BACKGROUND: Unexpected deaths of the patients at ED are surprising to the medical staffs as well as the families. It may also increase the possibilities of medico-legal problems. This study was conducted to review the unexpected death in ED and find the predictive factors leading patients to unexpected death. METHODS: A retrospective study with reviewing available medical records of 183 patients who were expired at ED of Shinchon Severance Hospital from Mar. 1997 to Feb. 1998 and 103 patients of Youngdong Severance Hospital from Mar. 1996 to Feb. 1998 was done. Analyses were 4one on 30 variables of physical findings, laboratory results, procedures and therapies. We used univariate analysis, such as t-test and x2-test and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Of the total 286 deaths in ED, 153 cases were enrolled in this analysis. The number of unexpected deaths were 76. Age, mental status, fraction of neutrophil count, BUN level, whether endotracheal incubation was done, use of inotropics were the factors with statistical ,significance on the univariate analysis, but only comatose mentality, endotracheal incubated case, and use of the inotropics were significant on logistic regression analysis. The longer the ED length of stay, the higher the rate of mortality and unexpected death. CONCLUSION: This result suggest that medical attention is needed on the patients with comatose decreased mental stylus, endotracheally intubated case and needing inotropic agents to prevent unexpected deaths. Shortening the ED length of stay may also be a factor for decrease the unexpected death rate.
Coma ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Medical Staff ; Mortality ; Neutrophils ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to investigate the outcomes of vascular operations that were done in patients with atheroscerosis obliterans (ASO) of lower limb. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Forty patients underwent vascular operations from December 1996 to June 2004. The patient's records were analyzed retrospectively. Mean age was 66+/-8 years (range, 47~81 years). Gender ratio was 37:3 (male:female). RESULT: The operations were done on 50 lower limbs of 40 patients. The names of operations were femoropopliteal bypass in 12 patients (30%), femorofemoral bypass in 12 (30%), femorofemoral bypass and femoropopliteal bypass in five (12.5%), aorta-lower limb artery bypass in five (12.5%), axillofemoral bypass in two (5%), iliopopliteal bypass in two (5%), and endarterectomy in two (5%). All bypass surgeries were done with prosthetic conduits. Mean follow up period was 33.2+/-23.2 months (range, 3.8~90.2 months). The cumulative patency rates of 1 and 5 years were 75.5 and 58.7% respectively. In six patients, amputation of the lower limb was done. In eight patients, 12 complications occurred. After the first operation, 10 patients underwent reoperations. CONCLUSION: Our lower limb arterial bypass surgery revealed acceptable patency rate, but not a few patients required reoperations. An epochal treatment modality that can inhibit the progress of ASO and improve long term patency should be established.
Amputation ; Arteries ; Atherosclerosis* ; Endarterectomy ; Extremities ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lower Extremity* ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study is to identify the factors that predict mortality in elderly trauma patients. METHOD: We reviewed retrospectively the medical record of 144 cases of geriatric trauma admitted to Kyungpook National University Hospital firm January 1998 to December 1998. We evaluated the general characteristics, mechanisms of injury, Revised Trauma Score(RTS), Injury Severity Score(ISS), Probability of survival(Ps) by TRISS(Trauma and Injury Severity Score) method, amount of blood transfused, preexisting disease, complications, length of stay, and mortality. RESULTS: 1. The mean age was 75.39+/-7.89 years old, and male to female ratio was 0.89 : 1. 2. The mechanisms of injury were primarily frills(56.3%) followed by bicycle or motorcycle(13.9%), and pedestrian injuries(13.2%) and motor vehicle accidents(6.9%). 3. The mean Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS), RTS and ISS ate 13.3+/-3.5, 7.2+/-1.4 and 14.2 +/-11.6 respectively. 4. The actual mortality rate was 18.1% (26/144). But by TRISS method, predicted mortality rate was 9.3%(12.5/144), excess mortality rate was 108% and Z score was 3.99 indicating that actual number of death exceed predicted number of death. 5. Between the survivors and nonsurvivors, the insults were significantly different as follows ; systolic blood pressure(141.9+/-28.3 vs. 116.8+/-48.7 mmHg), GCS(14.3+/-2.0 vs. 9.0 +/-5.1), RTS(7.8+/-0.7 vs 5.4+/-2.3), ISS(11.3+/-5.6 vs 27.2+/-20.2), Ps by TRISS(0.97+/-0.06 vs 0.65+/-0.37), preexisting diseases(50.8 vs 69.8%). CONCLUSION: Geriatric patients are more likely to die after trauma than other age groups. The cause of higher actual mortality rate compared to predicted mortality rate was considered as the higher incidence of delayed death due to sepsis or multiple organ failure. In order to reduce the mortality, even with relatively stable initial vile sign, invasive hemodynamic monitoring and intensive treatment are recommended and also, prevention and treatment of nosocomial infection are very important.
