Objective: Many studies have examined the July effect. However, little is known about the July effect in sepsis. We hypothesized that the July effect would result in worse outcomes for patients with sepsis. Methods: Data from patients with sepsis, collected prospectively between January 2018 and December 2021, were analyzed. In Korea, the new academic year starts on March 1, so the “July effect” appears in March. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included adherence to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign bundle. Outcomes in March were compared to other months. A multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to adjust for confounders. Results: We included 843 patients. There were no significant differences in sepsis severity. The 30-day mortality in March was higher (49.0% vs. 28.5%, P<0.001). However, there was no difference in bundle adherence in March (42.2% vs. 48.0%, P=0.264). The multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression showed that the July effect was associated with 30-day mortality in patients with sepsis (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.925; 95% confidence interval, 1.405–2.638; P<0.001). Conclusion The July effect was associated with 30-day mortality in patients with sepsis. However, bundle adherence did not differ. These results suggest that the increase in mortality during the turnover period might be related to unmeasured in-hospital management. Intensive supervision and education of residents caring for patients with sepsis is needed in the beginning of training.

Background: Breaking the chain of disease transmission from overseas is necessary to control new infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 effectively. In this study, we developed a mobile app called Self-Symptom Checker (SSC) to monitor the health of inbound travelers. Methods: SSC was developed for general users and administrators. The functions of SSC include non-repudiation using QR (quick response) codes, monitoring fever and respiratory symptoms, and requiring persons showing symptoms to undergo polymerase chain reaction tests at nearby screening stations following a review of reported symptoms by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as well as making phone calls, via artificial intelligence or public health personnel, to individuals who have not entered symptoms to provide the necessary information. Results: From February 12 to March 27, 2020, 165,000 people who were subjected to the special entry procedure installed SSC. The expected number of public health officers and related resources needed per day would be 800 if only the phone was used to perform symptom monitoring during the above period. Conclusion By applying SSC, more effective symptom monitoring was possible. The daily average number of health officers decreased to 100, or 13% of the initial estimate. SSC reduces the work burden on public healthcare personnel. SSC is an electronic solution conceived in response to health questionnaires completed by inbound travelers specified in the World Health Organization International Health Regulations as a requirement in the event of a pandemic.

BACKGROUND: It is important that proper protocols are in place for trauma patients who require massive transfusion upon arrival at the emergency department. This study is a preliminary analysis of massive transfusion cases at the emergency department of our institution aimed to review the characteristics and situations in which massive transfusion occurs in an effort to better manage trauma patients receiving massive transfusion in the emergency department. METHODS: This study was conducted at the Department of Emergency Medicine in the Korea University Guro Hospital. We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of trauma-related patients who required massive blood transfusions between January 2013 and December 2015. The inclusion criteria were as follows: patients who were over the age of 18 years and received more than 4 packed RBC (pRBC) units per hour, or 10 or more pRBC units during a period of 24-hours. RESULTS: A total of 669 patients were included in the study. There were significant differences of initial systolic blood pressure (P<0.0001), diastolic blood pressure (P<0.0001), and Injury Severity Score (P<0.0001) between those who survived and those who expired. CONCLUSION: Proper initial resuscitation is essential for the improvement of outcome in trauma patients that require a massive transfusion. The findings from this study may serve as preliminary data in developing proper transfusion protocols for massive transfusion among trauma patients.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Transfusion ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medicine ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Korea ; Multiple Trauma ; Resuscitation ; Retrospective Studies ; Transfusion Reaction

BACKGROUND: Topical steroid treatment induces diverse local Wand systemic adverse effects. Several approaches have been tried to reduce the steroid-induced adverse effects. Simultaneous application of physiological lipid mixture is also suggested. OBJECTIVE: Novel vehicles for topical glucocorticoids formulation were evaluated for the efficacy of reducing side-effects and the drug delivery properties of desonide, a low potency topical steroid. METHODS: Transcutaneous permeation and skin residual amount of desonide were measured using Franz diffusion cells. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using murine model. RESULTS: Topical steroids formulation containing desonide, in either cream or lotion form, were prepared using multi-lamellar emulsion (MLE), and conventional desonide formulations were employed for comparison. MLE formulations did not affect the anti-inflammatory activity of the desonide in phobol ester-induced skin inflammation model, compared with conventional formulations. While the penetrated amounts of desonide were similar for all the tested formulations at 24 hours after application, the increased lag time was observed for the MLE formulations. Interestingly, residual amount of desonide in epidermis was significantly higher in lotion type MLE formulation. Steroid-induced adverse effects, including permeability barrier function impairment, were partially prevented by MLE formulation. CONCLUSION: Topical desonide formulation using MLE as a vehicle showed a better drug delivery with increased epidermal retention. MLE also partially prevented the steroid-induced side effects, such as skin barrier impairment.
Desonide ; Diffusion ; Epidermis ; Glucocorticoids ; Inflammation ; Permeability ; Retention (Psychology) ; Skin ; Steroids

