Immune tolerance induction in patients with severe hemophilia A with inhibitors

BACKGROUND: Inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII (FVIII) are an important complication when managing patients with hemophilia A. Immune tolerance induction (ITI) has been regarded as a useful method for eradicating inhibitors. We report the results of a retrospective study in Korean patients with hemophilia A who underwent ITI. METHODS: We reviewed the records of patients with hemophilia A with inhibitors who underwent ITI from March 2004 to December 2014. ITI was started with FVIII concentrates at 100 IU/kg, 3 times per week. The dose of FVIII was reduced according to the inhibitor titer and recovery of FVIII. Inhibitor elimination was defined as the time taken to achieve a negative inhibitor assay with no anamnestic response and normal FVIII recovery and/or normal half-life. RESULTS: In total, 17 patients with severe hemophilia A were evaluated. Complete tolerance was achieved in 14 of 17 patients (83%). The mean peak inhibitor titer before ITI was 38.4 BU/mL. The mean treatment duration was 26.2 months. The mean duration between inhibitor detection and ITI was 5.1 years in the complete tolerance group and 10.8 years in the partial tolerance and failed group. CONCLUSION: This study shows that ITI can be an effective and well-tolerated method for eradicating inhibitors. Possible influencing factors for ITI success were age at the start of ITI treatment and duration after inhibitor detection. More research to provide further insight about other factors and conditions is needed.

Association Between Prophylactic Antibiotic Use and Surgical Site Infection Based on Quality Assessment Data in Korea / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prophylactic antibiotic use in reducing surgical site infection. METHODS: This was a retrospective study for patients aged 18 years and older who underwent gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy, cesarean section and hysterectomy. The data source was quality assessment data of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service gathered from medical records of 302 national hospitals. Prophylactic antibiotic use was defined as: timely antibiotic administration or inappropriate antibiotic selection. We performed hierarchical logistic regression to examine the association between prophylactic antibiotic use and surgical site infection with adjustment for covariates. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 16 348 patients (1588 gastrectomies, 2327 cholecystectomies, 1,384 colectomies, 3977 hysterectomies and 7072 cesarean sections) and surgical site infection was identified in 351 (2.1%) patients. The rates of timely antibiotic administration and inappropriate antibiotic selection varied according to procedures. Cholecystectomy patients who received timely prophylactic antibiotic had a significantly reduced risk of surgical site infection compared with those who did not receive a timely prophylactic antibiotics (OR 0.64, 95% CI=0.50-0.83), but no significant reduction was observed for other procedures. When inappropriate prophylactic antibiotics were given, the risk of surgical site infection significantly increased: 8.26-fold (95% CI=4.34-15.7) for gastrectomy, 4.73-fold (95% CI=2.09-10.7) for colectomy, 2.34-fold (95% CI=1.14-4.80) for cesarean section, 4.03-fold (95% CI=1.93-8.42) for hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: This study examines the association among timely antibiotic administration, inappropriate antibiotic selection and surgical site infection. Patients who received timely and appropriate antibiotics had a decreased risk of surgical site infection. Efforts to improve the timing of antibiotic administration and use of appropriate antibiotic are needed to lower the risk of surgical site infection.

Developing Quality Indicators for In-Center Hemodialysis Patients / 대한신장학회지

PURPOSE:This study was a pilot study to develop structure, clinical performance and outcome measurement and criteria for increasing number of dialysis facilities and patients to provide quality of care. METHODS:The six components of developing quality indicators for hemodialysis were as follows: 1) Organizing expert panel members. 2) Selecting the area: to reflect stakeholders' opinion, structured interviews were done. And literature reviews were performed to investigate guidelines and quality measurements of foreign countries. 3) Selecting clinical performance indicators: From experts' opinions and literature review. 4) Developing candidate indicators. 5) Performing demonstration survey: Systemic sampling was performed and 43 facilities were participated in self-answered medical record survey. 6) Based on preliminary evaluation model, final indicators were selected from expert panel reviews. RESULTS:Eleven measures of structure, thirteen performance measures of process and nine monitoring measures of outcome were developed based on literature review and clinical practice guideline. As for criterion-related validity, those of process and outcome were most high and in case of face validity, those of structure and process were most high. The most valid quality indicators were the rate of internal medicine specialist, dialysis frequency per doctor, whether or not keeping emergency equipment, examination of water quality, hemodialysis adequacy (Kt/V), monitoring arterial venous graft for stenosis maintenance of iron storage, and administration of supplemental iron. CONCLUSION:By developing quality indicators of hemodialysis and performing demonstration evaluation, quality of care for hemodialysis patients is expected to be improved, so as to promote hemodialysis patients' health and improve on quality of life.

Utility Change of Health Care Services after Separation of Dispensary from Medical Practice

No abstract available.

Pancreatic Pseudocysts and Ascites as Complications of Chronic Pancreatitis

A case of pancreatic pseudocysts and bloody pancreatic ascites as complications of chronic pancreatitis in eleven-year-old girl was reported. She was admitted to the pediatric ward with chief complaints of abdominal distension and bloody ascites. About nine months prior to admission, when she was stuck by a bicycle, she had sustained a blow on her abdomen. She has been apparently well until four months prior to admission, when she began to feel colidy and intermittent abdominal pain and her appetits became poor. About a week prior to admission, her mother noticed that the girl's abdomen was distended. One day prior to admission, bloody ascites was revealed by paracenteis at a local clinic. Clinical and laboratory pictures were observed for 3 months. Ascites amylase at preoperative state were 496~705 u/dl and 740~772 u/dl Protein in ascites was 2,390mg%~4,820mg%. On the fifty fifth hospital day, an exploratory laparotomy was performed. About 7,000cc of bloody ascites was drained. A 30 x 20cm sized pseudocyst with thin wall was found between stomach and transverse colon. The portion of disrupted pancreatic duct was drained with sump tube. Abdomen distension and pain was markedly relieved after operation. On the 60 th postoperative day, ultrasonography of abdomen revealed no cysts. So sump tube was removed. A brief review of the literature was done.

A case of Right Atrial Myxoma

Right atrial myxoma is a rare primay intra cardiac tumor and it presents various clinical manifestations mimicking Tricuspid stenosis, Constricive Pericarditis, and Subacute Bacte rial Endocarditis A 10 years old boy with exertioal dysyonea and general weakness for 40days was admitted to our hospital under the impressionof right atrial myxoma.clincal diagnosis was made by echocardiogram, cardiac catheterization and right artiograhpy We present a case of right atrial myxoma with a review of the literatures.