Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an instrument devised for slit-lamp examination of donor corneas suspended in preservation medium. Methods: The study examined two donor corneas received at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital in February 2023 and March 2023. The instrument has three main components: a plastic holder to hold the preservation medium bottle, a cube with a mirror for reflecting the slit beam, and a stand to attach the device to the slit-lamp. Using the instrument, the donor corneas were examined via slit-lamp: microscopy with the endothelium facing upward and downward. Specular microscopy and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) were also performed on the preserved donor corneas. Results: Slit-lamp examination of donor corneas in preservation medium using the instrument showed overall corneal buttoning and optical sections of the donor cornea. Using specular reflection and retroillumination, the endothelial layer was partially visible. However, specular microscopy and anterior segment OCT could not examine the donor cornea in preservation medium using the instrument. Conclusions The devised instrument facilitates slit-lamp examination of donor corneas in preservation medium, enabling a qualitative assessment of donor corneas before corneal transplantation surgery.

Background/Aims: There is a recent increase in the use of stool multiplex PCR assay-based diagnostic tests in patients with acute diarrhea. We used multiplex PCR assays to analyze the distribution of diarrhea-causing bacteria and viruses, as well as the clinical features of patients with acute diarrhea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed stool specimens of inpatients complaining of acute diarrhea from October 2018 to July 2020.The stool specimens had been tested for bacteria and viruses using multiplex PCR assays. Results: A total of 414 stool specimens from 346 patients were tested, and 152 pathogens were detected in 131 stool samples (131/414, 31.6%). Co-infection was detected in 20 patients (20/346, 5.8%). The common pathogens detected as causes of acute diarrhea, including co-infection, were Clostridium perfringens (34.9%), Clostridioides difficile (19.7%), and Campylobacter spp. (18.4%). The average age of patients with multiplex PCR-positive tests was lower than those with multiplex PCR-negative tests (p=0.001). In patients with suspected C. difficile infection (CDI), the RT-PCR for toxin gene assay was performed in 370 stool samples, 35 of which were positive (9.5%). Furthermore, 16 of the 35 samples were positive on the multiplex PCR assay (45.7%). Conclusions The multiplex PCR assay revealed that C. perfringens was the most common diarrhea-causing pathogen. In addition, in patients with suspected CDI, the multiplex PCR assay alone was insufficiently sensitive to detect pathogens and a conventional CDI test was additionally required.

No abstract available.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; HIV ; Humans ; Molluscum Contagiosum*

No abstract available.
Granuloma Annulare* ; Granuloma* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effectiveness of reinforced contact precautions and active surveillance cultures (ASCs) in reducing the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). METHODS: A before- and after-experimental study was performed at the intensive care unit (ICU) in a university-affiliated hospital. Reinforced contact precautions were applied to all patients, and ASCs for MRSA were performed for newly admitted patients at the time of admission and once a week thereafter. The HAIs were investigated in accordance with the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) definitions and compared before and after the interventions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The number of HAIs caused by MRSA decreased from 2.2 to 0.5 per 100 patients discharged (P=0.02) and from 3.6 to 1.0 per 1,000 patient-days (P=0.032). The number of overall HAIs decreased from 7.6 to 4.0 per 100 patients discharged (P=0.011) and from 12.7 to 7.3 per 1,000 patient-days (P=0.034). The invasive device-associated infections caused by MRSA and other pathogens decreased, but the decrease was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Reinforced contact precautions and ASCs were effective in decreasing both MRSA infections and overall HAIs in the ICU. Further, it was assumed that the incidence of device-associated infections would have decreased if the intervention period was extended.
Cross Infection ; Humans ; Incidence ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of screening mammography and ultrasonography for breast examinations and we assessed the clinical usefulness of breast ultrasound for cancer screening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of all the women who visited the health promotion center of seven medical institutions from Mar 2004 to Feb 2005, we compared the sensitivity and specificity between a single use of mammography and mammography with ultrasonography for the patients who underwent both mammography and ultrasonography. Here, the reference criteria were the follow-up and the histopathology, which were performed after one year. RESULTS: A total of 1123 patients underwent both mammography and ultrasonography and they could be followed up for a year. For the 1123 patients who underwent both mammography and ultrasonography, the sensitivity and specificity of a single use of mammography were 14.3% and 86.9%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of mammography with ultrasonography were 85.7% and 85.9%, respectively. These results showed that the sensitivity was significantly increased when mammography was combined with ultrasonography (< 0.05). CONCLUSION: The sensitivity was improved for the cases that underwent both mammography and ultrasonography.
Breast ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Mammography ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity*

