In order to identify the correlations between clinical results and quantitative data of gait analysis, we analyzed the results of 20 cases of total knee joint replacement arthroplasty in 15 patients with degenerative arthritis. We also evaluated the gait analysis of ten age-matched healthy candidates as a control group. Mean follow-up periods were 30 months. Clinical results included post-operative HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery) knee rating scores and the changes of the tibiofemoral angles. The three dimensional gait analysis included clinical assessment, video-taping, three dimensional kinematics and kinetics. The three dimensional kinematics were obtained using a 5 camera VICON system, and the three dimensional kinetic data was collected using two AMTI force plates. There was no statistical difference in linear parameters between the patient and control group. In patients group, however, double support time decreased as the HSS score increased, and range of knee motion and maximum knee flexion increased in accordance with the increase of pain score. Kinematic data of the patients group revealed that some parameters, such as knee flexion during loading response, knee flexion in swing phase, and knee varus during swing phase, were decreased. On the other hand, internal rotation of the knee from initial contact to initial swing was increased when compared with that of control group. There was no significant correlation between the degrees of tibiofemoral angle and coronal plane moment in the patients group. In three cases which showed mild varus instability post-operatively, knee flexion during loading response decreased and valgus moment in midstance increased as compared with the cases without instability. We believe that three dimensional gait analysis will be a good modality for evaluation of the results after total knee arthroplasty. With further accumulation of long term. follow-up data of gait analysis, we might be able to predict the long term results of total knee arthroplasty including possibility of loosening.
Arthroplasty* ; Arthroplasty, Replacement ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gait* ; Hand ; Humans ; Kinetics ; Knee Joint ; Knee* ; Osteoarthritis

Objective: To study the occurrence of insects fauna obtained in a semi forested area in Malaysia using the carcass of the monkey Macaca fascicularis, Raffles, and to compared the wave of insect succession collected from the carcass placed outdoor and indoor. Methods:The outdoor and indoor studies were conducted at a location of 3o17’57.86”N, 101o47’00.78”E. The euthanized monkeys were placed indoor and outdor. The insect seccession visited the carcass, the envirenmental temperature and relative humidity were recorded. Results:The main insects attracted to specific stages of decomposition were mainly members of Diptera and Coleoptera. There was a delay of fly arrival by two days in indoor carcass. Nocturnal oviposition behaviour was not observed in this study. The flies left the carcass during the twilight zone as noted during a 3 days observation period in outdoor study. The dipteran species found outdoor and indoor were similar but more diverse coleopteran species was found indoor. Conclusions:Information and evidence from this study can be used to improve the estimation of the post mortem interval in forensic cases.

Postoperative pyoderma gangrenosum (PPG) is rare, and its diagnosis is often delayed because of its wound infection-mimicking course. A 53-year-old breast cancer patient who underwent breast-conserving surgery of the right breast presented with fever, leukocytosis, C-reactive protein elevation, and redness of the right breast on postoperative day (POD) 3. The breast wound showed desquamation with painful ulcerative changes from POD 6, and fever was sustained under antibiotic administration. Wound irrigation was attempted; however, inflammatory skin damage progressed to involvement of the entire skin overlying the breast. With clinical suspicion of PPG, skin biopsy and systemic corticosteroid initiation were performed on POD 12. Wound damage progression ceased, and the systemic inflammation subsided. The patient underwent split-thickness skin grafting under intravenous corticosteroid administration, and the wound healed after 30 days. PPG is a rare clinical scenario. Early diagnosis is critical to avoid unnecessary treatment and aggravation of the surgical wound.

