Accuracy and efficiency of an artificial intelligence tool when counting breast mitoses.

BACKGROUND: The mitotic count in breast carcinoma is an important prognostic marker. Unfortunately substantial inter- and intra-laboratory variation exists when pathologists manually count mitotic figures. Artificial intelligence (AI) coupled with whole slide imaging offers a potential solution to this problem. The aim of this study was to accordingly critique an AI tool developed to quantify mitotic figures in whole slide images of invasive breast ductal carcinoma. METHODS: A representative H&E slide from 320 breast invasive ductal carcinoma cases was scanned at 40x magnification. Ten expert pathologists from two academic medical centers labeled mitotic figures in whole slide images to train and validate an AI algorithm to detect and count mitoses. Thereafter, 24 readers of varying expertise were asked to count mitotic figures with and without AI support in 140 high-power fields derived from a separate dataset. Their accuracy and efficiency of performing these tasks were calculated and statistical comparisons performed. RESULTS: For each experience level the accuracy, precision and sensitivity of counting mitoses by users improved with AI support. There were 21 readers (87.5%) that identified more mitoses using AI support and 13 reviewers (54.2%) that decreased the quantity of falsely flagged mitoses with AI. More time was spent on this task for most participants when not provided with AI support. AI assistance resulted in an overall time savings of 27.8%. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that pathology end-users were more accurate and efficient at quantifying mitotic figures in digital images of invasive breast carcinoma with the aid of AI. Higher inter-pathologist agreement with AI assistance suggests that such algorithms can also help standardize practice. Not surprisingly, there is much enthusiasm in pathology regarding the prospect of using AI in routine practice to perform mundane tasks such as counting mitoses.

Increased Risk of Osteoporotic Fracture in Postgastrectomy Gastric Cancer Survivors Compared With Matched Controls: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Korea.

OBJECTIVES: Gastrectomy can lead to bone loss. Previous studies have suggested that there is an increased risk of fracture in gastric cancer survivors. However, these studies were performed without proper control groups. Therefore, we used Korean national health insurance data to compare the fracture risk in gastric cancer survivors who received gastrectomy to that of the general population. METHODS: A total of 133,179 gastric cancer survivors were included and matched to noncancer controls using 1:1 propensity score matching. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to determine the relative risk of fracture between the gastric cancer survivors and matched controls. We also examined the factors associated with fracture in gastric cancer survivors. RESULTS: Compared with the matched controls, gastric cancer survivors had an elevated risk of osteoporotic fracture (hazard ratio [HR] 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.53-1.70), which was most prominent in patients who underwent total gastrectomy (HR 2.18, 95% CI 1.96-2.44) and adjuvant chemotherapy (HR 2.01, 95% CI 1.81-2.23). In multivariate analysis, anemia was significantly associated with increased fracture risk (aHR 1.34, 95% CI 1.13-1.59), while decrease in weight >5% was not (aHR 1.06, 95% CI 0.89-1.25). DISCUSSION: Gastric cancer survivors who underwent gastrectomy had an increased osteoporotic fracture risk than did matched controls. Total gastrectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy, and anemia were associated with an even higher risk in these patients. Additional studies are needed to establish optimal strategies, such as screening for osteoporosis and preventive interventions, that will reduce fracture risk in this population.

Increased cardiovascular risk in thyroid cancer patients taking levothyroxine: a nationwide cohort study in Korea.

