Background and Objectives: The outcome benefits of β-blockers in chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been fully assessed. We evaluated the prognostic impact of β-blockers on patients with chronic CAD after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 3,075 patients with chronic CAD were included from the Grand DrugEluting Stent registry. We analyzed β-blocker prescriptions, including doses and types, in each patient at 3-month intervals from discharge. After propensity score matching, 1,170 pairs of patients (β-blockers vs. no β-blockers) were derived. Primary outcome was defined as a composite endpoint of all-cause death and myocardial infarction (MI). We further analyzed the outcome benefits of different doses (low-, medium-, and high-dose) and types (conventional or vasodilating) of β-blockers. Results: During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.1 (3.0–3.1) years, 134 (5.7%) patients experienced primary outcome. Overall, β-blockers demonstrated no significant benefit in primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63–1.24), all-cause death (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.60–1.25), and MI (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.49–3.15). In subgroup analysis, β-blockers were associated with a lower risk of all-cause death in patients with previous MI and/ or revascularization (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.14–0.99) (p for interaction=0.045). No significant associations were found for the clinical outcomes with different doses and types of β-blockers. Conclusions Overall, β-blocker therapy was not associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with chronic CAD undergoing PCI. Limited mortality benefit of β-blockers may exist for patients with previous MI and/or revascularization.

Background: There has been no comparison of the determinants of admission route between acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We examined whether factors associated with direct versus transferred-in admission to regional cardiocerebrovascular centers (RCVCs) differed between AIS and AMI. Methods: Using a nationwide RCVC registry, we identified consecutive patients presenting with AMI and AIS between July 2016 and December 2018. We explored factors associated with direct admission to RCVCs in patients with AIS and AMI and examined whether those associations differed between AIS and AMI, including interaction terms between each factor and disease type in multivariable models. To explore the influence of emergency medical service (EMS) paramedics on hospital selection, stratified analyses according to use of EMS were also performed. Results: Among the 17,897 and 8,927 AIS and AMI patients, 66.6% and 48.2% were directly admitted to RCVCs, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed that previous coronary heart disease, prehospital awareness, higher education level, and EMS use increased the odds of direct admission to RCVCs, but the odds ratio (OR) was different between AIS and AMI (for the first 3 factors, AMI > AIS; for EMS use, AMI < AIS). EMS use was the single most important factor for both AIS and AMI (OR, 4.72 vs. 3.90). Hypertension and hyperlipidemia increased, while living alone decreased the odds of direct admission only in AMI;additionally, age (65–74 years), previous stroke, and presentation during non-working hours increased the odds only in AIS. EMS use weakened the associations between direct admission and most factors in both AIS and AMI. Conclusions Various patient factors were differentially associated with direct admission to RCVCs between AIS and AMI. Public education for symptom awareness and use of EMS is essential in optimizing the transportation and hospitalization of patients with AMI and AIS.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence and clinical features of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Korea. METHODS: Web-based (www.armd-nova.or.kr) registration was conducted for AMD patients aged 50 or more who were newly diagnosed by retinal specialists in Korea from August 20, 2005 to August 20, 2006. Patient data including ophthalmologic examination, fundus photography, fluorescein angiogram and/or indocyanin green angiogram (ICG), past medical history, behavioral habit, combined systemic diseases were up-loaded. RESULTS: Among finally enrolled 1,141 newly diagnosed AMD patients, 690 patients (60.5%) were male and 451 patients (39.5%) were female. The average age of AMD patients was 69.7+/-8.0. Early AMD was observed in 190 patients and 951 patients had late AMD. Classic choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) was observed in 18.6% of exudative AMD patients and 63.4 % had occult CNVM. Subfoveal CNVM was observed in 80.4% of the patients with CNVM. Among the 580 exudative AMD eyes that performed indocyanin green angiography (ICG), 184 eyes (31.7%) had polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and 36 eyes (6.2%) showed retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). Age, male gender, smoking, diabetes and hypertension significantly increased the risk of the AMD among Koreans. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the low rate of participation by retinal specialists, definite incidence of AMD was not obtainable. However, the estimated 1-year AMD incidence in the Pusan area of Korea is at least 0.4%. In contrast to Western people, 31.7% of exudative AMD cases were revealed to be PCV and 6.2% were revealed to be RAP. This discrepancy between ethnic groups should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment modality selection of Korean AMD patients.
Aged ; Angiography ; Choroid ; Ethnic Groups ; Eye ; Female ; Fluorescein ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Korea ; Macular Degeneration ; Male ; Membranes ; Photography ; Retinaldehyde ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Specialization

