PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a multi-disciplinary self-management intervention based on empowerment theory and to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention for older adults with chronic illness. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial design was used with 43 Korean older adults with chronic illness (Experimental group=22, Control group=21). The intervention consisted of two phases: (1) 8-week multi-disciplinary, team guided, group-based health education, exercise session, and individual empowerment counseling, (2) 16-week self-help group activities including weekly exercise and group discussion to maintain acquired self-management skills and problem-solving skills. Baseline, 8-week, and 24-week assessments measured health empowerment, exercise self-efficacy, physical activity, and physical function. RESULTS: Health empowerment, physical activity, and physical function in the experimental group increased significantly compared to the control group over time. Exercise self-efficacy significantly increased in experimental group over time but there was no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The self-management program based on empowerment theory improved health empowerment, physical activity, and physical function in older adults. The study finding suggests that a health empowerment strategy may be an effective approach for older adults with multiple chronic illnesses in terms of achieving a sense of control over their chronic illness and actively engaging self-management.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chronic Disease ; Exercise ; Female ; Health Education ; Humans ; Male ; Motor Activity ; *Power (Psychology) ; *Program Evaluation ; Self Care/*methods ; Self Efficacy

A healthy 8 year old boy was referred to our hospital because of cardiomegaly on the chest X ray. No cardiac murmur was detected on chest examination and normal sinus rhythm was checked by electrocardiogram. The 2-D echocardiogram showed a huge dilated right atrium and a normal tricuspid valve and right ventricle. The findings of cardiac angiogram and MRI was compatible with the isolated giant right atrial aneurysm. For the prevention of atrial arrhythmia and thromboembolism, he underwent successful surgical reduction of the right atrium and cryoablation and the follow-up X ray showed no cardiomegaly.
Aneurysm* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiomegaly ; Child ; Cryosurgery ; Electrocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria ; Heart Murmurs ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Thorax ; Thromboembolism ; Tricuspid Valve

The efficacies of six commercial disinfectants were evaluated by using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium under simulated natural conditions such as sub-zero temperature, short disinfecting time, and surface type (uneven or smooth). We used a suspensionmodel test to determine the disinfecting efficacy under varying contact times (1, 5, 10, and 30 min) and temperatures (25℃, 4℃, 0℃, and −10℃). The bactericidal effect according to surface structure was measured by using a carriermodel test at 25℃ and −10℃. The effective concentrations of each disinfectant were fixed to give a disinfecting effect within a short time (< 1 min) at 25℃ and −10℃. The suspension model results revealed that bactericidal efficacy significantly dropped at low temperature for most of the disinfectants used; a sodium dichloroisocyanurate product showed the strongest efficacy. In the carrier test, bacterial load on a wooden surface was more difficult to remove than that on a stainless-steel surface. The results show that commercial disinfectant products vary in their disinfecting efficacy, which is affected by several field factors including temperature, contact time, and carrier material. Environmental conditions and surface type for disinfection should be considered prior to selecting an optimal disinfectant in the field.
Bacterial Load ; Disinfectants* ; Disinfection ; Salmonella enterica* ; Salmonella* ; Serogroup* ; Sodium

Menopause is a normal phenomenon in a woman’s life cycle involving multiple health-related issues that contribute to physical instability. Changes in the immune system in postmenopausal women are caused by estrogen deprivation along with age. Increased proinflammatory serum marker levels, cytokine responses in body cells, decreased CD4 T and B lymphocyte levels, and natural killer cell cytotoxic activity are also observed during postmenopause. Moreover, vitamin D, in addition to its classical effects on calcium homeostasis and bone density, plays an important role. Current evidence indicates that vitamin D regulates innate and adaptive immune responses; however, vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased autoimmune activity and infection susceptibility. This review provides an overview of the consequences of immune alterations as an outcome of aging in postmenopausal women and the benefit of vitamin D supplementation.

Azygos vein aneurysm is a rare cause of mediastinal mass. Most cases present as an incidental finding on imaging modalities, but in few cases the thrombosis in the aneurysm leads to pulmonary thromboembolism, which may require surgical resection. We present a case where, for the first time, a case of a complicated azygos vein aneurysm was diagnosed in infancy, which required surgical resection.
Aneurysm* ; Azygos Vein* ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Infant* ; Mediastinal Diseases ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Thrombosis

