PURPOSE: The Pediatric Risk of Mortality(PRISM) III score was developed from the Physiologic Stability Index(PSI) to assess pediatric ICU mortality and Provide an objective data as a severity index. Although the PRISM score has been applied to many comparisions and analyses in previous studies, there are few reports applied to pediatric intensive care patients in Korea. To evaluate the effectiveness of the PRISM III score as a severity index for expecting mortality and find important variables influencing mortality, we applied this scoring scale to pediatric neurologic patients admitted to the ICU and analyzed the data statistically. METHODS: Data collection was done by careful review of medical records and scored each clinical variable. The outcome at discharge was determined as non-survival, survival, and hopeless discharge. Determination of mortality in the hopeless discharge group was done within 48 hours after discharge by telephone interview. The study populations were classified into four groups; CNS infection(26 patients), acute encephalopathy(31 patients), status epilepticus(35 patients) and cerebrovascular disorder(4 patients). The difference of the PRISM III score between the survival group and non-survival group was compared by using the nonparametric Mann~Whitney test in the entire study population and for each diagnostic group. To confirm the degree of fitness between the actual mortality and Predicted mortality, the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, a multiple logistic regression model was used. All clinical variables used for scoring were compared for survivals and non-survivals by the Chi-square test. f values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: The PRISM III score was significantly higher in the non-survival groups than in the survival group. Predicted mortality from the PRISM III score has fitted to actual mortality According to the results of analyses in each diagnostic groups, the PRISM III score was higher in non-survivals of the acute encephalopathy and CNS infection groups, but statistically insignificant in the cerebrovascular disorders and status epilepticus groups. The important variables of the PRISM III score associated with mortality were mental state, Pupil reflex, systolic blood pressure, acidosis, blood sodium level blood creatinine level, blood glucose level, and PT/PTT. , CONCLUSION: The PRISM III score is helpful in predicting mortality in pediatric intensive care neurologic patients, especially those in the acute encephalopathy or the CNS infection groups. However, this score was not useful in the status epilepticus group, and insignificant in cerebrovascular group. Due to the smallness of the study group, more massive and comprehensive studies are needed as a follow up to this study.
Acidosis ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Creatinine ; Data Collection ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Critical Care* ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Mortality* ; Pupil ; Reflex ; Sodium ; Status Epilepticus

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of postpneumonectomy pulmonary edema (PPE) and determine the risk factors for PPE with non-small cell lung caner. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 93 patients who underwent a pneumonectomy between 1994 and 2004 were retrospectively studied. Postpneumonectomy patients with pulmonary edema, with no clinically evident cause, with the exception of having undergone a pneumonectomy, were considered to have PPE. The incidence and mortality of PPE were recorded. The preoperative, perioperative and postoperative clinical data were reviewed, and the patients matched for known or suspected risk factors for PPE. A logistic regression analysis and Chi-square test were used to evaluate the relationships of the risk factors to the PPE. RESULTS: The incidence of PPE was 7.5% (n=7). The mortality in the group of patients who developed PPE was 86% (n=6). Patients who had fresh frozen plasma administered had a significantly higher incidence of PPE (risk ratio=14.9, p=0.024). CONCLUSION: Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion after a pneumonectomy was shown to be an important risk factor in our data. The mechanism has not been identified, but may be an increased capillary permeability of the pulmonary vessels due to an immunologic reaction following a FFP transfusion
Capillary Permeability ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Logistic Models ; Lung ; Mortality ; Plasma ; Pneumonectomy ; Pulmonary Edema* ; Retrospective Studies* ; Risk Factors*

No abstract available.
Bupivacaine* ; Morphine* ; Prospective Studies*

Previous studies, reporting the inverse relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis suggest the existence of possible pathophysiologic mechanisms between them. To examine the hypothessis that "bone mineral densities of women with osteoarthritis are significantly higher than that of women without osteoarthritis in Korea", subjects from the health and nutritional examination survey in Kuri city were sampled. Samples were selected through multi-stage sampling frame using established clusters in Kuri city. From August 18 to September 10, 1997, the survey was conducted. Among the total number of selected sample population(1,656 people), response rate was 52.4 percent(348 men and 519 women). 420 women who took BMD measurement, radiologic exam, and anthropometric exam were selected for the analysis. The analysis results are as follows. 1. General characteristics : Mean BMD was 0.493 g/cm2, mean age was 43.0, mean BMI was 23.9 kg/m(3). The number of women who experienced menopause was 106, hysterectomy was 19. There were 0 case of osteoarthritis of hip, 64 cases of osteoarthritis of knee, and 2 cases of osteoarthritis of hand. 2. Univariate analysis results : Mean BMD of women with the osteoarthritis of knee was significantly lower than that of women without the osteoarthritis of knee(0.4296 vs. 0.5057 g/cm2). But, there were to few cases of osteoarthritis of hip and hand, so comparative studies of BMD in ostearthritis of hip and hand could not be conducted. There were significant differences of BMD among pre-menopause group(0.5204), post-menopause group(0.4206), and hysterectomy group(0.4881). Additionally, there were significant differences of BMD among diabetes group(0.4297), impaired glucose tolerance group(0.4874), and normal group(0.5057). Furthermore, age, parity, BMI, bioimpedance wer significantly related with BMD. 3. Multivariate analysis results : To examine the relationship between osteoarthritis and BMD while controlling the other variables' effects which were significant in the univariate analyses, multiple linear regression analysis was done. But, it was found that osteoarthritis of knee was not a significant variable to BMD anymore. While age and menopause had significant negative relationship with BMD. Diabetes, parity, BMI, and bioimpedance did not have significant relationships with BMD. After stratification of subjects according to menopause, multiple linear regression analyses were done to each strata. Consequently, age in post-menopause group, age and osteoarthritis of knee in hysterectomy group showed significant negative relationship with BMD. The results did not support the many results of other previous studies done with white men and women. Further studies of biological plausibility to Korean women are recommended. Also it is suggested that longitudinal study to verify the relationship between osteoarthritis and BMD will be valuable.
Bone Density* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Glucose ; Hand ; Hip ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Linear Models ; Male ; Menopause ; Multivariate Analysis ; Osteoarthritis* ; Osteoarthritis, Hip ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; Osteoporosis ; Parity ; Postmenopause ; Premenopause

