Purpose: This study aimed to systematically evaluate literature related to the effects of exercise intervention programs on physical or psychological variables of post-operative breast cancer patients in Korea, and identify the effectiveness of exercise intervention through meta-analysis. Methods: The review question was defined according to PICO-SD (Participants, Intervention, Comparisons, Outcomes, Study Design) to achieve a systematic literature review: “How does exercise intervention affect the physical or psychological outcome in post-operative breast cancer patients compared to the control group?” The subjects were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) studies released in Korea between 2010 and December 2020. Literature searches were conducted using four electronic databases, including Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), National Assembly Library, and DBpia. The search terms were ‘breast neoplasms’ or ‘breast cancer’ with ‘exercise’ or ‘exercise intervention’ or ‘exercise program.’ A total of 13 RCTs were finally selected. Results: The outcome variables were in the upper extremity range of motion (ROM), shoulder disability, pain and edema. The effect size of exercise intervention on ROM was 0.95(95% CI:0.58, 1.33)( p<.001); shoulder disability was -1.16(95% CI:-1.77, -0.55)(p<.001); pain was -1.24(95% CI:-1.58, -0.89) (p<.001); and edema was -0.03(95% CI:-0.39, 0.33)(p=.858). Conclusion This result suggests that oncology nurses may apply exercise intervention to improve ROM, shoulder disability, and to alleviate pain in post-op breast cancer patients.

Purpose: This study aimed to systematically evaluate literature related to the effects of exercise intervention programs on physical or psychological variables of post-operative breast cancer patients in Korea, and identify the effectiveness of exercise intervention through meta-analysis. Methods: The review question was defined according to PICO-SD (Participants, Intervention, Comparisons, Outcomes, Study Design) to achieve a systematic literature review: “How does exercise intervention affect the physical or psychological outcome in post-operative breast cancer patients compared to the control group?” The subjects were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) studies released in Korea between 2010 and December 2020. Literature searches were conducted using four electronic databases, including Korean Studies Information Service System (KISS), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), National Assembly Library, and DBpia. The search terms were ‘breast neoplasms’ or ‘breast cancer’ with ‘exercise’ or ‘exercise intervention’ or ‘exercise program.’ A total of 13 RCTs were finally selected. Results: The outcome variables were in the upper extremity range of motion (ROM), shoulder disability, pain and edema. The effect size of exercise intervention on ROM was 0.95(95% CI:0.58, 1.33)( p<.001); shoulder disability was -1.16(95% CI:-1.77, -0.55)(p<.001); pain was -1.24(95% CI:-1.58, -0.89) (p<.001); and edema was -0.03(95% CI:-0.39, 0.33)(p=.858). Conclusion This result suggests that oncology nurses may apply exercise intervention to improve ROM, shoulder disability, and to alleviate pain in post-op breast cancer patients.

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to decrease the frequency of the postoperative complications and to improve the postoperative clinical outcomes for the elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Summery of Literature REVIEW: Many controversies exist about postoperative complication and its influencing factors in the elderly patients suffering with lumbar spinal stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the hospital records of 213 patients who underwent decompression and posterolateral fusion between February 1, 1998 and December 31, 2003 to treat their degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. This study was performed, to assess and compare the postoperative complications and clinical outcomes of surgical management for the patients over 65 years (Group A) and the patients between 50-64 years (Group B). All the patients had at least a 1-year follow-up evaluation. The factors that could have influenced the complications that resulted within 12 weeks after the operation were evaluated and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Postoperative complications occurred in 62 patients of Group A and in 40 patients of Group B, of which the major complications occurred in 10 patients of Group A and in 1 patient of Group B and minor complications occurred in 52 patients of Group A and in 39 patients of Group B. A statistical relationship between diabetes and major complications was observed in Group A (p=0.005). While any relationship between age and the frequency of complication in each group was not found, Group A had a higher frequency of major complication than did Group B (p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Surgeon should be vigilant about postoperative complications in elderly patients suffering with diabetic mellitus.Elderly patients with diabetic mellitus should be made aware that they are at an increased risk for postoperative complications because of their fragility.
Aged ; Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Postoperative Complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Stenosis*

BACKGROUND: Smoking is closely related to pulmonary diseases, especially pulmonary function. Past studies were defective in that pulmonary function was not included for ex-smokers and the study population being too small. This study attempted to show the change of pulmonary function parameters according to post-smoking years of ex-smokers and pack-years of current smokers. METHODS: We analyzed the results of parameters derived from the forced expiratory spirogram in 3,713 adults who visited Kyungpook National University Hospital Health Screening Center between May 1997 and March 1998. Independent variables used were age, sex, height, weight and smoking status. Dependent variables were pulmonary function parameters. Multiple regression analysis was used. RESULTS: 1.Overall, there was a significant change in pulmonary function parameters among the subjects studied. Significant variables shown were age, sex, height and pack-years. Weight and post-smoking years turned out to be relatively less significant variables. 2. Positive correlation was seen in both FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75% in ex-smokers with longer post-smoking years. 3. There was negative correlation in all the parameters of current smokers with longer pack-years. CONCLUSION: The results of this test show that smoking slowly reduce pulmonary function and even those smokers who quit smoking can not be expected to have normal pulmonary function as healthy nonsmokers. However, ex-smokers can expect some improvement in certain pulmonary function parameters as the post-smoking years become longer.
Adult ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; Mass Screening ; Smoke* ; Smoking*

STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the MRI findings, injury mechanism, clinical findings, and prognosis of a spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA) in adults with a normal spinal canal. SUMMARY OF LITERTURE: Most reports on SCIWORA deal with the pediatric age group. However, there are few reports on the MRI findings, clinical features and outcomes in adult patients with cervical SCIWORA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hospital records of 753 patients, who were treated for cervical spine injury between February 1, 1994 and July 31, 2004, were reviewed. This study included the 10 subjects with no fractures or dislocation on the plain roentgenograms or cord compression caused by degenerative change or disc herniation on MRI corresponding to the location of the cord lesion. All the patients had at least a 2-year follow-up evaluation. The relationships between the MRI findings, neurological findings and outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: The MRI findings revealed 7 cases with cord contusion, 3 cases with cord edema, 3 cases with gliosis and 3 cases with syrinx formation at the follow-up. The injury mechanism was hyperextension and hyperflexion in 7 and 3 cases, respectively. The initial motor function scores of ASIA in the edema and contusion groups was 60.7 and 43.9, respectively. At the last follow-up, the motor function scores of ASIA in the edema and contusion groups were 90 and 70.3, respectively. The Frankel grade improved by 1.3 and 1.1 in the edema and contusion groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with SCIWORA, the MRI findings correlated well with the clinical picture and were of prognostic significance. The cord edema group showed better clinical features than the contusion group, and prognosis was relatively good in both groups. A further careful evaluation, such as MRI, is still needed to determine the appropriate treatment for spinal cord injuries without radiographic abnormalities.
Adult* ; Asia ; Contusions ; Dislocations ; Edema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gliosis ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Spine

The familial environment may also play an important role in the epidemiology of HCV infection through vertical and horizontal transmission by infected household members. However, it is still controversial whether familial clustering of HCV occurs. We experienced a case of familial clustering of hepatitis C virus. A 10-year old girl presented with nausea, vomiting and anorexia for a month was diagnosed as hepatitis C. Her mother, grandmother, a maternal aunt and her daughter had contracted with HCV. Her laboratory findings showed AST/ALT 63/122 IU/L, positive anti-HCV Ab and HCV RNA (3.54 x 10(5) copies/mL). Pathologic findings of the liver biopsy revealed chronic hepatitis with minimal lobular activity, mild porto-periportal activity and mild portal fibrosis. After treatment with interferon-alpha 2b for 6 months, the clinical symptoms and laboratory findings were normalized.
Anorexia ; Biopsy ; Child ; Cluster Analysis* ; Epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; Liver ; Mothers ; Nausea ; Nuclear Family ; RNA ; Vomiting

