A young metastatic lung cancer patient developed empyema due to an infection with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Hydropneumothorax was detected and managed by a tube thoracotomy. However, persistent air leakage through the chest tube was observed due to the presence of a bronchopleural fistula (BPF). As hypercapnic respiratory failure had progressed and the large air leak did not diminish by conservative management, a pumpless extracorporeal lung assist (pECLA) device was inserted. The pECLA allowed the patient to be weaned from mechanical ventilation and the BPF to heal. The present case shows the effective application of pECLA in a patient with empyema complicated with BPF and severe hypercapnic respiratory failure. pECLA enabled us to minimize airway pressure to aid in the closure of the BPF in the mechanically ventilated patient.
Acinetobacter baumannii ; Bronchial Fistula ; Carbon Dioxide* ; Carbon* ; Chest Tubes ; Empyema* ; Fistula ; Humans ; Hydropneumothorax ; Hypercapnia ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Thoracotomy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of early menarche on sexual experience among high school girls in South Korea. METHODS: The study sample was comprised of 16,286 high school girls. Using statistics from the 11th (2015) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Among the girls, 5.8% reported early menarche. Early menarche was associated with sexual experience (Odds Ratio (OR), 5.27; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 4.11–6.77). Controlled for sociodemographic, emotional and health behavior characteristics, early menarche was associated with sexual experience (OR, 3.98; 95% CI, 3.04–5.21). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that early menarche predicts an increase in sexual experience among female adolescents. Therefore, health education programs and health policy for interventions to improve sexual health are required for girls who are expected to experience early menarche.
Adolescent ; Female ; Female* ; Health Behavior ; Health Education ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Menarche* ; Reproductive Health ; Risk-Taking ; Sexual Behavior

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify contraceptive practices in adolescent girls in South Korea and predictors of contraceptive practices. METHODS: The study sample included 743 girls who had experienced sexual activity. Using statistics from the 12th (2016) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The contraceptive practice rate for adolescent girls was 34%. Contraceptive practice was associated with ‘age at first intercourse’ and ‘sexual intercourse after drinking’. For adolescent girls who had early sexual initiation and drank alcohol before sexual intercourse there was a tendency to reduce the practice of contraception. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to provide practical sex education to improve the practice of contraception in these adolescents. In addition, adolescent girls should be encourage to delay their first intercourse. The results of this study can also be used to develop education interventions regarding healthy sexuality behaviour including the practice of contraception.
Adolescent* ; Coitus ; Contraception ; Education ; Female* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Problem Behavior ; Risk-Taking ; Sex Education ; Sexual Behavior ; Sexuality

In children and adolescents, inguinal and scrotal diseases are relatively common, and imaging is very useful for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of these diseases. Therefore, it is important to understand the imaging findings of these diseases. In this article, we classify these diseases into small testes, cryptorchidism, patent processus vaginalis, acute scrotum pain, trauma, testicular tumors, and others and describe their characteristic findings.

Background: Although silicone-based products are widely used for hypertrophic scar (HS) treatment, limited research exists on the correlation between patient compliance of silicone products and scar outcomes. This study aims to investigate whether continuous and consistent use of topical silicone gel (TSG) and silicone gel sheet (SGS) improves scar characteristics and whether patient compliance influences scar outcomes. Methods: A total of 79 patients with HS were randomized into either TSG (n=38) or SGS group (n=41) by an independent physician who had not seen the patients. Patient compliance was assessed based on application frequency and duration. Patients were divided into three subgroups according to compliance. Scar characteristics were evaluated using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and patient self-assessment via a visual analogue scale (VAS) for 6 months. Results: VSS pigmentation and scar height worsened in patients who applied silicone products for less than 3 days per week, especially in the TSG group. Patients who applied silicone products for more than 4 days per week showed significant improvements in all factors. Patients reported improvements in VAS scar height, pigmentation, and hardness as application time increased. Pain and itching improved regardless of application time. Conclusion Continuous and consistent use of TSG and SGS improved HS outcomes. Applying silicone products more than 4 days in a week correlated with better scar characteristics, except pain and itching. Applying silicone products less than 3 days in a week is not recommended, as this may worsen scar height and pigmentation.

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between allergic diseases, general anxiety disorder, and depressive symptoms among Korean adolescents. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted on the findings of the 18th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2022). The study included 51,850 adolescents and analyzed the relationships among allergic diseases, general anxiety disorder, and depressive symptoms using complex samples logistic regression analysis. Results: Among the Korean adolescents, 12.7% experienced general anxiety disorder, while 28.7% experienced depressive symptoms. The prevalence of allergic diseases was 5.7% for asthma, 36.3% for allergic rhinitis, and 22.2% for atopic dermatitis. General anxiety disorder was associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis but not atopic dermatitis. Depressive symptoms were associated asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Conclusion Examining the correlation among allergic diseases, general anxiety disorder, and depressive symptoms in adolescents underscores the need for implementing suitable strategies. Moreover, when addressing general anxiety disorder and depressive symptoms in adolescents, it becomes crucial to consider the presence of allergic diseases.

