No abstract available.
Epigastric Arteries* ; Rectus Abdominis* ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Nose* ; Replantation*

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the value of statistical life (VSL) and health damage cost on theoretical mortality estimates due to environmental pollution. METHODS: We assessed the health risk on three environmental problems and eight sub-problems. Willingness to pay (WTP) was elucidated from a questionnaire survey with dichotomous contingent valuation method and VSL (which is the division of WTP by the change of risk reduction) calculated from WTP. Damage costs were estimated by multiplying VSL by the theoretical mortality estimates. RESULTS: VSLs from death caused by air pollution, indoor air pollution and drinking water contamination were about 0.3, 0.5 and 0.3 billion won, respectively. Damage costs of particulate matters (PM10) and radon were higher in the sub-problems and were above 100 billion won. Because damage cost depends on theoretical mortality estimate and WTP, its uncertainty is reduced in the estimating process. CONCLUSION: Health damage cost or risk benefit should be considered as one scientific criterion for decision making in environmental policy.
Air Pollution ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Decision Making ; Drinking Water ; Environmental Policy ; Environmental Pollution ; Methods ; Mortality* ; Radon ; Risk Assessment ; Uncertainty

No abstract available.
Aortic Stenosis, Supravalvular*

communicable diseases. The purposes of the study is to estimate reporting proportion of National Notifiable Infectious Diseases(NNIDs) and investigate characteristics related to reporting using KAP(knowledge, attitude, practice) model. METHOD: We surveyed randomly selected 2,185 physicians (speciality: internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, general physicians) of their knowledge, attitude, and practice of NNIDs reporting through self-administered mail questionnaires. Of them, 231 physicians responded (response proportion: 10.6%). RESULT: The reporting proportion was estimated to 27.0%. Recognition level (knowledge) of NNIDs was relatively high with proportion of 69.4%, and attitude (public health importance) of reporting was 65.8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that knowledge, attitude significantly affected physicians' reporting in a positive direction (O.R. 6.2, 6.2 respectively). Whereas, senior age group, specialty (family medicine, pediatrics, dermatology) showed significantly lower reporting. General (tertiary care) hospital level of care showed significantly higher reporting practice (alpha=0.05). CONCLUSION: The NNIDs reporting proportion, 27.0% is similar with those studied recently. Continuous efforts to increase the performance level of communicable diseases surveillance system. Of those, restructuring surveillance systems considering characteristics of notifiable diseases classes must be stressed. Educational approach of physicians needs to be tailored specially to newly-designated diseases such as Group II, Designated Group NNIDs.
Communicable Diseases* ; Dermatology ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Logistic Models ; Pediatrics ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and trigger finger are representative pathologic conditions of the hand. Although several studies have evaluated the epidemiology of these diseases as nationwide population-based research, they had several limitations including old data and short study period. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥ 20 years diagnosed with CTS or trigger finger between 2009 and 2019 using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. The annual incidence of these diseases was standardized based on age and sex. The proportion of patients who received corticosteroid injections or surgery within 1 year of their diagnoses was calculated annually. Results: The mean annual incidence of CTS was 360.26 per 100,000 person-years and that of trigger finger was 63.09 per 100,000 person-years. The annual incidence of CTS (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.979; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.972–0.985; p < 0.001) and trigger finger (IRR, 0.976; 95% CI, 0.967–0.985; p < 0.001) significantly decreased. The proportion of patients who received corticosteroid injections for CTS significantly increased (relative risk [RR], 1.025; 95% CI, 1.020–1.031; p < 0.001), while the number of surgeries significantly decreased (RR, 0.949; 95% CI, 0.940–0.957; p < 0.001). The proportion of patients who received corticosteroid injections for trigger finger significantly increased (RR, 1.021; 95% CI, 1.009–1.033; p < 0.001), while the number of surgeries did not change significantly (RR, 1.006; 95% CI, 0.988–1.023; p = 0.523). Conclusions In the past 10 years, the incidence of CTS and trigger finger decreased. The portion of patients who received corticosteroid injections increased for both diseases, but the portion of patients who had surgery decreased for CTS within 1 year after diagnosis. This study provides insight into the epidemiology of these diseases in an Asian population and may inform estimates of healthcare costs.