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bilirubin has a protective role in suppressing atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease by its potent physiological antioxidant properties. There has been no comparative study on the relation between the bilirubin level and the coronary microvascular function in diabetic patients. This study investigated whether the bilirubin level correlates with the coronary microvascular integrity in diabetes by assessing the coronary flow velocities after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients (31 males and 19 females, mean age 60+/-11) with angina and who received elective PCI were studied. Using an intracoronary Doppler wire, the coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR), the hyperemic microvascular resistance index and the phasic coronary flow velocity patterns were measured after PCI. RESULTS: The mean value of the fasting blood glucose was 211+/-88 mg/dL, the man value of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was 8.1+/-1.6% and the mean serum total bilirubin level was 0.59+/-0.21 mg/dL. CFR was significantly correlated with the serum bilirubin level (r=0.485, p<0.001), HbA1c (r=-0.432, p=0.003) and the fasting blood glucose (r=-0.361, p=0.011). On multivariate analysis, HbA1c, bilirubin and left ventricular hypertrophy showed independent relationships with coronary microvascular dysfunction (p=0.003, p=0.004, p=0.033, respectively). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that glycemic control and elevated serum bilirubin may protect diabetic patients from coronary microvascular dysfunction.
Atherosclerosis ; Bilirubin ; Blood Glucose ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Fasting ; Female ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular ; Male ; Microvessels ; Multivariate Analysis ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean Version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV(DISC-IV), a highly structured diagnostic interview used to assess more than 30 psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. METHODS: A total of 91 study subjects, including 67 subjects who visited the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic at our institution and 24 community-based subjects, were assessed using the Korean Version of the DISCIV. Clinical diagnosis was used as a gold standard for the examination of the validity of the DISC-IV. Forty-four of the study subjects were randomly selected for test-retest reliability measurement. RESULTS: The validity of the Korean Version of the DISC-IV showed kappa values ranging from 0.25 to 0.40 in the clinical sample and 0.65 to 1.00 in the community sample. The sensitivities varied according to the diagnostic categories, but the specificities were excellent for all diagnostic entities. CONCLUSION: The Korean Version of the DISC-IV showed good reliability and validity in Korean children and adolescents. The Korean Version of the DISC-IV might be a useful tool for assessing psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Psychiatry ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Appointments and Schedules* ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) myocardial perfusion grade (TMPG) is associated with the long term clinical outcomes. This study compared the TMPG with the myocardial viability as determined by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and with improvement of the left ventricular (LV) function on echocardiography. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 44 consecutive patients (37 men: age 56+/-11 years) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We assessed the coronary flow reserve (CFR), the diastolic deceleration time (DDT), the coronary wedge pressure (Pcw) and the coronary wedge pressure/mean aortic pressure (Pcw/Pa). All the patients underwent FDG-PET scans on the 7th day after primary PCI. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the TMPG (TMPG 0/1: n=18, TMPG 2: n=14, TMPG 3: n=12). RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between the TMPG and the CFR, DDT, Pcw and Pcw/Pa (r=0.367, p=0.017; r=0.587, p<0.001; r=-0.513, p<0.001; r=-0.614, p<0.001, respectively). There was a significant correlation between the TMPG and the % of FDG uptake (r=0.587, p<0.001) and the patients with TMPG 3 had the most favorable % of FDG uptake (TMPG 0/1 vs TMPG 2 vs TMPG 3; 42.0+/-12.3% vs 53.9+/-11.2% vs 59.3+/-13.3%, p=0.001). On echocardiography, the patients with TMPG 3 revealed an improvement of the LV ejection fraction (53.4+/-9.9% vs 60.0+/-7.0%, p=0.004) and the patients with TMPG 2 and TMPG 3 revealed improvement of their regional wall motion abnormality (RWMA) index (1.44+/-0.26 vs 1.24+/-0.18, p=0.022; 1.35+/-0.26 vs 1.15+/-0.18, p=0.018, respectively). CONCLUSION: The angiographically determined TMPG might be clinically useful for the assessment of myocardial viability and it might be a useful predictor for improvement of the LV function in patients suffering with STEMI.
Angioplasty ; Arterial Pressure ; DDT ; Deceleration ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention* ; Perfusion* ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Pulmonary Wedge Pressure ; Ventricular Function, Left