Aged ; Coma ; Cross Infection ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Incidence ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality* ; Motor Vehicles ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Preexisting Condition Coverage ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Survivors

A 65 year-old male had chest pain which was diagnosed as unstable angina needing urgent coronary artery bypass surgery. Physical examination demonstrated signs of severe anemia and hemoglobin level was 5.7 g/dL. Gastrofiberscopy showed a 4 cm sized fungating mass at the lesser curvature with active bleeding. The mass was adenocarcinoma by pathologic examination. Simultaneous coronary artery bypass surgery and total gastrectomy were planned due to bleeding of the mass. Off-pump coronary bypass grafting was done first, followed by total gastrectomy. The postoperative course was smooth. He was discharged from the hospital after 12 days and was on surveillance for 9 months. We report a rare case of simultaneous surgery for angina and gastric cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Anemia ; Angina, Unstable ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump* ; Gastrectomy* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Transplants

Prosthetic valve endocarditis(PVE) is not infrequent and one of the serious complications of cardiac valve replacement despite advances in antimicrobial therapy, diagnostic techniquens and surgical procedures. Although the incidence of PVE may be declining, the absolute number of cases of this infection is increasing. In patients with a prosthetic valve, fever, a regurgitant heart murmur, peripheral manifestations of infective endocarditis and postitive blood cultures, the diagnosis of PVE is evident. We have reviewed our experience with 13 patients with PVE from October 1976 through August 1983. During this period valve replacements were performed in 686 patients, with an infection rate of 1.9%. PVE currently accounts for approximately 14% of the total number of cases of infective endocarditis seen at Seoul national University Hospital. PVE occurred more often after multiple valve replacement than after replacement of single valve alone. Blood cultures were positive in 69% cases of PVE. Systemic emboli could be seen in 54% of patients with PVE and overall mortality was about 23%.
Diagnosis ; Endocarditis* ; Fever ; Heart Murmurs ; Heart Valves ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Seoul

PURPOSE: Overcrowding of Emergency Department (ED) of university hospital is a serious problem to both patients and working staffs of ED. This study sought to characterize patients who were frequent attenders at ED, and to assist the targeting of appropriate future interventions aimed at reducing avoidable presentation. METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken of patients presenting to ED of Kyungpook National University Hospital between December 1, 2001 to November 30, 2002. Frequent attender, defined as a patient with three or more visits to ED over the course of study period, were compared with those who visited ED two or less times, using chisquare analyses, and ANOVA, and defined valid if p< 0.05. RESULTS: Number of frequent attenders were 449 (2.9%), and their visits to ED were 2,244 (12.3%) times, average 5.0 visits per year. This group comprised of patients of either cancer and/or chronic diseases. Cancer patients of frequent attenders made more visits to ED compare to chronic disease patients, and more than 50% of presented cases are either not requiring tertiary care unit, or it was unnecessary visit to ED at all. CONCLUSION: A such small number of patients made surprising number of visits to ED, and most of their visit turns out either unnecessary, or symptom so minor in which either Out Patient Department (OPD) care or local clinic.
