The incidence of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery (CS-AKI) ranges from 33% to 94% and is associated with a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. The etiology is suggested to be multifactorial and related to almost all aspects of perioperative management. Numerous studies have reported the risk factors and risk scores and novel biomarkers of AKI have been investigated to facilitate the subclinical diagnosis of AKI. Based on the known independent risk factors, many preventive interventions to reduce the risk of CS-AKI have been tested. However, any single preventive intervention did not show a definite and persistent benefit to reduce the incidence of CS-AKI. Goal-directed therapy has been considered to be a preventive strategy with a substantial level of efficacy. Many pharmacologic agents were tested for any benefit to treat or prevent CS-AKI but the results were conflicting and evidences are still lacking. The present review will summarize the current updated evidences about the risk factors and preventive strategies for CS-AKI.

Autoimmune hepatitis in Korea is mostly type I, showing a mean age of 53 years with comparable clinical features to other countries. The concordant rate of the two diagnostic criteria was rather low with modest sensitivity of the simplified criteria. Further studies on the validation of the diagnostic criteria are warranted.

Patient's age (>60 y) and large polyp size (>10 mm) were significant predictive factors for neoplastic GB polyps. GB polyps less than 10 mm in diameter do not require surgical intervention simply because they grow.

Background/Aims: Some minimal changes (MCs) are believed to have a certain relationship with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). Nonetheless, the individual meaning of MC is still unclear. Our aim was to compare the overall and individual prevalence of MC between patients with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Twelve endoscopic findings in the esophagogastric junction were prospectively compared between NERD (n = 64) and control (n = 104). Results: Overall frequency of MC (≥1 out of 12 criteria) was higher in the NERD group (71.9%) than in the HC group (45.2%). In individual analysis, white mucosal turbidity, irregular Z-line, horizontal erosions, and mucosal protrusion of cardia were significantly more common in the NERD group compared to controls. Among them, only white mucosal turbidity was independently associated with the NERD group (OR 3.97, 95% CI 1.72–9.13). Individuals with male gender, reflux symptoms, higher height, current smoking, ethanol intake and hiatal hernia were more likely to have white mucosal turbidity compared to the group without white turbidity. Conclusions: MC could be a useful marker to support clinical diagnosis of GERD. White mucosal turbidity in particular might be a GERD-specific sign related to acid-induced mucosal damage.

Mean reduction of viral loads was similar between clevudine and entecavir groups during 48 weeks. However, virologic breakthrough and significant myopathy were noted only in clevudine-treated patients. Therefore, more attention should be paid to patients receiving clevudine.

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Although physicians must pay more attention to adverse events in the older patients, combination therapy can be considered for older patients, especially for patients with a low APRI.

Malignant fistula of the small bowel to the colon is rare and is most often due to adenocarcinoma. Small bowel lymphoma is unusual, representing less than 1 percent of all gastrointestinal malignancies. We report a case of intestinal lymphoma presenting with diarrhea and abdominal pain. A jejunocolic fistula was discovered during colonoscopy. Celiotomy revealed a large, ulcerated fistula tract between the jejunum and distal transverse colon, and pathology was consistent with peripheral T-cell lymphoma. This is a rare entity in a nonimmunocompromised individual and has not been previously described in Korea.