Background: This study aimed to analyze the prehospital process and reperfusion therapy process of acute ischemic stroke in Busan metropolitan area and examine the impact of living arrangement on the early management and functional outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: The patients who diagnosed with AIS and received reperfusion therapy at the Busan Regional Cardiovascular Center between September 2020 and May 2023 were selected. We investigated the patients’ hospital arrival time (onset to door time) and utilization of 119 emergency ambulance services. Additionally, various time matrices related to reperfusion therapy after hospital were examined, along with the functional outcome at the 90-day after treatment. Results: Among the 753 AIS patients who underwent reperfusion therapy, 166 individuals (22.1%) were living alone. AIS patients living alone experienced significant delays in symptom detection (p<0.05) and hospital arrival compared to AIS patients with cohabitants (370.1 minutes vs. 210.2 minutes, p<0.001). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of 119 ambulance utilization and time metrics related with the reperfusion therapy. Independent predictors of prognosis in AIS patients were found to be age above 70, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission, tissue plasminogen activator, living alone (odds ratio [OR], 1.785; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.155–2.760) and interhospital transfer (OR, 1.898; 95% CI, 1.152–3.127). Delay in identification of AIS was shown significant correlation (OR, 2.440; 95% CI, 1.070–5.561) at living alone patients. Conclusion This study revealed that AIS patients living alone in the Busan metropolitan region, requiring endovascular treatment, face challenges in the pre-hospital phase, which significantly impact their prognosis.

Purpose: The incidence and prognostic implications of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are controversial, especially for Korean patients. Furthermore, the pattern of antithrombotic therapy for these patients is unknown. The present study sought to identify the impact of AF on Korean patients undergoing TAVI and demonstrate the status of antithrombotic therapy for these patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 660 patients who underwent TAVI for severe AS were recruited from the nationwide K-TAVI registry in Korea. The enrolled patients were stratified into sinus rhythm (SR) and AF groups. The primary endpoint was all-cause death at 1-year. Results: AF was recorded in 135 patients [pre-existing AF 108 (16.4%) and new-onset AF 27 (4.1%)]. The rate of all-cause death at 1 year was significantly higher in patients with AF than in those with SR [16.2% vs. 6.4%, adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 2.207, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.182–4.120, p=0.013], regardless of the onset timing of AF. The rate of new pacemaker insertion at 1 year was also significantly higher in patients with AF than in those with SR (14.0% vs. 5.5%, adjusted HR: 3.137, 95%CI: 1.621–6.071, p=0.001).Among AF patients, substantial number of patients received the combination of multiple antithrombotic agents (77.8%), and the most common combination was that of aspirin and clopidogrel (38.1%). Conclusion AF was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality and new pacemaker insertion in Korean patients undergoing TAVI.

A wave of new technologies has created opportunities for the cost-effective generation of high-throughput profiles of biological systems, foreshadowing a "data-driven science" era. The large variety of data available from biological research is also a rich resource that can be used for innovative endeavors. However, we are facing considerable challenges in big data deposition, integration, and translation due to the complexity of biological data and its production at unprecedented exponential rates. To address these problems, in 2020, the Korean government officially announced a national strategy to collect and manage the biological data produced through national R&D fund allocations and provide the collected data to researchers. To this end, the Korea Bioinformation Center (KOBIC) developed a new biological data repository, the Korea BioData Station (K-BDS), for sharing data from individual researchers and research programs to create a data-driven biological study environment. The K-BDS is dedicated to providing free open access to a suite of featured data resources in support of worldwide activities in both academia and industry.

Purpose: To report a case of acute angle-closure attack resulting from hemorrhagic retinal detachment after a double retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear in exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with large pigment epithelial detachment (PED).Case summary: A 66-year-old female visited with a complaint of poor vision in left eye, which began 1 month prior. She was diagnosed with exudative AMD with a large PED using optical coherence tomography and indocyanine green angiography. Intravitreal aflibercept injection was performed. The RPE tear occurred at 2 weeks after the intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection for AMD, after which the range of the RPE tear expanded and included the macular area at 4 weeks after the second injection. At 3 months after the third injection, massive submacular hemorrhage occurred; aflibercept injection was repeated. At 3 days after the fourth injection, the patient’s intraocular pressure (IOP) was 60 mmHg, and massive hemorrhagic serous retinal detachment and anterior movement of the lens with total angle closure were observed. Therefore, we performed a sclerotomy; a large amount of dark blood and subretinal fluid was drained. The IOP decreased, and the retinal detachment improved somewhat. The patient was kept under observation for careful monitoring of her condition. Conclusions It is very rare to experience a double RPE rupture after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection in AMD. We report on our experience and treatment of acute angle-closure attack. The IOP increased due to hemorrhagic retinal detachment after a double RPE tear over the treatment course.

Purpose: To report a case of acute angle-closure attack resulting from hemorrhagic retinal detachment after a double retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear in exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with large pigment epithelial detachment (PED).Case summary: A 66-year-old female visited with a complaint of poor vision in left eye, which began 1 month prior. She was diagnosed with exudative AMD with a large PED using optical coherence tomography and indocyanine green angiography. Intravitreal aflibercept injection was performed. The RPE tear occurred at 2 weeks after the intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection for AMD, after which the range of the RPE tear expanded and included the macular area at 4 weeks after the second injection. At 3 months after the third injection, massive submacular hemorrhage occurred; aflibercept injection was repeated. At 3 days after the fourth injection, the patient’s intraocular pressure (IOP) was 60 mmHg, and massive hemorrhagic serous retinal detachment and anterior movement of the lens with total angle closure were observed. Therefore, we performed a sclerotomy; a large amount of dark blood and subretinal fluid was drained. The IOP decreased, and the retinal detachment improved somewhat. The patient was kept under observation for careful monitoring of her condition. Conclusions It is very rare to experience a double RPE rupture after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection in AMD. We report on our experience and treatment of acute angle-closure attack. The IOP increased due to hemorrhagic retinal detachment after a double RPE tear over the treatment course.

Objective: This study examined the characteristics of the patients taking poison intentionally at the pre-hospital stage to prevent it at the community level. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data that had been reported to fire stations from January 2017 to December 2018. This data included sex, age, occupation, the season of the year, time, place, methods, alcohol ingestion, transferred to the hospital or not, and we examined how taking poison had an effect on the suicide success rate. Results: The subjects were a total of 1,356 patients who had been reported to fire stations due to intentionally taking poison. Forty-five point five percent of them were male, and 54.5% were female. The most common method of intentional taking poison was sedatives (58.3%), followed by pesticides (24.6%), antidepressants (19.0%), and other methods (12.6%). The home place was preferred more than any other places. The suicide success rate was 2.1% in males and 1.4% in females. For the age groups, those patients 40-64 years old tried taking poison much more than the other age groups. In the aspect of the season of the year, summer was the highest season for taking poison, at 30.3%. The daytime was more preferred than the night time. Conclusion In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of the pre-hospital intentional poisoning cases according to gender, age, occupation, season of the year, time, and between the transferred and the untransferred groups. Efforts should be made in cooperation with the community to prevent suicide attempts by intentionally taking poison.