Background: Baricitinib is one of the front-runners among targeted agents for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). Although many studies have been conducted on the real-world use of baricitinib, the sample size is often small and data is focused primarily on Caucasians. Objective: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the real-world itch-relieving property of baricitinib in adult AD patients in South Korea. Methods: Electronic medical records of AD patients treated with baricitinib at the National Medical Center in Korea from May 2021 to April 2023 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Seventy patients completed 16 to 52 weeks of baricitinib treatment, with most patients showing mild-to-moderate baseline lesions and moderate-to-severe baseline itch. At Week 16 of baricitinib treatment, there was a 50% reduction in Itch numerical rating scale from baseline, and 50.7% of patients showed 50% improvement in Eczema Area and Severity Index score.The efficacy of baricitinib was also reflected in the patient reported outcomes, with 55%–58% improvements in Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure, Atopic Dermatitis Control Tool, and Dermatology Life Quality Index scores seen within 2 weeks of treatment. No new safety signals were detected in this study. Conclusion Baricitinib treatment for 52 weeks in Korean patients with itch dominant AD confirmed long term effectiveness and safety.

Background: Despite the considerable disease burden due to trauma injury, sufficient effort has not been made for the assessment of nationwide trauma care status in Korea. We explored the feasibility of a diagnosis code-based injury severity measuring method in light of its realworld usage. Methods: We used datasets from the National Emergency Department Information System to calculate the survival risk ratios (SRRs) and the Korean Trauma Data Bank to predict models, respectively. The target cohort was split into training and validation datasets using stratified random sampling in an 8:2 ratio. We established six major mortality prediction models depending on the included parameters: 1) the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) (age, sex, original Revised Trauma Score [RTS], Injury Severity Score [ISS]), 2) extended International Classification of Diseases-based Injury Severity Score (ICISS) 1 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using international SRRs), 3) extended ICISS 2 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 4) extended ICISS 3 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes), 5) extended ICISS 4 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 6) extended ICISS 5 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes). We estimated the model using training datasets and fitted it to the validation datasets. We measured the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for discriminative ability. Overall performance was also evaluated using the Brier score. Results: We observed the feasibility of the extended ICISS models, though their performance was slightly lower than the TRISS model (training cohort, AUC 0.936–0.938 vs. 0.949).Regarding SRR calculation methods, we did not find statistically significant differences.The alternative use of the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive Scale instead of the Glasgow Coma Scale in the RTS calculation did not degrade model performance. Conclusion The availability of the practical ICISS model was observed based on the model performance. We expect our ICISS model to contribute to strengthening the Korean Trauma Care System by utilizing mortality prediction and severity classification.

South Korea’s current vaccination policies leave a surveillance gap for non-National Immunization Program (NIP) vaccines. In this study, we proposed a sentinel surveillance approach for monitoring the safety of non-NIP vaccines. Vaccination data were collected retrospectively among patients hospitalized with pre-defined adverse events of special interest (AESI) by reviewing electronic medical records in five university hospitals. This approach incorporates expert assessment to determine the causal relationship. We confirmed that 16 patients had received non-NIP vaccines among 860 patients diagnosed with AESI.We concluded one case of preeclampsia was possibly related to tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccination. We propose a multi-hospital-based, retrospective assessment system for predefined AESIs as an alternative to active vaccine safety monitoring method. These efforts are expected to enhance both the accuracy and timeliness of safety monitoring in South Korea.

Background: Despite the considerable disease burden due to trauma injury, sufficient effort has not been made for the assessment of nationwide trauma care status in Korea. We explored the feasibility of a diagnosis code-based injury severity measuring method in light of its realworld usage. Methods: We used datasets from the National Emergency Department Information System to calculate the survival risk ratios (SRRs) and the Korean Trauma Data Bank to predict models, respectively. The target cohort was split into training and validation datasets using stratified random sampling in an 8:2 ratio. We established six major mortality prediction models depending on the included parameters: 1) the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) (age, sex, original Revised Trauma Score [RTS], Injury Severity Score [ISS]), 2) extended International Classification of Diseases-based Injury Severity Score (ICISS) 1 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using international SRRs), 3) extended ICISS 2 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 4) extended ICISS 3 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes), 5) extended ICISS 4 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 6) extended ICISS 5 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes). We estimated the model using training datasets and fitted it to the validation datasets. We measured the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for discriminative ability. Overall performance was also evaluated using the Brier score. Results: We observed the feasibility of the extended ICISS models, though their performance was slightly lower than the TRISS model (training cohort, AUC 0.936–0.938 vs. 0.949).Regarding SRR calculation methods, we did not find statistically significant differences.The alternative use of the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive Scale instead of the Glasgow Coma Scale in the RTS calculation did not degrade model performance. Conclusion The availability of the practical ICISS model was observed based on the model performance. We expect our ICISS model to contribute to strengthening the Korean Trauma Care System by utilizing mortality prediction and severity classification.

South Korea’s current vaccination policies leave a surveillance gap for non-National Immunization Program (NIP) vaccines. In this study, we proposed a sentinel surveillance approach for monitoring the safety of non-NIP vaccines. Vaccination data were collected retrospectively among patients hospitalized with pre-defined adverse events of special interest (AESI) by reviewing electronic medical records in five university hospitals. This approach incorporates expert assessment to determine the causal relationship. We confirmed that 16 patients had received non-NIP vaccines among 860 patients diagnosed with AESI.We concluded one case of preeclampsia was possibly related to tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccination. We propose a multi-hospital-based, retrospective assessment system for predefined AESIs as an alternative to active vaccine safety monitoring method. These efforts are expected to enhance both the accuracy and timeliness of safety monitoring in South Korea.

Background: Despite the considerable disease burden due to trauma injury, sufficient effort has not been made for the assessment of nationwide trauma care status in Korea. We explored the feasibility of a diagnosis code-based injury severity measuring method in light of its realworld usage. Methods: We used datasets from the National Emergency Department Information System to calculate the survival risk ratios (SRRs) and the Korean Trauma Data Bank to predict models, respectively. The target cohort was split into training and validation datasets using stratified random sampling in an 8:2 ratio. We established six major mortality prediction models depending on the included parameters: 1) the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) (age, sex, original Revised Trauma Score [RTS], Injury Severity Score [ISS]), 2) extended International Classification of Diseases-based Injury Severity Score (ICISS) 1 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using international SRRs), 3) extended ICISS 2 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 4) extended ICISS 3 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes), 5) extended ICISS 4 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 6) extended ICISS 5 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes). We estimated the model using training datasets and fitted it to the validation datasets. We measured the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for discriminative ability. Overall performance was also evaluated using the Brier score. Results: We observed the feasibility of the extended ICISS models, though their performance was slightly lower than the TRISS model (training cohort, AUC 0.936–0.938 vs. 0.949).Regarding SRR calculation methods, we did not find statistically significant differences.The alternative use of the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive Scale instead of the Glasgow Coma Scale in the RTS calculation did not degrade model performance. Conclusion The availability of the practical ICISS model was observed based on the model performance. We expect our ICISS model to contribute to strengthening the Korean Trauma Care System by utilizing mortality prediction and severity classification.

South Korea’s current vaccination policies leave a surveillance gap for non-National Immunization Program (NIP) vaccines. In this study, we proposed a sentinel surveillance approach for monitoring the safety of non-NIP vaccines. Vaccination data were collected retrospectively among patients hospitalized with pre-defined adverse events of special interest (AESI) by reviewing electronic medical records in five university hospitals. This approach incorporates expert assessment to determine the causal relationship. We confirmed that 16 patients had received non-NIP vaccines among 860 patients diagnosed with AESI.We concluded one case of preeclampsia was possibly related to tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccination. We propose a multi-hospital-based, retrospective assessment system for predefined AESIs as an alternative to active vaccine safety monitoring method. These efforts are expected to enhance both the accuracy and timeliness of safety monitoring in South Korea.

