Opioids are effective analgesics, but they are often difficult to use properly, due mainly to adverse events, such as constipation, respiratory depression, addiction, tolerance, and opioid induced hyperalgesia. In the past, the problem of opioids around the world was usually caused by drugs traded illegally, so there was no need for medical and social attention in Korea. On the other hand, with the dramatic increase in the therapeutic use of opioids, which commenced more than a decade ago, problems caused by legally prescribed drugs have emerged, and now a more serious opioid crisis is being experienced than in the days of illegal drugs. A growing number of patients are chronically prescribed opioids, and a growing number of health care providers and hospitals suffer from problems related to chronic prescription. Currently, in Korea, it is the time to pay serious attention to achieve the safe and effective use of prescribed opioids. This paper consists of the following parts. 1) A summary of the issues related to chronic pain, opioids, and problems associated with the use of opioids. 2) Some case examples the authors' experienced. 3) Simple guidelines on the use of opioids in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain are proposed based on the author's experience and existing literature. These guidelines are by no means comprehensive, and hopefully in the future, related experts will join forces to develop better guidelines.
Analgesics ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Chronic Pain ; Constipation ; Hand ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Hyperalgesia ; Korea ; Prescriptions ; Respiratory Insufficiency

No abstract available.
Lymphangioma* ; Mediastinal Cyst*

Richer's syndrome is a development of a high grade malignant lymphoma in a patient with preexisting chronic 1ymphocytic leukemia, small lymphocytic lymphoma or Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. A rare case of Richer's syndrome arising in the spleen of a 35-year-old-man was studied by morphology, immunohistochemistry and gene rearrangement study. He has had weight loss and night sweat for last 6 months. Hepatosplenomegaly and abdominal lymphadenopathy were noted on CT scanning. Especially an ovoid radiolucent mass was found within the image of splenomegaly. Lymph nodes and liver biopsy, bone marrow aspiration and splenectomy were done. In the lymph nodes, liver and bone marrow, well differentiated small lymphocytic infiltrations were found but, in the spleen, pleomorphic, large cells with occasional multinucleated giant cells formed a nodular mass surrounded by diffuse, extensive infiltration of small well differentiated lymphocytes. The two distinctive areas in the spleen had positive staining for B-cell marker (HLA-DR and L26), negative staining for T-cell marker (UCLH1), and positive staining for IgM heavy chain and kappa light chain by immuohistochemical study. so this case was diagnosed as a diffuse large cell 1ymphoma transformed from small lymphocytic lymphoma. We made an another effort to clarify their clonality. Gene rearrangement method usingcomplementarity.determining region 3(CDR3) of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene and T-cell receptor gamma (TCRgamma) gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was done. The two lymphomas in the spleen demonstrated the same rearrangement pattern in both IgH and TCRgamma gene. We think these findings strongly suggest that the large cell lymphoma has the same clonality with that of the small lymphocytic lymphoma.
Male ; Humans

The objective is this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the clinical implication of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in Alzheimer's dementia (AD). We collected studies using TMS in patients with AD and reviewed 41 identified articles. Thirty five articles were about measures of cortical reactivity, plasticity, connectivity, and six articles were about the enhancement of cognitive function in AD. Reduced short-latency afferent inhibition and resting motor threshold which reflect cholinergic dysfunction and enhanced cortical excitability respectively are consistent findings of altered cortical reactivity in AD. In addition, cortical plasticity and connectivity have shown impaired results in AD compared with healthy controls. Repetitively delivered TMS can improve several domains of cognitive function impaired in AD. Although the evidence is still preliminary, TMS has a clinical implication as a diagnostic and therapeutic method in AD. Thorough investigation of factors that can affect the results of TMS and further studies to clarify the results are needed.
Dementia* ; Humans ; Plastics ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation*

No abstract available.
Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Rickettsia* ; Ulsan*

Small cortical infarctions can produce isolated motor paresis in the upper extremities. Several cases of isolated hand or finger paresis have been reported, but isolated shoulder weakness is extremely rare. We report here a patient who developed isolated shoulder weakness due to a small cortical infarction in the medial precentral gyrus.
Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Infarction* ; Paresis ; Shoulder* ; Upper Extremity

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the association between the sleep pattern, chronotype (midpoint of sleep on free days) and the depressive symptoms in adults aged 19 years and over in Korea. This study also investigated the mediating effect of perceived usual stress (PUS) and self-rated health (SRH) on the association between chronotype and depressive symptoms. Methods: Among the subjects of the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2016 and 2018, 16142 adults aged 19 or over responded to the survey and finally 8604 were analyzed according to the exclusion conditions. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to see the risk of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation over sleep pattern, chronotype. Finally, mediation analysis was performed in order to clarify how PUS and SRH are associated to chronoytpe and depression. Results: After controlling for potential covariates, weekly sleep duration < 5 hours, ≥ 10 hours was associated with depressive symptoms. And late bed time sleeping after am 1:00 and later midpoints of sleep was associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms. Additionally, the PUS and SRH between chronotype and depressive symptoms showed a serial multiple mediation effect. Conclusions Short or long sleep duration, late bed time and later midpoints of sleep on free days are associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the mechanism between chronotype and depressive symptoms needs to be further clarified by identifying the serial multiple mediation effects of PUS and SRH.

Schwannomas are neurogenic tumors that arise from Schwann cells of the neural sheath. They are most often benign and solitary. Ancient schwannoma is a rare variant of schwannoma with a typical characteristics of a slow growing benign tumor. A case of ancient schwannoma which originated from the lingual nerve has not been reported in the literature yet. The clinical and histological aspects of this tumor are discussed and the literature regarding this rare entity is reviewed.
Lingual Nerve* ; Neurilemmoma* ; Schwann Cells

Digital therapeutics is an evidence-based intervention using high-quality software, with the sole purpose of treatment. As many healthcare systems are encountering high demands of quality outcomes, the need for digital therapeutics is gradually increasing in the clinical field. We conducted review of the implications of digital therapeutics in the treatment of neurological deficits for stroke patients. The implications of digital therapeutics have been discussed in four domains: cognition, speech and aphasia, motor, and vision. It was evident that different forms of digital therapeutics such as online platforms, virtual reality trainings, and iPad applications have been investigated in many trials to test its feasibility in clinical use. Although digital therapeutics may deliver high-quality solutions to healthcare services, the medicalization of digital therapeutics is accompanied with many limitations. Clinically validated digital therapeutics should be developed to prove its efficacy in stroke rehabilitation.
Aphasia ; Aphasia, Broca ; Cognition ; Delivery of Health Care ; Hemianopsia ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Medicalization ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Rehabilitation ; Stroke