Association Between Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index and Prolonged Length of Stay After Elective Hepatectomy in the Elderly Patients

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is common in elderly patients with cancer and is associated with many adverse clinical outcomes, including longer length of hospital stay (LOS), muscle loss, and various postsurgical complications. In particular, elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have a high risk for malnutrition, which is associated with mortality and reduced quality of life. Therefore, we evaluated the association between nutritional status and the LOS after hepatectomy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in elderly patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 66 patients aged ≥65 years admitted consecutively from January 2010 to December 2014 for elective surgery to treat hepatocellular carcinoma. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) was applied for the assessment of nutritional risk in hospitalized elderly patients before surgery. RESULTS: The association between several factors that have been identified to influence outcomes and the LOS were evaluated by using multiple regression analysis. We found that only the GNRI was associated with the LOS. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that identifying nutritional risk using the GNRI before elective surgery is associated with increased risk of prolonged LOS. Therefore, prospective research based on GNRI can serve as a valuable resource for evaluating nutritional status of elderly patients under various clinical circumstances. Moreover, this particular research allows us to establish new ways of reducing the length of hospital stay for patients who underwent hepatic resection.

Association between Secondhand Smoke and Health-related Quality of Life in Middle-aged Korean Adults

BACKGROUND: The relationship between secondhand smoke and health-related quality of life is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between secondhand smoke and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in middle-aged Korean adults. METHODS: Data from 583 men and 3,869 women aged 40 to 64 years who participated in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2010 to 2012 were evaluated. All of them are non-smokers or have smoked less than 5 packs of cigarettes for their whole life. Secondhand smoke exposed at home and workplace was assessed by using a questionnaire and HRQoL was assessed by EuroQoL five dimensions (EQ-5D). The association of secondhand smoke and HRQoL was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Low HRQoL was associated with sex, age, body mass index, education level, family income level, occupation status, underlying diseases and secondhand smoke exposure. After adjustment for variables, secondhand smoke exposure at home was positively associated with the anxiety/depression dimension of EQ-5D (Odds ratio: 1.49, 95% Confidence interval: 1.02-2.18). CONCLUSIONS: Secondhand smoke exposure at home is associated with anxiety and depression dimensions of EQ-5D in middle-aged Korean adults.

Reccurent Foreign body Granuloma after Gore-tex(R) Removal in Rhinoplasty

PURPOSE: Infection, foreign body reaction and decreased volume of implant are common complications after augmentation rhinoplasty with Gore-tex(R) implant. The author experienced two cases of recurrent foreign body granuloma in the patients who underwent Gore-tex(R) removal because of infection after augmentation rhinoplasty. and treated them with complete removal of Gore-tex(R). METHODS: Case 1: A 49 year-old female visited our clinic for recurrent foreign body reaction on nasal dorsum and tip area. The patient underwent augmentation rhinoplasty with Gore-tex(R) 3 years ago and implant was removed due to infection 9 months ago. Excision of the granuloma was performed and a piece of foreign body suspicious to be a Gore-tex(R) implant debris was detected under the subcutaneous pocket. The implant fragments were removed and nasalis muscle rotation flap was performed to cover the lesion. The specimen was proved to be Gore-tex(R) in histological study. Case 2: A 31 year-old-male with recurrent foreign body granuloma on the nasal tip area visited our clinic. 10 years ago, the patient had augmentation rhinoplasty with silicone implant and then, he underwent revisional rhinoplasty five times including nasal implant removal, which was performed 9 months ago. The authors excised the granuloma and found a small sized foreign body suspicious to be a Gore-tex(R) implant debris under the granuloma. The foreign body was excised and identified to be Gore-tex(R) in histological study. RESULTS: In both cases, the lesions were healed without any complications and there were no evidences of recurrence up to 6 months of follow-up. CONCLUSION: The Gore-tex(R) is known to be weak against mechanical force. These properties of Gore-tex(R) make it difficult to remove the implant completely. In the patient who have infection after augmentation rhinoplasty with Gore-tex(R), the operator should take care to perform the complete removal without remaining fragment of the implant.

The Classification of Aging Lower Eyelid and Selection of the Operation Options in Asians

PURPOSE: It is generally accepted that anatomical structures of the soft tissue in Asian faces are quite different from those in Caucasian. It is presumed that these differences are due to collagen rich thick dermis and durable superficial musculo-apponeurotic system (SMAS) in Asian. We classified the aging lower eyelids and reviewed the operative procedures according to the types of aging lower eyelids in Asian. METHODS: We compared preoperative and postoperative photos of 117 patients over 30 years of age, who underwent lower blepharoplasty at the Kyunghee Medical Center from January 2001 to April 2006. We classified the patients based on the degree of skin laxity, presence of nasojugal groove and malar bag, the extent of aging process. We also reviewed the operative procedures according to each type of classification. RESULTS: We classified our patients into four types as following. Type I patients showed minimal skin-muscle excess confined to lower eyelids regardless of the facial line. For these patients, we performed only transcutaneous or transconjunctival blepharoplasty. In type II patients, nasojugal grooves were shown and skin- muscle laxity was limited to the medial side of imaginary vertical line at lateral margin of pupil. In these cases, we performed free fat graft or fat repositioning on nasojugal groove or fat removal and septal duplication confined to medial side. Type III patients displayed more advanced medial bulging and remarkable laxity over the lateral side, the same operation methods as those of type II were applied at the lateral side of the line. Type IV patients demonstrated extensive midfacial aging changes including malar bags and underwent superficial subciliary cheek lift. CONCLUSION: The lower eyelid aging of Asian is different from those of Caucasian. We think that our classification is useful in selection of appropriate operative procedure to address specific problems for Asian patients.