No abstract available.
Hand*

BACKGROUND: The influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. The primary target groups recommended for annual vaccination are healthcare workers and households which have frequent contact with persons at high risk and can transmit influenza to those persons at high risk. Members of these groups should be vaccinated against the flu so that they can avoid getting infected with continuously mutating influenza viruses. We assessed healthcare workers' knowledge and attitudes regarding influenza vaccination in order to help promote the vaccination rate. METHODS: This survey was carried out in two hospitals affiliated with the Catholic University School of Medicine, from December 2004 to January 2005. Of the 3,023 questionnaires distributed, 2,023 could be evaluated. RESULTS: The most frequently cited reason for receiving influenza vaccine was self-protection against influenza (55.4%). The most common reasons for not receiving influenza vaccine are personal health problems such as concurrent flu, pregnancy or breast-feeding (29.2%). There is no significant difference in the frequency of side effect between two groups receiving and not receiving vaccine. The most frequent side effect of influenza vaccination is flu-like syndrome; People receiving vaccine have more significant knowledge than those people not receiving vaccine about efficacy of flu vaccination, risk of influenza infection of healthcare workers and their need of flu vaccination. CONCLUSION: In order to promote the vaccination rate, education targeting people at high risk need to keep continuous and facilitate access to vaccination.
Delivery of Health Care* ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human* ; Orthomyxoviridae ; Pregnancy ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Well differentiated osteosarcomas are variants of osteosarcoma composed mainly of fibrous and osseous tissue with minimal cystologic atypia. This tumor may be misinterpretated as a benign lesion if the radiologic and clinical features are not taken into account. We report a typical case of intraosseous well differentiated osteosarcoma occuring in the left distal femur of a 58-year-old woman. Radiologically, it appered as an ill-defined lesion with a mixture of sclerotic and osteolytic ares. But there was a lack of highly destructive appearance of conventional osteosarcoma. Grossly, the mass occupied a metaphysis of the distal femur with extension into the diaphysis and epiphysis. Multifocal cortical destruction and sclerosis were also associated. Histologically, the mass showed typical features of intraosseous well differentiated osteosarcoma. There were various patterns of osteoid deposits and bone formation mimicking those of fibrous dysplasia, nonossifying fibroma or parosteal osteosarcoma.
Female ; Humans

Objectives: Excess deaths, an indicator that compares total mortality rates before and during a pandemic, offer a comprehensive view of the pandemic’s impact. However, discrepancies may arise from variations in estimating expected deaths. This study aims to compare excess deaths in Korea during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic using 3 methods and to analyze patterns using the most appropriate method. Methods: Expected deaths from 2020 to 2022 were estimated using mortality data from 2015-2019 as reference years. This estimation employed 3 approaches: (1) simple average, (2) age-adjusted average, and (3) age-adjusted linear regression. Excess deaths by age, gender, and cause of death were also presented. Results: The number of excess deaths varied depending on the estimation method used, reaching its highest point with the simple average and its lowest with the age-adjusted average. Age-adjusted linear regression, which accounts for both the aging population and declining mortality rates, was considered most appropriate. Using this model, excess deaths were estimated at 0.3% for 2020, 4.0% for 2021, and 20.7% for 2022. Excess deaths surged among individuals in their 20s throughout the pandemic, largely attributed to a rise in self-harm and suicide. Additionally, the results indicated sharp increases in deaths associated with “endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases” and “symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified.” Conclusions Substantial variations in excess deaths were evident based on estimation method, with a notable increase in 2022. The heightened excess deaths among young adults and specific causes underscore key considerations for future pandemic responses.

