Background and Objectives: Fibrin sealant (FS) is widely used to reduce postoperative bleeding. This analysis aimed to assess the efficacy of FS to reduce complications after rhinoplasty.Materials and Method We searched PubMed, Scopus, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science database for articles on FS and rhinoplasty from the inception of publication to December 29, 2021. Post-rhinoplasty complications, such as edema and ecchymosis, were recorded. The final meta-analysis was performed using three studies. Results: Two subgroups were created based on the FS usage after rhinoplasty. The FS effect on edema reduction was favorable on the postoperative day-1 (standardized mean difference [SMD]=-1.07 [-1.70; -0.45]). In addition, the FS effect on ecchymosis reduction was favorable on the postoperative day-1 postoperative (SMD=-1.33 [-2.15; -0.50]). Conclusion Our study shows that FS reduces the early complications of rhinoplasty.

Background/Aims: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder that typically requires long-term maintenance therapy. However, little is known about patient preferences and satisfaction and real-world prescription patterns regarding maintenance therapy for GERD. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study involved patients from 18 referral hospitals in Korea. We surveyed patients who had been prescribed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for GERD for at least 90 days with a minimum follow-up duration of 1 year. The main outcome was overall patient satisfaction with different maintenance therapy modalities. Results: A total of 197 patients were enrolled. Overall patient satisfaction, patient preferences, and GERD health-related quality of life scores did not significantly differ among the maintenance therapy modality groups. However, the on-demand therapy group experienced a significantly longer disease duration than the continuous therapy group. The continuous therapy group demonstrated a lower level of awareness of potential adverse effects associated with PPIs than the on-demand therapy group but received higher doses of PPIs than the on-demand therapy group. The prescribed doses of PPIs also varied based on the phenotype of GERD, with higher doses prescribed for non-erosive reflux disease than erosive reflux disease. Conclusion Although overall patient satisfaction did not significantly differ among the different PPI maintenance therapy modality groups, awareness of potential adverse effects was significantly different between the on-demand and continuous therapy groups.

Objective: This study examined the diagnostic validity of a three-item ultra-brief screening tool for online gaming disorder in line with the gaming disorder criteria in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision. Methods: The Three-item Gaming disorder Test-Online-Centered (TIGTOC) was composed of three items using a four-point Likert scale selected from the Internet Game Use-Elicited Symptom Screen (IGUESS). Among a cohort of 2319 young-adolescent Internet users, the baseline data of 228 healthy controls and 45 Internet-gaming-disorder cases were analyzed. Receiver operation characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed using mental health specialists’ diagnoses as the gold standard. Results: The ROC curve analysis showed an area under the curve of 86%. Using a cut-off score of 4 from a full range of 0–9, the sensitivity, specificity, and Cronbach’s α were 72%, 90%, and 0.811, respectively. TIGTOC scores was positively associated with time spent on online gaming, depressive symptoms, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, and addictive Internet use. Conclusion The TIGTOC appears to be a brief, valid, and reliable screening tool for online gaming disorder within the community or in primary care settings.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is associated with many adverse clinical outcomes. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized patients in Korea, evaluate the association between malnutrition and clinical outcomes, and ascertain the risk factors of malnutrition. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study was performed with 300 patients recruited from among the patients admitted in 25 hospitals on January 6, 2014. Nutritional status was assessed by using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Demographic characteristics and underlying diseases were compared according to nutritional status. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors of malnutrition. Clinical outcomes such as rate of admission in intensive care units, length of hospital stay, and survival rate were evaluated. RESULTS: The prevalence of malnutrition in the hospitalized patients was 22.0%. Old age (≥ 70 years), admission for medical treatment or diagnostic work-up, and underlying pulmonary or oncological disease were associated with malnutrition. Old age and admission for medical treatment or diagnostic work-up were identified to be risk factors of malnutrition in the multivariate analysis. Patients with malnutrition had longer hospital stay (SGA A = 7.63 ± 6.03 days, B = 9.02 ± 9.96 days, and C = 12.18 ± 7.24 days, P = 0.018) and lower 90-day survival rate (SGA A = 97.9%, B = 90.7%, and C = 58.3%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Malnutrition was common in hospitalized patients, and resulted in longer hospitalization and associated lower survival rate. The rate of malnutrition tended to be higher when the patient was older than 70 years old or hospitalized for medical treatment or diagnostic work-up compared to elective surgery.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Logistic Models ; Malnutrition ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme that catalyzes crosslinking, polyamination or deamidation of glutamine residues in proteins. It has been reported that TG2 is involved in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases including celiac disease, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and sepsis. Recently, using a mouse model of bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, we showed that TG2 is required to trigger inflammation via the induction of T helper type 17 (Th17) cell differentiation in response to tissue damage. However, the role of TG2 in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is thought to be a Th17 cell-associated disease, has remained elusive. In this study, we investigated the role of TG2 in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, the most widely used mouse model for IBD. Age- and sex-matched wild-type and TG2(−/−) mice were fed 2% DSS for 7 days or 3.5% DSS for 5 days in drinking water. An in situ TG activity assay revealed that DSS treatment activates TG2 in various colon cell types, including columnar absorptive cells and goblet cells. DSS-treated TG2(−/−) mice showed lower interleukin (IL)-6, but higher IL-17A and RORγt (retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor-γt) expression levels in the colon tissues than that in the wild-type mice. Moreover, TG2(−/−) mice showed higher mortality than the wild-type mice because of DSS treatment. Nevertheless, we found no significant differences in changes of body weight, colon length, morphology, immune cell infiltration and in vivo intestinal permeability between DSS-treated wild-type and TG2(−/−) mice. These results indicate that TG2-mediated Th17 cell differentiation is not required for the pathogenesis of DSS-induced acute colitis.