Passive surveillance (PS) is a traditional approach to communicable disease surveillance. To complement the approach, several countries have adopted active surveillance (AS) systems that involve the voluntary participation of physicians. This study compares AS versus PS systems in Korea based on the systems' reporting propensity of chickenpox. A mail questionnaire survey was conducted with a random sample of physicians involved in the PS system (N=1,955) and all sentinel physicians of the AS system (N=193). Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with reporting propensity. The reporting propensity of physicians in the AS system was significantly higher than that in the PS surveillance system, 2.7 versus 1.9 on a 5-point Likert scale (p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that, in addition to the type of the surveillance system, physician knowledge of chickenpox as a notifiable disease and the type of institution with which a physician was affiliated were significant factors for a physician's reporting propensity. For both systems, the common barriers for reporting were 'lack of confidence in diagnosis,' 'burden from interference by the public health department following reporting,' and 'complexity of the reporting system.' In conclusion, AS of communicable diseases appeared to have a significantly better performance compared to PS in Korea in the case of chickenpox reporting. These findings would be useful for countries concerned with developing more effective strategies for improving the reporting rate of notifiable diseases.
Chickenpox ; Communicable Diseases ; Complement System Proteins ; Korea ; Mandatory Reporting ; Postal Service ; Public Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea* ; Sentinel Surveillance

Purpose: As global interest in glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) has increased owing to weight loss effect, concerns regarding the risk of suicide/self-injury associated with GLP-1 RAs have garnered considerable attention. Given the limited evidence, in this study, we aimed to investigate the potential relationship between GLP-1 RAs and suicide/self-injury, stratified by therapeutic indications, using VigiBase, the largest global database. Methods: Disproportionality analysis was conducted to detect signals of disproportionate reporting using VigiBase data from April 28, 2005, to August 31, 2023. Subgroup analyses by indication were conducted, comparing against drugs that have different mechanisms but are used for similar indications (type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM] treatment: glucose-lowering agents; weight loss: orlistat). Reporting odds ratio (ROR) and information component (IC) were used as signal detection indicators. Results: A total of 485 reports of suicide/self-injury associated with GLP-1 RAs were identified. Indication-integrated analyses did not indicate a potential relationship between any GLP-1 RA and suicide/self-injury. In subgroup analyses by indication, signals of disproportionate reporting were not detected in patients using GLP-1 RAs for T2DM treatment but were detected in patients using GLP-1 RAs for weight loss: total (ROR, 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 3.01; IC025, 0.01), liraglutide (ROR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.47 to 3.49; IC025, 0.14), semaglutide (ROR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.31 to 4.14; IC025, 0.22). Conclusion Given the differences in results by indication, this study highlights the need for post-marketing surveillance of the suicide/self-injury risk in non-T2DM populations using GLP-1 RAs for simple weight loss.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pediatric endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) has become widely used for the treatment of chronic or recurrent rhinosinusitis that is unresponsive to medical management. But the effect of pediatric ESS on facial growth or sinus growth are controversial and not well understood. The object of the present study was to determine whether pediatric ESS causes the volumetric restriction of the sinuses. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Fifteen cases of patients who underwent unilateral endoscopic sinus surgery for antrochoanal polyp were reviewed retrospectively. Postoperative maxillary and ethmoid sinus volumes were measured by computed tomography at 73.5 (51-101) months after surgery, and these were compared with non-operated sinus volumes. RESULTS: The mean volume of the operated and non-operated maxillary sinuses were 18.9+/-6.4 ml and 21.7+/-5.3 ml. and the mean volume of the operated and non-operated ethmoid sinuses were 4.1+/-1.2 ml and 3.7+/-1.2 ml. There was no significant difference in sinus growth between operated and non-operated sinuses. CONCLUSION: There was no evidence that pediatric ESS affected maxillary and ethmoid sinus growth.
Ethmoid Sinus ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; Polyps* ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: Fungi, rhinoviruses (RVs), and eosinophils are associated with upper respiratory diseases. We evaluated the effects of fungal stimulation and eosinophil co-culture on the expression of mucin genes in RV-infected nasal polyp epithelial cells. METHODS: Nasal polyp epithelial cells were obtained from chronic rhinosinusitis patients. Cultured epithelial cells were stimulated with Alternaria and Aspergillus with or without RV-16 infection. The epithelial cells were co-cultured with eosinophils for 16 h. MUC4, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC8 mRNA expressions in the epithelial cells were quantified using real-time RT-PCR. To determine the underlying mechanism, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors were used to inhibit mucin gene expression. RESULTS: Fungi and RV-16 induced mucin gene expression in nasal polyp epithelial cells. However, there was no synergistic increase in mucin gene expression, with the exception of MUC4 mRNA expression stimulated by 25 microg/mL Aspergillus. When RV-16-infected epithelial cells were stimulated with fungi and then co-cultured with eosinophils, MUC4, MUC5B, and MUC8 mRNA expressions increased. Mucin gene expression was inhibited by NF-kappaB inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS: RV-16, airborne fungi, and eosinophils may exacerbate the inflammatory process in nasal mucosal diseases by enhancing mucin gene expression.
Alternaria ; Aspergillus ; Coculture Techniques ; Eosinophils* ; Epithelial Cells* ; Fungi* ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Methods ; Mucins* ; Nasal Polyps ; NF-kappa B ; Protein Kinases ; Rhinovirus ; RNA, Messenger ; Transcription Factor AP-1