Traditionally, radical hysterectomy is the main surgical method for the treatment of early cervical carcinoma and always results in the loss of fertility. But, large numbers of young women are recently being diagnosed with cervical carcinoma and fertility preservation has become a concern. So, there has been a move towards more conservative approaches for the treatment of cervical carcinoma in recent years. Radical trachelectomy, which allows preservation of uterus but removes the cervix, parametrium and upper one third of the vagina, is a conservative but locally radical procedure. We performed radical abdominal trachelectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy for two cases of invasive cervical carcinomas, which may be the first report in korea. One patient was 37 years old single women who had stage Ib cervical cancer and was disease free for 17 months after treatment. The other patient was 19 years old student who was also single and had stage IIa cervical cancer and was disease free for 14 months after treatment. We report the first two cases and review the literature on radical trachelectomy.
Adult ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Fertility ; Fertility Preservation ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Korea ; Lymph Node Excision* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Uterus ; Vagina ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Motorcycles are one of the important members of commercial transportation because of the convenient use during congested traffic conditions and the ease of parking in narrow streets. This study investigates the characteristics of crashes and traffic signal violations caused by motorcycle couriers. METHODS: From the national compensation data, this study analyzed the traffic crashes caused by 671 motorcycle couriers. RESULTS: Among 671 injured couriers, 50.6% were aged less than 40 years, 49.2% run in a small business of < 5 employees, and 47.2% had work experience of < 6 months. Motorcycle crashes occurred mainly due to “rider overturned alone” (67.5%), in the daytime (73.5%), or on cloudy or clear days (77.2%). However, the violation rate caused by motorcycle couriers was high in couriers in a small business of < 5 employees (13.9%), with work experience of < 6 months (13.9%), on cloudy or clear days (12.4%), on an intersection (29.8%), in the type of “crash with a vehicle” (31.2%), or in a death accident (35.7%). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study can be used as a baseline in devising policies for preventing crashes of motorcycle couriers.
Compensation and Redress ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Motorcycles ; Occupational Injuries ; Small Business ; Transportation

Anti-N-methyl-D aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is often accompanied with ovarian teratomas. It has a variety of clinical manifestations including psychiatric symptoms, seizure, and motor dysfunctions. The diagnosis can be definite when clinical symptoms are present and anti-NMDAR antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid are detected. However, in patients with suspected anti-NMDAR encephalitis with teratomas, early surgery may help the clinical outcome even if the antibodies are initially negative. The authors report a patient whose clinical symptoms improved significantly after early removal of teratoma.

BACKGROUND: It has been known that a patient head in sniffing position for lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation is not an anatomically appropriate method. However, there is no evidence nor study whether it is true or not. In this study, we compared success rates of lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation in neutral position versus sniffing position. METHODS: With informed consent, sixty adult patients of ASA physical status I or II were randomly allocated into two groups: neutral position (N) or sniffing position (S) group. A lightwand and tube were bent at approximately a 90degrees degree angle for N group and a 60 degree angle for S group on the basis of mouth axis and pharyngeal axis. The time to intubation, success rates of 1st trial of intubation, overall intubation success rates, hemodynamic changes and complications during the procedure were recorded. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the time to intubation, success rates of 1st trial of intubation, overall intubation success rates, hemodynamic changes and complications between neutral position and sniffing position groups. CONCLUSIONS: Success rates of lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation in neutral position versus sniffing position showed no significant difference. Therefore, both positions are suitable for lightwand assisted intubation.
Adult ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Head* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Intubation* ; Mouth

