Objective: : Korea’s healthcare system and policy promotes early, actively stroke treatment to improve prognosis. This study represents stroke epidemiology and outcomes in Korea. Methods: : This study investigated data from the Acute Stroke Assessment Registry. The registry collects data from over 220 hospitals nationwide, focusing on quality stroke service management. Data analysis included patient demographics, stroke severity assessment, and discharge prognosis measurement using standardized scales. Results: : Eighty-six thousand five hundred sixty-eight acute stroke patients were collected with demographic and clinical characteristics during 18 months from 2016, 2018, and between 2020 to 2021, focusing on acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and acute ischemic stroke. Of these 86568 patients, 8.3% was SAH, 16.3% ICH, and 74.9% ischemic stroke. Trends showed decreasing SAH and increasing ICH cases over the years. 68.3% stroke patients had the clear onset time. 49.6% stroke patients arrived within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, with more patients treated at general hospitals. Good functional outcomes at discharge was obtained with 58.3% of acute stroke patients, 55.9% of SAH patients, 34.6% of ICH patients, and 63.8% of ischemic stroke patients. Conclusion : The results showed that ischemic stroke was the most common subtype, followed by ICH and SAH. Prognosis differed among subtypes, with favorable outcomes more common in ischemic stroke and SAH compared to ICH.

Objective: : Korea’s healthcare system and policy promotes early, actively stroke treatment to improve prognosis. This study represents stroke epidemiology and outcomes in Korea. Methods: : This study investigated data from the Acute Stroke Assessment Registry. The registry collects data from over 220 hospitals nationwide, focusing on quality stroke service management. Data analysis included patient demographics, stroke severity assessment, and discharge prognosis measurement using standardized scales. Results: : Eighty-six thousand five hundred sixty-eight acute stroke patients were collected with demographic and clinical characteristics during 18 months from 2016, 2018, and between 2020 to 2021, focusing on acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and acute ischemic stroke. Of these 86568 patients, 8.3% was SAH, 16.3% ICH, and 74.9% ischemic stroke. Trends showed decreasing SAH and increasing ICH cases over the years. 68.3% stroke patients had the clear onset time. 49.6% stroke patients arrived within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, with more patients treated at general hospitals. Good functional outcomes at discharge was obtained with 58.3% of acute stroke patients, 55.9% of SAH patients, 34.6% of ICH patients, and 63.8% of ischemic stroke patients. Conclusion : The results showed that ischemic stroke was the most common subtype, followed by ICH and SAH. Prognosis differed among subtypes, with favorable outcomes more common in ischemic stroke and SAH compared to ICH.

Objective: : Korea’s healthcare system and policy promotes early, actively stroke treatment to improve prognosis. This study represents stroke epidemiology and outcomes in Korea. Methods: : This study investigated data from the Acute Stroke Assessment Registry. The registry collects data from over 220 hospitals nationwide, focusing on quality stroke service management. Data analysis included patient demographics, stroke severity assessment, and discharge prognosis measurement using standardized scales. Results: : Eighty-six thousand five hundred sixty-eight acute stroke patients were collected with demographic and clinical characteristics during 18 months from 2016, 2018, and between 2020 to 2021, focusing on acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and acute ischemic stroke. Of these 86568 patients, 8.3% was SAH, 16.3% ICH, and 74.9% ischemic stroke. Trends showed decreasing SAH and increasing ICH cases over the years. 68.3% stroke patients had the clear onset time. 49.6% stroke patients arrived within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, with more patients treated at general hospitals. Good functional outcomes at discharge was obtained with 58.3% of acute stroke patients, 55.9% of SAH patients, 34.6% of ICH patients, and 63.8% of ischemic stroke patients. Conclusion : The results showed that ischemic stroke was the most common subtype, followed by ICH and SAH. Prognosis differed among subtypes, with favorable outcomes more common in ischemic stroke and SAH compared to ICH.

Objective: : Korea’s healthcare system and policy promotes early, actively stroke treatment to improve prognosis. This study represents stroke epidemiology and outcomes in Korea. Methods: : This study investigated data from the Acute Stroke Assessment Registry. The registry collects data from over 220 hospitals nationwide, focusing on quality stroke service management. Data analysis included patient demographics, stroke severity assessment, and discharge prognosis measurement using standardized scales. Results: : Eighty-six thousand five hundred sixty-eight acute stroke patients were collected with demographic and clinical characteristics during 18 months from 2016, 2018, and between 2020 to 2021, focusing on acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and acute ischemic stroke. Of these 86568 patients, 8.3% was SAH, 16.3% ICH, and 74.9% ischemic stroke. Trends showed decreasing SAH and increasing ICH cases over the years. 68.3% stroke patients had the clear onset time. 49.6% stroke patients arrived within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, with more patients treated at general hospitals. Good functional outcomes at discharge was obtained with 58.3% of acute stroke patients, 55.9% of SAH patients, 34.6% of ICH patients, and 63.8% of ischemic stroke patients. Conclusion : The results showed that ischemic stroke was the most common subtype, followed by ICH and SAH. Prognosis differed among subtypes, with favorable outcomes more common in ischemic stroke and SAH compared to ICH.

