Purpose: To evaluate risk factors predisposing to intraocular lens (IOL) dislocation after cataract surgery. Methods: The medical and surgical records of patients diagnosed with IOL dislocation between January 2011 and December 2021 after undergoing extracapsular cataract extraction, phacoemulsification, and phacoemulsification with pars plana vitrectomy at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative factors (ocular parameters and demographics) and intra-operative factors (surgery time, surgeon, and intra-operative complications) were compared according to early, late, and bilateral dislocation. Results: In 68 patents and 71 eyes, the average age at the diagnosis of dislocation was 63.3 years, and there were more males (77.5%) than females. Possible major factors predisposing to IOL dislocation were high myopia (9 eyes), retinal detachment (8 eyes), neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet capsulotomy (6 eyes), and normal tension glaucoma (6 eyes). The rate of out-of-the bag dislocation was higher in early dislocation than in late. Early dislocation had a significantly older age, longer surgery time, and higher intraoperative complication rate during cataract surgery than did late dislocation. There was no difference in surgery time for late dislocated eyes compared to non-dislocated eyes. There was no difference in the incidence of dislocation between phacoemulsification and phacoemulsification with pars plana vitrectomy; there were seven eyes with prior vitrectomy only, with late dislocation. Of the seven patients with bilateral IOL dislocation, one had retinitis pigmentosa, two had retinal detachment, and one had high myopia. Bilateral dislocation patients were significantly younger at the time of cataract surgery, compared to unilateral dislocation patients. Conclusions Early dislocation was associated with long surgery time and intraoperative complications, while late dislocation had no significant correlation with surgery-related factors. A history of vitrectomy and combined vitrectomy with cataract surgery seemed to be associated with late dislocation, but this association was not significant.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore insomniac demographic characteristics and the type of consultation provided to hospitalized patients asked to the Department of Psychiatry for insomnia and to compare patient insomnia characteristics by consultation type. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of 4,966 patients who were hospitalized from August 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011 that received consultation in the Department of Psychiatry. Among them, 236 patients were referred for insomnia. We compared the differences in demographic characteristics and types of consultation between the insomnia patient group and other patient group. We also compared the difference between demographic characteristics and type of consultation by dividing total subjects into ‘with reconsultation’ and ‘without reconsultation’ groups. RESULTS: Our results came from the analysis of 9,689 consecutive consultation requests. There were 4,966 patients that participated in the study over 6 years and 6 months. The overall consultation rate was 3.3% of all admissions and insomnia patients comprised 4.8% of those. The ratio of re-consultation for insomnia was 27.5%. There was no significant difference in mean age between the insomnia ‘with reconsultation group’ and the insomnia ‘without reconsultation group’, but the ‘with reconsultation’ group had significantly more male patients and medical patients than the ‘without re-consultation’ group. For insomnia patients, consultation types were in the order of Mending request (51.3%), Paralle request (36.6%), Complementary request (9.0%) and this composition differed from that of total admission patients. CONCLUSION: Hospitalized patients referred for insomnia showed a higher proportion of male patients, lower rates of re-consultation compared with other patients, and most of these were for secondary insomnia. Each doctor should be aware of the possibility of inpatient insomnia, conduct positive assessments and referrals as necessary, and psychiatrists who might be asked for consultation need to prepare an active intervention with initial diagnosis and treatment, as well as recommendations for the timing of reconsultation.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Male ; Psychiatry ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

The prevalence of liver and intestinal fluke infections was determined by surveying inhabitants of Hengxuan, Fusui, and Shanglin villages which were known to be endemic for liver flukes in Guangxi, China in May 2010. A total of 718 people were examined for helminth eggs by the Kato-Katz thick smear technique, ultrasonography, immunoaffinity chromatography, and DNA sequencing. The overall egg positive rate was found to be 59.6% (28.0-70.6%) that included mixed infections with liver and intestinal flukes. Cases showing higher than 20,000 eggs per gram of feces (EPG) were detected between 1.3% and 16.2%. Ultrasonographic findings exhibited overall 28.2% (72 of 255 cases) dilatation rate of the intrahepatic bile duct. Clonorchis sinensis infection was detected serologically in 88.3% (38 of 43 cases) among C. sinensis egg positive subjects by the immunoaffinity chromatography using a specific antigen for C. sinensis. For differential diagnosis of the liver and intestinal flukes, more precise PCR and nucleotide sequencing for copro-DNA were performed for 46 egg positive cases. Mixed infections with C. sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai were detected in 8 of 46 egg positive cases, whereas 29 specimens were positive for Haplorchis taichui. Ultrasonographic findings and immunoaffinity chromatography results showed usefulness, even in a limited way, in figuring out of the liver fluke endemicity.
Animals ; China/epidemiology ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Clonorchiasis/*epidemiology/parasitology/ultrasonography ; Clonorchis sinensis/genetics/immunology/*isolation & purification ; Coinfection ; DNA, Helminth/chemistry/genetics ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Heterophyidae/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Humans ; Intestines/*parasitology ; Liver/*parasitology ; Parasite Egg Count ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Trematode Infections/*epidemiology/parasitology/ultrasonography

Surveys on helminthic fauna of the nutria, Myocastor coypus, have seldom been performed in the Republic of Korea. In the present study, we describe Strongyloides myopotami (Secernentea: Strongyloididae) recovered from the small intestine of feral nutrias. Total 10 adult nutrias were captured in a wetland area in Gimhae-si (City), Gyeongsangnam-do (Province) in April 2013. They were transported to our laboratory, euthanized with ether, and necropsied. About 1,300 nematode specimens were recovered from 10 nutrias, and some of them were morphologically observed by light and scanning electron microscopies. They were 3.7-4.7 (4.0+/-0.36) mm in length, 0.03-0.04 (0.033) mm in width. The worm dimension and other morphological characters, including prominent lips of the vulva, blunted conical tail, straight type of the ovary, and 8-chambered stoma, were all consistent with S. myopotami. This nematode fauna is reported for the first time in Korea.
Animals ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Rodent Diseases/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Rodentia ; Strongyloides/*isolation & purification ; Strongyloidiasis/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary

Parasites are recorded from the red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, from Cheongju, the Republic of Korea. A total of 5 road-killed squirrels were thoroughly examined for internal and external parasites from November 2011 to May 2014. Total 4 parasite species, including 1 tapeworm and 3 ectoparasite species were recovered. They were morphologically identified as Catenotaenia dendritica (Cestoda: Catenotaeniidae), Hirstionyssus sciurinus, Leptotrombidium pallidum, and Ceratophyllus (Monopsyllus) indages. Among them, C. dendritica and H. sciurinus are recorded for the first time in the Korean parasite fauna. In addition, the possibility that the red squirrel could act as a reservoir host for a zoonotic disease like tsutsugamushi disease with L. pallidum as its vector has been raised.
Cestoda ; Chungcheongbuk-do* ; Globus Pallidus ; Korea* ; Parasites ; Republic of Korea ; Sciuridae* ; Scrub Typhus ; Trombiculidae ; Zoonoses

The genus Spirometra belongs to the family Diphyllobothriidae and order Pseudophyllidea, and includes intestinal parasites of cats and dogs. In this study, a plerocercoid labeled as Spirometra mansonoides from the USA was examined for species identification and phylogenetic analysis using 2 complete mitochondrial genes, cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (nad3). The cox1 sequences (1,566 bp) of the plerocercoid specimen (USA) showed 99.2% similarity to the reference sequences of the plerocercoid of Korean Spirometra decipiens (GenBank no. KJ599679), and 99.1% similarity in regard to nad3 (346 bp). Phylogenetic tree topologies generated using 4 analytical methods were identical and showed high confidence levels with bootstrap values of 1.00, 100%, 100%, and 100% for Bayesian inference (BI), maximum-likelihood (ML), neighbor-joining (NJ), and maximum parsimony (MP) methods, respectively. Representatives of Diphyllobothrium and Spirometra species formed a monophyletic group, and the sister-genera status between these species was well supported. Trapezoic proglottids in the posterior 1/5 region of an adult worm obtained from an experimentally infected cat were morphologically examined. The outer uterine loop of the uterus coiling characteristically consisted of 2 complete turns. The results clearly indicated that the examined Spirometra specimen from the USA matched to S. decipiens very well, and indicated possible presence of the life cycle of this species in this region.
Adult ; Animals ; Cats ; Diphyllobothrium ; Dogs ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; Genes, Mitochondrial ; Humans ; Life Cycle Stages ; NADH Dehydrogenase ; Parasites ; Sparganum ; Spirometra* ; Trees ; United States* ; Uterus

We describe 2 echinostome species recovered from an Eastern cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis coromandus, from Cheongju-si (city), Chungcheongbuk-do (province), Korea. Total 72 Pegosomum bubulcum specimens were recovered from the bile duct. They were 7,566×2,938 μm in average size and had 27 collar spines with vitelline extension from anterior 1/3 level of the esophagus to mid-level of the posterior testis as characteristic features. Total 9 specimens of Nephrostomum ramosum were recovered in the small intestines of the bird. They were ribbon-shaped, 11,378×2,124 μm in average size, and morphologically variable in some organs, i.e., the number of collar spines (47-50), the shape of ovary and testes, and the extension of vitelline follicles. These morphological variations observed in a single host indicated that these features are not critical for the classification of Nephrostomum species and thus were reconsidered taxonomically as synonym of N. ramosum. This study is the first report documenting and describing both flukes and their associated genera in Korea.
Animals ; Bile Ducts ; Birds ; Cattle* ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Classification ; Esophagus ; Female ; Intestine, Small ; Korea ; Ovary ; Parasites ; Republic of Korea* ; Spine ; Testis ; Trematoda ; Vitellins

The majority of parasitological studies of terrestrial snakes in Korea have focused on zoonotic parasites. However, in the present study, we describe 3 unrecorded nematode species recovered from 5 species of snakes (n=6) in Korea. The examined snakes, all confiscated from illegal hunters, were donated by the Chungnam Wild Animal Rescue Center and Korean Broadcasting System in July 2014 and February 2015. Light and scanning electron microscopies on the shapes of spicules that are either bent or straight (kalicephalids) and the presence of the intestinal cecum (ophidascarids) figured out 3 nematodes; Kalicephalus brachycephalus Maplestone, 1931, Kalicephalus sinensis Hsü, 1934, and Ophidascaris excavata Hsü and Hoeppli, 1934. These 3 species of nematode faunas are recorded for the first time in Korea.
Animals ; Animals, Wild ; Cecum ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Korea ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Parasites ; Republic of Korea* ; Snakes*

Human sparganosis is a zoonotic disease caused by infection with larval forms (procercoid/plerocercoid) of Spirometra spp. The purpose of this study was to identify Spirometra spp. of infected snakes using a multiplex PCR assay and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the spargana of terrestrial snakes obtained from Korea and China. A total of 283 snakes were obtained that included 4 species of Colubridae comprising Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus (n=150), Dinodon rufozonatum rufozonatum (n=64), Elaphe davidi (n=2), and Elaphe schrenkii (n=7), and 1 species of Viperidae, Agkistrodon saxatilis (n=60). The snakes were collected from the provinces of Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Gyeongbuk in Korea (n=161), and from China (n=122). The overall infection rate with spargana was 83% (235/283). The highest was recorded for D. rufozonatum rufozonatum (100%), followed by A. saxatilis (85%) and R. tigrinus tigrinus (80%), with a negative result for E. davidi (0%) and E. schrenkii (0%). The sequence identities between the spargana from snakes (n=50) and Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (KJ599680) or S. decipiens (KJ599679) control specimens were 90.8% and 99.2%, respectively. Pairwise genetic distances between spargana (n=50) and S. decipiens ranged from 0.0080 to 0.0107, while those between spargana and S. erinaceieuropaei ranged from 0.1070 to 0.1096. In this study, all of the 904 spargana analyzed were identified as S. decipiens either by a multiplex PCR assay (n=854) or mitochondrial cox1 sequence analysis (n=50).
Agkistrodon ; China* ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Colubridae ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Korea* ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis ; Snakes* ; Sparganosis ; Sparganum ; Spirometra* ; Viperidae ; Zoonoses

In July 2014, a nematode species, Schistorophus cirripedesmi Rhizhikov and Khokhlova, 1964, was recovered from a bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica baueri that was stored in a -20˚C freezer in the Chungnam Wild Animal Rescue Center. The bird was collected in 2012 from the coastal region of Pyeongtaek-si (City), Gyeonggi-do (Province) in the Republic of Korea, although the exact date is not clear. At necropsy, 9 nematodes were found in the gizzard of the bird. The parasites had 4 horn-like cephalic cuticular ornamentations. After morphometric comparison and morphological observations, including scanning electron microscopy, the nematodes were identified as S. cirripedesmi. This is the first description of a nematode species in a shorebird in Korea. This is also the first time this genus and species have been found in Korea.
Animals ; Animals, Wild ; Birds ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Gizzard ; Gyeonggi-do ; Korea* ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Parasites ; Republic of Korea