SGLT2 Inhibitor Use and Risk of Dementia and Parkinson Disease Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Background And Objectives: Despite the mechanistic potential of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) to improve neurologic outcomes, the efficacy of SGLT2i in neurodegenerative disorders among patients with type 2 diabetes is not well established. This population-based cohort study aimed to investigate the association of SGLT2i use with risks of incident dementia and Parkinson disease (PD) in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This was a retrospective examination of data from a cohort of 1,348,362 participants with type 2 diabetes (≥40 years), who started antidiabetic drugs from 2014 to 2019, evaluated using the Korean National Health Insurance Service Database.

A post hoc comparative real-world analysis of HEAD-US score for joint health assessment of patients with severe haemophilia A and B in Spain.

Aim: Joint damage due to haemarthrosis can be effectively monitored with point-of care ultrasound using the Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with US (HEAD-US) scoring system. A post hoc comparative analysis of the joint status of patients with severe haemophilia A (HA) or B (HB) was performed.

Methods: The databases of two observational, cross-sectional studies that recruited patients with HA or HB from 12 Spanish centres were analysed to compare the status of the elbows, knees and ankles in patients with severe disease according to treatment modality.

Uric Acid Variability as a Predictive Marker of Newly Developed Cardiovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetes.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). However, the role of serum uric acid as a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease is controversial. This study investigated whether uric acid variability was associated with new-onset symptomatic CVD in patients with T2D, requiring percutaneous coronary intervention.

Renal Tubular Damage Marker, Urinary N-acetyl-β-D-Glucosaminidase, as a Predictive Marker of Hepatic Fibrosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis is closely associated with the progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We investigated whether urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (u-NAG), an early renal tubular damage biomarker in DKD, could be related to the degree of hepatic fibrosis in patients with T2DM.

Methods: A total of 300 patients with T2DM were enrolled in this study.

Effects of social prescribing pilot project for the elderly in rural area of South Korea during COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Older adults-classified as a high-risk group-are highly likely to experience increased loneliness due to the implementation of various policies designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the effects of a pilot social prescribing project for elderly people in rural area of South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model, the effectiveness of the pilot project was verified through pre- and post-impact and outcome evaluation.

Ultrasound evaluation of joint damage and disease activity in adult patients with severe haemophilia A using the HEAD-US system.

Introduction: The Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound (HEAD-US) system and scoring scale has proven to be an accurate and time-efficient imaging method for identifying joint damage in patients with haemophilia.

Aim: Observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study conducted in 8 centres in Spain that assessed the joint status of adult patients with severe haemophilia A (SHA) using HEAD-US.

Methods: Joint status of the elbow, knee and ankle was evaluated in adults with SHA receiving on-demand (OD) treatment, or primary (PP), secondary (SP), tertiary (TP) or intermittent (IP) prophylaxis.

Data Configuration and Publication Trends for the Korean National Health Insurance and Health Insurance Review & Assessment Database.

Background: Big data reports related to diseases and health care for the Korean population have been published since the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment (HIRA) Service provided limited open access to their databases. Here, we reviewed the structure, content, and means of using data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) system for the benefit of Korean researchers and presented the latest publication trends in Korean healthcare data procured from the NHI and HIRA databases.

Methods: Since 2013, researchers have been able to obtain nationwide population-based studies using the NHI and HIRA databases of the insured.

Cost of patients with hemophilia A treated with standard half-life or extended half-life FVIII in Spain.

Background: In a real-world analysis (RWA) conducted in the United States (US), median international units (IUs) of extended half-life (EHL) recombinant coagulation factor VIII (rFVIII) dispensed were 10% to 45% greater than standard half-life (SHL) rFVIII. The mean IUs of each rFVIII dispensed quarterly were obtained from two databases (N = 776).

Methods: A probabilistic model in a 1-year time horizon was used in order to analyze the cost comparison of SHL and EHL rFVIII products in Spain.

Association between Serum Gamma-Glutamyltransferase and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Using Data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a positive correlation between gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and whether GGT can be used as an easily checkable metabolic index using data from the large-scale Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES).

Methods: We obtained data of 211,725 participants of the KoGES. The collected data included age, sex, height, weight, waist circumference, and various biochemical characteristics, including serum GGT levels.

Long-Term Experience of Sperm Cryopreservation in Cancer Patients in a Single Fertility Center.

Purpose: Sperm cryopreservation before cancer treatment is the most effective method to preserve the fertility of male patients. We present our 21 years experience with sperm cryopreservation for cancer patients, including an examination of semen quality, the current status of cryopreserved sperm, and the rate of sperm use for assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Materials And Methods: A total of 721 cancer patients at Fertility Center of CHA Gangnam Medical Center successfully performed sperm cryopreservation for fertility preservation from January 1996 to December 2016.

