Background: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been widely used as an effective medical treatment for pain and for postoperative analgesia. However, improper dose errors in intravenous (IV) administration of narcotic analgesics from a PCA infusion pump can cause patient harm. Furthermore, opioid overdose is considered one of the highest risk factors for patients receiving pain medications. Therefore, accurate delivery of opioid analgesics is a critical function of PCA infusion pumps. Methods: We designed a microbalance method that consisted of a closed acrylic chamber containing a layer and an oil layer with an electronic balance. A commercially available infusion analyzer (IDA-5, Fluke Co., Everett, WA, USA) was used to measure the accuracy of the infusion flow rate from a commercially available smart PCA infusion pump (PS-1000, UNIMEDICS, Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) and compared with the results of the microbalance method. We evaluated the uncertainty of the flow rate measurement using the ISO guide (GUM:1995 part3). The battery life, delay time of the occlusion alarm, and bolus function of the PCA pump were also tested. Results: The microbalance method was good in the short-term 2 h measurement, and IDA-5 was good in the long-term 24 h measurement. The two measurement systems can complement each other in the case of the measurement time. Regarding battery performance, PS-1000 lasted approximately 5 days in a 1 ml/hr flow rate condition without recharging the battery. The occlusion pressure alarm delays of PS-1000 satisfied the conventional alarm threshold of occlusion pressure (300-800 mmHg). Average accuracy bolus volume was measured as 63%, 95%, and 98.5% with 0.1 ml, 1 ml, and 2 ml bolus volume presets, respectively. A 1 ml/hr flow rate measurement was evaluated as 2.08% of expanded uncertainty, with a 95% confidence level. Conclusion PS-1000 showed a flow accuracy to be within the infusion pump standard, which is ± 5% of flow accuracy. Occlusion alarm of PS-1000 was quickly transmitted, resulting in better safety for patients receiving IV infusion of opioids. PS-1000 is sufficient for a portable smart PCA infusion pump.

Purpose: This study evaluated aggressive hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) by understanding various exposure routes of acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, the risk factors causing acute cardiovascular, and neurological toxicity caused by poisoning. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted based on the medical records of 417 acute CO poisoning patients who visited the emergency care unit from March 2017 to August 2019. The exposure routes, HBOT performance, age, sex, medical history (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, heart failure), intentionality, loss of consciousness (LOC), intake with alcohol or sedatives, and initial test results (carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), troponin- I, electrocardiography, echocardiography, brain MRI) were examined. Comparative analysis of the clinical information was conducted between the groups that showed acute cardiovascular toxicity and neurological toxicity, and groups that did not. Results: Among 417 patients diagnosed with acute CO poisoning, 201 cases (48.2%) were intentional, and charcoal briquette was the most common route (169 patients (40.5%)). Two hundred sixteen cases (51.8%) were accidental, and fire was the most common route (135 patients (32.4%)). The exposure route was more diverse with accidental poisoning. Three hundred ninety-nine patients were studied for acute cardiovascular toxicity, and 62 patients (15.5%) were confirmed to be positive. The result was statistically significant in intentionality, LOC, combined sedatives, initial COHb, HTN, and IHD. One hundred two patients were studied for acute neurological toxicity, which was observed in 26 patients (25.5%). The result was statistically significant in age and LOC. Conclusion Active HBOT should be performed to minimize damage to the major organs by identifying the various exposure routes of CO poisoning, risk factors for acute cardiovascular toxicity (intentionality, LOC, combined sedatives, initial COHb, HTN, IHD), and the risk factors for acute neurological toxicity (age, LOC).

One of the most significant risk factors for prostate cancer (PC) is a family history of the disease, with germ-line mutations in the breast cancer predisposition gene (BRCA) 2 conferring the highest risk. We here report a 56-year-old man presented with painful gait disturbance and diagnosed PC with multiple disseminated bone metastases. The patient had a strong family history of breast cancer with his 2 nieces affected. Furthermore, his aunts and uncles from both sides were diagnosed with stomach, ovarian, and colorectal cancers. His genomic sequencing analysis of the BRCA genes revealed the same BRCA2 deleterious mutation that his breast cancer-affected nieces carried. Previous studies have suggested that BRCA2-mutated PC is associated with a more aggressive phenotype and poor prognosis. Our experience in the present case also indicated the urgent needs for novel treatment modality and PC screening in this high-risk group of patients.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Gait ; Germ-Line Mutation ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Phenotype ; Prognosis ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Neoplasms* ; Risk Factors ; Stomach

