Background: s/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in South Korea. This study evaluated the characteristics of Korean patients newly diagnosed with HCC in 2016-2018. Methods: Data from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry (KPLCR), a representative database of patients newly diagnosed with HCC in South Korea, were analyzed. This study investigated 4,462 patients with HCC registered in the KPLCR in 2016-2018. Results: The median patient age was 63 years (interquartile range, 55-72). 79.7% of patients were male. Hepatitis B infection was the most common underlying liver disease (54.5%). The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system classified patients as follows: stage 0 (14.9%), A (28.8%), B (7.5%), C (39.0%), and D (9.8%). The median overall survival was 3.72 years (95% confidence interval, 3.47-4.14), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 71.3%, 54.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. In 2016-2018, there was a significant shift toward BCLC stage 0-A and Child-Turcotte-Pugh liver function class A (P<0.05), although survival rates did not differ by diagnosis year. In the treatment group (n=4,389), the most common initial treatments were transarterial therapy (31.7%), surgical resection (24.9%), best supportive care (18.9%), and local ablation therapy (10.5%). Conclusions Between 2016 and 2018, HCC tended to be diagnosed at earlier stages, with better liver function in later years. However, since approximately half of the patients remained diagnosed at an advanced stage, more rigorous and optimized HCC screening strategies should be implemented.

Background: s/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in South Korea. This study evaluated the characteristics of Korean patients newly diagnosed with HCC in 2016-2018. Methods: Data from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry (KPLCR), a representative database of patients newly diagnosed with HCC in South Korea, were analyzed. This study investigated 4,462 patients with HCC registered in the KPLCR in 2016-2018. Results: The median patient age was 63 years (interquartile range, 55-72). 79.7% of patients were male. Hepatitis B infection was the most common underlying liver disease (54.5%). The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system classified patients as follows: stage 0 (14.9%), A (28.8%), B (7.5%), C (39.0%), and D (9.8%). The median overall survival was 3.72 years (95% confidence interval, 3.47-4.14), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 71.3%, 54.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. In 2016-2018, there was a significant shift toward BCLC stage 0-A and Child-Turcotte-Pugh liver function class A (P<0.05), although survival rates did not differ by diagnosis year. In the treatment group (n=4,389), the most common initial treatments were transarterial therapy (31.7%), surgical resection (24.9%), best supportive care (18.9%), and local ablation therapy (10.5%). Conclusions Between 2016 and 2018, HCC tended to be diagnosed at earlier stages, with better liver function in later years. However, since approximately half of the patients remained diagnosed at an advanced stage, more rigorous and optimized HCC screening strategies should be implemented.

Background: s/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in South Korea. This study evaluated the characteristics of Korean patients newly diagnosed with HCC in 2016-2018. Methods: Data from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry (KPLCR), a representative database of patients newly diagnosed with HCC in South Korea, were analyzed. This study investigated 4,462 patients with HCC registered in the KPLCR in 2016-2018. Results: The median patient age was 63 years (interquartile range, 55-72). 79.7% of patients were male. Hepatitis B infection was the most common underlying liver disease (54.5%). The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system classified patients as follows: stage 0 (14.9%), A (28.8%), B (7.5%), C (39.0%), and D (9.8%). The median overall survival was 3.72 years (95% confidence interval, 3.47-4.14), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 71.3%, 54.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. In 2016-2018, there was a significant shift toward BCLC stage 0-A and Child-Turcotte-Pugh liver function class A (P<0.05), although survival rates did not differ by diagnosis year. In the treatment group (n=4,389), the most common initial treatments were transarterial therapy (31.7%), surgical resection (24.9%), best supportive care (18.9%), and local ablation therapy (10.5%). Conclusions Between 2016 and 2018, HCC tended to be diagnosed at earlier stages, with better liver function in later years. However, since approximately half of the patients remained diagnosed at an advanced stage, more rigorous and optimized HCC screening strategies should be implemented.

Background: s/Aims: The treatment landscape for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has significantly evolved over the past decade. We aimed to analyze trends in treatment patterns for HCC using a nationwide claims database from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Methods: This retrospective population-based cohort study analyzed 171,002 newly diagnosed HCC patients between 2008 and 2022. Etiologies and treatment modalities were categorized based on the ICD-10 codes and insurance data. Results: The annual incidence decreased from 11,814 in 2008 to 10,443 in 2022. However, patients aged ≥70 increased noticeably, with those aged ≥80 rising from 3.8% in 2008 to 13.1% in 2022. From 2008 to 2022, the predominant cause of hepatitis B virus decreased from 68.9% to 59.7%, whereas nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increased from 8.9% to 15.8%. The initial treatment trends shifted: surgical resection and systemic therapy increased from 12.2% to 21.3% and from 0.2% to 9.6%, whereas transarterial therapy decreased from 49.9% to 36.6%. Best supportive care decreased from 31.7% to 21.3%. In the subgroup analysis, laparoscopic resection rate increased from 10.6% to 60.6% among the surgical resections. Sorafenib initially accounted for 100%, lenvatinib peaked at 36.5% in 2021, and atezolizumab-bevacizumab became the most widely used (63.1%) by 2022 among the systemic therapies. Conclusions This study demonstrates the temporal changes in the treatment patterns of Korean HCC patients. Surgical resection, particularly laparoscopic liver resection, and systemic therapy has increased significantly. These changes may have been influenced by reimbursement policies and advances in clinical research.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is often observed in connective tissue diseases (CTDs), frequently in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, primary Sjögren’s syndrome, and inflammatory myositis. Early detection of ILDs secondary to rheumatic diseases is important as timely initiation of proper management affects the prognosis. Among many imaging modalities, high-resuloution computed tomography (HRCT) serves the gold standard for finding early lung inflammatory and fibrotic changes as well as monitoring afterwards because of its superior spatial resolution. Additionally, lung ultrasound (LUS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the rising free-radiation imaging tools that can get images of lungs of CTD-ILD. In this review article, we present the subtypes of ILD images found in each CTD acquired by HRCT as well as some images taken by LUS and MRI with comparative HRCT scans. It is expected that this discussion would be helpful in discussing recent advances in imaging modalities for CTDILD and raising critical points for diagnosis and tracing of the images from the perspective of rheumatologists.