Cancer metastases to the thyroid or adrenal gland are uncommon. Furthermore, cases showing long-term survival after surgical resection of those metastatic tumors are rare. We report a case of pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma with metastases to the thyroid and adrenal glands sequentially that was successfully treated with sequential metastasectomies. A 62-year-old woman presented with a 4-week history of dyspnea on exertion and facial edema in November 1999. Echocardiography and chest computed tomography (CT) revealed an embolism-like mass in the pulmonary trunk. Pulmonary artery endarterectomy with pulmonary valve replacement was performed, and histopathology revealed pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma. A thyroid nodule was found by chest CT in November 2001 (2 years after initial surgery). During follow-up, this lesion showed no change, but we decided to obtain fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in August 2004 (4.7 years after initial surgery). FNAC revealed atypical spindle cells suggestive of metastatic intimal sarcoma. She underwent total thyroidectomy. During follow-up, a right adrenal gland mass was detected by chest CT in March 2006 (6.3 years after initial surgery), and adrenalectomy was done, which also revealed metastatic sarcoma. She has been followed up without any evidence of recurrent disease until May 2012 (12.5 years after initial surgery).
Adrenal Glands ; Adrenalectomy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Edema ; Endarterectomy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Metastasectomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pulmonary Artery ; Pulmonary Valve ; Sarcoma ; Thorax ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Nodule ; Thyroidectomy

BACKGROUND: The shortage of donor organs is the main problem that needs to be solved in Korea as well as in other countries. To expand the donor pool, we retrospectively reviewed the brain-dead patients who expired without organ donation in the neurosurgical intensive care units (NICU) and evaluated the potential deceased donors (PDDs). METHODS: Between January 2008 and December 2008, PDDs who expired without organ donation in the NICU were recruited from 52 secondary or tertiary referral hospitals in Korea. The data of a total 2,288 PDD cases were collected from the questionnaire. Of these, 1,980 cases were eligible for analysis. RESULTS: There were 1,166 males (58.9%) and 793 females (40.1%) with a mean age of 57.6+/-18.0 years (21.2% in the 5th decade; 21.0% in the 6th decade). The most common cause of death of PDDs was cerebrovascular accident (n=1,034; 52.2%). Glasgow Coma scale was 3 in 23.1% and 4 in 12.1% of the PDDs. Craniotomy was performed in 996 patients (50.3%). Sepsis developed in 276 patients (14.0%) among the total PPDs. Diagnostic procedure for assessment of brain death was performed in 194 patients (9.8%). The seroprevalence of HBsAg and HCVAb was 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively. The mean AST/ALT level on admission and after brain death were 80.9+/-344.9/49.0+/-162.19 and 308.6+/-1,485.2/142.5+/-596.27 IU/L, respectively. Uriney protein level was normal in 1,221 patients (61.7%) after brain death. Of the 1980 PDDs, 19 patients (1%) donated their organs for transplantation. CONCLUSION: Only a small percentage (1%) of PDDs in the NICU donated their organs in Korea. We suggest that continuous and active donor action is needed to increase organ donation from the potential deceased donors.
Brain Death ; Cause of Death ; Craniotomy ; Critical Care ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea ; Male ; Neurosurgery ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Stroke ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tissue and Organ Procurement ; Tissue Donors ; Tuberculin

PURPOSE: To evaluate the treatment outcome and prognostic factor after postoperative radiotherapy in retroperitoneal sarcoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients were treated with surgical resection and postoperative radiotherapy for retroperitoneal sarcoma from August 1990 to August 2008. Treatment volume was judged by the location of initial tumor and surgical field, and 45-50 Gy of radiation was basically delivered and additional dose was considered to the high-risk area. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 41.4 months (range, 3.9 to 140.6 months). The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 51.8% and disease free survival was 31.5%. The 5-year locoregional recurrence free survival was 61.9% and distant metastasis free survival was 50.6%. In univariate analysis, histologic type (p = 0.006) was the strongest prognostic factor for the OS and histologic grade (p = 0.044) or resection margin (p = 0.032) had also effect on the OS. Histologic type (p = 0.004) was unique significant prognostic factor for the actuarial local control. CONCLUSION: Retroperitoneal sarcoma still remains as a poor prognostic disease despite the combined modality treatment including surgery and postoperative radiotherapy. Selective dose-escalation of radiotherapy or combination of effective chemotherapeutic agent must be considered to improve the treatment result especially for the histopathologic type showing poor prognosis.
Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Sarcoma ; Treatment Outcome

