Background: Sacubitril-valsartan reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, its long-term protective effects on cardiac function with concurrent acute kidney injury (AKI) remain unclear. This study investigated the recovery of cardiac function relative to kidney function decline. Methods: A total of 512 patients with HFrEF who started sacubitril-valsartan or valsartan treatment were enrolled in cohort 1. Additionally, patients who experienced AKI and underwent follow-up transthoracic echocardiography were enrolled in cohort 2. In cohort 1, short- and long-term kidney outcomes were analyzed. For cohort 2, changes in cardiac function in relation to changes in kidney function after drug initiation were analyzed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 68.3 ± 15.1 years, and 57.4% of the patients were male. AKI occurred in 15.9% of the sacubitril-valsartan group and 12.5% of the valsartan group. After AKI, 78.4% of patients in the sacubitril-valsartan group and 71.4% of those in the valsartan group underwent recovery. Furthermore, cardiovascular outcomes in patients who developed AKI after drug initiation were analyzed in cohort 2. The sacubitril-valsartan group showed a greater improvement in cardiac function compared with the valsartan group (12.4% ± 15.4% vs. 1.4% ± 5.7%, p = 0.046). The ratio of deltas of cardiac and kidney function in the sacubitril-valsartan and valsartan groups were –1.76 ± 2.58 and –0.20 ± 0.58, respectively (p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with HFrEF treated with sacubitril-valsartan exhibited significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes despite AKI.

Background: Sacubitril-valsartan reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, its long-term protective effects on cardiac function with concurrent acute kidney injury (AKI) remain unclear. This study investigated the recovery of cardiac function relative to kidney function decline. Methods: A total of 512 patients with HFrEF who started sacubitril-valsartan or valsartan treatment were enrolled in cohort 1. Additionally, patients who experienced AKI and underwent follow-up transthoracic echocardiography were enrolled in cohort 2. In cohort 1, short- and long-term kidney outcomes were analyzed. For cohort 2, changes in cardiac function in relation to changes in kidney function after drug initiation were analyzed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 68.3 ± 15.1 years, and 57.4% of the patients were male. AKI occurred in 15.9% of the sacubitril-valsartan group and 12.5% of the valsartan group. After AKI, 78.4% of patients in the sacubitril-valsartan group and 71.4% of those in the valsartan group underwent recovery. Furthermore, cardiovascular outcomes in patients who developed AKI after drug initiation were analyzed in cohort 2. The sacubitril-valsartan group showed a greater improvement in cardiac function compared with the valsartan group (12.4% ± 15.4% vs. 1.4% ± 5.7%, p = 0.046). The ratio of deltas of cardiac and kidney function in the sacubitril-valsartan and valsartan groups were –1.76 ± 2.58 and –0.20 ± 0.58, respectively (p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with HFrEF treated with sacubitril-valsartan exhibited significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes despite AKI.

Background: Sacubitril-valsartan reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, its long-term protective effects on cardiac function with concurrent acute kidney injury (AKI) remain unclear. This study investigated the recovery of cardiac function relative to kidney function decline. Methods: A total of 512 patients with HFrEF who started sacubitril-valsartan or valsartan treatment were enrolled in cohort 1. Additionally, patients who experienced AKI and underwent follow-up transthoracic echocardiography were enrolled in cohort 2. In cohort 1, short- and long-term kidney outcomes were analyzed. For cohort 2, changes in cardiac function in relation to changes in kidney function after drug initiation were analyzed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 68.3 ± 15.1 years, and 57.4% of the patients were male. AKI occurred in 15.9% of the sacubitril-valsartan group and 12.5% of the valsartan group. After AKI, 78.4% of patients in the sacubitril-valsartan group and 71.4% of those in the valsartan group underwent recovery. Furthermore, cardiovascular outcomes in patients who developed AKI after drug initiation were analyzed in cohort 2. The sacubitril-valsartan group showed a greater improvement in cardiac function compared with the valsartan group (12.4% ± 15.4% vs. 1.4% ± 5.7%, p = 0.046). The ratio of deltas of cardiac and kidney function in the sacubitril-valsartan and valsartan groups were –1.76 ± 2.58 and –0.20 ± 0.58, respectively (p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with HFrEF treated with sacubitril-valsartan exhibited significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes despite AKI.

