The claims data of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) is an important source of information for healthcare service research. The claims data of HIRA is collected when healthcare service providers submit a claim to HIRA to be reimbursed for a service that they provided to patients. To improve the accessibility of healthcare service researchers to claims data of HIRA, HIRA has developed the Patient Samples which are extracted using a stratified randomized sampling method. The Patient Samples of HIRA consist of five tables: a table for general information (Table 20) containing socio-demographic information such as gender, age and medical aid, indicators for inpatient and outpatient services; a table for specific information on healthcare services provided (Table 30); a table for diagnostic information (Table 40); a table for outpatient prescriptions (Table 53) and a table for information on healthcare service providers (Table of providers). Researchers who are interested in using the Patient Sample data for research can apply via HIRA's website (https://www.hira.or.kr).
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Insurance, Health* ; National Health Programs ; Outpatients ; Prescriptions

No abstract available.

Both Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum) are important genital mycoplasmas which are found in the cervix, vagina and the urogenital tracts of females. It has been associated with various disease states including non-gonococcal urethritis, spontaneous abortion, low birth weight and chorioamnionitis. Moreover they can be transmitted up to 40% of infants born to infected mothers. The culture methods which is commonly used for the determination of above mycoplasmas requires special culture media and can take up to 7 days. Recently the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been successfully applied for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, M. hominis and U. urealyticum were determined using PCR in 70 vaginal swabs and 48 urine samples. In a total of seventy vaginal swabs, thirteen (18.5%) and twenty four (34.3%) samples were positive for M. hominis and U. urealyticum, respectively. In forty eight urine samples, M. hominis and U. urealyticum were found in 3 cases (6.3%), respectively. Among vaginal swab and urine samples, one case was found to be coinfectious state. Amplified DNA bands were more frequently found in vaginal swabs than urine samples. This study shows that PCR is a relatively simple, fast and practical tool for the detection of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in a clinical materials instead of culture method.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Cervix Uteri ; Chorioamnionitis ; Culture Media ; DNA ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Mothers ; Mycoplasma ; Mycoplasma hominis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Pregnancy ; Ureaplasma urealyticum ; Urethritis ; Vagina

Better medical management, together with a number of newer surgical techniques, has enable more girls with congenital heart disease to reach childbearing age. Congenital heart lesions now constitute at least half of all cases of heart disease encountered during pregnancy. Pregnancy is characterized by marked increase in stroke volume and cardic output during the antepartum period. The hemodynamic demands of pregnancy dangerously stress the impaired cardiovascular reserve. We experienced that a case of cardiac arrest in a preeclamptic patient with unrecognized heart failure during induction of the general anesthesia for cesarean section. We found out later that she had an operation because of patent ductus arteriosus at the age of 15 and then already had mitral valve regurgitation and LVH findings in the echocardiogram. We suggested that heart failure was enhanced by the hyperdynamic cardiovascular changes of normal pregnancy and further aggrevated by preeclampsia and anemia.
Anemia ; Anesthesia, General* ; Cesarean Section* ; Ductus Arteriosus, Patent ; Female ; Heart Arrest* ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure* ; Heart* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Mitral Valve Insufficiency ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Stroke Volume

Ten healthy adult female patients scheduled for elective abdominal hysterectomy were evaluated for their rates and degrees of absorption following subarachnoid administration of 150 mg of 5% lidocaine in 5% dextrose solution. The mean blood concentrations of lidocaine measured at 5, 15, 30, 60 and 90 minutes after subarachnoid administration were 0.34+/-0.23, 0.78+/-0.27, 1.10+/-0.26, 1.24+/-0.24 and 1.07+/-0.19 mcg/ ml, respectively. The mean values of Cmax and Tmax obtained from these measurements were 1.30+/- 0.21 mcg/ml and 57+/-17 minutes, respectively. These results revealed that in comparison with other regional administration, absorption of lidocaine follwing subarachnoid injection is slower.
Absorption ; Adult ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Female ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lidocaine*