BACKGROUND: Incidentally discovered gallbladder polyp in a health check-up has been increasing in numbers due to the extended use of ultrasonography. Past research has reported on the relationship between body mass index and gallbladder (GB) polyp. As there has been a recent rise in the prevalence of obesity, this research attempted to study GB polyp prevalence and the trend according to time elapse in Korea. METHODS: Retrospective cross sectional research was carried out from the data of Korean Association of Health Promotion, between January 2, 2003 to August 3, 2007 in the subjects who received abdominal ultrasonography. The subjectrs excluded were those below 20 years of age, non-Asian and those who have received cholecystectomy. The number of eligible subjects were 137,135, where 69,493 were males and 67,642 were females. RESULTS: Out of 137,135 subjects, the number of subjects with GB polyp were 5,278, where 3,163 were males and 2,115 were females. According to 2005 census, the age adjusted prevalence was 3.7% (3,656 per 100,000). The prevalence for males was 4,403 per 100,000 (4.4%) and for females 2,943 per 100,000 (2.9%). The prevalence has been increasing for the past five years. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of GB polyp in Korea was found to be higher than the pre-existing reports and the prevalence was higher in males than females. The prevalence is on the increase and there is a need to be more attentive to this issue in the future.
Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Censuses ; Cholecystectomy ; Female ; Gallbladder ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Obesity ; Polyps ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Many epidemiological studies have reported that hyperuricemia was related to cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. However, there are few studies on the relationship between serum uric acid concentration and the metabolic syndrome among Korean adults. We performed this study to assess the relationship between serum uric acid level and the factors of the metabolic syndrome among healthy Korean men. METHODS: We consecutively selected 206 male subjects who underwent health screening examination from February 2005 to April 2005 at the Health Promotion Center of Seoul Paik Hospital. Insulin resistance measured by HOMA-IR and the metabolic syndrome factors were assessed by the quartiles of serum uric acid level. RESULTS: Body mass index (P<0.001), systolic blood pressure (P=0.015), diastolic blood pressure (P=0.015), fasting insulin (P=0.038), and triglyceride (P=0.005) level increased and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.008) decreased significantly from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile of seum uric acid level. The proportions of the metabolic syndrome in each quartile were 13.7%, 15.7%, 18.9%, and 36.0%, respectively (P=0.007). However, insulin resistance measured by HOMA-IR was not associated with serum uric acid. When compared with the lowest quartile group, the odds ratio for the metabolic syndrome of the second, the third, and the highest quartile groups were 1.42 (0.39-5.14), 1.14 (0.33-3.92), and 4.00 (1.15-13.89), respectively. CONCLUSION: We found that high uric acid level was significantly related to the factors of the metabolic syndrome and increased the risk of the metabolic syndrome. Further prospective studies with large sample size are necessary to establish whether uric acid level can pose as a risk factor for the development of the metabolic syndrome.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Fasting ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hyperuricemia ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Sample Size ; Seoul ; Triglycerides ; Uric Acid*

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to evaluate the role of the arterial phase (AP) together with the portal venous phase (PP) scans in the diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (FHCS) with using computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients with FHCS and 25 women presenting with non-specifically diagnosed acute abdominal pain and who underwent biphasic CT examinations were evaluated. The AP scan included the upper abdomen, and the PP scan included the whole abdomen. Two radiologists blindly and retrospectively reviewed the PP scans first and then they reviewed the AP plus PP scans. The diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on each image set was compared for each reader by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Az). Weighted kappa (wk) statistics were used to measure the interobserver agreement for the presence of CT signs of the pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) on the PP images and FHCS as the diagnosis based on the increased perihepatic enhancement on both sets of images. RESULTS: The individual diagnostic accuracy of FHCS was higher on the biphasic images (Az = 0.905 and 0.942 for reader 1 and 2, respectively) than on the PP images alone (Az = 0.806 and 0.706, respectively). The interobserver agreement for the presence of PID on the PP images was moderate (wk = 0.530). The interobserver agreement for FHCS as the diagnosis was moderate on only the PP images (wk = 0.413), but it was substantial on the biphasic images (wk = 0.719). CONCLUSION: Inclusion of the AP scan is helpful to depict the increased perihepatic enhancement, and it improves the diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on CT.
Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods ; Syndrome ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease/*radiography ; Middle Aged ; Iopamidol/diagnostic use ; Humans ; Hepatitis/*radiography ; Female ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Contrast Media ; Adult ; Adolescent

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to construct traffic-accident-related injury pyramid based on the New Injury Severity Score (NISS). METHODS: We constructed injury episodes to use the Traffic Accident Insurance database (1997~2001) and calculated the NISS by Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). All episodes were classified into three groups by using the NISS: minor group (1~10), moderate group (11~25), and severe group (25~75). Seventy-five points were assigned to all death episodes. We constructed a traffic-accident-related injury pyramid by using an NISS criterion. We compared frequencies and percentiles of episodes in the NISS-based injury pyramid. RESULTS: The number of episodes was 2,012,135. Of these, 1,331,599 episodes involved males, and the other 680,536 episodes involved females. The number of death episodes was 2,091 in 1997, 1,971 in 1998, 2,430 in 1999, 2,546 in 2000 and 141 in 2002. The mean NISS was 6.89+/-6.31, and the percents for the minor group, the moderate group, and the severe group were 85.58%, 13.39%, and 1.03%, respectively. The percent of males in the severe group was higher than that of females by 2.43 times. The percent of older persons (>46 yrs) in the severe and moderate groups was higher than that of young adults (16-45 yrs) The percents of belt-unattached episodes, pedestrian episodes, and separated-car accident episodes in the severe group were higher than those of bet-attached episodes, passenger or driver episodes, and car-to-car accident episodes. The mean out-patient-department follow-up period and the mean loss rate of labor ability increased from the minor group through the moderate group to the severe group. CONCLUSION: We confirmed the characteristics of the traffic-accident-related injury pyramid.
Abbreviated Injury Scale ; Accidents, Traffic* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score* ; Insurance ; Male ; Young Adult