Platelet activating factor (PAF; 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) is a potent lipid mediator in a variety of physiological events. PAF is also involved in various pathological events including allergy and inflammation. PAF-acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) hydrolyzes PAF to produce inactive lyso-PAF. Thus, overproduction of PAF-AF will be useful for the therapeutic valuation of the enzyme. In this study, we established an overproduction method of bovine PAF-AH in Escherichia coli system. We used bovine mammary gland for cDNA cloning. The cDNA had two mismatches of amino acid sequences (Thr-247 to Met and Ile-431 to Thr) compared with the previously reported PAF-AH cDNA (bovine spleen, NM_174578). The recombinant PAF-AH of 43 kDa in molecular size reacted with human PAF-AH polyclonal antibody and showed a strong PAF-AH enzyme activity in an in vitro assay system. The recombinant PAF-AH produced by this study can be applied for various experiments including in vivo models to test its protective activity against PAF-related diseases.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Blood Platelets* ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; DNA, Complementary ; Escherichia coli ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Inflammation ; Mammary Glands, Human ; Platelet Activating Factor* ; Spleen

Injury to the vertebral artery during anterior cervical discectomy is rare but potentially fatal. We report a case of cerebellar infarction after endovascular embolization for iatrogenic vertebral artery injury at C5-C6 during an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. A 61-year-old man had an intraoperative injury of the right vertebral artery that occurred during anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at C5-C6. Hemorrhage was not controlled successfully by packing with surgical hemostatic agents. While the patient was still intubated, an emergency angiogram was performed. The patient underwent endovascular occlusion of the right V2 segment with coils. After the procedure, his course was uneventful and he did not show any neurologic deficits. Brain computed tomographic scans taken 3 days after the operation revealed a right cerebellar infarction. Anti-coagulation medication was administered, and at 3-month follow-up examination, he had no neurologic sequelae in spite of the cerebellar infarction.
Brain ; Diskectomy ; Emergencies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infarction ; Middle Aged ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Vertebral Artery

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis mediated by VEGF constitutes a new target for anti-cancer therapy which has explored through different ways of intervention aiming at the blocking of the tumoral angiogenesis. In the present study, we developed the assays by which efficacies of anti-VEGF inhibitor candidates are evaluated at the various levels. METHODS & RESULTS: First, we developed two sandwich ELISAs using coated anti-VEGF Ab and soluble Flt-1 receptor fusion protein (sFlt-1/Fc). As low as 200 pg/ml of hVEGF diluted in human sera was detectable by these assays. In addition, we found that VEGF inhibitors (2 microngram/ml of either anti-VEGF Ab or sFlt-1/Fc) completely block 5 ng/ml VEGF in these ELISAs. Subsequently, two bioassays, wound healing and HUVEC tube formation assays, revealed that anti-VEGF Ab (1 microngram/ml) & sFlt-1/Fc Ab (1 microngram/ml), or SU5416 (VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, 1 micronM) prevents the activity of VEGF (1~10 ng/ml). Finally, secretion of MMP-9 by VEGF-stimulated macrophages was abolished by treatment of anti-VEGF Ab (1 microngram/ml) in gelatin zymography. CONCLUSION: ELISAs together with bioassays developed in this study are appropriate for evaluation of the efficacy of inhibitors of VEGF.
Biological Assay ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gelatin ; Humans ; Macrophages ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Wound Healing

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of implant removal of percutaneous short segment fixation after vertebral fracture consolidation in terms of motion preservation. METHODS: Between May 2007 and January 2011, 44 patients underwent percutaneous short segment screw fixation due to a thoracolumbar burst fracture. Sixteen of these patients, who underwent implant removal 12 months after screw fixation, were enrolled in this study. Motor power was intact in all patients, despite significant vertebral height loss and canal compromise. The patients were divided into two groups by degree of osteoporosis : Group A (n=8), the non-osteoporotic group, and Group B (n=8), the osteoporotic group. Imaging and clinical findings including vertebral height loss, kyphotic angle, range of motion (ROM), and complications were analyzed. RESULTS: Significant pain relief was achieved in both groups at final follow-up versus preoperative values. In terms of vertebral height loss, both groups showed significant improvement at 12 months after screw fixation and restored vertebral height was maintained to final follow-up in spite of some correction loss. ROM (measured using Cobb's method) in flexion and extension in Group A was 10.5degrees (19.5/9.0degrees) at last follow-up, and in Group B was 10.2degrees (18.8/8.6degrees) at last follow-up. Both groups showed marked improvement in ROM as compared with the screw fixation state, which was considered motionless. CONCLUSION: Removal of percutaneous implants after vertebral fracture consolidation can be an effective treatment to preserve motion regardless of osteoporosis for thoracolumbar burst fractures.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Methods ; Osteoporosis ; Range of Motion, Articular