OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, risk factors and complications of stroke patients and their effect on the patient's functional outcomes at discharge. METHOD: We performed a prospective study during hospitalization on 1, 250 consecutive acute stroke patients discharged from Dong-Eui Hospital from June 2001 to May 2002. Glasgow outcome scale, status of upper extremity involved and status of ambulation were used to evaluate functional status. RESULTS: The variables of clinical characteristics identified as significant in functional status at discharge were the presence of occupation, interval between onset and visit to hospital arrival, type of first treatment after stroke, type of caregiver, type of stroke and location of infarction and intracranial hemorrhage. Positive functional outcomes were significantly related to a younger age, male, small amount of hemorrhage and short length of hospital stay. Among risk factors of stroke, abnormal ECG findings at admission and presence of previous stroke were negative prognostic factors. The complications influencing stroke outcome negatively were pneumonia, depression, urinary tract infection, myocardial infarction and recurrence of stroke in hospitalization. CONCLUSION: The results of this study should be considered during acute management and rehabilitation of stroke patients and are valuable as basic data of functional outcome after stroke.
Caregivers ; Depression ; Electrocardiography ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Infarction ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Occupations ; Pneumonia ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Rehabilitation ; Risk Factors ; Stroke* ; Upper Extremity ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Walking

PURPOSE: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. It is mainly seen in young children under the age of five. KD is a multifactorial disorder that includes genetic variants. The present study investigated the association between KD and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the candidate gene early B cell factor 2 (EBF2), which is associated with inflammation markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An SNP analysis was performed by whole exon sequencing of the EBF2 gene. Our study comprised a total of 495 subjects (295 KD patients and 200 unrelated normal controls) from a Korean population. Tag SNPs were discovered using the Haploview program. Genotyping of the EBF2 gene was performed with the TaqMan® assay with real-time PCR methods. RESULTS: Polymorphism of rs10866845 showed a significant difference in allele frequency between KD patients and controls (p=0.040). The EBF2 gene polymorphisms were significantly associated with KD on logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: EBF2 gene variants can contribute to KD in the Korean population.
Child ; Exons ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Logistic Models ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

BACKGROUND: Industrial pollution may affect the heavy metal body burden of people living near industrial complexes. We determined the average concentrations of atmospheric heavy metals in areas close to and distant from industrial complexes in Korea, and the body concentrations of these heavy metals in residents living near and distant from these facilities. METHODS: The atmospheric data of heavy metals (lead and cadmium) were from the Regional Air Monitoring Network in Ulsan. We recruited 1,148 participants, 872 who lived near an industrial complex (“exposed” group) and 276 who lived distant from industrial complexes (“non-exposed” group), and measured their concentrations of blood lead, urinary cadmium, and urinary total mercury. RESULTS: The results showed that atmospheric and human concentrations of heavy metals were higher in areas near industrial complexes. In addition, residents living near industrial complexes had higher individual and combined concentrations (cadmium + lead + mercury) of heavy metals. CONCLUSION: We conclude that residents living near industrial complexes are exposed to high concentrations of heavy metals, and should be carefully monitored.
Body Burden ; Cadmium ; Environmental Exposure ; Humans ; Korea ; Metals, Heavy ; Ulsan

The kidney is one of the most radiosensitive organs in the abdominal cavity and is the dose-limiting structure in cancer patients receiving abdominal or total body irradiation. In the present study, the effect of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on radiation nephropathy was evaluated in rats. A total of 72 rats were equally randomized into 4 groups: Control, CoQ10, irradiation with 10 Gy (RT) + placebo, or RT + CoQ10. The 2 RT groups received single 10 Gy of abdominal irradiation. The 2 CoQ10 groups were supplemented daily with 1 mL of soybean oil containing 10 mg/kg of CoQ10. The RT + placebo and control groups received same dose of soybean oil. After 24 weeks, laboratory and histopathologic findings were compared. The 2 RT groups showed significant increases in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels and significant pathologic changes such as glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis. CoQ10 supplementation resulted in significant reductions of BUN and creatinine levels compared with the RT + placebo group (P < 0.001 and P = 0.038, respectively). CoQ10 treatment significantly attenuated glomerular and tubular changes of irradiated kidney in semiquantitative analysis (P < 0.001 for both). Administration of CoQ10 can alleviate the radiation-induced nephropathy.
Abdominal Cavity ; Animals ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Kidney ; Rats* ; Soybean Oil ; Whole-Body Irradiation

Background: A healthcare system’s collapse due to a pandemic, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can expose healthcare workers (HCWs) to various mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the depression and anxiety of HCWs. Methods: A nationwide questionnaire-based survey was conducted on HCWs who worked in healthcare facilities and public health centers in Korea in December 2020. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to measure depression and anxiety. To investigate factors associated with depression and anxiety, stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 1,425 participating HCWs were included. The mean depression score (PHQ-9) of HCWs before and after COVID-19 increased from 2.37 to 5.39, and the mean anxiety score (GAD-7) increased from 1.41 to 3.41. The proportion of HCWs with moderate to severe depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) increased from 3.8% before COVID-19 to 19.5% after COVID-19, whereas that of HCWs with moderate to severe anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) increased from 2.0% to 10.1%. In our study, insomnia, chronic fatigue symptoms and physical symptoms after COVID-19, anxiety score (GAD-7) after COVID-19, living alone, and exhaustion were positively correlated with depression. Furthermore, post-traumatic stress symptoms, stress score (Global Assessment of Recent Stress), depression score (PHQ-9) after COVID-19, and exhaustion were positively correlated with anxiety. Conclusion In Korea, during the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs commonly suffered from mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Regularly checking the physical and mental health problems of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial, and social support and strategy are needed to reduce the heavy workload and psychological distress of HCWs.