Objective Many thyroid cancer patients are exposed to long-term thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression, often as lifetime treatment, and are consequently at risk for cardiovascular disease. We investigated the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischemic stroke among thyroid cancer patients compared with matched control subjects. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods A total of 182 419 subjects who received thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer during 2004-2012 were selected from the Korean National Health Insurance data, which cover approximately 97% of the entire Korean population. Propensity score matching was used to select non-cancer controls. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to determine relative risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke. Mean follow-up was 4.32 years. Results Thyroid cancer patients had elevated risk for CHD and ischemic stroke with hazard ratio (HR) of 1.15 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-1.22) and 1.15 (1.09-1.22), respectively. This risk was increased in those who took a higher dosage of levothyroxine (HR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.34-1.60 for CHD and HR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.42-1.72 for ischemic stroke among those who took ≥170 µg/day levothyroxine). Although risk of atrial fibrillation was dose-dependently associated with levothyroxine dosage, it represents only a small proportion of ischemic stroke incidence (4.4%, 128/2914). Conclusions The risk for CHD and ischemic stroke was higher in thyroid cancer patients who received thyroidectomy, and the dosage of levothyroxine administered appears to play a major role. Greater caution is suggested for the screening and treatment of thyroid cancer and subsequent TSH suppression therapy, as well as proper management for cardiovascular disease prevention.

Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Ischemic Stroke Incidence in Gastric Cancer Survivors: A Nationwide Study in Korea.

BACKGROUND: Small studies suggest improvement of cardiovascular risk profiles and reduced cardiovascular mortality after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. In our study using national health insurance data, we investigated coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischemic stroke incidence among gastric cancer patients who received gastrectomy compared with general population controls. METHODS: A total of 98,936 gastric cancer patients were included in the study and matched to non-cancer controls via 1:1 propensity score matching. Competing risk regression analysis was used to determine the relative risk of CHD and ischemic stroke, with cancer mortality as the competing risk. Changes in cardiovascular risk profile before and after gastrectomy were tested, and factors associated with CHD or ischemic stroke incidence among gastric cancer patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the matched controls, gastric cancer patients who received gastrectomy were shown to have a decreased risk for both CHD (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57-0.63) and ischemic stroke (SHR 0.72, 95% CI 0.69-0.75). Decreases in body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipid and hemoglobin levels were marked after gastrectomy. Among gastric cancer patients, those who lost > 5% of their body weight were at lower risk of developing CHD (SHR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.96) and ischemic stroke (SHR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: CHD and ischemic stroke risk decreased after gastrectomy. The amount of weight loss and accompanying metabolic changes seemed to mediate the reduction of such risk. Reassessment of cardiovascular risk factors after gastrectomy and consideration of cardiovascular risk in the selection of treatment modality are suggested.

Incidentally detected atherosclerosis in the abdominal aorta or its major branches on computed tomography is highly associated with coronary heart disease in asymptomatic adults.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic lesions in the abdominal aorta or its major branches are often incidentally detected on abdominal CT. However, clinical implications and optimal subsequent management are mostly left undetermined. METHODS: Consecutive, asymptomatic adults (age≥30) who underwent both abdominal CT and coronary computed tomography angiography as part of a self-referred health check-up were investigated (n = 1494). RESULTS: Adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors, abdominal atherosclerotic lesions with stenosis<25% were associated with significant coronary stenosis, especially in the abdominal aorta (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99-11.45) and any common iliac artery (aOR 2.99, 95% CI 1.43-6.26). The association was higher in atherosclerotic lesions with stenosis≥25%, respectively (aOR 16.39, 95% CI 4.00-67.11; aOR 7.32, 95% CI 2.84-18.86). Furthermore, any major abdominal artery stenosis added predictive value to significant coronary stenosis (area under the receiver operating curve: 0.7598 vs. 0.8019, P < 0.001). The extent of arterial territory involvement was associated with the presence of significant coronary stenoses (P for trend <0.001). CONCLUSION: Stenotic atherosclerotic lesions in the abdominal aorta or its major branches incidentally detected on abdominal CT are relatively prevalent and carry high risk for asymptomatic coronary arterial disease.

J-Shaped Association Between Postoperative Levothyroxine Dosage and Fracture Risk in Thyroid Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Long-term administration of supraphysiologic dosages of levothyroxine can have detrimental effect on the bone. We aimed to investigate fracture incidence among post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients compared with a matched comparison group, and explore the association between levothyroxine dosage and fracture risk. From the Korean National Health Insurance database, virtually all thyroid cancer patients who received thyroidectomy in Korea from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2012 were included. Matched subjects were selected by 1:1 propensity score matching. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to determine relative risk of osteoporotic fracture. Of 185,956 thyroid cancer patients identified, fracture events were observed in 1096 subjects (0.56%) over a mean 4.35 years of follow-up. Compared to the matched comparison group, thyroid cancer patients had no elevated risk of osteoporotic fracture (hazard ratio [HR] 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94 to 1.12); however, the highest dosage group (≥170 µg/day) showed significantly higher risk (HR 1.25; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.45), while the second quartile dosage group (115-144 µg/day) showed lower risk (HR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59 to 0.84) compared to a matched comparison group. When the second quartile dosage group was considered as reference, increased fracture risk was observed in those who took either lower (first quartile: adjusted HR 1.31; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.59) or higher dosage of levothyroxine (third quartile: adjusted HR 1.50; 95% CI, 1.26 to 1.79; fourth quartile: adjusted HR 1.79; 95% CI, 1.51 to 2.13). Thyroid cancer patients were more likely to be treated with osteoporosis medication (HR 1.22; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.26) than the matched comparison group. Both high and low dosage of levothyroxine treatment was associated with a higher risk for fractures in a J-shaped dose-dependent manner in post-thyroidectomy patients. Future studies are needed to determine how to optimize thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression and how to screen and manage fracture risk. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Trend Analysis for the Choice and Cost of Lung Cancer Treatment in South Korea, 2003-2013.

PURPOSE: Our study aimed to report the annual changes in lung cancer statistics and analyze trends in sociodemographic, medical, and financial factors from 2003 to 2013 in the national database from the Korean National Health Insurance (KNHI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 7,489 patients with code C34 in KNHI database, only lung cancer patients newly diagnosed after 2003 were included in the study population, for a total of 4,582 patients. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize treatment patterns and medical costs according to sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Approximately 70% of subjects were male, and the mean age was 67 years. Around 46% of patients were over 70 years old, and 12% were over 80 years old. The medical costs were highest for patients younger than 60 and lowest for those over 80 years old. Surgery was more common in younger patients, while "no treatment" increased greatly with age. In trend analysis, the proportions of aging (p for trend < 0.001), female (p for trend=0.003), metropolitan/urban (p for trend=0.041), and lowest or highest-income patients (p for trend=0.004) increased over time, along with the prevalence of surgery as the primary treatment (p for trend < 0.001). There was also a trend with regard to change in medical costs (p for trend < 0.001), in that those of surgery and radiotherapy increased. CONCLUSION: Surgery as a curative treatment has increased over the past decade. However, the elderly, suburban/rural residents, and low-income patients were more likely to be untreated. Therefore, active measures are required for these increasingly vulnerable groups.

Elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and ischemic stroke risk in generally healthy adults.

Elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported as a marker for chronic inflammation, associated with poor prognosis in ischemic stroke patients, but there has been no study that investigated its association with ischemic stroke risk. This study was conducted to investigate elevated NLR as an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke incidence. Our retrospective cohort study included 24,708 generally healthy subjects aged 30-75 who received self-referred health screening at Seoul National University Hospital. Data on ischemic stroke incidence was retrieved from national medical claims registry. Median follow-up time was 5.9 years (interquartile range 4.2 years). Adjusted for major cardiovascular risk factors, compared to subjects with NLR<1.5, subjects with 2.5≤NLR<3.0, 3.0≤NLR<3.5, and NLR≥3.5 had elevated risk for ischemic stroke incidence with aHR (95% CI) of 1.76 (1.09-2.84), 2.21 (1.21-4.04), and 2.96 (1.57-5.58), respectively. NLR showed significant improvement in discrimination for ischemic stroke incidence compared to traditional cardiovascular risk factors (C-index 0.748 vs. 0.739, P = 0.025). There was significant net improvement in reclassification in Framingham risk for ischemic stroke incidence after addition of NLR, with IDI 0.0035 (P<0.0001), and NRI 6.02% (P = 0.0015). This reclassification for ischemic stroke incidence by NLR was markedly pronounced among subjects with atrial fibrillation with CHA2DS2-VASc<2 (NRI 42.41%, P = 0.056). Our study suggests elevated NLR to be an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke incidence in generally healthy adults. Future studies are needed to validate our results and further assess how subjects with elevated NLR should be managed within current guidelines.

KRAS G12C mutation as a poor prognostic marker of pemetrexed treatment in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The predictive and prognostic value of KRAS mutation and its type of mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial. This clinical study was designed to investigate the predictive value of KRAS mutations and its mutation types to pemetrexed and gemcitabine based treatment. METHODS: Advanced NSCLC patients tested for KRAS mutation (n = 334) were retrospectively reviewed and 252 patients with wild type epidermal growth factor receptor and no anaplastic lymphoma kinase fusion were enrolled for the analysis. KRAS mutations were observed in 45 subjects with mutation type as followed: G12C (n = 13), G12D (n = 12), G12V (n = 12), other (n = 8). Response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) of pemetrexed singlet and gemcitabine based chemotherapy were analysis. RESULTS: Age, sex, performance status were well balanced between subjects with or without KRAS mutations. No difference was observed in RR. Hazard ratio (HR) of PFS for pemetrexed treated subjects with G12C mutation compared to subjects with KRAS wild type was 1.96 (95% confidential interval [CI], 1.01 to 3.79; p = 0.045), but other mutations failed to show clinical significance. By analysis done by PFS, compared to the subjects with transition mutation, HR was 1.48 (95% CI, 0.64 to 3.40; p = 0.360) for subjects with transversion mutation on pemetrexed treatment and 0.41 (95% CI, 0.19 to 0.87; p = 0.020) for subjects treated with gemcitabine based chemotherapy. No difference was observed in OS. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, different drug sensitivity was observed according to the type of KRAS mutation. NSCLC subpopulations with different KRAS mutation type should be considered as different subgroups and optimal chemotherapy regimens should be searched in further confirmative studies.

National Practice Pattern and Time Trends in Treatment of Upper Urinary Tract Calculi in Korea: a Nationwide Population-Based Study.

Despite high prevalence of upper urinary tract calculi (UUTC), there are few studies regarding patterns of care in Asian populations. We investigated treatment patterns and time trends in patients with newly diagnosed UUTC in Korea using the National Health Insurance database that includes de-identified claims from a random 2% sample of the entire population (> 1 million people). A total of 14,282 patients who received active treatments, including shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), ureteroscopic surgery (URS), percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), and uretero/pyelolithotomy (UPL), for newly diagnosed UUTC between 2003 and 2013 were included. The number of primary and all treated cases of UUTC significantly (43% and 103.3%, respectively) increased over the 10-year period. While patients undergoing SWL, URS, PNL, and UPL as primary treatment increased by 43.7%, 31.9%, 87.5%, and 0%, respectively, the relative proportion undergoing each treatment remained constant over the 10 years (SWL > 90%, URS 4.5% to 7.8%, PNL 0.4% to 1.0%, and UPL < 0.4%, respectively). Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that age > 40 years (compared to age < 30 years) was significantly associated with URS, PNL, and UPL, rather than SWL, while patients living in urban or suburban/rural areas (compared to metropolitan) were significantly less likely to undergo URS and PNL. In summary, the majority of Korean patients underwent SWL as primary treatment for UUTC, and the predominant use of SWL remained steady over a 10-year period in Korea. Our results will be valuable in examining treatment patterns and time trends in Korean UUTC patients.

Development and application of culturally appropriate decision aids for smoking cessation in Korea: a pragmatic clustered randomization crossover trial.

