ABSTRACT
Background@#Large-scale studies about epidemiologic characteristics of renal infarction (RI) are few. In this study, we aimed to analyze the incidence and prevalence of RI with comorbidities in the South Korean population. @*Methods@#We investigated the medical history of the entire South Korean adult population between 2013 and 2019 using the National Health Insurance Service database (n = 51,849,591 in 2019). Diagnosis of RI comorbidities were confirmed with International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Epidemiologic characteristics, distribution of comorbidities according to etiologic mechanisms, and trend of antithrombotic agents were estimated. @*Results@#During the 7-years, 10,496 patients were newly diagnosed with RI. The incidence rate increased from 2.68 to 3.06 per 100,000 person-years during the study period.The incidence rate of RI increased with age peaking in the 70s with 1.41 times male predominance. The most common comorbidity was hypertension, followed by dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. Regarding etiologic risk factor distribution, high embolic risk group, renovascular disease group, and hypercoagulable state group accounted for 16.6%, 29.1%, and 13.7% on average, respectively. For the antithrombotic treatment of RI, the prescription of antiplatelet agent gradually decreased from 17.0% to 13.0% while that of anticoagulation agent was maintained around 35%. The proportion of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants remarkably increased from only 1.4% to 17.6%. @*Conclusion@#Considering the progressively increasing incidence of RI and high prevalence of coexisting risk factors, constant efforts to raise awareness of the disease are necessary. The current epidemiologic investigation of RI would be the stepping-stone to establishing future studies about clinical outcomes and optimal treatment strategies.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of risperidone in the treatment of Korean schizophrenic patients. METHOD: This multicenter open study included 377 schizophrenic patients drawn from 39 university hospitals. After a wash-out period of 1 week, the schizophrenic patients were treated with risperidone for 8 weeks and evaluated at 5 points: at baseline, and 1,2,4 and 8 weeks of treatment. The dose was increased from 2mg/day(1mg twice daily) to 6mg/day(3mg twice daily) during the first week and adjusted to a maximum of 16mg/day over the next 7 weeks according to the patient's clinical response. Medication to control extrapyramidal symptoms was permitted. The psychiatric and neurological status of the patients was assessed by PANSS, CGI, and ESRS scales. RESULTS: 343(91%) of 377 patients completed the 8-week trial period. Clinical improvement, as defined by a 20% or more reduction in total PANSS score at end point, was shown by 81.3% of patients. The predictors of response to risperidone were associated older age, shorter duration of illness, fewer previous hospitalization. Risperidone had rapid onset of action: a significant decrease of the total PANSS and three PANSS factor(positive, negative, general), and CGI was already noticed at the end of first week. For the ESRS, parkinsonism rating scores were significantly increased until week 4 comparing with baseline. Dystonia rating scores were significantly increased until week 1, and dyskinesia rating scores were not significantly changed during the study. Laboratory parameters including vital sign, EKG, hematological, and biochemical values showed no significant changes during the trial. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that risperidone is generally safe and effective against both the positive and negative symptoms in our group of patients.