• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.59 no.6
• /
• pp.622-627
• /
• 2016

Objective : Although a high incidence of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) following traumatic subdural hygroma (SDG) has been reported, no study has evaluated risk factors for the development of CSDH. Therefore, we analyzed the risk factors contributing to formation of CSDH in patients with traumatic SDG. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed patients admitted to Hallym University Hospital with traumatic head injury from January 2004 through December 2013. A total of 45 patients with these injuries in which traumatic SDG developed during the follow-up period were analyzed. All patients were divided into two groups based on the development of CSDH, and the associations between the development of CSDH and independent variables were investigated. Results : Thirty-one patients suffered from bilateral SDG, whereas 14 had unilateral SDG. Follow-up computed tomography scans revealed regression of SDG in 25 of 45 patients (55.6%), but the remaining 20 patients (44.4%) suffered from transition to CSDH. Eight patients developed bilateral CSDH, and 12 patients developed unilateral CSDH. Hemorrhage-free survival rates were significantly lower in the male and bilateral SDG group (logrank test; p=0.043 and p=0.013, respectively). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed male (OR, 7.68; 95% CI 1.18-49.78; p=0.033) and bilateral SDG (OR, 8.04; 95% CI 1.41-45.7; p=0.019) were significant risk factors for development of CSDH. Conclusion : The potential to evolve into CSDH should be considered in patients with traumatic SDG, particularly male patients with bilateral SDG.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.75 no.6
• /
• pp.260-263
• /
• 2013

Invasive aspergillosis has emerged as a major cause of life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients. Recently, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who have been receiving corticosteroids for a long period, and immunocompetent patients in the intensive care unit have been identified as nontraditional hosts at risk for invasive aspergillosis. Here, we report a case of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis after influenza in an immunocompetent patient. The patient's symptoms were nonspecific, and the patient was unresponsive to treatments for pulmonary bacterial infection. Bronchoscopy revealed mucosa hyperemia, and wide, raised and cream-colored plaques throughout the trachea and both the main bronchi. Histologic examination revealed aspergillosis. The patient recovered quickly when treated systemically with voriconazole, although the reported mortality rates for aspergillosis are extremely high. This study showed that invasive aspergillosis should be considered in immunocompetent patients who are unresponsive to antibiotic treatments; further, early extensive use of all available diagnostic tools, especially bronchoscopy, is mandatory.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.144-147
• /
• 2014

Despite the necessity of surgical aortic valve replacement, many patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) cannot undergo surgery because of their severe comorbidities. In these high-risk patients, percutaneous transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) can be safely accomplished. However, no study has shown that TAVI can be performed for patients with severe AS accompanied by acute decompensated heart failure. In this case report, 1 patient presented a case of severe pulmonary hypertension with decompensated heart failure after diagnosis with severe AS, and was successfully treated via emergency TAVI. Without any invasive treatment, acute decompensated heart failure with severe pulmonary hypertension is common in patients with severe AS, and it can increase mortality rates. In conclusion, TAVI can be considered one of the treatment options for severe as presented as acute decompensated heart failure patients with pulmonary hypertension.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.135-142
• /
• 2018

Purpose: When hemodynamically unstable patients with blunt major trauma arrive at the emergency department (ED), the safety of performing early whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) is concerning. Some clinicians perform central venous catheterization (CVC) before WBCT (pre-computed tomography [CT] group) for hemodynamic stabilization. However, as no study has reported the factors affecting this decision, we compared clinical characteristics and outcomes of the pre- and post-CT groups and determined factors affecting this decision. Methods: This retrospective study included 70 hemodynamically unstable patients with chest or/and abdominal blunt injury who underwent WBCT and CVC between March 2013 and November 2017. Results: Univariate analysis revealed that the injury severity score, intubation, pulse pressure, focused assessment with sonography in trauma positivity score, and pH were different between the pre-CT (34 patients, 48.6%) and post-CT (all, p<0.05) groups. Multivariate analysis revealed that injury severity score (ISS) and intubation were factors affecting the decision to perform CVC before CT (p=0.003 and p=0.043). Regarding clinical outcomes, the interval from ED arrival to CT (p=0.011) and definite bleeding control (p=0.038), and hospital and intensive care unit lengths of stay (p=0.018 and p=0.053) were longer in the pre-CT group than in the post-CT group. Although not significant, the pre-CT group had lower survival rates at 24 hours and 28 days than the post-CT group (p=0.168 and p=0.226). Conclusions: Clinicians have a tendency to perform CVC before CT in patients with blunt major trauma and high ISS and intubation.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.355-363
• /
• 2007

One of major factors for learning achievement is the student's learning preference according to his character type. In course of learning, if a student studies e-learning contents opposed to his preference, then he would be under stress and his blood pressure and heart beat be changed. For measuring unwillingness, we used spectral components in frequency domain known as stress measure. For 13 children attending kindergarten we examined S(sensing)/ N(intuition) of MBTI and presented same learning contents during 10 minutes. During learning we gathered ECG signals, changed into HRV(heart rate variability), transformed time-varying HRV signal into spectral density in frequency domain. And then, we divided it into three areas of low(LF), middle(MF), and high-frequency(HF) and calculated stress measures by rates of those frequency area. We compared estimated stress measures of S group with them of N group whether students in different group preferred different contents or not. Experimental shows that students according to MBTI type prefer different contents.

• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.223-228
• /
• 2018

Background and Objectives : Necortizing fasciitis in the cervical region is a very rare disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment results, complication and prognosis of necrotizing fasciitis patients. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the inpatient charts treated for cervical necrotizing fasciitis at our Otorhinolaryngology clinic. We diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis by the clinical findings such as swelling, redness and pain of infected area and necrosis of subcutaneous fat layer and fascia observed during surgery. Twenty such patients were identified and treated from January 2011 to December 2016. Results : 20 adults consisting of 14 male and 6 females with cervical necrotizing fasciitis were diagnosed and treated. The most commonly known associated preceding illness were dental abscess and tonsillitis. The most pathogen was Streptococcus species (12/20), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (6/20), Staphylococcus species (2/20). The mean duration of hospitalization was 32.2 days (range,14-86). The mean Modified Laboroatory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis (M-LRINEC) score is 7.4 and more than 4 points was eighteen. All patients received parenteral antibiotics and surgical drainage after admission. Conclusions : The reason for the high survival rate in the study was the early diagnosis, as well as the early surgical procedure and antibiotics. After the operation, frequent betadine irrigation could improve the patient's condition and recover without severe complication.

• Korean Circulation Journal
• /
• v.53 no.9
• /
• pp.594-605
• /
• 2023

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the Asia-Pacific region, and mortality rates differ between countries in the region. Systems of care have been shown to play a major role in determining AMI outcomes, and this review aims to highlight pre-hospital and in-hospital system deficiencies and suggest possible improvements to enhance quality of care, focusing on Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia as representative countries. Time to first medical contact can be shortened by improving patient awareness of AMI symptoms and the need to activate emergency medical services (EMS), as well as by developing robust, well-coordinated and centralized EMS systems. Additionally, performing and transmitting pre-hospital electrocardiograms, algorithmically identifying patients with high risk AMI and developing hospital networks that appropriately divert such patients to percutaneous coronary intervention-capable hospitals have been shown to be beneficial. Within the hospital environment, developing and following clinical practice guidelines ensures that treatment plans can be standardised, whilst integrated care pathways can aid in coordinating care within the healthcare institution and can guide care even after discharge. Prescription of guideline directed medical therapy for secondary prevention and patient compliance to medications can be further optimised. Finally, the authors advocate for the establishment of more regional, national and international AMI registries for the formal collection of data to facilitate audit and clinical improvement.

• Korean Circulation Journal
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.34-46
• /
• 2023

Background and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM)-associated heart failure (HF) causes high morbidity and mortality. In this study, we established a zebrafish larvae model for in vivo research on diabetic HF. Methods: DM-like phenotypes were induced by treating zebrafish larvae with a combination of D-glucose (GLU) and streptozotocin (STZ). HF was induced by treatment with terfenadine (TER), a potassium channel blocker. Additionally, myocardial contractility, motility, and viability were evaluated. Results: The zebrafish larvae treated with a combination of GLU and STZ showed significantly higher whole-body glucose concentrations, lower insulin levels, and higher phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase levels, which are markers of abnormal glucose homeostasis, than the group treated with only GLU, with no effect on viability. When treated with TER, DM zebrafish showed significantly less myocardial fractional shortening and more irregular contractions than the non-DM zebrafish. Furthermore, in DM-HF with reduced ejection fraction (rEF) zebrafish, a significant increase in the levels of natriuretic peptide B, a HF biomarker, markedly reduced motility, and reduced survival rates were observed. Conclusions: We established a DM-HFrEF zebrafish model by sequentially treating zebrafish larvae with GLU, STZ, and TER. Our findings indicate the potential utility of the developed zebrafish larvae model not only in screening studies of new drug candidates for DM-HFrEF but also in mechanistic studies to understand the pathophysiology of DM-HFrEF.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.1257-1264
• /
• 2011

Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder accompanying symptoms of hallucination, drowsiness, and tremors. It has high occurrence rates among elders, heart disease patients, and burn patients. It is a medical emergency associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates. That s why early detection and prevention of delirium ar significantly important. And This mental illness like delirium occurred by complex interaction between risk factors. In this paper, we identify risk factors and interactions between these factors for delirium using multi-factor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.179-190
• /
• 1989

The experimental study for extracorporeal preservation of the heart-lung preparation by autoperfusion system was performed in 10 dogs. Under intravenous Pentothal endotracheal anesthesia bilateral thoracotomies were performed. A 24F cannula connected to a plastic reservoir bag located 100 cm above the level of the heart was introduced into the aortic arch. Left subclavian, innominate artery, and descending aorta were ligated and divided. Both vena cavae were ligated and divided after the bag was half filled with blood. A 24F catheter inserted into right atrium and connected to the plastic bag in order to keep constant the preload. The thoracic trachea was intubated and the lungs were ventilated. The heart-lung preparations were removed en bloc and floated in a $34^{\circ}C$ bath of Hartmann solution. The preparations were observed for from 2 hours to 8 hours, with the average of 5.2 hours. Hemodynamic and hematologic variables were measured during preharvest and autoperfusion. The pH revealed severe respiratory alkalosis due to very low $PaCO_2$ during autoperfusion ; $PaO_2$ remained constant for 130-140 mmHg; $A-aDO_2$ increased markedly. The static inspiratory pressure [SIP] at late autoperfusion [6hr] increased significantly as compared with at early autoperfusion [2hr]. There was no difference between white blood cell counts from right atrium and those of left atrium. Heart rates remained constant for 110-120/min; cardiac outputs maintained to approximately 0.6L/min; mean aortic pressures, 75 mmHg; mean pulmonary arterial pressures, 15-18 mmHg; mean right atrial pressures, 9-13 mmHg; mean left atrial pressures, 12 mmHg lower than those of right atrium. Serum Na maintained with normal range during autoperfusion; K increased significantly; Ca decreased progressively. Hemoglobin and hematocrit decreased significantly during autoperfusion. The study demonstrated that stable hemodynamics could be maintained throughout the experiment and the preparation of the lung seemed to be inadequate, especially after 3-4 hours, such as high $A-aDO_2$, increased SIP, and scattered atelectasis and edema in their gross appearances.