Purpose: This study aimed to provide the descriptive statistics regarding the injury epidemiology of Korean professional basketball players. Methods: In this study, athlete exposures (AEs) and time exposures (TEs) were collected from the 38 basketball players (17 women) who participated in the 2019–2020 regular season. Injury rate (IR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Results: A total of 35 injuries were reported. The overall rate of injury was 5.65 per 1,000 AEs and 0.06 per 1,000 TEs. Approximately 65.7% of all the injuries occurred during the official games, with lower limb injuries accounting for about 57.1% of all the injuries. Ankle was the most frequently injured body area (25.7%) with a IR of 1.45 per 1,000 AEs. Sprain accounted for the largest portion with 54.3% overall, followed by strain, contusion and cartilage damage. The most common cause of injuries was contact with another athletes (37.2%), and the recurrence of past injuries (20.0%) also accounted for a high proportion. Conclusion Korean professional basketball players experience a high rate of injuries occurring during official games.Ankle sprains were the most common ones. Contact-caused injuries accounted for the highest portion.

A 3-month-old female Maltese puppy was hospitalized with persistent diarrhea in a local veterinary clinic. Blood chemistry and hematology profile were analyzed and fecal smear was examined. Diarrheal stools were examined in a diagnostic laboratory, using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) against 23 diarrheal pathogens. Sequence analysis was performed using nested PCR amplicon of 18S ribosomal RNA. Coccidian oocysts were identified in the fecal smear. Although multiplex real-time PCR was positive for Cyclospora cayetanensis, the final diagnosis was Cystoisospora ohioensis infection, confirmed by phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA. To our knowledge, this the first case report of C. ohioensis in Korea, using microscopic examination and phylogenetic analysis.
Animals ; Chemistry ; Cyclospora ; Diagnosis ; Diarrhea ; Dogs ; Female ; Hematology ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Oocysts ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S ; Sequence Analysis

Oxidative stress in skin cells can induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are critical for pathogenic processes such as immunosuppression, inflammation, and skin aging. In this study, we confirmed improvements from gamma-irradiated silk sericin (I-sericin) and gamma-irradiated silk fibroin (I-fibroin) to skin cells damaged by oxidative stress. We found that I-sericin and I-fibroin effectively attenuated oxidative stress-induced ROS generation and decreased oxidative stress-induced inflammatory factors COX-2, iNOS, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1β compared to the use of non-irradiated sericin or fibroin. I-sericin and Ifibroin effects were balanced by competition with skin regenerative protein factors reacting to oxidative stress. Taken together, our results indicated that, compared to non-irradiated sericin or fibroin, I-sericin, and I-fibroin had anti-oxidation and antiinflammation activity and protective effects against skin cell damage from oxidative stress. Therefore, gamma-irradiation may be useful in the development of cosmetics to maintain skin health.

PURPOSE: Susceptibility vessel sign (SVS) on gradient echo image, which is caused by MR signal loss due to arterial thrombosis, has been reported in acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction. However, the reported sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of SVS have been variable. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a newly developed MR sequence. Recent studies have found that SWI may be useful in the field of cerebrovascular diseases, especially for detecting the presence of prominent veins, microbleeds and the SVS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic values of SWI for the detection of hyperacute MCA occlusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-nine patients (37 males, 32 females; 46-89 years old [mean, 69.1]) with acute stroke involving the MCA territory underwent MR imaging within 6 hours after the symptom onset. MR examination included T2, FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery), DWI, SWI, PWI (perfusion-weighted imaging), contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA) and contrast-enhanced T1. Of these patients, 28 patients also underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) within 2 hours after MR examination. Presence or absence of SVS on SWI was assessed without knowledge of clinical, DSA and other MR imaging findings. RESULTS: On MRA or DSA, 34 patients (49.3%) showed MCA occlusion. Of these patients, SVS was detected in 30 (88.2%) on SWI. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of SWI were 88.2%, 97.1%, 96.8%, 89.5% and 92.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: SWI was sensitive, specific and accurate for the detection of hyperacute MCA occlusion.
Angiography ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Female ; Humans ; Infarction ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stroke ; Thrombosis ; Veins

