• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.324-332
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• 2016

Objectives: The annual average of PM10 in Seoul was $45{\mu}/m^3$, which surpasses the WHO annual guidelines ($20{\mu}/m^3$). Most previous analyses of the effects of PM exposure have been retrospective studies using single hospital data, and fewer studies have attempted to address the relationship of PM10 and hospital costs. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the concentration of PM10 on hospital visits, admissions and hospital costs in patients with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Methods: Medical data from the National Health Insurance Service and the monthly average of PM10 from National Institute of Environmental Research were used to identify the effects of PM10 on hospital visits, admissions and hospital costs. We applied Poisson regression and linear regression to perform the analysis. Results: The relative risks for admissions per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 23.11%, 10.2% and 6.9% increases for acute bronchiolitis, asthma and bronchitis, respectively. The relative risk for hospital visits per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 10.4%, 6.7% and 5.9% for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and chronic sinusitis, respectively. For cardiovascular disease, the relative risk for admissions per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 2.2% and 2.1% increases in angina and acute myocardial infarction, respectively. A $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in the monthly average of PM10 corresponded to 170,723,000 won (95% CI: 125,587,000-215,860,000 won), 123,636,000 won (95% CI: 47,784,000-199,487,000 won) and 78,571,000 won (95% CI: 29,062,000-128,081,000 won) increases in hospital costs for asthma, acute tonsillitis and chronic sinusitis, respectively. Conclusion: Hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular disease were associated with PM10 levels. PM10 exposure is also associated with increased costs for respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.104-107
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• 2015

Purpose: Nitric oxide (NO) is a vasodilator and inhaled NO (iNO) is used in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) to improve alveolocapillary gas exchange. The mechanism to improve oxygenation is likely to redistribute blood flow from unventilated areas to ventilated areas. Though improvement of oxygenation, iNO therapy has not been shown to improve mortality and considered as only rescue therapy in severe hypoxemia. We conducted the study to investigate an efficacy of iNO in trauma patients with severe hypoxemia. Methods: We reviewed the trauma patients who underwent iNO therapy retrospectively from 2010 to 2014. Degree of hypoxemia was represented as $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio (PFR) and the severity of patient was represented with sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score. Patients were divided into the survivor group and non-survivor group according to the 28-day mortality. Results: A total of 20 patients were enrolled. The mortality of 28-day was 40%. There were no significant differences between survivor and non-survivor group in age, sex, severity of injury, PFR and SOFA score. There was significant difference in initiation time of iNO after injury (p=0.047). Maximum combinations of sensitivity and specificity for timing of iNO therapy were observed using cut-off of 3-day after injury with a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 75%. Conclusion: Though iNO therapy does not influence the mortality, iNO therapy may decrease the mortality caused by respiratory failure in the early phase of trauma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.526-530
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• 2007

The incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been estimated worldwide to range from 1.7 to 75 cases per 100,000. There are many treatments for ARDS, but only the low tidal volume strategy is based on strong clinical evidence from randomized clinical trials. The efficacy of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in adults remains controversial. Ongoing clinical trials and research have shown a benefit for its use to salvage severe ARDS patients that are in failure with conventional treatment. We encountered a 41-year-old woman who developed ARDS induced by pneumococcal pneumonia. Despite conventional mechanical ventilation in the emergency room, severe hypoxia remained. We treated the patient immediately with ECLS. The patient has almost fully recovered, and was discharged from a 177-day stay at our hospital.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.248-254
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• 2020

Background: Although few studies have reported improved clinical outcomes with the administration of vitamin B1 and C in critically ill patients with septic shock or severe pneumonia, its clinical impact on patients with sepsis-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association with vitamin B and C supplementation and clinical outcomes in patients with ARDS. Methods: Patients with ARDS requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) were included in this study. Clinical outcomes were compared between patients administered with vitamin B1 (200 mg/day) and C (2 g/day) June 2018-May 2019 (the supplementation group) and those who did not receive vitamin B1 and C administration June 2017-May 2018 (the control group). Results: Seventy-nine patients were included. Thirty-three patients received vitamin B1 and C whereas 46 patients did not. Steroid administration was more frequent in patients receiving vitamin B1 and C supplementation than in those without it. There were no significant differences in the mortality between the patients who received vitamin B1 and C and those who did not. There were not significant differences in ventilator and ICU-free days between each of the 21 matched patients. Conclusion: Vitamin B1 and C supplementation was not associated with reduced mortality rates, and ventilator and ICU-free days in patients with sepsis-related ARDS requiring invasive mechanical ventilation.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.37-49
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• 2017

Objectives : This study analyzes the characteristics of prescription drugs for acute upper respiratory tract infection in outpatient clinics and provides basis for establishing the correct evaluation project on appropriate prescribing indicators. Methods : Research data were collected from two for each family medicine, internal medicine, pediatric, otorhinolaryngology and general practitioner clinics with a total of 10 clinics with diseases classifications codes J00-J06, J20 on patients receiving treatment between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013 every Monday in Busan City. Results : The antibiotic prescription rate in evaluating the project on appropriate prescribing indicators of Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service was 44.3%, whereas this study was approximately 30% higher because analysis to target the entire cold-related diagnosis. Conclusions : The correct antibiotic prescription by expanding the current assessment standard should be identified as a minor diagnosis because the evaluation project on appropriate prescribing indicators targets the major diagnosis only.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.654-660
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• 1998

Pulmonary embolism is one of the moot common acute pulmonary disease in the adult general hospital population However, the disease is still frequently unsuspected and underdiagnosed due to the nonspecificity of both clinical findings and laboratory tests. The chest radiography in a patient suspected acute pulmonary embolism do not provide adequate information to establish or exclude the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Even in the case of infarction, there is no pathognomonic clues on the chest film. Rarely infarction presents unusual roentgenologic manifestation such as lobar consolidation, coin lesion, multinodular opacity, or massive pleural effusion Especially, lobar consolidation in pulmonary embolism might mislead into the diagnosis of pneumonia. We experienced a case of pulmonary embolism presenting lobar consolidation in a 62 years old woman, originated from deep vein thrombosis. She took a compression stocking and underwent anticoagulant therapy with excellent outcome.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2015

The case of a patient with a transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) to whom extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) had been applied is reported. A 55-year-old male injured with liver laceration (grade 3) without chest injury after car accident. He received lots of blood transfusion and underwent damage control abdominal surgery. In the immediate postoperative period, he suffered from severe hypoxia and respiratory acidosis despite of vigorous management such as 100% oxygen with mechanical ventilation, high PEEP and muscle relaxant. Finally, ECMO was applied to the patients as a last resort. Aggressive treatment with ECMO improved the oxygenation and reduced the acidosis. Unfortunately, the patient died of liver failure and infection. TRALI is a part of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The use of ECMO for TRALI induced severe hypoxemia might be a useful option for providing time to allow the injured lung to recover.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1724-1728
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• 2009

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) helicase separates the double-stranded nucleic acids using the energy from ATP hydrolysis. We have measured ATPase activity of SARS-CoV helicase in the presence of various types of nucleic acids. Steady state ATPase analysis showed that poly(U) has two-times higher turnover number than poly(C) with lower Michaelis constant. When M13 single-stranded DNA is used as substrate, the Michaelis constant was about twenty-times lower than poly(U), whereas turnover numbers were similar. However, stimulation of ATPase activity was not observed in the presence of double-stranded DNA. pH dependent profiles of ATP hydrolysis with the helicase showed that the optimal ATPase activities were in a range of pH 6.2 ~ 6.6. In addition, ATP hydrolysis activity assays performed in the presence of various divalent cations exhibited that $Mg^{2+}$ stimulated the ATPase activity with the highest rate and $Mn^{2+}$ with about 40% rate as compared to the $Mg^{2+}$.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.186-191
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• 2006

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), a distant member of the Group 2 coronaviruses, has recently been identified as the etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The genome of SARS-CoV contains four structural genes that are homologous to genes found in other coronaviruses, as well as six subgroup-specific open reading frames (ORFs). ORF3 encodes a predicted 154-amino-acid protein that lacks similarity to any known protein, and is designated 3b in this article. We reported previously that SARS-CoV 3b is predominantly localized in the nucleolus, and induces G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in transfected cells. In this study, we show that SARS-CoV 3b fused with EGFP at its N- or C- terminus co-localized with a mitochondriaspecific marker in some transfected cells. Mutation analysis of SARS-CoV 3b revealed that the domain spanning amino acids 80 to 138 was essential for its mitochondria localization. These results provide new directions for studies of the role of SARS-CoV 3b protein in SARS pathogenesis.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.155-158
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• 2011

Mechanical ventilation is usually the treatment of choice for severe respiratory failure associated with trauma. However, in case of severe hypoxia, mechanical ventilation may not be sufficient for gas exchange in lungs. Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) undergo difficulties in oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is the ideal therapeutic option for those patients with severe traumatic injuries. ECMO allows lungs to reserve their functions and decreases further lung injuries while increasing survival rate at the same time. We report two cases of patients with traumatic ARDS and Multiple Organ Failure including compromised heart function. The preservation of lung function was successful using ECMO therapy.