Background: Despite the considerable disease burden due to trauma injury, sufficient effort has not been made for the assessment of nationwide trauma care status in Korea. We explored the feasibility of a diagnosis code-based injury severity measuring method in light of its realworld usage. Methods: We used datasets from the National Emergency Department Information System to calculate the survival risk ratios (SRRs) and the Korean Trauma Data Bank to predict models, respectively. The target cohort was split into training and validation datasets using stratified random sampling in an 8:2 ratio. We established six major mortality prediction models depending on the included parameters: 1) the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) (age, sex, original Revised Trauma Score [RTS], Injury Severity Score [ISS]), 2) extended International Classification of Diseases-based Injury Severity Score (ICISS) 1 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using international SRRs), 3) extended ICISS 2 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 4) extended ICISS 3 (age, sex, original RTS, ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes), 5) extended ICISS 4 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on 4-digit diagnosis codes), 6) extended ICISS 5 (age, sex, modified RTS, and ICISS using Korean SRRs based on full-digit diagnosis codes). We estimated the model using training datasets and fitted it to the validation datasets. We measured the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for discriminative ability. Overall performance was also evaluated using the Brier score. Results: We observed the feasibility of the extended ICISS models, though their performance was slightly lower than the TRISS model (training cohort, AUC 0.936–0.938 vs. 0.949).Regarding SRR calculation methods, we did not find statistically significant differences.The alternative use of the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive Scale instead of the Glasgow Coma Scale in the RTS calculation did not degrade model performance. Conclusion The availability of the practical ICISS model was observed based on the model performance. We expect our ICISS model to contribute to strengthening the Korean Trauma Care System by utilizing mortality prediction and severity classification.

South Korea’s current vaccination policies leave a surveillance gap for non-National Immunization Program (NIP) vaccines. In this study, we proposed a sentinel surveillance approach for monitoring the safety of non-NIP vaccines. Vaccination data were collected retrospectively among patients hospitalized with pre-defined adverse events of special interest (AESI) by reviewing electronic medical records in five university hospitals. This approach incorporates expert assessment to determine the causal relationship. We confirmed that 16 patients had received non-NIP vaccines among 860 patients diagnosed with AESI.We concluded one case of preeclampsia was possibly related to tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccination. We propose a multi-hospital-based, retrospective assessment system for predefined AESIs as an alternative to active vaccine safety monitoring method. These efforts are expected to enhance both the accuracy and timeliness of safety monitoring in South Korea.

Background: Post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) and anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) are common pro‑ phylactic strategies for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT). Interleukin (IL)-6 is a surrogate marker for cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and acute GVHD.Method The clinical outcomes and complications of haplo-HSCT with PTCy plus ATG versus PTCy monotherapy were compared according to serum IL-6 levels at Chungnam National University Hospital (Daejeon, South Korea) from Jan‑ uary 2019 to February 2023. Results: Forty patients who underwent haplo-HSCT were analyzed. A significant difference in IL-6 levels was observed between the PTCy plus ATG and PTCy alone groups (7.47 ± 10.55 vs. 117.65 ± 127.67; p = 0.003). More patients in the PTCy plus ATG group had a CRS grade of 0 than in the PTCy alone group (p < 0.001). Serum IL-6 levels were associated with grades II–IV acute GVHD (r = 0.547, p < 0.001). The cumulative incidence (CI) of grades II–IV acute GVHD was significantly higher in the PTCy alone group (67.9% vs. 4.8%; p < 0.001). No significant difference in the CI for chronic GVHD was detected between the PTCy plus ATG and PTCy alone groups (72.1% vs. 82.0%; p = 0.730). The CI of 1-year non-relapse mortality was significantly higher in the PTCy alone group than in the PTCy plus ATG group (42.2% vs. 15.9%; p = 0.022). The 1-year overall survival (OS) was significantly better in the PTCy plus ATG group (75.9% vs. 35.3%; p = 0.011). The 1-year GVHD-free, relapse-free survival rate was 29.4% in the PTCy alone group and 54.0% in the PTCy plus ATG group (p = 0.038). Conclusion Serum IL-6 levels were higher in the PTCy alone group than in the PTCy plus ATG group. The addition of ATG before stem cell infusion affected IL-6 levels and reduced the incidences of CRS and grade II–IV acute GVHD in haplo-HSCT patients. This study suggests that PTCy plus ATG as GVHD prophylaxis in haplo-HSCT is beneficial in terms of clinical outcomes and complications of HSCT.