Congenital myotonic dystrophy (CMD) which is transmitted in an autosomal-dominant manner, can also be observed in newborns born to asymptomatic parents who have a myotonic dystrophy type 1 or premutation allele, especially from the mother. A mother with myotonic dystrophy could be subfertile and the pregnancy could be complicated with the risk of a preterm birth. Newborns with CMD may demonstrate symptoms such as hypotonia and poor motor activity, as well as respiratory and feeding difficulties. Additionally, CMD has a high mortality rate at birth. Detection of the signs and symptoms during pregnancy is helpful for a prenatal diagnosis of CMD in cases where the family history is not known.
Alleles ; Genetic Counseling ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mortality ; Mothers ; Motor Activity ; Muscle Hypotonia ; Myotonic Dystrophy* ; Parents ; Parturition ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Prenatal Diagnosis

BACKGROUND: During clinical practice we found that left ventricular systolic function(LVSF) has been normalized in some patients with cardiomyopathy. We investigated the echocardiographic and clinical factors affecting normalization of LVSF in these patients. METHOD: The patients with LV systolic dysfunction(EF<40%) were evaluated with echocardiography, coronary angiography and/or 201-Thallium SPECT and follow-up echocardiography(FUE) one year later. They had no coronary, valvular, congenital heart diseases. Consecutive 50 patients with improved LVSF(EF> or =55%) in FUE were defined to Group 1(mean age 57+/-16, male 21, female 29, mean follow-up 18+/-6 month) and another consecutive 50 patients with sustained decreased LVSF(EF<40%) and no increment of EF over 10% in FUE were defined to Group 2(mean age 56+/-14, male 32, female 18, mean follow-up 20+/-6 month). RESULTS: By univariate analysis, significant factors affecting normalization of LVSF were female sex, non-smoker, first experience of dyspnea, absence of bundle branch block in ECG, end-diastolic dimension of LV(LVEDD), end-diastolic volume of LV(LVEDV), LA size, less sphericity, presence of pericardial effusion, peak and end systolic wall stress. By multivariate analysis, LVEDD(Group 1: 61+/-7, Group 2: 71+/-7mm, p<0.001), LVEDV(Group 1: 139+/-59, Group 2: 190+/-51ml, p<0.01), absence of bundle branch block in ECG and 1st attack of symptom were significant. By Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, area under curve of LVEDD and LVEDV were 0.859(95%CI: 0.775-0.920) and 0.805(95%CI: 0.681-0.896), respectively. LVEDD< or =64mm predicted normalization of LVSF with a sensitivity 76% and a specificity 86%. CONCLUSION: Determination of cardiac dimension and volume by echocardiography is very important to predicting normalization of LV systolic function in primary myocardial disease. And this results suggest that myocardial structural integrity may be important for recovery of LV function in clinical setting.
Bundle-Branch Block ; Cardiomyopathies* ; Coronary Angiography ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography* ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pericardial Effusion ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Statistics as Topic ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the color stability of provisional restorative materials fabricated by 3D printing, dental milling, and conventional materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the experimental groups, two commercially available 3D-printing provisional resins (E-Dent 100; EnvisionTEC GmbH, Germany & VeroGlaze TM ; Stratasys® , USA), two dental milling blocks (PMMA Disk; Yamahachi Dental Co., Japan & Telio® CAD; Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Liechtenstein), and two conventional materials (AlikeTM ; GC Co., Japan & Luxatemp automix plus; DMG, Germany) were used. The water sorption and solubility test were (n=10, respectively) carried out according to ISO4049:2000 (International Standards Organization, Geneva, Switzerland). For the color stability test (n=10), coffee and black tea were used as staining solutions, and the specimens were stored for 12 weeks. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD using SPSS version 22.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) (P<.05). RESULTS: Alike and Veroglaze showed the highest values and Luxatemp showed the lowest water sorption. In the color stability test, the ΔE of conventional materials varied depending on the staining solution. PMMA milling blocks showed a relatively low ΔE up to 4 weeks, and then significantly increased after 8 weeks (P<.05). 3D-printed materials exhibited a high ΔE or a significant increase over time (P<.05). CONCLUSION The degree of discoloration increased with time, and a visually perceptiblecolor difference value (ΔE) was shown regardless of the materials and solutions. PMMA milled and 3D-printed materials showed more rapid change in discoloration after 8 weeks.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the results of several noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) from a single center and confirm their efficacy and reliability. In addition, we aimed to confirm the changes in the number of invasive tests performed after introducing NIPT. Materials and Methods: NIPT data from a large single center from March 2014 to November 2018 were analyzed. Karyotyping was confirmed based on chorionic villus sampling, amniocentesis, or postnatal cord/peripheral blood sampling. Data on maternal age, gestational age, fetal fraction, and ultrasonographic results were analyzed. As the secondary outcome, the number of amniocentesis cases before and after the introduction of NIPT was compared. Results: Overall, 1,591 single pregnancy cases that underwent NIPT were enrolled. The mean maternal age was 36.05 (22-45) years. The average gestational age and fetal fraction were 12+1 (9+3 to 27+1) weeks and 10.95% (3.6% to 31.3%), respectively. A total of 1,544 cases (97.0%) were reported to have negative NIPT results and 40 (2.5%) had positive NIPT results. The sensitivity and specificity of the overall abnormalities in NIPT were 96.29% and 99.36%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value were 72.22% and 99.93% respectively. The mean number of amniocentesis cases were 21.7 per month (21.7±3.9), which significantly decreased from 31.5 per month (31.5±4.8) before conducting NIPT as a screening test. Conclusion NIPT is currently a useful, powerful, and safe screening test. In particular, trisomy 21 is highly specific due to its high PPV. NIPT can reduce the potential risks of procedure-related miscarriages during invasive testing.

