• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1224-1233
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of add-on therapy with certolizumab pegol (CZP) in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients of a single ethnicity. Methods: In this 24-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, eligible patients (n = 127) were randomized 2:1 to subcutaneous CZP + methotrexate (MTX; 400 mg at week 0, 2, and 4 followed by 200 mg every 2 weeks) or placebo + MTX. Results: At week 24, the American College of Rheumatology criteria for 20% (ACR20) response rate was significantly greater with CZP + MTX than with placebo (66.7% vs. 27.5%, p < 0.001). Differences in ACR20 response rates for CZP vs. placebo were significant from week 1 (p < 0.05) and remained significant through week 24. The CZP group reported significant improvement in physical function and disability compared to the placebo group (p < 0.001) at week 24, as assessed by Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (KHAQ-DI). Post hoc analysis indicated that the proportion of patients who had ACR70 responses, Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) low disease activity, and DAS28 remission at week 24 was greater in CZP + MTX-treated patients who achieved a decrease in DAS28 ${\geq}1.2$ (43.8%) at week 4 than in nonresponders. Among 18 (22.2%) and 14 patients (35.0%) in CZP and placebo groups who had latent tuberculosis (TB), none developed active TB. Most adverse events were mild or moderate. Conclusions: CZP treatment combined with MTX in active RA patients with moderate to severe disease activity and an inadequate response to MTX resulted in rapid onset of efficacy, which is associated with better clinical outcome at week 24 and has an acceptable safety profile, especially in an intermediate TB-burden population.

• Journal of Bone Metabolism
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.195-211
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• 2018

Background: To develop guidelines and recommendations to prevent and treat glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) in Korea. Methods: The Korean Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the Korean College of Rheumatology have developed this guideline based on Guidance for the Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines ver. 1.0 established by the National Evidence-Based Healthcare Collaborating Agency. This guideline was developed by adapting previously published guidelines, and a systematic review and quality assessment were performed. Results: This guideline applies to adults aged ${\geq}19years$ who are using or plan to use GCs. It does not include children and adolescents. An initial assessment of fracture risk should be performed within 6 months of initial GC use. Fracture risk should be estimated using the fracture-risk assessment tool (FRAX) after adjustments for GC dose, history of osteoporotic fractures, and bone mineral density (BMD) results. All patients administered with prednisolone or an equivalent medication at a dose ${\geq}2.5mg/day$ for ${\geq}3months$ are recommended to use adequate calcium and vitamin D during treatment. Patients showing a moderate-to-high fracture risk should be treated with additional medication for osteoporosis. All patients continuing GC therapy should undergo annual BMD testing, vertebral X-ray, and fracture risk assessment using FRAX. When treatment failure is suspected, switching to another drug should be considered. Conclusions: This guideline is intended to guide clinicians in the prevention and treatment of GIOP.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1119-1129
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• 2018

Objective: To compare the image quality of low-tube-voltage and low-iodine-concentration-contrast-medium (LVLC) computed tomography urography (CTU) with iterative reconstruction (IR) with that of conventional CTU. Materials and Methods: This prospective, multi-institutional, randomized controlled trial was performed at 16 hospitals using CT scanners from various vendors. Patients were randomly assigned to the following groups: 1) the LVLC-CTU (80 kVp and 240 mgI/mL) with IR group and 2) the conventional CTU (120 kVp and 350 mgI/mL) with filtered-back projection group. The overall diagnostic acceptability, sharpness, and noise were assessed. Additionally, the mean attenuation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and figure of merit (FOM) in the urinary tract were evaluated. Results: The study included 299 patients (LVLC-CTU group: 150 patients; conventional CTU group: 149 patients). The LVLC-CTU group had a significantly lower effective radiation dose ($5.73{\pm}4.04$ vs. $8.43{\pm}4.38mSv$) compared to the conventional CTU group. LVLC-CTU showed at least standard diagnostic acceptability (score ${\geq}3$), but it was non-inferior when compared to conventional CTU. The mean attenuation value, mean SNR, CNR, and FOM in all pre-defined segments of the urinary tract were significantly higher in the LVLC-CTU group than in the conventional CTU group. Conclusion: The diagnostic acceptability and quantitative image quality of LVLC-CTU with IR are not inferior to those of conventional CTU. Additionally, LVLC-CTU with IR is beneficial because both radiation exposure and total iodine load are reduced.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.198-204
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• 2019

Various treatments can be attempted in patients with intractable epilepsy, in whom the symptoms of seizures are not controlled by various drugs. On the other hand, in patients requiring a surgical method, a preoperative examination is needed to determine the portion of seizure site to be resected. Electrodes are inserted into the cerebral cortex for accurate lesion measurements and safe operation. The electrodes inserted in the cortex not only record the electroencephalography (EEG), but also allow various tests to confirm the function of the part. One of these methods is the evoked potential test. From January 2015 to December 2018, the trends of measured waveforms in were analyzed 70 patients. The somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) recorded on the electrode inserted in the cerebral cortex can be searched for the pathway of the central sulcus to avoid the primary motor area and primary sensory area. In addition, using the middle latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEP) and flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP), the functional cortex in the auditory cortex and the visual cortex were compared with the seizure focus point on the EEG to help determine the location of the ablation and minimize functional impairment after surgery.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.150-159
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• 2019

Nowadays, dental implant is one of the widely used treatment options for edentulous patients. Recently, a method of improving the accuracy of implant surgery using an implant surgical guide has been introduced and widely used in order to accurately place the implant in a proper position. Full-guided and half-guided implant surgery can be distinguished according to the level of surgical guide application during the implant surgery. It is true that full-guided implant surgery exhibits higher accuracy, but half- guided implant surgery is often performed in a clinical situation due to the factors such as the circumstances of the operation. A partially edentulous patient who lost teeth due to tooth fracture and periodontal disease was treated using implant and fixed prosthesis. Half-guided implant surgery was performed using an implant surgical guide during implant surgery, the accuracy of implant placement was analyzed.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Therapy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

Objective : This study was conducted to determine the emotional labor of occupational therapists and the level of their feelings of depression and to examine the impact of their emotional labor on their depressive mood. Methods : Subjects of this study were clinical occupational therapists working at hospitals and clinics in Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. The factors of emotional labor were set as independent variables, the general characteristic variable and job characteristic variable which showed significant results in the chi-square test was set as the adjusted variable and whether the depression happens or not was set as the dependent variable, after which a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results : Components of emotional labor, including frequency of emotional display(OR 1.699, 95% CI 1.202-2.401), attentiveness to required display rules(OR 1.436, 95% CI 1.070-1.982), and emotional dissonance(OR 1.866, 95% CI 1.336-2.607) all had a significant effect on depression. The possibility of depression was significantly higher in women than men(OR 5.736, 95% CI 1.746-18.846), those working for more than 8 hours per day than less than 8 hours per day(OR 8.609, 95% CI 2.306-32.137), and those working with children than those working with adults(OR 4.249, 95% CI 1.668-10.824). Conclusion : This study revealed that the emotional labor that occupational therapists are exposed to while interacting with patients and their caregivers exerts an influence on their feelings of depression. This suggests the need for developing various preventive intervention programs designed to alleviate the depressive symptoms of occupational therapists and formulating appropriate policies.

• Journal of Rheumatic Diseases
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2017

Objective. Failure of first-line anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents in in rheumatoid arthritis patients leads to decisions among second-line biologic agents. To better inform these decisions, the therapeutic effectiveness of rituximab is compared with other second-line biologic agents in this observational study. Methods. Between November 2011 and December 2014, study subjects were observed for 12 month periods. Patients with an inadequate response to initial anti-TNF agent received either rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents (adalimumab/etanercept/infliximab) based on the preference of patients and physicians. The efficacy end point of this study was the change in 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) at six and 12 months from baseline. Safety data were also collected. Results. Ninety patients were enrolled in the study. DAS28 at six months did not change significantly whether the patients were treated with rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents in intention-to-treat analysis (n=34, $-1.63{\pm}0.30$ vs. n=31, $-2.05{\pm}0.34$) and standard population set analysis (n=31, $-1.51{\pm}0.29$ vs. n=24, $-2.21{\pm}0.34$). Similarly, the change in DAS28 at 12 months did not reach statistical significance ($-1.82{\pm}0.35$ in the rituximab vs. $-2.34{\pm}0.44$ in the alternative anti-TNF agents, p=0.2390). Furthermore, the incidences of adverse events were similar between two groups (23.5% for rituximab group vs. 25.8% for alternative anti-TNF agents group, p=0.7851). Conclusion. Despite the limitations of our study, switching to rituximab or alternative anti-TNF agents after failure of the initial TNF antagonist showed no significant therapeutic difference in DAS28 reduction.

• Journal of the Korean neurological association
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.294-301
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• 2018

Background: Neuroimaging can play a crucial role in discovering potential abnormalities to cause secondary headache. There has been a progress in the fields of headache diagnosis and neuroimaging in the past two decades. We sought to investigate neuroimaging findings according to headache disorders, age, sex, and imaging modalities in first-visit headache patients. Methods: We used data of consecutive first-visit headache patients from 9 university and 2 general referral hospitals. The International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition, beta version was used in headache diagnosis. We finally enrolled 1,080 patients undertook neuroimaging in this study. Results: Among 1,080 patients (mean age: $47.7{\pm}14.3$, female: 60.8%), proportions of headache diagnosis were as follows: primary headaches, n=926 (85.7%); secondary headaches, n=110 (10.2%); and cranial neuropathies and other headaches, n=43 (4.1%). Of them, 591 patients (54.7%) received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Neuroimaging abnormalities were found in 232 patients (21.5%), and their proportions were higher in older age groups and male sex. Chronic cerebral ischemia was the most common finding (n=88, 8.1%), whereas 76 patients (7.0%) were found to have clinically significant abnormalities such as primary brain tumor, cancer metastasis, and headache-relevant cerebrovascular disease. Patients underwent MRI were four times more likely to have neuroimaging abnormalities than those underwent computed tomography (33.3% vs. 7.2%, p<0.001). Conclusions: In this study, the findings of neuroimaging differed according to headache disorders, age, sex, and imaging modalities. MRI can be a preferable neuroimaging modality to identify potential causes of headache.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.283-289
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of mid frequency electrical stimulation during squat exercise on the muscle activity and muscle activity ratio of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis, and to prepare scientific basic data for exercise intervention using mid frequency electrical stimulation. Methods : This study was conducted with students from University C located in Busan, and among a total of 123 subjects, 12 subjects who complained of knee joint dysfunction between 80 and 90 points using the Kujala patellofemoral score (KPS) were used. All subjects participated in the experiment for 3 days, and MVIC values were measured for normalization of muscle activity values on the first day. For the two days, participants participated in the experiment and performed squat exercise or squat exercise receiving mid-frequency electrical stimulation in random order. Measurements were taken in the squat position immediately after the squat exercise, and muscle activities of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis were measured. The measured data were compared through the dependent t test, and the statistical significance level was set to .05. Results : According to the results of this study, in the case of applying mid-frequency electrical stimulation together in the ratio of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis muscle activity during squat exercise, higher values were observed compared to the case of not applying mid-frequency electrical stimulation together, and statistically significant. Also, when mid-frequency electrical stimulation was applied to both vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis activities during the squat exercise, higher values were shown compared to the case where the mid-frequency electrical stimulation was not applied together, but there was no statistically significant difference. Conclusion : The results of this study reported that mid-frequency electrical stimulation provided to vastus medialis oblique increased the muscle activity ratio of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis. Therefore, the improvement of coordination due to the enhancement of the activity of vastus medialis oblique through mid-frequency electrical stimulation will be more helpful in the treatment of patellofemoral pain syndrome patient. In addition, it is hoped that the electrical stimulation method applied to exercise will be widely used.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.4-12
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• 2021

Spinal metastases can present with varying degrees of mechanical instability. The Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) was developed as a tool to assess spinal neoplastic-related instability while helping to guide referrals among oncology specialists. Some previous papers suggested that the SINS was accurate and reliable, while others disagreed with this opinion. We performed a systematic review regarding the SINS to evaluate its accuracy and precision in predicting vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). The 21 included studies investigated a total of 2118 patients. Thirteen studies dealt with the accuracy of SINS to predict post-radiotherapy VCFs, and eight dealt with the precision. Among 13 studies, 11 agreed that the SINS categories showed statistically significant accuracy in predicting VCF. Among eight studies, body collapse was effective for predicting VCFs in six studies, and alignment and bone lesion in two studies. Location has no statistical significance in predicting VCFs in any of the eight studies. The precision of SINS categories was substantial to excellent in six of eight studies. Among the six components of the SINS, the majority of the included studies reported that location showed near perfect agreement; body collapse, alignment, and posterolateral involvement showed moderate agreement; and bone lesion showed fair agreement. Bone lesion showed significant accuracy in predicting VCFs in half of eight studies, but displayed fair reliability in five of seven studies. Although location was indicated as having near perfect reliability, the component showed no accuracy for predicting VCFs in any of the studies and deleting or modifying the item needs to be considered. The SINS system may be accurate and reliable in predicting the occurrence of post-radiotherapy VCFs for spinal metastasis. Some components seem to be substantially weak and need to be revised.