Background/Aims: Accumulating evidence suggests a link between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and brain health. However, population-based evidence on the association between NAFLD and dementia remains unclear. This study was conducted to determine the association between NAFLD and incident dementia. Methods: The study population included 608,994 adults aged ≥60 years who underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2010. Data were collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. NAFLD was assessed using the fatty liver index (FLI). A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to determine the association between NAFLD and dementia. Results: During the 6,495,352 person-years of follow-up, 48,538 participants (8.0%) developed incident dementia. The participants were classified into low (FLI <30), intermediate (FLI ≥30 and <60), and high (FLI ≥60) groups. In the overall study population, the FLI groups were associated with a risk of dementia (P for trend <0.001). After propensity score matching, a low FLI was associated with a reduced risk of dementia (adjusted hazard ration [aHR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93–0.98; P=0.002), whereas a high FLI (NAFLD) was associated with an increased risk of dementia (aHR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02–1.08; P=0.001). A higher risk of dementia in the high FLI group than in the intermediate FLI group was attributed to Alzheimer’s disease (aHR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01–1.07; P=0.004) rather than vascular dementia (aHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.75–1.18; P=0.602). Conclusions NAFLD was associated with an increased risk of dementia, which was attributed to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Treatment for early colon cancer has progressed rapidly with endoscopic resection and minimally invasive surgery. Selection of patients without risk of lymph node metastasis is necessary before deciding on endoscopic resection for early colon cancer treatment. We aimed to review the optimal multidisciplinary treatment strategies for early colon cancer, including endoscopy and surgery.Current Concepts: Pathological risk factors include histologic grade of cancer cell differentiation, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, tumor budding, and deep submucosal invasion. These risk factors for predicting lymph node metastasis are crucial for determining the treatment strategy of endoscopic excision and radical resection for early colon cancer. Prediction of the depth of invasion in early colon cancer using endoscopic optical assessments is vital to determine the appropriate treatment method for endoscopic or surgical resection. Furthermore, optical assessment of pit and vascular patterns is useful for estimating the depth of submucosal invasion using magnifying chromoendoscopy and narrow-band imaging endoscopy. Performing an endoscopic and pathologic evaluation of the risk factors for lymph node metastasis is imperative when selecting endoscopic or surgical resection. Endoscopic treatments include cold snare polypectomy, endoscopic mucosal resection, and endoscopic submucosal dissection. In addition, appropriate surgical treatment should be recommended for patients with early colon cancer with a high risk of lymph node metastasis.Discussion and Conclusion: A multidisciplinary approach should be recommended to establish an optimized treatment strategy, minimize the risk of complications, and obtain excellent oncologic outcomes via patienttailored treatment in patients with early colon cancer.

Objective: High disease activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with poor sleep quality. The purpose of this study was to identify which of the representative tools for evaluating the disease activity of AS best reflect the quality of sleep. Methods: A total of 107 AS patients were enrolled in the study and the sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Age, sex, concomitant medication, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level, Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II), Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS)-ESR, ASDAS-CRP, pain visual analog scale, Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were analyzed as covariates. Results: Overall, 65% (70/107) of subjects reported poor sleep quality (PSQI＞5). There was a positive correlation between the sleep quality and disease activity as measured by the BASDAI, ASDAS-ESR, and ASDAS-CRP. In addition, the BASDAI demonstrated good correlations with ISI, ESS, and BDI-II, respectively. However, only BASDAI showed reliable correlation with PSQI among the disease activity parameters of AS (adjusted odd ratio 5.36, p=0.023). Conclusion BASDAI is the most reliable parameter of disease activity associated with the sleep quality in patients with AS.

Objective: High disease activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with poor sleep quality. The purpose of this study was to identify which of the representative tools for evaluating the disease activity of AS best reflect the quality of sleep. Methods: A total of 107 AS patients were enrolled in the study and the sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Age, sex, concomitant medication, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level, Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II), Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS)-ESR, ASDAS-CRP, pain visual analog scale, Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were analyzed as covariates. Results: Overall, 65% (70/107) of subjects reported poor sleep quality (PSQI＞5). There was a positive correlation between the sleep quality and disease activity as measured by the BASDAI, ASDAS-ESR, and ASDAS-CRP. In addition, the BASDAI demonstrated good correlations with ISI, ESS, and BDI-II, respectively. However, only BASDAI showed reliable correlation with PSQI among the disease activity parameters of AS (adjusted odd ratio 5.36, p=0.023). Conclusion BASDAI is the most reliable parameter of disease activity associated with the sleep quality in patients with AS.

