PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the effects of lights-out at nighttime on body weight, physiological variables, and behavioral status in premature infants and to provide basic data for applying lights-out at night time in premature infants. METHODS: Premature infants of over 32 weeks' corrected age were included in this study (January 2015-June 2015), and were allocated to two groups according to the lights-out at night for 5 hours: study group and control group. Lights-out was applied to the study group from midnight for five hours in a quiet environment. RESULTS: Fifty-two infants were included in the study: 26 in the study group and 26 in the control group. Growth rates of body weight, height, and head circumference were higher in the study group compared to the control group, but there were no statistical differences. In the physiological variables, heart rate decreased by 6.9 beats per minute in the study group, but it increased by 2.7 beats per minute in the control group (P<0.0001) during applied 5 hours at night. Anderson Behavioral State Score decreased in the study group compared to the control group (P=0.042). CONCLUSION: Lights-out at night decreased the heart rate and made the behavioral status more stable. To understand the effects of lights-out on long-term growth and development of premature infants at the highest risk of delayed growth and development, further studies with a larger number of premature infants are needed.
Body Weight* ; Circadian Rhythm ; Growth and Development ; Head ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature*

PURPOSE: To evaluate accuracy and reliability of program to measure facial soft tissue thickness using 3D computed tomographic images by comparing with direct measurement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One cadaver was scanned with a Helical CT with 3 mm slice thickness and 3 mm/sec table speed. The acquired data was reconstructed with 1.5 mm reconstruction interval and the images were transferred to a personal computer. The facial soft tissue thickness were measured using a program developed newly in 3D image. For direct measurement, the cadaver was cut with a bone cutter and then a ruler was placed above the cut side, The procedure was followed by taking pictures of the facial soft tissues with a high-resolution digital camera. Then the measurements were done in the photographic images and repeated for ten times. A repeated measure analysis of variance was adopted to compare and analyze the measurements resulting from the two different methods. Comparison according to the areas was analyzed by Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the direct measurements and those using the 3D images (p>0.05). There were statistical differences in the measurements on 17 points but all the points except 2 points showed a mean difference of 0.5 mm or less. CONCLUSION: The developed software program to measure the facial soft tissue thickness using 3D images was so accurate that it allows to measure facial soft tissues thickness more easily in forensic science and anthropology.
Anthropology ; Cadaver ; Forensic Sciences ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Microcomputers ; Tomography, Spiral Computed ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was 1) to analyze clinically-executed cervical lateral mass screw fixation by the Kim's technique as suggested in the previous morphometric and cadaveric study and 2) to examine various complications and bicortical purchase that are important for b-one fusion. METHODS: A retrospective study was done on the charts, operative records, radiographs, and clinical follow up of thirty-nine patients. One hundred and seventy-eight lateral mass screws were analyzed. The spinal nerve injury, violation of the facet joint, vertebral artery injury, and the bicortical purchases were examined at each lateral mass. RESULTS: All thirty-nine patients received instrumentations with poly axial screws and rod systems, in which one hundred and seventy-eight screws in total. No vertebral artery injury or nerve root injury were observed. Sixteen facet joint violations were observed (9.0%). Bicortical purchases were achieved on one hundred and fifty-six (87.6%). Bone fusion was achieved in all patients. CONCLUSION: The advantages of the Kim's technique are that it is performed by using given anatomical structures and that the complication rate is as low as those of other known techniques. The Kim's technique can be performed easily and safely without fluoroscopic assistance for the treatment of many cervical diseases.
Cadaver ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Nerves ; Vertebral Artery ; Zygapophyseal Joint

Adenomas of the major duodenal papilla are rare but clinically important since they are a premalignant condition. Endoscopic mucosal resection has emerged as the first line therary for ampullary adenoma. However, various complications such as pancreatitis, bleeding or duodenal perforation have been reported after endoscopic mucosal resection. To our knowledge, cholangitis has not been reported as a complication of the procedure in the literature. We report a case of papillary stenosis and cholangitis caused by endoscopic mucosal resection of ampullary adenoma. We performed the endoscopic biliary spincterotomy followed by biliary stenting and cholangitis was successfully controlled.
Adenoma* ; Ampulla of Vater ; Cholangitis* ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Hemorrhage ; Pancreatitis ; Stents

Adenomas of the major duodenal papilla are rare but clinically important since they are a premalignant condition. Endoscopic mucosal resection has emerged as the first line therary for ampullary adenoma. However, various complications such as pancreatitis, bleeding or duodenal perforation have been reported after endoscopic mucosal resection. To our knowledge, cholangitis has not been reported as a complication of the procedure in the literature. We report a case of papillary stenosis and cholangitis caused by endoscopic mucosal resection of ampullary adenoma. We performed the endoscopic biliary spincterotomy followed by biliary stenting and cholangitis was successfully controlled.
Adenoma* ; Ampulla of Vater ; Cholangitis* ; Constriction, Pathologic* ; Hemorrhage ; Pancreatitis ; Stents

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare disease entity. The medical therapy for PSC has not been reasonably beneficial. Thus liver transplantation is known to be the ultimate therapy. Because liver transplantation for PSC has been performed rarely in Korea, we report a case of liver transplantation for PSC with a review of the literature. A 35-year-old male was admitted to our hospital with recurrent jaundice for seven years. ERCP showed multiple strictures of intrahepatic duct and an irregularity of the extrahepatic duct wall. Despite medication and endoscopic treatment, liver functions did not imporve and clinical status got worsened. Thus liver transplantation was performed for the correction of hepatic failure. Two months after transplantation, liver functions and general weakness gradually improved and now, one year after liver transplantation, the patient is in normal life.
Adult ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing/diagnosis/*surgery ; Humans ; *Liver Transplantation ; Male

