No abstract available.
Endocrinology* ; Metabolism*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical effect of intravenous glutamine administration on patients admitted to the intensive care unit in general hospitals. METHODS: Patients with more than 7 days in an intensive care unit were evaluated. The experimental group was the patients who received intravenous glutamine administration for more than 3 days. The laboratory results, intensive care unit length of stay, hospital length of stay, 30 days mortality, and hospital mortality were evaluated with a comparative group. RESULTS: The mean number of administration days of intravenous glutamine was 10.12±8.93 days, and the average daily dose was 0.33±0.10 g/kg/day. No adequate improvement in the laboratory results of glutamine-treated group was observed. The intensive care unit length of stay (21.16±15.83 vs. 16.48±11.06, P=0.007), hospital length of stay (35.94±30.75 vs. 27.34±19.09, P=0.010), 30 days mortality (20.0% vs. 10.0%, P=0.034), and hospital mortality (26.3% vs. 13.0%, P=0.001) were higher in the glutamine-treated group. CONCLUSION: The use of intravenous glutamine on intensive care unit patients did not improve the clinical effect. Further large-scale multi-center studies will be needed to assess the proper administration of intravenous glutamine on intensive care unit patients.
Critical Care ; Glutamine ; Hospital Mortality ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Mortality

No abstract available.
Lasers, Gas* ; Skin*

PURPOSE: We conducted this research to make an earlier diagnosis and identify better treatment for Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) by comparing clinical findings with nonspecifically enlarged cervical lymph nodes in children. METHODS: Nineteen patients were diagnosed with KFD by tissue pathology from a fine needle aspiration biopsy and/or excisional biopsy and were compared with the clinical, radiological, and pathological findings of reactive hyperplasia. RESULTS: The average onset age of onset for patients with KFD was 11.8+/-3.61 years, and the male to female ratio was 1:1.1, whereas patients with reactive hyperplasia were 11.8+/-5.96 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.7:1. Patients with KFD suffered more from fever than patients with reactive hyperplasia (68% vs. 13%, P=0.002). Patients with KFD showed perinodal infiltration (P=0.001) and necrosis on computed tomography, whereas patients with reactive hyperplasia did not show any of these findings. Ultrasonographic findings were similar between the two study groups. In contrast, the histopathological examinations of biopsied cervical lymph nodes were enormously helpful for distinguishing the findings of KFD from those of patients with reactive hyperplasia. CONCLUSION: We recommend a histopathological examination to distinguish KFD from reactive hyperplasia in children with significantly enlarged cervical lymph nodes.
Age of Onset ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Child ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Female ; Fever ; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphadenitis ; Male ; Necrosis

PURPOSE: Childhood asthma has a considerable social impact and economic burden, especially in severe asthma. This study aimed to identify the proportion of childhood asthma severity and to evaluate associated factors for greater asthma severity. METHODS: This study was performed on 667 children aged 5–15 years with asthma from the nationwide 19 hospitals in the Korean childhood Asthma Study (KAS). Asthma was classified as mild intermittent, mild persistent, and moderate/severe persistent groups according to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program recommendations. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify the associated factors for greater asthma severity. RESULTS: Mild persistent asthma was most prevalent (39.0%), followed by mild intermittent (37.6%), moderate persistent (22.8%), and severe persistent asthma (0.6%). Onset later than 6 years of age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.69 for mild persistent asthma; aOR, 1.92 for moderate/severe persistent asthma) tended to increase asthma severity. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (aOR, 1.53 for mild persistent asthma; aOR, 1.85 for moderate/severe persistent asthma), and current dog ownership with sensitization to dog dander (aOR, 5.86 for mild persistent asthma; aOR, 6.90 for moderate/severe persistent asthma) showed increasing trends with greater asthma severity. Lower maternal education levels (aOR, 2.32) and no usage of an air purifier in exposure to high levels of outdoor air pollution (aOR, 1.76) were associated with moderate/severe persistent asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Modification of identified environmental factors associated with greater asthma severity might help better control childhood asthma, thereby reducing the disease burden due to childhood asthma.
Air Filters ; Air Pollution ; Animals ; Asthma ; Child ; Dander ; Dogs ; Education ; Environmental Exposure ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Ownership ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Social Change ; Tobacco