The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the simple semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing folate intake in women of reproductive age. We developed a 30-item FFQ, and tested the reliability and validity in 97 women aged between 20 and 39 yrs using the FFQs and 24-h recalls, which were carried out twice, respectively. Assessing the reliability, the correlation coefficients were 0.53 (Spearman's) and 0.49 (Pearson's) for folate. There was no significant difference of folate intake between FFQ1 and FFQ2. 36.1% subjects were classified into the same quartile and 83.5% into the same or adjacent quartile divided by folate intake. On determining the validity, the mean folate intake obtained from the FFQ (FFQ1) and 24h-recalls (2-d) were 306.6 +/- 167.2 microg/d and 326.9 +/- 103.3 microg/d, respectively. There was no significant difference between folate intakes from the two methods. The correlation coefficients for folate were 0.24 (Spearman's) and 0.26 (Pearson's). 39.2% of the subjects were categorized into the same quartile and 70.1% were into the same or adjacent quartile. In addition, sensitivity (64.3%) and specificity (62.3%) were estimated to evaluate the adequacy of folate intake. These results suggest that this FFQ would be a useful and a valuable instrument to assess the intake of folate among the Korean women of child-bearing age.
Aged ; Female ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Purpose: To investigate the effect of an epiretinal membrane (ERM) on peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFLT), macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness (mGCIPLT) and macular thickness (MT) in relation to glaucoma severity using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Methods: In total, 105 eyes of 105 glaucoma patients with ERM were matched at a 1:1 ratio with glaucoma patients without ERM according to age, sex, cataract surgery, axial length and mean deviation based on visual field tests. The differences in pRNFLT, mGCIPLT and MT between the two groups were assessed using SS-OCT. Furthermore, the patients were divided into three glaucoma-severity groups, and the differences in pRNFLT, mGCIPLT and MT were compared between glaucoma patients with and without ERM in each group. Results: In all patients, including those with early, moderate, and advanced glaucoma, those with ERM had greater average, temporal quadrant, and 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 o’clock pRNFLT values compared to those without ERM. Additionally, mGCIPLT and MT were thicker in glaucoma patients with ERM in all groups. The difference in pRNFLT at the 7 and 11 o’clock positions between glaucoma patients with and without ERM was significantly more pronounced in the moderate glaucoma group than in the early glaucoma group (p = 0.043 and p = 0.012, respectively). Conclusions ERM has notable effects on the pRNFLT, mGCIPLT and MT. Furthermore, the magnitude of its effect on pRNFLT varies with glaucoma severity.

PURPOSE: To compare the measurements of central corneal thickness (CCT) obtained using two kinds of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), Pentacam®, and ultrasound pachymetry (USP). METHODS: CCT was measured by Cirrus OCT®, Spectralis OCT®, Pentacam®, and USP in 32 eyes from 32 subjects without ocular disease of the anterior segment. RESULTS: The average CCT measurements using Cirrus OCT®, Spectralis OCT®, Pentacam®, and USP were 549.2 ± 28.7 µm, 545.2 ± 25.4 µm, 554.0 ± 27.8 µm, and 548.4 ± 27.9 µm respectively. The measurements were significantly highly correlated with each other (Pearson's correlation coefficient r > 0.9, all p-values < 0.001), but were significantly different (p < 0.001). The CCT 95% limits of agreement between Cirrus OCT® and Spectralis OCT®, Cirrus OCT® and Pentacam®, Cirrus OCT® and USP, Spectralis OCT® and Pentacam®, and Spectralis OCT® and USP were 27.70 µm, 26.1 µm, 26.97 µm, 22.91 µm, 35.59 µm, and 32.15 µm, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CCT values measured using the four devices were highly correlated with each other, but the measurement using Pentacam® was significantly thicker than that using USP. The measurements of the two kinds of spectral domain OCT were similar to those using USP. Therefore, these differences should be considered in clinical use, and measurements cannot be considered interchangeable.
Corneal Pachymetry* ; Tomography, Optical Coherence* ; Ultrasonography*

A 65-year-old male presented with pain in his right medial calf. An imaging study revealed no acute lesions, and a diagnosis of saphenous neuralgia was made by a nerve conduction study. He received temporary pain relief with saphenous nerve blocks twice in a one-week interval. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation reduced pain to 10% of the maximal pain intensity. At 6 months after the procedure, the pain intensity was not aggravated even without medication. Pulsed radiofrequency neuromodulation of the saphenous nerve may offer an effective and minimally invasive treatment for patients with saphenous neuralgia who are refractory to conservative management.
Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Nerve Block ; Neural Conduction ; Neuralgia

