Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has adversely affected people in socioeconomic fields as well as mental health, thereby increasing suicidal attempts. This study analyzes the altered characteristics of drug-poisoned patients visiting the emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic era in South Korea. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study using medical records of adults who visited the ED for intoxication. Data obtained were compared before and after the COVID-19 pandemic era. Results: In all, data from 1,102 drug-poisoned patients (586/516 during the pre-/post-COVID-19 periods, respectively) were included in the study. Despite a decrease in total ED visits, the pandemic period saw an increase in the proportion of poisoned patients visiting the ED. Young, female, and psychiatric patients accounted for a significant portion. Months, holidays, time zones, and urbanization showed no difference in the incidence of intoxication. Financial difficulty and couple and family troubles were determined to be frequent causes of intoxication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparing the drugs intoxicated, pesticide ingestion was decreased, while the ingestion of other less-fatal drugs was comparatively increased. Although there was an increase in the admission rate of poisoned patients, the severity during admission and outcomes at discharge were not worse after the COVID-19 pandemic era. Conclusion The COVID-19 crisis has seriously impacted people, especially female, young-aged, and psychiatric patients.

Objective: To analyze the differences in characteristics and outcomes between public bath (PB)- related and non-PB-related out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in South Korea. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational analysis of collected data from the Smart Advanced Cardiac Life Support (SALS) registry between September 2015 and December 2018. We included adult OHCA patients (aged >18 years) with presumed OHCA of non-traumatic etiology who were attended by dispatched emergency medical services. SALS is a field advanced life support with smartphone-based direct medical direction. The primary outcome was the survival to discharge rate measured at the time of discharge. Results: Of 38,995 cardiac arrest patients enrolled in the SALS registry, 11,889 were included in the final analysis. In total, 263 OHCAs occurred in PBs. Male sex and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation proportions appeared to be higher among PB patients than among non-PB patients. Percentages for shockable rhythm, witnessed rate, and number of underlying disease were lower in the PB group than in the non-PB group. Prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (11.4% vs. 19.5%, P=0.001), survival to discharge (2.3% vs. 9.9%, P<0.001), and favorable neurologic outcome (1.9% vs. 5.8%, P=0.007) in PB patients were significantly poorer than those in non-PB patients. Conclusion Patient characteristics and emergency medical services factors differed between PB and non-PB patients. All outcomes of PB-related OHCA were poorer than those of non-PB-related OHCA. Further treatment strategies should be developed to improve the outcomes of PBrelated cardiac arrest.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare form of non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis with multi-organ involvement. Bones, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, kidney, skin and many different organs can be involved but laryngeal involvement has not been reported in literatures. The diagnosis of ECD was based on clinical manifestations and immunohistochemical findings including CD68(+), CD1a(-) and S100(-). Currently, Interferon-a is the most extensively studied agent in the treatment of ECD and serves as the 1st line of treatment. Surgical resection of involved lesions can be tried but it leads to temporary improvement. A 60-year-old man visited with respiratory symptoms because of ECD with laryngeal involvement. We resected the obstructive lesion to relieve the symptoms. Tissue biopsy gave a diagnosis of ECD. As it is rare to encounter ECD involving the larynx, we report this case with a review of literatures.
Biopsy ; Cardiovascular System ; Central Nervous System ; Diagnosis ; Epiglottis ; Erdheim-Chester Disease* ; Histiocytosis ; Humans ; Kidney ; Larynx ; Middle Aged ; Skin

Accessory navicular is a congenital anomaly appearing in the secondary ossification center on the tuberosity of the navicular that may cause flatfoot. Bipartite medial cuneiform is another rare congenital anomaly occurring as two primary ossification centers in the medial cuneiform. The authors report a rare case of symptomatic bilateral accessory navicular with bipartite medial cuneiform and flatfoot deformity in a 19-year-old man with a review of the literature.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities ; Flatfoot ; Foot ; Humans ; Young Adult

Menisco-meniscal ligaments in knee joint are known as four variants, anterior and posterior transverse meniscal ligament, medial and lateral oblique menisco-meniscal ligament. The ligament which originates from the anterior horn of the meniscus and attached to the posterior horn of the same meniscus, so-called unilateral menisco-meniscal ligament is extremely rare in English literature. The authors experienced a case of medial unilateral menisco-meniscal ligament with posterior horn tear of the medial meniscus in a 49-year-old man. We report this case with a review of literature.
Animals ; Horns ; Humans ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Ligaments* ; Menisci, Tibial ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of troughing and stress fracture, which are the major complications of scarf osteotomy, and to suggest methods to prevent these complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 243 cases of 137 patients treated with the scarf osteotomy for hallux valgus from January 2005 to December 2012. The mean follow-up period was 2.8 years. During the scarf osteotomy, a long oblique longitudinal osteotomy was performed in order to decrease the possibility of troughing and stress fracture. Radiographs of lateral view of the foot were obtained and the thicknesses of the first metatarsal base at the sagittal plane were measured and compared. RESULTS: There was no troughing during fragment translation and screw fixation intraoperatively. Radiographs of lateral view of the foot taken preoperatively and at the last follow-up showed that the mean thickness of the first metatarsal was 22.4 mm preoperatively and 21.6 mm at the last follow-up, with a mean difference of 0.8 mm. And no stress fracture was observed. CONCLUSION: To prevent troughing and stress fracture, a long oblique longitudinal cut, parallel to the first metatarsal plantar surface, was performed, making both ends of the proximal segment truncated cone-shape, and securing the strong bony strut of the proximal segment. No troughing or stress fracture was experienced with scarf osteotomy.
Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Fractures, Stress ; Hallux Valgus* ; Humans ; Metatarsal Bones ; Osteotomy*

PURPOSE: Recurrence is one of the most common complications after primary correction for hallux valgus deformities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Scarf osteotomy with axial decompression in the treatment of recurrent hallux valgus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April 2006 to April 2011, 14 cases (12 patients) of recurrent hallux valgus were managed with shortening Scarf osteotomy. Preoperative and postoperative radiographs were reviewed for the measurement of the hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), and the amount of the 1st metatarsal shortening. Clinical outcomes including the visual analogue scale (VAS), the AOFAS score, and the range of motion [ROM] of the 1st metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint were evaluated. RESULTS: The mean HVA decreased from 27.9 degrees to 5.2 and the mean IMA decreased from 12.9 to 3.4. The mean VAS improved from 5.3 to 0.3 and the mean AOFAS score improved from 41 to 90. The mean amount of the 1st metatarsal shortening was 3.4 mm (2-5). The mean ROM of the 1st MTP joint improved from 22 degrees (15-35) to 68 (55-75). CONCLUSION: Scarf osteotomy associated with axial decompression can be a useful revision procedure for the treatment of recurrent hallux valgus deformity.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Decompression ; Hallux Valgus* ; Hallux* ; Joints ; Metatarsal Bones ; Osteotomy* ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Recurrence

Stress fracture usually occurs in physically active individuals as a result of repetitive strenuous muscle and tendon forces acting on bones that have not adapted to such forces. To the best of our knowledge, the literature contains few reports of stress fracture of the patella. We report herein on a case of a nine-year-old female who developed a stress fracture in the patella after running.
Child ; Female ; Fractures, Stress ; Humans ; Muscles ; Patella ; Running ; Tendons