Purpose: Robotic single-site plus one-port myomectomy (RSOM) was designed to reduce the number of incision sites for greater cosmetic satisfaction of patients while retaining the benefits of conventional robotic multi-site myomectomy (CRM). Robotic single-site plus two-port myomectomy (RSTM) eliminated one port relative to conventional CRM, and RSOM achieved the same advantage with respect to RSTM. This study aimed to compare RSOM with RSTM in terms of their respective methodologies and surgical outcomes. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 230 patients who had undergone RSOM and 146 patients who had undergone RSTM were reviewed. The groups’ surgical outcomes were compared using propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. Results: In the total data, RSOM had a shorter operative time (135.1±57.4 min vs. 149.9±46.2 min, p=0.009) and a shorter hospital stay (5.2±0.5 days vs. 5.4±0.7 days, p=0.033) relative to RSTM. The PSM analysis showed that there were no statistically significant intergroup differences in the patients’ baseline characteristics. Regarding the surgical outcomes, the RSOM group showed shorter operative time (129.2±49.3 min vs. 148.7±46.3 min, p=0.001) compared to the RSTM group. Conclusion Compared with RSTM, RSOM was associated with shorter operative time. Additionally, more detailed comparative and prospective studies are needed to evaluate RSOM relative to RSTM.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether limited T2-weighted-only lumbar spine MRI is clinically available to patients visiting pain intervention clinic for radicular pain. Materials and Methods: A total of 110 patients (mean age: 63.5 ± 16.1 years) with low back pain (LBP) or sciatica who underwent limited T2-weighted-only lumbar MRI using T2-weighted sagittal and axial sequences were enrolled. All MRI scans were reviewed by two radiologists for degenerative spinal lesions that most correlated with each patient’s symptoms. All patients received spinal injections. Treatment response was recorded based on patients’ subjective evaluations and an 11-point numerical rating scale. Clinical characteristics and changes in the diagnosis of patients who had undergone previous MRI or additional MRI within six months were also analyzed. Results: Using limited T2-weighted-only lumbar spine MRI, acquisition time and cost for imaging examinations were effectively reduced. Pathologic lesions corresponding to clinical symptoms were detected in most (95%) patients. Symptoms had improved in 78.1% of patients at the 6-month follow-up. Further imaging work-up was not performed for any subject during the study period because there was clear indication (no doubt) for other diagnoses on the limited T2-weighted-only lumbar spine MRI or during the clinical follow-up. Conclusion Limited T2-weighted-only lumbar spine MRI comprising T2-weighted sagittal and axial images may sufficiently detect degenerative changes of the lumbar spine in patients with LBP and sciatica. Treatment responses are satisfactory, effectively reducing scan time and costs.

Background: /Aim: Despite the increasing proportion of elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) over time, treatment efficacy in this population is not well established. Methods: Data collected from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry, a representative cohort of patients newly diagnosed with HCC in Korea between 2008 and 2017, were analyzed. Overall survival (OS) according to tumor stage and treatment modality was compared between elderly and non-elderly patients with HCC. Results: Among 15,186 study patients, 5,829 (38.4%) were elderly. A larger proportion of elderly patients did not receive any treatment for HCC than non-elderly patients (25.2% vs. 16.7%). However, OS was significantly better in elderly patients who received treatment compared to those who did not (median, 38.6 vs. 22.3 months; P<0.001). In early-stage HCC, surgery yielded significantly lower OS in elderly patients compared to non-elderly patients (median, 97.4 vs. 138.0 months; P<0.001), however, local ablation (median, 82.2 vs. 105.5 months) and transarterial therapy (median, 42.6 vs. 56.9 months) each provided comparable OS between the two groups after inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis (all P>0.05). After IPTW, in intermediate-stage HCC, surgery (median, 66.0 vs. 90.3 months) and transarterial therapy (median, 36.5 vs. 37.2 months), and in advanced-stage HCC, transarterial (median, 25.3 vs. 26.3 months) and systemic therapy (median, 25.3 vs. 26.3 months) yielded comparable OS between the elderly and non-elderly HCC patients (all P>0.05). Conclusions Personalized treatments tailored to individual patients can improve the prognosis of elderly patients with HCC to a level comparable to that of non-elderly patients.