Original article Sangsoo Jung1,2, Eunsang Suh1*, Jun-Ki Lee1, Byung Woo Jhun3, Tae Yeul Kim1, Hee Jae Huh1,2, Nam Yong Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea2Department of Medical Device Management and Research, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea3Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea*Current affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gimpo Woori Hospital, Gimpo, Korea Correspondence to Hee Jae Huh, E-mail: pmhhj77@gmail.com; Tae Yeul Kim, E-mail: voltaire0925@gmail.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(4):21. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.4.2Received on 13 August 2025, Revised on 14 September 2025, Accepted on 12 October 2025, Published on 01 December 2025.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Abstract Background: The growing burden of

Case report PDF Hee Jae Huh, Seung Tae Lee, Jang Ho Lee, Chang Seok Ki, Nam Yong Lee Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee,, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2010;13(2):90-92. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2010.13.2.90Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Clostridium symbiosum was isolated from the blood of a 61-year-old immunocompromised woman who had diagnosed ovarian cancer with multiple metastases and who had developed persistent tachycardia. A blood culture was drawn from the peripherally inserted central catheter, and non-spore-forming gram-negative rods were detected in an anaerobic vial. The organism showed tiny and pinpoint colonies and was unidentified by Vitek II (bioMerieux, France). The 16S rRNA gene sequence showed a 99.4% identity with C. symbiosum. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of C. symbiosum isolation in Korea. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2010;13: 90-92) Keywords Clostridium symbiosum,

Original article PDF Young-Eun Kim, Hee Jae Huh, Yu-Yean Hwang, Nam Yong Lee Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Koreaa Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2013;16(3):134-139. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2013.16.3.134Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Due to a reduction in the number of parasite infections, attention paid to the importance of intestinal parasites has decreased. However, intestinal parasite infections remain ubiquitous and have reappeared as a growing problem in recent decades due to changing lifestyles such as increased overseas travel. In this study, we evaluated trends in intestinal parasite infection using stool examination in a single institute.  Methods: From January 2003 to December 2012, we reviewed all stool examination results performed at Samsung Medical Center. Fecal examinations were performed by formalin-ether sedimentation.  Results: A total 429,866 stool examinations were performed resulting in 14,672 cases with positive

Case report PDF Hee Jae Huh1, Jang Ho Lee1, Kyung Sun Park1, Tae-Gook Jun2, I-Seok Kang3, Yae-Jean Kim3, Chang-Seok Ki1, Nam Yong Lee1 Departments of 1Laboratory Medicine & Genetics, 2Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and 3Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@ samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2013;16(2):105-109. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2013.16.2.105Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract We report a case of the isolation of the Aspergillus versicolor complex, initially misidentified by morphological characteristics as the Scopulariopsis species, from a homograft with a bicuspidalized pulmonary valve. An eighteen-month-old female, who had critical pulmonary stenosis, underwent pulmonary valve replacement. On postoperative day 8, she developed a fever, which did not respond to empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics. While no definitive source was identified, a filamentous fungus was isolated from the thawed homograft tissue culture prior to implantation on the operation day. The colonies were powdery

Case report PDF Hee Jae Huh1, Hyun-Young Kim1, Young Eun Ha2, Chang-Seok Ki1, Nam Yong Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine & Genetics, 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2014;17(4):132-135. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2014.17.4.132Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a Gram-positive bacillus that causes infections primarily in animals. In humans, the bacteria usually cause localized or generalized cutaneous infections. A 75-year-old man with chronic alcoholism presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography and laboratory findings suggested an intra-abdominal abscess in the periaortic soft tissue. While no definitive infectious source was identified, E. rhusiopathiae was identified by 16S rRNA-based gene sequencing from culture-negative, periaortic necrotic tissue, subsequent to empiric antibiotic treatment. It is suggested that E. rhusiopathiae has the potential to cause intra-abdominal abscesses. This case report highlights the

