Partial mesorectal excision can be a primary option for middle rectal cancer: a propensity score-matched retrospective analysis.

Purpose: Although partial mesorectal excision (PME) and total mesorectal excision (TME) is primarily indicated for the upper and lower rectal cancer, respectively, few studies have evaluated whether PME or TME is more optimal for middle rectal cancer.

Methods: This study included 671 patients with middle and upper rectal cancer who underwent robot-assisted PME or TME. The 2 groups were optimized by propensity score matching of sex, age, clinical stage, tumor location, and neoadjuvant treatment.

Pancreatitis, Panniculitis, and Polyarthritis Syndrome Simulating Cellulitis and Gouty Arthritis.

Pancreatitis, panniculitis, and polyarthritis (PPP) syndrome is a rare but critical disease with a high mortality rate. The diagnostic dilemma of PPP syndrome is the fact that symptoms occur unexpectedly. A 48-year-old man presented with fever and painful swelling of the left foot that was initially mistaken for cellulitis and gouty arthritis.

Validation of Korean Version of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (K-CRSR).

Objective: To determine the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (K-CRSR) for evaluation of patients with a severe brain lesion.

Methods: With permission from Giacino, the developer of the Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRSR), the scale was translated into Korean and back-translated into English by a Korean physiatrist highly proficient in English, and then verified by the original developer. Adult patients with a severe brain lesion following traumatic brain injury, stroke, or hypoxic brain injury were examined.

Effect of a Caregiver's Education Program on Stroke Rehabilitation.

Objective: To evaluate effects of caregiver's education program on their satisfaction, as well as patient functional recovery, performed in addition to daily conventional rehabilitation treatment.

Methods: Three hundred eleven subjects diagnosed with first-onset stroke and transferred to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Inha University Hospital were surveyed. In 2015, caregivers attended an education program for acute and subacute stroke patients.

Monitoring of Functioning Status in Subjects With Chronic Stroke in South Korea Using WHODAS II.

Objective: To follow up the long-term functioning in a community through assessing personal background and status based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) after a stroke, by using a Korean version of World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale II (K-WHODAS II).

Methods: We surveyed 146 patients diagnosed at the first-onset of acute stroke and discharged after Inha University Hospital, and 101 patients answered the K-WHODAS II survey. We analyzed the relationship of six functioning domains of K-WHODAS II with K-MMSE (Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination) and K-MBI (Korean version of Modified Barthel Index) at admission and discharge, and personal background.

Abnormal Ocular Movement With Executive Dysfunction and Personality Change in Subject With Thalamic Infarction: A Case Report.

The thalamus, located between the cerebrum and midbrain, is a nuclear complex connected to the cerebral cortex that influences motor skills, cognition, and mood. The thalamus is composed of 50-60 nuclei and can be divided into four areas according to vascular supply. In addition, it can be divided into five areas according to function.

Lysophosphatidylcholine increases neutrophil bactericidal activity by enhancement of azurophil granule-phagosome fusion via glycine.GlyR alpha 2/TRPM2/p38 MAPK signaling.

Neutrophils are the first-line defense against microbes. Enhancing the microbicidal activity of neutrophils could complement direct antimicrobial therapy for controlling intractable microbial infections. Previously, we reported that lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), an endogenous lipid, enhances neutrophil bactericidal activity (Yan et al.

Cervical lymphadenitis in a patient coinfected with Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella henselae.

Cat scratch disease, caused by Bartonella henselae, is a worldwide zoonosis that is most frequently associated with the bite or scratch of a kitten under 6 months of age, as well as from a fleabite. Toxoplsma gondii is also another important zoonotic agent in cats and humans, which is mainly acquired by ingestion of food or water that is contaminated with oocytes shed by cats or by eating undercooked or raw meat containing tissue cysts. Here, we report a first case of young patient with cervical lymphadenitis, which shows serological and histological evidence of B.