To provide high-quality training to residents in a rapidly changing medical environment, it is very important to improve the annual training curriculum centered on competency and ensure that training hospitals maintain an environment suitable for training. The Korean Society of Radiology (KSR) has been steadily improving the training system and has suggested the improvement of the training system by strengthening the competency-based evaluation and faculty development. Currently, KSR was selected for the second annual training curriculum systematization construction project in July 2021, and developed entrustable professional activities, core competencies, and assessment guidelines required by the construction project. Therefore, the development process and assessment guidelines will be introduced to residents and the faculty.

Objective: This study aimed at identifying the incidence rate and characteristics of patients who had suffered falls, classifying them by life cycle and factors that affect mortality. Methods: The Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Surveys (KNHDIS) from 2007 to 2016 were used to investigate the sex, age, place, season, payment method, underlying disease, and the death of hospitalized patients due to falls. Results: The number of hospitalized patients increased with age. In all life cycles except old age, men were hospitalized more than women. The payment method for treatment was 66.1% through national health insurance, 6.6% through medical aid, and 27.3% through other sources. Falls were most common in winter and occurred frequently at home and on the road. In terms of the number of patients, the compound annual growth rate was 0.9% for men and 3.7% for women. In terms of the number of deaths in hospitals, the compound annual growth rate was -1.9% for men and -7.2% for women. Mortality risk was high in men in middle adulthood and old age, in patients with underlying diseases, and in patients who suffered a fall in their homes. Conclusion The number of patients from falls is increasing, but the deaths of hospitalized fall patients are decreasing. Mortality risk was high in men in middle adulthood and old age, in patients with underlying diseases, and in patients who suffered falls in their homes.

Objective: This study aimed at identifying the incidence rate and characteristics of patients who had suffered falls, classifying them by life cycle and factors that affect mortality. Methods: The Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Surveys (KNHDIS) from 2007 to 2016 were used to investigate the sex, age, place, season, payment method, underlying disease, and the death of hospitalized patients due to falls. Results: The number of hospitalized patients increased with age. In all life cycles except old age, men were hospitalized more than women. The payment method for treatment was 66.1% through national health insurance, 6.6% through medical aid, and 27.3% through other sources. Falls were most common in winter and occurred frequently at home and on the road. In terms of the number of patients, the compound annual growth rate was 0.9% for men and 3.7% for women. In terms of the number of deaths in hospitals, the compound annual growth rate was -1.9% for men and -7.2% for women. Mortality risk was high in men in middle adulthood and old age, in patients with underlying diseases, and in patients who suffered a fall in their homes. Conclusion The number of patients from falls is increasing, but the deaths of hospitalized fall patients are decreasing. Mortality risk was high in men in middle adulthood and old age, in patients with underlying diseases, and in patients who suffered falls in their homes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of different types of mammography equipment on screening outcomes by comparing the performance of film-screen mammography (FSM), computed radiography mammography (CRM), and digital mammography (DM).MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 128756 sets of mammograms from 10 hospitals participating in the Alliance for Breast Cancer Screening in Korea between 2005 and 2010. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of the types of mammography equipment by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with a 95% confidence interval (CI); performance indicators, including recall rate, cancer detection rate (CDR), positive predictive value₁ (PPV₁), sensitivity, specificity, and interval cancer rate (ICR); and the types of breast cancer pathology.RESULTS: The AUCs were 0.898 (95% CI, 0.878–0.919) in DM, 0.860 (0.815–0.905) in FSM, and 0.866 (0.828–0.903) in CRM (p = 0.150). DM showed better performance than FSM and CRM in terms of the recall rate (14.8 vs. 24.8 and 19.8%), CDR (3.4 vs. 2.2 and 2.1 per 1000 examinations), PPV₁ (2.3 vs. 0.9 and 1.1%), and specificity (85.5 vs. 75.3 and 80.3%) (p < 0.001) but not in terms of sensitivity (86.3 vs. 87.4 and 86.3%) and ICR (0.6 vs. 0.4 and 0.4). The proportions of carcinoma in situ (CIS) were 27.5%, 13.6%, and 11.8% for DM, CRM, and FSM, respectively (p = 0.003).CONCLUSION: In comparison to FSM and CRM, DM showed better performance in terms of the recall rate, CDR, PPV₁, and specificity, although the AUCs were similar, and more CISs were detected using DM. The application of DM may help to improve the quality of mammography screenings. However, the overdiagnosis issue of CIS using DM should be evaluated.
