This nationwide, prospective cohort study evaluated pulmonary function and radiological sequelae according to infection severity in 73 survivors from the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Korea. Patients with severe pneumonia in MERS-coronavirus infection had more impaired pulmonary function than those with no or mild pneumonia at the 1-year follow-up, which was compatible with the radiological sequelae. Severe pneumonia significantly impairs pulmonary function and makes long radiological sequelae in MERS.
Cohort Studies ; Coronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle East* ; Pneumonia* ; Prospective Studies ; Survivors

Many factors should be considered for successful denture treatment at edentulous patients: support, retention, stability, occlusion, esthetics, etc. The patient who has severely absorbed residual ridges, however, treatments are challenging to satisfy those factors. The dentures that use anatomic artificial teeth show good mastication efficiency and esthetics but, can easily lose stability at absorbed ridges. On the contrary, the dentures that use non-anatomic artificial teeth perform better stability but, lower masticatory efficiency and esthetics at absorbed ridges. The lingualized occlusion, using both anatomic and non-anatomic teeth, introduced for compromise those of the pros and cons. At lingualized occlusion, buccal cusps of the teeth do not contact on centric relation. Therefore, direction of the occlusal force towards lingually, then stability of dentures increases. This case report shows the results of the treatment flat residual ridges using complete dentures with ligualized occlusion to increase dentures stability and satisfactory of the patient.
Bite Force ; Centric Relation ; Denture, Complete* ; Dentures ; Esthetics ; Humans ; Mastication ; Tooth ; Tooth, Artificial

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the result of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in patients with concurrent lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent PTA for intermittent claudication were evaluated retrospectively. Twenty-two patients with severe LSS were included in group A and 23 patients with no or mild LSS in group B. The symptomatic improvement after PTA was comparatively evaluated. RESULTS: Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) scores showed significant improvement after PTA in both groups (p<0.001, <0.001). However, according to VAS, WIQ and modified MacNab scores, results of group A were less satisfactory (p<0.001, <0.001, p=0.03). Only 2 patients underwent additional spine surgery. CONCLUSION: In results of PTA, the PAD associated LSS group showed less improvement than the PAD only group, but most patients showed symptomatic improvement with conservative treatment.
Angioplasty ; Humans ; Intermittent Claudication ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Peripheral Arterial Disease* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Stenosis* ; Spine ; Walking

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether an audible cracking sound during shoulder manipulation following distention arthrography is clinically significant in patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder. METHODS: A total of 48 patients (31 women, 17 men) with primary adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder completed the study. All participants underwent C-arm-guided arthrographic distention of the glenohumeral joint with injections of a corticosteroid and normal saline. After distention, we performed flexion and abduction manipulation of the shoulder. The patients were grouped into sound and non-sound groups based on the presence or absence, respectively, of an audible cracking sound during manipulation. We assessed shoulder pain and disability based on a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and passive range of motion (ROM) measurements (flexion, abduction, internal and external rotation) before the procedure and again at 3 weeks and at 6 weeks after the intervention. RESULTS: The patients were divided into two groups: 21 were included in the sound group and 27 in the non-sound group. In both groups, the results of the NRS, SPADI, and ROM assessments showed statistically significant improvements at both 3 and 6 weeks after the procedure. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups except with respect to external rotation at 6 weeks, at which time the sound group showed a significant improvement in external rotation when compared with the non-sound group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings showed that manipulation following distention arthrography was effective in decreasing pain and increasing shoulder range of motion. In addition, the presence of an audible cracking sound during manipulation, especially on external rotation, was associated with better shoulder range of motion.
Adhesives* ; Arthrography* ; Bursitis* ; Female ; Humans ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Shoulder Joint ; Shoulder Pain ; Shoulder*

