Complement component 3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) is a rare kidney disease characterized by complement dysregulation that results in prominent complement component 3 (C3) deposition in the kidneys. The clinical course of C3GN varies from mild hematuria to progressive chronic kidney disease. In most patients, C3GN is driven by acquired factors, namely, autoantibodies that target C3 or C5 convertases. Genetic variations in complement-related genes are less frequent. We report the case of a 9-yearold Korean boy who presented with microscopic hematuria and a persistently low C3 level and had biopsy findings of C3GN, with the presence of a C3 gene mutation: a frameshift mutation associated with C3 deficiency. However, the patient did not exhibit any other symptoms of complement deficiency. Direct DNA sequencing of his family members revealed the same genetic mutation in his father and older brother. This case report is significant because there are very few such reports worldwide concerning gene mutations related to C3 deficiency to be discovered in patients with C3GN. Explaining C3GN pathogenesis is challenging; therefore, additional research is required in the future.

Objectives: This study analyzed the decline in quality of life according to age in the chronic disease patient group, quantified it as a quantitative index, and compared it by sex and chronic disease. Methods: In the 2017-2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database, 11,473 adults aged 19 years or older, excluding cancer patients, were analyzed for age-specific changes in the EQ-5D Index by chronic disease. The decline in quality of life according to age in patients with chronic diseases was analyzed by linear regression analysis while controlling for general characteristics. Then, linear regression analysis was performed according to sex. Results: In the case of the control group, the quality of life decreased by 0.0004 for every 1-year increase in age(P<0.001). By chronic disease, asthma(β=0.0019, P<0.001), arthritis(β=0.0017, P=0.002), thyroid disease(β=0.0016, P=0.015), dyslipidemia(β=0.0011, P=0.020), and hypertension(β=0.0009, P=0.027) mostly showed a greater decrease in quality of life than the control group. In addition, when divided into two groups by sex, hypertension(β=0.0012, P=0.029), thyroid disease(β=0.0041, P=0.038), and arthritis(β=0.0022, P<0.001) showed a significant decrease in quality of life only in male. Diabetes(β=0.0056, P=0.038), dyslipidemia(β=0.0022, P=0.001) significantly decreased quality of life only in female. Conclusions Chronic disease had a negative impact on patients perception of quality of life, and the more severe the pain and activity limitation due to the chronic disease, the more severe it was. It also showed different patterns according to sex. Therefore, it is necessary to allocate more medical resources and provide policy support to prevent chronic diseases, which are serious social problems.

OBJECTIVES: Proper risk assessment is important for the primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). However, no validated risk prediction tools are currently in use in Korea. This study sought to develop a 10-year risk prediction model for incident ASCVD. METHODS: Using the National Sample Cohort of Korea, 325,934 subjects aged 20-80 years without previous ASCVD were enrolled. ASCVD was defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke. The Korean atherosclerotic cardiovas cular disease risk prediction (K-CVD) model was developed separately for men and women using the development dataset and validated in the validation dataset. Furthermore, the model performance was compared with the Framingham risk score (FRS) and pooled cohort equation (PCE). RESULTS: Over 10 years of follow-up, 4,367 ASCVD events occurred in the overall population. The predictors of ASCVD included in the model were age, smoking status, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, lipid profiles, urine protein, and lipid-lowering and blood pressure-lowering treatment. The K-CVD model had good discrimination and strong calibration in the validation dataset (time-dependent area under the curve=0.846; 95% confidence interval, 0.828 to 0.864; calibration χ2=4.73, goodness-of-fit p=0.32). Compared with our model, both FRS and PCE showed worse calibration, overestimating ASCVD risk in the Korean population. CONCLUSIONS Through a nationwide cohort, we developed a model for 10-year ASCVD risk prediction in a contemporary Korean population. The K-CVD model showed excellent discrimination and calibration in Koreans. This population-based risk prediction tool would help to appropriately identify high-risk individuals and provide preventive interventions in the Korean population.

OBJECTIVES: We estimated the population prevalence of antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including unreported infections, through a Korea Seroprevalence Study of Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Retention and Transmission (K-SEROSMART) in 258 communities throughout Korea. METHODS: In August 2022, a survey was conducted among 10,000 household members aged 5 years and older, in households selected through two stage probability random sampling. During face-to-face household interviews, participants self-reported their health status, COVID-19 diagnosis and vaccination history, and general characteristics. Subsequently, participants visited a community health center or medical clinic for blood sampling. Blood samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to spike proteins (anti-S) and antibodies to nucleocapsid proteins (anti-N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. To estimate the population prevalence, the PROC SURVEYMEANS statistical procedure was employed, with weighting to reflect demographic data from July 2022. RESULTS: In total, 9,945 individuals from 5,041 households were surveyed across 258 communities, representing all basic local governments in Korea. The overall population-adjusted prevalence rates of anti-S and anti-N were 97.6% and 57.1%, respectively. Since the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has reported a cumulative incidence of confirmed cases of 37.8% through July 31, 2022, the proportion of unreported infections among all COVID-19 infection was suggested to be 33.9%. CONCLUSIONS The K-SEROSMART represents the first nationwide, community-based seroepidemiologic survey of COVID-19, confirming that most individuals possess antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and that a significant number of unreported cases existed. Furthermore, this study lays the foundation for a surveillance system to continuously monitor transmission at the community level and the response to COVID-19.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of udenafil 75 mg once daily in patients with erectile dysfunction following bilateral nerve-sparing robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (BNS-RALP). Materials and Methods: A multi-center, prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study was conducted. Among patients with localized prostate cancer with international index of erectile function-erectile function domain (IIEF-EF) score of 18 or higher before BNS-RALP, those who developed postoperative erectile dysfunction (IIEF-EF score 14 or less at 4 weeks after BNS-RALP) were enrolled. Enrolled patients were randomly assigned to the udenafil 75 mg daily group or the placebo group in a 2:1 ratio. Each subject was followed up at 8 weeks (V2), 20 weeks (V3), and 32 weeks (V4) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of udenafil. Results: In all, 101 patients were screened, of whom 99 were enrolled. Of the 99 patients, 67 were assigned to the experimental group and 32 to the control group. Ten (14.93%) patients in the experimental group and 10 (31.25%) in the control group dropped out of the study. After 32 weeks of treatment, IIEF-EF score of 22 or higher was seen in 36.51% (23/63) of patients in the experimental group and 13.04% (3/23) patients in the control group (p=0.021). The proportion of patients with IIEF-EF improvement of 25% or more compared to the baseline was 82.54% (52/63) in the experimental group and 62.96% (17/27) in the control group (p=0.058). Conclusions Udenafil 75 mg once daily after BNS-RALP improved the erectile function without any severe adverse effects.

