PURPOSE: Cervical neoplasias are known to be preventable. But the outcome of our efforts for early detection in Korea is disappointing. This study was undertaken to determine the level of screening participation in Korean women with cervical cancer and how the early detection of cervical cancer might be improved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and forty-nine women with cervical cancer diag- nosed and treated at Seoul National University Hospital from September 1996 to February 1998 were subjected to this study. Self-reported cervical cancer screening histories, med- ical records obtainable were reviewed and analysed. RESULTS: One hundred forty-seven women (147/249; 59.0%) hadn't got through the screen- ing at proper intervals. Ninety-nine women (39.9%) had never been screened and remain- ing 48 (19.3%) hadn't had their last Pap test 3 years before their diagnosis of nvasive cancer. Of the 150 women (60.1%) who had ever had a Pap test, only 47 (18.9%) had had annual Pap test during recent 5 years and 55 (22.1%) had had routine Pap test with interval between 1-3 years. Among 102 women who had at least one Pap test during recent 3 year, 73 (71.6%) had had a normal Pap report within three years of diagnosis, including 36 (35.3%) whose last normal Pap report was within a year of diagnosis. This results suggest the possibilities of smear-taking and/or reading errors. Women who had had routine Pap with interval less than 3 years had significantfy less chance of advanced tumor (FIGO stage Ib < ) than unscreened population. There was a statistically significant trend for the more younger and educated groups to be participated at the screening program with more shortened interval. All the other factors had failed to show significant correlation with adequacy or regularity of screening interval. CONCLUSIONS: Despite widespread chance of opportunistic cervical cancer screening, non-participants form the main reason for the failure of cervical cancer screening in Korea. So, far much efforts should be aimed at participating more women in cervical cytologic screening program, especially in the old-aged and less-educated groups.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening* ; Nose ; Seoul ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Objective: This study evaluated the clinical usefulness of mean platelet volume (MPV) for predicting functional outcomes in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients who were diagnosed with SAH in the emergency room. Based on their modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, patients were divided into two groups: 0-2 (good outcome) and 3-6 (poor outcome). Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to investigate whether MPV, along with other multiple factors, was associated with poor prognosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the value of MPV as a predicting factor of neurological prognosis. Compared to other factors, Hunt Hess grade (HHG) and modified Fisher grade (mFG) considerably influenced the outcomes in both groups (Model 1; model including all factors). Hence, a new model (Model 2) was constructed, comprising multiple factors excluding these two factors. Results: A total of 143 patients were included in this study. Although MPV was different between the two groups, it was not a significant factor in Model 1 in the multivariable analysis. In Model 2, MPV (odds ration [OR], 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-2.8), age (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.03-1.1), and surgical treatment (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.15-0.87) were significant factors related to poor outcomes. Area under the curve (AUC) of Model 1 was 0.93, 0.85 in HHG; 0.78 in Model 2, 0.65 in mFG, and 0.62 in MPV. Conclusion Although MPV differed significantly between the good and poor outcome groups, it is insufficient to predict poor outcomes in SAH patients as an independent biomarker.

Breast reconstruction using TRAM flap after mastectomy has been widely adopted and regarded as a gold standard method. In patients with the abdominal midline scar, insufficient blood circulation to regions contralateral to the pedicle disables inclusion of them in the TRAM flap design. So modifications including Double- pedicled TRAM, Super-charged, Turbo-charged, Bipedicled free TRAM et al. have been attempted to resolve the problem of circulatory interruption by midline scar. The authors designed a new bipedicled free TRAM flap to avoid limitations like epigastric buldging, significant abdominal weakness and complexity of flap insetting. The two donor arteries(right and left deep inferior epigastric arteries) are anastomosed to the proximal and distal ends of divided internal mammary arteries using the reverse flow. Vein anastomoses were performed in the same manner through the divided venae comitantes. Two patients having infraumbilical midline scar underwent breast reconstruction using author`s new flap. Flaps survived without fat necrosis or partial flap loss in both patients and their results in aesthetic aspects were very satisfactory. Compared to previous method for breast reconstruction of patients having infraumbilical midline scar, author's new method is useful and effective in terms of the aesthetic and technical aspect.
Blood Circulation ; Breast* ; Cicatrix* ; Fat Necrosis ; Female ; Humans ; Mammaplasty* ; Mammary Arteries ; Mastectomy ; Tissue Donors ; Veins

