Sulfonylurea (SU) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are most common secondary agents that are added to metformin monotherapy. Real-world studies have become increasingly important in providing evidence of treatment effectiveness in clinical practice and real-world data could help appropriate therapeutic information. Therefore, this study aims to compare the glycemic effectiveness of SU and DPP-4 inhibitors, which are added to metformin monotherapy in real clinical practice using electronic medical record (EMR) data. EMR data of type 2 diabetes patients treated at Seoul National University Hospital from December 2002 to December 2012 were retrieved and analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups: patients who maintained metformin monotherapy (M), and patients who added SU (MS) or DPP-4 inhibitors (MD) to metformin monotherapy. The mean change in HbA1c level, the proportion of patients achieving the HbA1c target < 7.0%, proportion of patients with treatment failure, and probability of treatment failure occurrence and changes in prescription were evaluated to compare glycemic control efficacy between SU and DPP-4 inhibitors. The MS showed significantly greater reduction in the Hb1Ac level than MD. The proportion of patients achieving HbA1c < 7.0% is higher in MD, whereas the proportion of patients with treatment failure was greater in MS. The probability of the treatment failure and probability of changes in the prescription were lower in MD than MS with hazard ratio of 0.499 and 0.579, respectively. In conclusion, this real-world study suggested that DPP-4 inhibitors are expected to show more durable glycemic control efficacy than SU in long-term use.

Sulfonylurea (SU) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are most common secondary agents that are added to metformin monotherapy. Real-world studies have become increasingly important in providing evidence of treatment effectiveness in clinical practice and real-world data could help appropriate therapeutic information. Therefore, this study aims to compare the glycemic effectiveness of SU and DPP-4 inhibitors, which are added to metformin monotherapy in real clinical practice using electronic medical record (EMR) data. EMR data of type 2 diabetes patients treated at Seoul National University Hospital from December 2002 to December 2012 were retrieved and analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups: patients who maintained metformin monotherapy (M), and patients who added SU (MS) or DPP-4 inhibitors (MD) to metformin monotherapy. The mean change in HbA1c level, the proportion of patients achieving the HbA1c target < 7.0%, proportion of patients with treatment failure, and probability of treatment failure occurrence and changes in prescription were evaluated to compare glycemic control efficacy between SU and DPP-4 inhibitors. The MS showed significantly greater reduction in the Hb1Ac level than MD. The proportion of patients achieving HbA1c < 7.0% is higher in MD, whereas the proportion of patients with treatment failure was greater in MS. The probability of the treatment failure and probability of changes in the prescription were lower in MD than MS with hazard ratio of 0.499 and 0.579, respectively. In conclusion, this real-world study suggested that DPP-4 inhibitors are expected to show more durable glycemic control efficacy than SU in long-term use.

PURPOSE: Emergency consultation is a common and important aspect in the emergency department (ED). Kessler et al. suggested the five Cs of the emergency medicine (EM) consulting checklist; contact, communication, core question, collaboration, and closing the loop as a tool for evaluation of consultation quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of this checklist as a tool for assessment of the skill of requesting consultation in the ED. METHODS: This study was conducted in the ED at an urban training hospital. Three emergency physicians recorded telephone conversations when they contacted consultant physicians for consultation regarding emergency patients. After recording files were collected, eight raters evaluated each conversation using the five Cs of the EM consulting checklist. RESULTS: A total of 58 cases were gathered. The most frequent emergency acuity level of patients was 3, by 72.4%. The mean duration of conversation was 53+/-30 seconds. The mean total score was 41.9+/-3.1. When the scores for the five Cs' categories were evaluated, the score was lowest, at 2.9+/-1.0 for 'contact' and highest, at 4.8+/-0.5, for 'communication'. Inter-rater agreement (95%confidence interval) of the total score was 0.819 (0.755-0.875). In the case of acuity level 3, the agreement was high, at 0.859(0.796-0.911), whereas it was 0.691 (0.491-0.874) and 0.426(0.115-0.922) in acuity levels 2 and 4, respectively. CONCLUSION: EM consultations were evaluated according to the five Cs of the EM consulting checklist showing high inter-rater agreement. This checklist could be used as a tool for monitoring and feedback in EM residency training.
Checklist ; Consultants ; Cooperative Behavior ; Education, Medical ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Referral and Consultation ; Telephone

