PURPOSE: The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) which is one of the most common cause of childhood blindness has not decreased despite the restricted use of oxygen. There may be other factors responsible for ROP which could not be explained solely by improved survival of very low birth weight infants. We tried to clarify perinatal risk factors that are nrelated to the occurrence of ROP. METHODS: We enrolled 239 infants with gestational ages less than 33 wks or with birth weight less than 1,800 gm who had received ophthalrnologic examination between Jan. 1995 and Dec. 1997. The patients were categorized into two groups,' "No ROP" group as control(n=185) and ROP group as study population(n=54), and we compared the perinatal risk factors between the two. RESULTS: 54(22.6%) out of 239 infants were diagnosed as having ROP. The annual incidence of ROP decreased but the incidence of treated ROP increased. The incidence of ROP decreased with longer gestation and higher birth weight. Mean gestational age was 30.3 weeks in the study group vs 31.0 weeks in the control group, and mean birth weight was 1,390 gm and 1,586 gm, respectively. Significant factors contributing to increased incidence of ROP included: duration of oxygen therapy, ventilator therapy, total parenteral nutrition and hospitalization, frequency of hyperoxia, hypercarbia, and transfusion and respiratory distress syndrome, umbilical artery catheterization, intraventricular hemorrhage, sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, use of dexamethasone and aminophylline, pneumonia, air leak syndrome, and hyperglycemia. The incidence of ROP and treated ROP was not influenced by the mode of surfactant treatment(prophylactic vs rescue) in RDS patients and the mode of dexamethasone treatment(short vs long) in BPD patients. CONCLUSION: The risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity included gestational age, birth weight and duration of oxygen, as well as other aforementioned perinatal factors. The occurrence of ROP can be decreased by preventing preterm birth, minimizing the use of oxygen, and further morbidity can be prevented by performing proper ophthalmologic examination and doing an appropriate follow-up.
Aminophylline ; Birth Weight ; Blindness ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Dexamethasone ; Gestational Age ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hyperoxia ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Oxygen ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total ; Pneumonia ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Retinopathy of Prematurity* ; Risk Factors* ; Sepsis ; Umbilical Arteries ; Ventilators, Mechanical

A primary genitourinary melanoma is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all cases of melanoma. They have been presented in case reports, with a subsequent paucity of insight into the natural history of the disease and appropriate management of patients. The prognosis of patients with a genitourinary melanoma is poor. Delay in seeking medical attention for symptoms, and misdiagnosis at presentation, contribute to a more advanced stage at diagnosis. Our case involved a 71 year old woman, who came to our hospital due to vaginal spotting. On local excision, mass was found on the vestibule and forward to the urethra. The pathological diagnosis, by special immunohistochemical staining, such as S-100 protein and HMB-45, was that of a malignant melanoma.
Aged ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Humans ; Melanoma* ; Metrorrhagia ; Natural History ; Prognosis ; S100 Proteins ; Urethra ; Vagina

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus is an extremely rare malignant mediastinal neoplasm, and to our knowledge, only 13 cases have been reported. We report a case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus that was seen in a 53-yr-old man with right chest pain. Chest CT scan showed a huge, cystic mass having a focal solid portion with direct invasion of the adjacent anterior chest wall and pericardium in the anterior mediastinum. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus should be included in the differential diagnosis for masses of the anterior mediastinum associated with extensive cystic changes, although the carcinoma is exceedingly rare.
Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid/*diagnosis/pathology ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Middle Aged ; Thymus Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology

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

Objective: The number of deaths due to acute poisoning (AP) is on the increase. It is crucial to predict AP patient mortality to identify those requiring intensive care for providing appropriate patient care as well as preserving medical resources. The aim of this study is to predict the risk of in-hospital mortality associated with AP using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Methods: In this multicenter retrospective study, ANN and logistic regression models were constructed using the clinical and laboratory data of 1,304 patients seeking emergency treatment for AP. The ANN model was first trained on 912/1,304 (70%) randomly selected patients and then tested on the remaining 392/1,304 (30%). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the mortality prediction of the two models. Results: Age, endotracheal intubation status, and intensive care unit admission were significant predictors of mortality in patients with AP in the multivariate logistic regression model. The ANN model indicated age, Glasgow Coma Scale, intensive care unit admission, and endotracheal intubation status were critical factors among the 12 independent variables related to in-hospital mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for mortality prediction was significantly higher in the ANN model compared to the logistic regression model. Conclusion This study establishes that the ANN model could be a valuable tool for predicting the risk of death following AP. Thus, it may facilitate effective patient triage and improve the outcomes.

Objective: The number of deaths due to acute poisoning (AP) is on the increase. It is crucial to predict AP patient mortality to identify those requiring intensive care for providing appropriate patient care as well as preserving medical resources. The aim of this study is to predict the risk of in-hospital mortality associated with AP using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Methods: In this multicenter retrospective study, ANN and logistic regression models were constructed using the clinical and laboratory data of 1,304 patients seeking emergency treatment for AP. The ANN model was first trained on 912/1,304 (70%) randomly selected patients and then tested on the remaining 392/1,304 (30%). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the mortality prediction of the two models. Results: Age, endotracheal intubation status, and intensive care unit admission were significant predictors of mortality in patients with AP in the multivariate logistic regression model. The ANN model indicated age, Glasgow Coma Scale, intensive care unit admission, and endotracheal intubation status were critical factors among the 12 independent variables related to in-hospital mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for mortality prediction was significantly higher in the ANN model compared to the logistic regression model. Conclusion This study establishes that the ANN model could be a valuable tool for predicting the risk of death following AP. Thus, it may facilitate effective patient triage and improve the outcomes.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical and radiological results of tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis using ipsilateral distal fibula buttress which had advantages of extended operative field and release of contracted soft tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 4 postraumatic compartment syndrome, 2 residual poliomyelitis, 1 posttraumatic osteoarthritis with subtalar joint infection and 1 posttarumatic sciatic nerve palsy patients who underwent a tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis from April, 1996 to March, 2002. Each of the cases was notable for a severe rigid equinovarus, persistent pus drainage of calcaneal area and paralytic foot. The mean duration of follow up was 18 months (range, 13~42 months). The pain, function and alignment were evaluated by the modified ankle hindfoot scale of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and patients satisfaction clinically. The radiological union were evaluated by plain AP and lateral radiographs. RESULTS: The AOFAS score improved from 58 points (range, 47~78) preoperatively to 82 (range, 60~89) postoperatively. Patents satisfaction checked at 12 months after operation had favorable results (excellent and good 80%). Union rate was 100% radiographically and the mean duration of union was 12.5 weeks (range 8~22 weeks). There was 2 cases of superficial pin tract infection and one protrusion of screw. CONCLUSION: Tibio-talo-calcaneal arthrodesis using ipsilateral distal fibula buttress was good modality of arthrodesis which provides wide operative field and release of contracted soft tissue in some cases of contracted foot.
Ankle ; Arthrodesis* ; Clubfoot ; Compartment Syndromes ; Drainage ; Fibula* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; Poliomyelitis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sciatic Neuropathy ; Subtalar Joint ; Suppuration

We evaluated whether thrombus aspiration (TA) during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) reduces adverse clinical outcomes within 30-days and 1-year periods. There is no well-designed, Korean data about the clinical impact of intracoronary TA during primary PCI in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). From the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health, 3749 patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI within 12 hours (60.8±12.9 years, 18.7% women) with pre-procedural Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow 0, 1 in coronary angiography were enrolled between November 2011 and December 2015. The patients were divided into two groups: PCI with TA (n=1630) and PCI alone (n=2119). The primary end-point was major adverse cardiac event (MACE), defined as the composite of cardiovascular death (CVD), recurrent MI and stroke for 30-days and 1-year. TA did not diminish the risk of MACE, all-cause mortality and CVD in all patients during 30-days or 1-year. After performing the propensity score matching, TA also did not reduce the risk of MACE (Hazard ratio (HR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI):1.187 [0.863-1.633], p value=0.291), all-cause mortality (HR with 95% CI: 1.130 [0.776-1.647], p value=0.523) and CVD (HR with 95% CI: 1.222 [0.778-1.920], p value=0.384) during the 1-year period. In subgroup analysis, there was no benefit of clinical outcomes favoring PCI with TA. In conclusion, primary PCI with TA did not reduce MACE, all-cause mortality or CVD among the Korean patients with STEMI and pre-procedural TIMI flow 0, 1 during the 30-day and 1-year follow ups.

We report a case of a metastatic renal tumor secondary to breast cancer 9 years postmastectomy. This is the first case report of solitary renal metastasis from breast cancer with no other evidence of metastasis. A 47-year-old woman underwent a modified radical mastectomy and 6 cycles of CEF chemotherapy (Cyclophosphamide, Epirubicin, 5-FU) for cancer of the left breast. She was followed closely, but no recurrence or metastases were detected on either a physical or radiological examination. 9 years later, on a routine follow-up examination for metastatic breast cancer, abdomen ultrasound revealed a solid mass (4cm in diameter) in the upper portion of the right kidney. Computed tomography (CT) was used to further evaluate the solitary renal mass, which had become moderately enhanced. No regional lymph node, visceral or pulmonary metastases were found. A radionuclide bone scan confirmed no bony involvement. A laparoscopic radical nephrectomy was performed for a right renal tumor. The histopathological features were identical to those for cancer of the right breast. The patient was treated with adjuvant combination chemotherapy (docetaxel and adriamycin), and is still alive 9 months after a right radical nephrectomy, with no evidence of recurrence.
Abdomen ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Epirubicin ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Lymph Nodes ; Mastectomy, Modified Radical ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nephrectomy ; Recurrence ; Ultrasonography

Strategies for efficient osteogenic differentiation and bone formation from stem cells would have clinical applications in treating nonunion fracture healing. Many researchers have attempted to develop adjuvants as specific stimulators of bone formation for therapeutic use in patients with bone resorption. Therefore, development of specific stimulators of bone formation has therapeutic significance in the treatment of osteoporosis. To date, investigations of the mature forms of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have focused on regulation of bone generation. However, we previously identified new peptides from the immature precursor of BMP, and further analysis of these proteins should be performed. In this study, we identified a new peptide called bone-forming peptide-2 (BFP-2), which has stronger osteogenic differentiation-promoting activity than BMP-7. BFP-2 treatment of multipotent bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) induced expression of active alkaline phosphatase. In addition, BFP-2 enhanced CD44 and CD51 expression levels and increased Ca2+ content in BMSCs. Moreover, radiography at 8 weeks revealed that animals that had received transplants of BFP-2-treated BMSCs showed substantially increased bone formation compared with animals that had received BMSCs treated with BMP-7. Our findings indicate that BFP-2 may be useful in the development of adjuvant therapies for bone-related diseases.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7* ; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins ; Bone Resorption ; Fracture Healing ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Osteoblasts* ; Osteogenesis* ; Osteoporosis ; Peptides ; Radiography ; Stem Cells