Postoperative pyoderma gangrenosum (PPG) is rare, and its diagnosis is often delayed because of its wound infection-mimicking course. A 53-year-old breast cancer patient who underwent breast-conserving surgery of the right breast presented with fever, leukocytosis, C-reactive protein elevation, and redness of the right breast on postoperative day (POD) 3. The breast wound showed desquamation with painful ulcerative changes from POD 6, and fever was sustained under antibiotic administration. Wound irrigation was attempted; however, inflammatory skin damage progressed to involvement of the entire skin overlying the breast. With clinical suspicion of PPG, skin biopsy and systemic corticosteroid initiation were performed on POD 12. Wound damage progression ceased, and the systemic inflammation subsided. The patient underwent split-thickness skin grafting under intravenous corticosteroid administration, and the wound healed after 30 days. PPG is a rare clinical scenario. Early diagnosis is critical to avoid unnecessary treatment and aggravation of the surgical wound.

The roles of interleukin-10 (IL-10) have been emphasized in several models of glomerulonephritis (GN). Three biallelic polymorphisms within the IL-10 promoter region, at positions -1,082, -819, and -592 from the transcription initiation site, were shown to affect the level of IL-10 production. To investigate the effect of IL-10 promoter polymorphisms on the predisposition to development of GN in Korea, IL-10 promoter polymorphisms were assayed by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism in 108 patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), 49 focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), and 100 healthy controls. In comparison with the control, the frequency of -1,082*G alleles were lower in IgAN and the frequencies of -592*C and -819*C were lower in FSGS, respectively. As for the haplotype, GCC haplotype was less frequent among IgAN than the control and ATA haplotype was more frequent among FSGS than the control (p<0.05). The frequency of intermediate producer genotypes (GCC/ACC and GCC/ATA) were lower among IgAN or FSGS than the control. Our findings suggested that IL-10 promoter polymorphism predisposed to the development of IgAN and FSGS in Korean patients.
Alleles ; Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA/genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA/*genetics/*immunology ; Glomerulosclerosis, Focal/*genetics/*immunology ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Interleukin-10/*genetics ; Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; *Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; *Promoter Regions (Genetics) ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Churg-Strauss syndrome(allergic granulomatosis and angiitis) is a distinct entity composed of fever, eosinophilia, systemic vasculitis of multiple organ systems, and pathologically eosinophilic infiltration, granuloma and necrotizing vasculitis. In most cases it develops in patients with asthma, and renal involvement is characteristically mild and acute renal failure is rare in contrast to other systemic vasculitides. We report an unusual case of Churg-Strauss syndrome manifested by acute renal failure as well as fever, rash, eosinophilia, and nonfixed pulmonary infiltrates in a patient without history of asthma but with that of allergic contact dermatitis. Renal biopsy revealed interstitial eosinophil infiltration, glomerular, vascular and perivascular granulomas containing giant cells. Fever, eosinophilia, and acute renal failure improved immediately after prednisolone 1mg/kg/day demonstrating good response to steroid as in previous reports.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Asthma* ; Biopsy ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome* ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Giant Cells ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Prednisolone ; Systemic Vasculitis ; Vasculitis

Background: There is growing evidence that abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) are common in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it is not known whether viral involvement in the liver differs according to the strain. We investigated the impact on liver injury in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta (B.1.617.2) variants. Materials and Methods: We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study, including 372 patients admitted during the pre-Delta period (PDP: between February 1 and November 30, 2020) and 137 patients admitted during the Delta period (DP: between August 1 and August 31, 2021). Initial liver injury was defined as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels ≥3 × the upper limit of normal (ULN) or alkaline phosphatase (ALP) or total bilirubin ≥2 × the ULN within 3 days from admission. Results: Of 509 patients with COVID-19 included in our study, 38 (7.5%) patients had initial liver injury. The DP group had a significantly higher rate of initial liver injury than the PDP group (PDP: 5.9% vs. DP: 11.7%, P = 0.028). The DP group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.737, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.322 – 5.666) was independently associated with initial liver injury. During hospitalization, 160 (31.4%) patients had severe COVID-19. The DP group and initial liver injury had higher odds of progressing to severe COVID-19 (aOR: 2.664, 95% CI: 1.526 - 4.648, and aOR: 4.409, 95% CI: 1.816 - 10.707, respectively). The mediation analysis suggested that initial liver injury mediates the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection and severe COVID-19 (unstandardized beta coefficient = 0.980, Standard error = 0.284, P = 0.001). Conclusion Initial liver injury is more common in COVID-19 patients with Delta variants. Also, Delta variants and initial liver injury are associated with poor clinical outcomes.

