PURPOSE: Recently, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have become one of the major nosocomial pathogens in Korea. However, there have been few studies on the epidemiology of VRE colonization among neonates. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of VRE colonization, risk factors for VRE, and how to control the spread of VRE infection in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 192 neonates who were admitted to the NICU of PNUH from March 2006 to March 2007. Surveillance cultures from rectal swabs for detecting VRE were obtained weekly during the study period. We analyzed the prevalence of VRE and various risk factors. RESULTS: The rate of VRE colonization among NICU patients was 25% (48/192). Thirty five of these VRE colonized patients were transferred to the NICU from other local hospitals. Compared with the non-VRE group, the risk factors associated with VRE colonization were lower birth weight, congenital heart disease, applied mechanical ventilation, use of a central venous catheter, chest tubing, a history of surgery, and use of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: VRE colonization among patients admitted to the NICU is rapidly increasing. Monitoring and managing premature neonates from the beginning of the birth process, avoiding many invasive procedures, avoiding antibiotics such as vancomycin and third generation cephalosporin are important for preventing the emergence and spread of VRE colonization in the NICU.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Birth Weight ; Central Venous Catheters ; Colon ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Parturition ; Prevalence ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thorax ; Vancomycin ; Vancomycin Resistance

No abstract available.
Catheterization, Central Venous* ; Central Venous Catheters* ; Jugular Veins*

Delayed eruption disorders caused by systemic or local conditions are mostly found during childhood and can be treated with orthodontic forced eruption. When the disorder is not found nor treated during childhood, however, orthodontic eruption might become a difficult option while prosthodontic restoration can be considered as an another option. Considerations for the prosthodontic treatment plan include the extent of tooth loss, interdental mesio-distal space and interarch space, and age of the patient. In this case report, oral rehabilitation of the patient with delayed eruption disorder through zirconia partial fixed prostheses for both maxilla and mandible was performed.
Humans ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Orthodontic Extrusion ; Prostheses and Implants ; Rehabilitation ; Tooth Loss

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There have been a few national population-based epidemiological studies of myasthenia gravis (MG) with wide variation of incidence and prevalence rates worldwide. Herein we report the first nationwide population-based epidemiological study of MG in Korea. METHODS: We attempted to estimate the incidence and prevalence rates of MG using the Korean National Health Insurance claims database for 2010 to 2013. Cases with MG were defined as those having claim records with a principal diagnosis of MG and the prescription of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or immunosuppressive agents including corticosteroids and azathioprine within 2 years after the diagnosis. The year 2010 was set as a washout period, such that patients were defined as incident cases if their first records of MG were observed in 2011. RESULTS: In 2011 there were 1,236 incident cases, and the standardized incidence rate was 2.44 per 100,000 person-years. The standardized prevalence rates were 9.67 and 10.66 per 100,000 persons in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The incidence and prevalence rates peaked in the elderly population aged 60 to 69 years for both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the largest national population-based epidemiological studies of MG, and it has confirmed the high incidence and prevalence rates of MG in the elderly population of South Korea.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Aged ; Azathioprine ; Cholinesterase Inhibitors ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Incidence* ; Korea* ; Myasthenia Gravis* ; National Health Programs* ; Prescriptions ; Prevalence*

PURPOSE: This was a methodological research to develop an instrument to assess the emotional response of family members of physically restrained patients. METHODS: A primary instrument with 68 questions was developed based on literature review and semi-structured interviews with family members. A group of experts revised individual questions and removed 4 irrelevant questions. This secondary instrument, then, was tested with 199 family members of physically restrained patients in intensive care units of a university hospital. The validity and reliability of the instrument were tested by factor analysis. RESULTS: After item analysis, 3 questions with a correlation coefficient under .30 were discarded and the questions with a factor loading under .45 on Varimax Rotation were also removed. After factor analysis on the final 37 questions, 7 factors were identified; avoidance, shock, helplessness, grudge, depression, anxiousness, and acceptance. The total variance explained was 55.63%. The reliability of this instrument was 0.93 of Cronbach's alpha. CONCLUSION: This instrument was statistically reliable and valid to measure family's emotional response to physical restraints of the patients. This instrument can be useful in assessing the effects of nursing interventions for family members of restrained patients.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Emotions ; Family/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Program Development ; Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results ; *Restraint, Physical

Purpose: To report a rare case of bilateral optic nerve sheath meningocele diagnosed in a patient with exophthalmos.Case summary: A 33-year-old male visited our clinic with bilateral exophthalmos for 6 months. The patient had been diagnosed with hypertension 3 years previously; however, the condition had been poorly controlled. He also had a history of treatment associated with retinal vein occlusion, macular edema, and papilledema 2 years earlier. There was no limitation in his ocular movement. A Hertel exophthalmometry test showed bilateral exophthalmos of 20 mm in both eyes. Visual field tests showed an inferior arcuate visual field defect in the right eye and a superotemporal peripheral field defect in the left eye. In orbital magnetic resonance imagery, cerebrospinal fluid space widening along the optic nerve and flattening of the bilateral posterior pole of the eye were evident. The patient was diagnosed with optic nerve sheath meningocele. Conclusions Optic nerve sheath meningocele should be considered as a differential diagnosis of exophthalmos patients. Because it is a disease that can affect visual function in a manner similar to that of a visual field defect, rapid diagnosis through imaging study and thorough regular follow-up examinations are essential.