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive, obstructive lung disease characterized by long-term poor airflow. The symptoms of COPD may be relieved and its progression delayed by fluticasone (FTS), salmeterol (SM), and tiotropium (TTP). The aim of this study is to investigate pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of inhaled FTS, SM, and TTP after co-administration. An open-label, single-arm, three-period, simple ascending dose study was conducted in 10 healthy male subjects. A single dose of FTS/SM (250/50 µg) and TTP (18 µg) were concomitantly inhaled in period 1, and the dose of each drug was escalated to two- and three-fold in periods 2 and 3, respectively, with a 2-week washout between periods. Activated charcoal was co-administered before and after inhalation to block gastrointestinal absorption. Blood samples for PK analysis were collected up to 24 hours. PK parameters were obtained by non-compartmental analysis. FTS, SM, and TTP rapidly reached maximum plasma concentration after inhalation (0.08–3.00 h, 0.03–0.10 h and 0.03–0.10 h, respectively) and were eliminated with mean half-lives of 9.29–10.44 h, 6.09–12.39 h and 0.25–47.42 h, respectively. PK assessment of the lowest dose of TTP was limited due to relatively low systemic exposure compared to the lower limit of quantification. In conclusion, PK characteristics of FTS, SM, and TTP by pulmonary absorption were evaluated after concurrent inhalation. FTS and SM showed dose-proportional PK profiles between 250–750 µg and 50–150 µg, respectively, while TTP presented dose-proportionality in the early phase exposure between 18-54 µg.
Charcoal ; Fluticasone* ; Gastrointestinal Absorption ; Humans ; Inhalation* ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Male ; Pharmacokinetics ; Plasma ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiratory Tract Absorption ; Salmeterol Xinafoate* ; Tiotropium Bromide*

PURPOSE: Primary total knee arthroplasty is associated with considerable blood loss, and allergenic blood transfusions are frequently necessary. Because of the cost and risks of allogenic blood transfusions, the autologous drainage blood reinfusion technique has been developed as an alternative transfusion technique. A number of studies have compared the reinfusion techniques with standard suction drainage, but few reports have compared the reinfusion technique with the technique that uses no drain. We analyzed the early results after primary total knee arthroplasty with using autologous drainage blood reinfusion and no drain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 30 patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty with using no drain between November 2005 and March 2006 and they were matched for age and gender with 30 patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty with using the autologous drainage blood reinfusion technique between January 2003 and October 2005. All the operations were done under a pneumatic tourniquet and meticulous hemostasis was performed after deflation of the tourniquet. We have retrospectively reviewed the preoperative data (age, gender, the body mass index, the diagnosis, a history of knee surgery, infection and/or anticoagulant therapy, and the medical cormorbidities) and the postoperative data (the hemoglobin level, the hematocrit and the platelet count during hospitalization, the amount of allogenic blood transfusion and narcotics, the complications, the rehabilitation process and the clinical scores). RESULTS: The amount of allogenic blood transfusion in the autologous drainage blood reinfusion group was greater than that of the no drain group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The hemoglobin level and hematocrit during hospitalization were higher in the autologous drainage blood reinfusion group, which was significant at the postoperative second and seventh days. There was a case of deep infection in the no drain group. CONCLUSION: The autologous drainage blood reinfusion method when performing primary total knee arthroplasty did not show any significant clinical benefit over the no-drain method with regards to allogenic blood transfusions, the amount of narcotic used, the rehabilitation processes and the clinical scores. However, the incidences of wound complication and infection were higher in the no drain group.
Arthroplasty ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee ; Blood Transfusion ; Body Mass Index ; Drainage ; Hematocrit ; Hemoglobins ; Hemostasis ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Knee ; Narcotics ; Platelet Count ; Retrospective Studies ; Suction ; Tourniquets