We report a case of vaginal leiomyoma in a female patient, which presented with a palpable paraurethral mass with several urinary symptoms such as frequency, urgency and dysuria. The physical examination revealed a localized, mobile, nontender mass in the anterior vaginal wall. Pelvic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed a malignant-looking vaginal mass co-existing with multiple uterine leiomyomas. The diagnosis was made through transvaginal ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. The surgical excision was accomplished without any complication. Despite the rarity, a few cases of malignant lesion presented with paraurethral mass were previously reported. The surgical excision and pathological confirmation of the benignancy is necessary.
Biopsy, Needle ; Diagnosis ; Dysuria ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Physical Examination

Eisenmenger's syndrome describes the elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure to the systemic level caused by an increased pulmonary vascular resistance with reversed or bi-directional shunt through an intracardiac or aortopulmonary communication. We report the case of 48-year-old woman with an elective total hip replacement arthroplasty for right femur neck fracture with Eisenmenger's syndrome secondary to large atrial septal defect. Anesthesia was induced with etomidate and rocuronium, maintained with desflurane 5 vol% and O₂ 3 L/min. Mirinone and norepinephrine were infused continuously to decrease right to left shunt. The patient was extubated after spontaneous breathing recovery and transferred to the intensive care unit. She was treated with mirinone, norepinephrine, dopamine, and dobutamine for hypoxemia and hypotension. After 3 hours of admission to intensive care unit, the patient had a cardiac arrest and died 30 minutes later.
Anesthesia ; Anoxia ; Arterial Pressure ; Arthroplasty ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip* ; Dobutamine ; Dopamine ; Eisenmenger Complex* ; Etomidate ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures ; Heart Arrest ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Hypotension ; Intensive Care Units ; Middle Aged ; Norepinephrine ; Respiration ; Vascular Resistance

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to analyze the clinical usefulness of mycophenolic acid trough concentration monitoring in kidney transplantation patients who were maintained with cyclosporine. METHODS: The data of patients who underwent mycophenolic acid trough concentration monitoring after their first kidney transplant between November 2006 and August 2013 and were prescribed with cyclosporine, mycophenolate, and methylprednisolone were reviewed retrospectively. Cox analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for acute rejection within 1 year post-transplantation. RESULTS: Among 90 patients, 41 (45.6%) achieved both the target levels of cyclosporine and mycophenolic acid, while three patients (3.3%) failed to achieve the target level of either cyclosporine or mycophenolic acid. Nine patients (10.0%) only achieved the mycophenolic acid target level and 37 patients (41.1%) only achieved the cyclosporine target level. While patients who achieved only the mycophenolic acid target concentration had no statistically increased risk compared to patients who achieved both target levels (hazard ratio [HR], 1.569; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.316 to 7.778; P=0.581), patients who only achieved the cyclosporine target concentration showed an increased risk of rejection compared to the both achievement group (HR, 4.112; 95% CI, 1.583 to 10.683; P=0.004). Patients who had no achievement in the target levels showed significantly increased rejection risk compared to the patients who achieved both target levels (HR, 17.811; 95% CI, 3.072 to 103.28; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Mycophenolic acid trough concentration monitoring combined with cyclosporine trough concentration monitoring is useful for avoiding acute cellular rejection if the first 1 year post-transplantation.
Cyclosporine* ; Drug Monitoring ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Kidney* ; Methylprednisolone ; Mycophenolic Acid* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the prognostic roles of several immune-related laboratory parameters in patients with metastatic kidney and bladder cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Materials and Methods: Overall, 36 patients with either metastatic bladder (N=18) or kidney cancer (N=18) were enrolled retrospectively. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival according to the pretherapeutic serum De Ritis ratio (DRR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and albumin level after ICI treatment, were analyzed. Treatment duration was adjusted using Contal and O’Quigley’s method to explore the cutoff and maximize the log-rank test statistic. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the laboratory parameters. Results: A total of 9 patients received a combination therapy of multiple ICIs (N=9) and targeted agents (N=7). The median NLR, DRR, and albumin level at baseline were 1.7, 1.2, and 4.2 mg/dL, respectively. In the univariable analysis, combination of immunotherapies, total ICI cycles, baseline DRR, and albumin level were significant for PFS. Sex ratio, total ICI cycles, and baseline NLR and DRR were significant for cancer-specific survival (CSS). DRR and albumin levels, which were measured for up to 10 cycles, were significant in PFS and CSS. NLR was additionally significant in CSS. After adjusting total ICI cycles, DRR was significant in PFS and CSS, albumin level was significant only in PFS, and NLR was significant only in CSS in the multivariable analysis. Conclusions NLR, DRR, and albumin level are significant factors associated with the survival of patients with metastatic kidney and bladder cancer treated with ICI.