Animals ; Body Weight ; Celiac Disease ; Cell Differentiation ; Child ; Child, Orphaned ; Colitis* ; Colon ; Cystic Fibrosis ; Dextran Sulfate* ; Dextrans* ; Drinking Water ; Fibrosis ; Glutamine ; Goblet Cells ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Interleukin-17 ; Interleukins ; Lung ; Mice* ; Mortality ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Permeability ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; Sepsis ; Th17 Cells

BACKGROUND: Treatment for chronic hepatitis B aims to suppress virus replication and virus sequestration in hepatocytes. Covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA is the template for transcription of viral genes and is responsible for viral persistence. However, limited data are available for quantification of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Korea. METHODS: We evaluated the Elecsys HBsAg II quant assay (Roche Diagnostics, USA) for within-run, between-run, and between-day precisions, linearity, carryover, and clinical specificity. In total, 156 serum samples were evaluated for correlation between HBsAg and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA. Serial samples were obtained from 10 patients at 0, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 weeks during follow-up. RESULTS: The assay detected HBsAg in a linear range of 0.5-48,696 IU/mL. Within-run, between-run, and between-day CVs were 2.9-4.1%, 0-1.5%, and 1.5-4.9%, respectively. Cross-reactivity between potentially interfering substances was absent, and the carryover rate was 0.00002%. The correlation of measurements between the Elecsys assay and HBV DNA PCR was weak (r=0.438, P=0.002). For predicting virologic response, cutoff values of 10,275 IU/mL and 3,846 IU/mL at 12 and 24 weeks after treatment initiation showed positive predictive values of 77.1% and 85% and negative predictive values of 84.6% and 50%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The Elecsys HBsAg II quant assay showed good performance for precision, linearity, carryover rate, and specificity. HBsAg level at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks after treatment initiation can predict virologic response, and the assay can be used for HBsAg quantification in clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen (Ag) levels are known to be well correlating with HCV RNA levels, and may be used as an alternative marker of HCV replication for monitoring the response to HCV treatment. However, the low sensitivity of HCV core Ag assay has been an obstacle for clinical use. In this study, recently developed ARCHITECT HCV Ag assay (Abbott Laboratories, USA) was evaluated for analytical performance and clinical usefulness. METHODS: A total of 109 sera from HCV infected patients including various genotypes of HCV (1b, 2, 2a/2c, 2b, and 3a) and 20 sera from healthy donors were used for evaluating the sensitivity, precision, and linearity of the HCV core Ag assay. The cross reactivity with HIV, hepatitis B virus and myeloma proteins (N=5, each) and correlation with HCV RNA PCR assay were also evaluated. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the HCV core Ag assay was 97.2% (106/109) and there were no false positive results and cross reactivity. The within-run, between-run and between-day CVs were 3.0%, 2.5% and 3.0%, respectively. The levels of HCV core antigen showed a good correlation with those of HCV RNA quantification (r=0.940). The HCV Ag assay showed an excellent linearity in the range from 0.63 to 17,114 fmol/L (r=0.999). CONCLUSIONS: The ARCHITECT HCV Ag assay was good in sensitivity, precision, and linearity and its results well correlated with HCV RNA levels. This assay could be used as a good marker of viral replication for monitoring the therapy response in chronically HCV infected patients.
Chemiluminescent Measurements/*methods ; Cross Reactions ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus/genetics/*immunology ; Hepatitis Antigens/*blood ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; RNA, Viral/blood ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Viral Core Proteins/*blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Fabry disease is an X-linked recessive and progressive disease caused by alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-GaL A) deficiency. We sought to assess the prevalence of unrecognized Fabry disease in dialysis-dependent patients and the efficacy of serum globotriaosylceramide (GL3) screening. METHODS: A total of 480 patients of 1,230 patients among 17 clinics were enrolled. Serum GL3 levels were measured by tandem mass spectrometry. Additionally, we studied the association between increased GL3 levels and cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, or left ventricular hypertrophy. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients had elevated serum GL3 levels. The alpha-GaL A activity was determined for the 26 patients with high GL3 levels. The mean alpha-GaL A activity was 64.6 nmol/hr/mg (reference range, 45 to 85), and no patient was identified with decreased alpha-GaL A activity. Among the group with high GL3 levels, 15 women had a alpha-GaL A genetics analysis. No point mutations were discovered among the women with high GL3 levels. No correlation was observed between serum GL3 levels and alpha-GaL A activity; the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.01352 (p = 0.9478). No significant correlation was observed between increased GL3 levels and the frequency of cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Fabry disease is very rare disease in patients with end-stage renal disease. Serum GL3 measurements as a screening method for Fabry disease showed a high false-positive rate. Thus, serum GL3 levels determined by tandem mass spectrometry may not be useful as a screening method for Fabry disease in patients with end stage renal disease.
Adult ; Aged ; Fabry Disease/blood/*diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/blood/*therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Renal Dialysis ; Trihexosylceramides/*blood ; alpha-Galactosidase/genetics/metabolism

BACKGROUND: The frequencies and distributions of unexpected antibodies have been reported using two different criteria, based on either number of persons tested or number of tests performed. But there has been no study that compared the results of analyses based on these two different criteria using the same data set. METHODS: Unexpected antibody tests performed in a University Hospital during recent 6 yr (January 2002-December 2007) were retrospectively analyzed: 76,985 tests (59,503 persons) for screening and 875 tests (749 persons) for identification. Data were analyzed using two different criteria, based on 'persons tested' and 'tests performed'. Antibodies had been screened and identified using LISS/Coombs gel cards with DiaMed-ID system (DiaMed AG, Switzerland). RESULTS: Frequencies of unexpected antibodies based on 'persons tested' and 'tests performed' were 1.32% and 1.34%, respectively (P=0.88). For frequently detected as well as rarely detected antibodies, there were no significant differences in the frequencies based on two different criteria. However, for rarely detected antibodies (anti-Xg(a) and Anti-E & D), the frequencies based on 'tests performed' were higher than those based on 'persons tested', affecting a change in the order of frequencies of antibodies detected. CONCLUSIONS: As there were no significant differences in the frequencies of unexpected antibodies calculated using two different criteria, both criteria can be used together for the patient population in our hospital. However, two criteria should be compared to validate the results for other populations.
Blood Group Antigens/*immunology ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Humans ; Isoantibodies/blood/*immunology ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: PCR is a widely used method for rapid and accurate diagnosis of mycobacteriosis. The sensitivity and specificity of a real time PCR kit newly developed in Korea were evaluated for detecting mycobacteria in respiratory specimens. METHODS: One hundred twenty nine Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) culture positive respiratory specimens (82 AFB stain positive and 47 stain negative specimens) were used for evaluation of the sensitivity. Nine non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) culture positive specimens were also included. For evaluation of the specificity, 48 AFB stain and culture negative respiratory specimens from patients who were initially not fully excluded from mycobacterial diseases (specificity group 1) were used. Other 51 respiratory specimens from patients who were not suspected of mycobacterial diseases were also included (specificity group 2). Real time PCR was performed by using AdvanSure TB/NTM real time PCR Kit (LG Lifescience, Korea) and SLAN real time PCR detection system (LG Lifescience). The target genes of TB and NTM were IS6110 and rpoB, respectively. RESULTS: Among 129 TB culture positive specimens, 82 of 82 AFB stain positive specimens (100%) and 35 of 47 (74.5%) stain negative specimens revealed real time PCR positivity for TB, resulting in sensitivity of 90.7%. Five of nine NTM culture positive specimens resulted in real time PCR positivity for NTM (55.6%). Forty seven of 48 specimens (97.9%) and all 51 specimens (100%) of the specificity group 1 and 2, respectively, were real time PCR negative for TB and NTM. CONCLUSIONS: AdvanSure TB/NTM real time PCR Kit should be useful for detecting TB in respiratory specimens with high sensitivity and specificity.
DNA, Bacterial/analysis ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics/growth & development/*isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Respiratory System/microbiology ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Specimen Handling ; Tuberculosis/*diagnosis