PURPOSE: The authors sought to assess the usefulness of navigation as opposed to the conventional method by analyzing the radiographic results obtained from subjects who underwent total knee arthroplasty for knees that were accompanied with anatomic variations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study subjects were selected from 53 patients (a total 72 cases: 43 were treated by the conventional method and 29 were treated by the navigational method) who exhibited radiographic evidence of distal femoral varus (<0degrees) or proximal tibial varus (>2degrees). The coronal femoral component angle (alpha) and the coronal tibial component angle (beta) were measured, and the femoral component position in relation to the mechanical axis (theta) and the post-operative weight-bearing mechanical axis difference (MAD) were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: The navigation method showed significant better results in terms of the alpha, theta and MAD (p<0.05). Among the outliers greater than 3degrees, a statistically significant difference was shown only for the MAD (p=0.030). CONCLUSION: Navigation surgery is useful in terms of the femoral component's position in the coronal plane and limb alignment in the osteoarthritic knee that is accompanied by distal femoral varus or proximal tibial varus.
Adenine Nucleotides ; Anatomic Variation ; Arthroplasty ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Extremities ; Humans ; Knee ; Mycophenolic Acid ; Weight-Bearing

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to establish a measurement standard for the weight-bearing axial alignment of the lower extremities when performing a lower extremity reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 274 patients (147 males and 127 females) in their 20s to 30s without any physical disabilities, and who had undergone weight-bearing full leg standing radiographs, 188 patients (100 males and 88 females) were examined this study. The data was analyzed further according to their age and gender using the radiographic value on the coronal and sagittal alignment of the lower extremities. RESULTS: The weight bearing ratio was 38.47+/-10.52% on the coronal plane and 36.11+/-7.88% on the sagittal plane. Both the mechanical axis and the the weight bearing axis were not identical due to their 0.68+/-0.89degrees difference on average. The most adjacent point of the femoral condyles to the tibial plateau on the sagittal plane was assigned to the center of the knee joint. The difference between the mechanical axis and weight bearing axis was 0.04degrees, which was not significant. CONCLUSION: There is a difference between the mechanical axis, which consists of both a line from the center of the femoral head to the center of knee joint and a line from the center of the knee joint to the center of ankle joint, and the weight bearing axis, which is linked directly from the center of the femoral head to the center of the ankle joint. Furthermore, the weight bearing axis passes through the anteromedial part in the knee joint. The center of the knee joint is defined as the most adjacent point of both femoral condyle to the tibial plateau on the sagittal plane.
Adult ; Ankle Joint ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Head ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Leg ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Weight-Bearing

Objective: To improve our understanding of EPEC, this study focused on analyzing and comparing the genomic characteristics of EPEC isolates from humans and companion animals in Korea. Methods: The whole genome of 26 EPEC isolates from patients with diarrhea and 20 EPEC isolates from companion animals in Korea were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq X (Illumina, USA) and Oxford Nanopore MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK) platforms. Results: Most isolates were atypical EPEC, and did not harbor the bfpA gene. The most prevalent virulence genes were found to be ompT (humans: 61.5%; companion animals:60.0%) followed by lpfA (humans: 46.2%; companion animals: 60.0%). Although pangenome analyses showed no apparent correlation among the origin of the strains, virulence profiles, and antimicrobial resistance profiles, isolates included in clade A obtained from both humans and companion animals exhibited high similarity. Additionally, all the isolates included in clade A encoded the ompT gene and did not encode the hlyE gene. The two isolates from companion animals harbored an incomplete bundle-forming pilus region encoding bfpA and bfpB. Moreover, the type IV secretion system-associated genes tra and trb were found in the bfpA-encoding isolates from humans. Conclusions and Relevance: Whole-genome sequencing enabled a more accurate analysis of the phylogenetic structure of EPEC and provided better insights into the understanding of EPEC epidemiology and pathogenicity.