Area Under Curve ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Carcinoma in Situ ; Korea ; Mammography ; Mass Screening ; Medical Overuse ; Pathology ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: To compare the image quality of low-tube-voltage and low-iodine-concentration-contrast-medium (LVLC) computed tomography urography (CTU) with iterative reconstruction (IR) with that of conventional CTU. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, multi-institutional, randomized controlled trial was performed at 16 hospitals using CT scanners from various vendors. Patients were randomly assigned to the following groups: 1) the LVLC-CTU (80 kVp and 240 mgI/mL) with IR group and 2) the conventional CTU (120 kVp and 350 mgI/mL) with filtered-back projection group. The overall diagnostic acceptability, sharpness, and noise were assessed. Additionally, the mean attenuation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and figure of merit (FOM) in the urinary tract were evaluated. RESULTS: The study included 299 patients (LVLC-CTU group: 150 patients; conventional CTU group: 149 patients). The LVLC-CTU group had a significantly lower effective radiation dose (5.73 ± 4.04 vs. 8.43 ± 4.38 mSv) compared to the conventional CTU group. LVLC-CTU showed at least standard diagnostic acceptability (score ≥ 3), but it was non-inferior when compared to conventional CTU. The mean attenuation value, mean SNR, CNR, and FOM in all pre-defined segments of the urinary tract were significantly higher in the LVLC-CTU group than in the conventional CTU group. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic acceptability and quantitative image quality of LVLC-CTU with IR are not inferior to those of conventional CTU. Additionally, LVLC-CTU with IR is beneficial because both radiation exposure and total iodine load are reduced.
Commerce ; Contrast Media* ; Humans ; Iodine ; Noise ; Prospective Studies ; Radiation Exposure ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; Urinary Tract ; Urography*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the diagnostic accuracy and trend in screening mammography in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively linked the information from hospitals participating in the Alliance of Breast Cancer Screening in Korea (ABCS-K) and the database of the National Cancer Screening Program. We calculated performance indicators, including the recall rate, cancer detection rate (CDR), positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity, specificity, false-positive rate (FPR), and interval cancer rate (ICR). Changes in the performance indicators were calculated as the annual percent change with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: We enrolled 128756 cases from 10 hospitals from 2005 to 2010. The recall rate was 19.1% with a downward trend over time (-12.1% per year; 95% CI, -15.9 to -8.2). The CDR was 2.69 per 1000 examinations, without a significant trend. The PPV was 1.4% with an upward trend (20.8% per year; 95% CI, 15.2 to 26.7). The sensitivity was 86.5% without a significant trend, whereas the specificity was 81.1% with an upward trend (3.3% per year; 95% CI, 2.1 to 4.5). The FPR was 18.9% with a downward trend (-12.4% per year; 95% CI, -16.2 to -8.4). The ICR was 0.5 per 1000 negative examinations without a significant trend. There were institutional variations in the diagnostic accuracy and trend except for the CDR, sensitivity, and ICR. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity and CDR of screening mammography in the ABCS-K from 2005 to 2010 were compatible with those for Western women. The recall rate, PPV and specificity, however, were suboptimal, although they showed significant improvements over this period. A further analysis is required to explain institutional variations.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mammography* ; Mass Screening* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Primary hypothyroidism and type 2 diabetes are both typically associated with the increased level of triglycerides. To date, there have been only a few case reports of type 2 diabetes patients with both type V hyperlipoproteinemia and eruptive xanthomas, but there have been no reports of hypothyroidism patients associated with eruptive xanthomas. We report here on a case of a 48-yr old female patient who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and primary hypothyroidism associated with both type V hyperlipoproteinemia and eruptive xanthomas. We found rouleaux formation of RBCs in peripheral blood smear, elevated TSH, and low free T4 level, and dyslipidemia (total cholesterol 18.1 mM/L, triglyceride 61.64 mM/L, HDL 3.0 mM/L, and LDL 2.54 mM/L). She has taken fenofibrate, levothyroxine, and oral hypoglycemic agent for 4 months. After treatment, both TSH level and lipid concentration returned to normal range, and her yellowish skin nodules have also disappeared.
Antilipemic Agents/therapeutic use ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/blood/*complications/drug therapy ; Erythrocyte Aggregation ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemia/blood ; Hyperlipoproteinemia Type V/blood/*complications/drug therapy ; Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use ; Hypothyroidism/blood/*complications/drug therapy ; Middle Aged ; Procetofen/therapeutic use ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Skin Diseases/blood/complications/drug therapy ; Thyrotropin/blood/therapeutic use ; Thyroxine/blood ; Treatment Outcome ; Xanthomatosis/blood/*complications/drug therapy