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Objective@#Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a common cause of death and serious neurological morbidity. Efforts to reduce the mortality due to OHCA focus on the “chain of survival.” The survival rates of OHCA patients are known to be related to prehospital conditions. @*Methods@#Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) provide a variety of procedures, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other advanced interventions that may improve the prognosis of OHCA patients. HEMS can respond quickly to long-distance or difficult-to-access places. This study attempted to investigate the characteristics of OHCA patients who had utilized inter-hospital air transport. The study was an observational cohort study using prospective data from a single suburban tertiary care hospital over a period of 7 years. The study data were analyzed using the SPSS version 28 software. @*Results@#In the survival group, the cause was more cardiac-related than in the death group (54% vs. 23.4%; P<0.001). CPR by bystanders and defibrillation by the emergency medical technicians were more frequent than in the death group. Also, the initial rhythm of the survivors was mainly VT or VF (48.0% vs. 14.9%; P<0.003). @*Conclusion@#In the HEMS mission with OHCA arrest, the patients with a cardiac origin, witnessed arrest, those with a shockable rhythm and shorter CPR time had a trend towards better survival and neurological outcomes in this study.
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Background@#It is difficult to diagnose patients with poisoning and determine the causative agent in the emergency room. Usually, the diagnosis of such patients is based on their medical history and physical examination findings. We aimed to confirm clinical diagnoses using systematic toxicological analysis (STA) and investigate changes in the diagnosis of poisoning. @*Methods@#The Intoxication Analysis Service was launched in June 2017 at our hospital with the National Forensic Service to diagnose intoxication and identify toxic substances by conducting STA. Data were collected and compared between two time periods: before and after the initiation of the project, i.e., from June 2014 to May 2017 and from June 2017 to May 2020. @*Results@#A total of 492 and 588 patients were enrolled before and after the service, respectively. Among the 588 after-service patients, 446 underwent STA. Among the 492 before-service patients, 69.9% were diagnosed clinically, whereas the causative agent could not be identified in 35 patients. After starting the service, a diagnosis was confirmed in 84.4% of patients by performing a hospital-available toxicological analysis or STA.Among patients diagnosed with poisoning by toxins identified based on history taking, only 83.6% matched the STA results, whereas 8.4% did not report any toxin, including known substances. The substance that the emergency physician suspected after a physical examination was accurate in 49.3% of cases, and 12% of cases were not actually poisoned. In 13.4% of patients who visited the emergency room owing to poisoning of unknown cause, poisoning could be excluded after STA. Poisoning was determined to be the cause of altered mental status in 31.5% of patients for whom the cause could not be determined in the emergency room. @*Conclusion@#A diagnosis may change depending on the STA results of intoxicated patients.Therefore, appropriate STA can increase the accuracy of diagnosis and help in making treatment decisions.
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Background@#It is difficult to diagnose patients with poisoning and determine the causative agent in the emergency room. Usually, the diagnosis of such patients is based on their medical history and physical examination findings. We aimed to confirm clinical diagnoses using systematic toxicological analysis (STA) and investigate changes in the diagnosis of poisoning. @*Methods@#The Intoxication Analysis Service was launched in June 2017 at our hospital with the National Forensic Service to diagnose intoxication and identify toxic substances by conducting STA. Data were collected and compared between two time periods: before and after the initiation of the project, i.e., from June 2014 to May 2017 and from June 2017 to May 2020. @*Results@#A total of 492 and 588 patients were enrolled before and after the service, respectively. Among the 588 after-service patients, 446 underwent STA. Among the 492 before-service patients, 69.9% were diagnosed clinically, whereas the causative agent could not be identified in 35 patients. After starting the service, a diagnosis was confirmed in 84.4% of patients by performing a hospital-available toxicological analysis or STA.Among patients diagnosed with poisoning by toxins identified based on history taking, only 83.6% matched the STA results, whereas 8.4% did not report any toxin, including known substances. The substance that the emergency physician suspected after a physical examination was accurate in 49.3% of cases, and 12% of cases were not actually poisoned. In 13.4% of patients who visited the emergency room owing to poisoning of unknown cause, poisoning could be excluded after STA. Poisoning was determined to be the cause of altered mental status in 31.5% of patients for whom the cause could not be determined in the emergency room. @*Conclusion@#A diagnosis may change depending on the STA results of intoxicated patients.Therefore, appropriate STA can increase the accuracy of diagnosis and help in making treatment decisions.