PURPOSE: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing in Korea. Considerable resources have been consumed for patients with CKD. This study investigated the prevalence, the associated disorders, and the awareness of CKD and the current status of appropriate control for blood pressure and blood sugar in subjects with CKD. Methods: We included 14,856 subjects who underwent a health check-up in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital during the last 2 years. We selected K/DOQI guideline of CKD. We used the modified MDRD equation to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). RESULTS: The mean eGFR was 83.3 mL/min/1.73m(2) and it decreased with aging at the rate of 5 (mL/ min/1.73m(2))/10 years. The prevalences of CKD stage 1, stage 2, and stage more than 3 were 3.2%, 9.4%, and 3.5%, respectively. The prevalence of CKD was higher in subjects with hypertension or diabetes mellitus than in subjects without it. The CKD was associated with disorders of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, hyperuricemia, hyperphosphatenemia, hyperkalemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. The prevalence of reported kidney disease was only 6.5% in subjects with eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73m(2). The frequency of adequate control of blood pressure and blood sugar in subjects with CKD was lower than in subjects without CKD. Conclusion: The subjects were rarely aware of CKD whereas the frequencies of CKD and the associated diseases were considerably high. We have to pay more attention to diagnose and treat the CKD.
Aging ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Hyperkalemia ; Hypertension ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Hyperuricemia ; Kidney Diseases ; Korea ; Prevalence* ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic* ; Seoul

Background: A laparoscopic approach is widely used in abdominal surgery. Although several studies have compared surgical and oncological outcomes between laparoscopic surgery (LS) and open surgery (OS) in rectal cancer patients, there have been few studies on postoperative renal outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 1,633 patients who underwent rectal cancer surgery between 2003 and 2017. Postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) was diagnosed according to the serum creatinine criteria of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes classification. Results: Among the 1,633 patients, 1,072 (65.6%) underwent LS. After matching propensity scores, 395 patients were included in each group. The incidence of postoperative AKI in the LS group was significantly lower than in the OS group (9.9% vs. 15.9%; p = 0.01). Operation time, estimated blood loss, and incidence of transfusion in the LS group were significantly lower than those in the OS group. Cox proportional hazard models revealed that LS was associated with decreased risk of postoperative AKI (hazard ratio [HR], 0.599; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.402–0.893; p = 0.01) and postoperative transfusion was associated with increased risk of AKI (HR, 2.495; 95% CI, 1.529–4.072; p < 0.001). In the subgroup analysis, the incidence of postoperative AKI in patients with middle or high rectal cancer who underwent LS was much lower than in those who underwent OS (HR, 0.373; 95% CI, 0.197–0.705; p = 0.002). Conclusion This study showed that LS may have a favorable effect on the development of postoperative AKI in patients with rectal cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Prehabilitation may benefit older patients undergoing major surgeries. Currently, its efficacy has not been conclusively proven. This is a retrospective review of a multimodal prehabilitation programme. METHODS: Patients aged 65 years and above undergoing major abdominal surgery between May 2015 and December 2019 in the National University Hospital were included in our institutional programme that incorporated aspects of multimodal prehabilitation and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery concepts as 1 holistic perioperative pathway to deal with issues specific to older patients. Physical therapy, nutritional advice and psychosocial support were provided as part of prehabilitation. RESULTS: There were 335 patients in the prehabilitation cohort and 256 patients whose records were reviewed as control. No difference in postoperative length of stay ( CONCLUSION The current study found no differences in traditional surgical outcome measures with and without prehabilitation. An increase in patient mobility in the immediate postoperative period was noted with prehabilitation, as well as an association between prehabilitation and increased adherence to postoperative adjuvant therapy. Larger prospective studies will be needed to validate the findings of this retrospective review.
Humans ; Postoperative Complications/prevention & control* ; Preoperative Care ; Preoperative Exercise ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies