• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2020

Purpose: Stroke is a time-sensitive disease that could have reduced complications and mortality with timely diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to analyze the causes of delay in detecting the clinical signs and symptoms of stroke. Methods: This retrospective observational study analyzed the emergency medical services reports of suspected stroke patients with positive predictive values on the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale. The study was conducted in Daejeon, Republic of Korea from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2017. Results: Prolonged prehospital time was associated with high blood pressure, history of cerebrovascular disease, and incidences during daily activities, and sleep. High blood pressure and complications from a previous stroke strongly associated with the prolonged stroke-detection phase (p<.05). Total prehospital time was shortened when patients had evident stroke symptoms, such as decreased level of consciousness, dysarthria, and hemiplegia (p<.05). There was no significant difference in gender or age as a factor that delayed the total prehospital time of the suspected stroke patients. Conclusion: Many patients did not recognize the early clinical symptoms and signs of a stroke. Furthermore, risk factors, such as high blood pressure and history of stroke, prolonged the total prehospital time. Therefore, we need targeted interventions that educate about warning symptoms of stroke, along with emphasis on the importance of emergency calls to substantially reduce the prehospital delays.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.322-328
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• 2023

Purpose: Patients with multiple trauma necessitate assistance from a wide range of departments and professions for their successful reintegration into society. Historically, the primary focus of trauma treatment in Korea has been on reducing mortality rates. This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the current state of multidisciplinary treatment for patients with severe trauma in Korea. Based on the insights of trauma specialists (i.e., medical professionals), we aim to suggest potential improvements. Methods: An online questionnaire was conducted among 871 surgical specialists who were members of the Korean Society of Traumatology. The questionnaire covered participant demographics, current multidisciplinary practices, perceived challenges in collaboration with rehabilitation, psychiatry, and anesthesiology departments, and the perceived necessity for multidisciplinary treatment. Results: Out of the 41 hospitals with which participants were affiliated, only nine conducted multidisciplinary meetings or rounds with nonsurgical departments. The process of transferring patients to rehabilitation facilities was not widespread, and delays in these transfers were frequently observed. Financial constraints were identified by the respondents as a significant barrier to multidisciplinary collaboration. Despite these hurdles, the majority of respondents acknowledged the importance of multidisciplinary treatment, especially in relation to rehabilitation, psychiatry, and anesthesiology involvement. Conclusions: This survey showed that medical staff specializing in trauma care perceive several issues stemming from the absence of a multidisciplinary system for patient-centered care in Korea. There is a need to develop an effective multidisciplinary treatment system to facilitate the recovery of trauma patients.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.758-764
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• 2018

Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized by a cluster of symptoms and signs that manifest as difficulties in cognitive functions such as memory, psychological and psychiatric changes, and impairments in activities of daily living. As a result of worldwide trends of population aging, dementia has had a huge impact on public health in almost all countries. Disease modification therapies for dementia have not yet been developed. However, pharmacotherapy is essential in patients with dementia to combat delays in their cognitive and functional decline. In this article, we review the current pharmacotherapy for dementia. Three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors-donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine-and memantine are the only medications that have been approved for the treatment of dementia. We present the indications, dose recommendations, side effects, and criteria for National Health Insurance coverage in Korea of these medications for dementia treatment. Although the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea has not approved any medications for managing the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, some antipsychotics and antidepressants have been studied and used clinically for those purposes. Clinicians may consider vitamin E, Ginkgo biloba extract, choline alfoscerate, or omega-3 fatty acids as additional treatment options. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, estrogen hormone therapy, and statins are not generally recommended for dementia treatment. We believe that our findings will aid clinicians in the treatment of patients with cognitive decline.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.51-53
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• 2012

Spontaneous hematomas of the iliacus muscle are rare lesions and these are seen in individuals receiving anticoagulation therapy or patients with blood dyscrasias such as hemophilia. It can cause femoral neuropathy and resultant pain and paralysis. Although there is no clear consensus for the treatment of femoral neuropathy from iliacus muscle hematomas, delays in the surgical evacuation of hematoma for decompression of the femoral nerve can lead to a prolonged or permanent disability. We report here on a rare case of a spontaneous iliacus muscle hematoma that caused femoral neuropathy in a patient who was taking warfarin for occlusive vascular disease and we discuss the treatment.

• Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Applications
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.629-648
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• 2021

In this paper, we study a within-host mathematical model of HCV infection and carry out mathematical analysis of the global dynamics and bifurcations of the model in different parameter regimes. We explore the effect of reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTI) on spontaneous HCV clearance. The model can produce all clinically observed patient profiles for realistic parameter values; it can also be used to estimate the efficacy and/or duration of treatment that will ensure permanent cure for a particular patient. From the results of the model, we infer possible measures that could be implemented in order to reduce the number of infected individuals.

• Medical Lasers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.62-64
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• 2020

Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that is histopathologically characterized by abnormal differentiation and hyperproliferation of keratinocytes, infiltration of T lymphocytes, and alternations of the dermal vasculature. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is commonly used to treat cutaneous vascular lesions, and it has been studied for the treatment of localized psoriatic lesions. A 30-year-old female patient with refractory psoriasis on her forehead was treated using PDL. After two sessions, the size of the psoriatic lesion increased, which might have occurred due to koebnerization. As the patient continued to receive PDL treatment, the lesion showed significant improvement with no recurrence on the one-year follow-up. We present here a case of refractory psoriasis treated with PDL and demonstrates an association between a delayed therapeutic effect and the Koebner phenomenon.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.265-271
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• 2021

Four patients with shoulder problems that were traumatic in etiology presented to us with delays in seeking care ranging from 6 to 12 weeks due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. The care of three cases (a 3-month-old neglected anterior shoulder dislocation with a greater tuberosity fracture in a 30-year old man, a 3-month-old neglected anterior shoulder dislocation in a 17-year old boy, and a 2-month-old neglected greater tuberosity fracture in a 31-year old man) was delayed due to the lockdown and the ensuing travel restrictions, while that of one case (a 6-week-old fracture-dislocation of the proximal humerus in a 55-year-old woman) was delayed because the patient was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the time of injury. This report intends to present the exceptional circumstances around these cases. The unique treatment challenges and their outcomes are also described to advise the surgeons of the nuances and difficulties in treating these injuries.

• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.99 no.2
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• pp.57-60
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• 2024

Cardiac disease is the second leading cause of mortality in Korea and the main cardiac disease is acute myocardial infarction (MI). Timely primary coronary intervention is the main treatment for acute MI and delay from symptom onset to intervention is the most important determinant of the prognosis and incidence of ischemic cardiomyopathy after acute MI. Treatment delay includes patient delay and system delay. The latter includes transfer and in-hospital delays. In-hospital delay improved greatly after introducing the critical pathway to Korea. However, there is still much room to improve patient and transfer delay.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.158-161
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• 2012

The influence of lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) on anti-senescence of melon leaves and the change in fruit quality during the storage at low temperature were studied. In most of the crops, freshness of leaves is important factor for characteristics of fruits, such as sugar contents, color, and firmness. Melon ($Cucumis$ $melo$ L. cv. Prince) plants were sprayed with LPE at 5 and 3 weeks before commercial harvest. In upper part, LPE treatment showed slight high number of fresh leaf compared to no treatment (None). However, in lower part, LPE resulted in apparent inhibition effect on senescence, showing that lower side of melon plant kept fresh upon LPE application up to about 30%. The SSC of melon treated with LPE was similar to that of fruit from None at harvest. There was no change in soluble solids content (SSC) for all treatment during the storage at $7^{\circ}C$. There were no significant differences in firmness of mesocarp from melons given different treatments at harvest. The firmness of mesocarp from melon treated with LPE was higher than none after 2 weeks storage. The electrolyte leakage means for melon treated with LPE did not differ significantly from the means at initial storage after 2 weeks storage among the treatments. None increased 57% from its initial electrolyte leakage during storage. These results suggest that the application of LPE may have potential to inhibit senescence of leaves and maintain fruit quality during the storage in melon.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most diagnosed cancer worldwide. Healthcare resource constraints may predispose treatment delays. We aim to review existing literature on whether delayed treatment results in worse outcomes in HCC. PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and Scopus were systematically searched from inception till December 2022. Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Secondary outcomes included post-treatment mortality, readmission rates, and complications. Fourteen studies with a total of 135,389 patients (delayed n = 25,516, no delay n = 109,873) were included. Age, incidence of male patients, Child-Pugh B cirrhosis, and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage 0/A HCC were comparable between delayed and no delay groups. Tumor size was significantly smaller in delayed versus no delay group (mean difference, -0.70 cm; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.14, 0.26; p = 0.002). More patients received radiofrequency ablation in delayed versus no delay group (OR, 1.22; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.27; p < 0.0001). OS was comparable between delayed and no delay in HCC treatment (hazard ratio [HR], 1.13; 95% CI: 0.99, 1.29; p = 0.07). Comparable DFS between delayed and no delay groups (HR, 0.99; 95% CI: 0.75, 1.30; p = 0.95) was observed. Subgroup analysis of studies that defined treatment delay as > 90 days showed comparable OS in the delayed group (HR, 1.04; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.16; p = 0.51). OS and DFS for delayed treatment were non-inferior compared to no delay, but might be due to better tumor biology/smaller tumor size in the delayed group.