Purpose: To report a rare case of bilateral optic nerve sheath meningocele diagnosed in a patient with exophthalmos.Case summary: A 33-year-old male visited our clinic with bilateral exophthalmos for 6 months. The patient had been diagnosed with hypertension 3 years previously; however, the condition had been poorly controlled. He also had a history of treatment associated with retinal vein occlusion, macular edema, and papilledema 2 years earlier. There was no limitation in his ocular movement. A Hertel exophthalmometry test showed bilateral exophthalmos of 20 mm in both eyes. Visual field tests showed an inferior arcuate visual field defect in the right eye and a superotemporal peripheral field defect in the left eye. In orbital magnetic resonance imagery, cerebrospinal fluid space widening along the optic nerve and flattening of the bilateral posterior pole of the eye were evident. The patient was diagnosed with optic nerve sheath meningocele. Conclusions Optic nerve sheath meningocele should be considered as a differential diagnosis of exophthalmos patients. Because it is a disease that can affect visual function in a manner similar to that of a visual field defect, rapid diagnosis through imaging study and thorough regular follow-up examinations are essential.

We report the case of a 17-year-old Korean girl with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who presented with sudden weakness of the right-sided extremities and dysarthria. Oral prednisolone was being taken to control SLE. Results of clinical and laboratory examinations did not show any evidence of antiphospholipid syndrome or thromboembolic disease nor SLE activity. Cerebral angiography showed stenosis of the left internal carotid artery and right anterior cerebral artery with accompanying collateral circulation (moyamoya vessels). After the patient underwent bypass surgery on the left side, she recovered from the neurological problems and did not experience any additional ischemic attack during the 14-month follow-up period. This case represents an unusual association between moyamoya syndrome and inactive SLE (inactive for a relatively long interval of 2 years) in a young girl.
Adolescent ; Anterior Cerebral Artery ; Antiphospholipid Syndrome ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Cerebral Angiography ; Child ; Collateral Circulation ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dysarthria ; Extremities ; Female* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Moyamoya Disease* ; Prednisolone

PURPOSE: To assess the changes in mean corneal refractive power (DeltaK) following pterygium surgery and to predict DeltaK in cases of combined cataract and pterygium surgery. METHODS: Thirty-seven eyes of unilateral pterygium patients who underwent pterygium surgery were analyzed retrospectively with at least more than 1 month of follow-up. Preoperative and postoperative 1 month corneal refractive power was measured using auto-keratometer (RK-F1, Canon, Tokyo, Japan). Pterygium horizontal extension, width, and area were measured and correlation with DeltaK before and after surgery analyzed. We also compared DeltaK of the contralateral normal eye. RESULTS: The mean corneal refractive (Km) power measured before and 1 month after surgery was 43.30 +/- 1.66 D and 44.07 +/- 1.42 D, respectively. The Km significantly increased at 4 weeks after surgery (p < 0.001). However, postoperative Km was not significantly different when compared with the contralateral normal eye (43.86 +/- 1.34 D; p = 0.59). All parameters of pterygium size including horizontal extension, width, and area were positively correlated with the mean DeltaK. Among parameters, horizontal extension was best correlated with mean DeltaK (p < 0.001). The mean DeltaK with horizontal extension was predicted using linear regression (2.5 mm to 1 D, 4.0 mm to 1.8 D). CONCLUSIONS: We recommend contralateral corneal refractive power or prediction of corneal refractive power using linear regression with pterygium horizontal extension for determining intraocular lens power in cases of combined cataract and pterygium surgery.
Cataract ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lenses, Intraocular ; Linear Models ; Pterygium* ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic significance of the tumor volume reduction rate (TVRR) measured during adaptive definitive radiation therapy (RT) for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the RT records of 159 NPC patients treated with definitive RT with or without concurrent chemotherapy between January 2006 and February 2013. Adaptive re-planning was performed in all patients at the third week of RT. The pre- and mid-RT gross tumor volumes (GTVs) of the primary tumor and the metastatic lymph nodes were measured and analyzed for prognostic implications. RESULTS: After a median follow-up period of 41.5 months (range, 11.2 to 91.8 months) for survivors, there were 43 treatment failures. The overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) rates at 5 years were 89.6% and 69.7%, respectively. The mean pre-RT GTV, mid-RT GTV, and TVRR were 45.9 cm3 (range, 1.5 to 185.3 cm3), 26.7 cm3 (1.0 to 113.8 cm3), and -41.9% (range, -87% to 78%), respectively. Patients without recurrence had higher TVRR than those with recurrence (44.3% in the no recurrence group vs. 34.0% in the recurrence group, p=0.004), and those with TVRR > 35% achieved a significantly higher rate of PFS at 5 years (79.2% in TVRR > 35% vs. 53.2% in TVRR ≤ 35%; p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, TVRR was a significant factor affecting PFS (hazard ratio, 2.877; 95% confidence interval, 1.555 to 5.326; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: TVRR proved to be a significant prognostic factor in NPC patients treated with definitive RT, and could be used as a potential indicator for early therapeutic modification during the RT course.
Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms* ; Radiotherapy ; Recurrence ; Survivors ; Treatment Failure ; Tumor Burden*