Background: This study was designed to determine the current status of diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD) in Korea. Methods: A nationwide registry study was conducted in 45 hospitals in Korea involving adult patients with at least moderate VHD as determined by echocardiography carried out between September and October of 2019. Of a total of 4,094 patients with at least moderate VHD, 1,482 had severe VHD (age, 71.3 ± 13.5 years; 49.1% male). Echocar‑ diographic data used for the diagnosis of each case of VHD were analyzed. Experts from each center determined the diagnosis and treatment strategy for VHD based on current guidelines and institutional policy. The clinical out‑ come was in-hospital mortality. Results: Each valve underwent surgical or transcatheter intervention in 19.3% cases of severe mitral stenosis, 31.4% cases of severe primary mitral regurgitation (MR), 7.5% cases of severe secondary MR, 43.7% cases of severe aortic stenosis, 27.5% cases of severe aortic regurgitation, and 7.2% cases of severe tricuspid regurgitation. The overall inhospital mortality rate for patients with severe VHD was 5.4%, and for secondary severe MR and severe tricuspid regur‑ gitation, the rates were 9.0% and 7.5%, respectively, indicating a poor prognosis. In-hospital mortality occurred in 73 of the 1,244 patients (5.9%) who received conservative treatment and in 18 of the 455 patients (4.0%) who received a surgical or transcatheter intervention, which was significantly lower in the intervention group (P = 0.037). Conclusions This study provides important information about the current status of VHD diagnosis and treatment through a nationwide registry in Korea and helps to define future changes.

Background: This study was designed to determine the current status of diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD) in Korea. Methods: A nationwide registry study was conducted in 45 hospitals in Korea involving adult patients with at least moderate VHD as determined by echocardiography carried out between September and October of 2019. Of a total of 4,094 patients with at least moderate VHD, 1,482 had severe VHD (age, 71.3 ± 13.5 years; 49.1% male). Echocar‑ diographic data used for the diagnosis of each case of VHD were analyzed. Experts from each center determined the diagnosis and treatment strategy for VHD based on current guidelines and institutional policy. The clinical out‑ come was in-hospital mortality. Results: Each valve underwent surgical or transcatheter intervention in 19.3% cases of severe mitral stenosis, 31.4% cases of severe primary mitral regurgitation (MR), 7.5% cases of severe secondary MR, 43.7% cases of severe aortic stenosis, 27.5% cases of severe aortic regurgitation, and 7.2% cases of severe tricuspid regurgitation. The overall inhospital mortality rate for patients with severe VHD was 5.4%, and for secondary severe MR and severe tricuspid regur‑ gitation, the rates were 9.0% and 7.5%, respectively, indicating a poor prognosis. In-hospital mortality occurred in 73 of the 1,244 patients (5.9%) who received conservative treatment and in 18 of the 455 patients (4.0%) who received a surgical or transcatheter intervention, which was significantly lower in the intervention group (P = 0.037). Conclusions This study provides important information about the current status of VHD diagnosis and treatment through a nationwide registry in Korea and helps to define future changes.

Background: This study was designed to determine the current status of diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD) in Korea. Methods: A nationwide registry study was conducted in 45 hospitals in Korea involving adult patients with at least moderate VHD as determined by echocardiography carried out between September and October of 2019. Of a total of 4,094 patients with at least moderate VHD, 1,482 had severe VHD (age, 71.3 ± 13.5 years; 49.1% male). Echocar‑ diographic data used for the diagnosis of each case of VHD were analyzed. Experts from each center determined the diagnosis and treatment strategy for VHD based on current guidelines and institutional policy. The clinical out‑ come was in-hospital mortality. Results: Each valve underwent surgical or transcatheter intervention in 19.3% cases of severe mitral stenosis, 31.4% cases of severe primary mitral regurgitation (MR), 7.5% cases of severe secondary MR, 43.7% cases of severe aortic stenosis, 27.5% cases of severe aortic regurgitation, and 7.2% cases of severe tricuspid regurgitation. The overall inhospital mortality rate for patients with severe VHD was 5.4%, and for secondary severe MR and severe tricuspid regur‑ gitation, the rates were 9.0% and 7.5%, respectively, indicating a poor prognosis. In-hospital mortality occurred in 73 of the 1,244 patients (5.9%) who received conservative treatment and in 18 of the 455 patients (4.0%) who received a surgical or transcatheter intervention, which was significantly lower in the intervention group (P = 0.037). Conclusions This study provides important information about the current status of VHD diagnosis and treatment through a nationwide registry in Korea and helps to define future changes.