Objective: To improve our understanding of EPEC, this study focused on analyzing and comparing the genomic characteristics of EPEC isolates from humans and companion animals in Korea. Methods: The whole genome of 26 EPEC isolates from patients with diarrhea and 20 EPEC isolates from companion animals in Korea were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq X (Illumina, USA) and Oxford Nanopore MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK) platforms. Results: Most isolates were atypical EPEC, and did not harbor the bfpA gene. The most prevalent virulence genes were found to be ompT (humans: 61.5%; companion animals:60.0%) followed by lpfA (humans: 46.2%; companion animals: 60.0%). Although pangenome analyses showed no apparent correlation among the origin of the strains, virulence profiles, and antimicrobial resistance profiles, isolates included in clade A obtained from both humans and companion animals exhibited high similarity. Additionally, all the isolates included in clade A encoded the ompT gene and did not encode the hlyE gene. The two isolates from companion animals harbored an incomplete bundle-forming pilus region encoding bfpA and bfpB. Moreover, the type IV secretion system-associated genes tra and trb were found in the bfpA-encoding isolates from humans. Conclusions and Relevance: Whole-genome sequencing enabled a more accurate analysis of the phylogenetic structure of EPEC and provided better insights into the understanding of EPEC epidemiology and pathogenicity.

Objective: To improve our understanding of EPEC, this study focused on analyzing and comparing the genomic characteristics of EPEC isolates from humans and companion animals in Korea. Methods: The whole genome of 26 EPEC isolates from patients with diarrhea and 20 EPEC isolates from companion animals in Korea were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq X (Illumina, USA) and Oxford Nanopore MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK) platforms. Results: Most isolates were atypical EPEC, and did not harbor the bfpA gene. The most prevalent virulence genes were found to be ompT (humans: 61.5%; companion animals:60.0%) followed by lpfA (humans: 46.2%; companion animals: 60.0%). Although pangenome analyses showed no apparent correlation among the origin of the strains, virulence profiles, and antimicrobial resistance profiles, isolates included in clade A obtained from both humans and companion animals exhibited high similarity. Additionally, all the isolates included in clade A encoded the ompT gene and did not encode the hlyE gene. The two isolates from companion animals harbored an incomplete bundle-forming pilus region encoding bfpA and bfpB. Moreover, the type IV secretion system-associated genes tra and trb were found in the bfpA-encoding isolates from humans. Conclusions and Relevance: Whole-genome sequencing enabled a more accurate analysis of the phylogenetic structure of EPEC and provided better insights into the understanding of EPEC epidemiology and pathogenicity.

Objective: To improve our understanding of EPEC, this study focused on analyzing and comparing the genomic characteristics of EPEC isolates from humans and companion animals in Korea. Methods: The whole genome of 26 EPEC isolates from patients with diarrhea and 20 EPEC isolates from companion animals in Korea were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq X (Illumina, USA) and Oxford Nanopore MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK) platforms. Results: Most isolates were atypical EPEC, and did not harbor the bfpA gene. The most prevalent virulence genes were found to be ompT (humans: 61.5%; companion animals:60.0%) followed by lpfA (humans: 46.2%; companion animals: 60.0%). Although pangenome analyses showed no apparent correlation among the origin of the strains, virulence profiles, and antimicrobial resistance profiles, isolates included in clade A obtained from both humans and companion animals exhibited high similarity. Additionally, all the isolates included in clade A encoded the ompT gene and did not encode the hlyE gene. The two isolates from companion animals harbored an incomplete bundle-forming pilus region encoding bfpA and bfpB. Moreover, the type IV secretion system-associated genes tra and trb were found in the bfpA-encoding isolates from humans. Conclusions and Relevance: Whole-genome sequencing enabled a more accurate analysis of the phylogenetic structure of EPEC and provided better insights into the understanding of EPEC epidemiology and pathogenicity.

Quality control (QC) processes are being performed in the majority of clinical microbiology laboratories to ensure the performance of microbial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing by using ATCC strains. To obtain these ATCC strains, some inconveniences are encountered concerning the purchase cost of the strains and the shipping time required. This study was focused on constructing a database of reference strains for QC processes using domestic bacterial strains, concentrating primarily on antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Three strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus) that showed legible results in preliminary testing were selected. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and zone diameters (ZDs) of eight antimicrobials for each strain were determined according to the CLSI M23. All resulting MIC and ZD ranges included at least 95% of the data. The ZD QC ranges obtained by using the CLSI method were less than 12 mm, and the MIC QC ranges extended no more than five dilutions. This study is a preliminary attempt to construct a bank of Korean QC strains. With further studies, a positive outcome toward cost and time reduction can be anticipated.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Escherichia coli/*drug effects ; Humans ; Laboratories ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests/*methods ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/*drug effects ; Quality Control ; Reference Values ; Republic of Korea ; Staining and Labeling ; Staphylococcus aureus/*drug effects