Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a common medical problem that affects an estimated 30-50% of the world’s population. The causes of IDA are malnutrition, rapid growth with improper dietary iron, blood loss through gastrointestinal tract or menstruation. The genetic factors of iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia have also been identified. Previous studies on the theory of hepcidin-based homeostatic regulation have helped increase our understanding of iron metabolism. Symptoms of anemia may include non-specific symptoms, such as pale appearance, fatigue, weakness, and decreased appetite, as well as impaired neurocognitive functions, including delay mental development and restless leg syndrome. IDA can be diagnosed by laboratory findings. The conventional tests that are typically performed to diagnose IDA include hemoglobin level, serum iron, transferrin saturation, and ferritin level, as well as soluble transferrin receptor, hepcidin level, zinc protoporphyrin, reticulocyte hemoglobin content. Treatment begins with an accurate diagnosis, and both oral and parenteral iron can be used. Symptoms improve quickly after treatment; however, the diagnosis and treatment of IDA is rather overlooked. Therefore, it is necessary to better understand the disease process of IDA, make an accurate diagnosis, and prescribe essential iron supplements to patients with symptoms.

PURPOSE: The diagnosis-related group (DRG) system has been adapted to reduce overall medical costs by grouping and classifying relatively homogenous patients based on similar resource consumption patterns in the treatment. However, despite its wide range of disease manifestation from early inflammation to severe peritonitis, acute appendicitis is included in the DRG system. Responding to a need to assess the DRG system for patients diagnosed with appendicitis, this study evaluates the efficacy of the current DRG system applied to a broad spectrum of the patients with appendicitis undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted of the patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. Based on the DRG codes' classification, the patients were analyzed for the amount of DRG reimbursement and the total in-patient cost in relation to the time sequence of the disease onset. Statistical analysis was performed to find factors correlated with the DRG reimbursement and total in-patient cost. RESULTS: Findings indicate that, as the symptom duration becomes prolonged, the CRP level and the use of peritoneal drainage increased. Patients with a symptom duration greater than 24 hours required approximately 5 days of hospital stay, 0.5 day longer in the length of hospital stay than that of patients with less than 12 hours of the onset time. As expected, the amount of DRG reimbursement and the total in-patient cost accumulated as the symptom duration increased. CONCLUSION: The current DRG reimbursement system for the patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy recompenses a broad spectrum of patients diagnosed with appendicitis effectively.
Appendectomy* ; Appendicitis ; Classification ; Diagnosis-Related Groups* ; Drainage ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Peritonitis ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index

This article was published with an error.

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have demonstrated that hydrosalpinx has a detrimental effect on the outcome of IVF. Treating hydrosalpinges prior to the IVF procedure in women with hydrosalpinges is thought to improve the likelihood of successful IVF outcome. Vaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration of hydrosalpinx fluid (HSF) with injection of the sclerosing agent in situ might be simpler than invasive procedures like salpingectomy. Therefore, we carried out a retrospective study on the effects of ultrasound-guided HSF aspiration and injection of the sclerosing agent of ultrasonically diagnosed hydrosalpinx on IVF outcome. METHODS: In our retrospective study, 97 tubal factor infertile female patients that underwent IVF treatment between January 2005 and December 2012 at the Reproductive Medicine Center of CHA Hospital were divided into two study groups. Fifty-six patients underwent interventional ultrasound sclerotherapy (group 1), and the remaining 41 patients received laparoscopic salpingectomy (group 2) before IVF. We compared the IVF outcomes of the two groups. RESULTS: The results showed that ultrasound-guided HSF aspiration and sclerotherapy have IVF outcomes comparable to laparoscopic salpingectomy. CONCLUSION: Interventional ultrasound guided sclerotherapy before IVF is an effective and less invasive prophylactic intervention alternative to salpingectomy with hydrosalpinx.
Female ; Humans ; Reproductive Medicine ; Retrospective Studies ; Salpingectomy ; Sclerotherapy ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