Inversion of nipple is a common condition occurring with an incidence of 2% in women. It not only causes irritation and inflammation, but also causes aesthetic problems, affecting sexual relationships and psychological well-being of the patients. Several methods have been introduced to treat this condition in the past century, but the major principle of correction is based on the concept suggested by Schwager, that inverted nipple develops because of the lack of connective tissue located directly beneath the nipple. Based on this concept, many surgeons including Broadbent, Teimourian, and Elshy etc. have proposed that adding bulk of connective tissue and scarifing the ductal system is the principle of the treatment. Author`s method is also based on such a concept, and we have modified the Teimourian method. First, an intraglandular section in the shape of an inverted cone was performed. The crator-like glandular section was closed using horizontal mattress suture, leading to circumglandular V-Y advancement. Second, the donor sites on the areolar area were closed with V-Y advancement. Third, purse-string suture was performed to achieve neck tightening and to compensate for the lack of connective tissue beneath the nipple. Dermal flap suture was done by Foot-plate manner. We operated on 52 cases using this method, 28 patients during past 2 years. After 1 year following the operation, there were just two cases of relapse and virtually no complications. We obtained satisfactory projection of the nipples in all patients except in 2 cases. The resulting shapes and scars were acceptable to all patients.
Cicatrix ; Connective Tissue ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Neck ; Nipples* ; Recurrence ; Sutures ; Tissue Donors

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effects of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) treatment and conventional oxygen therapy (COT) in patients with heart failure (HF) admitted to the emergency department (ED). Methods: This study was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. The subjects were divided into HFNC and COT groups. The characteristics were compared, and vital signs and arterial blood gas (ABG) results were analyzed. In addition, mortality, intubation rate, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and length of stay (LOS) were analyzed for clinical outcome. Results: Among 252 patients, 91 and 161 were treated with HFNC and COT. Two groups showed differences in vital signs, ABG results, and pulmonary edema. The HFNC group showed no difference in mortality and LOS, but more intubation and ICU admission were observed (P=0.005, P<0.001). Due to the changes in vital signs and ABG results, the HFNC group reduced blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate, improved SpO2, increased pH, and decreased PaCO2. Conclusion HFNC therapy effectively improved vital signs and ventilation when administered to relatively unstable patients with HF admitted to the ED.

OBJECTIVE: The STONE score and modified STONE score are useful clinical prediction rules for ureteral calculi. This study performed an external validation of the STONE score and modified STONE score. The purpose of this study was to minimize the economic cost and radiation exposure of computed tomography. METHODS: The electronic medical records of patients complaining of flank pain from January 2016 to December 2017 at a single emergency department were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were classified into three groups according to the STONE score and modified STONE score. The prevalence of urethral calculi and other important alternative diagnoses were calculated in each group. RESULTS: Out of 561 patients, 266 patients were enrolled in this study, and 222 patients (83.5%) had a ureteral calculus. The same 266 patients were compared using the two clinical decision rule, STONE score, and the modified STONE score. The patients were classified into three groups. The prevalence of ureteral stones in the STONE score was 18.8% in the low-score group, 81.7% in the moderate-score group, and 91.1% in the high-score group. The prevalence of the modified STONE score was 20.0% in the low-score group, 54.1% in the moderate-score group, and 93.0% in the highscore group. The area under the curve of the modified STONE score was 0.779 higher than the area under the STONE score curve 0.73. CONCLUSION The modified STONE score has superior diagnostic specificity to the STONE score.

Objective: Many previous studies have reported relationships between particulate matter < 10 μm (PM10) and asthma in emergency department (ED) settings, but few have examined its effect on cerebrovascular diseases. We evaluate the “Lag effect” between PM10 and asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), myocardial infarction (MI), and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke among patients that visited an ED. Methods: This study was retrospectively conducted on 96,077 patients that visited one of the 137 EDs in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province in South Korea in 2017. Medical information and 10th revision International Classification of Disease codes were obtained from the National Emergency Department Information System and PM10 levels from AirKorea. We used Poisson regression analysis to evaluate the lag effects of PM10 on diseases of interest. “Lag day 0” was defined as the day when PM10 > 80 μg/m3, and the PM10 values on the 5 following days were recorded. To assess the cumulative effects of PM10, we calculated relative risk (RR) by analyzing the cumulative effects over 6 days (lag days 0 to 5). Results: Asthma, COPD, and ischemic stroke patients (< 65 years old) showed a positive correlation between PM10 (asthma on lag day 5: RR, 2.587; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.001-3.344; COPD on lag day 4: RR, 3.727; 95% CI, 2.988-4.650; and ischemic stroke on lag day 4: RR, 1.573; 95% CI, 1.168-2.118). MI in those≥65 showed the highest RR on lag day 1 (RR, 1.471; 95% CI, 1.042-2.077). Hemorrhagic stroke was not found to be significantly correlated with PM10 in either age group. Conclusion An increase in PM10 is associated with ED visits by patients<65 years old with asthma, COPD, or ischemic stroke, and with MI for those≥65 years.

