PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to identify the level of safe-handling of cytotoxic drugs and use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) among nurses at a regional cancer center in South Korea. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were 131 nurses who care for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Demographic information, safe-handling of cytotoxic drugs and use of PPE were collected using questionnaires from May 7 to 25, 2018. RESULTS: Response rate was 98.4%. The mean age of the nurses was 28.2±4.4 years and their clinical nursing experience was 4.34±3.93 years. The mean scores out of 5 for the participants' safe handling of cytotoxic drugs was 3.73± 0.43. In use of PPE, the mean score of wearing gloves, masks, and gowns were 3.89±.77, 3.06±1.04, and 2.34±0.98, respectively. The main reason for not wearing PPE was ‘too busy’ (62.8%). The level of safe-handling of cytotoxic drugs was not significantly different according to any variables, but the use of PPE was significantly different according to age (p=.021). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that nurses had exposure to cytotoxic drugs in the processes of preparation, administration, cleaning of spills, and handling of patient waste. Education programs and continuous monitoring are needed to improve the use of PPE among nurses and trigger the appropriate motivation for consistent personal protection.
Cancer Care Facilities ; Drug Therapy ; Education ; Humans ; Korea ; Masks ; Motivation ; Nursing ; Personal Protective Equipment*

PURPOSE: The purpose is to evaluate the CT or MRI findings to help in the differentiation between benign and malignant meningiomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The CT and MRI findings of 8 patients with surgically proven malignant meningioma were reviewed. Four cases of 8 malignant meningiomas and 18 cases of 27 benign lesions were studied with a 1.5T or 0.5T MRI. Radiologic analysis was focused on the heterogeneity of tumor, grade of peritumoral edema, presence of cystic degeneration and calcification, tumoral enhancement pattern, dural enhancement, and tumoral border. RESULT: Histologic types of malignant meningioma were meningotheliomatous (n=4), papillary(n=1), fibroblastic(n=l), angioblastic(n=l), and sarcomatous(n=l). Tumoral Heterogeneity was seen in 8 of 8 malignant lesions(100%) and 8 of 27 benign ones(30%). (p<0.01) Marked peritumoral edema was seen in 8 of 8 malignant lesions(100%) and 2 of 27 benign ones. (7.3%)(p<0.01) Most of malignant lesions(6 of 8 cases, 75%) showed ill defined border. Calcification was not present in malignant lesions in contrast with benign ones (14 of 27 cases, 52%). (p<0.05) No statistical significance was noted in cystic degeneration, dural tail like enhancement or tumoral enhancement pattern between malignant and benign meningiomas. MRI signal intensity of malignant meningiomas was homogeneously or heterogeneously hypointense on T1WI, heterogeneously isointense or hypointense on T2WI and heterogeneous or mixed on Gd-DTPA enhancement study. CONCLUSION: The CT or MRI findings such as heterogeneity, ill defined tumoral border, marked peritumoral edema, and absence of calcification may suggest the possibility of malignancy in meningioma.
Edema ; Gadolinium DTPA ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Meningioma* ; Population Characteristics

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of embryo retention (ER) in the transfer catheter following embryo transfer (ET) in blastocyst transfer and investigate whether retransferring retained embryos has an impact on reproductive outcomes in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-ET. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,131 blastocyst transfers, which comprised 223 single blastocyst transfer (SBT) and 908 double blastocyst transfer (DBT) cycles. Each SBT and DBT group was classified depending on whether ET was performed without retained embryos in the catheter during the first attempt (without-ER group) or whether any retained embryos were found following ET (ER group) for the purpose of comparing reproductive outcomes in a homogenous population. RESULTS: The overall incidence of finding retained embryos was 2.8% (32/1,131). There were no retained embryos in SBT cycles. In DBT cycles, implantation rates (30.0% vs. 26.6%), positive β-hCG rates (57.2% vs. 56.2%), clinical pregnancy rates (45.3% vs. 46.9%), and live birth rates (38.9% vs. 43.8%) were not significantly different between the without-ER and ER groups. There were no significant differences in the mean birth weight (g) 2,928.4±631.8 vs. 2,948.7±497.8 and the mean gestational age at birth (269.3±17.2 days vs. 264.2±25.7 days). A total of nine cases of congenital birth defects were found in this study population. Eight were observed in the without-ER group and one in the ER group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that retransfer of retained embryos does not have any adverse impact on reproductive outcomes in blastocyst transfer cycles. Furthermore, our results support finding that SBT might be advantageous for decreasing the incidence of retained embryos in catheters.
Birth Weight ; Blastocyst* ; Catheters ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Embryo Transfer* ; Embryonic Structures* ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Incidence ; Live Birth ; Parturition ; Pregnancy Rate ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: This paper examined the relationship between knowledge differences of maternal oral health and of relevant demographic variables. METHODS: Participants included 239 pregnant women who were recruited from Women's Hospital located in B city who agreed to participate in this study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis using the SPSS 21.0 program. RESULTS: Maternal knowledge of oral health was moderate level (10.22±2.36). Scores of maternal knowledge of oral health were different according to age, education, occupation, parity, and dental care experience in pregnancy. Level of oral healthcare knowledge was weakly related to age and education. CONCLUSION: Consequently, it is necessary to encourage pregnant women to take part in oral health education program during antenatal care.
Delivery of Health Care ; Dental Care ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Occupations ; Oral Health* ; Parity ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women*

Pancreatoblastoma is uncommon in children and is exceedingly rare in adults. Prognosis is known to be good if the tumor is discovered prior to metastasis. Complete tumor resection is the most important factor for long survival. We report two cases of pancreatoblastoma in a 4 year and 7 year- old females. Palpable abdominal mass was accidentally discovered by their parents. Abdominal CT scan showed huge retroperitoneal mass of unknown origin in one case and of the pancres in the other case. At laparotomy, well encapsulated tumor mass (10x10 cm in diameter) was noted in the body of pancreas in one case, and well encapsulated tumor mass ( 8x7 cm in diameter) in the tail of pancreas in the other case. We resected the tumor and saved spleen in both ases. Histologic examination revealed that the tumors were pancreatoblastoma. Patients received postoperative chemotherapy with 6 cycles of cisplatinum, adriamycin, ifosfamide and etoposide and are alive in good condition 19 months and 17 months after operation.
Adult ; Child ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Etoposide ; Female ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; Laparotomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Parents ; Prognosis ; Spleen ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Recently, the number of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery is increasing as is the number of patients with morbid obesity rapidly. However, no anesthetic management including preoperative fasting strategy for patients with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding exists. Hereby, we report a case of a 22-year-old woman with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding who suffered pulmonary aspiration during the anesthetic induction for appendectomy, despite a preoperative fasting period longer than 14 h. This case strongly suggests that guidelines for anesthetic management including the appropriate fasting period for patients with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding are desperately required.
Appendectomy ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Obesity, Morbid ; Patient Safety ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Taurolidine is an antimicrobial agent that was originally used in the local treatment of peritonitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of taurolidine irrigation in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients who underwent TKA at our institute from January 2015 to March 2017 were eligible. There were 300 patients in the taurolidine irrigation group and 300 patients in the control group. The patients in the taurolidine irrigation group were irrigated after implantation with a mix of 250 mL of taurolidine and 750 mL of normal saline. The patients in the control group were not irrigated after implantation. We compared postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and infection rate between groups. RESULTS: The taurolidine irrigation group had a significantly lower CRP (5.39 mg/dL vs. 7.55 mg/dL; p<0.001) and ESR (53.21 mm/hr vs. 58.74 mm/hr; p=0.003) on postoperative day 3 after TKA, as compared with the control group. However, there was no difference between the two groups on postoperative days 6, 13, and 20. Periprosthetic joint infection occurred in one patient in the taurolidine irrigation group. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that it is not necessary to use taurolidine for patients who undergo primary TKA.
Arthroplasty ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee ; Peritonitis

Since the new hypertension guideline published by the American Heart Association/American College Cardiology/American Society of Hypertension in 2017, the Korean Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Hypertension revised and announced new hypertension guidelines. Also the Korean Society of Hypertension published Korea hypertension fact sheet 2018, including prevalence, awareness, management status of hypertension, and their trends in Korea. Herein, I provide information on diagnosis and treatment of hypertension based on the new guidelines of the Korean Society of Hypertension.
Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Heart ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Prevalence