Utility of Spinal Injury Diagnosis Using C-Spine Lateral X-Ray and Chest, Abdomen and Pelvis Computed Tomography in Major Trauma Patients with Impaired Consciousness

PURPOSE@#The regional emergency medical centers manage the patients with major blunt trauma according to the process appropriate to each hospital rather than standardized protocol of the major trauma centers. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and influence on prognosis of additional cervical-thoracic-lumbar-spine computed tomography (CTL-spine CT) scan in diagnosis of spinal injury from the victim of major blunt trauma with impaired consciousness.@*METHODS@#The study included patients visited the urban emergency medical center with major blunt trauma who were over 18 years of age from January 2013 to December 2016. Data were collected from retrospective review of medical records. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were measured for evaluation of the performance of diagnostic methods.@*RESULTS@#One hundred patients with Glasgow coma scale ≤13 underwent additional CTL-spine CT scan. Mechanism of injury was in the following order: driver, pedestrian traffic accident, fall and passenger accident. Thirty-one patients were diagnosed of spinal injury, six of them underwent surgical management. The sensitivity of chest, abdomen and pelvis CT (CAP CT) was 72%, specificity 97%, false positive rate 3%, false negative rate 28% and diagnostic accuracy 87%. Eleven patients were not diagnosed of spinal injury with CAP CT and C-spine lateral view, but all of them were diagnosed of stable fractures.@*CONCLUSIONS@#C-spine CT scan be actively considered in the initial examination process. When CAP CT scan is performed in major blunt trauma patients with impaired consciousness, CTL-spine CT scan or simple spinal radiography has no significant effect on the prognosis of the patient and can be performed if necessary.

Research on Ocular Fatigability Induced by Multimedia and Instrument Features

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the different features of such instruments and how they cause ocular fatigability. METHODS: Under the same settings and circumstances, 75 participants were asked to read the novel, "You without me?" in different formats including paper book, E-book (biscuit(R), Interpark Inc., LG INNOTECK LTD, Korea) and LCD reader (iPad(R), Apple Inc., United States). For every 10 minutes of reading, 10 minutes of rest was provided. After finishing the novel, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire, and the data obtained were statistically analyzed using univariate analysis. RESULTS: Compared to paper book readers (1.93), LCD readers (2.40) complained of insufficient lubrication in the eye (p = 0.038), and experience more letter-floating illusions (1.92) than did paper book readers (1.49) (p = 0.043). Moreover, compared to the other formats including the E-book (20%) and paper book (8%), LCD readers (72%) experienced more significant glare symptoms (n = 23) and could read at a faster rate than the other groups of readers (n = 26). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, the I-Pad caused ocular fatigability more easily than the other formats examined. No statistical significance of ocular discomfort or fatigability was observed among the different format groups. Further investigation with a greater number of age-controlled participants should be conducted prior to designing a study to determine the best format for reading.

Comparison of Two Doses of IVB and Prognostic Factor on Myopic CNV : 1-Year Outcome

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of 3 consecutive monthly intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injections (fixed regimen group) with a single IVB injection (PRN group) on patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and to determine the prognostic factors associated with IVB injection outcomes. METHODS: 23 Twenty-three eyes in 21 patients with myopic CNV (14 eyes in the fixed regimen group and 9 eyes in the PRN group) treated with IVB were studied retrospectively. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), the size of CNV prior to the initial IVB injection, CMT at the completion of treatment, and the number of IVB injections during the study period was measured. RESULTS: IVB resulted in improved BCVA and decreased CMT in both groups, and the differences before and after IVB injections were significantly correlated. Average injection time in the fixed regimen group and PRN group was 3.4 +/- 0.9 and 1.5 +/- 0.7 respectively, and was not statistically significant (p = 0.16). Differences between the groups in BCVA (p = 0.83) and CMT (p = 0.38) were not significantly correlated. Among the variables measured prior to IVB injection that affected final BCVA was age (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, a single injection of IVB compared to 3 consecutive IVB injections in patients with myopic CNV resulted in similar outcomes. In the future, these results can be considered as a reference when designing treatments for myopic CNV patients.

Comparison of Two Doses of IVB and Prognostic Factor on Myopic CNV : 1-Year Outcome

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of 3 consecutive monthly intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injections (fixed regimen group) with a single IVB injection (PRN group) on patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and to determine the prognostic factors associated with IVB injection outcomes. METHODS: 23 Twenty-three eyes in 21 patients with myopic CNV (14 eyes in the fixed regimen group and 9 eyes in the PRN group) treated with IVB were studied retrospectively. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), the size of CNV prior to the initial IVB injection, CMT at the completion of treatment, and the number of IVB injections during the study period was measured. RESULTS: IVB resulted in improved BCVA and decreased CMT in both groups, and the differences before and after IVB injections were significantly correlated. Average injection time in the fixed regimen group and PRN group was 3.4 +/- 0.9 and 1.5 +/- 0.7 respectively, and was not statistically significant (p = 0.16). Differences between the groups in BCVA (p = 0.83) and CMT (p = 0.38) were not significantly correlated. Among the variables measured prior to IVB injection that affected final BCVA was age (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, a single injection of IVB compared to 3 consecutive IVB injections in patients with myopic CNV resulted in similar outcomes. In the future, these results can be considered as a reference when designing treatments for myopic CNV patients.

Effects of Intravitreal Bevacizumab Injection in 3 Types of Macular Edema Secondary to Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) in 3 types of macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS: Patients with macular edema secondary to BRVO with at least 1-year follow-up after IVB were included in the present retrospective study. The authors classified the macular edema into 3 types according to OCT findings: diffuse macular edema (type 1), cystoid macular edema (type 2), and serous retinal detachment (type 3). The clinical outcome indicators were best corrected visual acuity, central macular thickness (CMT), and total number of injections. RESULTS: The total injection number was significantly higher in type 2 than type 3 (p = 0.02). Changes in CMT were significantly different between type 2 and type 3 (p = 0.03). CMT decreased significantly after IVB in all types of macular edema. CONCLUSIONS: Morphologic classification of macular edema with OCT is useful for predicting efficacy of IVB in macular edema secondary to BRVO.

Comparison of 180degrees and 360degrees Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty

PURPOSE: To compare the effect and safety of two regimens of Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT), SLT on 180degrees of trabecular meshwork and SLT with 100 laser spots on 360degrees of trabecular meshwork in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. METHODS: In a retrospective clinical study, the authors compared the pressure-lowering effects of SLT in two groups of patients; group 1 (83 patients) received SLT on 180degrees, group 2 (30 patients) on 360degrees of trabecular meshwork. The clinical outcome indicators included intraocular pressure (IOP) at one day, one week, one month, two months, three months and six months after SLT, and the anterior chamber reaction at post-laser one day. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in the IOP reduction between these two regimens after six months. The anterior chamber reactions in the two groups were significantly different (group 1; 0.61 +/- 0.64, group 2; 1.25 +/- 0.83, p = 0.001). The success rate of group 2 (43.3%) was not different from that of group 1 (31.3%; p = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: SLT on 180degrees of trabecular meshwork had a similar effect compared to that of SLT on 360degrees of trabecular meshwork in terms of IOP reduction. The authors of the present study suggest that 180degrees SLT is the safest procedure with regard to success rate and complications.

Development of EKC after Eximer Laser Photorefractive Surgery and Subsequent Recurrence of EKC-like Keratitis

This research focuses on four cases of patients having undergone eximer laser photorefractive surgery who were diagnosed with adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis during the postoperative period and who later developed epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC)-like keratitis. Two of the patients had undergone laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK), one had undergone laser in situ keratomileusis and one had photorefractive keratectomy. After the surgery adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis and recurrent late-developing EKC-like keratitis were observed in the patients. Recurrent late-developing EKC-like keratitis occurred in one of the patients, who had received LASEK as many as three times. The others had only one or two episodes.The corneal infiltrates of keratitis mainly occurred in the central cornea. Successful resolution of recurrent late-developing EKC-like keratitis was achieved through the use of topical steroids without sequelae and the final best-corrected visual acuity was as good as the base line. These keratitis infiltrates have been presumed to represent an immune response to the suspected adenoviral antigens deposited in corneal stroma during the primary adenoviral infection. Previous reports argued that patients with a history of adenoviral ketatoconjunctivitis were succeptible to adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis becoming reactivated; however, in our research, our patients had their first adenoviral infections after the eximer laser photorefractive surgery and reactivation was confirmed. We recommend that attention be paid to adenoviral infection after laser refractive operations, because these patients seem to have more frequent recurrences.

A case of pulmonary embolism occured after injection of bovine collagen / 대한내과학회지

Collagen and its products, used in some medical field are relatively safe but may induce hypersensitivity reaction. However, pulmonary embolism is a rare but serious complication after injection of them. A-48-year old woman was admitted because of cough, hemoptysis and dyspnea. Nine days ago, she had received breast augmentation with injectable collagen by unlicensed person. Four days later, she experienced cough, hemoptysis and dyspnea. On admission right side pleural effusion and peripheral distributed diffuse consolidations in both lungs were noted on chest radiograph. A computed tomographic (CT) scan of the chest showed non-segmental distribution of bilateral ground-glass opacity and interlobular septal thickening with multifocal consolidation in both lungs. Sputum and urine cytologic examination revealed foamy histiocytes containing lipid vaculoes. Conservative management was done under the impression of pulmonary embolism after collagen injection. She was dischared with full recovery. Here, we report a case of pulmonary embolism occurred after infection of collagen first in Korea.

MHC Class II Allele Association in Korean Children With IgA Aephropathy an its Pol as a Prognostic Factor

Diagnosis of a thymic carcinoid was made on transthoracic fine needle aspiration in a 36-year old woman who had an anterior mediastinal mass on chest X-ray and CT scan. The aspiration smears showed numerous anastomosing ribbons and cords of small round tumor cells. The tumor cells had slightly eccentric nuclei and some granular cytoplasm. The small and uniform nuclei of the tumor cells had finely granular chromatin and thin nuclear membrane. The cytologic diagnosis of a carcinoid was confirmed on histopathologic, immunohistochemical, and electromicroscopic examination of surgical specimen.

Intravaginal desensitization in a woman with seminal fluid allergy / 천식및알레르기

Human seminal fiuid (HSP) hypersensitivity is rare, but possibly a life-threatening disease. The pathogenesis of seminal plasma hypersensitivity and the exact nature of the HSP allergens remains to be clarified. We report a case of 25-year-old female patient who complained of severe itching sensation, flushing and edema of external genitalia, facial edema and dyspnea after sexual intercourse. The diagnosis was established by skin pr ick test with her husbands diluted semen. Intravaginal desensitization was performed by modified Matloffs method. Dilutions was made with sterile human serum albumin(0.2%) and 0.4% pheno1-0.9% saline solution. Two ml each of progressively greater concentrations of semen dilutions(1: 100,000 v/v, 1: 10,000 v/ v, 1:1,000 v/v, 1:100 v/v, 1:10 v/v) were inserted intravaginally at 45-min intervals, followed by an undiluted specimen. The patient was successfully desensitized and could have unprotected intercourse without anaphylaxis.