Organ shortage is a serious problem in the field of solid organ transplantation. Increasing number of death on the waiting list, transplant tourism, black market for organ selling are all caused by organ shortage and these eventually causing poor quality of life for patient and family, and may give rise to a serious confusion in domestic transplant system. Since the KONOS launched in the year 2000, some portion of the illegal side of organ supply were corrected but the number of organ donor was hardly to increase. In order to search any solution for this problem, organ allocation study group under the Korean society for organ transplantation was actively worked from August 2008 through February 2009, and got some solution. Among them, amendment of the transplantation law including brain death committee, reporting system of suspected brain dead patients, and set up an independent organ procurement organization system for an effective organ procurement. Organ donation and increasing the number of donor is not a task only for transplant society, but is closely related with quality of life for peoples. This also can change the execution of budget of national medical health insurance. To give a correct understanding about this and activate the nationwide organ donation, the transplant society should have a key role with various medical and nursing society, hospital association, government, national assembly and every voluntary groups.
Brain Death ; Budgets ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Jurisprudence ; Organ Transplantation ; Quality of Life ; Societies, Nursing ; Tissue and Organ Procurement ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Waiting Lists

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the viability of periodontal ligament cell in rat teeth using slow cryopreservation method with magnetic field through MTT assay and TUNEL test. For each group, 12 teeth of 4 weeks old white female Sprague-Dawley rat were used for MTT assay, and 6 teeth in TUNEL test. The Maxillary left and right, first and second molars were extracted as atraumatically as possible under tiletamine anesthesia. The experimental groups were group1 (immediately extraction), group 2 (cold preservation at 4degrees C for 1 week), group 3 (rapid cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen), group 4 (slow cryopreservation with magnetic field of 1 G), and group 5 (slow cryopreservation). F medium was used as preservation medium and 10% DMSO as cryoprotectant. After preservation and thawing, the MTT assay and TUNEL test were processed. One way ANOVA and Scheffe method were performed at the 95% level of confidence. The value of optical density obtained after MTT analysis was divided by the value of eosin staining for tissue volume standardization. In both MTT assay and TUNEL test, it had showed no significant difference among group 3, 4, and 5. And group 3 had showed higher viability of periodontal ligament cell than group 2. From this study, slow cryopreservation method with magnetic field can be used as one of cryopreservation methods.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Cryopreservation ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Female ; Humans ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Magnetic Fields ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Molar ; Periodontal Ligament ; Rats ; Tiletamine ; Tooth

BACKGROUND: Hydroxyethylstarch (HES) solutions are commonly used for intravascular volume expansion with varying effect on coagulation depending on molecular weight and mode of hydroxyl substitution.Clopidogrel and aspirin have been shown to reduce cardiovascular complications in patients with coronaryartery occlusive disease which renders patients to higher risk of bleeding complications who require surgery.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of HES 200/0.5, 130/0.4 and crystalloid on blood loss and transfusion requirement in patients with recent antiplatelet therapy undergoing off-pump coronary bypass surgery (OPCAB) in a prospective, randomized trial. METHODS: Sixty patients scheduled for OPCAB, who received clopidogrel and aspirin within 5 days of surgery were randomly allocated into 3 groups:HES 200/0.5 (n = 20), HES 150/0.4 (n = 20), and Crystalloid (n = 20).Routine coagulation profile were measured before and 2 days after the surgery.Amount of perioperative blood loss, transfusion requirement and fluids input and output were recorded until 2 days postoperatively. RESULTS: The 3 groups were similar with regard to patients and operative characteristics.There were no significant differences in the amount of perioperative blood loss and transfusion requirement among the 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both HES solutions were safe to use in terms of blood loss and transfusion requirement in patients undergoing OPCAB who received antiplatelet agents within 5 days of surgery.
Aspirin ; Hemorrhage ; Hetastarch ; Humans ; Isotonic Solutions ; Molecular Weight ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; Prospective Studies ; Ticlopidine