Background: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare hematologic disorder characterized by uncontrolled terminal complement activation. Eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody C5 inhibitor was introduced in Korea in 2009 and has been the standard treatment option for PNH. Methods: This study assessed the long-term efficacy/safety of eculizumab in PNH using real-world data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Eighty patients who initiated eculizumab from 2009–2020 were enrolled. Results: At eculizumab initiation, the median age was 51.5 years, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) 6.8 × upper limit of normal, and granulocyte clone size 93.0%. All patients had at least one PNH-related complication before eculizumab initiation, including renal failure (n = 36), smooth muscle spasm (n = 24), thromboembolism (n = 20), and pulmonary hypertension (n = 15). The median (range) duration of eculizumab treatment was 52.7 (1.0, 127.3) months (338.6 total treated patient-years). Despite high disease activity in the study population before treatment initiation, overall survival was 96.2% and LDH levels were stabilized in most patients during treatment. PNH-related complications at treatment initiation were resolved in 44.4% of patients with renal failure, 95.8% with smooth muscle spasm, 70.0% with thromboembolism, and 26.7% with pulmonary hypertension. Extravascular hemolysis occurred in 28.8% of patients (n = 23; 0.09 per patient-year) and breakthrough hemolysis in 18.8% (n = 15; 0.06 per patient-year). No treatment discontinuation cases related to eculizumab were observed. Conclusion These data provided evidence for the long-term efficacy and safety of eculizumab in Korean PNH patients with high disease burdens.

Background: Nilotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for frontline and 2nd line treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML). This study aimed to confirm the safety and efficacy of nilotinib in routine clinical practice within South Korea. Methods: An open-label, multicenter, single-arm, 12-week observational post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study was conducted on 669 Korean adult patients with Ph + CML from December 24, 2010, to December 23, 2016. The patients received nilotinib treatment in routine clinical practice settings. Safety was evaluated by all types of adverse events (AEs) during the study period, and efficacy was evaluated by the complete hematological response (CHR) and cytogenetic response. Results: During the study period, AEs occurred in 61.3% (410 patients, 973 events), adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in 40.5% (271/669 patients, 559 events), serious AEs in 4.5% (30 patients, 37 events), and serious ADRs in 0.7% (5 patients, 8 events). Furthermore, unexpected AEs occurred at a rate of 6.9% (46 patients, 55 events) and unexpected ADRs at 1.2% (8 patients, 8 events). As for the efficacy results, CHR was achieved in 89.5% (442/494 patients), and minor cytogenetic response or major cytogenetic response was achieved in 85.8% (139/162 patients). Conclusion This PMS study shows consistent results in terms of safety and efficacy compared with previous studies. Nilotinib was well tolerated and efficacious in adult Korean patients with Ph + CML in routine clinical practice settings.

Background: Although respiratory tract infection is one of the most important factors triggering acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD), limited data are available to suggest an epidemiologic pattern of microbiology in South Korea. Methods: A multicenter observational study was conducted between January 2015 and December 2018 across 28 hospitals in South Korea. Adult patients with moderate-to-severe acute exacerbations of COPD were eligible to participate in the present study. The participants underwent all conventional tests to identify etiology of microbial pathogenesis. The primary outcome was the percentage of different microbiological pathogens causing AE-COPD. A comparative microbiological analysis of the patients with overlapping asthma–COPD (ACO) and pure COPD was performed. Results: We included 1,186 patients with AE-COPD. Patients with pure COPD constituted 87.9% and those with ACO accounted for 12.1%. Nearly half of the patients used an inhaled corticosteroid-containing regimen and one-fifth used systemic corticosteroids. Respiratory pathogens were found in 55.3% of all such patients. Bacteria and viruses were detected in 33% and 33.2%, respectively. Bacterial and viral coinfections were found in 10.9%. The most frequently detected bacteria were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.8%), and the most frequently detected virus was influenza A (10.4%). Multiple bacterial infections were more likely to appear in ACO than in pure COPD (8.3% vs. 3.6%, p=0.016). Conclusion Distinct microbiological patterns were identified in patients with moderate-to-severe AE-COPD in South Korea. These findings may improve evidence-based management of patients with AE-COPD and represent the basis for further studies investigating infectious pathogens in patients with COPD.

“Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” is the 3rd edition of clinical practice guideline (CPG) for stroke rehabilitation in Korea, which updates the 2nd edition published in 2014. Forty-two specialists in stroke rehabilitation from 21 universities and 4 rehabilitation hospitals and 4 consultants participated in this update. The purpose of this CPG is to provide optimum practical guidelines for stroke rehabilitation teams to make a decision when they manage stroke patients and ultimately, to help stroke patients obtain maximal functional recovery and return to the society. The recent two CPGs from Canada (2015) and USA (2016) and articles that were published following the 2nd edition were used to develop this 3rd edition of CPG for stroke rehabilitation in Korea. The chosen articles' level of evidence and grade of recommendation were decided by the criteria of Scotland (2010) and the formal consensus was derived by the nominal group technique. The levels of evidence range from 1++ to 4 and the grades of recommendation range from A to D. Good Practice Point was recommended as best practice based on the clinical experience of the guideline developmental group. The draft of the developed CPG was reviewed by the experts group in the public hearings and then revised. “Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” consists of ‘Chapter 1; Introduction of Stroke Rehabilitation’, ‘Chapter 2; Rehabilitation for Stroke Syndrome, ‘Chapter 3; Rehabilitation for Returning to the Society’, and ‘Chapter 4; Advanced Technique for Stroke Rehabilitation’. “Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” will provide direction and standardization for acute, subacute and chronic stroke rehabilitation in Korea.
Canada ; Consensus ; Consultants ; Humans ; Korea* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Rehabilitation* ; Scotland ; Specialization ; Stroke*