Interchromosomal insertion of Y chromosome heterochromatin in an autosome was identified in a fetus and a family. A fetal karyotype was analyzed as 46,XX,dup(7)(?q22q21.1) in a referred amniocentesis at 16 weeks of gestation for advanced maternal age. In the familial karyotype analyses for identification of der(7), the mother, the first daughter and the maternal grandmother showed the same der(7) as the fetus's. CBG-banding was positive at 7q22 region of der(7) that indicated inserted material was originated from heterochromatin. The origin of heterochromatic insertion region in der(7) of the fetus and the mother was found in Yq12 region by fluorescent in situ hybridization with a DYZ1 probe. In the specific analysis of Y chromosomal heterochromatic region of ins(7;Y) of the mother, 15 sequence tagged sites from Yp11.3 region including SRY to Yq11.223 region was not detected. Final karyotypes of the mother, the first daughter and the maternal grandmother were reported as 46,XX,der(7)ins(7;Y)(q21.3;q12q12). All female carriers of ins(7;Y) in the family showed normal phenotype and the mother and the maternal grandmother were fertile. A healthy girl was born at term. We report a rare case of familial interchromosomal insertion of Y chromosome heterochromatin detected only in female family members with normal phenotype that was diagnosed prenatally.
Amniocentesis ; Female ; Fetus ; Grandparents ; Heterochromatin* ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotype ; Maternal Age ; Mothers ; Nuclear Family ; Phenotype ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis* ; Sequence Tagged Sites ; Y Chromosome*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to confirm whether the paracentric inversions of fetuses and parents may be harmless. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report 10 cases (0.14%) with paracentric inversions among 7,181 prenatal cases observed during prenatal diagnosis performed at Cheil General Hospital between January 2009 and June 2013. We used cytogenetic GTL- and RBG-banding techniques. RESULTS: Of the 10 cases, nine cases were transmitted from each of the parents, and one case was de novo. Nine cases were phenotypically normal up to one month of age after birth. One case was lost to follow-up. We present prenatal diagnosis and follow-up examination of the fetuses with paracentric inversion. CONCLUSION: Based on our cases, most paracentric inversions are considered to be harmless. The precise identification of paracentric inversions might be clinically important and helpful for genetic counseling.
Amniocentesis ; Chorionic Villi Sampling ; Cytogenetics ; Female ; Fetus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genetic Counseling ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Parents ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis*