In these days, patients with stage I breast cancer have increased by regular health examination and diagnostic tool development. The aim of this retrospective study is to identify systemic recurrence related factors after breast conserving surgery (BCS) for stage I breast cancer.

In this study, we analyzed the correlation between systemic recurrence and pathologic factors. We reviewed 223 patients who underwent BCS for stage I breast cancer. Postoperative pathologic factors, recurrent rates and sites were studied. In addition, preoperative patients'data were also collected. Statistical analysis was done by using PASW 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

Systemic recurrence was found in 16 patients (7.17%) within 5 years after primary surgery. 5 patients had lymphatic invasion and 6 patients had vascular invasion. Lymphatic and vascular invasion had statistical correlation with systemic recurrence (P = 0.004, P = 0.001).

In this retrospective study, we can conclude that vascular invasion and lymphatic invasion are related systemic recurrence after BCS for stage I patients. Further studies with large cohort will be required to fully understand the risk factors of systemic recurrence for stage I breast cancer patients.

Identification of axillary metastases in breast cancer is important for staging disease and planning treatment, but current techniques are associated with a number of adverse events. This report evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for identification of axillary metastases in breast cancer patients.

We performed a meta-analysis of previous studies that compared SPIO enhanced MRI with histological diagnosis after surgery or biopsy. We searched PubMed, Ovid, Springer Link, and Cochrane library to identify studies reporting data for SPIO enhanced MRI for detection of axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer until December 2013. The following keywords were used: “magnetic resonance imaging AND axilla” and “superparamagnetic iron oxide AND axilla”. Eligible studies were those that compared SPIO enhanced MRI with histological diagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for every study; summary receiver operating characteristic and subgroup analyses were done. Study quality and heterogeneity were also assessed.

There were 7 publications that met the criteria for inclusion in our meta-analysis. SROC curve analysis for per patient data showed an overall sensitivity of 0.83 (95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.75–0.89) and overall specificity of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94–0.98). Overall weighted area under the curve was 0.9563.

SPIO enhanced MRI showed a trend toward high diagnostic accuracy in detection of lymph node metastases for breast cancer. So, when the breast cancer patients has axillary metastases histologically, SPIO enhanced MRI may be effective diagnostic imaging modality for axillary metastases.

Detection of antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs) is needed for the diagnosis in systemic autoimmune diseases. In this study, we compared three reagents using line immunoblot assay (LIA) or multiplex bead immunoassay for detecting the anti-ENAs.

A total of 89 sera were tested by 3 different assays: EUROASSAY Anti-ENA Profile (Euroimmune, Germany), Polycheck Autoimmune Test (Biocheck GmbH, Germany), and FIDIS™ Connective Profile (Biomedical Diagnostics, France). The following individual ENAs were investigated: Sm, SS-A (Ro), SS-B (La), Scl-70, Jo-1 and RNP. We reviewed medical records to investigate the discrepant results among three methods.

Overall percent agreements were 96.1% between EUROASSAY Anti-ENA Profile and FIDIS™ Connective profile; 90.4% between EUROASSAY Anti-ENA Profile and Polycheck Autoimmune Test using the manufacturers’ cutoff; 96.4% between EUROASSAY Anti-ENA Profile and Polycheck Autoimmune Test using a upward cutoff; 90.4% between FIDIS™ Connective profile and Polycheck Autoimmune Test the manufacturers’ cutoff; and 96.4% between FIDIS™ Connective profile and Polycheck Autoimmune Test a upward cutoff.

The three assays showed excellent agreement with each other. With appropriate cutoff, the all three assays for six of the anti-ENA tests investigated in this study can be used in clinical laboratories for detecting the anti-ENAs.

To investigate the effect of absorbable suture on surgically-induced corneal astigmatism in 3.0-mm sclera tunnel cataract surgeries.

Medical records of patients who underwent phacoemulsification cataract surgery using a 3.0-mm sclera tunnel incision made by a single surgeon were reviewed. Uncorrected distant visual acuity, corneal astigmatism and surgically-induced astigmatism were measured in 56 patients' eyes that underwent sclera tunnel cataract surgery with absorbable sutures (sutured group) and in 23 patients' eyes without sutures (unsutured group). Uncorrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit lamp examination, and automated keratometry were evaluated preoperatively and at 3 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks after cataract operation.

