BACKGROUND: Unplanned extubation (UE) of patients requiring mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with poor outcomes for patients and organizations. This study was conducted to assess the clinical features of patients who experienced UE and to determine the risk factors affecting reintubation after UE in an ICU. METHODS: Among all adult patients admitted to the ICU in our institution who required mechanical ventilation between January 2011 and December 2013, those in whom UE was noted were included in the study. Data were categorized according to noninvasive or invasive management after UE. RESULTS: The rate of UE was 0.78% (the number of UEs per 100 days of mechanical ventilation). The incidence of self-extubation was 97.2%, while extubation was accidental in the remaining patients. Two cases of cardiac arrest combined with respiratory arrest after UE were noted. Of the 214 incidents, 54.7% required invasive management after UE. Long duration of mechanical ventilation (odds ratio [OR] 1.52; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.32-1.75; p = 0.000) and high ICU mortality (OR 4.39; 95% CI 1.33-14.50; p = 0.015) showed the most significant association with invasive management after UE. In multivariate analysis, younger age (OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.93-0.99; p = 0.005), medical patients (OR 4.36; 95% CI 1.95-9.75; p = 0.000), use of sedative medication (OR 4.95; 95% CI 1.97-12.41; p = 0.001), large amount of secretion (OR 2.66; 95% CI 1.01-7.02; p = 0.049), and low PaO2/FiO2 ratio (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98-0.99; p = 0.000) were independent risk factors of invasive management after UE. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent unfavorable clinical outcomes, close attention and proper ventilatory support are required for patients with risk factors who require invasive management after UE.
Adult ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intensive Care Units* ; Critical Care* ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Respiration, Artificial ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Opioid based patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) effectively provides adequate pain control after spine surgery, often at the expense of high incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). This study was designed to compare the effect of ramosetron with ondansetron for preventing PONV in highly susceptible patients using PCA following spine surgery under general anesthesia. METHODS: Seventy female patients, aged 18 to 65, scheduled for elective lumbar spine surgery, were randomly allocated into either ondansetron group (Group O, n = 35) or ramosetron group (Group R, n = 35). In patients assigned to group O, ondansetron 4 mg was injected and 12 mg was added to the PCA regimen. In patients assigned to group R, ramosetron 0.3 mg was injected and 0.3mg was added to the PCA regimen. The PCA regimen consisted of fentanyl 25microgram/kg (total volume including saline: 100 ml) and was programmed to deliver 2 ml/hr as background infusion and 0.5 ml per demand with a 15 min lockout. The incidence and severity of PONV, pain score, total amount of administered rescue analgesic and rescue antiemetic were assessed following 48 hrs after surgery. RESULTS: The incidence of PONV showed no significant differences between groups during 48 hrs after surgery. There were no differences in the severity of nausea, pain score, total amount of administered rescue analgesic and rescue antiemetic between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Ramosetron prophylaxis for preventing PONV is as effective as ondansetron in highly susceptible patients using fentanyl based PCA following spine surgery under general anesthesia.
Aged ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Anesthesia, General ; Benzimidazoles ; Female ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Ondansetron ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Spine

Maternal alcohol abuse is thought to be the common cause of mental retardation. Especially, continuous alcohol consumption during critical period of brain development induce fetal alcohol effects. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of maternal alcohol drinking on the postnatal changes of BDNF contents and patterns of BDNF-containing neuron in neonatal rat brain, and, the influence of maternal thyroxine treatment on the brain of pups of alcohol abused mother. Pregnant rats were divided into three groups. Alcohol-fed group (n=4) received 35 calories of liquid alcohol diet daily from gestation day 6; control pair-fed group (n=4) was fed a liquid diet in dextrin replaced alcohol isocalorically; alcohol+T4 group (n=4) received 35 calories liquid alcohol diet and exogenous thyroxine (5 microgram/kg/day) subcutaneously. The amount of BDNF was significantly higher in the alcohol+T4 group as compared to the alcohol group at P7, P14 and P21, especially, alcohol+T4-exposed pups showed a significant increase of BDNF at P7. The decrease in BDNF was found in alcohol group compared to control pair-fed group at all ages. In alcohol+T4 group, BDNF-containing Purkinje cells exhibited mature pattern and monolayer arrangement at P14. Alcohol+T4 group showed mature pattern and numerical increase of BDNF-containing cells in cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and hippocampus at P7. The BDNF immunoreactivity of hippocampus continued to show prominent configuration in alcohol+T4 group at P28. These results indicate that the increase of the BDNF-containing neurons and BDNF amount in pups of thyroxinesupplemented alcohol-exposed dams as compared to control pair-fed and alcohol-exposed pups at P7, presumably suggest the early postnatal growth stimulatory effect of the exogenously supplemented thyroxine. Therefore, the increase of BDNF synthesis caused by maternal administration of exogenous thyroxine may ameliorate fetal alcohol effects, one of the ill effects as a result of the dysthyroid state following maternal alcohol abuse.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholism ; Animals ; Brain* ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cerebral Cortex ; Critical Period (Psychology) ; Diet ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Hypothalamus ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intellectual Disability ; Mothers* ; Neurons* ; Pregnancy ; Purkinje Cells ; Rats ; Thyroxine*