Background: Sacubitril-valsartan reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, its long-term protective effects on cardiac function with concurrent acute kidney injury (AKI) remain unclear. This study investigated the recovery of cardiac function relative to kidney function decline. Methods: A total of 512 patients with HFrEF who started sacubitril-valsartan or valsartan treatment were enrolled in cohort 1. Additionally, patients who experienced AKI and underwent follow-up transthoracic echocardiography were enrolled in cohort 2. In cohort 1, short- and long-term kidney outcomes were analyzed. For cohort 2, changes in cardiac function in relation to changes in kidney function after drug initiation were analyzed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 68.3 ± 15.1 years, and 57.4% of the patients were male. AKI occurred in 15.9% of the sacubitril-valsartan group and 12.5% of the valsartan group. After AKI, 78.4% of patients in the sacubitril-valsartan group and 71.4% of those in the valsartan group underwent recovery. Furthermore, cardiovascular outcomes in patients who developed AKI after drug initiation were analyzed in cohort 2. The sacubitril-valsartan group showed a greater improvement in cardiac function compared with the valsartan group (12.4% ± 15.4% vs. 1.4% ± 5.7%, p = 0.046). The ratio of deltas of cardiac and kidney function in the sacubitril-valsartan and valsartan groups were –1.76 ± 2.58 and –0.20 ± 0.58, respectively (p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with HFrEF treated with sacubitril-valsartan exhibited significant improvements in cardiovascular outcomes despite AKI.

Intravenous infusion flow regulators (IIFRs) are widely used devices but it is unknown how much the difference between the IIFR scale and the actual flow rate depends on the viscosity of the intravenous (IV) fluid. This study evaluated the effects of viscosity on the flow rate of five IV fluids (0.9% normal saline, Hartmann’s solution, plasma solution-A, 6% hetastarch, and 5% albumin) when using IIFRs. The viscosity of crystalloids was 1.07–1.12 mPa·s, and the viscosities of 6% hetastarch and 5% albumin were 2.59 times and 1.74 times that of normal saline, respectively. When the IIFR scales were preset to 20, 100, and 250 mL/hr, crystalloids were delivered at the preset flow rate within a difference of less than 10%, while 6% hetastarch was delivered at approximately 40% of the preset flow rates and 5% albumin was approximately 80% transmitted. When delivering colloids, IIFRs should be used with caution.

Monoclonal antibodies are pure antibodies that react to a specific epitope. Plasmapheresis is a treatment that separates and eliminates disease-causing substances before replacing the blood with plasma. Plasmapheresis has insufficient evidence for treating new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE). Sequential plasmaphereses gradually improved a female cryptogenic NORSE patient who did not benefit from monoclonal antibody treatment.

Objective: Recent studies highlighted the triple-network model which illustrated the interactions among three large-scale networks including salience network (SN). The functional magnetic resonance imaging used in this study was designed to investigate the characteristics of three large-scale networks associated with the thought-action fusion (TAF) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using power spectral density (PSD) analysis. Methods: This study included 32 OCD patients and 38 age-matched healthy controls (HC). The TAF task was modified from the experiment of Rassin. PSD from time courses in large-scale networks of each subject was measured to compare between the groups for both TAF and resting state. Results: In SN, OCD reported lower power in the low-frequency domain of SN compared to HC using the two-sample t test during the TAF task (t = −2.395, p = 0.019) but not in the resting state. The PSD in the low-frequency domain of the SN had a significant negative correlation with state score in the guilty inventory (r = −0.361, p = 0.042) in OCD patients. Conclusion This study suggests that OCD patients showed reduced SN power which can be prominent in a certain situation, such as TAF. In addition, the PSD alterations in SN cause difficulty in processing ambiguous emotional cues in social situations, and the difficulty can be connected with a negative feeling (e.g., guilt).

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical infrastructure and utilization of radiotherapy (RT) services in Korea between 2017 and 2019. Materials and Methods: We extracted the data of patients who underwent RT between 2017 and 2019 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. We further analyzed this data according to the diagnosis and treatment modalities of patients diagnosed with International Classification of Disease 10 (ICD-10) diagnostic codes C00–C97 and D00–D48. In addition, we collected statistics on RT facilities in Korea using a nationwide survey. Results: The total number of patients who received RT in 2017, 2018, and 2019 were 77,901, 81,849, and 87,460, respectively. The number of patients diagnosed with ICD 10 C- and D-codes in 2019 was 86,339, of whom 39,467 were men and 46,872 women. The rate of utilization of RT among cancer patients was 30.4% in 2017 and 2018 and 30.9% in 2019. In 2019, the most common types of cancers treated with RT were breast, lung, prostate, colorectal, and liver cancers. Regarding the RT infrastructure in Korea, there were 95 radiation oncology centers, 237 megavoltage (MV) teletherapy units, 35 brachytherapy units, and two proton accelerators in 2019. There were 4.5 MV teletherapy machines per million. Conclusion The number of patients treated with RT has increased consistently from 2017 to 2019. As the number of patients with cancer increases, it is expected that the RT infrastructure will be further expanded in Korea.