There were no significant differences in preoperative average uncorrected distant visual acuity of the two groups (sutured group: 0.79 ± 0.64, unsutured group: 0.68 ± 0.72, P = 0.145). Corneal astigmatism measured using keratometry in the sutured and unsutured group at postoperative day 3 were 2.27 ± 2.12 D versus 0.83 ± 0.55 D at (P < 0.001), a difference which had disappeared after 4 weeks. Surgically induced astigmatism using the Holladay and Vector methods showed similar outcomes, suggesting that the sutured group exhibited higher astigmatism compared with the unsutured group until 2 weeks post-surgery.

TPatients undergoing scleral tunnel cataract surgery with absorbable sutures have greater surgically induced astigmatism, especially in the early postoperative period, compared with those without sutures. However, this surgically induced astigmatism due to absorbable sutures in scleral tunnel cataract surgery is temporary and disappears at 4 weeks post-surgery.

Electrocardiograhy (ECG) is the first step in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCMP) diagnosis. For various reasons, the T wave inversion (TWI) and ECG change with time and HCMP is not easy to diagnosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the association between TWI on ECG and apical HCMP.

A total of 4,730 ECGs presenting TWI from January 2011 to March 2013 in Pusan National University Hospital were enrolled. 133 patients who were examined by both echocardiography and coronary angiogram were analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A (TWI ≥ 10 mm) and Group B (5 mm ≤ TWI < 10 mm). HCMP is defined by a wall thickness ≥ 15mm in one or more LV myocardial segments. Apical HCMP is defined to be hypertrophy that is confined to LV apex. The patients who had ECGs with at least one month interval were divided 3 groups: Normal T wave, Abnormal T wave, and Persistent TWI. The prevalence of Apical HCMP and coronary artery disease (CAD) was reviewed among the three groups.

In this study there were a total 133 patients, with patients divided into Group A which had 15 patients and Group B which had 118 patients. Among the 23 patients with apical HCMP, three patients were Group A and twenty patients were Group B (P = 0.769). Regarding constancy of TWI, persistent TWI group was higher in apical HCMP than in other groups (P = 0.038). CAD had no difference between groups (P = 0.889).

T wave negativity was not associated with incidence of apical HCMP. However, apical HCMP was diagnosed more frequently in patients with persistent TWI. Further follow up echocardiographic study is needed to evaluate the progression of apical HCMP in patients with TWI.

Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is a specific biomarker that rises after bacterial infection, and levels of PCT are known to correlate with the severity and mortality of patients with pneumonia and sepsis. However, the usefulness of PCT levels in acute pyelonephritis is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using the PCT level as a predictive test for bacteremia in acute pyelonephritis.

Between January 2012 and June 2013, 140 patients diagnosed with acute pyelonephritis were admitted to Haeundae Paik Hospital. Serum PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cell (WBC) levels at pre- and post- treatment were measured. Blood and urine cultures were obtained from all patients. The levels of PCT, CRP, and WBCs were each compared between the blood culture-positive and blood culture-negative groups to assess their effectiveness in predicting bacteremia.

Pre-treatment PCT level was 0.77 ng/mL (95% CI: 0.42–1.60 ng/mL) in the blood culture-negative group and 4.89 ng/mL (95% CI: 2.88–9.04 ng/mL) in the blood culture-positive group, and the increase between the two groups was statistically significant. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of PCT level for prediction of bacteremia was 0.728. A cut-off value of 1.23 ng/mL indicated a sensitivity of 79.0 % and specificity of 60.0 % for PCT level.

Serum PCT level is a useful predictive test for bacteremia in acute pyelonephritis. Through the early detection of bacteremia, serum PCT level can help estimate the prognosis and predict complications such as sepsis.

Few studies of pediatric Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated infectious mononucleosis (IM) have been conducted in Korea. We evaluated the clinical features of children with IM to define differences according to age.

We conducted retrospective chart reviews of 68 children aged 0 to 15 years who were diagnosed by EBV-associated IM with EBV-Viral Capsid Antigen(VCA) IgM at laboratory test and were admitted between 2010 and 2014. The children were classified into four age groups: aged 0–3, 4–6, 7–9, and 10–15 years.

