Oral 5-aminosalicylic acid agents (mesalazine and sulfasalazine) and azathioprine are the mainstays of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Reports of pulmonary toxicity induced by oral 5-aminosalicylic acid agents or azathioprine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease are very rare; to date, only 38 cases have been reported worldwide. We, herein, report a case involving a 26-year-old man who was diagnosed with eosinophilic pneumonia after using mesalazine and azathioprine for the treatment of Crohn's disease and recovered after treatment. We also found that the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide level was elevated in this patient. After treatment, the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide level decreased and the symptoms improved. The present case shows that fraction of exhaled nitric oxide is related to the disease activity and treatment effectiveness of druginduced eosinophilic pneumonia.
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Despite the rising incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Asian populations, data regarding clinical characteristics of patients in Asia based on age at diagnosis are relatively sparse. The aim of this study was to compare clinical characteristics based on the age at diagnosis according to the Montreal Classification in Korean IBD patients.
We recruited consecutive patients with IBD at two tertiary hospitals and retrospectively reviewed their medical information. Patients were divided into three groups according to their age at diagnosis: youth (<17 years), young adult (17-40 years), and middle-old (>40 years). The main clinical characteristics for comparison were the achievement of a remission state at the last follow-up visit, cumulative rate of surgery, and cumulative use of immunomodulators and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) blockers during the follow-up period.
In total, 346 IBD patients were included (Crohn's disease [CD] 146 and ulcerative colitis 200; 36 youth, 202 young adult, and 113 middle-old). The middle-old group with CD was characterized by a predominance of uncomplicated behavior (
Age at diagnosis according to the Montreal Classification is an important prognostic factor for Korean IBD patients.
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Given the characteristic procedures involved in the endoscopy unit, the spread of pathogens is much more frequent in this unit than in other environments. However, there is a lack of data elucidating the existence of pathogens in the endoscopy unit. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of possible pathogens in the endoscopy unit.
We performed environmental culture using samples from the endoscopy rooms of 2 tertiary hospitals. We used sterile cotton-tipped swabs moistened with sterile saline to swab the surfaces of 197 samples. Then, we cultured the swab in blood agar plate. Samples from the colonoscopy room were placed in thioglycollate broth to detect the presence of anaerobes. After 2 weeks of culture period, we counted the colony numbers.
The most commonly contaminated spots were the doctor's keyboard, nurse's cart, and nurse's mouse. The common organisms found were non-pathogenic bacterial microorganisms
Although the organisms detected in the endoscopy unit were mainly non-pathogenic organisms, they might cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, the environment of the endoscopy room should be managed appropriately; moreover, individual hand hygiene is important for preventing possible hospital-acquired infections.
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