Safety of acupuncture during pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to analyse the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) cohort data to examine the safety of acupuncture therapy during pregnancy. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Korea. POPULATION OR SAMPLE: Women with confirmed pregnancy between 2003 and 2012 from the 2002-13 NHIS sample cohort (n = 20 799). METHODS: Women with confirmed pregnancy were identified and divided into acupuncture or control group for comparison of their outcomes. Differences in other factors such as age, and rate of high-risk pregnancy and multiple pregnancy were examined. In the acupuncture group, the most frequent acupuncture diagnosis codes and the timing of treatment were also investigated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of full-term delivery, preterm delivery and stillbirth by pregnancy duration and among the high-risk and multiple pregnancy groups. RESULTS: Of 20 799 pregnant women analysed, 1030 (4.95%) and 19 749 were in the acupuncture and control groups, respectively. Both overall (odds ratio [OR] 1.23; 95% CI 0.98-1.54), and in the stratified analysis of high-risk pregnancies (OR 1.09; 95% CI 0.73-1.64), there was no significant difference between acupuncture and control groups in preterm deliveries. No stillbirths occurred in the acupuncture group and 0.035% of pregnancies resulted in stillbirths in the control group. CONCLUSION: No significant difference in delivery outcomes (preterm delivery and stillbirth) was observed between confirmed pregnancies in the acupuncture and control groups. Therefore, in pregnancy, acupuncture therapy may be a safe therapeutic modality for relieving discomfort without an adverse delivery outcome. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: In pregnancy, acupuncture therapy may be a safe therapeutic modality for relieving discomfort without an adverse outcome.

Specific hippocampal choline decrease in an animal model of depression.

A decreased level of the hippocampal choline signal was found in patients with depression in previous proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) studies. The objective of this study is to compare choline levels before and after the forced swimming test (FST), an animal model of depression typically used for assessing antidepressant activity. (1)H-MRS spectra were obtained from both the left and right hippocampus. After the FST, rats showed a significant decrease of the choline/creatine (Cho/Cr, p = 0.037) and choline/N-acetylaspartate (Cho/NAA, p = 0.048) ratios in the left hippocampus, but not in the right hippocampus. This finding was analogous to results from patients with depression. It suggests that decreased Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratios in the left hippocampal regions might be considered to be biomarkers in rats with depression.

Durability of recycled aggregate concrete using pozzolanic materials.

In this study, pulverized fuel ash (PFA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) were used to compensate for the loss of strength and durability of concrete containing recycled aggregate. As a result, 30% PFA and 65% GGBS concretes increased the compressive strength to the level of control specimens cast with natural granite gravel, but the tensile strength was still lowered at 28 days. Replacement with PFA and GGBS was effective in raising the resistance to chloride ion penetrability into the concrete body, measured by a rapid chloride ion penetration test based on ASTM C 1202-91. It was found that the corrosion rate of 30% PFA and 65% GGBS concretes was kept at a lower level after corrosion initiation, compared to the control specimens, presumably due to the restriction of oxygen and water access. However, it was less effective in increasing the chloride threshold level for steel corrosion. Hence, it is expected that the corrosion time for 30% PFA and 65% GGBS concrete containing recycled aggregate mostly equates to the corrosion-free life of control specimens.

Laparoscopic-assisted resection of ileal lipoma causing ileo-ileo-colic intussusception.

Adult intussusception is rare, and the majority of cases has an underlying cause that requires surgical resection. We report a case of a 39 yr-old man with ileo-ileo-colic intussusception caused by ileal lipoma that was successfully managed by a laparoscopic-assisted surgical maneuver. Using a three-cannula technique, ileo-colic intussusception was reduced laparoscopically. Then, through a 4-cm transverse incision in the right lower quadrant abdomen, ileo-ileal intussusception was reduced manually, and a resection of the tumor-bearing ileal segment and end-to-end anastomosis was performed extracorporeally. Although the role of laparoscopy in managing intussusception is not clearly defined, laparoscopy may be an alternative approach to the surgical treatment of adult intussusception in selected cases.

Dietary effects on thyroid hormones in the red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus.

Juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) were cultured at 25°C on a variety of diets and blood sampled over eight weeks to examine the relationship between growth and plasma thyroid hormone levels. Maximum growth rates were achieved on formulated experimental diets and a simulated natural shrimp diet. Associated with these maximal rates was a significant increase in triidothyronine (T3), but no consistent change in thyroxine (T4). Reduced rations of diets resulted in low growth rates associated with significantly lowered levels of T3 but not T4. To determine whether weight gain could be increased by application of exogeneous hormone, diets were supplemented with T3 or T4 at 2, 10, and 50 mg hormone/kg diet. Significantly elevated T3 was induced by supplementation with 10 and 50 mg T3/kg diet, although there were no indications of an anabolic effect of T3 incorporation, and 50 mg T3/kg diet was in fact associated with decreased weight gain. Incorporation of T4 into diets had no effect on growth or T3, and had effects on T4 which were small and inconsistent, indicating that T4 may not be effectively absorbed from the gut. No difference was found in response to hormone feeding between low (6 ppt) or high (35 ppt) water salinity. T3 levels thus appear to closely parallel growth in fish on unsupplemented diets, whereas T4 which were small and manipulation. Supplementation with T3 is not an effective means of stimulating growth in red drum fed optimum diets. Whereas thyroid hormones may function to regulate intermediary metabolism in red drum, elevated endogenous thyroid hormone levels appear adequate to supply tissue needs during juvenile growth in culture.

Risk of gastric cancer among Korean familial adenomatous polyposis patients. Report of three cases.

Gastric cancer has been recognized as an extracolonic manifestation in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). In Korea, gastric cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm. In a recent survey, we collected data from 72 Korean patients with FAP. Among them, three (4.2 percent) were found to have associated gastric cancer. This incidence of gastric cancer in our series is much higher than the previous reports from Japan and other countries. The expected cumulative incidence of gastric cancer among these 72 patients was 0.44, which gives the standardized incidence ratio of 6.9 (95 percent CI, 1.4-20.1). This difference in incidence of gastric cancer was statistically significant (P less than 0.05), which implies that patients with FAP are at significantly higher risk of developing gastric cancer compared with the general population in Korea. These findings confirm an increased risk of gastric cancer in FAP patients, even in a region where gastric cancer is highly prevalent.