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a key role in the maintenance of endothelial homeostasis and promote vascular repair. A reduced number of EPCs and the functional activity have been associated with several cardiovascular risk factors. However, the relationship between the number of EPCs and circadian rhythm of the blood pressure (BP) remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the circadian rhythm of the BP and EPCs in patients with essential hypertension. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 45 patients with essential hypertension who were newly identified by outpatient BP measurements, underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring. Among the 45 patients with essential hypertension, 20 were classified as dippers (12 men and 8 women; mean age 48+/-14 years) and 25 as non-dippers (14 men and 11 women; mean age 52+/-18 years). The EPC count was isolated from the peripheral bloodstream and quantified by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The baseline clinical characteristics were similar between the dipper and non-dipper hypertensive patients. The circulating EPCs were statistically reduced in the non-dipper patients as compared to the dippers (104+/-60 vs. 66+/-47 EPCs per 106 mononuclear cells, p=0.027). The circulating EPC level correlated positively with the circadian changes in the systolic and diastolic BP (r=0.435, p=0.003, and r=0.310, p=0.038, respectively). CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that the EPC count was reduced in the peripheral bloodstream in non-dipper hypertensive patients.
Blood Pressure ; Circadian Rhythm ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Outpatients ; Phosphorylcholine ; Risk Factors ; Stem Cells

PURPOSE: Few studies have been investigated the in vivo efficacy of generic vancomycin products available outside of the United States. In this study, we aimed to compare the in vivo pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of five generic vancomycin products available in Korea with those of the innovator.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The in vitro vancomycin purity of each product was examined using high-pressure liquid chromatography. Single-dose PK analyses were performed using neutropenic mice. The in vivo efficacy of vancomycin products was compared with that of the innovator in dose-effect experiments (25 to 400 mg/kg per day) using a thigh-infection model with neutropenic mice.RESULTS: Generic products had a lower proportion of vancomycin B (range: 90.3–93.8%) and a higher proportion of impurities (range: 6.2–9.7%) than the innovator (94.5% and 5.5%, respectively). In an in vivo single-dose PK study, the maximum concentration (C(max)) values of each generic were lower than that of the innovator, and the geographic mean area under the curve ratios of four generics were significantly lower than that of the innovator (all p<0.1). In the thigh-infection model, the maximum efficacies of generic products reflected in maximal effect (E(max)) values were not significantly different from the innovator. However, the PD profile curves of some generic products differed significantly from that of the innovator in mice injected with a high level of Mu3 (all p≤0.05).CONCLUSION: Some generic vancomycin products available in Korea showed inferior PK and PD profiles, especially in hetero-vancomycin-resistant mice infected with Staphylococcus aureus.

BACKGROUND: Accurate volume measurement is important in the management of patients with congestive heart failure or renal insufficiency. A bioimpedance analyser can estimate total body water in litres and has been widely used in clinical practice due to its non-invasiveness and ease of results interpretation. To change impedance data to volumetric data, bioimpedance analysers use equations derived from data from healthy subjects, which may not apply to patients with other conditions. Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) was developed to overcome the dependence on those equations by constructing vector plots using raw impedance data. BIVA requires normal reference plots for the proper interpretation of individual vectors. The aim of this study was to construct normal reference vector plots of bioelectrical impedance for Koreans. METHODS: Bioelectrical impedance measurements were collected from apparently healthy subjects screened according to a comprehensive physical examination and medical history performed by trained physicians. Reference vector contours were plotted on the RXc graph using the probability density function of the bivariate normal distribution. We further compared them with those of other ethnic groups. RESULTS: A total of 242 healthy subjects aged 22 to 83 were recruited (137 men and 105 women) between December 2015 and November 2016. The centers of the tolerance ellipses were 306.3 Ω/m and 34.9 Ω/m for men and 425.6 Ω/m and 39.7 Ω/m for women. The ellipses were wider for women than for men. The confidence ellipses for Koreans were located between those for Americans and Spaniards without overlap for both genders. CONCLUSION: This study presented gender-specific normal reference BIVA plots and corresponding tolerance and confidence ellipses on the RXc graph, which is important for the interpretation of BIA-reported volume status in patients with congestive heart failure or renal insufficiency. There were noticeable differences in reference ellipses with regard to gender and ethnic groups.
Adult ; Blood Volume ; Body Fluid Compartments ; Body Water ; Electric Impedance ; Ethnic Groups ; Female ; Healthy Volunteers ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Renal Insufficiency

The present erratum notice corrects one figure of the article.