Acute interstitial pneumonia is a fulminant disease of unknown etiology that usually occurs in a previously healthy person and produces the histologic findings of the organizing phase of diffuse alveolar damage. We experienced an autopsy case of acute interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology. The patient was a 48 year old man who had been healthy and had not been exposed to organic dusts or other toxic materials. The chief complaints represented were dyspnea and a dry cough for several weeks before hospitalization, and the chest radiographs showed bilateral interstitial infiltrates. Patchy consolidation of air space was also identified and ground-glass attenuation similar to those described in ARDS was detected on high-resolution computed tomography. Steroid pulse therapy, mechanical ventilation, and antibiotics for superimposed bacterial infection were performed, but the symptoms did not improve and the patient died of generalized respiratory insufficiency and severe hypoxemia 2 1/2 months after hospitalization. At autopsy the macroscopic and microscopic findings were confined mainly to the lungs. On the whole, both lungs were firm in consistency and the external surface showed a cobblestone appearance. The cut surface showed almost complete replacement of the normal lung parenchyma with gray to yellow fibrous tissue with a little residual functional area remaining. The pathology of both open lung biopsy and autopsy tissue showed marked hyperplasia of type II pneumocytes, hyaline membrane formation, thickening of the alveolar wall due to extensive fibroblast proliferation, and relatively abundant young collagen deposition in the interstitium. An immunohistochemical stain for cytokeratin revealed epithelial hyperplasia and showed that the alveolar spaces were markedly shrunken by fibrous tissue.
Anoxia ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Autopsy* ; Bacterial Infections ; Biopsy ; Collagen ; Cough ; Dust ; Dyspnea ; Fibroblasts ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Hyperplasia ; Keratins ; Lung ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial* ; Membranes ; Middle Aged ; Pathology ; Pneumocytes ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Insufficiency

In response to the global spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), many countries have expanded access to non-contact healthcare. This study aimed to investigate the current state of non-contact healthcare in developed countries before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and examine the potential clinical and political implications applicable to Korea. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, non-contact healthcare was provided to a limited extent. However, given the surge in COVID-19 cases, countries have lifted the restrictions on non-contact healthcare by expanding eligibility to patients and providers and the range of services. Countries that were slow to implement non-contact healthcare before the pandemic experienced a paradigm shift. Noncontact healthcare has advantages in maintaining essential health services while protecting patients and providers from viral infections. In Korea, non-contact healthcare was regarded as a business sector, so it has not been formally discussed from a public health standpoint. Given this global urgency, discussions should begin surrounding how to best utilize non-contact healthcare, considering the values, safety, and efficacy from the perspective of continuity of patient care. Non-contact healthcare should shift to utilizing a patient-centered approach. The step-by-step strategic planning of non-contact healthcare is imperative for ensuring value, quality, equity, and safety of services.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding different carbohydrate sources and garcinia cambogia extract (HCA) on body weight and lipid metabolism. Fifty 10-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats weighting 635 +/- 6 g were randomly divided into 5 groups and fed different experimental diets for 4 weeks. The carbohydrate (CHO) sources of each group were cornstarch (control group, 100% of CHO), fructose (F group and FH group, 25% of CHO) and sucrose (S group and SH group, 25% of CHO). FH group and SH group were fed diets containing 1% (W/W) of HCA. Food intake, body weight gain, and calorie efficiency were not significantly different among the groups. Perirenal fat pad weight of FH group was significantly lower than F group, but epididymal fat pad weight was not different among the groups. Fasting glucose level were not significant among the groups. Plasma lipid profile of FH or SH group was slightly lower than F or S group, respectively. The degree of difference of plasma lipid level was greater between F and FH group than those of between S and SH group. In liver, total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol level were slightly higher in F group than S group, and tended to be lower in FH group than F group, but tended to be higher in SH group than S group. Liver citrate lyase activity were not significant among the groups. These results suggest that HCA is potential material for reduction of body weight and improvement of plasma lipid profiles. But, there was no difference between fructose intake with HCA and sucrose intake with HCA in reduction of body weight and lipid metabolism.
Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Body Weight* ; Cholesterol ; Citric Acid ; Diet ; Eating ; Fasting ; Fructose ; Garcinia cambogia ; Glucose ; Humans ; Infant ; Lipid Metabolism* ; Liver ; Male ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Starch ; Sucrose ; Triglycerides

Cutaneous mesenchymal hamartoma (CMH) is a very rare disease which most often presents itself at birth and is composed of collagen fibers, immature fibroblasts, fat cells, blood vessels, and mast cells. Until recently, only two cases have been reported. Thus, the clinical and histopathological findings have been unsettled. We describe three cases of cutaneous mesenchymal hamartoma with different clinical findings, discuss its pathogenesis, and suggest that CMH is a distinct disease entity.
Adipocytes ; Blood Vessels ; Collagen ; Fibroblasts ; Hamartoma* ; Mast Cells ; Parturition ; Rare Diseases

We report a case of sarcoidosis in a 4-year-old girl. She showed the involvements of the skin and eye, which are the characteristics of sarcoidosis in very young patients, and also showed an unusual finding of hepatosplenomegaly. Because the diagnosis of childhood sarcoidosis is difficult and serious sequelae can develop from sarcoidal uveitis, an early skin biopsy and regular ophthalmologic assessment are essential.
Biopsy ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis ; Female* ; Humans ; Sarcoidosis* ; Skin ; Uveitis