PURPOSE: We examined the effects of 3 months of intensive education (IE) after hospital discharge compared to conventional education (CE) on nutritional status and quality of diet and life among South Korean gastrectomy patients. METHODS: The study was conducted among 53 hospitalized gastrectomy in-patients (IE group, n = 28; CE group, n = 25) at Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong. Baseline data were collected from electronic medical records and additional information was gathered via anthropometric measurements, assessment of nutritional status through a patient-generated, subjective global assessment (PG-SGA), diet assessment, and measures of self-efficacy and satisfaction with meals for 3 months following hospital discharge. RESULTS: Total PG-SGA scores were significantly higher in the CE group than in the IE group at 3-week post-discharge (5.2 in the IE group vs. 10.4 in the CE group, P < 0.001), with higher scores indicating a greater severity of malnutrition. Energy intake over the 3 months increased in both the IE group (from 1,390 to 1,726 kcal/day) and the CE group (from 1,227 to 1,540 kcal/day). At 3-week post-discharge, the IE group had significantly higher daily protein and fat intake (P < 0.05). Self-efficacy improved in each category (P < 0.001), except for 'difficulty eating adequate food'. When assessing satisfaction with meals, there was a difference in the 'satisfaction with the current meal size' (P < 0.001) and 'satisfaction with the menu content' (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Nutritional status among gastrectomy patients in the IE group improved. Relative to the CE control, the IE group demonstrated improved self-efficacy and meal satisfaction 3-week post-discharge.
Diet ; Eating ; Education* ; Electronic Health Records ; Energy Intake ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Malnutrition ; Meals ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutrition Therapy ; Nutritional Status* ; Quality of Life* ; Stomach Neoplasms

Curcumin exerts a protective effect in cerebral ischemia through its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. gamma-enolase is a glycolytic enzyme expressed in neurons that is known to exerts a neuroprotective effect. We investigated whether curcumin regulates gamma-enolase expression in focal cerebral ischemic injury in rats. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed to induce focal cerebral ischemia. Adult male rats were injected intraperitoneally with either vehicle or curcumin (50 mg/kg) 1 h after MCAO and cerebral cortex tissues were isolated 24 h after MCAO. We found that MCAO-induced injury resulted in a reduction in gamma-enolase expression in vehicle-treated animals using a proteomics approach. However, this reduction was attenuated in animals with MCAO treated with curcumin. Reverse-transcription PCR and Western blot analyses also showed that curcumin treatment prevented the MCAO injury-induced reduction in gamma-enolase expression. The results of this study suggest that curcumin exerts its neuroprotective function in focal cerebral ischemia by regulating the expression of gamma-enolase.
Adult ; Animals* ; Blotting, Western ; Brain Ischemia ; Cerebral Cortex ; Curcumin* ; Humans ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Male ; Middle Cerebral Artery* ; Models, Animal* ; Neurons ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Proteomics ; Rats

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Differentiating subepithelial tumor (SET) from non-neoplastic gastrointestinal subepithelial lesion (SEL) and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) from leiomyoma are very important for proper management. This study was conducted to analyze factors that could predict the presence of SET and GIST in patients with upper gastrointestinal (UGI) SELs. METHODS: A total of 527 patients were diagnosed with UGI SELs endosonographically at Gyeongsang National University Hospital from January 2008 to June 2013. Among these patients, histologic diagnosis was made in 84 patients. Data were collected by retrospectively reviewing the medical records. Variables that could differentiate neoplastic from non-neoplastic SELs and GIST from leiomyoma were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 84 patients with SELs, 64 (76.2%) had SETs including GIST (42.9%) and leiomyoma (19.0%). The patients' mean age (p=0.047), peak age distribution (p=0.047), proportions of patient > or =50 years (p=0.015), and number of proper muscle-originated lesions (p=0.001) were higher in neoplastic than non-neoplastic group. There were no significant differences in gender (p=0.195), size (p=0.266) and echogenicity (p=0.051) of the lesions. Older age (57.7 vs. 47.0 years, p=0.049), age > or =50 years (p=0.016), location in gastric body (p<0.001), and proper muscle origin (p=0.003) were significantly related to the presence of GIST compared to leiomyoma. Multiple regression analysis showed that the patients' age > or =50 years, size > or =30 mm, and proper muscle-origin of lesion were independent predictors of SET; however, there were no predictive factors that could differentiate GIST from leiomyoma. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with SEL, the possibility of having SET should be considered for patients > or =50 years with UGI SELs > or =30 mm that arise from the proper muscle. Thorough monitoring and aggressive management is warranted for those with gastric muscular SET since factors predictive of GIST are lacking.
Age Distribution ; Diagnosis ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors* ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies

Glycogenic hepatopathy (GH) is an uncommon cause of serum transaminase elevation in type I diabetes mellitus (DM). The clinical signs and symptoms of GH are nonspecific, and include abdominal discomfort, mild hepatomegaly, and transaminase elevation. In this report we describe three cases of patients presenting serum transaminase elevation and hepatomegaly with a history of poorly controlled type I DM. All of the cases showed sudden elevation of transaminase to more than 30 times the upper normal range (like in acute hepatitis) followed by sustained fluctuation (like in relapsing hepatitis). However, the patients did not show any symptom or sign of acute hepatitis. We therefore performed a liver biopsy to confirm the cause of liver enzyme elevation, which revealed GH. Clinicians should be aware of GH so as to prevent diagnostic delay and misdiagnosis, and have sufficient insight into GH; this will be aided by the present report of three cases along with a literature review.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; Alanine Transaminase/blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/complications/*pathology ; Diagnostic Errors ; Female ; Glycogen Storage Disease/complications/*diagnosis/ultrasonography ; Hepatitis/diagnosis ; Hepatomegaly/complications/*diagnosis/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Liver/pathology ; Recurrence ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recognizing Class III epitope of CD34 are essential for flow cytometric diagnosis of leukemia. METHODS: 27H2 mAb was developed from a mouse alternatively immunized with human acute leukemia cell lines, KG1 and Molm-1. Using flow cytometric analysis of various leukemic cell lines and peripheral blood, immunohistochemical study of frozen tonsil, we characterized 27H2 mAb. Antigen immunoprecipitated with 27H2 mAb immunobloted with anti-CD34 mAb. A case of bone marrow sample of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patient was obtained at CBNU Hospital. For epitope identification enzyme treatment with neuraminidase and O-sialoglycoprotein endopeptidase (OSGE) and blocking assay with known classIII mAb (HPCA-2) were done. RESULTS: Only KG1 and Molm-1 revealed positive immunoreactivity. Immunohistochemical staining disclosed strong membranous immunoreactivity on high endothelial venules. Antigen immunoprecipitated by 27H2 mAb showed approximately 100 kDa sized band immunoblotted with anti-CD34 under non-reducing conditions. Epitope recognized by 27H2 mAb disclosed resistancy to both neuraminidase and OSGE treatment and completely blocked with known class III mAb preincubation. CD34 positive leukemic cells in BM of pre B cell ALL patient detected by FITC-conjugated 27H2 and HPCA-2 were identified with similar sensitivity. CONCLUSION: A novel murine mAb recognizing class III epitope of human CD34 with high affinity, which is useful for flow cytometric diagnosis of leukemia, was developed.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Bone Marrow ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Metalloendopeptidases ; Mice ; Neuraminidase ; Palatine Tonsil ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Venules

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the significance and efficacy of trans-cervical fallopian tube catheterization (TFTC) in diagnosis and optimal treatment modality for tubal blockage. METHODS: The retrospective study was performed in those underwent TFTC from January 2005 to December 2009. A total of 342 fallopian tubes in 215 patients which showed tubal blockage in hysterosalpingography (HSG), were subjected to TFTC. Recanalization rate (RR) was compared according to portion of tubal blockage; proximal, isthmic and distal portion and blockage type; tapering, concave, and convex type. RESULTS: In total, RR was 72.5% (248/342 tube). According to the portion of tubal blockage, RR was 83.8% in proximal, 45.6% in isthmic and 100% in distal portion. RR was 92.3% in tapering, 80.2% in concave and 25.5% in convex type, respectively. There were 98 pregnancies in 156 patients after successful recanalization, which shows 62.7% pregnancy rate. CONCLUSION: TFTC were capable of recanalizing tubal blockage in 248 of 342 tubes in 156 of 215 patients (72.5%). The RR was increased with proximal portion and tapering type tubal blockage.
Catheterization ; Catheters ; Fallopian Tubes ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterosalpingography ; Infertility ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies