Obstructive ileus caused by phlebosclerotic colitis

A 57-year-old man with chronic kidney disease and a history of using numerous herbal medications visited Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital for abdominal pain and vomiting. An abdominal radiograph showed diffuse small bowel distension containing multiple air-fluid levels and extensive calcifications along the colon. Computed tomography showed colon wall thickening with diffuse calcification along the colonic mesenteric vein and colonic wall. Colonoscopy, performed without bowel preparation, showed bluish edematous mucosa from the transverse to the distal sigmoid colon, with multiple scar changes. At the mid transverse colon, a stricture was noted and the scope could not pass through. A biopsy of the stricture site revealed nonspecific changes. The patient was diagnosed with phlebosclerotic colitis. After the colonoscopy, the obstructive ileus spontaneously resolved, and the patient was discharged without an operation. Currently, after 2 months of follow-up, the patient has remained asymptomatic. Herein, we report the rare case of an obstructive ileus caused by phlebosclerotic colitis with a colon stricture

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate monotherapy for nucleos(t)ide analogue-naïve and nucleos(t)ide analogue-experienced chronic hepatitis B patients

Background/AimsThis study investigated the antiviral effects of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) monotherapy in nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA)-naive and NA-experienced chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.MethodsCHB patients treated with TDF monotherapy (300 mg/day) for ≥12 weeks between December 2012 and July 2014 at a single center were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical, biochemical, and virological parameters were assessed every 12 weeks.ResultsIn total, 136 patients (median age 49 years, 96 males, 94 HBeAg positive, and 51 with liver cirrhosis) were included. Sixty-two patients were nucleos(t)ide (NA)-naïve, and 74 patients had prior NA therapy (NA-exp group), and 31 patients in the NA-exp group had lamivudine (LAM)-resistance (LAM-R group). The baseline serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level was 4.9±2.3 log IU/mL (mean±SD), and was higher in the NA-naïve group than in the NA-exp and LAM-R groups (5.9±2.0 log IU/mL vs 3.9±2.0 log IU/mL vs 4.2±1.7 log IU/mL, P<0.01). The complete virological response (CVR) rate at week 48 in the NA-naïve group (71.4%) did not differ significantly from those in the NA-exp (71.3%) and LAM-R (66.1%) groups. In multivariate analysis, baseline serum HBV DNA was the only predictive factor for a CVR at week 48 (hazard ratio, 0.809; 95% confidence interval, 0.729-0.898), while the CVR rate did not differ with the NA experience.ConclusionsTDF monotherapy was effective for CHB treatment irrespective of prior NA treatment or LAM resistance. Baseline serum HBV DNA was the independent predictive factor for a CVR

Zen for Head (I)

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Requiem for the 20th Century

Overall view from left side, car under roof sail structure; In Requiem to the 20th Century, Paik merges art, music, and technology. Requiem pays homage to technology and the rise of two predominant inventions of the last century, the automobile and the television. A silver-painted 1936 Chrysler Airstream sedan is frozen in time, engine removed, insides gutted and immobile. A continuous video loop runs on multiple television monitors set in the windows, presenting themes central to Paik's work: consumerism, mobility, world-wide communication, advertising, and obsolete products. Mozart’s final and unfinished work, Requiem Mass in D minor, K.626, emanates quietly from speakers inside the car as an elegiac ode. Source: DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum; http://www.decordova.org/ (accessed 5/8/2013

Étude for Pianoforte

"In Étude for Pianoforte (1960), a performance at the Atelier Mary Baumeister in Cologne the previous year, Paik had jumped off the stage, cut Cage's tie withb scissors, and doused him and the composer David Tudor in shaving cream."full view, Paik cutting off John Cage's ti