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This paper discusses the future development of air ambulance operations in Korea. Helicopter emergency medical services are a useful means of transporting critically ill patients to the right hospital, at the right time. It is an important element of the emergency medical system to treat acute diseases at the scene, or in transit. For more efficient operations of the emergency medical helicopters (air ambulances or the so-called ‘Doctor Helgi’ in Korea), various challenges are faced. These include, the expansion of air ambulance bases, proper placement of rendezvous points (landing point), increase of field transport requests, and the operation of night missions. First, it is necessary to reduce the disparity in the benefits of emergency medical care for critically ill patients through the expansion of helicopter bases. Second, through the advancement of joint operations of the pan-ministerial emergency medical helicopters, the time from dispatch to helicopter take-off should be minimized, and a quality improvement program for air transportation should be carried out. Third, it is necessary to increase the number of insufficient rendezvous points and ensure the safety of the helicopters during takeoff and landing, to activate field transportation. Finally, the safety of patients and medical staff should be secured through the systematic preparation of the air transport system for future night missions. To solve these tasks, an appropriate legal system for helicopter emergency medical service is required. Based on the improved system, it is expected that everyone will enjoy equal rights for health, regardless of the regions.
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Purpose@#This study aimed to examine the causes of death in Korean patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer and investigate the relationship between comorbidity and mortality. @*Materials and Methods@#We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study including 4,064 consecutive patients who had prostate cancer and underwent radical prostatectomy between January 1998 and June 2013. The primary endpoint of this study was all-cause mortality, and the secondary endpoints were cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality (OCM). Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was calculated to assess the comorbidities of each patient. @*Results@#Of 4,064 patients, 446 (11.0%) died during follow-up. The cause of death was prostate cancer in 132 patients (29.6%), other cancers in 121 patients (27.1%), and vascular disease in 57 patients (12.8%) in our cohort. The overall 10-year CSM rate was lower than the OCM rate (4.6% vs. 10.5%). The 10-year CSM rate was lower than the OCM rate in low- to intermediate-risk group patients (1.2% vs. 10.6%), whereas they were similar in high-risk group patients (11.8% vs. 10.1%). In the multivariable analysis, CCI was independently associated with all-cause mortality after radical prostatectomy, regardless of age and pathologic features. @*Conclusion@#Death from prostate cancer was rare in Korean men who underwent radical prostatectomy. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of overtreatment of low-risk prostate cancer in men with significant comorbidity. Our findings may help to facilitate counseling and plan management in this patient group.
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Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to identify prognostic tissue markers for several survival outcomes after radical nephroureterectomy among patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. @*Materials and Methods@#Retrospectively, data of 162 non-metastatic patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma after radical nephroureterectomy between 2004 and 2016 were reviewed to determine intravesical recurrence-free survival (IVRFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). The expression of 27 tissue markers on a tissue microarray of radical nephroureterectomy samples and prognostic values of clinicopathological parameters were evaluated using immunohistochemistry and Cox proportional hazard models after adjusting for significant prognostic clinicopathological variables. The expression of all tissue markers was categorized into a binary group with continuous H-scores (0-300). @*Results@#Median follow-up was 53.4 months (range, 3.6 to 176.5 months); and, 58 (35.8%), 48 (29.6%), and 19 (11.7%) bladder recurrence, disease progression, and all cause death, respectively, were identified. After adjusting for significant clinicopathological factors including intravesical instillation for bladder recurrence-free survival, pathologic T category and intravesical instillation for disease progression-free survival , and pathologic T category for OS (p < 0.05), IVRFS was associated with epithelial cadherin (hazard ratio [HR], 0.49), epidermal growth factor receptor/erythroblastosis oncogene B (c-erb) (HR, 2.59), and retinoblastoma protein loss (HR, 1.85); DFS was associated with cyclin D1 (HR, 2.16) and high-molecular-weight cytokeratin (HR, 0.42); OS was associated with E-cadherin (HR, 0.34) and programmed cell death 1 ligand (HR, 13.42) (p < 0.05). @*Conclusion@#Several significant tissue markers were associated with survival outcomes in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma patients treated with radical nephroureterectomy.