Case report PDF Yu Jung Jung, Hee Jae Huh, Chang-Seok Ki, Nam Yong Lee Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2014;17(3):95-98. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2014.17.3.95Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Brevibacterium spp. are Gram-positive, irregularly rod-shaped, strictly aerobic bacteria that resemble corynebacteria. Since they are a part of normal skin flora, they have been regarded as apathogenic, and human infections related to them are very rare. A 46-year-old man previously diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presented with fever without a definitive infectious source. Blood cultures from both peripheral blood and a central venous catheter showed that only aerobic bottles grew contaminants, while anaerobic bottles did not. Although the automated microbial identification system indicated Propionibacterium acnes, the isolated species was identified as B. casei by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Our case

Case report PDF Sae-Mi Lee, Young-Jin Kang, Hee Jae Huh, Chang-Seok Ki, Nam Yong Lee Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Hee Jae Huh, E-mail: heejae.huh@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2015;18(4):135-139. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2015.18.4.135Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Yokenella regensburgei, a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, is rarely isolated in humans. Here, we report a 71-year-old man with diabetic foot infection from which Y. regensburgei was isolated. Following debridement and disarticulation of the foot, an exudate specimen was obtained, from which Gram- negative bacilli were recovered. The organism was identified as Y. regensburgei using the Vitek 2 system (bioMérieux, USA) and 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Y. regensburgei isolation in Korea. (Ann Clin Microbiol 2015;18:135-139) Keywords Diabetic foot, DNA sequencing, Yokenella regensburgei

Original article PDF Yeongbin Kim1*, Jae Won Yun2*, Sejong Chun1, Hee Jae Huh1, Nam Yong Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine & Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 2Samsung Genome Institute, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Sungkyunkwan Universitiy School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2015;18(4):126-132. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2015.18.4.126Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Clostridial bacteremia (CB) is the second most frequent anaerobic bacteremia, and CB patients show high mortality without prompt antimicrobial therapy. We retrospectively reviewed 11 years of CB cases in a tertiary care hospital to describe the clinical and microbiological characteristics of CB and to define the risk factors of fatal CB. Methods: All patients with CB from January 2002 to December 2012 were included in the study. Age, sex, underlying diseases, antibiotic use, and clinical outcome were reviewed. Antibiotic therapy

Case report PDF Jong Eun Park1, Hee Jae Huh1, Young Eun Ha2, Wook Sung Kim3, Chang-Seok Ki1, Nam Yong Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, 3Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2015;18(2):60-63. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2015.18.2.60Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Dialister pneumosintes is a nonfermentative, gram-negative anaerobic rod which is considered as a commensal organism of the oral cavity. A 77-year-old man with a history of aortic stenosis was visited to ER for dyspnea and fever. D. pneumosintes and Streptococcus anginosus were isolated from blood culture, and also D. pneumosintes was identified by 16S rRNA-based gene sequencing. This case report is the first case of isolation of D. pneumosintes from blood in Korea, and highlights the usefulness of DNA sequencing to identify

Original article PDF Min-Seung Park1, In Young Yoo1, On-Kyun Kang1, Jung Eun Lee2, Dae Joong Kim2, Hee Jae Huh1, Nam Yong Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, 2Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Nam Yong Lee, E-mail: micro.lee@samsung.com; Hee Jae Huh, E-mail: pmhhj77@gmail.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2019;22(4):90-95. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2019.22.4.90Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: A major complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) is peritonitis, and bacterial culture of PD effluent in a blood culture bottle is the preferred technique for diagnosis of peritonitis. In this study, we compared dialysate inoculation and culture using the BacT/AlerTⓇ Fastidious Antimicrobial Neutralization Plus blood culture bottles (FAN Plus; bioMérieux, France) to the conventional centrifugation culture method. Methods: A total of 170 PD effluents were simultaneously processed by the conventional centrifugation culture method and by culture using FAN Plus media with two different