OBJECTIVE: To verify the utility of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN) ultrasound-guided conduction technique compared to that of the conventional nerve conduction technique. METHODS: Fifty-eight legs of 29 healthy participants (18 males and 11 females; mean age, 42.7+/-14.9 years) were recruited. The conventional technique was performed bilaterally. The LFCN was localized by ultrasound. Cross-sectional area (CSA) of the LFCN and the distance between the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) and the LFCN was measured. The nerve conduction study was repeated with the corrected cathode location. Sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitudes of the LFCN were recorded and compared between the ultrasound-guided and conventional techniques. RESULTS: Mean body mass index of the participants was 23.7+/-3.5 kg/m2, CSA was 4.2+/-1.9 mm2, and the distance between the ASIS and LFCN was 5.6+/-1.7 mm. The mean amplitude values were 6.07+/-0.52 microV and 6.66+/-0.54 microV using the conventional and ultrasound-guided techniques, respectively. The SNAP amplitude of the LFCN using the ultrasound-guided technique was significantly larger than that recorded using the conventional technique. CONCLUSION: Correcting the stimulation position using the ultrasound-guided technique helped obtain increased SNAP amplitude.
Action Potentials ; Body Mass Index ; Electrodes ; Female ; Humans ; Leg ; Lumbosacral Plexus ; Male ; Neural Conduction* ; Spine ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The detection of white coat hypertension (WCH), treated normalized hypertension, and masked hypertension (MH) is important to improve the effectiveness of hypertension management. However, whether global cardiovascular risk (GCR) profile has any effect on the discordance between ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and clinic blood pressure (CBP) is unknown. METHODS: Data from 1,916 subjects, taken from the Korean Multicenter Registry for ABP monitoring, were grouped according to diagnostic and therapeutic thresholds for CBP and ABP (140/90 and 135/85 mmHg, respectively). GCR was assessed using European Society of Hypertension 2007 guidelines. RESULTS: The mean subject age was 54.1 ± 14.9 years, and 48.9% of patients were female. The discordancy rate between ABP and CBP in the untreated and treated patients was 32.5% and 26.5%, respectively (p = 0.02). The prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension and MH was 14.4% and 16.0%, respectively. Discordance between ABP and CBP was lower in the very high added-risk group compared to the moderate added-risk group (odds ratio [OR], 0.649; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.487 to 0.863; p = 0.003). The prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension was also lower in the very high added-risk group (OR, 0.451; 95% CI, 0.311 to 0.655). CONCLUSIONS: Discordance between ABP and CBP was observed more frequently in untreated subjects than in treated subjects, and less frequently in the very high added-risk group, which was due mainly to the lower prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension.
Adult ; Aged ; *Blood Pressure ; *Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Masked Hypertension/*diagnosis/epidemiology/physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Observer Variation ; Odds Ratio ; *Office Visits ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prevalence ; Registries ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; White Coat Hypertension/*diagnosis/epidemiology/physiopathology

OBJECTIVES: An exact diagnosis and comorbidity analysis are important in psychiatric disorders. The Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) is both useful as a self-reporting test for screening psychiatric disorders and available for clinical settings due to its simplicity and convenience. This study, as a part of standardization of Korean version of Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (K-PDSQ), evaluated optimal cutoff scores. METHODS: The samples were 696 patients in total, who were selected from the psychiatric departments of 3 university hospitals from March 2008 to August 2011. Diagnosing by Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus), we evaluated sensitivity, specificity, cutoff scores, ROC curve, and area under the curve (AUC) of K-PDSQ. SPSS version 12.0 for Windows and MedCalc version 12.0 were used to analyze the results. RESULTS: With a cutoff score of 9 for major depressive disorder in K-PDSQ, both the sensitivity and specificity were 80%. The cutoff scores of PTSD, OCD, panic disorder, agoraphobia, psychosis, alcohol related problem, GAD, hypochondriasis, and social phobia of K-PDSQ were 5, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5, 4, and 5, respectively. In most of the subscales, each AUC was above 0.75. CONCLUSION: By applying the cutoff scores estimated above, we expect K-PDSQ to help provide diagnostic assessments and to grasp comorbidities before a clinical interview in the setting of busy outpatient clinics.
Agoraphobia ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Area Under Curve ; Comorbidity ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Hand Strength ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Mass Screening ; Panic Disorder ; Phobic Disorders ; Psychotic Disorders ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Since laparoscopic liver resection was first introduced in 2001, Korean surgeons have chosen a laparoscopic procedure as one of the treatment options for benign or malignant liver disease. We distributed and analyzed a nationwide questionnaire to members of the Korean Laparoscopic Liver Surgery Study Group (KLLSG) in order to evaluate the current status of laparoscopic liver resection in Korea. Questionnaires were sent to 24 centers of KLLSG. The questionnaire consisted of operative procedure, histological diagnosis of liver lesions, indications for resection, causes of conversion to open surgery, and postoperative outcomes. A laparoscopic liver resection was performed in 416 patients from 2001 to 2008. Of 416 patients, 59.6% had malignant tumors, and 40.4% had benign diseases. A total laparoscopic approach was performed in 88.7%. Anatomical laparoscopic liver resection was more commonly performed than non-anatomical resection (59.9% vs 40.1%). The anatomical laparoscopic liver resection procedures consisted of a left lateral sectionectomy (29.3%), left hemihepatectomy (19.2%), right hemihepatectomy (6%), right posterior sectionectomy (4.3%), central bisectionectomy (0.5%), and caudate lobectomy (0.5%). Laparoscopy-related serious complications occurred in 12 (2.8%) patients. The present study findings provide data in terms of indication, type and method of liver resection, and current status of laparoscopic liver resection in Korea.
*Hepatectomy/statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; *Laparoscopy/statistics & numerical data ; Liver/*surgery ; Liver Diseases/pathology/surgery ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology/surgery ; Postoperative Complications/epidemiology ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea

Protein arginine methylation is important for a variety of cellular processes including transcriptional regulation, mRNA splicing, DNA repair, nuclear/cytoplasmic shuttling and various signal transduction pathways. However, the role of arginine methylation in protein biosynthesis and the extracellular signals that control arginine methylation are not fully understood. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been identified as a potent stimulator of myofibroblast dedifferentiation into fibroblasts. We demonstrated that symmetric arginine dimethylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) is induced by bFGF without the change in the expression level of eEF2 in mouse embryo fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. The eEF2 methylation is preceded by ras-raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2)-p21(Cip/WAF1) activation, and suppressed by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor PD98059 and p21(Cip/WAF1) short interfering RNA (siRNA). We determined that protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) is responsible for the methylation, and that PRMT5 acts as a coordinator. Collectively, we demonstrated that eEF2, a key factor involved in protein translational elongation is symmetrically arginine-methylated in a reversible manner, being regulated by bFGF through MAPK signaling pathway.
Animals ; Arginine ; Cell Dedifferentiation ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/genetics/metabolism ; Elongation Factor 2 Kinase/*metabolism ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2/*metabolism ; Fibroblasts/*metabolism/pathology ; Flavonoids/pharmacology ; MAP Kinase Signaling System/drug effects/genetics ; Methylation ; Mice ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors ; Myofibroblasts/pathology ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Protein Methyltransferases/*metabolism ; Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases/*metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering/genetics

Protein arginine methylation is important for a variety of cellular processes including transcriptional regulation, mRNA splicing, DNA repair, nuclear/cytoplasmic shuttling and various signal transduction pathways. However, the role of arginine methylation in protein biosynthesis and the extracellular signals that control arginine methylation are not fully understood. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been identified as a potent stimulator of myofibroblast dedifferentiation into fibroblasts. We demonstrated that symmetric arginine dimethylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) is induced by bFGF without the change in the expression level of eEF2 in mouse embryo fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. The eEF2 methylation is preceded by ras-raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2)-p21(Cip/WAF1) activation, and suppressed by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor PD98059 and p21(Cip/WAF1) short interfering RNA (siRNA). We determined that protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) is responsible for the methylation, and that PRMT5 acts as a coordinator. Collectively, we demonstrated that eEF2, a key factor involved in protein translational elongation is symmetrically arginine-methylated in a reversible manner, being regulated by bFGF through MAPK signaling pathway.
Animals ; Arginine ; Cell Dedifferentiation ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21/genetics/metabolism ; Elongation Factor 2 Kinase/*metabolism ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2/*metabolism ; Fibroblasts/*metabolism/pathology ; Flavonoids/pharmacology ; MAP Kinase Signaling System/drug effects/genetics ; Methylation ; Mice ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors ; Myofibroblasts/pathology ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Protein Methyltransferases/*metabolism ; Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases/*metabolism ; RNA, Small Interfering/genetics