Chronic Disease ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: Although the Injury Severity Score (ISS) has certain predictive limitations and difficulties in calculation, the ISS has been widely used as a predictor of serious injury. The objective of this study was to determine the correlations of the serum lactate and base deficit levels to injury severity and to determine the value of using serum lactate and base deficit measurements as prognostic tools in the emergency department. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of data collected from March 2001 to February 2002, and two hundred seventeen trauma patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of Kyungpook National University Hospital during that period were included in this study. Patients who received a transfusion, bicarbonate, or vasopressor or who had no ISS score were excluded from this study. RESULTS: The serum lactate and the base deficit, as well as the ISS, showed a significant value for predicting the seriousness of injury in trauma patients. Because gamma(Pearson's correlation coefficient) between ISS and serum lactate levels is 0.890, it showed strong association. Especially, in multiple injury patients, the serum lactate level had predictive value in revealing hidden injuries that could lead to possible death. Logistic regression showed a strong association between the serum lactate and base deficit levels and mortality rate. CONCLUSION: The serum lactate and the base deficit levels at admission to the ED are useful tools in predicting the outcome in severe trauma patients, and they can be used adjunct to previous injury scoring systems.
Emergency Service, Hospital ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Lactic Acid* ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Multiple Trauma ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Aged, 80 and over ; DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*complications/diagnosis ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Male ; Mucormycosis/*complications/diagnosis/*microbiology ; Rhizopus/*isolation & purification ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sequence Homology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Cases of pediatric eosinophilic meningitis following duraplasty with a bovine graft have been reported. These patients recovered following the surgical removal of the dural graft or steroid therapy. Decompression for Chiari malformation is a common procedure in both pediatric and adult neurosurgery. We describe the case of a 33-yr-old male patient with eosinophilic meningitis following Chiari decompression via bovine graft duraplasty. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) study showed 49 red blood cells/μL and 129 leukocytes/μL with 17% eosinophils. There was no evidence of infectious disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of adult eosinophilic meningitis after bovine graft duraplasty in Korea.
Adult* ; Arnold-Chiari Malformation* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Communicable Diseases ; Decompression ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Meningitis* ; Neurosurgery ; Transplants*

BACKGROUND: Amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a well-established prognostic factor in heart failure (HF). However, numerous causes may lead to elevations in NT-proBNP, and thus, an increased NT-proBNP level alone is not sufficient to predict outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of two acute response markers, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP), in patients with an increased NT-proBNP level. METHODS: The 278 patients were classified into three groups by etiology: 1) acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (n=62), 2) non-ACS cardiac disease (n=156), and 3) infectious disease (n=60). Survival was determined on day 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 60, 90, 120, and 150 after enrollment. RESULTS: H-FABP (P<0.001), NT-proBNP (P=0.006), hsCRP (P<0.001) levels, and survival (P<0.001) were significantly different in the three disease groups. Patients were divided into three classes by using receiver operating characteristic curves for NT-proBNP, H-FABP, and hsCRP. Patients with elevated NT-proBNP (≥3,856 pg/mL) and H-FABP (≥8.8 ng/mL) levels were associated with higher hazard ratio for mortality (5.15 in NT-proBNP and 3.25 in H-FABP). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed H-FABP was a better predictor of 60-day mortality than NT-proBNP. CONCLUSIONS: The combined measurement of H-FABP with NT-proBNP provides a highly reliable means of short-term mortality prediction for patients hospitalized for ACS, non-ACS cardiac disease, or infectious disease.
Acute Coronary Syndrome/blood/*diagnosis/mortality ; Aged ; Area Under Curve ; Biomarkers/blood ; C-Reactive Protein/*analysis ; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/*blood ; Peptide Fragments/*blood ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; ROC Curve