This manuscript represents the official position of the Korean Society of Echocardiography on valvular heart diseases.This position paper focuses on the clinical management of valvular heart diseases with reference to the guidelines recently published by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology. The committee tried to reflect the recently published results on the topic of valvular heart diseases and Korean data by a systematic literature search based on validity and relevance. In part I of this article, we will review and discuss the current position of aortic valve disease in Korea.

This manuscript represents the official position of the Korean Society of Echocardiography on valvular heart diseases.This position paper focuses on the diagnosis and management of valvular heart diseases with referring to the guide‑ lines recently published by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology. The committee sought to reflect national data on the topic of valvular heart diseases published to date through a systematic literature search based on validity and relevance. In the part II of this article, we intend to pre‑ sent recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of mitral valve disease and tricuspid valve disease.

Background: Lung inflammation plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the characteristics of the inflammatory process remain unclear. There is growing interest in the role of granzyme B (GzmB) because CD8+ T cells can induce apoptosis of target cells by releasing GzmB, which in turn may cause tissue injury and remodeling. However, GzmB is also expressed by regulatory cells, which are able to suppress CD8+ T cell. The role of GzmB+ cells needs to be defined in COPD. Methods: GzmB+ and CD8+ cells on alveolar wall of surgically resected lungs of microscopically classified 12 nonsmoking control, 12 panlobular emphysema (PLE) and 30 centrilobular emphysema (CLE) subjects were localized by immunohistochemical method. Positively stained cells on alveolar wall were counted and length of corresponding alveolar wall was measured. The results were expressed as mean number of positively stained cells per mm of alveolar wall in each subject. Results: The number of GzmB+ and CD8+ cells on alveolar wall of CLE was greater than that of control or PLE subjects (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively). There was a positive relationship between the number of alveolar GzmB+ cells and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (r=0.610, p=0.003) in CLE subjects. The number of alveolar GzmB+ cells progressively decreased with decline of FEV1. Conclusion Our finding that number of alveolar GzmB+ cells was associated with FEV1 suggests that GzmB+ cells might have protective role in the progression of lung destruction and airflow limitation in CLE, which is the predominant emphysema subtype of COPD.

Background/Aims: Although the diarrheal disease caused by Campylobacter bacteria has been continuously increasing in Korea, there has been limited study on the clinical aspects of Campylobacter enteritis in adults in Korea. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical features and characteristics of adult patients with Campylobacter enteritis. Methods: This retrospective study included patients diagnosed with Campylobacter enterocolitis at Nowon Eulji University Hopsital between January 2016 and December 2017. Campylobacter enterocolitis was diagnosed through polymerase chain reaction of stools from patients with acute diarrhea. Results: Among 630 hospitalized patients with acute diarrhea, Campylobacter enterocolitis was diagnosed in 88 patients (14.0%). The mean age was 37.9±19.1 years. Campylobacter enterocolitis was most prevalent in the summer (52 patients, 59.1%). Patients exhibited more than 10 times of diarrhea in 36 (40.9%), high fever above 39℃ in 19 (21.59%), and abdominal pain above 5 points on the numeric rating scale in 23 (26.14%) cases. In abdominal CT scan, pancolitis was found in 58 patients (65.9%). Small intestine was involved in 37 patients (42.4%). Mean CRP was 10.14 mg/dL (range 0.72-32.27 mg/dL). The duration of diarrhea after antibiotics treatment was 2.34±1.51 days in the ciprofloxacin treatment group and 2.26±1.71 days in the 3rd cephalosporin treatment group. Conclusions Campylobacter enterocolitis was common during summer. Commonly healthy young adults were hospitalized due to severe symptoms of Campylobacter enterocolitis. Whole colon and small bowel were frequently involved. Most patients were treated with antibiotics, and the efficacy of 3rd cephalosporin treatment was not inferior to that of ciprofloxacin treatment.