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The midline nasal dermoid cysts are rare congenital neoplasms, which are diagnosed frequently in childhood. Masses are often noticeable at birth gaining size over time with recurrent infections and usually arise from the nasal cavity or lower 1/3 of the nasal dorsum. CT scan as the primary investigation is helpful to determine accurately the size and extent of the lesion as well as the integrity of adjacent bony structures. MRI scan is recommended to rule out an intracranial extension or sinus tracts. Treatment of choice is the complete surgical excision preserving the cyst wall. Here in, we present an unusual case of nasofrontal dermoid cyst in a 19-year-old boy without radiographic evidence of transcranial extension. In this case, we surgically removed nasofrontal dermoid cyst via transcolumellar approach. We also corrected saddle nose deformity after mass removal. Therefore, in this case, we experienced a successful case in which the nasofrontal dermoid cyst was totally removed without facial scar and deformity.
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The midline nasal dermoid cysts are rare congenital neoplasms, which are diagnosed frequently in childhood. Masses are often noticeable at birth gaining size over time with recurrent infections and usually arise from the nasal cavity or lower 1/3 of the nasal dorsum. CT scan as the primary investigation is helpful to determine accurately the size and extent of the lesion as well as the integrity of adjacent bony structures. MRI scan is recommended to rule out an intracranial extension or sinus tracts. Treatment of choice is the complete surgical excision preserving the cyst wall. Here in, we present an unusual case of nasofrontal dermoid cyst in a 19-year-old boy without radiographic evidence of transcranial extension. In this case, we surgically removed nasofrontal dermoid cyst via transcolumellar approach. We also corrected saddle nose deformity after mass removal. Therefore, in this case, we experienced a successful case in which the nasofrontal dermoid cyst was totally removed without facial scar and deformity.
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Background and Objectives@#Otorhinolaryngology clinics are frequently exposed to various air pollutants. This can have a potentially harmful effect on the health of the healthcare personnel. However, there is still a lack of studies on the assessment of indoor air quality in otorhinolaryngology clinics. Therefore, this study aimed to measure indoor air quality in otorhinolaryngology clinics.Subjects and Method In this study, we prospectively measured indoor air quality indices [particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2), total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PM2.5, Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone] using portable passive air quality monitoring sensors in otorhinolaryngology clinics. @*Results@#The mean concentrations of PM, CO2, VOCs, and NO2 were significantly higher during office hours than after; however, there was no significant differences in CO and ozone concentration between the two time periods. The proportions of tolerable to poor-quality (exceeding acceptable level) levels of CO2, total VOCs, NO2 was 25%, 25%, 12.5% during office hours, respectively. On the other hand, there was no proportion of tolerable to poor-quality level of PM, CO, ozone during office hours. @*Conclusion@#We found that otorhinolaryngology clinics are easily exposed to ambient indoor air pollution. Therefore, we suggest implement health-related protective strategies for ambient indoor air pollution in otorhinolaryngology clinics may be needed for healthcare personnel.