BACKGROUND: It has been known that a patient head in sniffing position for lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation is not an anatomically appropriate method. However, there is no evidence nor study whether it is true or not. In this study, we compared success rates of lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation in neutral position versus sniffing position. METHODS: With informed consent, sixty adult patients of ASA physical status I or II were randomly allocated into two groups: neutral position (N) or sniffing position (S) group. A lightwand and tube were bent at approximately a 90degrees degree angle for N group and a 60 degree angle for S group on the basis of mouth axis and pharyngeal axis. The time to intubation, success rates of 1st trial of intubation, overall intubation success rates, hemodynamic changes and complications during the procedure were recorded. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the time to intubation, success rates of 1st trial of intubation, overall intubation success rates, hemodynamic changes and complications between neutral position and sniffing position groups. CONCLUSIONS: Success rates of lightwand facilitated tracheal intubation in neutral position versus sniffing position showed no significant difference. Therefore, both positions are suitable for lightwand assisted intubation.
Adult ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Head* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Intubation* ; Mouth

BACKGROUND: Paradoxical embolism through the patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a well-recognized mechanism for otherwise unexplained ischemic stroke. Although transthoracic contrast echocardiography (TCE) has been used frequently for noninvasive diagnosis of right to left shunt through PFO, its diagnostic accuracy appears limited, especially in patients with poor acoustic window. Since harmonic imaging (HI) can enhance the definition of contrast microbubbles, theoretical advantages of HI in the detection of right to left shunt through PFO using microbubbles can be considered. However, there are few data regarding the diagnostic efficacy of HI in the detection of right to left shunt through PFO. The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of transthoracic HI in the detection of right to left shunt through PFO in patients with stroke with that of fundamental imaging (FI). Methods: One hundred thirty-six consecutive patients with stroke (82 male, mean age:9) underwent TCE in both HI and FI and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during rest and Valsalva maneuver with intravenous administration of agitated saline. PFO was judged to be present if microbubbles appeared in the left atrium within 3 cardiac cycles of their appearance in the right atrium. TEE was regarded as the gold standard for assessing the diagnostic accuracy of TCE. Results: Right to left shunt through PFO was detected in 40 of 136 patients by TEE (29.4%). FI of TCE detected shunt through PFO in only 9 of 136 patients (6.6%). In contrast, HI detected shunt through PFO in 25 of 136 patients (18.4%). The overall sensitivity and specificity of FI and HI for detection of right to left shunt through PFO were 22.5%, 62.5% (p<0.05) and 100%, 100%, respectively. Valsalva maneuver during HI significantly increased the detection rate of shunt through PFO (during rest in 9 and during Valsalva maneuver in 25, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: HI with contrast microbubble injection significantly enhanced the detection of right to left shunt through PFO in patients with ischemic stroke compared with FI by transthoracic approach.
Acoustics ; Administration, Intravenous ; Diagnosis ; Dihydroergotamine ; Echocardiography* ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Embolism, Paradoxical ; Foramen Ovale, Patent* ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Male ; Microbubbles ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stroke ; Valsalva Maneuver

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Several randomized controlled studies have shown that responders who had treated with interferon alpha for chronic hepatitis B had better rate of sustained loss of HBeAg and HBV DNA than non-esponders. These studies also showed that non-esponders had higher rates of liver related complication and mortality. But there is very little data on how well sustained responders are and whether the responders eventually lose HBsAg in Korea. The aims of this study were to better define the long term remission of chronic hepatitis B induced by interferon alfa therapy and compare the clinical outcome among the interferon responders and non-esponders in Korea. METHODS: Sixty-ight patients with chronic hepatitis B who were treated with interferon alfa between 1987 and 1998 were followed up for serologic status (HBsAg, HBeAg, HBV DNA), biochemical tests and liver related complication or mortality. RESULTS: Among 68 patients with chronic hepatitis B who were treated with interferon alfa, 28 (41%) responded to treatment with loss of HBeAg within 1 year of starting treatment. Up to 129 months (mean 58 months) after therapy, responders had higher rate of cumulative clearance of HBeAg at five years than non-esponders (100% vs 35.1%, p<0.05). Responders had maintained the normal serum ALT than nonresponders at five years (94% vs 55.6%, p<0.05). Loss of HBsAg was not different between responders and non-esponders (5% vs 4%, NS). The rates of liver related complication and mortality did not differ between both groups. Delayed clearance of HBeAg occured in twelve out of forty non-esponders (30%). There were no differences in age, baseline ALT, histologic finding of liver biopsy, HBV DNA at the end of first year after study with IFN therapy between the non-esponders with and without delayed clearance of HBeAg. CONCLUSION: Remission in chronic hepatitis B induced by alfa interferon maintained in long duration. But clinical outcomes such as liver related complication, mortality and the elimination of HBV infection have no differences between responders and non-esponders. Further studies are needed for the role of interferon therapy in long-erm clinical outcome for chronic hepatitis B.
Biopsy ; DNA ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha* ; Interferons* ; Korea ; Liver ; Mortality