STUDY DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed the cervical myelopathy patients who underwent anterior or posterior surgery. OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to analyze the preoperative radiologic evaluation and the results of the treatment of cervical myelopathy. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: The surgical treatment of cervical myelopathy consisted of anterior/posterior or combined surgery according to lesion site, symptoms, number of involved sequents or prevalence of the surgeon. Material and METHODS: We reviewed the clinical and radiological aspects of 28 patients Preoperative plain radiographs and MRI were evaluated with clinical symptoms. Postoperative clinical evaluation was performed according to the Robinson's criteria. RESULTS: On plain lateral radiographs, spinal canal diameter were 13.4+/-2.6/12.5+/- 1.7mm, Pavlovratios were 0.78+/-0.09/0.66+/-0.08, spondylosis indices were 1.70/1.80mm, and the antero-posterior compression ration of spinal cord were 42.4+/-8/44.0+/-6% for anterior surgery and posterior surgery group each. The results of 15 patients who received anterior decompression and interbody fusion were excellent in 11, good in 2, and fair in 2 cases. The results of 13 patients who underwent laminoplasty were excellent in 9, good in 3, and fair in one case. CONCLUSIONS: The patients who have Pavlov ratio less than 0.8 and spondylosis index more than 1.5mm on plain radiograph are vulnerable to developing myelopathy. It is better to do anterior decom pression and interbody fusion in patients who have one or two segments involved and kyphotic deformity of the cervical spine. Otherwise, patients who involve more than 3 segments and narrow spinal canal can be managed using laminoplasty posteriorly.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Decompression ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Diseases* ; Spine ; Spondylosis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the feasibility, safety and surgical outcomes of single port access laparoscopic myomectomy (SPA-M). METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 29 patients with uterine leiomyoma who underwent SPA-M in Gumi CHA hospital between March 2010 and August 2010. We performed SPA-M with conventional rigid straight laparoscopic instruments in all cases. RESULTS: In this study, the mean of leiomyoma weight, operating time, and estimated blood loss were 55.43 gm(+/-54.79, range 5~220 gm), 69.68 min (+/-32.99, range 20~120 min.), 100 mL (+/-104.26 range minimal~300 mL), respectively. Transfusion was done in the one case. CONCLUSION: SPA-M using conventional rigid straight laparoscopic instruments was feasible and could be an alternative to conventional multi-port access laparoscopic myomectomy (MPA-M).
Humans ; Leiomyoma ; Medical Records

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) repair on overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms in women with POP and the effect of baseline POP severity on improvement in OAB after surgical repair of POP. And we also tried to identify any preoperative factors for persistent postoperative OAB symptoms. METHODS: A total of 87 patients with coexisting POP and OAB who underwent surgical correction of POP were included and retrospectively analyzed and postoperative data was obtained by telephone interview. OAB was defined as an affirmative response to item no. 15 (urinary frequency) and item no. 16 (urge incontinence) of the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory. POP severity was dichotomized by Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification stage 1 to 2 (n=22) versus stage 3 to 4 (n=65). RESULTS: OAB symptoms were significantly improved after surgical treatment (P<0.001). But there was no significant differences in postoperative improvement of frequency and urge incontinence between stage 1 to 2 group versus stage 3 to 4 group. Preoperative demographic factors (age, parity, and POP stage) were not significantly related to persistent postoperative OAB symptoms. CONCLUSION: Women with coexisting POP and OAB who undergo surgical repair experience significant improvement in OAB symptoms after surgery, but severity of POP had no significant difference in improvement of OAB symptoms. Postoperative persistent OAB symptoms were not related to age, parity, body mass index, and POP stage.
Body Mass Index ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Parity ; Pelvic Floor ; Pelvic Organ Prolapse* ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive* ; Urinary Incontinence, Urge

Umbilical vein varix has diverse clinical features and an unpredictable course during the pregnancy and/or perinatal period. We report a rare case of isolated fetal varix of the intra-abdominal umbilical vein, which was associated with fetal cardiomegaly. After birth, the umbilical vein varix remained with continuous blood flow through the patent ductus venosus. In addition, persistent cardiomegaly was complicated with an atrial septal defect.
Cardiomegaly ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial* ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Umbilical Veins* ; Varicose Veins*

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to reveal the correlation between the posterior vaginal wall and apex in pelvic organ prolapse. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all new patient visits to a urogynecology clinic between January 2013 and December 2015. RESULTS: Four hundred five cases were enrolled in our study. When all POP stages were included, the Bp (pelvic organ prolapse quantification point) had a moderate correlation with the C (Pearson's r=0.419; P < 0.001). Cases where Bp was stage 3 and above presented strong positive correlations with C (Spearman's ρ=0.783; P < 0.001). Cases where C was stage 3 and above presented also strong positive correlations with Bp (Spearman's ρ=0.718; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Posterior vaginal wall prolapse and apical prolapse were correlated with each other, and this correlation was more prominent as stage increased. Therefore, when admitting a patient suspected of posterior vaginal wall prolapse or apical prolapse, it is necessary to evaluate both conditions. Especially in cases more severe or equal to stage 3, it is a must to suspect both conditions as the 2 are strongly correlated.
Cystocele ; Humans ; Pelvic Organ Prolapse* ; Prolapse ; Rectocele ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Prolapse ; Vagina

Purpose: The study was examined to investigate the influence of nurse manager and peer group caring behaviors on organizational socialization and nursing performance Methods: The subjects were 286 clinical nurses from a general hospital in S city. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analysis with the SPSS 25.0 program. Nurse manager and peer group caring behaviors, organizational socialization, and nursing performance were measured using organizational climate for caring scale, peer group caring interaction scale, organizational socialization and performance measurement scale for hospital nurses. Results There was no significant difference in organizational socialization between nurse manager and peer group caring behaviors. The significant predictors of nursing performance were position (β=-.26), nurse manager caring behaviors (β=.23), and peer group caring behaviors (β=.17). These variables explained 23% of the variance in nursing performance. Conclusion: The results suggest that it is necessary to increase both manager and peer group caring behaviors in order to improve nursing performance.