incidence of asthma exacerbation was higher in patients with asthma and bronchiectasis than in patients with asthma alone (1.08±1.68 vs. 0.35±0.42, p=0.004). The annual prevalence of steroid use (0.9±1.54 vs. 0.26±0.36, p=0.006) and the frequency of emergency room visits (0.46±0.84 vs. 0.02±0.13, p=0.001) due to asthma exacerbation were also higher in patients with asthma and bronchiectasis than in patients with asthma alone.ConclusionBronchiectasis is associated with difficult asthma control.

Background/AimsAge, sex, gene and life style are modulating risks for colon cancer. Although alcohol intake may impact on colorectal adenoma, clear association has not been established yet. We aimed to investigate effects of alcohol consumption on the characteristics of colorectal adenoma.MethodsPatients who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy of colorectal adenoma in the department of gastroenterology of Eulji hospital through 2005 to 2012, having both blood tests and ultrasound or abdominal CT examination were enrolled. The alcohol drinking patients were subdivided into normal or abnormal laboratory group, and alcoholic liver diseases group.Results212 patients with colorectal adenoma were analyzed; advanced adenoma and multiple adenoma were found in 68 (32.0%) and 79 (37.2%) patients. When compared to the nondrinker group (120/212 patients), the alcohol drinker group (92/212 patients) represented significantly high odds ratios (ORs) for advanced adenoma (OR, 2.697; P=0.002), and multiple adenoma (OR, 1.929; P=0.039). Among alcohol drinker (92 patients), the ORs of advanced adenoma were 6.407 (P=0.003) in alcoholic liver diseases group (17 patients), 3.711 (P=0.002) in the alcohol drinker with abnormal lab (24 patients), and 2.184 (P=0.034), in the alcohol drinker with normal lab (51 patients) compared to nondrinker group.ConclusionsThis study showed that alcohol drinking may influence on the development of advanced colorectal adenoma and multiplicity. Especially in the group with alcoholic liver diseases and with abnormal lab presented significantly higher ORs of advanced adenoma.

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Background: Although plasma free hemoglobin (fHb) test is important for assessing intravascular hemolysis, it is still dependent on the gold standard Harboe method using manual and labor-intensive spectrometric measurements at the wavelength of 380-415-450 nm. We established an automated fHb assay using a routine chemistry autoanalyzer that can be tuned to a wavelength of 380-416-450 nm. Methods:The linearity, precision, accuracy, correlation, and sample carryover of fHb measurement using TBA200FRneo method and manual Harboe method were evaluated, respectively. fHb values measured by manual Harboe method were compared with those measured by our new automated TBA200FRneo method.Results: fHb measurements were linear in the range of 0.05~38.75 µmol/L by TBA200FRneo and 0.05~9.69 µmol/L by manual Harboe method. Imprecision analysis (%CV) revealed 0.9~2.8% for TBA200FRneo method and 5.3~13.6% for the manual Harboe method. Comparison analysis showed 0.9986 of correlation coefficient (T BA200FRneo = 0.970 × Harboe + 0.12). In analytical accuracy analysis, the manual Harboe method revealed about 4 times higher average total error % (12.2%) than the TBA200FRneo automated method (2.8%). The sample carryover was −0.0016% in TBA200FRneo method and 0.0038% in Harboe method. Conclusions:In the measurement of fHb, the automated TBA200FRneo method showed better performance than the conventional Harboe method. It is expected that the automated fHb assay using the routine chemistry analyzer can replace the gold standard Harboe method which is labor-intensive and need an independent spectrophotometry equipment.