OBJECTIVE: Self-expanding stents are increasingly used for the treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and safety of a self-expanding nitinol stent (Enterprise) in the treatment of wide-necked intracranial aneurysms. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 39 patients with 40 wide-necked intracranial aneurysms who were enrolled in a single-center registry of patients treated with the Enterprise between June 2009 and December 2011. Thirty patients were asymptomatic, four had cerebrovascular accident sequelae, and five had suffered subarachnoid hemorrhage. One aneurysm had reopened after prior coil embolization, while 39 had not been treated. Clinical charts, procedural data, and angiographic results, including both immediate post-procedural angiograms and follow-up imaging, were reviewed. RESULTS: The mean neck size of the aneurysms was 5.58 mm (range 3-15.1 mm). Embolization was successful in all patients. There were five procedure-related events. There were no fatalities, but one procedure-related morbidity was noted. The immediate angiographic results included eight complete occlusions (20%), six remnant necks (15%), and 26 remnant sacs (65%). At angiographic follow-up (mean: 11.3 months), out of 18 of the aneurysms treated with stent-assisted coiling, there were 13 (72.2%) complete occlusions, four (22.2%) remnant necks, and one recanalization (5.6%). CONCLUSION: Stent-assisted coiling using the Enterprise is effective for the treatment of wide-necked intracranial aneurysms. Further angiographic and clinical follow-up investigation will be needed for evaluation of the long-term outcomes.
Aneurysm* ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm* ; Neck ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents* ; Stroke ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Soluble IL-2R, soluble CD8 and TNF-alpha are elevated in sera of some patients with hematological malignancies, and a marked elevation of these cytokines could be used to assess disease activity and prognosis in this malignancy group. METHODS: The serum levels of sIL-2R, sCD8 and TNF-alpha were assessed in 28 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 32 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and 39 cases of healthy control subjects to define clinical usefulness as prognostic markers by sandwich enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: In MDS patients, serum sIL-2R levels were significantly higher as compared with controls, and a more pronounced increase of serum sIL-2R levels was found in patients with RAEB RAEB-t and CMML as compared with RA and RARS. Serum sCD8 levels were higher as compared with controls, but not related with FAB classification. In patients with leukemic conversion. sCD8 levels tended to be higher as compared with patients with non-conversion. The sIL-2R levels of AML patients were significantly higher than controls, and a significant correlation was detected between the levels of sIL-2R and WBC counts. Higher sIL-2R levels( >2000 U/ml) tended to affect both complete remission rate and survival. Serum sCD8 levels were higher than controls, but not related to FAB classification. No differences of serum TNF-alpha levels were detected as compared with healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: From these results, this study indicates that serum sIL-2R and sCD8 are significantly increased in some patients with MDS and AML, and increased levels of serum sIL-2R and sCD8 may be useful for predicting prognosis of these patients.
Anemia, Refractory, with Excess of Blasts ; Classification ; Cytokines ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes* ; Prognosis ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

A finite element analysis has been utilized to analyze stress and strain fields and design a new configuration in orthopedics and implant dentistry. Load transfer and stress analysis at implant bone interface are important factors from treatment planning to long term success. Bone configuration and quality are different according to anatomy of expecting implantation site. The purpose of this study was to compare the stress distribution in maxilla and mandible according to implant length and bone engagement types. A three dimensional axi-symmetric implant model(Nobel Biocare, Gothenburg, Sweden) with surrounding cortical and cancellous bone were designed to analyzed the effects of bone engagement and implant length on stress distribution ANSYS 5.5 finite element program was utilized as an interpreting tool. Three cases of unicortical anchorage model with 7, 10, 13mm length and four cases of bicortical anchorage model with 5, 7, 10 and 13mm lenght were compared both maxillary and mandibular single implant situatiion. Within the limits of study, following conclusions were drawn. 1. There is difference in stress distribution according to cortical and cancellous bone thickness and shape. 2. Maximum stress was shown at the top of cortical bone area regardless of bone engagement types. 3. Bicortical engagement showed less stress accumulation when compared to unicortical case overall. 4. Longer the implant fixture length, less the stress on cortical bone area, however there is no difference in mandibular bicortical engagement case.
Dentistry ; Finite Element Analysis* ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Orthopedics

No abstract available.
Cutaneous Fistula ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous* ; Humans ; Sarcoma, Kaposi*

Individuals with Asia type DEL blood group, the RhD-variant that classified as serologically RhD-negative, do not produce anti-D even when exposed to the D-antigen. Therefore, it is considered safe to transfuse RhD-positive blood products to them. However, such transfusions are still rare in medical institutions, with only two cases reported in Korea. Here, we present cases of two additional patients based on our experience. A 60-year-old female patient undergoing extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for myocarditis presented with severe anemia.The patient was serologic RhD-negative. Due to the lack of RhD-negative RBC inventory for emergency transfusion, RhD-positive blood was transfused. After confirming the patient’s RHD genotype as Asia type DEL, the planned RhD-positive blood transfusion was continued. A total of 13 units of RhD-positive RBCs and 26 units of single donor platelets (SDPs) were transfused over 25 days. Throughout this period, all unexpected antibody tests were negative. The second patient, a 50-year-old male diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), was serologic RhD-negative, and the RHD genotyping confirmed Asia type DEL. During the hospitalization period, a total of 113 units of RhD-positive SDPs and 10 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) were transfused over 64 days, and all unexpected antibody tests were negative. These two cases suggest the transfusion of RhD-positive blood products to patients with Asia type DEL is safe.

