BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) is a clinical syndrome of unknown causes characterized by inflammat.ion and multisystem involvement. Since Hargravas describe the LE cell in 1948, a profound change has occured in the concept of SLE. Many studies of the large series have been reported in the West, but few collective studies have been reported in Korea. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to elucidate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of SLE in Korean people. METHODS: We carried out retrospective study of 64 patients, who were diagnosed as SLE on the base of the 1982 revised bacteria for the SLE by American Collepe of Rheumatology(formerly, American Rheumatism Association), at Korea University Hospital from 1982 to 1991. The results were compared with those of previous studies in Korea and western countries. RESULTS: 1. In 64 patients with SLE, female patients outnumbered male by 6.1 to 1 and the mean age of onset was 28.6 years. 2. The initial manifestations were arthritis or arthralgia, 25%; fatigue, malaise, weight, loss, 21.8%; facial rash or blush, 12.5%, fever, 12.5%. 3. The major clinical manifastations were hematologic(90.6 %), muccutaneous(89%), musculoskeleta (79.7%), and renal(73.4%) involvemant. 4. The ANA test were positive in 83.9% of the patients, and homoenous pattern was most common. There was no significant difference of organ involvement according to the nuclear patterns of ANA, but cardiopulmonary, renal involvement, hypocomplement,emia and positive anti-ds DNA were less frequent in ANA neghative group. 5. In 73.7% of the patients, the titers of anti-ds DNA antibody was elevated. The amount of anti-ds DNA Ab in serum did not always correlate with disease activity. 6. Photosensitivity, arthritis or arthralgia and CNS manifestatioris were less common, but hematologic findings, including anenia and leukopenia were more common in Korean than western reports. CONCLUSION: Patients with SLE are heterogenous in the natural h story of their disease, which is not an uncommon disease in Korea. Continued efforts to clarify the immunopathologic basis for SLE should eventually lead to more effective treatment.
Age of Onset ; Arthralgia ; Arthritis ; Bacteria ; DNA ; Exanthema ; Fatigue ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Korea ; Leukopenia ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Retrospective Studies ; Rheumatic Diseases

Objectives: This study was conducted to develop a generalizable annotation tool for bilingual complex clinical text annotation, which led to the design and development of a clinical text annotation tool, ANNO. Methods: We designed ANNO to enable human annotators to support the annotation of information in clinical documents efficiently and accurately. First, annotations for different classes (word or phrase types) can be tagged according to the type of word using the dictionary function. In addition, it is possible to evaluate and reconcile differences by comparing annotation results between human annotators. Moreover, if the regular expression set for each class is updated during annotation, it is automatically reflected in the new document. The regular expression set created by human annotators is designed such that a word tagged once is automatically labeled in new documents. Results: Because ANNO is a Docker-based web application, users can use it freely without being subjected to dependency issues. Human annotators can share their annotation markups as regular expression sets with a dictionary structure, and they can cross-check their annotated corpora with each other. The dictionary-based regular expression sharing function, cross-check function for each annotator, and standardized input (Microsoft Excel) and output (extensible markup language [XML]) formats are the main features of ANNO. Conclusions With the growing need for massively annotated clinical data to support the development of machine learning models, we expect ANNO to be helpful to many researchers.

BACKGROUND: We postulated that palonosetron, a novel antiemetic agent, might have the effect of alleviating injection pain from propofol and rocuronium. A double-blind, controlled study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of palonosetron on injection pain during total intravenous anesthesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) using propofol-remifentanil in breast and thyroid cancer surgery. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly allocated to one of two groups. Before injection of propofol and rocuronium, patients in group S (n = 30) received 4 ml of saline and patients in group P (n = 30) received 75 microg (1.5 ml) of palonosetron mixed with 2.5 ml of saline (n = 30). Patients were evaluated by a blinded anesthesiologist with regard to the scoring of injection pain of propofol, withdrawal response by rocuronium, PONV, shivering, postoperative pain, recall of pain, and overall satisfaction. RESULTS: The differences between groups in the incidence of injection pain due to propofol and rocuronium were insignificant. However, in group P, the severity of propofol-induced injection pain (3% vs. 33%, P = 0.003) and postoperative pain (P = 0.038) was significantly lower during the first 12 h after surgery. No differences were observed between the groups with respect to PONV, shivering, recall of pain, and overall satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that pretreatment of palonosetron was effective to reduce the severity of propofol-induced injection pain and early postoperative pain, although it did not reduce the incidence of injection pain from propofol and rocuronium.
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, Intravenous ; Breast* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Propofol ; Shivering ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

