There have been ongoing social discussions on revision of the abortion law since the Constitutional Court ruled it nonconformity to the constitution on April 11, 2019. Thus, Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korean Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Korean College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists organized 'special committee for abortion law' to support social discussion on the revision of the abortion law, and they prepared official opinions of obstetrics for medical issues including doctors' right to refuse abortion. In the future, the committee will continue to adapt to changes of medical environment especially after the revision of the abortion law by collecting its members' feedbacks.

There have been ongoing social discussions on revision of the abortion law since the Constitutional Court ruled it nonconformity to the constitution on April 11, 2019. Thus, Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korean Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Korean College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists organized 'special committee for abortion law' to support social discussion on the revision of the abortion law, and they prepared official opinions of obstetrics for medical issues including doctors' right to refuse abortion. In the future, the committee will continue to adapt to changes of medical environment especially after the revision of the abortion law by collecting its members' feedbacks.

We investigated relationships between outdoor air pollution and pterygium in Korean adults. This study includes 23,276 adults in population-based cross-sectional data using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008–2011. Pterygium was assessed using slit lamp biomicroscopy. Air pollution data (humidity, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm [PM₁₀], ozone [O₃], nitrogen dioxide [NO₂], and sulfur dioxide levels [SO₂]) for 2 years preceding the ocular examinations were acquired. Associations of multiple air pollutants with pterygium or pterygium recurrence after surgery were examined using multivariate logistic models, after adjusting for several covariates. Distributed lag models were additionally used for estimating cumulative effects of air pollution on pterygium. None of air pollution factors was significantly associated with pterygium or pterygium recurrence (each P > 0.05). Distributed lag models also showed that air pollution factors were not associated with pterygium or pterygium recurrence in 0-to-2 year lags (each P > 0.05). However, primary pterygium showed a weak association with PM₁₀ after adjusting for covariates (odds ratio [OR] 1.23; [per 5 μg/m³ PM₁₀ increase]; P = 0.023). Aging, male sex, and greater sun exposure were associated with pterygium, while higher education level and myopia were negatively associated with pterygium (each P ≤ 0.001). Male sex and myopia were negatively associated with pterygium recurrence (each P < 0.05). In conclusion, exposure to higher PM10 levels was associated with primary pterygium, although this study observed no significant association between air pollution and overall pterygium or pterygium recurrence in Korean adults.
Adult ; Aging ; Air Pollutants ; Air Pollution* ; Education ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Myopia ; Nitrogen Dioxide ; Nutrition Surveys ; Ozone ; Particulate Matter ; Pterygium* ; Recurrence ; Slit Lamp ; Solar System ; Sulfur Dioxide

No abstract available.
Pain, Postoperative*

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy is a very effective and essential examination to diagnose colorectal cancer; however, many patients experience discomfort due to post-examination abdominal pain, which reduces colonoscopy compliance. This study was conducted to determine methods for reducing post-colonoscopic abdominal pain. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled study of 405 male and female adults who visited Hana General Hospital in Cheongju. We surveyed general characteristics, history of colonoscopy, and other related factors, then categorized examinees into 5 groups (0-5) according to the site of scope reinsertion. Pain was measured using a numeric rating scale (NRS). RESULTS: The mean age of examinees in this study was 47.8 years, and 210 participants had prior experience of colonoscopy. No significant difference was observed between variables, with the exception of reinsertion duration (P=0.005). Pain scores were different between performing physicians (P=0.006), and were higher when the subjective level of procedure difficulty was low (P=0.026) in univariate analysis. Pain scores decreased as the reinsertion site became closer to the proximal colon (P<0.001), but there was no significant difference between groups 3 and 4. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis, including univariate analysis, showed that group 1 had 0.48 times, group 2 had 0.38 times, group 3 had 0.09 times, and group 4 had 0.03 times odds ratio (moderate-to-severe pain, NRS ≥4) than control group 0. CONCLUSION: Air decompression by scope reinsertion is an effective way to reduce abdominal pain after colonoscopy. Removing air when the reinserted scope approaches the hepatic flexure seems to be the most effective method to reduce post-colonoscopic pain.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Colon ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Compliance ; Decompression* ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Methods ; Odds Ratio

This study was performed to measure early changes in the serotype distribution of pneumococci isolated from children with invasive disease during the 3-year period following the introduction of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in Korea. From January 2011 to December 2013 at 25 hospitals located throughout Korea, pneumococci were isolated among children who had invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Serotypes were determined using the Quellung reaction, and the change in serotype distribution was analyzed. Seventy-five cases of IPD were included. Eighty percent of patients were aged 3-59 months, and 32% had a comorbidity that increased the risk of pneumococcal infection. The most common serotypes were 19A (32.0%), 10A (8.0%), and 15C (6.7%). The PCV7 serotypes (4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, 23F, and 6A) accounted for 14.7% of the total isolates and the PCV13 minus PCV7 types (1, 3, 5, 7F and 19A) accounted for 32.0% of the total isolates. Serotype 19A was the only serotype in the PCV13 minus PCV7 group. The proportion of serotype 19A showed decreasing tendency from 37.5% in 2011 to 22.2% in 2013 (P = 0.309), while the proportion of non-PCV13 types showed increasing tendency from 45.8% in 2011 to 72.2% in 2013 (P = 0.108). Shortly after the introduction of extended-valent PCVs in Korea, serotype 19A continued to be the most common serotype causing IPD in children. Subsequently, the proportion of 19A decreased, and non-vaccine serotypes emerged as an important cause of IPD. The impact of extended-valent vaccines must be continuously monitored.
Adolescent ; Bacteremia/complications/diagnosis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumococcal Infections/microbiology/*prevention & control ; Pneumococcal Vaccines/*immunology ; Republic of Korea ; Serotyping ; Streptococcus pneumoniae/*classification/isolation & purification ; Vaccines, Conjugate/*immunology

BACKGROUND: We investigated the species distribution and amphotericin B (AMB) susceptibility of Korean clinical Aspergillus isolates by using two Etests and the CLSI broth microdilution method. METHODS: A total of 136 Aspergillus isolates obtained from 11 university hospitals were identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and beta-tubulin genomic regions. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of AMB were determined in Etests using Mueller-Hinton agar (Etest-MH) and RPMI agar (Etest-RPG), and categorical agreement with the CLSI method was assessed by using epidemiological cutoff values. RESULTS: ITS sequencing identified the following six Aspergillus species complexes: Aspergillus fumigatus (42.6% of the isolates), A. niger (23.5%), A. flavus (17.6%), A. terreus (11.0%), A. versicolor (4.4%), and A. ustus (0.7%). Cryptic species identifiable by beta-tubulin sequencing accounted for 25.7% (35/136) of the isolates. Of all 136 isolates, 36 (26.5%) had AMB MICs of > or =2 microg/mL by the CLSI method. The categorical agreement of Etest-RPG with the CLSI method was 98% for the A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. versicolor complexes, 87% for the A. terreus complex, and 37.5% for the A. flavus complex. That of Etest-MH was < or =75% for the A. niger, A. flavus, A. terreus, and A. versicolor complexes but was higher for the A. fumigatus complex (98.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Aspergillus species other than A. fumigatus constitute about 60% of clinical Aspergillus isolates, and reduced AMB susceptibility is common among clinical isolates of Aspergillus in Korea. Molecular identification and AMB susceptibility testing by Etest-RPG may be useful for characterizing Aspergillus isolates of clinical relevance.
Amphotericin B/*pharmacology ; Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology ; Aspergillus/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; DNA, Fungal/chemistry/genetics/metabolism ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Mycoses/diagnosis/microbiology ; Republic of Korea ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Tubulin/genetics