BACKGROUND: The current study aimed at elucidating the anatomical basis for a supraclavicular approach for central venous catheterization using three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT). METHODS: Retrospective review of CT images from 60 adult patients with normal body build was performed using 3D-CT reconstruction. Right-sided approach was assumed, and the skin entry point was decided as a point above the subclavian vein at the supraclavicular fossa. Measured parameters were; angles of the clavicle (Aclv) and the subclavian vein (Ascv) to the coronal plane, the distance from the clavisternomastoid angle to the skin entry point (Dse), the optimal angle of needle insertion (Ains) targeting the confluence between the internal jugular vein and the subclavian vein, the distance from the skin entry point to the confluence (Dconf), and the diameter of the confluence (Dia). Descriptive statistics were performed for the measured values. Correlation test was performed between Ascv and Aclv. RESULTS: Measured values were; Aclv = 8.0 degrees, Ascv = 5.7 degrees, Dse = 12.5 mm, Ains = 40 degrees, Dconf = 20.5 mm, and Dia = 18.1 mm. Ascv demonstrated positive correlation with corresponding Aclv (r = 0.494, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Optimal guideline for the supraclavicular approach can be provided via 3D-CT investigation. Forty degrees of needle direction to the sagittal plane and parallel to the posterior surface of the clavicle, at 1.3 cm posterior to the clavisternomastoid angle insures proper puncture of the confluence without anticipated complications.
Adult ; Catheterization ; Catheterization, Central Venous* ; Central Venous Catheters* ; Clavicle ; Humans ; Jugular Veins ; Needles ; Punctures ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Somatotypes ; Subclavian Vein

OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is a chronic disease of continuously increasing prevalence. It is a disease with risks of serious complications, thus warranting its long-term management. However, current health management and education programs for diabetes mainly consist of one-way communication, and systematic social support backup to solve diabetics' emotional problems is insufficient. METHODS: According to individual behavioral changes based on the Transtheoretical Model, we designed a non-drug intervention, including exercise, and applied it to a mobile based application. For effective data sharing between patients and physicians, we adopted an SNS function for our application in order to offer a social support environment. RESULTS: To induce continual and comprehensive care for diabetes, rigorous self-management is essential during the diabetic's life; this is possible through a collaborative patient-physician healthcare model. We designed and developed an SNS-based diabetes self-management mobile application that supports the use of social groups, which are present in three social GYM types. With simple testing of patients in their 20s and 30s, we were able to validate the usefulness of our application. CONCLUSIONS: Mobile gadget-based chronic disease symptom management and intervention has the merit that health management can be conducted anywhere and anytime in order to cope with increases in the demand for health and medical services that are occurring due to the aging of the population and to cope with the surge of national medical service costs. This patient-driven and SNS-based intervention program is expected to contribute to promoting the health management habits of diabetics, who need to constantly receive health guidance.
Aging ; Chronic Disease ; Clinical Trial ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Education ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Mobile Applications ; Prevalence ; Self Care* ; Telemedicine

Speech recognition as an input tool for electronic medical record enables efficient data entry at the point of care. We evaluated the speech recognition accuracy of IBM ViaVoiceTM for doctor-patient dialogues and for pronounced medical vocabularies. The recognition accuracy for doctor-patient dialogues was 95.4%, while that for pronounced medical vocabularies was 55.1%. In order to put speech-based electronic medical record to practical use, mis-recognized vocabulary must be significantly corrected. This paper describes a correction system for mis-recognized medical vocabulary for speech recognition-enabled electronic medical record. The correction system is composed of an extraction and a correction steps. In the extraction step, hamming distance between a parsed substring and the nearest medical vocabulary in the vocabulary database greater than 50% of the length of the substring was used to determine if the substring is a possible mis-recognized medical vocabulary. In the correction step, possible mis-recognized medical vocabularies are scored such that when both the code and location of a syllable is the same with those of a medical vocabulary found in our database, +5 is given and when the code is the same but the location is not, +1 is given. The medical vocabulary with the highest score in the database is used as the correction for the mis-recognized one. When 33 patient-doctor dialogues with 33 medical vocabularies were tested for three times by six testees (i.e., 33 x 6 x 3 = 594 sentences), 94% of the mis-recognized words were correctly detected and repaired. Poor recognition performance for hard medical vocabularies can be markedly improved by the mis-recognized medical vocabulary correction system.
Electronic Health Records* ; Vocabulary*

Thoracic epidural analgesia is the most effective method of managing post-thoracotomy pain. However, the catheter may be misplaced into the intrapleural, intercostal, subarachnoid, or intravascular space. Intravascular misplacement of a catheter can be detected by aspiration of blood or administration of a test dose of local anesthetic; however, these methods may result in a false-negative response. Moreover, a catheter placed in the epidural space may migrate into a blood vessel during the intraoperative period. Thus, the location of the catheter tip should always be determined before local anesthetic is administered. We report a case of intraoperative intravascular migration of a thoracic epidural catheter in a 32-year-old male who underwent left thoracotomy.
Analgesia, Epidural ; Blood Vessels ; Catheters ; Epidural Space ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Intraoperative Complications ; Intraoperative Period ; Male ; Punctures ; Thoracotomy

The scientific societies have provided with important resources of scientific research products, archived in journals and proceedings. Use of advanced information technology would benefit the scientific information management processes. Korean Society of Medical Informatics (KOSMI) has developed a web-based and XML-enabled paper submission management system since 2002. This paper describes KOSMI's a web-based paper submission management system which manages the processes of submitting, reviewing and distributing papers online. We demonstrate in the paper management system XML (eXtensible Markup Language) technology which is an emerging standard for information exchange on the World Wide Web. One user's request, the management program generates an electronic document in an XML format, which can be systematically managed via standardized way of modern information processing. We believe that the current effort will facilitate more scientific information exchange in a standard format and enhance the lead of knowledge-based information society.
Automatic Data Processing ; Information Management ; Internet ; Medical Informatics* ; Societies, Scientific