OBJECTIVE: The fallopian tube is considered as the site of origin of serous ovarian cancer, and risk-reducing salpingectomy (RRS) has been proposed as a new and safe strategy for preventing ovarian cancer. However, little is known about the public perception of RRS. METHODS: We performed a questionnaire survey of 100 healthy female volunteers in November 2014. Questionnaire for this survey included questions on demographics, medical history, knowledge of and belief about RRS, and barrier to its application. RESULTS: Among 100 respondents, 71% did not realize the seriousness of ovarian cancer, 79% were unaware of the fact that salpinx was the origin of ovarian cancer, and 87% stated that they had never heard of RRS as a preventive method for ovarian cancer. Also, 98% of respondents replied that they had the right to be informed about RRS and the choice given. The respondents' fears about RRS included increased risk of surgical complications (68%), no benefit (8%), and increased surgical costs (3%). CONCLUSION: Most general women were unaware of RRS as a method for preventing ovarian cancer in women at average risk. Therefore, physicians should discuss RRS with patients and consider this procedure at the time of abdominal or pelvic surgery.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Demography ; Fallopian Tubes ; Female ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Salpingectomy* ; Volunteers

Esophagogastric varices are considered to be the most common complication in patients with portal hypertension. Among ectopic varices, rectal varices are infrequent but potentially serious complication. The etiology and pathogenesis of rectal varices remains controversial. Several kinds of treatment have been performed but standard treatment for rectal varices has not been established. Herein we report a case of rectal varix bleeding treated with endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) and then evaluated by transrectal color doppler ultrasonography.
Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; Ligation* ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; Varicose Veins*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) treatments fail at least in 10-20% of patients. However, retreatment strategies after failure of initial treatment have not been established. This study was conducted to evaluate the eradication rate of retreatment choices. METHODS: Twenty-seven peptic ulcer patients who were retreated with OAC (omeprazole + amoxicillin + clarithromycin) or BMT (bismuth + metronidazole + tetracycline) after failure of BMT or OAC were included. Quadruple therapy (omeprazole + BMT) was also tried after failure of two successive triple therapies. Furthermore, the effect of resistance of metronidazole or clarithromycin on the eradication of H. pylori was evaluated. RESULTS: Among 13 patients who were retreated with OAC after failure of BMT regimen, H. pylori was eradicated in 10 patients (76.9%). Among 14 patients retreated with BMT after failure of OAC regimen, H. pylori was eradicated in 11 patients (78.6%). Resistance of H. pylori to metronidazole or clarithromycin decreased the efficacy of BMT or OAC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Eradication regimen should be decided considering the resistance to H. pylori. However, in case of unknown state of resistance, OAC can be chosen if BMT fails. Similarly, BMT can be tried in cases that OAC therapy failed. After failures of both triple therapies, quadruple therapy can be tried as the next step.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*administration & dosage ; Anti-Ulcer Agents/*administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Helicobacter Infections/*drug therapy ; *Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptic Ulcer/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Retreatment

Purpose: Although osimertinib is the standard-of-care treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer, real-world evidence on the efficacy of osimertinib is not enough to reflect the complexity of the entire course of treatment. Herein, we report on the use of osimertinib in patients with EGFR T790M mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer who had previously received EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment in Korea. Materials and Methods: Patients with confirmed EGFR T790M after disease progression of prior EGFR-TKI were enrolled and administered osimertinib 80 mg daily. The primary effectiveness outcome was progression-free survival, with time-to-treatment discontinuation, treatment and adverse effects leading to treatment discontinuation, and overall survival being the secondary endpoints. Results: A total of 558 individuals were enrolled, and 55.2% had investigator-assessed responses. The median progression-free survival was 14.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.0 to 16.4), and the median time-to-treatment discontinuation was 15.0 months (95% CI, 14.1 to 15.9). The median overall survival was 36.7 months (95% CI, 30.9 to not reached). The benefit with osimertinib was consistent regardless of the age, sex, smoking history, and primary EGFR mutation subtype. However, hepatic metastases at the time of diagnosis, the presence of plasma EGFR T790M, and the shorter duration of prior EGFR-TKI treatment were poor predictors of osimertinib treatment. Ten patients (1.8%), including three with pneumonitis, had to discontinue osimertinib due to severe adverse effects. Conclusion Osimertinib demonstrated its clinical effectiveness and survival benefit for EGFR T790M mutation–positive in Korean patients with no new safety signals.