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Hamartomas are non-neoplastic malformations or congenital errors of tissue development. Hamartoma is composed by an excessive growth of mature tissue present in wrong proportions and abnormal arrangements. The lesion usually presents as a submucosal mass with ill-defined margins. Hamartoma occurs in all areas of the body, especially in the liver, spleen, kidney and lung. However, hamartoma is very rare in the head and neck. Presenting symptoms of hamartoma are typically vague and nonspecific. Treatment of hamartomas consists of adequate surgical excision. We present a 59 year-old male patient who presented with submental swelling. Malignancy could not be ruled out with preoperative radiologic examination, so surgical excision was planned. The mass was excised with transcervical approach. Histopathologic examination has confirmed the mass as a mucinous gland adenomatoid hamartoma.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Hamartoma , Head , Kidney , Liver , Lung , Mucins , Neck , SpleenABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether histologic inflammation (HI) in initial and repeat prostate biopsy specimens was significantly associated with the detection of prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2005 and 2017, the clinicopathological records of patients with high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels who underwent initial and repeat prostate biopsies were retrospectively reviewed. The presence of HI and its degree in each biopsied specimen were interpreted by one uropathologist with 20 years of experience. The association between HI and cancer diagnosis was statistically assessed, with p 0%) on biopsied specimens, respectively. Comparison of the cancer and noncancer groups revealed that a greater rate of HI specimens in the initial biopsy was associated with fewer prostate cancer diagnoses following repeat biopsy (p < 0.001). Other comparisons between the cancer and non-cancer groups showed that the cancer group had a significantly higher rate of hypertension, whereas those non-cancer group had a significantly higher rate of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A finding of a lesser degree of HI in the initial and a greater degree of HI in the repeat biopsied specimens was associated with the higher probability of cancer diagnosis in patients with high PSA levels.
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Humans , Biopsy , Diagnosis , Hypertension , Inflammation , Prostate , Prostate-Specific Antigen , Prostatic Hyperplasia , Prostatic Neoplasms , Prostatitis , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to report on the progress of the fire at Jecheon sports complex and to assess the adequacy of Disaster Medical Assistant Team (DMAT)'s activities in response to the fire disaster. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review based on camera recordings and medical records that were recorded at the disaster site for assessment of activities. We cooperated with firefighters, police officers, local hospital medical staffs and public health personnel in Jecheon in order to classify patients in the disaster field and to understand the patients' progress. RESULTS: At 15:53, the first request for emergency rescue came to the 119 general emergency call center, and a request for DMAT activation came at 16:28. DMAT arrived at the site at 17:04 and remained active until the following day at 00:43. The total number of casualties was 60, including 27 minimal (Green) patients, 29 expectant (Black) patients, three delayed (Yellow) patients, and one immediate (Red) patient. There were 32 patients who received on-site care by DMAT. Two patients were transferred from a local hospital to Wonju Severance Christian Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. CONCLUSION: Twenty-nine victims were found in the sports complex building, and there were 31 mildly to moderately injured patients in this fire disaster. The main cause of death was thought to be smoke suffocation. Although DMAT was activated relatively quickly, it was not able to provide effective activity due to the late rescue and difficulty with fire suppression.
Subject(s)
Humans , Asphyxia , Cause of Death , Disasters , Emergencies , Firefighters , Fires , Hyperbaric Oxygenation , Medical Assistance , Medical Records , Medical Staff, Hospital , Police , Public Health , Retrospective Studies , Smoke , SportsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We conducted a study to validate the effectiveness of the Korean criteria for trauma team activation (TTA) and compared its results with a two-tiered system. METHODS: This observational study was based on data from the Korean Trauma Data Bank. Within the study period, 1,628 trauma patients visited our emergency department, and 739 satisfied the criteria for TTA. The rates of overtriage and undertriage in the Korean one-tiered system were compared with the two-tiered system recommended by the American College of Surgery-Committee on Trauma. RESULTS: Most of the patient’s physiologic factors reflected trauma severity levels, but anatomical factors and mechanism of injury did not show consistent results. In addition, while the rate of overtriage (64.4%) was above the recommended range according to the Korean criteria, the rate of undertriage (4.0%) was within the recommended range. In the simulated two-tiered system, the rate of overtriage was reduced by 5.5%, while undertriage was increased by 1.8% compared to the Korean activation system. CONCLUSION: The Korean criteria for TTA showed higher rates of overtriage and similar undertriage rates compared to the simulated two-tier system. Modification of the current criteria to a two-tier system with special considerations would be more effective for providing optimum patient care and medical resource utilization.
