Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2022
Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19: Use of Steroids in Mostly Unvaccinated COVID-19 Patients Before the Omicron Variant.
Glucocorticoids are one of the current standard agents for moderate to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment based on the RECOVERY trial. Data on the real clinical application of steroids for COVID-19 are scarce and will help guide the optimal use of steroids. We described the current prescription pattern of steroids for COVID-19 and investigated the factors related to specific practices. ⋯ The dose and duration of steroids were in line with current guidelines in 82.5% of COVID-19 patients, but the outliers may need tailored therapy according to surrogate markers, such as initial lymphopenia or high level of LDH.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2022
Multicenter StudyEtiology and Secular Trends in Primary Amenorrhea in 856 Patients: A 17-Year Retrospective Multicenter Study in Korea.
This study was performed to evaluate etiologies and secular trends in primary amenorrhea in South Korea. ⋯ The results of this study provide useful clinical insight on the etiology and secular trends of primary amenorrhea. Further large-scale, prospective studies are necessary.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2022
Clinical Impact of Empirical Antibiotic Therapy in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Requiring Oxygen Therapy.
Despite the low prevalence of secondary bacterial infection in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, most of them were administered antibiotic therapy empirically. However, the prognostic impact of empirical antibiotic therapy has not been evaluated. ⋯ Empirical antibiotic therapy did not improve clinical outcomes including length of stay, days with oxygen requirement, the proportion of patients with increased oxygen demand, the proportion of patients who required mechanical ventilation, and overall mortality. This finding implies that routine administration of antibiotics for the treatment of COVID-19 is not essential and should be restricted.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2022
Objective Interpretation of the Rapid Urease Test for Helicobacter pylori Infection Using Colorimetry.
The rapid urease test (RUT) is a major diagnostic tool for detecting Helicobacter pylori infection. This study aimed to establish an objective method for measuring the color changes in the RUT kit to improve the test's diagnostic accuracy. ⋯ A transmittance of 60 at a 559-nm wavelength detected using UV-visible spectrophotometer can be used as a cutoff value for interpreting RUT results; this will help develop an automatic RUT kit reader with a high accuracy.