Joint status in Spanish haemophilia B patients assessed using the Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound (HEAD-US) score.

Aim: The use of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK-US) following protocols for haemophilic arthropathy and the Haemophilia Early Arthropathy Detection with Ultrasound (HEAD-US) score can help standardize monitoring in haemophilia. This study evaluated the joint status (elbows, knees and ankles) of patients with haemophilia B (HB) in Spain using MSK-US and the HEAD-US score.

Methods: Haemophilia B patients ≥14 years old were included in this observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study, regardless of their clinical condition, HB severity and treatment received.

Radiation safety: a focus on lead aprons and thyroid shields in interventional pain management.

C-arm fluoroscopy is useful equipment in interventional pain management because it helps to guide correct needle targeting for the accurate injection and drug delivery. However, due to increased use of C-arm fluoroscopy in various pain procedures, the risk of radiation exposure is a significant concern for pain physicians. The harmful biological effects of ionizing radiation on the human body are well known.

A Case of Tuberculous Peritonitis Presenting as Small Bowel Obstruction.

The peritoneum is one of the common extrapulmonary sites of tuberculosis infection. Patients with underlying end-stage renal or liver disease are frequently complicated by tuberculous peritonitis; however, the diagnosis of the tuberculous peritonitis is difficult due to its insidious nature, well as its variability in presentation and limitation of available diagnostic tests. Once diagnosed, the preferred treatment is usually antituberculous therapy in uncomplicated cases.

The radiation safety education and the pain physicians' efforts to reduce radiation exposure.

Background: C-arm fluoroscopy equipment is important for interventional pain management and can cause radiation injury to physicians and patients. We compared radiation safety education and efforts to reduce the radiation exposure of pain specialists.

Methods: A survey of 49 pain specialists was conducted anonymously in 2016.

Second-line bismuth-containing quadruple therapy for eradication and impact of diabetes.

Aim: To investigate (. ) eradication rates using second-line bismuth-containing quadruple therapy and to identify predictors of eradication failure.

Methods: This study included 636 patients who failed first-line triple therapy and received 7 d of bismuth-containing quadruple therapy between January 2005 and December 2015.

Prognostic significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with stage III and IV colorectal cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: Between April 1996 and December 2010, medical records from a total of 1868 patients with CRC were retrospectively reviewed. The values of simple inflammatory markers including NLR and PLR in predicting the long-term outcomes of these patients were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models.

Factor VIII delivery devices in haemophilia A. Barriers and drivers for treatment adherence.

Introduction And Objective: To capture the experience of haemophilia A patients with their devices for coagulation factor reconstitution, the barriers for treatment adherence; and to determine their preferences, presenting a new double-chamber syringe (DCS).

Method: A cross-sectional research through a supervised survey and a DCS testing session.

Results: Seventy-four (74) patients participated, 50% of them on prophylaxis treatment, and 7 years (median) with their usual treatment (IQR 17.

Continuous Ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric Nerve Block for Groin Pain in a Breast-feeding Patient after Cesarean Delivery.

Ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric (II/IH) nerve injury is one of the most common nerve injuries following pelvic surgery, especially with the Pfannenstiel incision. We present a case of intractable groin pain, successfully treated with a continuous II/IH nerve block. A 33-year-old woman, following emergency cesarean section due to cephalopelvic disproportion, presented numbness in left inguinal area and severe pain on the labia on the second postoperative day.

Spinal Cauda Equina Stimulation for Alternative Location of Spinal Cord Stimulation in Intractable Phantom Limb Pain Syndrome: A Case Report.

Phantom limb pain is a phenomenon in which patients experience pain in a part of the body that no longer exists. In several treatment modalities, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been introduced for the management of intractable post-amputation pain. A 46-year-old male patient complained of severe ankle and foot pain, following above-the-knee amputation surgery on the right side amputation surgery three years earlier.

Comparisons of recursive partitioning analysis and conventional methods for selection of uncuffed endotracheal tubes for pediatric patients.

Background: Numerous studies have investigated the best method of selecting the appropriate size of endotracheal tube (ETT) for children. However, none of the methods or formulae for selection of ETT size have shown better prediction over another, and they have required complex formulae calculation or even use of cumbersome equipment. Recursive partitioning analysis creates a decision tree that is more likely to enable clearer and easier visualization of decision charts compared to other data mining methods.

Functional water flow pathways and hydraulic regulation in the xylem network of Arabidopsis.

In vascular plants, the xylem network constitutes a complex microfluidic system. The relationship between vascular network architecture and functional hydraulic regulation during actual water flow remains unexplored. Here, we developed a method to visualize individual xylem vessels of the 3D xylem network of Arabidopsis thaliana, and to analyze the functional activities of these vessels using synchrotron X-ray computed tomography with hydrophilic gold nanoparticles as flow tracers.