PURPOSE: This report compared the diagnostic effectiveness between ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) and gadolinium (Gd) based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for differentiation of axillary status in breast cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present authors performed a meta-analysis of previous studies that compared USPIO or Gd based MRI with histological diagnosis after surgery or biopsy. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Ovid databases and references of articles to identify studies reporting data until December 2013. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated for every study; summary receiver operating characteristic and subgroup analysis was done. Analyses of study quality and heterogeneity were also assessed. RESULTS: There were 14 publications that met the criteria for inclusion in our metaanalysis. USPIO based MRI showed 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75-0.89) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94-0.98) for pooled sensitivity and specificity, respectively. Gd based MRI represented pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.55-0.67) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87-0.92) for each. Overall weighted area under the curve for USPIO and Gd based MRI were 0.9563 and 0.9051, respectively. CONCLUSION: USPIO based MRI had a tendency toward high pooled sensitivity and specificity in detection of axillary metastases for breast cancer. This result may mean that USPIO based MRI could be used as complementary modality to differentiate axillary status more precisely, and assist in the decision-making process regarding possible invasive procedures, such as sentinel node biopsy.
Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Diagnosis ; Gadolinium* ; Humans ; Iron ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Nanoparticles ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Population Characteristics ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify factors which influence mental health of firefighters. METHODS: Participants in this study were firefighters from D city who were doing activities like extinguishing fire or rescuing sufferer at fire or accident scenes. A survey was conducted from September 14 to 24, 2010. Research tools were perception of job stress, problems-focused coping, seeking social support, emotion-focused coping, and wishful thinking coping which are sub-domain of coping stress, and SCL-90-R. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 14.0, and included t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe back-testing. Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression were also conducted to identify factors influencing mental health. RESULTS: Mental health was positively correlated with perception of job stress, emotion-focused coping, and wishful thinking coping. Effective variables were perception of job stress (beta=.38, p<.001), emotion-focused coping (beta=.28, p<.001), and problemfocused coping (beta=-.15, p=.012). These variables explained 26% of the variance in mental health. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that improvements in problem-focused coping and decreases in perception of job stress and emotion-focused coping are important in promoting the mental health of firefighters.
Firefighters* ; Fires ; Humans ; Mental Health* ; Thinking

Catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma is rarely reported. We report a case of catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma in a 33-month-old female that was treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). She was tentatively diagnosed with acute myocarditis and presented with hypertension. Because of rapid patient deterioration despite pharmacological treatments, ECMO was applied. ECMO can be helpful in cases of catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma.
Cardiomyopathies* ; Catecholamines ; Child, Preschool ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Myocarditis ; Neuroblastoma*

OBJECTIVES: Electrocardiogram (ECG) data are important for the study of cardiovascular disease and adverse drug reactions. Although the development of analytical techniques such as machine learning has improved our ability to extract useful information from ECGs, there is a lack of easily available ECG data for research purposes. We previously published an article on a database of ECG parameters and related clinical data (ECG-ViEW), which we have now updated with additional 12-lead waveform information. METHODS: All ECGs stored in portable document format (PDF) were collected from a tertiary teaching hospital in Korea over a 23-year study period. We developed software which can extract all ECG parameters and waveform information from the ECG reports in PDF format and stored it in a database (meta data) and a text file (raw waveform). RESULTS: Our database includes all parameters (ventricular rate, PR interval, QRS duration, QT/QTc interval, P-R-T axes, and interpretations) and 12-lead waveforms (for leads I, II, III, aVR, aVL, aVF, V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, and V6) from 1,039,550 ECGs (from 447,445 patients). Demographics, drug exposure data, diagnosis history, and laboratory test results (serum calcium, magnesium, and potassium levels) were also extracted from electronic medical records and linked to the ECG information. CONCLUSIONS: Electrocardiogram information that includes 12 lead waveforms was extracted and transformed into a form that can be analyzed. The description and programming codes in this case report could be a reference for other researchers to build ECG databases using their own local ECG repository.
Calcium ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Demography ; Diagnosis ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Electrocardiography* ; Electronic Health Records ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Korea ; Machine Learning ; Magnesium ; Potassium

Catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma is rarely reported. We report a case of catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma in a 33-month-old female that was treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). She was tentatively diagnosed with acute myocarditis and presented with hypertension. Because of rapid patient deterioration despite pharmacological treatments, ECMO was applied. ECMO can be helpful in cases of catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy associated with neuroblastoma.
Cardiomyopathies ; Catecholamines ; Child, Preschool ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Myocarditis ; Neuroblastoma