INTRODUCTION: In Asian countries, reluctance to seek pharmacological intervention is a major barrier for smoking cessation. Culturally appropriate decision aids are expected to help people in the decision making for the use of smoking cessation medication. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a culturally tailored decision aid for smoking cessation and evaluate its effect on the use of smoking cessation medication. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 7-minute video on smoking cessation information and options was developed. Physicians were randomized into intervention and control groups. The decision aid was provided to patients in the intervention group, and they watched it, while those in the control group were provided usual medical care for smoking cessation. The primary outcome was the proportion of smokers who were prescribed smoking cessation medication within 1 month after consultation. The secondary outcomes were abstinence rate and use of smoking cessation medication within 6 months. A logistic regression analysis was used to assess the effect of the decision aid on the outcomes. RESULTS: In total, 414 current smokers (intervention group: 195; control group: 219) were enrolled. The mean age of the participants was 48.2 years, and 381 subjects (92%) were males. In total, 11.8% of the participants in the intervention group and 10.5% in the control group were prescribed smoking cessation medications within 1 month. The odds ratio was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.40-2.63) after adjustment for baseline characteristics. Within 6 months, 17.4% of the participants in the intervention group and 15% in the control group were prescribed medication (adjusted odds ratio 1.12, 95% CI: 0.59-2.13). CONCLUSION: The culturally tailored smoking cessation decision aid developed in this study did not show a significant impact on the decision to use smoking cessation medication. Further research to develop more effective and more interactive interventions is expected.

Cause of Death in Korean Men with Prostate Cancer: an Analysis of Time Trends in a Nationwide Cohort.

Despite rapid increase in incidence of prostate cancer (PC) and PC survivors, there are few studies regarding competing causes of death and time trends in Asian population. We conducted a cohort study of 2% nationwide random sample of Korean National Health Insurance employees. A total of 873 patients who had received active treatments, including surgery, radiation therapy (RT) and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), for newly diagnosed PC between 2003 and 2010 were included. The cause of death was categorized as PC, other cancers, cardiovascular disease, and other causes. During a median follow-up of 4.75 years, 29.4% (257/873) of the study population died. PC, other cancers, cardiovascular disease, and other causes were responsible for 46.3%, 35.4%, 6.6%, and 11.7%, respectively, of the decedents. Significant differences existed in the cause of death among treatment groups (P < 0.001). Only 20% and 9.5% of surgery and RT group died of PC, whereas 63.9% of ADT group died of PC. Other cancers were responsible for 56%, 74.6% and 17.8% of death in the surgery, RT and ADT group, respectively, while cardiovascular disease accounted for 4%, 6.3%, and 7.1% of death in the treatment groups. Analysis of time trends showed that PC-specific death tended to decrease (from 42.9% in 2003 to 23.1% in 2010), whereas non-PC causes tended to increase over the 8 years. Our results are valuable in overviewing causes of death and time trends in Korean PC patients, and planning future health policy for PC.

Pretreatment albumin-to-globulin ratio as a predictive marker for tyrosine kinase inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: A low albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) has been known as a prognostic factor for cancer-related mortality. However, no study has elucidated its usefulness as a predictive factor in the era of targeted therapy, and so, we evaluated this in the present study. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 2012 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Among these patients, 645 patients who had EGFR mutation and suitable pretreatment laboratory values were included. AGR was calculated 2 months before treatment and 4 months after treatment in each patient. The optimal cutoff value of AGR, and progression free survival (PFS) were also determined. RESULTS: The optimal cutoff value of AGR was 1.17, which yielded a highest HR of 1.89 (P< 0.001) for poor PFS. The median PFS was 9.5 months (95% confidential interval [CI] 7.0-10.4) in patients with pretreatment AGR < 1.17 and 13.5 months (95% CI 11.9-14.7) in those with pretreatment AGR ≥ 1.17. Pretreatment AGR showed an independent predictive value (adjusted HR 1.80, P < 0.001) when age, performance status, and pre-TKI systemic treatment was adjusted for. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that patients with NSCLC with EGFR mutations who have AGR values lower than 1.17 at the beginning of EGFR TKI treatment should be considered to have a high risk of early EGFR TKI failure.

Nutritional status in the era of target therapy: poor nutrition is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer with activating epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Pretreatment nutritional status is an important prognostic factor in patients treated with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. In the era of target therapies, its value is overlooked and has not been investigated. The aim of our study is to evaluate the value of nutritional status in targeted therapy. METHODS: A total of 2012 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were reviewed and 630 patients with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) were enrolled for the final analysis. Anemia, body mass index (BMI), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) were considered as nutritional factors. Hazard ratio (HR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for each group were calculated by Cox proportional analysis. In addition, scores were applied for each category and the sum of scores was used for survival analysis. RESULTS: In univariable analysis, anemia (HR, 1.29; p = 0.015), BMI lower than 18.5 (HR, 1.98; p = 0.002), and PNI lower than 45 (HR, 1.57; p < 0.001) were poor prognostic factors for PFS. Among them, BMI and PNI were independent in multi-variable analysis. All of these were also significant prognostic values for OS. The higher the sum of scores, the poorer PFS and OS were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment nutritional status is a prognostic marker in NSCLC patients treated with EGFR TKI. Hence, baseline nutritional status should be more carefully evaluated and adequate nutrition should be supplied to these patients.

Association Between Change in Serum Aminotransferase and Mortality: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Korea.

There is little information on how the change in serum aminotransferase affects mortality. We investigated the association between changes in serum aminotransferase levels and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and liver disease.Three percent of men from the Korean National Health Insurance database were sampled randomly at the end of 2002. After excluding patients with cancer, CVD, CVD risk factors, or liver disease, those who participated in 2 consecutive rounds of the national health screening examination were included (n = 68,431). The primary outcome was CVD mortality. Secondary outcomes were liver disease mortality and all-cause mortality. Change in metabolic profiles was analyzed based on changes in liver enzyme levels. Elevated levels of serum aminotransferase were associated with CVD, liver disease, and all-cause mortality. Men who had sustained elevation of serum aminotransferase during 2 subsequent liver enzyme tests showed a significantly higher risk of CVD mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-3.56, 2.29; 1.27-4.12) than the sustained normal group. In contrast, the normalization group (aHR 1.52, 95% CI 0.82-2.81 for aspartate aminotransferase [AST]; aHR 1.35, 95% CI 0.70-2.61 for alanine aminotransferase [ALT]) and the new elevation group (aHR 1.27, 0.66-2.44 for AST; aHR 0.99, 95% CI 0.49-2.20 for ALT) were not different from the sustained normal group in CVD mortality.Individuals with serum aminotransferase elevation, particularly when sustained, are at higher risk of mortality, and should receive appropriate medical attention.

Changing Patterns of Primary Treatment in Korean Men with Prostate Cancer Over 10 Years: A Nationwide Population Based Study.

PURPOSE: We investigated changing patterns of primary treatment in Korean men with prostate cancer (PC) and impact of sociodemographic factors on treatment choice from a nationwide cohort over 10 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of a 2% nationwide random sample of Korean National Health Insurance. A total of 1,382 patients who had undergone active treatments for newly diagnosed PC between 2003 and 2013 were included. Time trends in primary treatment of PC, including radical surgery, radiation therapy (RT), and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) were analyzed. RESULTS: Total number of patients undergoing active treatments increased significantly (162%). Surgery cases showed the most significant increase, from 22.4% in 2003 to 45.4% in 2013, while the relative proportion of ADT showed a tendency to decrease from 60.3% in 2003 to 45.4% in 2013, and the relative proportion of RT was variable over 10 years (from 7.2% to 18.4%). While treatment patterns differed significantly according to age (p < 0.001) and income classes (p=0.014), there were differences in primary treatment according to residential area. In multinomial logistic regression analysis, older patients showed significant association with ADT or RT compared to surgery, while patients with higher income showed significant association with surgery. CONCLUSION: Treatment pattern in Korean PC patients has changed remarkably over the last 10 years. Sociodemographic factors do affect the primary treatment choice. Our results will be valuable in overviewing changing patterns of primary treatment in Korean PC patients and planning future health policy for PC.

Early repolarization is associated with significant coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic adults.

The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between early repolarization (ERP) and coronary heart disease (CHD) by evaluating its association with coronary artery stenosis and plaques. Consecutive asymptomatic adults aged 30 or more without CHD were investigated (n = 3100). Adjusting for major cardiovascular risk factors, ERP was significantly associated with significant coronary stenosis with incremental predictive value (aOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.13-2.60; ROC AUC 0.763 vs. 0.723, P < 0.001; NRI 4.86%, P = 0.042; IDI 0.0030, P = 0.040), specifically in intermediate risk group (aOR 2.33, 95% CI 1.29-4.20; ROC AUC 0.753 vs. 0.708, P = 0.001). ERP was shown to be especially associated with significant coronary stenosis with non-calcified plaque (aOR 2.26, 95% CI 1.28-3.98). Our study is the first to directly show the association of ERP with CHD. Future studies are needed to replicate our results and investigate whether it would be beneficial to include ERP in risk algorithms for CHD screening.

Depression and Its Severity Are Strongly Associated with Both Storage and Voiding Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Independently of Prostate Volume.

Depression is related to various functional medical conditions. Its association with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) is also expected. We evaluated whether depression and its severity are associated with LUTS when LUTS risk factors including prostate volume (PV) are taken into account in a large population of Korean men. Study subjects included 10,275 men who underwent routine health check-ups at the Healthcare System Gangnam Center of Seoul National University Hospital. Depression was assessed using Beck Depression Inventory-II and LUTS using international prostate symptom score. PV was measured using transrectal ultrasonography by a radiologist. Effect sizes of depression severity on total, storage, and voiding symptoms were assessed. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, mild, moderate and severe depression were associated with total (adjusted odds ratio: aOR = 2.99, 3.86 and 8.99; all P < 0.001), voiding (aOR = 3.04, 3.28 and 5.58; all P < 0.001) and storage symptoms (aOR = 2.43, 3.43 and 2.89; all P < 0.05) showing dose response relationships (all P trend < 0.001). In a subgroup analysis for participants with PV data (n = 1,925), mild and moderate-severe depression were also associated with LUTS (aOR = 3.29, 2.84; P < 0.001 and 0.018, respectively). In conclusion, depression and its severity are strongly associated with total, voiding, and storage symptoms independently of PV state.

Treatment Gap in the National Health-screening Program in Korea: Claim-based Follow-up of Statin Use for Sustained Hypercholesterolemia.

Participation in a screening program by itself may not improve clinical outcomes. Treatment gaps in the program may limit its full benefit. We evaluated statin prescription rates for subjects with sustained hypercholesterolemia to assess the treatment gaps in the National Health Screening Program (NHSP) in Korea. A retrospective, random cohort was established among National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) members. Finally, we examined 465,499 individuals who attended the NHSP from 2003 to 2010 without any history of dyslipidemia, statin prescription, or hospitalization for cardiovascular events until the end of 2002. The subsequent statin prescription rates were identified from the NHIC medical service claim database from 2003 to 2011. Descriptive data and odds ratio from multivariate logistic analyses on statin prescription rates and the corresponding correlations were evaluated. The NHSP detected 114,085 (24.5%) cases of newly diagnosed hypercholesterolemia. However, only 8.6% of these received statin prescription within 6 months of diagnosis. For cases of sustained hypercholesterolemia determined in the next screening visit by the NHSP, the statin prescription rate increased, but only to 12.2%. Statin prescriptions were more common among females, older individuals, and hypertension or diabetes patients. Furthermore, the statin prescription rates had increased over the study period. The NHSP exhibited low statin prescription rate which has been improving. For the NHSP to be effective, it would be worthwhile to decrease the gap between the diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia and the following treatment.