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Purpose@#The results of the Hahn Chun Suk color test (Hahn test) and the Farnsworth-Munsell D-15 test (D-15 test) were compared in patients with acute optic neuritis. @*Methods@#Patients with acute optic neuritis evaluated using both the Hahn and D-15 tests in the acute phase and 2 months later were evaluated. The results of the acute phase tests were compared. Correlations were sought between color deficiency and all of visual acuity, the visual field index (VFI), and the severity of optic disc edema. Changes in the test results 2 months later were also evaluated and correlated with other visual functions. @*Results@#Twenty-seven eyes of 22 patients were enrolled. The mean patient age was 49.4 years and the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity 0.5. In the acute phase, the perception number was 10.06 in the Hahn test. On the D-15 test, the ‘strong’ grade predominated (40.7%). The concordance rates of severity and type were 55.6 and 54.5% between the two tests. In 9 of 12 eyes exhibiting inconsistent severity, the D-15 test afforded better results than did the Hahn test. A significant positive correlation was evident between the Hahn test results and visual acuity (r = 0.560, p = 0.002). The mean deviation (MD) and the VFI also correlated with the results of the Hahn test (r = -0.432, p = 0.027 for the MD; r = -0.517, p = 0.007 for the VFI). The D-15 test results correlated only with visual acuity (r = 0.476, p = 0.012). After 2 months, the results of both tests correlated significantly only with visual acuity. @*Conclusions@#In the acute phase, the concordances of the Hahn and D-15 test results were 55.6% in terms of severity and 54.5% in terms of type. The Hahn test results correlated with the visual acuity and VFI. In contrast, the D-15 test results correlated with visual acuity only.
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Purpose@#To report recurrent idiopathic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in an adolescent.Case summary: A 14-year-old male presented with reduced vision in the right eye, 3 weeks in duration. His best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.2. He lacked any medical or ocular history, any family history of retinal disease, and any trauma history. Autorefraction yielded a spherical equivalent of -4.75 diopters. Neither posterior staphyloma nor myopic macular degeneration was apparent in a fundus photograph. However, the photograph revealed a greyish foveal lesion with a subretinal hemorrhage, but was otherwise unremarkable. Optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography revealed foveal CNV with a subretinal hemorrhage and fluid. As no feature known to cause CNV was apparent, we diagnosed idiopathic CNV and prescribed right-eye intravitreal ranibizumab injections. After treatment, the BCVA became 1.0, but the CNV continued to recur; he has received 26 intravitreal ranibizumab injections over the last 47 months. @*Conclusions@#Most idiopathic CNVs in adolescents are well-treated with fewer injections. However, CNV can continue to recur; multiple intravitreal injections and careful monitoring may be required.
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Purpose@#There are increased therapeutic usages of rituximab in kidney transplantation (KT). However, few studies have evaluated the effect of rituximab on cancer development following KT. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of rituximab on the cancer occurrence and mortality rate according to each type of cancer. @*Methods@#Five thousand consecutive recipients who underwent KT at our center were divided into era1 (1990–2007) and era2-rit– (2008–2018), and era2-rit+ (2008–2018) groups. The era2-rit+ group included patients who received single-dose rituximab (200–500 mg) as a desensitization treatment 1–2 weeks before KT. @*Results@#The 5-year incidence rates of malignant tumors after KT were 3.1%, 4.3%, and 3.5% in the era1, era2-rit–, and era2-rit+ group, respectively. The overall incidence rate of cancer after transplantation among the 3 study groups showed no significant difference (P = 0.340). The overall cancer-related mortality rate was 17.1% (53 of 310). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) had the highest mortality rate (61.5%) and relative risk of cancer-related death (hazard ratio, 8.29; 95% confidence interval, 2.40–28.69; P = 0.001). However, we found no significant association between rituximab and the incidence of any malignancy. @*Conclusion@#Our results suggest that single-dose rituximab for desensitization may not increase the risk of malignant disease or cancer-related mortality in KT recipients. HCC was associated with the highest risk of cancer-related mortality in an endemic area of HBV infection.
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In this paper, we reviewed domestic and foreign cases and evaluation methods for validation of sleep products for development of the domestic sleep industry. Foreign companies and organizations are trying to verify products relatively systematically for demonstration purposes, but they are using different methods depending on the institution, and standardized validation guidelines have not been established. In Korea, there has been little evaluation including objective verification for sleep products. Sleep-wake evaluation for validation of sleep products requires expert evaluation of the product and of the product effectiveness by users, and subjective and objective sleep-wake evaluations and circadian rhythm evaluation methods can be used. For more accurate verification, experimental designs such as randomization method, control product utilization method, and cross-experiment design can be used.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we reviewed domestic and foreign cases and evaluation methods for validation of sleep products for development of the domestic sleep industry. Foreign companies and organizations are trying to verify products relatively systematically for demonstration purposes, but they are using different methods depending on the institution, and standardized validation guidelines have not been established. In Korea, there has been little evaluation including objective verification for sleep products. Sleep-wake evaluation for validation of sleep products requires expert evaluation of the product and of the product effectiveness by users, and subjective and objective sleep-wake evaluations and circadian rhythm evaluation methods can be used. For more accurate verification, experimental designs such as randomization method, control product utilization method, and cross-experiment design can be used.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of measuring the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to distinguish benign from small, non-necrotic metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive patients with head and neck cancer underwent diffusion-weighted imaging (b value, 0 and 800 s/mm2) preoperatively between January 2009 and December 2010. Two readers independently measured the ADC values of each cervical lymph node with a minimum-axial diameter of > or = 5 mm but < 11 mm using manually drawn regions of interest. Necrotic lymph nodes were excluded. Mean ADC values were compared between benign and metastatic lymph nodes after correlating the pathology. RESULTS: A total of 116 lymph nodes (91 benign and 25 metastatic) from 25 patients were included. Metastatic lymph nodes (mean +/- standard deviation [SD], 7.4 +/- 1.6 mm) were larger than benign lymph nodes (mean +/- SD, 6.6 +/- 1.4 mm) (p = 0.018). Mean ADC values for reader 1 were 1.17 +/- 0.31 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.25 +/- 0.76 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values for reader 2 were 1.21 +/- 0.46 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.14 +/- 0.34 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values between benign and metastatic lymph nodes were not significantly different (p = 0.594 for reader 1, 0.463 for reader 2). CONCLUSION: Measuring mean ADC does not allow differentiating benign from metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer and non-necrotic, small lymph nodes.