BACKGROUND: The efficacy of palonosetron in preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), as well as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, has already been demonstrated in multiple clinical studies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether continuous infusion of palonosetron following single injection could reduce PONV to a greater extent than single injection only of palonosetron. METHODS: In total, 132 women were enrolled in the study. All subjects were over the age of 20 years and were scheduled to undergo gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups. In both groups, patients received 0.075 mg of palonosetron intravenously, immediately before induction of anesthesia. In the continuous palonosetron infusion group, 0.075 mg (1.5 ml) of palonosetron was added to the patient-controlled analgesia device. In the single-injection palonosetron group, 1.5 ml of normal saline was added. RESULTS: The incidence of PONV 24 hours postoperatively was significantly lower in the continuous palonosetron infusion group than the single-injection palonosetron group (31.8 vs. 56.1%, P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Continuous palonosetron infusion, following single injection, reduces the incidence of PONV compared with single injection only.
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled* ; Anesthesia ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Nausea ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting* ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to review the clinical manifestations and EEG findings of children with centro-temporal spikes. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of 38 patients showed epileptiform discharges on centro-temporal area and followed over 6 months at the Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Ghil hospital from February 1996 to July 1999. According to the EEG findings, they were classified into 2 groups : One was the group with epileptiform discharges on centro-temporal area only and the second was the group with other abnormal EEG findings besides centro-temporal epileptiform discharges. RESULTS: 1) The chief complaints included nocturnal convulsions in 30, diurnal convulsions in 4, headache in 2, febrile convulsion in 1 and self-mutilation in 1 patient. 2) According to seizure types, 3 patients had simple partial seizure, 17 had complex partial seizure and 14 had generalized seizure. 3) According to EEG findings, 20 showed centro-temporal spikes only, 18 revealed centro-temporal spikes and other abnormality. 4) The clinical seizure attacks prior to medication were observed in 34 patients, with 1 to 3 seizure attacks in 23, 4 to 10 attacks in 8 and over 10 attacks in 3 cases. 5) After medication 19 patients had no seizure attack and 11 had 1 to 3 attacks. Three patients had more than 10 attacks, but 2 of them were not adequately treated. CONCLUSION: It seems that the prognosis of the patients with centro-temporal spikes is good, but more rigorous studies based on more comprehensive data will be needed.
Child* ; Electroencephalography* ; Headache ; Humans ; Neurology ; Prognosis ; Seizures ; Seizures, Febrile

Purpose: To compare the visual and anatomical outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab combined with the dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex®) and bevacizumab monotherapy in eyes with treatment-naive diabetic macular edema. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 41 eyes of 41 patients with diabetic macular edema who underwent either intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg) (21 eyes, intravitreal bevacizumab [IVB] group) injection alone or simultaneous injection of bevacizumab (1.25 mg) and dexamethasone implant (0.7 mg) (20 eyes, intravitreal dexamethasone [IVD] group). Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), intraocular pressure, and retreatment percentages were accessed 1, 3, and 6 months after injection. Results: At 3 and 6 months, the IVD group showed a significant improvement in BCVA compared to the baseline. Only a slight improvement in BCVA was observed in the IVB group during the initial 3 months; however, significant improvement was evident at 6 months compared with the baseline. During the first 3 months, the IVD group showed significant improvement in CMT compared with the IVB group; at 1 month after the initial injection, the CMT was 264.39 ± 54.95 μm for the IVD group versus 349.00 ± 112.18 μm for the IVB group (p = 0.011). At 3 months, the CMT in the IVD group had improved significantly compared with that of the IVB group (p < 0.001). The average number of additional intravitreal injections during the 6-month follow-up was 0.45 and 1.15 for the IVD and IVB groups, respectively. In the IVD group, cortical (7%) and posterior subcapsular (15%) cataracts developed by two grades or more during follow-up in phakic eyes. Conclusions In patients with diabetic macular edema, simultaneous therapy combining a dexamethasone implant plus bevacizumab showed significant improvement in CMT during the initial 3 months and the combined treatment group had fewer additional intravitreal injections.

Purpose: To compare the visual and anatomical outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab combined with the dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex®) and bevacizumab monotherapy in eyes with treatment-naive diabetic macular edema. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 41 eyes of 41 patients with diabetic macular edema who underwent either intravitreal bevacizumab (1.25 mg) (21 eyes, intravitreal bevacizumab [IVB] group) injection alone or simultaneous injection of bevacizumab (1.25 mg) and dexamethasone implant (0.7 mg) (20 eyes, intravitreal dexamethasone [IVD] group). Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), intraocular pressure, and retreatment percentages were accessed 1, 3, and 6 months after injection. Results: At 3 and 6 months, the IVD group showed a significant improvement in BCVA compared to the baseline. Only a slight improvement in BCVA was observed in the IVB group during the initial 3 months; however, significant improvement was evident at 6 months compared with the baseline. During the first 3 months, the IVD group showed significant improvement in CMT compared with the IVB group; at 1 month after the initial injection, the CMT was 264.39 ± 54.95 μm for the IVD group versus 349.00 ± 112.18 μm for the IVB group (p = 0.011). At 3 months, the CMT in the IVD group had improved significantly compared with that of the IVB group (p < 0.001). The average number of additional intravitreal injections during the 6-month follow-up was 0.45 and 1.15 for the IVD and IVB groups, respectively. In the IVD group, cortical (7%) and posterior subcapsular (15%) cataracts developed by two grades or more during follow-up in phakic eyes. Conclusions In patients with diabetic macular edema, simultaneous therapy combining a dexamethasone implant plus bevacizumab showed significant improvement in CMT during the initial 3 months and the combined treatment group had fewer additional intravitreal injections.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we evaluated the expression of FAS-associated factor 1 (FAF1) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in normal ovary and ovarian cancer, and also analyzed the correlation between FAF1 and HSP70 in ovarian cancer. METHODS: The patient group consisted of 29 unrelated Korean women diagnosed as ovarian cancers and control samples were obtained from 7 patients who underwent oophorectomy for benign disease of uterus, and normal ovary was confirmed histologically from biopsy. We examined FAF1 and HSP70 expression by western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining in normal ovary and ovarian cancer. Furthermore, we examined a correlation between FAF1 and HSP70 in ovarian cancer. RESULTS: The expression of FAF1 was lower in ovarian cancer than that in normal ovary (P=0.02), and the expression of HSP70 was increased in ovarian cancer in comparison to that in normal ovary (P=0.03). The expression of FAF1 was decreased in advanced stages (stage III or stage IV) as compared with early stages (stage I or stage II) (P=0.01). The expression of HSP70 was not significantly related with ovarian cancer histology (P=0.10), but the expression of HSP70 was most increased with papillary serous carcinomas and undifferentiated ovarian cancer. The expression of FAF1 was inversely correlated with the expression of HSP70 in ovarian cancer (Spearman correlation coefficience=-0.47). CONCLUSION: We concluded that the expression of FAF1 or HSP70 each seems to have a meaning as a biomarker for early detection of ovarian cancer. The expressions of FAF1 and HSP70 seem to be more valuable in predicting ovarian cancer when used together because of their inverse correlation. This is the first study about the expression of FAF1 in ovarian cancer and the correlation between FAF1 and HSP70 expression in ovarian cancer.
Biopsy ; Blotting, Western ; Female ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins* ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Ovariectomy ; Ovary ; Uterus

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular predictions are related to patients' quality of life and health. Therefore, a risk prediction model for cardiovascular conditions is needed. METHODS: In this paper, we propose a cardiovascular disease prediction model using the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-VI) 2013 dataset to analyze cardiovascular-related health data. First, statistical analysis was performed to find variables related to cardiovascular disease using health data related to cardiovascular disease. Second, a model of cardiovascular risk prediction by learning based on the deep belief network (DBN) was developed. RESULTS: The proposed statistical DBN-based prediction model showed accuracy and an ROC curve of 83.9% and 0.790, respectively. Thus, the proposed statistical DBN performed better than other prediction algorithms. CONCLUSIONS: The DBN proposed in this study appears to be effective in predicting cardiovascular risk and, in particular, is expected to be applicable to the prediction of cardiovascular disease in Koreans.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Dataset ; Korea ; Learning ; Machine Learning ; Nutrition Surveys ; Quality of Life ; ROC Curve

Unusual morphology of aberrant forms of bacteria, presented with grotesque-giant form, 15 m 3 m, with central emptiness and fusiform ends was observed in urine Gram stain from a 26-year-old woman who was admitted with the symptoms of acute urinary tract infection. On wet smear, these bacilli were markedly swollen, yeast-like organisms. In addition to normal shaped bacilli, various shapes of another aberrant bacteria, such as long bacilli, filamentous form, filamentous form with central bulge, and bipolar staining with central emptiness were also observed in the same specimen. The morphologic characteristics of these unusual aberrant bacilli were more distinct on Papanicolaou stain than on Gram stain. In Korea, where antimicrobial agents are overused and disused, the frequency of observing the aberrant bacteria would be much higher than cases reported. Here we report unusual morphology of aberrant forms of Escherichia coli with the emphasis on awaring of the potential appearance of such bacilli in clinical specimen and avoiding confusion with fungi and other naturally filamentous organisms.
Adult ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Bacteria* ; Escherichia coli ; Female ; Fungi ; Humans ; Korea ; Urinary Tract Infections

PURPOSE: To compare 2 surgical techniques, endoscopic transnasal reconstruction and transcaruncular reconstruction in isolated medial orbital wall fractures. METHODS: This study included 79 isolated medial orbital wall fracture patients from January 2011 to December 2012 of Department of Ophthalmology, Inha University Hospital. The authors compared computed tomographic scans, diplopia, extraocular muscle (EOM) movements, and Hertel's exophthalmometer exams pre- and post-surgery. Thirty-five patients received endoscopic transnasal reconstruction and 44 received transcaruncular reconstruction. RESULTS: The 2 surgical methods showed no significant differences in primary gaze diplopia (p = 0.50), restriction of EOM movements (p = 0.48), remaining enophthalmos of more than 2 mm (p = 0.99), and improvement in enophthalmos (p = 0.07) when compared 6 months after surgery. Statistically significant differences were observed in peripheral diplopia (p = 0.04) 6 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The 2 surgical methods present similar effectiveness in postoperative primary gaze diplopia, EOM restriction, and enophthalmos. With respect to postoperative peripheral diplopia, endoscopic transnasal reconstruction method showed advantages. The surgical method should be selected by comparing advantages and disadvantages.
Diplopia ; Enophthalmos ; Humans ; Ophthalmology ; Orbit*

OBJECTIVES: To explore the naturalistic outcome of the schizophrenics, we evaluated key clinical outcome-drop-out rate and readmission rate among the 33 risperidone and 17 conventional antipsychotics(such as haloperidol, chlorpromazine, mesoridazine) treated patients who met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia at psychiatric department of a university hospital. METHOD: Outcome data was extracted from the charts of 50-schizophrenic patients who were more than 2 years after initiation of treatment with risperidone and conventional anti-psychotics. RESULTS: During over the 2-year period, the drop-out rate of the conventional antipsychotics treated schizophrenics was significantly higher than that of risperidone treated patients. But no significant factors(such as age, education level, duration of illness) were found between these two differently treated groups. Among the risperidone treated patients, the percentage of readmission was 18.2% at 12 months and 45.5% at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced drop-out and rehospitalization rate suggest that risperidone was better than conventional antipsychotics among schizophrenic patients in a university hospital. Our data may contribute essential functional outcome information to assist the clinician in long-term, comparative treatment evaluation in 'real' clinical practice.
Antipsychotic Agents* ; Chlorpromazine ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Education ; Haloperidol ; Humans ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)* ; Risperidone* ; Schizophrenia