BACKGROUND: Multiple alloimmunization is the production of two or more alloantibodies by an individual. These antibodies are significant because they can present major problems in compatibility testing. The goal of this study was to determine the properties of concurrent blood group (BG) antibodies in Korea. METHODS: The transfusion records of 540 patients from Dong-A University Hospital were reviewed to identify alloimmunized individuals. The records spanned a time period from September 2002 to March 2010. The data regarding transfusions and the clinical characteristics of those patients making concurrent antibodies were gathered. RESULTS: Concurrent blood group antibodies were found in 23.9% (45/188) of alloimmunized patients, constituting 40.7% (100/246) of all antibodies. The most common alloantibody pair were anti-E/-c and anti-C/-e. The mean transfused RBC units, mean interval, and mean transfusion frequencies before detection of two or more antibodies were 2.4 units, 92 days, and 2.4 times, respectively. The majority of alloantibody pairs appeared and were undetectable at the same time. Among 45 patients (mean age 55.9 years, range 32 to 82 years), twenty-six (57.8%) were female and the remaining nineteen were male. Non-hematological malignancy accounted for a major share (26.7%) in the underlying disease. CONCLUSION: Antibody concurrence varied by BG antigenic specificity. Rh antibodies, in particular anti-E with anti-c appeared to be highly linked. Unlike in Western countries, anti-K was less common in Korea and so the pairs involving this antibody were scarce. More prospective investigations are needed to delineate the immunologic phenomenon of multiple alloimmunization.
Antibodies ; Epitopes ; Female ; Humans ; Isoantibodies ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening

BACKGROUND: Accurate renal function measurements are important in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases. In contrast to creatinine, the production of serum cystatin C has been extensively reported to be unaffected by body muscle mass, age, gender, and nutritional status. METHODS: Our study included 37 samples from diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients for whom serum creatinine tests had been requested and 40 samples from a healthy populations in Dong-A University Hospital between May 2010 and June 2010. The assay precision (i.e., the coefficient of variation) and the reference range of the serum cystatin C test were evaluated. We compared the estimated glomerular filtration rates (GFRs) based on cystatin C with those based on creatinine. Moreover, we investigated the influences of age, gender, weight, and muscle mass on serum creatinine and serum cystatin C. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between GFR based on creatinine and that based on cystatin C (r=0.79, P<0.0001) among the diabetic CKD patients. Serum creatinine and cystatin C were significantly correlated with body weight and muscle mass, but the strengths of these correlations were greater for serum creatinine. The precision study revealed excellent results for both the high and low controls. The 95% reference interval of cystatin C in the healthy population was 0.371 to 1.236 mg/L. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we conclude that, despite the strong correlation between serum creatinine and cystatin C, cystatin C is less affected by weight and muscle mass and might represent a better alternative for the assessment of renal function.
Body Weight ; Creatinine ; Cystatin C* ; Diagnosis ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; Nutritional Status ; Reference Values ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic

BACKGROUND: Laboratory diagnosis for ovarian cancer is mostly based on the quantitative determination of CA125. Over the past years, a number of additional markers for ovarian cancer have been proposed and studied. Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) has accordingly emerged as a new biomarker for the detection of ovarian cancer. To evaluate the new automated HE4 assay, we studied analytical performance, and established reference ranges. METHODS: We evaluated precision performances and linearity of the HE4 assay. We also evaluated reference ranges for HE4 and CA125 according to age. Lastly, we investigated the correlation between HE4 and CA125. RESULTS: The precision study showed excellent results for both high and low control. The 95% upper reference ranges for HE4 and CA125 levels were 81.0 pmol/L (90% confidence interval [CI], 63.0-103.1) and 28.6 U/mL (90% CI, 25.4-36.4), respectively. There was no correlation between HE4 and CA125 (r = -0.002, P = 0.9793) in healthy women. Reference ranges of HE4 tended to be slightly higher for the older groups as compared to the younger groups. CA125 were considerably decreased in the oldest age group (ages 70 to 79). CONCLUSIONS: The new automated HE4 assay showed good analytical performance, age-related variable results and no correlation with CA125. Though further studies for clinical and diagnostic effectiveness of HE4 assay in screening and diagnosing ovarian cancer are needed for routine use of HE4, HE4 in combination with CA125 is likely to be more useful diagnostically than CA125 alone.
Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; Epididymis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Reference Values