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is an essential process for the growth and metastatic ability of solid tumors. One of the key factors known to be capable of stimulating tumor angiogenesis is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The serum VEGF concentration has been shown to be a the malignant pleural effusion showing a correlation with the biochemical parameters. The VEGF has been shown to play a role in the inflammatory diseases, but rarely in the tuberculosis (TB). The serum and pleural fluid VEGF levels were measured in patients with lung cancer and TB. Their relationship with the clinical and laboratory parameters and repeated measurement 3 months after various anticancer treatments were evaluated to assess the utility of the VEGF as a tumor marker. METHODS: Using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the VEGF concentration was measured in both sera and pleural effusions collected from a total of 85 patients with lung cancer, 13 patients with TB and 20 healthy individuals. RESULTS: The serum VEGF levels in patients with lung cancer (619.9±722.8ph/ml) were significantly higher than those of healthy controls (215.9±191.1pg/ml), However, there was no significant difference between the VEGF levels in the lung cancer and TB patients. The serum VEGF levels were higher in large cell and undifferentiated carcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The serum VEGF levels of lung cancer patients revealed no significant relationship with the various clinical parameters. The VEGF concentrations in the malignant effusion (2,228.1±2,103.0pg/ml) were significantly higher than those in the TB effusion (897.6±978.8pg/ml). In the malignant pleural effusion, the VEGF levels revealed significant correlation with the number of red blood cells (r=0.75), the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)(r=0.70), and glucose concentration (r=-0.55) in the pleural fluid. CONCLUSION: The serum VEGF levels were higher in the lung cancer patients. The VEGF levels were more elevated in the malignant pleural effusion than in the tuberculous effusion. In addition, the VEGF levels in the pleural fluid were several times higher than the matched serum values suggesting a local activation and possible etiologic role of VEGF in the formation of malignant effusions. The pleural VEGF levels showed a significant correlation with the numbers of red blood cells, LDH and glucose concentrations in the pleural fluid, which may represent the tumor burden.
Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Erythrocytes ; Glucose ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pleural* ; Tumor Burden ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

Objective: The purpose of this nationwide age- and sex- matched longitudinal study was to determine the pyogenic spondylitis (PS) increases the incidence of ischemic stroke (IS) in Korea. Methods: From the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), we collected the patient data for the period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2015. PS was classified according to the International Classification of Disease codes M46.2-M46.8, M49.2, and M49.3. By using a 1:5 age- and sex- stratified matching, a total of 628 patients and 3140 control subjects were included in the study. The IS incidence rates in PS and control group was calculated by using the Kaplan-Meier method. The outcome of hazard ratio of IS was estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. This study did not exclude PS as a result of postoperative complications. Results: According to the study, 51 patients (8.12%) in the PS group and 201 patients (6.4%) in the control group experienced IS. The adjusted hazard ratio of IS in the PS group was 3.419 (95% CI: 2.473-4.729) after adjusting individual medical condition and demographics. Following the results of subgroup analysis, the risk ratio of IS was greater in most of the subgroup categories (male, female, age <65, age >65, non-diabetic, hypertensive, non-hypertensive, dyslipidemic and non-dyslipidemic subgroup). However, the risk of IS did not differ significantly in diabetic subgroup (95% CI: 0.953-4.360). Conclusions The risk rate of IS increased in patient with pyogenic spondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Immunoglogulin A(IgA) nephropathy is the most common primary glomerular disease throughout the world. 30-50% of patients with IgA nephropathy(IgAN) have high serum IgA concentrations. However, we do not know if the degree of elevation in IgA level increases the likelihood of having IgAN. Neither do we know if the IgA level has any association with pathological findings of IgAN. METHODS: We analyzed the relationships between IgAN and the levels of serum IgA which has been a routine part of the study in all patients with glomerulonephritis in our institution for the last 4 years. We reviewed 270 patients in whom the pathological diagnosis and the results of their IgA levels were both available. RESULTS: Of 80 patients who were IgA nephropathy, 26 patients(32.5%) had higher than normal cut- off value of serum IgA(385 mg/dL). In contrast, 8.9 % of patients with other types of glomerulonephropathies showed the values above normal(p<0.0001). The risk ratio for an increase of one unit of the IgA level was 1.0025(logistic regression, p=0.0043), which was increased to 1.0079 when patients with low complement levels were excluded from the analysis. The data were also analyzed according to the immunofluorescence microscopic findings of IgAN, which were found to have no significant correlation with IgA concentrations. CONCLUSION: The IgA level is a risk factor for IgAN throughout the whole range. However, it does not correlate with the IgA deposition in the renal tissue. We believe that this study will help understanding the interpretation of IgA levels in patients with IgAN.
Complement System Proteins ; Diagnosis ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Glomerulonephritis ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A* ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors

A 45-year-old man was admitted for fever, myalgia, and generalized edema with multiple localized erythema. He had no healthy problem before these symptoms developed. Abdominal CT scan showed multiple abscess in the right buttock, left psoas, and both inguinal area. Blood and wound culture drawn during the hospitalization grew methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Although antibiotic therapy and incisional drainage of abscess pocket, acute renal insufficiency was progressed and massive pulmonary hemorrhage and acute respiratory failure were developed. In addition to antibiotics, plasmapheresis and steroid pulse therapy made him improved dramatically from acute renal failure and pulmonary hemorrhage. The renal biopsy showed pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN). This result supports that plasmapheresis and steroid therapy may be beneficial in the treatment of staphylococcal infection-associated GN as several groups reported.
Abscess ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Biopsy ; Buttocks ; Drainage ; Edema ; Erythema ; Fever ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Hemorrhage* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Methicillin ; Middle Aged ; Myalgia ; Plasmapheresis* ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Staphylococcus aureus* ; Staphylococcus* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids are known to be significant prognostic parameters in sepsis. Recently, an absolute and relative insufficiency of the corticosteroids system has often been reported to often develop particularly in severe sepsis. Degree of such an adrenal insufficiency not only has prognostic implications but also can be used to guide corticosteroids replacement therapy. The 24-hour urinary cortisol levels as well as serum cortisol concentrations were measured to assess the clinical significance and their relationship with the other parameters of sepsis, and also evaluated the clinical implications of the relative adrenal insufficiency. METHODS: 26 consecutive patients with sepsis were enrolled. The basal random serum cortisol, ACTH, ADH, lactate levels and 24-hour urinary free cortisol amount were measured. The rapid ACTH (250 microgram) stimulation test was also performed. RESULTS: Basal serum cortisol levels were higher in the non-survivors than in the survivors. The 24-hour urinary free cortisol levels were higher in the patients with severe sepsis than in those without. The serum cortisol levels strongly correlated with the serum ADH and lactate levels. The 24-hour urinary free cortisol levels strongly correlated with the serum cortisol and lactate levels. The fractional changes in the cortisol levels after the rapid ACTH stimulation tests correlated with the serum cortisol, ADH, and lactate levels. CONCLUSION: Both the serum cortisol and 24-hour urinary cortisol were found to be significant prognostic factors in sepsis, and showed a strong correlation with the other parameters. The relative adrenal insufficiency might also be an important clinical parameter.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones* ; Adrenal Insufficiency ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Lactic Acid ; Prognosis ; Sepsis* ; Survivors

BACKGROUND: A decreased level of serum arginine vasopressin(AVP) and an increased sensitivity to an exogenous AVP is expected in patients with septic shock who often require a high infusion rate of catecholamines. The goal of the study was to determine whether an exogenous AVP infusion to the patients with septic shock would achieve a significant decrement in infusion rate of catecholamine vasopressors while maintaining hemodynamic stability and adequate urine output. METHODS: Eight patients with septic shock who require a high infusion rate of norepinephrine had received a trial of 4-hour AVP infusion with simultaneous titration of norepinephrine. Hemodynamic parameters and urine output were monitored during the AVP infusion and the monitoring continued up to 4 hours after the AVP infusion had stopped. RESULTS: Mean arterial pressure showed no significant changes during the study period(p=0.197). Norepinephrine infusion rate significantly decreased with concurrent AVP administration(p=0.001). However, beneficial effects had disappeared after the AVP infusion was stopped. In addition, hourly urine output showed no significant changes throughout the trials(p=0.093). CONCLUSION: Concurrent AVP infusion achieved the catecholamine vasopressor sparing effect in the septic shock patients, but there was no evidence of the improvement of renal function. Further study may be indicated to determine whether AVP infusion would provide an organ-protective effect to the septic shock patients.
Arginine* ; Arterial Pressure ; Catecholamines ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Norepinephrine ; Shock, Septic*