BACKGROUND: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has unstable pharmacokinetics and requires close monitoring. The activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) test has been used to monitor UFH therapy for decades in Korea, but its results can be affected by numerous variables. We established an aPTT heparin therapeutic range (HTR) corresponding to therapeutic anti-Xa levels for continuous intravenous UFH administration, and used appropriate monitoring to determine if an adequate dose of UFH was applied. METHODS: A total of 134 ex vivo samples were obtained from 71 patients with a variety of thromboembolisms. All patients received intravenous UFH therapy and were enrolled from June to September 2015 at Gyeongsang National University Hospital. All laboratory protocols were in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines and the College of American Pathologist requirements for aPTT HTR. RESULTS: An aPTT range of 87.1 sec to 128.7 sec corresponded to anti-Xa levels of 0.3 IU/mL to 0.7 IU/mL for HTR under our laboratory conditions. Based on their anti-Xa levels, blood specimen distribution were as follows: less than 0.3 IU/mL, 65.7%; 0.3–0.7 IU/mL (therapeutic range), 33.6%; and more than 0.7 IU/mL, 0.7%. No evidence of recurring thromboembolism was observed. CONCLUSION: Using the conventional aPTT target range may lead to inappropriate dosing of UFH. Transitioning from the aPTT test to the anti-Xa assay is required to avoid the laborious validation of the aPTT HTR test, even though the anti-Xa assay is more expensive.
Heparin* ; Humans ; Korea ; Partial Thromboplastin Time ; Pharmacokinetics ; Thromboembolism

No abstract available.
Health Surveys* ; Smoke* ; Smoking*

Purpose: To compare perioperative outcomes according to surgical methods among bladder cancer patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) with neobladder urinary diversion. Materials and Methods: Between June 2007 and January 2020, 89 bladder cancer patients who received RC with neobladder urinary diversion were enrolled in this study. Patients were stratified into surgical methods – (1) open RC with neobladder (ONB) reconstruction, (2) robotassisted RC (RARC) with extracorporeal neobladder (ECNB) reconstruction, and (3) RARC with intracorporeal neobladder (ICNB) reconstruction. Perioperative outcomes were compared among the 3 groups, with major complications defined according to Clavien-Dindo grades III–V within 90 days. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify significant factors for postoperative complications. Results: Of 89 patients, 28 (31%) had ONB, 31 (35%) had ECNB, and 30 (34%) had ICNB. The median operative time was 471 minutes, and the ICNB group (424.5 minutes) was significantly less than ONB (444.5 minutes) and ECNB groups (542.9 minutes) (p=0.001). Transfusion rate was also significantly less in the ICNB group (13%) (p=0.001). Complications were recorded in 67 patients (75%) and major complications in 22 of all patients (25%). The major complication rate was significantly less in ICNB (13.4%) than in ONB (25%) and ECNB (35%) (p=0.003). Multivariate analysis showed surgical methods (ICNB) (odds ratio [OR], 0.709; p=0.003) and age (OR, 1.150; p=0.001) were significant factors related to occurrence of major postoperative complications. Conclusions RARC with ICNB reduces postoperative complications compared to ONB and ECNB.