In 40 patients with aortic regurgitation(AR), the incidence of reverse doming of anterior mitral leaflet was studied by 2-D echocardiography. Reverse doming could be indentified in 17 of 18 patients(94.4%)with severe AR, in 6 of 15 patients(14.3%)with mild AR. And in relation to the direction of regurgitant jet, reverse doming was noticed in 9 of 11 patients(82%) toward the center of left ventricular cavity. In conclusion, the appearance of reverse doming of anterior mitral leaflet is thought to be related to the degree of AR and the direction of regurgitant jet. And reverse doming by 2-D echocardiography is a helpful parameter for the diagnosis of moderate to severe AR.
Aortic Valve Insufficiency* ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Incidence

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the effects of a short-term life review on spiritual well-being, depression, and anxiety in patients with terminal cancer. METHODS: The study used a pre posttest quasi experimental design with a nonequivalent control group. Measurement instruments included the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual scale (FACIT-Sp12) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Participants were 32 patients with terminal cancer who were receiving chemotherapy or palliative care at hospitals or at home. Eighteen patients were assigned to the experimental group and 14 to the control group. A sixty minute short-term life review session was held twice a week as the intervention with the experimental group. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant increase in spiritual well-being in the experimental group compared to the control group. There were also significant decreases in depression and anxiety in the experimental group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that a short-term life review can be used as a nursing intervention for enhancing the spiritual well-being of patients with terminal cancer.
Aged ; *Anxiety ; Chronic Disease ; *Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/*psychology ; Palliative Care ; *Spirituality ; Terminally Ill

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to develop and to validate the Korean version of Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98 (K-DRS-98), which is a scale for diagnosing delirium and evaluating its severity. METHOD: After developing the K-DRS-98, 102 patients were rated by it among 4 diagnostic groups, such as delirium (N=25), dementia (N=27), schizophrenia (N=25) and others (N=25). To test for reliability, K-DRS-98 was independently administered by two psychiatrist. To test for validity, Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) were administered simultaneously. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS window version 12 package and statistical significance was p<0.05. RESULT: Internal consistencies (Cronbach alpha) of two raters were 0.867 and 0.858, respectively. Inter-rater reliability (kappa) was 0.893 for severity items of K-DRS-98 and kappa value of diagnosis items was 0.969. In Delirium group, Pearson correlation coefficients (gamma) of K-DRS-98 were -0.682 for MMSE-K and 0.667 for CGI. In comparison Delirium group with Others, ANOVA post hoc multiple comparison LSD was statistically significant (p<0.001). The cutoff score to diagnosis of delirium can be recommended 16 for severity items and 21.5 for total score, respectively. CONCLUSION: The K-DRS-98 was showed good reliability and validity for the assessment of delirium. The K-DRS-98 is an easy and useful tool for diagnosing delirium and assessing its severity.
Delirium* ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ; Psychiatry ; Reproducibility of Results ; Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Opioid-based patient controlled analgesia (PCA) provides adequate pain control following spinal surgeries at the expense of increased risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We evaluated the efficacy of dexamethasone added to ramosetron, which is a newly developed five-hydroxytryptamine receptor 3 antagonist with a higher receptor affinity and longer action duration compared to its congeners, on preventing PONV in highly susceptible patients receiving opioid-based IV PCA after spinal surgery. METHODS: One hundred nonsmoking female patients undergoing spinal surgery were randomly allocated to either a ramosetron group (group R) or a ramosetron plus dexamethasone group (group RD)., Normal saline (1 ml) or 5 mg of dexamethasone was injected before anesthetic induction, while at the end of the surgery, ramosetron (0.3 mg) was administered to all patients and fentanyl-based IV PCA was continued for 48 hrs. The incidence and severity of PONV, pain score and the amount of rescue antiemetics were assessed for 48 hours after surgery. RESULTS: The number of patients with moderate to severe nausea (20 vs. 10, P = 0.029), and overall incidence of vomiting (13 vs. 5, P = 0.037) were significantly lower in the group RD than in the group R, respectively. Rescue antiemetic was used less in the RD group without significance. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of ramosetron and dexamethasone significantly reduced the incidence of moderate to severe nausea and vomiting compared to ramosetron alone in highly susceptible patients receiving opioid-based IV PCA after surgery.
Analgesia ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Antiemetics ; Benzimidazoles ; Dexamethasone ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nausea ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Spine ; Vomiting