Aortic dissection during pregnancy is a devastating event for both the pregnant woman and the baby. We report a case of acute aortic dissection (Stanford type A) in a pregnant woman with Marfan syndrome at the 29th week of gestation. She underwent a cesarean section followed by an ascending aorta and total arch replacement with cardiopulmonary bypass, without a prior sternotomy. The hemodynamic parameters were kept stable during the cesarean section by using inotropes and vasopressors under transesophageal echocardiography monitoring. The newborn survived after endotracheal intubation and management in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Aorta ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Cesarean Section ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Marfan Syndrome* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Sternotomy

BACKGROUND: Amlodipine is a third-generation dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker for treating hypertension. Though marketed primarily as a besylate salt, there have been some efforts to find other comparable salts. Among them, maleate is the salt that has been considered favorable for many drugs. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics, as well as safety and tolerability of amlodipine maleate with amlodipine besylate. METHODS: This study was open, randomized, two-period crossover design investigated in twelve healthy male volunteers over a 144 h period after administrating two forms of amlodipine 5 mg, respectively. Each period was separated with 2 weeks. Plasma concentrations of amlodipine were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Safety profiles were assessed by vital signs, physical examinations, electrocardiograms, laboratory testing and adverse events monitoring. RESULTS: All subjects were completed this study. Geometric mean ratios (GMRs) of amlodipine maleate/amlodipine besylate of Cmax and AUClast for amlodipine were 0.92 (90 % confidence interval, 0.81 ~ 1.05) and 1.05 (0.96 ~ 1.16), respectively. No serious adverse events were reported, and no clinically relevant changes were observed in safety profiles during this trial. CONCLUSION: Pharmacokinetics, tolerability and the safety were comparable between amlodipine maleate and amlodipine besylate in healthy individuals.
Amlodipine ; Calcium Channels ; Cross-Over Studies ; Dihydropyridines ; Electrocardiography ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Maleates ; Mass Spectrometry ; Physical Examination ; Plasma ; Salts ; Vital Signs

PURPOSE: Internal mammary lymph node (IMLN) metastasis is an important prognostic indicator in breast cancer. However, the necessity of internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy for accurate staging, for choosing adjuvant treatment, and as a prognostic indicator, has remained controversial. METHODS: From January 2001 to December 2006, 525 female breast cancer patients underwent radical surgery after preoperative lymphatic scintigraphy. We retrospectively analyzed the follow-up results, recurrences, and deaths of all patients. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the clinicopathological characteristics between the axilla and the IMLN groups. The median follow-up period was 118.8 months (range, 7-122 months) in the axilla group and 107.7 months (range, 14-108 months) in the IMLN group. During the median follow-up period, the breast cancer-related death rate in the axilla group was 3.6%, which was not significantly different from that of the IMLN group (1.3%) (p=0.484). The five-year survival rates did not differ between the two groups (p=0.306). The overall recurrence rate and the locoregional recurrence rate also did not differ between the two groups (p=0.835 and p=0.582, respectively). The recurrence rate of IMLN (both ipsilateral and contralateral) metastasis was very low, accounting for 0.5% in the axilla group and 1.3% in the IMLN group (p=0.416). CONCLUSION: The long-term follow-up results showed that there was no significant difference in both overall outcome and regional recurrence between the two groups. Therefore, the requirement for identification of nodal basins outside the axilla or IMLN sentinel biopsy should be reconsidered.
Accounting ; Axilla ; Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphoscintigraphy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitriles ; Prognosis ; Pyrethrins ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy ; Survival Rate

We report two cases of high-risked patients with cardiac dysfunction undergoing femoro-popliteal or tibial arterial bypass surgery anesthetized by ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks; femoral nerve, femoral branch of genitofemoral nerve and sciatic nerve block. We used an anesthetic solution consisting of 0.375% ropivacaine with epinephrine. We provided sufficient surgical anesthesia. These nerve blockades provided stable intraoperative and postoperative hemodynamic status, which is valuable knowledge from the perspective of postoperative pain control as well as satisfaction of both patients and surgeons. We believe that femorosciatic nerve block with concurrent femoral branch block of genitofemoral nerve could be an excellent anesthetic choice for patients receiving femoro-popliteal or tibial arterial bypass surgery, especially in patients with cardiac dysfunction.
Amides ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Conduction ; Epinephrine ; Femoral Nerve* ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Nerve Block ; Pain, Postoperative ; Peripheral Nerves ; Peripheral Vascular Diseases ; Sciatic Nerve* ; Ultrasonography