A total of 11,395 animals were impounded in shelters in Seoul in 2013. The Animal Protection Division of the Seoul metropolitan government has annual contracts with local veterinary associations as well as Korean animal rescue and management organizations for providing shelter to animals, and collects monthly statistics from these groups. In 2013, the collected intake and outcome data for 25 districts were reviewed to analyze shelter capacity in terms of housing capacity (monthly daily average intake, required holding capacity, and adoption-driven capacity), staff capacity (staff hours required for daily care), and live release rate. Seasonal variations in the monthly daily average intake were observed, indicating that management of these shelters requires various strategies. This study was performed to analyze and interpret meaningful statistics for improving the efficiency of animal shelters in Seoul. However, inconsistent collection of animal statistics limited data compilation. Creation of a basic animal statistics matrix with reference to well-designed matrices from recognized professional animal shelters is essential. These complied statistical data will help plan for future animal shelter needs in Seoul.
Animal Welfare ; Animals ; Housing ; Local Government ; Seasons ; Seoul ; Statistics as Topic*

BACKGROUND: beta-thalassemia is primarily found in individuals of Mediterranean and Southeast Asian ancestry. With rapid growth in the Southeast Asian segments of the Korean population, the geographic distribution of hemoglobinopathies is expected to become significantly different from what it is today. In this study, Hb fractions were measured in patients with hypochromic microcytosis to detect thalassemia and Hb variants. To evaluate the feasibility of replacing cellulose acetate electrophoresis (CA) with capillary electrophoresis (CE) in a clinical laboratory, both techniques were performed and the outcomes were compared. METHODS: To evaluate hemoglobinopathies, complete blood cell counts (CBC), CA, and CE were carried out on samples from healthy and microcytic hypochromic groups. The microcytic hypochromic group consisted of 103 patients whose mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was less than 75 fL and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) was less than 24 pg. Quantitative analysis of Hb fractions was performed on 143 whole blood samples. RESULTS: There was a good correlation for measurements of HbA (r=0.9370, P<0.0001), HbA2 (r=0.8973 P<0.0001), and HbF (r= 0.8010, P=0.0304) between the two methods. In the microcytic hypochromic group, there were 29 cases (28.2%) with decreased HbA2, 2 cases (1.9%) with increased HbA2, 3 cases (2.9%) with increased HbF, and 2 cases (1.9%) with increased HbA2 and HbF. CONCLUSIONS: CE is comparable to CA for reliable measurement of Hb fractions. It is suitable for screening of hemoglobinopathies in many clinical laboratories.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blood Cell Count ; *Electrophoresis, Capillary ; *Electrophoresis, Cellulose Acetate ; Erythrocyte Indices ; Female ; Fetal Hemoglobin/analysis ; Hemoglobin A/analysis ; Hemoglobin A2/analysis ; Hemoglobinopathies/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: We compared the results of arthroscopic Bankart repair using metal and biodegradable anchor fixation. MATERIALS & METHODS: We reviewed 26 patients with anterior shoulder instability treated by arthroscopic Bankart repair from October, 2006, to March, 2007, 15 patients with metal anchors and 11 patients with biodegradable anchors. The average age was 27.4 years old (range: 17~55) and mean follow-up was 14 months (range: 12~17 months). Functional outcome was evaluated using the Korean Shoulder Score for Instability (KSSI), Rowe's Bankart Grading scale (RBGS), ASES score, and UCLA scores. RESULTS: In the metal-anchor group, the improvements of mean KSSI, ASES, UCLA score, and RBGS were 20.6, 24.0, 4.0, and 45.5, respectively. In the biodegradable anchor group, improvements of mean KSSI, ASES, UCLA score, and RBGS were 21.0, 23.6, 4.6, and 48.9. The improvements in final outcomes were not significantly different (p>.05). One metal problem and one traumatic redislocation occurred in the metal group. CONCLUSION: Both techniques produced satisfactory outcomes in the treatment of traumatic anterior instability. The biodegradable anchor group could also avoid problems with metal anchors.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Shoulder