Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Complication rate of transfemoral endomyocardial biopsy with fluoroscopic and two-dimensional echocardiographic guidance: a 10-year experience of 228 consecutive procedures.
Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is one of the reliable methods for the diagnosis of various cardiac diseases. However, EMB can cause various complications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the complication of transfemoral EMB with both fluoroscopic and two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiographic guidance. ⋯ There was no occurrence of either EMB-related death or cardiac surgery. Left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly lower (32.0±18.7% vs 42.0±19.1%, P=0.023) and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension was larger (60.0±10.0 mm vs 54.2±10.2 mm, P=0.013) in patients with EMB related complications than in those without. It is concluded that transfemoral EMB with fluoroscopic and 2-D echocardiographic guidance is a safe procedure with low complication rate.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Caspase-1 level in synovial fluid is high in patients with spondyloarthropathy but not in patients with gout.
Activation of caspase-1 by NALP3 inflammasomes has been shown to be important in initiating acute gouty arthritis. The objectives of this study were to measure the levels of caspase-1 in synovial fluid in gout and various arthritides, and to elucidate the clinical significance of caspase-1 levels in synovial fluid. Caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and uric acid were measured in synovial fluid from 112 patients with gout and other arthritides, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and spondyloarthropathy. ⋯ Caspase-1 was detectible in the synovial fluid of patients with the various arthritides. Contrary to our hypothesis, the caspase-1 level in the synovial fluid of patients with gout was not higher than in that of other arthritides. High levels of caspase-1 may be helpful in differentiating spondyloarthropathy from other arthritides.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Prevalence, clinical characteristics, and management of functional constipation at pediatric gastroenterology clinics.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and management of functional constipation at pediatric gastroenterology clinics. A prospective survey using the Rome III criteria was distributed to a group of parents of children with a constipation history and its control group in May 2008. The mean prevalence of constipation was 6.4%, which was similar to those in other countries. ⋯ When analyzed with the Rome III criteria, the children showed greater than 60% rate of hard stools, painful stools, a history of large fecal mass in rectum, and its disappearance of constipation symptoms after passing a large stool. Our study found different approaches amongst pediatric gastroenterologists like rectal examinations, disimpaction, or drug treatment. Several factors addressed in our study can provide better guidelines for clinicians treating constipation and its future research.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Poor prognosis in elderly patients who refused surgery because of economic burden and medical problem after hip fracture.
Although many studies have assessed mortality and morbidity of conservative treatment after hip fracture in elderly patients, the mortality of conservative treatment done because of economic burden is unclear. Among 451 patients diagnosed with displaced hip fracture during 3 yr, 28 patients (Group I) were enrolled as conservative treatment. Fifty-six patients matched in age, gender, ASA score, and diagnosis (Group II) who had undergone surgical treatment were used as the control group. ⋯ The cumulative mortality rate over 3, 6, 12, and 24 months was 54%, 61%, 64%, and 82% in Group I and 9%, 11%, 14%, and 21% in Group II, respectively. At the latest follow-up, all five patients in Group I displayed a nonfunctional ambulatory state, whereas only seven of 44 patients in Group II were in a nonfunctional ambulatory state. Non-surgical treatment following hip fracture that is done because of the economic burden is associated with substantially high mortality and serious functional loss.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Impact of interleukin-10 gene polymorphisms on survival in patients with colorectal cancer.
Chronic inflammation is thought to be the leading cause of colorectal cancer, and interleukin-10 (IL10) has been identified as a potent immunomodulatory cytokine that regulates inflammatory responses in the gastrointestinal tract. Although several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL10 have been associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, their prognostic significance has not been determined. Two hundred and eighty-two colorectal cancer patients were genotyped for two candidate cancer-associated SNPs in IL10. ⋯ The minor homozygote GG genotype of IL10 rs3021094 was significantly associated with a 3.30-fold higher risk of death compared with the TT+TG genotypes (P=0.011). The patients with IL10 rs3021094 GG genotype also had a poorer overall survival in Kaplan-Meier analysis (log-rank P=0.007) and in multivariate Cox regression model (P=0.044) adjusting for age, gender, carcinoembryonic antigen levels, tumor differentiation, stage, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural invasion. In conclusion, our results suggest that IL10 rs3021094 might be a valuable prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer patients.