The age distribution of patients was as follows: 19 (27.9%) 0–3, 25 (36.8%) 4–6, 13 (19.1%) 7–9, and 11 (16.2%) 10–15. Fever was the most common presentation regardless of age. It was more common in the 0–3 group than the 4–6 group (P = 0.018). Pharyngitis was more common in the 7–9 group than the 0–3 group (P = 0.048), and myalgia was more common in the 10–15 group than the 0–3 group (P = 0.007). Pharyngitis was accompanied by lymphadenopathy, protracted fever, and rash. In the 0–3 age group, the prevalence of rash was higher while the percentage of atypical lymphocytes was lower, but there was no statistical support for this tendency. There were no differences in the frequency of hepatosplenomegaly or laboratory findings between age groups.

IM is not uncommon in young children and its clinical presentation varies with age. Therefore, IM should be suspected in young febrile children with pharyngitis and rash despite low percentages of atypical lymphocytes.

To identify the relationship between surgical success rate and preoperative nasal mucosal thickness around the lacrimal sac fossa, as measured using computed tomography.

We reviewed 33 eyes from 27 patients who underwent endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy after diagnosis of primary nasolacrimal duct obstruction and who were followed-up with for at least six months between 2011 and 2014. We measured preoperative nasal mucosal thickness around the bony lacrimal sac fossa using computed tomography and analyzed patient measurements after classifying them into three groups: the successfully operated group, the failed operation group, and the non-operated group.

Surgery failed in six of the 33 eyes because of a granuloma at the osteotomy site and synechial formation of the nasal mucosa. The failed-surgery group showed a clinically significantly greater decrease in nasal mucosal thickness at the rearward lacrimal sac fossa compared with the successful-surgery group. However, nasal mucosal thickness of fellow eyes (i.e., non-operated eyes) was not significantly different between the two groups, and the location of the uncinate process did not appear to influence mucosal thickness. In the failed group, posteriorly located mucosal thickness of operated eye fossa was thinner than that of the non-operated eyes, but not significantly so.

Our results from this quantitative anatomical study suggest that nasal mucosal thickness is a predictor of endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy results.

Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has been used as a measure of cardiac autonomic function. According to the pNN50 statistic, the percentage of differences between successive normal RR intervals (RRI) that exceed 50 ms, has been known to reflect cardiac vagal modulation. Relatively little is known about the validity of pNN50 during general anesthesia (GA). Therefore, we evaluated the correlation of pNN50 with other variables such as HF, RMSSD, SD1 of HRV reflecting the vagal tone, and examined the validity of pNN50 in anesthetized patients. Methods: We assessed changes in RRI, pNN50, root mean square of successive differences of RRI (RMSSD), high frequency (HF) and standard deviation 1 (SD1) of Poincaré plots after GA using sevoflurane anesthesia. We also calculated the probability distributions for the family of pNNx statistics (x: 2-50 ms).

All HRV variables were significantly decreased during GA. HF power was not correlated with pNN50 during GA (r = 0.096, P = 0.392). Less than pNN47 was shown to have a correlation with other variables.

These data suggest that pNN50 can not reflect the level of vagal tone during GA.

Aminophylline has been used for prevention or treatment of apnea in preterm infants with idiopathic apnea of prematurity. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical usefulness of prophylactic in comparison with therapeutic aminophylline therapy.

This retrospective observational study included infants born with a birth weight of < 2,500 g or at < 36 weeks of gestation. Infants born between August 2013 and July 2014 who received aminophylline therapy within 24 hr after birth were assigned to the prophylactic group, while infants born between August 2014 and July 2015 who received aminophylline therapy after obvious apnea were assigned to the therapeutic group. We compared clinical characteristics, including days of ventilator and oxygen therapy and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) between both groups.

Sixty—four patients and 25 infants were identified in the prophylactic and therapeutic groups, respectively. The mean gestational age and birth weight were 32.57 ± 1.96 weeks and 1765 ± 205 g, respectively, in the prophylactic group and 32.46 ± 1.82 weeks and 1770 ± 250 g, respectively, in the therapeutic group. No significant differences in clinical characteristics were found between the two groups. Similar clinical outcomes, including days of ventilator and oxygen therapy, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia, and BPD, were observed between the two groups.

The present study showed that the prophylactic use of aminophylline does not improve the clinical outcomes, including BPD, IVH, and ventilator dependency as compared with therapeutic use. In other words, routine prophylactic use of aminophylline is unnecessary.