Background: This study aimed to determine the mediating role of loneliness in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone overdependence among Korean adolescents. Methods: This national cross-sectional secondary study used data from the 16th (2020) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The sample comprised 54,948 adolescents in middle and high schools. The mediating effects were analyzed using the procedure of Baron and Kenny and the Sobel test. Results: Anxiety impacted both loneliness and smartphone overdependence (P<0.001). Additionally, loneliness was identified as a factor influencing smartphone overdependence (P<0.001). Loneliness demonstrated a statistically significant mediating effect in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone overdependence (P<0.001). Conclusions It was concluded that smartphone overdependence increases with the heightened maladaptive emotions of adolescents, such as anxiety and loneliness. These findings confirmed the mediating role of loneliness in the relationship between anxiety and smartphone overdependence.

PURPOSE: Behcet's disease (BD) is rarely reported to be associated with malignancies in the literature. However, the frequency of cancer in BD patients remains unknown. This study evaluated cancer morbidity in BD patients compared with that in the general population of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 506 patients visiting our hospital from 1994 to 2011 for BD. We analyzed the standardized morbidity rate (SMR), which is the ratio of observed to expected malignancies. Furthermore, we reviewed cases of solid cancer in BD patients in the literature. RESULTS: Of the 506 patients with BD, 11 (2.17%) developed cancer. We found a variety of solid cancers without predominance and no hematologic malignancies. The total number of cancers observed was less than expected, which was determined from the statistical data of the National Cancer Information Center of Korea, with an SMR of 0.023 (95% confidence interval, 0.012-0.039). CONCLUSION: BD may be associated with a lower cancer-related morbidity compared with the general population of Korea.
Adult ; Behcet Syndrome/*complications/drug therapy/epidemiology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/*epidemiology/etiology/surgery ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the mental health and health risk behaviors of multicultural adolescents according to their mothers' native country. METHODS: For this study raw data from the 11th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey (2015) was examined. Mental health and health risk behaviors for 62,985 adolescents were analyzed according to their mothers' native country. Collected data were analyzed with the SPSS program using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, to which the complex sample design was applied. RESULTS: The odds ratio of depression in multicultural adolescents compared to Korean adolescents was 44.92 (CI: 5.77-349.59) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 3.00 (CI: 1.57-5.76) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of attempted suicide was 14.73 (CI: 3.09-70.22) for adolescents whose mothers came from Cambodia and 8.63 (CI: 3.45-21.62) for adolescents whose mothers came from North Korea. The odds ratio of problematic drinking in multicultural adolescents was 7.47 (CI: 1.71-32.67) for adolescents whose mothers came from Mongolia. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that when planning a health promotion program for adolescents from multicultural families, a customized approach should be sought taking into account the characteristics of mothers' native country.
Adolescent* ; Cambodia ; Cultural Diversity ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Depression ; Drinking ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health* ; Mongolia ; Mothers ; Odds Ratio ; Risk-Taking* ; Suicide, Attempted

The rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is an important pathogen of rice plants. It is well known that genes encoded in the genome have different evolutionary histories that are related to their functions. Phylostratigraphy is a method that correlates the evolutionary origin of genes with evolutionary transitions. Here we applied phylostratigraphy to partition total gene content of M. oryzae into distinct classes (phylostrata), which we designated PS1 to PS7, based on estimation of their emergence time. Genes in individual phylostrata did not show significant biases in their global distribution among seven chromosomes, but at the local level, clustering of genes belonging to the same phylostratum was observed. Our phylostrata-wide analysis of genes revealed that genes in the same phylostratum tend to be similar in many physical and functional characteristics such as gene length and structure, GC contents, codon adaptation index, and level of transcription, which correlates with biological functions in evolutionary context. We also found that a significant proportion of genes in the genome are orphans, for which no orthologs can be detected in the database. Among them, we narrowed down to seven orphan genes having transcriptional and translational evidences, and showed that one of them is implicated in asexual reproduction and virulence, suggesting ongoing evolution in this fungus through lineage-specific genes. Our results provide genomic basis for linking functions of pathogenicity factors and gene emergence time.
Base Composition ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Child ; Child, Orphaned ; Codon ; Fungi* ; Genome ; Humans ; Magnaporthe ; Methods ; Oryza ; Reproduction, Asexual ; Virulence ; Virulence Factors