Recently, autologous bone marrow cell transplantation (CTx) for angiogenesis and myogenesis in ischemic myocardium has been extensively investigated to improve heart function. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of CTx with off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) in patients who were not feasible for complete revascularization. Seven male patients underwent CTx combined with OPCAB in 5, CTx only in 1, and mitral valve repair in 1 patient simultaneously. Bone marrow was aspirated from iliac bone. Mean 1.5 x109 mononuclear cells including mean 7.3 x106 CD34+ cells and 2.4 x106 AC133+ cells were obtained and concentrated with 10cc. These cells were transplanted into non-graftable ischemic myocardium. Heart function was evaluated in all patients using MIBI scan, echocardiogram and heart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) preoperatively. The effect of CTx was evaluated using MIBI scan, echocardiogram, and MRI postoperatively. An average of 2 grafts were bypassed. Other territories were transplanted with isolated mononuclear cell. All patients had an uncomplicated postoperative course. After 2 to 7 months follow-up, there was improvement in symptom, ejection fraction (from 43% to 47%) on echocardiogram and myocardial perfusion on MIBI scan and MRI in all patients. These preliminary data showed improvement of heart function and myocardial perfusion and also showed the feasibility and safety of combined therapy with OPCAB and CTx in ischemic myocardium. However, the effectiveness of CTx alone cannot be readily assessed. Further randomized, controlled studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of CTx alone.

The effect of lidocaine on the neuromuscular junction and the interaction between lidocaine and the muscle relaxant, succinylcholine(SCC) or vecuronium(VEC), were investigated in 12 cats of either sex using the sciatic nerve-anterior tibialis muscle preparation. The degree of twitch depression with lidocaine itself was 16.43+/-14.94%, and the ED from dose-response curves of SCC and VEC(8.35+/-4.62 and 6.36+/-8.03 ug/kg, respectively) in group II (under lidocaine infusion) were smaller than those(20.57+/-15.80 and 8.98+/-7.31 ug/kg) in group I (without lidocaine). There was no difference in the duration of action of SCC and VEC between the two groups, but the onset of VEC in group II was longer than in group I(p<0.05), The mean arterial pressure(MAP) after lidocaine infusion was reduced 149.17 to 130.83mmHg and MAPs at the same dose of each agent were also lower in group II than in group L The authors conclude that lidocaine itself produces the twitch depression and potentiates the SCC-or VEC-induced neuromuscular block. However, there is no influence on the duration of SCC or VEC.
Animals ; Cats* ; Depression ; Drug Interactions ; Lidocaine* ; Neuromuscular Blockade* ; Neuromuscular Junction ; Succinylcholine* ; Vecuronium Bromide*

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the Bartholin's gland is a rare malignancy of the female genital tract and there have been 62 cases of ACC of the Bartholin's gland in the literature. We report two cases of ACC of the Bartholin's. There is no consensus on optimal treatment of ACC of the Bartholin's gland. Most commonly, wide local excision and radical vulvectomy with or without lymph node dissection, are performed. More long-term follow up is recommended to evaluate optimal primary treatment and roles of radiotherapy and chemotherapy because ACC of the Bartholin's gland recur and metastasize long after primary treatment.
Adenoids* ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic* ; Consensus ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Radiotherapy