Invasive infection of the Streptococcus bovis group in a neonate is rare. In cases reported to date, the pathogen of neonatal S. bovis infections is usually Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus (S. bovis biotype II/2). Streptococcus lutetiensis (S. bovis biotype II/1) was identified using 16S rRNA and tuf gene sequence analysis of the isolates from blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a fever-presenting 28-day-old male. Blood culture analysis was performed using automatic equipment (VITEK 2) and identified Streptococcus infantarius supsp. infantarius, yet we were unable to get accurate results from the CSF culture. The fever subsided on the second day of hospitalization, and the patient was discharged without neurologic complication after 14 days of antibiotic therapy. In this case, we were able to accurately identify the pathogen using molecular genetic methods. To our knowledge, this is the first case of late onset neonatal bacteremia and meningitis caused by S. lutetiensis.
Bacteremia* ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Fever ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis* ; Molecular Biology ; Sequence Analysis ; Streptococcus bovis ; Streptococcus*

PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the influence of nurse work environment and patient safety culture in hospital on instances of missed nursing care in South Korea. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used, in which a structured questionnaire was administered to 186 nurses working at a tertiary university hospital. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t test or analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Missed nursing care was found to be correlated with clinical career, nursing work environment, and patient safety culture. The regression model explained approximately 30.3% of missed nursing care. Meanwhile, staffing and resource adequacy (β = −.31, p = .001), nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses (β = −.26, p = .004), clinical career (β = −.21, p = .004), and perception on patient safety culture within unit (β = −.19, p = .041) were determined to be influencing factors on missed nursing care. CONCLUSION: This study has significance as it suggested that missed nursing care is affected by work environment factors within unit. This means that missed nursing care is a unit outcome affected by nurse work environment factors and patient safety culture. Therefore, missed nursing care can be managed through the implementation of interventions that promote a positive nursing work environment and patient safety culture.
Humans ; Korea* ; Leadership ; Nurse Administrators ; Nursing Care* ; Nursing* ; Patient Safety* ; Quality of Health Care

Purpose: To report the surgical skills needed, and the clinical results of, minimally invasive hip surgery with dynamic hip screws and the comparison with the classical technique in stable pertrochanteric fractures of the femur. Materials and Methods: Thirty-two patients with pertrochanteric fractures of the femur who were treated with dynamic compression hip screws between April 1999 and March 2004, and were evaluated retrospectively, and were followed up for more than 12 months. 16 cases were treated with a classical dynamic hip screw technique and 16 cases with a minimally invasive technique in random order. The mean age was 73.2 years, and there were 11 males and 21 females. The operative times, total hemovac bleeding loss, functional scores, and average hemoglobin decrease ratios were evaluated. The clinical assessments were performed with the Harris Hip Score (HSS) and bony union was evaluated with serial follow-up plain radiographs. Results: The average operative time was 63.9 minutes with the classical technique and 42.5 minutes with the minimally invasive technique. The total average hemovac blood loss was 640 cc with the classical technique and 143 cc with the minimally invasive technique. Clinically, the HHS was an average of 85.9 and 89.2 in groups 1 and 2, respectively, by the last follow-up and there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups (P <0.05) The hemoglobin decrease ratio was the same in both groups and there was no nonunion. Conclusion: Minimally invasive dynamic hip screw insertion was useful in stable pertrochanteric fractures, because it decreased blood loss and operative times; and there were no changes in fracture healing and functional outcomes.
Female ; Femur ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fracture Healing ; Hemorrhage ; Hip* ; Humans ; Male ; Operative Time ; Retrospective Studies ; Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive

No abstract available.
Bone Density* ; Estrogens* ; Female ; Humans

Behcet's disease (BD) involves multisystem vasculitis of unknown origin. Ocular manifestations of BD mostly include bilateral panuveitis and retinal vasculitis, which are very challenging to treat. Interferon alfa-2a (IFN) has been recently introduced for treating refractory Behcet uveitis, mainly in Germany and Turkey. Nonetheless, there is so far no consensus about the ideal treatment regimen of IFN for Behcet uveitis. We report our experience of IFN treatment in five Korean BD patients with refractory uveitis. All patients complained of oral ulcers; one patient had a positive pathergy test and 2 showed the presence of HLA-B51. Immunosuppressive agents used prior to IFN treatment included cyclosporine and methotrexate. The IFN treatment was commenced with a dose of 6-9 MIU/day for 7 days, adjusted according to individual ocular manifestations, tapered down to 3 MIU three times in a week, and then discontinued. All patients showed positive response to IFN treatment; 50% of them showed complete response without additional major ocular inflammation during the follow-up period. Other BD symptoms also improved after IFN treatment in most cases. After treatment, the relapse rate and the required dose of oral corticosteroid were decreased in most cases, showing a significant steroid-sparing effect. However, the visual acuity was not improved in most cases due to irreversible macular sequelae. Despite the small sample size of this study, we suggest that, in Korean patients, IFN is an effective treatment modality for BD uveitis as was observed in German and Turkish patients.
Adult ; Behcet Syndrome/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Chronic Disease ; Cyclosporine/therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage ; Interferon-alpha/*therapeutic use ; Male ; Recombinant Proteins/therapeutic use ; Recurrence ; Remission Induction ; Treatment Outcome ; Turkey ; Uveitis/diagnosis/*drug therapy/etiology ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: Surgeons serve one of the most challenging and stressful professions. Ineffective control of occupational stress leads to burnout of the surgeon. The aim of this study was to obtain preliminary data on the sources and the degree of stress of surgeons and to determine the feasibility of the survey. METHODS: A total of 63 surgeons in our three affiliated hospitals were enrolled in this study. Fifty-five questions were used to assess the demographics, characteristics and Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS), which were prepared and validated by the National Study for Development and Standardization of Occupational Stress. RESULTS: Forty-seven of the 63 surgeons participated in this study (74.6%). The mean KOSS score of the survey was 50.9 +/- 8.55, which was significantly higher than that of other professions (P < 0.01). Drinking and smoking habits were not related to the KOSS score. Doing exercise was related to a low KOSS score in terms of low KOSS total score (P < 0.01). Average duty hours (P < 0.01) and night duty days per week (P = 0.01) were strongly related to higher KOSS in the linear regression analysis. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to evaluate job stress of surgeons in Korea. This study showed that Korean Surgeons had higher occupational stress than other Korean professions. A larger study based on this pilot study will help generate objective data for occupational stress of Korean Surgeons by performing a survey of the members of the Korean Surgical Society.
Demography ; Drinking ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Pilot Projects ; Smoke ; Smoking

Using Mercox CL-2B, intravascular casting was performed follwoing intracameral injection with 2.0microgram/microliter of Endothelin-1(ET-1) in the rabbit eye. One hour after intracameral injection with ET-1 caused severe focal andsegmental constriction of major arterial circle(MAC). Obstruction of the small branch of MAC caused localized filling defect and decreased number of capillaries in the vascular cast. The diameters of vascular cast were reduced at about 22.2% in proximal MAC, 22.4% in distal MAC and 21.8% in first branch of MAC. This results were suggested that ET-1 may play a role in the regulation of blood flow in the anterior segment vasculature of the rabbit.
Capillaries ; Constriction ; Endothelin-1* ; Microvessels*