Hemangioma of the liver is usually asymptomatic and incidentally discovered. However, giant hemangioma of the liver may be symptomatic, which is an indication for treatment. A 31-year-old female was admitted with a fever and 1-month history of a nonproductive cough. Her blood test results revealed thrombocytopenia, anemia, and mild coagulopathy. A giant hemangioma of the liver was the cause of her symptoms and signs, and was too large for surgical treatment. Therefore, we performed two sessions of transcatheter hepatic arterial embolization (TAE). The patient has been doing well without fever for 1 year following the second TAE procedure. Surgical resection and enucleation are the traditional treatments of choice for symptomatic giant hemangioma of the liver. However, the signs and symptoms of giant hemangioma of the liver improved by TAE in the present case. We herein report a case of complicated giant hemangioma of the liver that was partially treated by TAE and conservative management.
Adult ; Anemia ; Cough* ; Female ; Fever* ; Hemangioma* ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Liver* ; Thrombocytopenia

On the 12th day of abacavir treatment, a 39-year old HIV-infected male patient was admitted with fever, generalized rash, abdominal pain, and watery diarrhea that had persisted for five days. Results of blood tests indicated rapid progression of hepatitis and renal failure. The day after stopping anti-retroviral therapy, his fever subsided and his liver function began to normalize. He was clinically diagnosed with abacavir hypersensitivity and was found to carry the HLA-B*57:01 allele. This is the first reported case of abacavir hypersensitivity associated with the presence of the HLA-B*57:01 allele in Korea.
Abdominal Pain ; Alleles ; Diarrhea ; Dideoxynucleosides ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Hematologic Tests ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Korea ; Liver ; Male ; Renal Insufficiency

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a difference between right and left femur bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of postmenopausal women who underwent bone mineral density (BMD) measurement from 2010 to 2019 at a single center using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Data, including BMD and T-scores of bilateral hip and lumbar spine, was gathered for all postmenopausal women above the age of 50 years. The continuous variables were expressed as means with standard deviation for normal distribution and analyzed with a two-sample t-test. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the effect of underlying medical conditions on T-score of bilateral hips. For all analyses, a p-value of ＜0.05 was considered significant. Results: 346 patients were included in the study with a mean age at imaging of 62 + 9.7 years and body mass index (BMI) of 23.4 + 6.1 kg/m2 . There were no significant differences between right and left femoral BMDs in all patients. There were significant differences in BMD of both total femurs in women in their 60s and women with normal BMD. There was no difference in both femur BMDs between those taking hormone therapy and those not taking hormone therapy. In patients undergoing osteoporosis treatment, there was a difference in the BMD of both femur neck. Calcium and vitamin D intake were not associated with differences between both femur BMD. We found a significant correlation between the BMD measures at lumbar spine and both femur (p ＜ 0.01). Conclusion There were no significant differences between right and left femoral BMDs in postmenopausal women. Therefore, BMD may be measured at either hip. The correlation of bone density between lumbar spine and femur neck is shown to be statistically meaningful. Based on the knowledge of the correlation coefficients between lumbar spine and femur neck, it seems possible to predict the BMD result of one location through the measurement of another.

Background: It has been 10 years since the outbreak of lung disease caused by humidifier disinfectants in Korea, but the health effects have not yet been summarized. Therefore, this study aims to systematically examine the health effects of humidifier disinfectants that have been discovered so far. Methods: All literature with humidifier disinfectants and their representative components as the main words were collected based on the web, including PubMed, Research Information Sharing Service, and government publication reports. A total of 902 studies were searched, of which 196 were selected. They were divided into four groups: published human studies (group 1), published animal and cytotoxicology studies (group 2), technical reports (group 3), and gray literature (group 4). Results: Out of the 196 studies, 97 (49.5%) were published in peer-reviewed journals as original research. Group 1 consisted of 49 articles (50.5%), while group 2 consisted of 48 articles (49.5%). Overall, respiratory diseases such as humidifier disinfectant associated lung injury, interstitial lung disease, and asthma have a clear correlation, but other effects such as liver, heart, thymus, thyroid, fetal growth, metabolic abnormalities, and eyes are observed in toxicological experimental studies, but have not yet been identified in epidemiologic studies. Conclusion The current level of evidence does not completely rule out the effects of humidifier disinfectants on extrapulmonary disease. Based on the toxicological evidence so far, it is required to monitor the population of humidifier disinfectant exposure continuously to see if similar damage occurs.

Capsule endoscopy (CE) enables evaluation of the entire mucosal surface of the small bowel (SB), which is one of the most important steps for evaluating obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Although the diagnostic yield of SB CE depends on many clinical factors, there are no reports on quality indicators. Thus, the Korean Gut Image Study Group (KGISG) publishes an article titled, “Quality Indicators for Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy” under approval from the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (KSGE). Herein, we initially identified process quality indicators, while the structural and outcome indicators are reserved until sufficient clinical data are accumulated. We believe that outcomes of SB CE can be improved by trying to meet our proposed quality indicators.
Capsule Endoscopy* ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Hemorrhage