PURPOSE: To examine the changes in meibomian glands associated with aging in a normal Korean population and to estimate the differences between the upper and lower eyelid in each age group. METHODS: We performed meibography on adult subjects using an infrared charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. Each eyelid was scored based on the loss of meibomian glands, and the meiboscores of the upper and lower eyelids were summed to obtain a score for each eye. Meiboscores were evaluated according to age, sex, and upper and lower eyelid meiboscores in each age group. RESULTS: One hundred seventeen eyes of 117 people were enrolled in this study. The study subjects had an average age of 50.4 +/- 19.1 years (range, 20-92; male, 56; female, 61). There was a significant positive correlation between age and total meiboscore, upper and lower eyelid meiboscore (r = 0.578, p < 0.001; r = 0.550, p < 0.001; r = 0.524, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the meiboscores of the upper and lower eyelids in any age group, though meiboscores were significantly higher since 40 year-old group than 20 year-old group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on noncontact meibography in normal adult eyes, the authors concluded that prevalence of changes in the meibomian glands was about 60% and changes in meibomian glands increase with age.
Adult ; Aging ; Eyelids ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Meibomian Glands* ; Prevalence

The AdvanSure tuberculosis/non-tuberculous mycobacterium (TB/NTM) PCR (LG Life Science, Korea) and COBAS TaqMan Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) PCR (Roche Diagnostics, USA) are commonly used in clinical microbiology laboratories. We aimed to evaluate these two commercial real-time PCR assays for detection of MTB in a large set of clinical samples over a two-year period. AdvanSure TB/NTM PCR and COBAS TaqMan MTB PCR were performed on 9,119 (75.2%) and 3,010 (24.8%) of 12,129 (9,728 respiratory and 2,401 non-respiratory) MTB specimens, with 361 (4.0%) and 102 (3.4%) acid-fast bacilli (AFB)-positive results, respectively. In MTB culture, 788 (6.5%) MTB and 514 (4.2%) NTM were identified. The total sensitivity and specificity of the AdvanSure assay were 67.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 63.9-71.6) and 98.3% (95% CI, 98.0-98.6), while those of the COBAS TaqMan assay were 67.2% (95% CI, 60.0-73.8) and 98.4% (95% CI, 97.9-98.9), respectively. The sensitivities and specificities of the AdvanSure and COBAS TaqMan assays for AFB-positive and AFB-negative samples were comparable. Furthermore, the AdvanSure assay showed fewer invalid results compared with the COBAS TaqMan assay (5.0 vs. 20.4 invalid results/1,000 tests, P<0.001). AdvanSure assay represents a comparable yet more reliable method than COBAS TaqMan for the identification of mycobacteria in routine clinical microbiology.
DNA, Bacterial/genetics/metabolism ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Republic of Korea ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosis

PURPOSE: To report the clinical results after the implantation of intrastromal corneal ring segments (Intacs(R)) for the correction of keratoconus or keratectasia. METHODS: This retrospective study was comprised of 16 eyes treated by insertion of intrastromal corneal ring and 30 eyes treated by penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) who were diagnosed with keratoconus or keratectasia. Visual acuity, refractive outcome, keratometric values were evaluated before and at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months postoperatively. In addition, the implanted ring segment depth was measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography and the results were compared based on the depth of the ring. RESULTS: Twelve months after treatment, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was log MAR 0.32 at the ring group and log MAR 0.20 at the PKP group. BCVA change was larger at the PKP group than the ring group. Postoperative keratometric value was smaller at the ring group than at the PKP group. 3 mm irregular astigmatism was larger at the ring group than at the PKP group. The shallowly implanted ring group had a larger effect than the deeply implanted ring group. CONCLUSIONS: Intrastromal corneal ring segment implantation appears to be effective in improving the visual acuity and refractive outcome, although it cannot substitute for PKP.
Astigmatism ; Keratoconus* ; Keratoplasty, Penetrating ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Visual Acuity