Objective: The HEART score is a fast and simple cardiovascular disease (CVD) prediction tool useful in the emergency department (ED). This study evaluates the predictive value of the HEART score when applying other obesity indices such as waist circumference (WC) or waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) instead of body mass index (BMI). Methods: Data were prospectively collected from the pre-made registry of patients who had visited the ED with chest pain. Based on their final diagnoses and coronary imaging study results, patients were classified as acute coronary syndrome (ACS), non-ACS, significant coronary arterial stenosis (SCS), and non-SCS. We compared the HEART score for each group and modified it with variable obesity indices. Multivariable logistic regression and the area under the curve were calculated to determine the most suitable obesity index for the HEART score in predicting ACS or SCS. In addition, we compared the gender-dependent relationship between obesity and ACS or SCS. Results: Of the total 689 patients examined, 281 were diagnosed with ACS. The odds ratio (OR) of the HEART score for ACS was 12.1. The ORs were 13.2 and 11.2 when the HEART score was modified with WC or WHtR, respectively. Obesity was determined as the meaningful factor to predict ACS (OR: BMI, 2.38; WC, 3.39) and SCS (OR: BMI, 3.07; WC, 4.03) in women but not men. Conclusion The HEART score showed good predictive value regardless of obesity index modification. Furthermore, obesity is associated with CVD in women with chest pain, but not in men.

Objective: Various tools using the length-based method for weight estimation and decisions regarding equipment size have been used in pediatric resuscitation globally. The Korean Pediatric Resuscitation Tape (KPRT) is one such tool that has been developed recently. This study was performed to validate the use of KPRT in Korean children. Methods: Data on the measured weights and the endotracheal tube (ETT) sizes used for children aged 12 years or less, who received general anesthesia, were collected by reviewing medical records from June 2018 to October 2020 at two hospitals in the urban areas of Korea. We compared the weight and ETT size estimated by the KPRT to the actually measured weight and ETT size used for the study population. We also calculated the weight and ETT size using an age-based formula and compared these values to the actual values of the patients. We then analyzed the agreement between these estimated values and the actual values of the children. Results: A total of 1,237 children were included in this study. The intra-class correlation coefficient of agreement between the actual weight and estimated weight by the KPRT was 0.94 compared to 0.93 when estimated by the age-based formula. The weighted kappa coefficient of the agreement between the ETT size actually used, and the size estimated by the KPRT was 0.61 compared to 0.74 when estimated by the age-based formula. The estimated ETT sizes using the KPRT were smaller than the actual size used in children under three years old, whereas it was larger for children aged eight years or more. Conclusion Our study showed that the KPRT was a dependable tool for estimating the weight and ETT size of Korean children. Future studies would be needed to augment the reliability of the KPRT in pediatric resuscitation.

Objective: Emergency medicine residents are expected to exhibit a poor health status due to excessive working hours and high stress. Because much of patient care depends on them, their health conditions will have a significant impact on patient outcomes. Our study was designed to analyze the health status of emergency medicine residents and the affecting factors using the 2019 Korean Emergency Medicine Residents Survey (KEMRS) results. Methods: The study evaluated the self-rated health-defined percentage of responders who thought they were in good health. Based on this response, the influencing factors were categorized statistically. These factors included personal characteristics, lifestyle (drinking, smoking, eating, sleeping, and exercise), and emotional stress. Results: Of a total of 384 respondents, 176 (46%) thought they were in good health. Participants who perceived themselves to be unhealthy included residents who were married, female, and those in the 3rd grade. Drinking and smoking were not perceived to affect health status, but regular exercise and proper eating patterns were seen to be positive influencing factors. Daytime sleepiness, depressive moods, and personal well-being were correlated with health status. Conclusion While personal characteristics and emotional problems cannot be changed easily, lifestyle changes can be made for better health. The health conditions of emergency residents have not been considered a matter of importance thus far. To overcome their health problems, responsible improvements in schedules and a program of long-term follow-ups need to be implemented, followed by training programs.