Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2014
Incidence and risk factors of symptomatic peripartum diastasis of pubic symphysis.
This study was undertaken to determine incidence, associated risk factors, and clinical outcomes of a diastasis of pubic symphysis. Among 4,151 women, who delivered 4,554 babies at the Department of Obstetrics of Seoul National University Bundang hospital from January 2004 to December 2006, eleven women were diagnosed as having a symptomatic diastasis of pubic symphysis. We estimated the incidence of the diastasis and identified the associated risk factors. ⋯ At a mean follow-up of 22.1 months (range, 12 to 47 months), five of 11 patients had persistent symphysis pubis dysfunction. Diastasis is more frequent than generally acknowledged. Pregnant women with multiple gestations should be informed about the potential risk of pubic symphysis diastasis.
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Hip arthroscopy has been reported to be useful and promising for the treatment of hip pathologies. However, it is not known whether the utilization of hip arthroscopy has increased in Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate national trends regarding the utilization of hip arthroscopy in Korea. ⋯ A third of cases were performed in hospitals. Furthermore, a bimodal distribution was observed for men (20 to 24 yr and 45 to 49 yr) and an unimodal distribution for women (50 to 54 yr). Our results show an increasing trends in the utilization of hip arthroscopy from 2007 to 2010, which is in-line with recent findings of increased utilization with the rest of the world.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2014
Relationship between dietary mercury intake and blood mercury level in Korea.
This study was performed to evaluate the effect of dietary factors for mercury exposure by comparing with blood mercury concentration. Study population consisted of 1,866 adults (839 men and 1,027 women) in randomly-selected 30 districts in southeast Korea. Dietary mercury intake was calculated from food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) on seafood items and 24 hr recall record. ⋯ In comparison with the blood mercury concentration, age group, sex, household income, education, drinking status and coastal area were statistically significant (P < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, coefficient from the FFQ (β = 0.003) had greater effect on the blood mercury than the recall record (β = 0.002), but the effect was restricted (adjusted R(2) = 0.234). Further studies with more precise estimation of dietary mercury intake were required to evaluate the risk for mercury exposure by foods and assure risk communication with heavily-exposed group.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2014
Utilization patterns of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in elderly rheumatoid arthritis patients.
This study was conducted to investigate disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) utilization in Korean elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We used data from January 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims database. The study subjects were defined as patients aged 65 yr or older with at least two claims with a diagnosis of RA. ⋯ The proportion of DMARD use was higher in the younger elderly, females, and patients treated in big cities. Hydroxychloroquine was the most commonly used DMARD in monotherapy, and most of the combination therapies prescribed it with methotrexate. DMARD use in elderly RA patients was noticeably low, although drug prescriptions showed an increasing trend during the study period, clinicians may need to pay more attention to elderly RA patients.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Feb 2014
Microarray analysis for genes associated with angiogenesis in diabetic OLETF keratocytes.
The purpose of this study was to identify the differences in angiogenesis gene expression between normal and diabetic keratocytes stimulated with interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Primarily cultured normal and diabetic keratocytes were treated with 20 ng/mL of IL-1a and TNF-α for 6 hr. cDNA was hybridized to an oligonucleotide microarray. Microarray analysis was used to identify differentially expressed genes that were further evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). ⋯ Agtr1 and Itga1 showed an increased expression in diabetic keratocytes compared with normal corneal keratocytes, especially after TNF-α treatment. Il6 appeared strong expression after interleukin-1α treatment, but showed down expression after TNF-α treatment. Further studies to analyze and confirm the significance of the identified angiogenetic genes of diabetes are needed.