PURPOSE: The Gleason score of needle biopsies of the prostate and preoperative serum level of prostate-specific antigen(PSA) are two useful factors in predicting the final pathological staging of patients with prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy. Unfortunately, the Gleason score of the biopsy cores often differs from the Gleason score of radical prostatectomy specimen. We evaluated the role of Gleason scores of biopsy cores and the influence of PSA in predicting the Gleason scores of prostatectomy specimens and final pathological staging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 52 patients with prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy from June 1990 to June 1997 were reviewed. The patients were divided into three groups according to the sum of the Gleason scores, i.e. well differentiated(Gleason score 2-4), intermediate(5-7) and poorly differentiated tumors(8-10). The concordance between Gleason score of biopsy and prostatectomy specimen was analysed according to the Gleason score of tumor in biopsy specimen. Furthermore, we evaluated the different level of PSA could affect the concordance rate between Gleason scoreofbiopsyandprostatectomyspecimen. RESULTS: In well-differentiated tumors(Gleason score 2-4) in biopsy specimen, the concordance rate was 55.6%, In intermediate(5-7) differentiated cancers the Gleason score remained the same in 68%. In poorly differentiated tumors, the concordance rate was 72.2%. When PSA was less than 10ng/m1, concordance rate of well differentiated tumors and poorly differentiated tumors was 75%, 40%, respectively. Whereas the concordance rate of well differentiated tumors was 50% and that of poorly differentiated tumors was 90% when the PSA was higher than 20ng/m1. Using linear regression analysis, the preoperative PSA highly correlated with radical prostatectomy Gleason score(correlation coefficient(r)=0.38, p =0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The Gleason score of prostatectomy specimen was upgraded in 44.4% when the biopsy Gleason score was well differentiated, especially when preoperative PSA was higher than 20ng/m1. Therefore, the significance of biopsy Gleason score in the clinical application must be used cautiously when it is used to predict the pathological stage or biological potential of the cancer especially when it is low Gleason score with high PSA( > 20ng/m1). In the meantime, the level of PSA plays an significant role in determining organ confined disease, while high Gleason scone reflect the Iymph node positive disease.
Biopsy* ; Biopsy, Needle ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Neoplasm Grading* ; Prostate ; Prostatectomy* ; Prostatic Neoplasms

PURPOSE: The study was aimed to determine the correlations of tissue-based biomarker expressions between primary and metastatic specimens of renal cell carcinoma and with several well-known prognostic clinicopathological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the expression levels of 9 tissue-based markers calculated in H-score expressed by percentage of expression multiplied by the intensity score (0, 1, 2, and 3 points). Using 17 patients' 38 specimens paired with primary renal lesion and its metastatic lesions collected between 2004 and 2015, Tissue microarray with IHC was performed with BAP1, PBRM1, pS6, PTEN, TGase2, PD-L1, CA9, PSMA, and Ki-67 on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections. Pearson correlation and accuracy test were performed to analyze the correlation between primary and metastatic tissues. RESULTS: The 17 patients' mean age was 56.9 years old, mean tumor size was 7.9 cm, and the male to female ratio was 13:4 (76.5%:23.5%), respectively. Three patients had 2, 3, and 3 metastatic tissues, and the rest of 14 patients had only one metastatic tissue. The H-score (PSMA and Ki67) and intensity score (pS6 and PSMA) showed that some differential significant markers were identified which had statistical correlations of expression levels between primary and metastatic lesions among 9 markers. However, no real correlation of PSMA, Ki67, and pS6 markers were found their expressions of between primary and metastatic tissues because of their skewed expressions. CONCLUSIONS: Tissue markers failed to correlate their expression levels in primary lesions with those of metastatic lesions.
Biomarkers* ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma (MTSCC) is a rare type of kidney tumor that has only been recently described. Furthermore, a case of MTSCC associated with a simultaneous lung cancer in the same patient has never been reported in the literature. In this paper, we describe a kidney tumor that was detected during staging work-up in a 72-year-old lung cancer patient. The kidney tumor was removed and shown to exhibit histological and immunophenotypic features of MTSCC, completely distinct from the pulmonary adenocarcinoma. In addition, this case was unique because it was characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation as well as p53 and Ki-67 overexpression in tumor cells. Therefore, we report a case of MTSCC diagnosed in a patient with pulmonary adenocarcinoma and describe the detailed histologic and immunohistochemical features of MTSCC.
Adenocarcinoma ; Lung Neoplasms