Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2017
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEffects of Combination Therapy of Alendronate and Hormonal Therapy on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Korean Women: Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.
This study evaluated the effects of combination treatment with alendronate (ALEN) and hormone therapy (HT) on bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal Korean women. This multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial enrolled 344 postmenopausal women with low BMD. The women received HT (0.625 mg/day of conjugated equine estrogen and 2.5 mg/day of medroxyprogesterone acetate) alone or in combination with ALEN (10 mg/day) for 1 year. ⋯ There were no significant differences between HT alone vs. the combination of ALEN and HT in mean BMD increase at the lumbar spine (6.9% vs. 7.9%) and total hip (3.7% vs. 3.8%). Combined therapy suppressed serum osteocalcin and urinary deoxypyridinoline to a greater extent than HT alone. In conclusion, compared to HT alone, combination treatment with ALEN and HT for 1 year did not offer a benefit in BMD in postmenopausal Korean women with low BMD.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2017
Impact of Neurointensivist Co-management on the Clinical Outcomes of Patients Admitted to a Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit.
Limited data are available on improved outcomes after initiation of neurointensivist co-management in neurosurgical intensive care units (NSICUs) in Korea. We evaluated the impact of a newly appointed neurointensivist on the outcomes of neurosurgical patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). This retrospective observational study involved neurosurgical patients admitted to the NSICU at Samsung Medical Center between March 2013 and May 2016. ⋯ There were no significant differences in mortality rates and length of ICU stay before and after co-management. However, the rates of ICU and 30-day mortality among the TBI patients were significantly lower after compared to before initiation of neurointensivist co-management (8.5% vs. 22.9%; P = 0.014 and 11.0% vs. 27.1%; P = 0.010, respectively). Although overall outcomes were not different after neurointensivist co-management, initiation of a strategy of routine involvement of a neurointensivist significantly reduced the ICU and 30-day mortality rates of TBI patients.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2017
Correlations between Tumor to Background Ratio on Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging and Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations between tumor-to-background ratio (TBR) obtained from breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) and the prognostic factors of breast cancer. Sixty-seven patients with invasive ductal carcinoma who underwent preoperative BSGI were enrolled. The BSGI images were visually scored from 1 to 5 according to a breast imaging reporting and data system (BIRADS). ⋯ On multivariate analysis, TBR had a high correlation with tumor size ≥ 2 cm, axillary lymph node metastasis, and negative PR status (P = 0.003, 0.048, and 0.030, respectively). A high TBR on BSGI was significantly correlated with poor prognostic factors of breast cancer. Luminal A subtype, a breast cancer subtype with more favorable prognosis, was associated with a low TBR on BSGI.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2017
Vitamin D Status and Bone Mineral Density in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Compared to Those with Functional Abdominal Pain.
Low vitamin D has been implicated in reduced bone mineral density (BMD) in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our study aimed to evaluate differences in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and total body less head (TBLH) BMD z-scores in children with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and those with abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorder (AP-FGID) as the control group. We also examined the correlation between serum 25(OH)D and TBLH BMD z-score, and factors that affect each of these parameters. ⋯ Within each study group, correlation between serum 25(OH)D and TBLH BMD z-score was not observed. Factors found to affect the TBLH BMD z-score were sex (P = 0.018), age (P = 0.005) and serum hemoglobin (P = 0.041), while factors influencing serum 25(OH)D were sex (P = 0.018), CD with reference to AP-FGID (P = 0.020), and serum phosphorus (P = 0.018). Based on our results, vitamin D is a relatively small contributor to bone loss in pediatric IBD and clinicians should consider female sex, older age, and low hemoglobin as risk factors for low BMD in children with IBD.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jun 2017
Korean Patients Undergoing Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation for Alcoholic Liver Disease Have Non-Inferior Survival Outcomes than for Hepatitis B Virus: a Real-World Experience without Minimum Abstinence before Transplantation.
Few studies have compared outcomes in patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in Asian countries in which living donor LT (LDLT) is dominant, where HBV is endemic and where there are no strict regulations on pre-transplant abstinence for ALD. This study compared post-LT outcomes of deceased donor LT (DDLT) in patients with ALD and HBV. Data from 220 patients who underwent primary DDLT at Seoul National University Hospital from January 2010 to December 2014, including 107 with HBV and 38 with ALD, were retrospectively analyzed. ⋯ There were no significant differences in their 1-year (90.7% vs. 92.1%) and 3-year (82.1% vs. 82.3%) overall survival rates (P = 1.000). Multivariate analysis showed that high serum gamma glutamyltransferase concentration (≥ 70 IU/L) was independently prognostic of 1-year post-LT overall survival. Survival outcomes following DDLT were similar in Korean patients with ALD and HBV, even in the absence of strict pre-transplant abstinence from alcohol as a selection criterion.