PURPOSE: The bedside lung ultrasound in emergency (BLUE) protocol is an excellent diagnostic tool for acute respiratory failures requiring admission to the intensive care unit. We incorporated cardiac ultrasound in the BLUE algorithm because cardiac origin is also necessary to examine in an emergency setting. We studied the usefulness of the emergency department (ED)-BLUE protocol for patients complaining of dyspnea in an emergency department. METHODS: At first, we assessed lung sliding, artifacts (Alines and B-lines), alveolar consolidation and pleural effusion on stage I and II evaluation. Then, we checked heart to detect 3Es (Effusion, Equality, and Ejection fractions). We divided all the possible conditions into 10 categories. We compared it with final diagnosis and examined the agreements using kappa statistics. We compared the physician's level of confidence for the first impression. The 10 categories were: 1) normal or inconclusive, 2) pulmonary embolism, 3) airway disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma), 4) pneumothorax, 5) large pleural effusion, 6) alveolar consolidation, 7) acute pulmonary edema due to systolic congestive heart failure, 8) acute respiratory distress syndrome, 9) chronic interstitial lung disease with exacerbation, and 10) pericardial effusion with/without tamponade. RESULTS: This prospective study was performed for 172 patients over 18-years-of-age with dyspnea during a 25-month period. Kappa value between the diagnosis after ED-BLUE and final diagnosis was 0.812(p<0.001). The mean of physician's full term for LOC for the first impression before and after ED-BLUE was 3.09+/-0.83 and 4.36+/-0.70 (paired t-test, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: ED-BLUE protocol could help the emergency physician make an accurate diagnosis in patients with dyspnea in the emergent setting.
Artifacts ; Dyspnea ; Emergencies ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Lung ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pleural Effusion ; Pneumothorax ; Prospective Studies ; Pulmonary Edema ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult

Objective: The prognostic value of the volume and density of skeletal muscles in the abdominal waist of patients with colon cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between the automated computed tomography (CT)-based volume and density of the muscle in the abdominal waist and survival outcomes in patients with colon cancer. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 474 patients with colon cancer who underwent surgery with curative intent between January 2010 and October 2017. Volumetric skeletal muscle index and muscular density were measured at the abdominal waist using artificial intelligence (AI)-based volumetric segmentation of body composition on preoperative pre-contrast CT images. Patients were grouped based on their skeletal muscle index (sarcopenia vs. not) and muscular density (myosteatosis vs. not) values and combinations (normal, sarcopenia alone, myosteatosis alone, and combined sarcopenia and myosteatosis). Postsurgical disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using univariable and multivariable analyses, including multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression. Results: Univariable analysis showed that DFS and OS were significantly worse for the sarcopenia group than for the nonsarcopenia group (P = 0.044 and P = 0.003, respectively, by log-rank test) and for the myosteatosis group than for the nonmyosteatosis group (P < 0.001 by log-rank test for all). In the multivariable analysis, the myosteatotic muscle type was associated with worse DFS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.89 [95% confidence interval, 1.25–2.86]; P = 0.003) and OS (aHR, 1.90 [95% confidence interval, 1.84–3.04]; P = 0.008) than the normal muscle type. The combined muscle type showed worse OS than the normal muscle type (aHR, 1.95 [95% confidence interval, 1.08–3.54]; P = 0.027). Conclusion Preoperative volumetric sarcopenia and myosteatosis, automatically assessed from pre-contrast CT scans using AI-based software, adversely affect survival outcomes in patients with colon cancer.

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate organ-specific recurrence or the metastatic pattern of breast cancer according to biological subtypes and clinical characteristics. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 168 patients with recurrent breast cancer who were diagnosed between January 1, 2000 and April 30, 2017. Four biological subtypes were classified according to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki-67 expression: luminal A, luminal B, HER2-enriched, and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). To analyze recurrence patterns according to biological subtypes, we accessed clinical variables including age at diagnosis, TNM stage, type of surgery in the breast and axilla, histologic grade, nuclear grade, lymphatic, vascular, and neural invasion, Ki-67 expression and recurrence to distant organs. RESULTS: The biological subtypes of recurrent breast cancer comprised the following luminal A (n=33, 19.6%), luminal B (n=95, 56.5%), HER2 enriched (n=19, 11.3%), and TNBC (n=21, 12.5%). Luminal A (7.7%) and B (6.5%) subtypes were associated with the increased rate of local recurrence compared to HER2-enriched (2.4%) and TNBC subtypes (1.8%) (p=0.005). The bone (53.6%) was the most common metastatic organ, followed by the lung (34.5%), liver (29.8%), brain (17.9%), and other visceral organ (7.7%). Bone metastasis was commonly observed in individuals with luminal B (63.2%), HER2-enriched (57.9%), and luminal A (42.4%) subtypes (p=0.005). Most liver metastases occur in individuals with luminal B (40.0%) and HER2-enriched subtypes (31.6%) (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Luminal B subtype was commonly observed in individuals with recurrent breast cancer, and the bone is the most common target organ for breast cancer metastasis, followed by the lungs and liver.
Axilla ; Brain ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Diagnosis ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Liver ; Lung ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Organ Specificity ; Phenobarbital ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms

Objectives: Intraoperative navigation reduces the risk of major complications and increases the likelihood of optimal surgical outcomes. This paper presents an augmented reality (AR)-based simulation technique for ventriculostomy that visualizes brain deformations caused by the movements of a surgical instrument in a three-dimensional brain model. This is achieved by utilizing a position-based dynamics (PBD) physical deformation method on a preoperative brain image. Methods: An infrared camera-based AR surgical environment aligns the real-world space with a virtual space and tracks the surgical instruments. For a realistic representation and reduced simulation computation load, a hybrid geometric model is employed, which combines a high-resolution mesh model and a multiresolution tetrahedron model. Collision handling is executed when a collision between the brain and surgical instrument is detected. Constraints are used to preserve the properties of the soft body and ensure stable deformation. Results: The experiment was conducted once in a phantom environment and once in an actual surgical environment. The tasks of inserting the surgical instrument into the ventricle using only the navigation information presented through the smart glasses and verifying the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid were evaluated. These tasks were successfully completed, as indicated by the drainage, and the deformation simulation speed averaged 18.78 fps. Conclusions This experiment confirmed that the AR-based method for external ventricular drain surgery was beneficial to clinicians.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Mirizzi syndrome is a rare complication of longstanding gallstone disease which resulting in obstructive Jaundice. It is benign stricture of common hepatic duct because of stone impacted with in the cystic duct or Hartmann pouch of the gallbladder. The aim of this study is to evaluate our experience of Mirizzi syndrome and consider its surgical treatment. METHODS: During the years 1994 to 2001 at Asan medical center, 23 cases of Mirizzi syndrome were diagnosed on the basis of preoperative and postoperative findings and they were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: There were 12 patients with Csendes type I, 6 patients with type II, and 5 patients with Type III. Average age was 61 years (range: 31 to 83 years) For preoperative evaluation Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and Ultrasonography were performed in all cases. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was tried in 7 type I cases. 5 were successfully treated and 2 conversions were reported, all because of unclear anatomy. In 6 type II cases open cholecystrctomy, CHD repair and T tube insertion were performed. 5 patients with type III were required hepaticojejunostomy. CONCLUSIONS: High index of suspicion is required for diagnosis of Mirizzi syndrome and laparoscopic approach is permissible in specialized center especially in the case of suspected Mirizzi type I, under the recognition of biliary anatomy through preoperative imaging studies. If there is fistula or unclear anatomy, we recommend open operative techniques for the safety and the efficiency.
Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Cystic Duct ; Diagnosis ; Fistula ; Gallbladder ; Gallstones ; Hepatic Duct, Common ; Humans ; Jaundice, Obstructive ; Mirizzi Syndrome* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

Objective: Muscle quantity and quality can be measured with an automated system on CT. However, the effects of contrast phases on the muscle measurements have not been established, which we aimed to investigate in this study. Materials and Methods: Muscle quantity was measured according to the skeletal muscle area (SMA) measured by a convolutional neural network-based automated system at the L3 level in 89 subjects undergoing multiphasic abdominal CT comprising unenhanced phase, arterial phase, portal venous phase (PVP), or delayed phase imaging. Muscle quality was analyzed using the mean muscle density and the muscle quality map, which comprises normal and low-attenuation muscle areas (NAMA and LAMA, respectively) based on the muscle attenuation threshold. The SMA, mean muscle density, NAMA, and LAMA were compared between PVP and other phases using paired t tests. Bland-Altman analysis was used to evaluate the inter-phase variability between PVP and other phases. Based on the cutoffs for low muscle quantity and quality, the counts of individuals who scored lower than the cutoff values were compared between PVP and other phases. Results: All indices showed significant differences between PVP and other phases (p < 0.001 for all). The SMA, mean muscle density, and NAMA increased during the later phases, whereas LAMA decreased during the later phases. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the mean differences between PVP and other phases ranged -2.1 to 0.3 cm2 for SMA, -12.0 to 2.6 cm2 for NAMA, and -2.2 to 9.9 cm2 for LAMA.The number of patients who were categorized as low muscle quantity did not significant differ between PVP and other phases (p ≥ 0.5), whereas the number of patients with low muscle quality significantly differed (p ≤ 0.002). Conclusion SMA was less affected by the contrast phases. However, the muscle quality measurements changed with the contrast phases to greater extents and would require a standardization of the contrast phase for reliable measurement.

