This study aimed to analyze changing trends in child injury deaths from 2006 to 2016 and to provide basic data for initiatives to help prevent child injury deaths through improvements in social systems and education. Specific causes of death were analyzed using micro-data of the death statistics of Korea from 2006 to 2016, which were made available by Statistics Korea. Types and place of death were classified according to the KCD-7 (Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death). The data were compared to those of other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Changing trends were presented. The number of child deaths by injury was 270 in 2016. The death rate was 8.1 per 100,000 population in 2006, while it was 3.9 in 2016. The death rate of boys was 1.7 times greater than that of girls. Unintentional injury deaths comprised 72.6% of all child injury deaths in 2016, while intentional injury deaths comprised 27.4%. The first leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in infants (less than 1-year-old) was suffocation, while that of children aged 1 to 14 years was transport accidents. The second leading cause of death in infants was transport accidents, that of children aged 1 to 4 was falling, and that of children aged 5 to 14 was drowning. Pedestrian accidents comprised 43.7% of the transport accidents from 2014 to 2016. To prevent child injury deaths by both unintentional and intentional causes, nation-wide policy measures and more specific interventions according to cause are required.
Accidental Falls ; Asphyxia ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Classification ; Drowning ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Mortality ; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development ; Republic of Korea ; Self-Injurious Behavior

Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is an ongoing process, which may persist for weeks to years after an acute asphyxial insult, causing delayed programmed cell death. The typical clinical signs and the pathological findings of HIE manifest as the condition evolves in a step-wise manner, beginning with an acute phase, followed by a latent, a secondary energy failure phase, and eventually a tertiary brain injury phase. To date, therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the only effective treatment strategy known to improve mortality and prevent neurodevelopmental disabilities, as has been proven by the results of several randomized controlled clinical trials. The current protocols describing the use of TH for newborns of gestational age ≥36 weeks with HIE, associated with clinical evidence of asphyxia along with neurological signs of moderate-to-severe encephalopathy, observed at ≤6 hours of age, are close to optimal. Most comorbid conditions observed during TH are related to asphyxia. TH is a safe treatment option—benign sinus bradycardia and thrombocytopenia are frequent hypothermia-related complications. Additional adjuvant agents, which may augment hypothermic neuroprotection are being investigated, and a few of them, such as erythropoietin and melatonin appear to be promising agents for use in this condition. Establishing our own nationwide cooling systems and guidelines for a standard treatment protocol to manage HIE are warranted in the future.
Asphyxia ; Bradycardia ; Brain Diseases ; Brain Injuries ; Cell Death ; Clinical Protocols ; Erythropoietin ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Hypothermia, Induced* ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain* ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Melatonin ; Mortality ; Neuroprotection ; Thrombocytopenia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the leading causes of neurological handicap in developing countries. Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) CD34-positive (CD34⁺) stem cells exhibit the potential for neural repair. We tested the hypothesis that hUCB CD34⁺ stem cells and other cell types [leukocytes and nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs)] that are up-regulated during the acute stage of perinatal asphyxia (PA) could play a role in the early prediction of the occurrence, severity, and mortality of HIE. METHODS: This case-control pilot study investigated consecutive neonates exposed to PA. The hUCB CD34⁺ cell count in mononuclear layers was assayed using a flow cytometer. Twenty full-term neonates with PA and 25 healthy neonates were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: The absolute CD34⁺ cell count (p=0.02) and the relative CD34⁺ cell count (CD34+%) (p<0.001) in hUCB were higher in the HIE patients (n=20) than the healthy controls. The hUCB absolute CD34⁺ cell count (p=0.04), CD34⁺% (p<0.01), and Hobel risk scores (p=0.04) were higher in patients with moderate-to-severe HIE (n=9) than in those with mild HIE (n=11). The absolute CD34⁺ cell count was strongly correlated with CD34⁺% (p<0.001), Hobel risk score (p=0.04), total leukocyte count (TLC) (p<0.001), and NRBC count (p=0.01). CD34+% was correlated with TLC (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: hUCB CD34⁺ cells can be used to predict the occurrence, severity, and mortality of neonatal HIE after PA.
Asphyxia ; Case-Control Studies ; Cell Count ; Developing Countries ; Erythrocytes ; Fetal Blood* ; Humans* ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain* ; Incidence* ; Infant, Newborn ; Leukocyte Count ; Mortality ; Pilot Projects* ; Stem Cells ; Umbilical Cord*

PURPOSE: We evaluated the power of the Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) for predicting hospital mortality in trauma patients. Then, we compared the REMS with two other scoring systems, the Emergency Trauma Score (EMTRAS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) for predicting prognosis. METHODS: We examined data from a prospectively collected registry in a single trauma center from January 2010 to November 2011. Patients enrolled in the registry were trauma patients who were predicted to have an ISS>15 or who required urgent multiple surgical consultations as soon as possible. Pediatric patients (<18-years-old) who were referred after initial care or death on arrival, and those with injuries due to burns, asphyxia, or drowning were excluded. The study population was divided into two subgroups according to hospital mortality, and the differences in clinical characteristics and calculated scores were examined. The odds ratio (OR) of REMS for predicting In-hospital mortality was calculated and the prognostic power of the three scoring systems for predicting hospital mortality by drawing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves was compared. RESULTS: A total of 103 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 44 died during hospitalization. All three prognostic scores were significantly higher in the hospital mortality subgroup. The OR of the REMS for predicting hospital mortality was 1.35 (p<0.001). The areas under the ROC curves of the REMS, EMTRAS, and ISS were 0.815 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.727-0.884), 0.872 (95% CI, 0.793-0.930), and 0.693 (95% CI, 0.595-0.780), respectively. The area under the ROC curve of the REMS was not different from that of the EMTRAS or ISS. CONCLUSION: The REMS showed good prognostic power for predicting hospital mortality in severely injured patients. Consecutive prospective studies are warranted to determine the utility of this scoring system for trauma patients.
Asphyxia ; Burns ; Drowning ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine* ; Hospital Mortality* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Mortality ; Odds Ratio ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Referral and Consultation ; ROC Curve ; Trauma Centers ; Trauma Severity Indices ; Triage ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: To report the causes and patterns of death among infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) over a 13-year period. In addition, we analyzed trends regarding the type of end-of-life care provided. METHODS: All of the neonates who died at the Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2014, were identified. The causes and circumstances of death were extracted from individual medical records. Trends in mortality were compared between two time periods: 2002 to 2007 and 2008 to 2014. RESULTS: Of the 5,223 admissions to our NICU, 97 neonates died. The overall mortality rate was 1.9%. The most common cause of death was sepsis (15%). At a lower gestational age, infants died of extreme prematurity and complications of prematurity. Among term infants, the principal cause of death shifted to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and asphyxia. A total of 63 infants (64.9%) received maximal intensive care, and 34 infants (35%) had redirection of intensive care. During this period, the proportion of death after redirection of care increased from 30.6% to 39.6%. Infants decided to forgo life-sustaining care before death had significantly lower gestational ages and lower birth weights (30.5 vs. 27.1 weeks, P=0.005; 1,528 vs. 1,063 g, P=0.025). CONCLUSION: Infection remained an important cause of death for neonate, particularly for preterm infants. The proportion of infants who had redirectoin of care before death was increased, suggesting that quality-of-life should be considered an important factor in the decision-making process for the infant, parents, and medical staff.
Asphyxia ; Birth Weight ; Cause of Death ; Gestational Age ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care, Neonatal* ; Medical Records ; Medical Staff ; Mortality ; Parents ; Sepsis ; Terminal Care

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to estimate the neurodevelopmental outcome of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) at 12 months, and determine the usefulness of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) to predict neurodevelopmental outcome in term infants with HIE at 12 months. METHODS: This study was conducted retrospectively on term infants with HIE from January 2009 to June 2013. Based on neurodevelopmental outcome at 12 months, infants were categorized into 2 groups. Brain MRI and EEG findings were stratified into 4 categories as normal, mild, moderate and severe groups. RESULTS: Total 42 term infants were enrolled. Fifty seven point one percent (24/42) of total infants had favorable neurodevelopmental outcome at 12 months (favorable outcome, n=24). Thirty eight point one percent (16/42) of total infants had significant neurodevelopmental deficit at 12 months of age, and 4.8% (2/42) had mortality within 12 months (poor outcome, n=18). In brain MRI and EEG findings, there were significant correlations with neurodevelopmental outcome. Brain MRI showed sensitivity of 88.9%, specificity of 70.8%, positive predictive value of 69.6% and negative predictive value of 89.5%, while EEG showed sensitivity of 70.6%, specificity of 82.6%, positive predictive value of 75%, and negative predictive value of 79.2%. In the multivariate analysis, moderate-to-severe findings in brain MRI were the strongest risk factor (odds-ratio, 11.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.36-92.89; P=0.025). CONCLUSION: Forty two point nine percent of total infants had poor neurodevelopmental outcome at 12 months. Brain MRI and EEG findings were correlated with neurodevelopmental outcome of term infants with HIE at 12 months.
Asphyxia ; Brain* ; Electroencephalography* ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain* ; Infant ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: Brain injury due to hanging leads has a high mortality rate and severe neurological sequelae. Serum S100B for predicting brain injury in hanging injury has not been evaluated. The aim of this study is to review the characteristics and the prognosis of hanging patients and to determine the usefulness of S100B as a predicting factor. METHODS: A single center, retrospective study was conducted from January 2011 to December 2014. A total of 102 patients visited the emergency department (ED) with hanging injuries and 70 resuscitated patients were enrolled. RESULTS: Of all patients, 56 (54.9%) patients were male and 96 (94.1%) patients committed suicide by hanging; 61 (59.8%) patients visited the ED with cardiac arrest. In arrest patients, all survived patients showed a Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) score of 4. Although 16 (39.0%) had the initial mental status as stupor or coma in non-arrest patients, 1 (2.4%) remained as CPC 4. Among the resuscitated patients, comatose mental status, absence of pupil light reflex (PLR), and diffuse swelling on brain computed tomography (CT) tended to show relation to high mortality rate. Only PLR tended to show relation to CPC score in non-arrest patients. The elevated level of serum S100B was related to the mortality in arrest patients, whereas it was not related to CPC score in non-arrest patients. CONCLUSION: The prognosis of hanging patients was related to PLR irrespective of the presence of cardiac arrest. The serum S100B level for prediction of prognosis is not sufficient in non-arrest patients with hanging.
Asphyxia ; Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Coma ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Male ; Mortality ; Neck Injuries ; Prognosis ; Pupil ; Reflex ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcal Protein A* ; Status Epilepticus ; Stupor ; Suicide

OBJECTIVETo understand the age-specific and cause-specific mortality rate among children under 5 years old in Beijing from 2003 to 2012.

METHODSDeath surveillance data of children under the age of 5 were obtained from Beijing children mortality surveillance network from 2003 to 2012. Neonatal mortality rate (NMR), infant mortality rate (IMR), under 5-year old children mortality rate (U5MR) and the leading cause of death for under 5-year old children in urban, suburbs, and outer suburbs in Beijing were analyzed.

RESULTSThe NMR, IMR and U5MR in Beijing were 2.08 (253/121 747), 3.11 (379/121 747) and 3.57 (435/121 747) per 1000 live births in 2012, respectively, which declined 54.88%, 50.24% and 54.75% compared with the level in 2003 respectively. The children mortality rates showed a decreasing trend in urban, suburb, and outer suburbs during 2003 and 2012 (NMR was decreased from 0.53%, 0.42%, and 0.48% in 2003 to 0.20%, 0.19%, and 0.23% in 2012; IMR was decreased from 0.73%, 0.58%, and 0.63% in 2003 to 0.30%, 0.29%, and 0.35% in 2012; U5MR was decreased from 0.90%, 0.72%, and 0.82% to 0.33%, 0.34%, and 0.39% in 2012, P < 0.01). There was a steady decline in the U5MR due to congenital heart disease, birth asphyxia, premature birth or low birth weight and traffic accident in Beijing from 2003 to 2012. The mortality rate of congenital heart disease declined from 140.63 to 41.89 per 100 000 live births, birth asphyxia declined from 109.38 to 59.96 per 100 000 live births, premature birth or low birth weight declined from 85.94 to 52.57 per 100 000 live births, traffic accident declined from 26.04 to 6.57 per 100 000 live births (P < 0.01). The mortality rate of congenital heart disease declined remarkably from 216.56 to 52.47, from 119.75 to 23.50, and from 134.58 to 63.11 per 100 000 live births in urban, suburb, and outer suburbs(P < 0.01). Six of the top 8 leading causes of death among children under 5 years old declined remarkably in rural areas. They were congenital heart disease, birth asphyxia, premature birth or low birth weight, traffic accident, drowning, and septicemia, and the mortality rate of them declined from 134.58 to 63.11, from 127.85 to 65.54, from 100.94 to 60.69, from 33.65 to 12.14, from 33.65 to 0.00, and from 26.92 to 4.85 per 100 000 live births, respectively (P < 0.05). There was no drowning death case in rural areas in recent 4 years. The top 5 leading causes of death among children under 5 years old in Beijing in 2012 were birth asphyxia, premature birth or low birth weight, congenital heart disease, pneumonia, and accidental suffocation. The mortality rate of these top 5 leading causes were 59.96, 52.57, 41.89, 24.64, and 15.61 per 100 000 live births in 2012.

CONCLUSIONFrom 2003 to 2012, the NMR, IMR, U5MR and mortality rate of congenital heart disease declined remarkably in urban, suburb, and outer suburb areas in Beijing. There was a decrease trend for the six of the top 8 leading causes of death among children under 5 years old. The mortality rate of drowning dropped markedly in outer suburbs.

Accidents, Traffic ; Asphyxia ; Asphyxia Neonatorum ; Cause of Death ; Child Mortality ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Drowning ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Death ; Infant Mortality ; Pneumonia ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth ; Rural Population ; Sepsis ; Suburban Population ; Urban Population

OBJECTIVETo study the trend of accidental death among children under 5 years of age in Beijing.

METHODSCases of death in children under 5 years old in Beijing, during 2003-2012 were collected, to analyze the strength and trends of accidental death, main causes of accident and its epidemiological features.

RESULTSThe overall accidental death was 8.47% of all death among children under 5 years old in Beijing during 2003-2012. During these 10 years, data showed a downward trend on the mortality rates on injuries (P < 0.05), especially on drowning, in 1-4 year old and rural children under five years of age. In 2012, the accidental death rate of children under five was 6.37/105. The 5 main causes of accidental deaths were suffocation, traffic accident, falling, poisoning and drowning, in order of size. The main causes of death were suffocation in the 0-1 year group, suffocation and traffic accident in the 1-2 year group and traffic accident in the 3-4 year group. The proportion of deaths due to traffic accident increased gradually with age. Area distribution showed that accidental deaths mainly happened in rural area (52.19%), with two main types as traffic accident and suffocation.

CONCLUSIONThe reduction of accidental death rate among children under 5 years old in Beijing mainly was caused by the decline of accident mortality in 1-4 year old and children in the rural areas. Our data suggested that the focus in reducing the accidental death rate among children under 5 years old in Beijing should target on the prevention of infant suffocation and traffic accidents among the 1-4 year old, with rural areas in particular.

Accidents ; mortality ; Accidents, Traffic ; mortality ; Asphyxia ; mortality ; Cause of Death ; Child Mortality ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Drowning ; mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Suicide

Although every pregnant woman and her physician hope for an easy pregnancy free of complications, complications can occur to a greater or lesser extent, some of which are still considered inevitable. The maternal mortality ratio in the Republic of Korea recently increased from 13.5 per 100,000 live births in 2009 to 17.2 in 2011, along with a noticeable increase, of up to 20%, in the proportion of older pregnant women (>35 years old). In contrast to postpartum bleeding, which has decreased, amniotic fluid embolism and pulmonary embolism, which are closely related to older maternal age and typically considered inevitable, are causing an increasing proportion of maternal mortalities. The neonatal mortality rate, defined the rate of death per 1,000 live births under 28 days of life, was reported to be 1.7 in 2011 in Korea and respiratory distress of newborns accounts for about one third of neonatal deaths. The pre-valence of cerebral palsy (CP) is approximately 2 per 1,000 live-born children and has remained unchanged over recent decades worldwide. Although multiple antenatal factors, including pre-term birth, low birth weight, infection/inflammation, multiple gestation, and other pregnancy com-plications have been frequently associated with CP, the underlying causes of CP remain largely unknown and recent evidence has indicated that birth asphyxia plays a minor role. This review provides information on the contemporary medical understanding of amniotic fluid embolism, pulmonary embolism, meconium aspiration syndrome, and CP, which are generally considered to be 'no-fault accidents' during birth.
Amniotic Fluid ; Asphyxia ; Cerebral Palsy ; Child ; Embolism ; Embolism, Amniotic Fluid ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Live Birth ; Maternal Age ; Maternal Mortality ; Meconium ; Meconium Aspiration Syndrome ; Parturition ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Republic of Korea