Purpose: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are frequently employed to counteract the detrimental effects of proteinuria on glomerular diseases. However, the effects of ARBs remain poorly examined in pediatric patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of losartan, an ARB, in pediatric IgA nephropathy with proteinuria. Methods: This prospective, single-arm, multicenter study included children with IgA nephropathy exhibiting proteinuria. Changes in proteinuria, blood pressure, and kidney function were prospectively evaluated before and 4 and 24 weeks after losartan administration. The primary endpoint was the difference in proteinuria between baseline and 24 weeks. Results: In total, 29 patients were enrolled and received losartan treatment. The full analysis set included 28 patients who received losartan at least once and had pre- and post-urinary protein to creatinine ratio measurements (n=28). The per-protocol analysis group included 22 patients who completed all scheduled visits without any serious violations during the study period. In both groups, the mean log (urine protein to creatinine ratio) value decreased significantly at 6 months. After 24 weeks, the urinary protein to creatinine ratio decreased by more than 50% in approximately 40% of the patients. The glomerular filtration rate was not significantly altered during the observation period. Conclusions Losartan decreased proteinuria without decreasing kidney function in patients with IgA nephropathy over 24 weeks. Losartan could be safely employed to reduce proteinuria in this patient population. ClinicalTrials.gov trial registration (NCT0223277)

Purpose: Recent studies have revealed that the expression of cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) activation biomarkers in cancer cells is associated with clinical outcomes in patients with certain types of malignant tumors. However, whether the expression of CAF activation biomarkers affects the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the expression of CAF activation biomarkers in cancer cells with cancer invasion and long-term oncological outcomes in patients with CRC. Methods: Cancer specimens obtained from 135 patients with stage I–III CRC were examined using immunohistochemical staining to evaluate the expression of fibroblast specific protein-1 (FSP-1), fibroblast activation protein α (FAPα), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and vimentin in cancer cells. Results: FSP-1 expression in cancer cells was significantly associated with lymphatic invasion, perineural invasion, tumor (T) status, and lymph node (N) status. FAPα expression in cancer cells was significantly associated with lymphatic invasion. On univariate and multivariate analyses, FSP-1 and α-SMA expression in cancer cells were associated with a short 10-year overall survival (OS) and high 10-year systemic recurrence (SR), respectively. Tumor budding was associated with a short 10-year OS. However, FAPα and vimentin did not contribute to the prognosis in this study. Conclusion In this study, we found that FSP-1 expression in cancer cells was related to cancer invasion. Additionally, FSP-1 and α-SMA expression in cancer cells was associated with 10-year OS and SR, respectively. Therefore, these markers may be used as predictors of long-term oncological outcomes in patients with CRC.

Purpose: Trocar-site burns occurring during laparoscopic surgery have been reported in various cases, and several efforts to reduce them are underway. This study aimed to analyze the effect of capacitive coupling on trocar site by observing electrical and histological changes for electrical skin burn injury. Methods: To measure the electrical changes relating to capacitive coupling, the temperature, current, voltage, and impedance around the trocar were measured when an open circuit and a closed circuit were formed using insulation intact instruments and repeated after insulation failure. After the experiment, the tissue around the trocar was collected, and microscopic examination was performed. Results: When open circuits were formed with the intact insulation, the impedance was significantly reduced compared to the cases of closed circuits (142.0 Ω vs. 109.3 Ω, p = 0.040). When the power was 30 W and there was insulation failure, no significant difference was measured between the open circuit and the closed circuit (147.7 Ω vs. 130.7 Ω, p = 0.103). Collagen hyalinization, nuclear fragmentation, and coagulation necrosis suggesting burns were observed in the skin biopsy at the trocar insertion site. Conclusion This study demonstrated that even with a plastic trocar and electrosurgical instruments that have intact insulation, if an open circuit is formed, capacitive coupling increases, and trocar-site burn can occur. When using electrocautery, careful manipulation must be taken to avoid creating an open circuit to prevent capacitive coupling related to electrical skin burn.