Background: Sarcopenia is defined as the loss of skeletal muscle mass and is associated with negative clinical outcomes. This study aimed to establish sex-specific cutoff values for the skeletal muscle area (SMA) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) at the third lumbar vertebral (L3) level using computed tomography (CT) imaging to identify sarcopenia in healthy Korean liver donors. Methods: This retrospective study included 659 healthy liver donors (408 men and 251 women) aged 20 to 60 years who had undergone abdominal CT examinations between January 2017 and December 2018. Assessment of body composition was performed with an automated segmentation technique using a deep-learning system. Sex-specific SMA and SMI distributions were assessed, and cutoff values for determining sarcopenia were defined as values at either two standard deviations (SDs) below the mean reference value or below the fifth percentile. Results: Using the SD definition, cutoff values for SMA and SMI were 117.04 cm2 and 39.33 cm2/m2, respectively, in men and 71.39 cm2 and 27.77 cm2/m2, respectively, in women. Using the fifth percentile definition, cutoff values for SMA and SMI were 126.88 cm2 and 40.96 cm2/m2, respectively, in men and 78.85 cm2 and 30.60 cm2/m2, respectively, in women. Conclusion Our data provide sex-specific cutoff values for the SMA and SMI at the L3 level measured by CT imaging in a healthy Korean population, which may be applicable for identifying sarcopenia in this population.

Purpose: Weight loss and deterioration in body composition are observed in patients with gastric cancer (GC) following gastrectomy. This study aimed to investigate the impact of residual stomach volume (RSV) on the nutritional status and body composition of patients with GC treated with distal gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: In total, 227 patients who underwent minimally invasive distal gastrectomy with Billroth 1 anastomosis for stage I GC between February 2015 and May 2018 were enrolled. Clinicodemographic and laboratory data were collected from the GC registry. The RSV, abdominal muscle area, and subcutaneous/visceral fat areas were measured using computed tomography data. Results: A larger RSV was associated with a lower decrease in the nutritional risk index (P=0.004) and hemoglobin level (P=0.003) during the first 3 months after surgery, and better recovery at 12 months. A larger RSV demonstrated an advantage in the preservation of abdominal muscle area (P=0.02) and visceral fat (P=0.04) after surgery, as well as less reduction in weight (P=0.02) and body mass index (P=0.03). Conclusions Larger RSV was associated with improved nutritional status and better preservation of muscle and fat after distal gastrectomy.

Objective: The clinical relevance of myosteatosis has not been well evaluated in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), although sarcopenia has been extensively researched. Therefore, we evaluated the prognostic value of muscle quality, including myosteatosis, in patients with resectable PDAC treated surgically. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 347 patients with resectable PDAC who underwent curative surgery (mean age ± standard deviation, 63.6 ± 9.6 years; 202 male). Automatic muscle segmentation was performed on preoperative computed tomography (CT) images using an artificial intelligence program. A single axial image of the portal phase at the inferior endplate level of the L3 vertebra was used for analysis in each patient. Sarcopenia was evaluated using the skeletal muscle index, calculated as the skeletal muscle area (SMA) divided by the height squared. The mean SMA attenuation was used to evaluate myosteatosis. Diagnostic cutoff values for sarcopenia and myosteatosis were devised using the Contal and O’Quigley methods, and patients were classified according to normal (nMT), sarcopenic (sMT), myosteatotic (mMT), or combined (cMT) muscle quality types. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were conducted to assess the effects of muscle type on the overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) after surgery. Results: Eighty-four (24.2%), 73 (21.0%), 75 (21.6%), and 115 (33.1%) patients were classified as having nMT, sMT, mMT, and cMT, respectively. Compared to nMT, mMT and cMT were significantly associated with poorer OS, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.49 (95% confidence interval, 1.00–2.22) and 1.68 (1.16–2.43), respectively, while sMT was not (HR of 1.40 [0.94–2.10]). Only mMT was significantly associated with poorer RFS, with an HR of 1.59 (1.07–2.35), while sMT and cMT were not. Conclusion Myosteatosis was associated with poor OS and RFS in patients with resectable PDAC who underwent curative surgery.

Background: Sarcopenia is defined as the loss of skeletal muscle mass and is associated with negative clinical outcomes. This study aimed to establish sex-specific cutoff values for the skeletal muscle area (SMA) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) at the third lumbar vertebral (L3) level using computed tomography (CT) imaging to identify sarcopenia in healthy Korean liver donors. Methods: This retrospective study included 659 healthy liver donors (408 men and 251 women) aged 20 to 60 years who had undergone abdominal CT examinations between January 2017 and December 2018. Assessment of body composition was performed with an automated segmentation technique using a deep-learning system. Sex-specific SMA and SMI distributions were assessed, and cutoff values for determining sarcopenia were defined as values at either two standard deviations (SDs) below the mean reference value or below the fifth percentile. Results: Using the SD definition, cutoff values for SMA and SMI were 117.04 cm2 and 39.33 cm2/m2, respectively, in men and 71.39 cm2 and 27.77 cm2/m2, respectively, in women. Using the fifth percentile definition, cutoff values for SMA and SMI were 126.88 cm2 and 40.96 cm2/m2, respectively, in men and 78.85 cm2 and 30.60 cm2/m2, respectively, in women. Conclusion Our data provide sex-specific cutoff values for the SMA and SMI at the L3 level measured by CT imaging in a healthy Korean population, which may be applicable for identifying sarcopenia in this population.