Background: Intrapleural urokinase is one of the most widely used fibrinolytic agents in the treatment of complicated parapneumonic effusion (CPPE). However, little research has been performed on the optimal urokinase dosage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment efficacy of half dose urokinase compared with conventional dose urokinase. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 92 patients with CPPE or empyema who underwent intrapleural urokinase treatment at two tertiary hospitals. Patients received antibiotics, chest tube drainage, and other treatments as part of routine care. The primary outcome was the treatment success rate in the half dose urokinase group (50,000 IU daily for maximal 6 days) and the conventional dose urokinase group (100,000 IU daily). Treatment success was defined as clinical and radiological improvements without surgical treatment or re-admission within one month. Results: Forty-four patients received half dose urokinase, whereas 48 patients were treated with conventional dose urokinase. Both groups were relatively well matched at baseline, excluding higher serum white blood cell count and higher empyema prevalence in the half dose urokinase group. The treatment success rate was not different between the two groups (p=0.048). There were no differences in the rate of in-hospital death and surgical treatment, hospitalization duration, and indwelling catheter duration. In the multivariate analysis, urokinase dose was not a predictor of treatment success. Conclusion Half dose intrapleural urokinase is equally effective conventional dose urokinase in treating patients with CPPE or empyema.

Objective: Measurement of the liver and spleen volumes has clinical implications. Although computed tomography (CT)volumetry is considered to be the most reliable noninvasive method for liver and spleen volume measurement, it has limitedapplication in clinical practice due to its time-consuming segmentation process. We aimed to develop and validate a deeplearning algorithm (DLA) for fully automated liver and spleen segmentation using portal venous phase CT images in variousliver conditions. Materials and Methods: A DLA for liver and spleen segmentation was trained using a development dataset of portal venousCT images from 813 patients. Performance of the DLA was evaluated in two separate test datasets: dataset-1 which included150 CT examinations in patients with various liver conditions (i.e., healthy liver, fatty liver, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis,and post-hepatectomy) and dataset-2 which included 50 pairs of CT examinations performed at ours and other institutions.The performance of the DLA was evaluated using the dice similarity score (DSS) for segmentation and Bland-Altman 95%limits of agreement (LOA) for measurement of the volumetric indices, which was compared with that of ground truth manualsegmentation. Results: In test dataset-1, the DLA achieved a mean DSS of 0.973 and 0.974 for liver and spleen segmentation, respectively,with no significant difference in DSS across different liver conditions (p = 0.60 and 0.26 for the liver and spleen, respectively).For the measurement of volumetric indices, the Bland-Altman 95% LOA was -0.17 ± 3.07% for liver volume and -0.56 ± 3.78%for spleen volume. In test dataset-2, DLA performance using CT images obtained at outside institutions and our institutionwas comparable for liver (DSS, 0.982 vs. 0.983; p = 0.28) and spleen (DSS, 0.969 vs. 0.968; p = 0.41) segmentation. Conclusion The DLA enabled highly accurate segmentation and volume measurement of the liver and spleen using portalvenous phase CT images of patients with various liver conditions.

BACKGROUND: To validate the clinical application of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) as a first-tier clinical diagnostic test and to determine the impact of CMA results on patient clinical management, we conducted a multicenter prospective study in Korean patients diagnosed as having developmental delay/intellectual disability (DD/ID), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and multiple congenital anomalies (MCA). METHODS: We performed both CMA and G-banding cytogenetics as the first-tier tests in 617 patients. To determine whether the CMA results directly influenced treatment recommendations, the referring clinicians were asked to complete a 39-item questionnaire for each patient separately after receiving the CMA results. RESULTS: A total of 122 patients (19.8%) had abnormal CMA results, with either pathogenic variants (N=65) or variants of possible significance (VPS, N=57). Thirty-five well-known diseases were detected: 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome was the most common, followed by Prader-Willi syndrome, 15q11-q13 duplication, Down syndrome, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Variants of unknown significance (VUS) were discovered in 51 patients (8.3%). VUS of genes putatively associated with developmental disorders were found in five patients: IMMP2L deletion, PTCH1 duplication, and ATRNL1 deletion. CMA results influenced clinical management, such as imaging studies, specialist referral, and laboratory testing in 71.4% of patients overall, and in 86.0%, 83.3%, 75.0%, and 67.3% of patients with VPS, pathogenic variants, VUS, and benign variants, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical application of CMA as a first-tier test improves diagnostic yields and the quality of clinical management in patients with DD/ID, ASD, and MCA.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Autistic Disorder ; Cytogenetics ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Down Syndrome ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Korea ; Microarray Analysis ; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne ; Prader-Willi Syndrome ; Prospective Studies ; Referral and Consultation ; Specialization

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of ultrasound (US) microflow assessment in distinguishing malignant from benign solid breast masses as well as the association between US parameters and histologic microvessel density (MVD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-eight breast masses (57 benign and 41 malignant) were examined using Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) and contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) before biopsy. Two radiologists evaluated the quantitative and qualitative vascular parameters on SMI (vascular index, morphology, distribution, and penetration) and CEUS (time-intensity curve analysis and enhancement characteristics). US parameters were compared between benign and malignant masses and the diagnostic performance was compared between SMI and CEUS. Subgroup analysis was performed according to lesion size. The effect of vascular parameters on downgrading Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) category 4A masses was evaluated. The association between histologic MVD and US parameters was analyzed. RESULTS: Malignant masses were associated with a higher vascular index (15.1 ± 7.3 vs. 5.9 ± 5.6), complex vessel morphology (82.9% vs. 42.1%), central vascularity (95.1% vs. 59.6%), penetrating vessels (80.5% vs. 31.6%) on SMI (all, p < 0.001), as well as higher peak intensity (37.1 ± 25.7 vs. 17.0 ± 15.8, p < 0.001), slope (10.6 ± 11.2 vs. 3.9 ± 4.2, p = 0.001), area (1035.7 ± 726.9 vs. 458.2 ± 410.2, p < 0.001), hyperenhancement (95.1% vs. 70.2%, p = 0.005), centripetal enhancement (70.7% vs. 45.6%, p = 0.023), penetrating vessels (65.9% vs. 22.8%, p < 0.001), and perfusion defects (31.7% vs. 3.5%, p < 0.001) on CEUS (p ≤ 0.023). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of SMI and CEUS were 0.853 and 0.841, respectively (p = 0.803). In 19 masses measuring < 10 mm, central vascularity on SMI was associated with malignancy (100% vs. 38.5%, p = 0.018). Considering all benign SMI parameters on the BI-RADS assessment, unnecessary biopsies could be avoided in 12 category 4A masses with improved AUCs (0.500 vs. 0.605, p < 0.001). US vascular parameters associated with malignancy showed higher MVD (p ≤ 0.016). MVD was higher in malignant masses than in benign masses, and malignant masses negative for estrogen receptor or positive for Ki67 had higher MVD (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: US microflow assessment using SMI and CEUS is valuable in distinguishing malignant from benign solid breast masses, and US vascular parameters are associated with histologic MVD.
Area Under Curve ; Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Estrogens ; Information Systems ; Microvessels ; Perfusion ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of physical therapy (PT) intervention on spasticity in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), and to assess the degree of deterioration of spasticity when regular PT is interrupted in those patients. METHODS: We recruited 35 children with spastic CP who visited our hospital for PT, and whose Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS) scores were serially recorded including before and after a 10-day public holiday time frame period. The outcome measures were the angle of range of motion (ROM) of dorsiflexion of the ankle joint (R1 and R2) in the knee flexion and extension positions as assessed using the MTS. RESULTS: The range of dorsiflexion of the ankle joint (R1 and R2) after the holiday period was significantly decreased as compared with that measured ROM noted before the holiday period, regardless of the knee position, age, or gross motor function. The dynamic component of the MTS (R2–R1) showed a slight decrease in the knee flexion position. CONCLUSION: Interruption of regular PT aggravated spasticity and decreased ankle joint ROM in children with spastic CP. Our findings suggest that regular PT in the care continuum for children with CP is crucial for the maintenance of ROM in the spastic ankle joints.
Ankle Joint ; Cerebral Palsy ; Child ; Continuity of Patient Care ; Holidays ; Humans ; Knee ; Muscle Spasticity ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Range of Motion, Articular

PURPOSE: Papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) frequently involve genetic alterations. The objective of this study was to investigate genetic alterations and further explore the relationships between these genetic alterations and clinicopathological characteristics in a high-recurrence risk (node positive, N1) PTC group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumor tissue blocks were obtained from 240 surgically resected patients with histologically confirmed stage III/IV (pT3/4 or N1) PTCs. We screened gene fusions using NanoString’s nCounter technology and mutational analysis was performed by direct DNA sequencing. Data describing the clinicopathological characteristics and clinical courses were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: Of the 240 PTC patients, 207 (86.3%) had at least one genetic alteration, including BRAF mutation in 190 patients (79.2%), PIK3CA mutation in 25 patients (10.4%), NTRK1/3 fusion in six patients (2.5%), and RET fusion in 24 patients (10.0%). Concomitant presence of more than two genetic alterations was seen in 36 patients (15%). PTCs harboring BRAF mutation were associated with RET wild-type expression (p=0.001). RET fusion genes have been found to occur with significantly higher frequency in N1b stage patients (p=0.003) or groups of patients aged 45 years or older (p=0.031); however, no significant correlation was found between other genetic alterations. There was no trend toward favorable recurrence-free survival or overall survival among patients lacking genetic alterations. CONCLUSION: In the selected high-recurrence risk PTC group, most patients had more than one genetic alteration. However, these known alterations could not entirely account for clinicopathological features of high-recurrence risk PTC.
Gene Fusion ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*