Acute pancreatitis can range from a mild, self-limiting disease requiring no more than supportive care, to severe disease with life-threatening complications. With the goal of providing a recommendation framework for clinicians to manage acute pancreatitis, and to contribute to improvements in national health care, the Korean Pancreatobiliary Association (KPBA) established the Korean guidelines for acute pancreatitis management in 2013. However, many challenging issues exist which often lead to differences in clinical practices. In addition, with newly obtained evidence regarding acute pancreatitis, there have been great changes in recent knowledge and information regarding this disorder. Therefore, the KPBA committee underwent an extensive revision of the guidelines. The revised guidelines were developed using the Delphi method, and the main topics of the guidelines include the following: diagnosis, severity assessment, initial treatment, nutritional support, convalescent treatment, and the treatment of local complications and necrotizing pancreatitis. Specific recommendations are presented, along with the evidence levels and recommendation grades.

Objectives: . Facial nerve monitoring (FNM) can be used to identify the facial nerve, to obtain information regarding its course, and to evaluate its status during parotidectomy. However, there has been disagreement regarding the efficacy of FNM in reducing the incidence of facial nerve palsy during parotid surgery. Therefore, instead of using electromyography (EMG) to identify the location and state of the facial nerve, we applied an intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) system using a surface pressure sensor to detect facial muscle twitching. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the IONM system with a surface pressure sensor to detect facial muscle twitching during parotidectomy. Methods: . We evaluated the stimulus thresholds for the detection of muscle twitching in the orbicularis oris and orbicularis oculi, as well as the amplitude and latency of EMG and the surface pressure sensor in 13 facial nerves of seven rabbits, using the same stimulus intensity. Results: . The surface pressure sensor detected muscle twitching in the orbicularis oris and orbicularis oculi in response to a stimulation of 0.1 mA in all 13 facial nerves. The stimulus threshold did not differ between the surface pressure sensor and EMG. Conclusion . The application of IONM using a surface pressure sensor during parotidectomy is noninvasive, reliable, and feasible. Therefore, the IONM system with a surface pressure sensor to measure facial muscle twitching may be an alternative to EMG for verifying the status of the facial nerve.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was conducted to clarify the sustained virological response (SVR) prediction ability of baseline and treatment-related factors in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS: This retrospective study collected data at four tertiary referral hospitals between June 2004 and July 2012. Out of 476 patients, 330 treatment-naïve patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited. Pegylated interferon α-2a/-2b plus ribavirin was administered for either 24 or 48 weeks depending on the HCV genotype. The baseline and treatment-related predictive factors of SVR were evaluated by analyzing data measured before treatment (i.e., baseline) and during treatment. RESULTS: SVR rates for genotypes 1 and 2 were 63% (97/154) and 79.5% (140/176), respectively (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis for baseline factors revealed that young age (p = 0.009), genotype 2 (p = 0.001), HCV RNA level of < 800,000 IU/mL (p < 0.001), and a baseline platelet count of > 150 × 10³/µL (p < 0.001) were significant SVR predictors, regardless of the genotype. In particular, predictive accuracy for achievement of SVR was 87.3% for a baseline platelet count of > 150 × 10³/µL. In multivariate analysis for treatment-related factors, SVR was associated with achievement of a rapid virological response (RVR; p < 0.001), treatment adherence of ≥ 80/80/80 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Young age, genotype 2, low HCV RNA level, RVR, and treatment adherence were significantly associated with SVR. In addition, platelet count was an independent predictive factor for SVR. Therefore, platelet count could be used to develop individualized treatment regimens and to optimize treatment outcomes in patients with chronic HCV infection.

No abstract available.
Dapsone* ; Hand* ; Neutrophils* ; Skin Diseases*

No abstract available.
Dapsone* ; Hand* ; Neutrophils* ; Skin Diseases*

PURPOSE: Diabetic foot ulcers are significant problems in diabetes mellitus and often result in lower extremity amputation. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a self-care management program on Korean patient's self-efficacy, self-care behavior, size of the wound, and wound related pain. METHODS: This study was a quasi-experimental study of pre-test and post-test design in a non-equivalent control group. The intervention strategies of the self-care management program consisted of individual intervention (education, practice and demonstration), computer animation, and face-to-face counseling. There were thirty seven patients, and 20 were assigned to the experimental group while the other 17 were assigned to the control group. The experimental group was given a self-care management program. The control group received information on diabetic mellitus care by means of a leaflet. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, a chi-square test, an independent t-test, and a Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: There were significant differences in self-care behavior and wound related pain. CONCLUSION: A Self-care program is an effective way to increase patient's self-care ability. This program is highly applicable to diabetic foot ulcer patients in various settings.
Amputation ; Counseling ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Foot* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Self Care* ; Self Efficacy ; Ulcer* ; Wounds and Injuries

Freezing and thawing is one of the most widely used tissue engineering techniques for the preservation of ovaries. Many cells and tissues demonstrate changes in functional gene expression after thawing. Several studies have reported the important roles of angiotensin (AT) system during the ovarian follicular growth. AT system consists of ATII, and ATII receptors type I (ATII-RI) and type II (ATII-RII). However, little is known whether frozen-thawed ovaries show any alteration of AT system member gene expression when treated with survival-enhancing factors. We aimed to investigate whether mass freezing and thawing with or without the use of Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitors up- or down-regulate the expression of ATII, ATII-RI, and ATII-RII genes on frozen-thawed ovarian tissues. Significant changes in the expression of ATII, ATII-RI, and ATII-RII genes were observed on thawed ovaries when compared to fresh control. The treatment with ROCK inhibitors did not significantly alter their expression. In conclusion, freezing and thawing of ovarian tissue may affect the mRNA expression levels of intra-ovarian AT system genes, and modulation of ROCK inhibitor activity may not regulate AT system on the frozenthawed ovarian tissue.
Angiotensins* ; Female ; Freezing ; Gene Expression ; Ovary* ; rho-Associated Kinases ; RNA, Messenger ; Tissue Engineering

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the social network types of elders and to identify differences among latent classes by social network. METHODS: The data of 312 elders used in this study were collected from health, welfare, and other facilities and from elders living in the community. The interviews were conducted from July 16 to September 30, 2007 using a standard, structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA with the SPSS 15.0 program and latent class analysis using Maximum Likelihood Latent Structure Analysis (MLLSA) program were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Using latent class analysis, social network types among older adults were identified as diverse for 58.0% of the sample, as family for 34.0%, and as isolated for 8.0%. The health status of respondents differed significantly by network type. Elders in diverse networks had significantly higher health status and elders in isolated networks had significantly lower physical health status on average than those in all other networks. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that these network types have important practical implications for health status of elders. Social service programs should focus on different groups based on social network type and promote social support and social integration.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; *Community Networks ; Family Relations ; Female ; Geriatric Assessment ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea ; Social Support

Hypocalcemia is due to Hypoparathyroidism, Vitamin D deficiency, Hypomagnesemia, Inadequate calcium intake. The benefits of breast-feeding are well established. There are no need to supply calcium or Vitamin D in breast-fed infant. We report a case of infantile hypocalcemia caused by Vitamin D deficiency in exclusively breast-fed infant. He had no hypocalcemic symptom and hypocalcemia was found incidentally by routine laboratory tests during pneumonia treatment. He was presented with a low serum calcium level and 1,25(OH)2 Vit D3 level and high PTH. He was improved by Calcium and Vitamin D supplement. After then his mother continued breast feeding exclusively and resisted to feed her baby weaning food. During follow up period, hypocalcemia was recheked after discontinuation of vitamin D supplement. At 11 months of age, the calcium level was normal without vitamin D supplement after he had eaten weaning food. This report describes a case of hypocalcemia induced by vitamin D deficiency in exclusively breast-fed infant, with review of the literature.
Breast Feeding ; Calcium ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia* ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Infant* ; Mothers ; Pneumonia ; Vitamin D Deficiency* ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins* ; Weaning

No abstract available.
Child ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Immunization* ; Child Health