Background/AimsPrevious data suggest that vitamin D has a significant role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated the incidence of vitamin D deficiency in Korean patients with IBD and the correlation between serum vitamin D level and disease activity.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with IBD whose serum vitamin D levels were checked. Deficiency of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was defined as <20 ng/mL. Disease activity was evaluated using the partial Mayo score for ulcerative colitis (≥2 defined as active disease) and Harvey-Bradshaw index for Crohn’s disease (≥4 defined as active disease).ResultsWe enrolled 87 patients with IBD (ulcerative colitis [UC], 45; Crohn’s disease [CD], 42). Among them, 65.5% (57/87) were men, with a mean age of 44.9±15.1 years (range, 18–75 years). The mean duration of disease was 4.7±4.8 years (range, 0.1–17.1 years). Vitamin D deficiency was found in 73.6% (64/87) of patients with IBD. Patients with IBD (mean vitamin D level, 16.3±9.0 ng/mL) showed lower vitamin D level than the healthy control group (mean vitamin D level, 20.4±7.0 ng/mL), with no statistically significant difference (P=0.136). Disease activity was inversely correlated with vitamin D deficiency in patients with CD (P=0.007). However, no correlation was observed in patients with UC (P=0.134).ConclusionsApproximately 75% of Korean patients with IBD showed vitamin D deficiency state. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with disease activity, particularly in patients with CD.

We present a case of a 52-year-old woman with iatrogenic stent deformation occurred after deployment of the left main (LM) stent due to the unintentional undermining of the proximal part of the LM stent with subsequent balloon dilatation. We tried to crush the deformed part of the LM stent against the left coronary cusp by pushing it with a guiding catheter. The deformed stent was stabilized after stent crushing and the patient didn`t have any cardiovascular events. This case highlights that stent deformation could be successfully managed by crushing the deformed part of the stent to the coronary sinus.

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Improving the agricultural manpower structure is an urgent issue in our agriculture. The Young Farming Project is a major project of the youth farmer support policy, targeting young farmers who want to start a new independent farming by further developing the existing succession farm selection project. In our laws and regulations, agricultural holdings are defined as farmers and agricultural corporations, and individual economic units, such as youth successors, are targeted for support. However, since there are various individual economic units within the agricultural holdings, it is necessary to try the business target from various angles in the policy project to introduce new farmers from the outside. In this study, the production unit called the young successor farm, which has the characteristics of the production unit called the family farm, is identified as an individual production unit called the farmhouse, and its characteristics are examined through the concept of the family farm business. In Korea, we are used to understanding family farm and corporate farm as opposite concepts, but in the West, family farm and corporate farm are no longer viewed as opposing concepts due to the past debate on the existence of family farm, and the focus is on how family relationships and business activities are regulated within the farmhouse. By understanding family farm through the concept of a family business, it will be possible to provide a richer perspective for policy improvement in the future.

Although pneumonia is the hallmark of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, it has been associated with protean manifestations such as extrapulmonary involvement. Herein, a rare case of mononuclear syndrome with acute hepatitis and erythema multiforme revealed as M pneumoniae infection without lung involvement is reported. A 30-year-old man, previously healthy, presented with fever and rash with acute hepatitis: AST 603 IU/L, ALT 747 IU/L, prothrombin time 52%. Peripheral blood smears indicated monocytosis with atypical lymphocyte. Bone marrow biopsy revealed increased plasma cell infiltration. M pneumoniae infection was detected by serology testing. After treatment with macrolide, clinical symptoms and signs and serological tests were fully resolved. Diagnosis of this etiologic association is important when patients present with various clinical syndromes without pneumonia, because only specific antimicrobial therapy is effective against M pneumoniae.

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