PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate quality of life (QOL) differences between younger (<50 years) and older (> or =50 years) breast cancer survivors and to determine the unique effect of age on QOL after adjusting age-correlated variables. METHODS: One thousand two hundred fifty patients were enrolled. Clinicopatholgical and social parameters were reviewed and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast cancer instrument (FACT-B) and the Ladder of Life scale were used to measure the QOL. Among 1,250 eligible patients, 1,094 patients completed the questionnaire and were used for analysis. Chi-square test, t-test and a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted to verify age-related differences in QOL between two groups and to evaluate the unique contribution of age variable on QOL of breast cancer patients. RESULTS: Significant socio-demographic and clinical differences existed based on age categories, including education, job, time since surgery, chemotherapy and daily activity. Also, there were significant age-related differences in FACT-B total, physical well-being, social/family well-being, functional well-being and breast cancer subscale and in subjective QOL. Older patients > or =50 years showed significantly lower QOL than younger patients <50 years. However, after controlling for age-correlated variables including job, education, time since surgery, chemotherapy, and daily activity, there was no unique age difference in QOL among breast cancer survivors. CONCLUSION: Our study results suggest that older women with breast carcinoma suffered significantly lower QOL, even though the unique age effect was not found. Therefore, various interventions for enhancing QOL for women with breast carcinoma should be provided to older age group.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Survivors ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Clearance of a difficult biliary stone can be obtained using various interventional techniques such as endoscopic sphincterotomy followed by endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation, mechanical lithotripsy, peroral cholangioscopy-assisted intraductal electrohydraulic/laser lithotripsy, temporary plastic stent insertion, percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy-guided lithotripsy, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. We hereby describe the successful endoscopic treatment using various currently available interventional techniques in a case with multiple difficult common bile duct stones. Furthermore, we discuss the countermeasures to overcome the hurdles of each procedure.

A 74-year-old man who had been receiving warfarin for atrial fibrillation, underwent emergency thrombectomy. A central venous catheter (CVC) was inserted via the left subclavian vein, and heparin was administered to prevent preoperative and postoperative thrombotic events. After an uneventful thrombectomy, the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). On the second postoperative day, the patient developed syncope and his blood pressure and oxygen saturation decreased. A computed tomography (CT) revealed a huge hematoma under the pectoralis major muscle. The patient was then treated with continuous renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation for multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, which developed due to hemorrhagic shock in the ICU. These findings suggest that when a CVC is inserted in patients requiring anticoagulant therapy, the possible risk of excessive bleeding must be carefully considered. Further, choosing a proper insertion site and performing an ultrasound-guided aspiration may be helpful in preventing these complications.
Aged ; Anticoagulants ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Blood Pressure ; Catheters* ; Central Venous Catheters ; Emergencies ; Hematoma* ; Hemorrhage ; Heparin ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Oxygen ; Renal Replacement Therapy ; Respiration, Artificial ; Shock, Hemorrhagic* ; Subclavian Vein ; Syncope ; Thrombectomy ; Warfarin

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of Momguard, non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) for detecting trisomy (T) 21, T18, T13, and sex-chromosome abnormalities recently developed in Korea. METHODS: This preliminary study formed part of a large prospective cohort study conducted at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Only pregnant women who underwent both NIPT and confirmatory karyotyping were included in this study. NIPT results were compared with those of karyotype analyses. RESULTS: Among 93 eligible cases, NIPT results could not be obtained in one case due to a low fetal cell-free DNA fraction. Based on NIPT, eight cases of fetal aneuploidies, including T21 (n=5), T18 (n=2), and T13 (n=1), were identified. For T21 and T18, the sensitivity and specificity of NIPT were both 100%, with a false-positive and false-negative rate of 0% and a positive-predictive value of 100%. One patient classified as having intermediate risk for T13 by NIPT was confirmed to have T13 by karyotyping, and there were no false-negative cases. No cases of sex-chromosome anomalies were detected by NIPT or karyotyping during the study period. CONCLUSION: Momguard is a reliable screening tool for detecting T21 and T18. For T13 and sex-chromosome anomalies, further prospective studies are necessary to confirm its utility.
Aneuploidy ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Cohort Studies ; DNA ; Down Syndrome ; Female ; Humans ; Karyotype ; Karyotyping ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Pregnant Women ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seoul ; Trisomy