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Humans , Emergency Service, Hospital , Observational Study , Patient Care , Patient Care Team , Trauma Centers , TriageABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Secondary primary cancers (SPCs) commonly arise in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We designed the present study to estimate the SPC incidence in Korean patients with RCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study cohort was population-based and consisted of 40,347 individuals from the Korean Central Cancer Registry who were diagnosed with primary renal cancer between 1993 and 2013. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for SPCs were estimated for different ages at diagnosis, latencies, diagnostic periods, and treatments. RESULTS: For patients with primary RCC, the risk of developing a SPC was higher than the risk of developing cancer in the general population (SIR, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.08 to 1.18). Most cancer types showed higher incidences in patients with RCC than in the general population. However, the relative incidence of gastric cancer as an SPC varied by age. Gastric cancer incidence was elevated in young patients (< 30 years) with RCC, but reduced in older (≥ 30) patients with RCC. Patients with advanced RCC died prematurely, regardless of SPC development. In contrast, those with early-stage RCC survived for longer periods, although SPC development affected their post-RCC survival. After SPC development, women had better survival than men. CONCLUSION: In Korean patients with primary RCC, the incidence of SPC was 13% higher than the incidence of cancer in the general population. These findings may play important roles in the conduct of follow-up evaluations and education for patients with RCC.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Carcinoma, Renal Cell , Cohort Studies , Diagnosis , Education , Follow-Up Studies , Incidence , Kidney Neoplasms , Kidney , Korea , Neoplasms, Second Primary , Prognosis , Stomach NeoplasmsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The use of prostate-specific antigen as a biomarker for prostate cancer (PC) has been controversial and is, therefore, not used by many countries in their national health screening programs. The biological characteristics of PC in East Asians including Koreans and Japanese are different from those in the Western populations. Potential lifestyle risk factors for PC were evaluated with the aim of developing a risk prediction model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,179,172 Korean men who were cancer free from 1996 to 1997, had taken a physical examination, and completed a lifestyle questionnaire, were enrolled in our study to predict their risk for PC for the next eight years, using the Cox proportional hazards model. The model’s performance was evaluated using the C-statistic and Hosmer–Lemeshow type chi-square statistics. RESULTS: The risk prediction model studied age, height, body mass index, glucose levels, family history of cancer, the frequency of meat consumption, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and physical activity, which were all significant risk factors in a univariate analysis. The model performed very well (C statistic, 0.887; 95% confidence interval, 0.879 to 0.895) and estimated an elevated PC risk in patients who did not consume alcohol or smoke, compared to heavy alcohol consumers (hazard ratio [HR], 0.78) and current smokers (HR, 0.73) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This model can be used for identifying Korean and other East Asian men who are at a high risk for developing PC, as well as for cancer screening and developing preventive health strategies.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Alcohol Drinking , Asian People , Body Height , Decision Support Techniques , Early Detection of Cancer , Forecasting , Glucose , Life Style , Mass Screening , Meat , Motor Activity , Physical Examination , Population Characteristics , Proportional Hazards Models , Prostate , Prostate-Specific Antigen , Prostatic Neoplasms , Risk Factors , Smoke , SmokingABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We aimed to describe the temporal trends and district-level geographical variations in cancer incidences throughout Korea during 1999-2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were obtained from the Korean National Cancer Incidence Database. We calculated the age-standardized cumulative cancer incidences according to sex and geographical region (metropolitan cities, provinces, and districts) for three 5-year periods (1999-2003, 2004-2008, and 2009-2013). Each quintile interval contained the same number of regions. Disease maps were created to visualize regional differences in the cancer incidences. RESULTS: Substantial differences in cancer incidences were observed according to district and cancer type. The largest variations between geographical regions were found for thyroid cancer among both men and women. There was little variation in the incidences of stomach, colorectal, and lung cancer according to geographical region. Substantially elevated incidences of specific cancers were observed in Jeollanam-do (thyroid); Daejeon (colorectum); Jeollanam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Chungcheongbuk-do (lung); Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu and Seongnam, Bundang-gu (breast and prostate); Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces (stomach); Ulleung-gun and the southern districts of Gyeongsangnam-do and Jeollanam-do (liver); and along the Nakdonggang River (gallbladder and biliary tract). CONCLUSION: Mapping regional cancer incidences in Korea allowed us to compare the results according to geographical region. Our results may facilitate the development of infrastructure for systematic cancer incidence monitoring, which could promote the planning and implementation of region-specific cancer management programs.