Fungal peritonitis is one of the leading causes of patient dropout from continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy. Although the most causative agents of peritonitis associated with CAPD are bacteria, fungi are implicated in up to 10% of cases. The most common organism of fungal peritonitis is Candida specises, but Trichosporon beigelii was reported as a rare causative agent of fungal peritonitis. We experienced a case of CAPD peritonitis by Trichosporon beigelii, which was treated with CAPD catheter removal, and antifungal agents with amphotericin B and fluconazole. Thus, we report our experience of CAPD peritonitis caused by Trichosporon beigelii and review of the literature.
Amphotericin B ; Antifungal Agents ; Bacteria ; Candida ; Catheters ; Fluconazole ; Fungi ; Humans ; Patient Dropouts ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis* ; Trichosporon*

Lithium is commonly employed in the treatment of bipolar disorders. The commonly reported nephrotoxic effects of lithium therapy are nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and chronic tubulointerstitial nephropathy with little or no proteinuria. Mild proteinuria is a common manifestation of most renal injuries including nephrotoxicity by lithium. But nephrotic syndrome related with lithium therapy is very rare and only one case of membranous glomerulonephritis has been reported in Korea by this time. We report a lithium toxicity case manifested by nephrotic syndrome, nephrogenic diabetes inspidus and chronic renal insufficiency in a 44-year-old man who had been taking lithium for 13 years for bipolar disorder. Kidney pathology showed minimal change disease and chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis which can be seen in chronic lithium toxicity. Polyuria and massive proteinuria disappeared with the withdrawal of lithium. Renal function was gradually improved but not to norma range. Careful and regular monitoring on the renal function in all patients on lithium treatment will be needed.
Adult ; Bipolar Disorder ; Diabetes Insipidus, Nephrogenic ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; Humans ; Kidney ; Korea ; Lithium* ; Nephritis, Interstitial* ; Nephrosis, Lipoid* ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Pathology ; Polyuria ; Proteinuria ; Renal Insufficiency ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic

An adenosquamous carcinoma of the penis is an exceedingly rare, highly malignant tumor, with histological features of a squamous cell carcinoma and an adenocarcinoma, which originates in the penile surface epithelium, and possibly in embryologically misplaced mucus glands of the perimeatal region of the glans mucosa. We report a case of an adenosquamous carcinoma of the penis in a 73-year-old man who had been suffering from a painful ulcerative mass on his penis for 2 years.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Adenosquamous* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Epithelium ; Humans ; Male ; Mucous Membrane ; Mucus ; Penis* ; Ulcer

Membranous nephropathy is one of the most common causes of the nephrotic syndrome in adults. Membranous nephropathy is known as a disease associated with many other disorders and the presumed etiology of the disease is a deposition of circulating immune complexes. But, it has rarely been reported in association with autoimmune thyroiditis. We report a case of membranous nephropathy associated with Graves' disease and review the literature regarding this disease entity.
Adult ; Antigen-Antibody Complex ; Glomerulonephritis ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous* ; Graves Disease* ; Humans ; Immune Complex Diseases ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; Thyroiditis ; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune