• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.9
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• pp.334-339
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• 2019

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis in infants and young children. However, its natural history has not been fully elucidated because the first case was reported in the late 1960s and patients who have recovered are just now entering middle age. Nevertheless, much evidence has raised concerns regarding the subclinical vascular changes that occur in post-KD patients. KD research has focused on coronary artery aneurysms because they are directly associated with fatality. However, aneurysms have been reported in other extracardiac muscular arteries and their fate seems to resemble that of coronary artery aneurysms. Arterial strokes in KD cases are rarely reported. Asymptomatic ischemic lesions were observed in a prospective study of brain vascular lesions in KD patients with coronary artery aneurysms. The findings of a study of single-photon emission computed tomography suggested that asymptomatic cerebral vasculitis is more common than we believed. Some authors assumed that the need to consider the possibility of brain vascular lesions in severe cases of KD regardless of presence or absence of neurological symptoms. These findings suggest that KD is related with cerebrovascular lesions in children and young adults. Considering the fatal consequences of cerebral vascular involvement in KD patients, increased attention is required. Here we review our understanding of brain vascular involvement in KD.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.318-325
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• 2022

Population aging and the usage of small devices in implant prosthetic procedures have led to many incidents of dental aspiration and ingestion. Various preventive measures have been introduced to prevent these accidents. However, accidents can occur at any time. Dental aspiration and ingestion lead to fatal consequences if the issue is not promptly and appropriately dealt with. Preparing a collaborative system for dealing with accidents before they occur can prevent further sequelae. This study involves ingestion and aspiration accidents that occurred during dental treatment: two ingestion cases and one aspiration case. All dental foreign bodies were removed according to the guidelines presented in our review. With the cooperation of other medical departments, the issues were quickly resolved. Simple and accurate protocols should be provided to all dentists and dental staff to respond to such dental emergencies. In addition, collaboration among other medical departments should be established before any accidental ingestion and aspiration events occur.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.82-85
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• 2022

Traditionally, most cases of nicotine poisoning have been due to ingestion of nicotine pesticides. However, the increasing use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has resulted in both intentional and unintentional exposure to concentrated liquid nicotine or "e-liquid" leading to an increase in nicotine poisoning cases. However, fatalities following the ingestion of the e-liquid are extremely rare. We report a rare case of cardiac arrest and severe encephalopathy following the intentional ingestion of e-liquid. We present the case of a 20-year-old woman who intentionally ingested liquid nicotine intended for e-cigarette use. She was found in asystole and experienced a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after undergoing approximately 46 mins of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Her plasma nicotine levels were >500 ng/ml. Despite aggressive supportive care, she was found to have encephalopathy consistent with severe anoxic brain injury on magnetic resonance imaging. In recent times, there have been some reports of deaths following liquid nicotine ingestion. Our case illustrates the potential for fatal nicotine toxicity from ingestion of e-cigarettes.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.153-161
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• 2022

Among all industries, the construction industry still remains a traditional one with low productivity due to its labor-intensive and field-dependent production system, its supplier-oriented industrial structure, and the disruption of the information flow between participants. In addition, the construction industry in South Korea has recently been required to transform itself according to social trends such as aging, the reduction of skilled workers, and the shortening of working hours, and the disaster and death rates in the industry, which are more than twice as high as those in other industries, are making it more necessary to solve chronic safety problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to grasp the actual condition of safety management on construction sites in South Korea and analyze cases of K-smart technology utilization for preventing safety accidents on construction sites. The study investigated and analyzed the following. First, construction sites in South Korea were analyzed by type of safety accident, by type of construction, and by construction contract amount. Second, the current status of accidents on small-sized construction sites with a high fatal accident rate and cases of safety accidents on construction sites were investigated. The results of the study are expected to contribute to the dissemination and spread of smart safety technology for not only identifying major factors in safety accidents that occur on construction sites but also preventing workers from suffering accidents.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.166-174
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• 2012

Introduction: After 17 years since the first production of humidifier disinfectants in Korea, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced that the odds ratio of lung injury related with humidifier disinfectant usage was 47.3 (95% confidence interval 6.0-369.7) according to a case-control study with 18 adult cases, including 8 pregnant women at a university hospital in Seoul. Results: From September 2011 to April 2012, one-hundred and seventy four victim cases have been reported to an environmental non-governmental group (NGO). We summarized timetable of humidifier disinfectants accidents, analyzed health outcomes (death, lung or lung and heart transplantation, pulmonary disease) of reported victims, and classified some information for humidifier disinfectants with health outcomes, and government action for this accident. Among the victims, number of death cases are 52 (30.0%), including 26 babies less than 3 years old. Sixty-nine victims come from twenty-seven family with 2 to 4 members per family. About twenty types of humidifier disinfectant products and about 600,000 product items a year have been sold. Fifty-two death cases used 7 different types of disinfectant products, including imported goods and some private brands of well-known supermarkets. KCDC confirmed inhalation toxicity of 6 products through an animal experimental test, and based on this observation recalled disinfectants containing PHMG (polyhexamethylene guanidine) and PGH (Oligo(2-(2-ethoxy)ethoxyethyl guanidinium chloride). Discussions: The use of these biocides involved highly fatal consequences among biologically vulnerable victims, such as pregnant women, several family member victims after semi-acute exposure. This is the first biocide disaster in Korea with non-specific targets, and unknown scale of victims, warranting concerns on use of biocides in the living environment. Conclusions: Special administrative agency for chemical safety and compensation act for environmental health victims are needed to prevent similar problems.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.213-218
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• 1997

Pseudoaneurysm of the thoracic aorta is potentially fatal. However, reports of such cases are rare even in large series. We report four cases of thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm who underwent surgical repair, The causes were considered as infection in two cases (VSD repair, descending thoracic aortic aneurysm resection) and blunt chest trauma by traffic accident in two patients. The pseudoaneurysms developed on ascending aorta suspected as sites of arterial and cardiolplegic needle insertion in one patient. The others were located at descending thoracic aorta immediatly below the left subclavian artery. One patient died of sepsis associated with bile peritonitis and others were followed up from 10 to 18 months with specific morbidity. This study suggest that the incidence of pseudoaneurysm of the thoracic aorta followed by open heart or aorctic surgery can be repaired succesfuly and careful inspection of associated injury is very important in cases of traumatic thoracic pseudoaneurysm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.232-239
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• 1992

Acute renal failure is a well known serious complication following open heart surgery and is associated with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality rate. From 1984 to 1990, 33 patients who had acute renal failure following cardiopulmonary bypass received renal replacement therapy. PD[Peritonial dialysis] was employed in 11 patients and CAVH[continous arteriovenous hemofiltration] was employed in 22 patients. Their age ranged from 3 months to 64 years[mean 25.5$\pm$7.8 years]. The disease entities included congenital cardiac anomaly in 18, valvular heart disease in 15 and aorta disease in 2 cases. Low cardiac output was thought as a primary cause of ARF except two redo valve cases who showed severe Aemolysis k depressed renal function preoperatively. Mean serum BUN and creatinine level at the onset renal replacement therapy were 65$\pm$8 mg/dl and 3.5$\pm$0.4 mg/dl respectively, declining only after reaching peak level 7&10 days following the onset of therapy. Overall hospital mortality was 72.7%[24/33]; 81%[9/11] in PD group and 68.2% [15/22] in CAVH group respectively. The primary cause of death was low cardiac output & hemodynamic depression in all the cases. The fatal complications included multiorgan failure in 7, disseminated intravascular coagulation and sepsis in 6, neurologic damage in 4 and mediastinitis in 3 cases. No measurable differences were observed between CAVH and PD group upon consequence of acute renal failure and disease per se. The age at operation, BUN/Cr level at the onset of bypass and highest BUN/Cr level and the consequence of low output status were regarded as important risk factors, determining outcome of ARF and success of renal replacement therapy. Thus, we concluded that althoght the prognosis is largely determined by severity of low cardiac output status and other organ complication, early institution of renal replacement therapy with other intensive supportive measures could improve salvage rate in established ARF patients following CPB.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2014

Objective : The case fatality rate of nonlesional intracerebral hemorrhage (n-ICH) was high and not changed. Knowing the causes is important to their prevention; however, the reasons have not been studied. The aims of this study were to determine the cause of death, to improve the clinical outcomes. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed consecutive cases of nonlesional intracerebral hemorrhage in a prospective stroke registry from January 2010 to December 2010. Results : Among 174 patients ($61.83{\pm}13.36$, 28-90 years), 29 patients (16.7%) died during hospitalization. Most common cause of death was initial neurological damage (41.4%, 12/29). Seventeen patients who survived the initial damage may then develop various potentially fatal complications. Except for death due to the initial neurological sequelae, death associated with immobilization (such as pneumonia or thromboembolic complication) was the most common in eight cases (8/17, 47.1%). However, death due to early rebleeding was not common and occurred in only 2 cases (2/17, 11.8%). Age, initial Glasgow Coma Scale, and diabetes mellitus were statistically significant factors influencing mortality (p<0.05). Conclusion : Mortality of n-ICH is still high. Initial neurological damage is the most important factor; however, non-neurological medical complications are a large part of case fatality. Most cases of death of patients who survived from the first bleeding were due to complications of immobilization. These findings have implications for clinical practice and planning of clinical trials. In addition, future conduct of a randomized study will be necessary in order to evaluate the benefits of early mobilization for prevention of immobilization related complications.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.388-398
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• 1981

Fourteen Infants with congenital cardiac anomalies underwent primary surgical Intervention within the first 12 months of life. There were eight patients with ventricular septal defect, two with total anomalous pulmonary venous return [TAPVR], and the remainders with tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of great arteries [d-TGA], Taussing-Bing malformation, and coronary A-V fistula. The age of the patients ranged from 5 to 12 months, with a mean age of 9.9 months. The mean weight was 6.7 Kg [3.8 to 9.5 KS]. Congestive heart failure persisting despite intensive medical treatment was present In 8 patients [56%], and was the most common indication for operation. Early operation was necessary in 5 of these patients [35%], because of failure to thrive and recurrent pulmonary infection. In one patient with TOF, frequent hypoxic spell prompted the necessity for early operation. In cases of VSD, TAP. VR, TOF, and coronary A-V fistula, Intracardiac repair was done with conventional cardiopulmonary bypass, chemical cold cardioplegia, and topical myocardial cooling. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest with surface induced cooling, followed by core cooling and core rewarming, was employed .for better exposure in the cases of d-TGA and Taussing-Bing malformation. The results were however, not satisfactory. The overall mortality was 28 per cent. There were no deaths in the eight patients with VSD. The one with coronary A-V fistula survived. The other 5 cases all expired either on the table or immediately after operation. The non-fatal post-operative complications included low cardiac output, respiratory insufficiency, bleeding, and temporary A-V block. The causes of death were prolonged circulatory arrest time in d-TGA, complete A-V block and low cardiac output in TOF and Taussing-Bing malformation and prolonged bypass time and Inadequate correction in TAPVR.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 1997

Aspiration of foreign bodies into the airway is a common problem in spite of efforts to educate the public, and it can be sometimes fatal accidents. We clinically analyzed 101 cases of airway foreign bodies treated in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine for the past 10 years comparing data with the previous articles. There was male predominance in the occurrence rate, being 72% in the male patients. The peak age was 1 to 3 years of age, and 84.2% was below age of 10. The most common symptom after foreign body aspiration was intractable cough, and obstructive emphysema was most commonly found on the initial chest X-rays. Foreign bodies were mainly located at the right main bronchus and left main bronchus was the next. Peanuts were the most common airway foreign bodies. Ventilating bronchoscopy was performed in the 99 cases and foreign bodies were successfully removed in most cases. There was 2 deaths(2%) resulted from hypoxia after bronchoscopy. The fact that complication rates increase with the duration of the foreign bodies in situ is clear. Therefore, prompt bronchoscopy in patients with suspected airway foreign bodies is essential for lower complication rates.