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Male , Geographic Locations , Incidence , Korea , Lung Neoplasms , Rivers , Small-Area Analysis , Stomach , Thyroid NeoplasmsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Drug-induced sedation endoscopy (DISE) has recently gained popularity among otolaryngologists because it can provide direct information of upper airway obstruction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In that regard, we examined how DISE examination affected the decision of clinician's treatment plan and the consequent patient's compliance in OSA patients. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: All enrolled patients were classified into two groups according to the method of upper airway evaluation employed: a physical examination only group and a physical examination combined with DISE group. The clinician's treatment plan was categorized into the following four groups: sleep surgery, positive airway pressure, oral appliance, and sleep surgery combined with oral appliance. The change of patient's compliance was also evaluated. RESULTS: There were several differences in how DISE evaluation affected the decision of clinician's treatment plan and patient's compliance between the two groups. The rate for sleep surgery fell from 69.6% to 15.9%; on the other hand, the rate for positive airway pressure, oral appliance and sleep surgery combined with oral appliance all increased from 13.0% to 36.2%, 14.5% to 26.6%, and 2.9% to 21.3%, respectively. The patient's compliance also changed after DISE evaluation: sleep surgery, positive airway pressure, oral appliance and sleep surgery combined with oral appliance all increased from 78.1% to 87.9%, 16.7% to 76.0%, 25.0% to 87.3%, and 50.0% to 91.03%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We found that DISE examination influences the decision of clinician's treatment plan and patient's compliance. We suggest additional cohort studies to confirm these findings.
Subject(s)
Humans , Airway Obstruction , Cohort Studies , Compliance , Endoscopy , Hand , Methods , Physical Examination , Sleep Apnea, ObstructiveABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare the radiation therapy (RT) and radical prostatectomy (RP) of high-risk or locally advanced prostate cancer (PC) patients after neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study evaluated patients underwent RT (42 patients) or RP (152 patients) after NHT at a single center during 2003–2014. Times to biochemical recurrence (BCR), pelvic local recurrence (PLR), metastasis, clinical painful symptom progression (CPSP), castration-resistant PC (CRPC), and overall survival were compared between the RT and RP groups, after adjustment for TN stage, using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. RESULTS: Significant inter-group differences were observed for age, Gleason score, initial PSA, and clinical and pathological T stages (all p 0.05). The independent predictor of CPSP was RP (hazard ratio, 0.291; p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Despite significantly different baseline parameters, RP provided better CPSP-free survival than RT among patients with localized high-risk or locally advanced PC.
Subject(s)
Humans , Follow-Up Studies , Incidence , Methods , Neoplasm Grading , Neoplasm Metastasis , Prostate , Prostatectomy , Prostatic Neoplasms , Radiotherapy , Recurrence , Retrospective Studies , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Clinically, consumptive coagulopathy, such as disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), is the most important among the common venomous snakebite complications owing to the serious hemorrhage risk associated with this condition. We evaluated the predictive value of the delta neutrophil index (DNI)—a new indicator for immature granulocytes—for DIC diagnosis. METHODS: This retrospective observational study consecutively assessed adult patients with venomous snakebites for over 51 months. Patients were categorized into the no DIC and DIC groups. DNI values were measured within 24 hours after snakebite. RESULTS: Thirty patients (26.3%) developed DIC. The DIC group had significantly higher median initial DNI than the no DIC group (0% vs. 0.2%, P < 0.001). When the DIC group was divided into early and late groups (within and over 24 hours after snakebite, respectively), the DNI of the former was significantly higher than that of the latter and no DIC group. The late DIC group had significantly higher DNI than the no DIC group. Furthermore, DNI positively correlated with the DIC score (r=0.548, P < 0.001). The initial DNI (odds ratio, 4.449; 95% confidence interval, 1.738 to 11.388; P=0.002) was an early DIC predictor. The area under the curve based on the initial DNI’s receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.724. CONCLUSION: DNI values were significantly higher in the DIC group. Additionally, DNI was an early predictor of DIC development in patients with venomous snakebites in the emergency department.