Background: Microcirculatory disturbances are typically most severe during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), which occurs during cardiac surgeries. If microvascular reactivity compensates for microcirculatory disturbances during CPB, tissue hypoxemia can be minimized. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether microvascular reactivity during CPB could predict major adverse events (MAE) after cardiac surgery. Methods: This prospective observational study included 115 patients who underwent elective on-pump cardiac surgeries. A vascular occlusion test (VOT) with near-infrared spectroscopy was performed five times for each patient: before the induction of general anesthesia, 30 min after the induction of general anesthesia, 30 min after applying CPB, 10 min after protamine injection, and post-sternal closure. The postoperative MAE was recorded. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis was performed for the prediction of MAE using the recovery slope. Results: Of the 109 patients, MAE occurred in 32 (29.4%). The AUROC curve for the recovery slope during CPB was 0.701 (P < 0.001; 95% CI [0.606, 0.785]). If the recovery slope during CPB was < 1.08%/s, MAE were predicted with a sensitivity of 62.5% and specificity of 72.7%. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that the recovery slope of the VOT during CPB could predict MAE after cardiac surgery. These results support the idea that disturbances in microcirculation induced by CPB can predict the development of poor clinical outcomes, thereby demonstrating the potential role of microvascular reactivity as an early predictor of MAE after cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to demonstrate the relationship between the volume of a parathyroid adenoma and the preoperative biochemical parameters in patients undergoing surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism. METHODS: The medical records of 68 patients who underwent a parathyroidectomy for a single parathyroid adenoma were retrospectively reviewed. The volume of the adenoma was estimated using its measured size and a mathematical formula. The correlation between the volume of the parathyroid adenoma and the preoperative laboratory data was assessed. RESULTS: There were no correlations between the estimated volume of the adenoma and the serum calcium, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone levels. However, the volume of the adenoma was associated with the preoperative level of serum phosphorus. After excluding 5 adenomas with cystic degeneration, a positive correlation was noted between the adenoma volume and the preoperative levels of alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone. CONCLUSION: The preoperative serum levels of calcium, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone are of limited use to predict the volume of the parathyroid adenoma in patients with a single parathyroid adenoma. We suggest that the absence of a correlation between the volume of the adenoma and the biochemical parameters can be attributed to the cystic degeneration of the adenomas.
Adenoma ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Calcium ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism ; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary ; Medical Records ; Parathyroid Hormone ; Parathyroid Neoplasms ; Parathyroidectomy ; Phosphorus ; Retrospective Studies

Simvastatin is a lipid-lowering drug that is metabolized to its active metabolite simvastatin acid (SA). We developed and validated a sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method to quantitate SA in human plasma using a liquid-liquid extraction method with methanol. The protonated analytes generated in negative ion mode were monitored by multiple reaction monitoring. Using 500-mL plasma aliquots, SA was quantified in the range of 0.1-100 ng/mL. Calibration was performed by internal standardization with lovastatin acid, and regression curves were generated using a weighting factor of 1/χ2. The linearity, precision, and accuracy of this assay for each compound were validated using quality control samples consisting of mixtures of SA (0.1, 0.5, 5, and 50 ng/mL) and plasma. The intra-batch accuracy was 95.3-107.8%, precision was -2.2% to -3.7%, and linearity (r2) was over 0.998 in the standard calibration range. The chromatographic running time was 3.0 min. This method sensitively and reliably measured SA concentrations in human plasma and was successfully used in clinical pharmacokinetic studies of simvastatin in healthy Korean adult male volunteers.
Adult ; Calibration ; Humans* ; Liquid-Liquid Extraction ; Lovastatin ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry* ; Methanol ; Plasma* ; Protons ; Quality Control ; Running ; Simvastatin* ; Volunteers

Thromboelastography or rotational thromboelastometry, is being increasingly utilized in cardiac surgery of late. However, it is an indirect test and is not available in all centers. Low fibrinogen levels before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) have been described to be associated with postoperative bleeding in cardiac surgery. This study explored the usefulness of reduction ratio of the fibrinogen levels before CPB (preCPB) and after CPB (postCPB) in predicting postoperative hemorrhage. A retrospective, observational study of adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery with CPB between February 2014 and January 2016 was conducted, which included a total of 264 patients. The fibrinogen levels were measured twice, preCPB and postCPB, and the fibrinogen reduction ratio was acquired [(preCPB − postCPB)/preCPB]. Postoperative blood loss, which was defined as the blood collected from the chest drain for 12 hours following arrival at the intensive care unit, was considered severe if it was more than 1,000 mL. A multivariate analysis showed that fibrinogen reduction ratio, sex, and postCPB platelet count were significantly associated with severe postoperative bleeding. However, the pre- and postCPB fibrinogen levels were not significantly associated with severe bleeding. Furthermore, a fibrinogen reduction ratio of > 41.3% was independently associated with postoperative severe bleeding, with an odds ratio of 3.472 (1.483–8.162). These results suggest that the reduction ratio of pre- and postCPB fibrinogen levels may be utilized in predicting postoperative bleeding.