Optimal birth weight and term mortality risk differ among different ethnic groups in the U.S.

Among European countries, optimal birth weight at which the mortality is minimal is shown to be different by country. We investigated this difference examining one geopolitical population, the U.S.

Long Term Speech Perception Outcomes of Cochlear Implantation in Gap Junction Protein Beta 2 Related Hearing Loss.

Background And Objectives: The mutation of the gap junction protein beta 2 () gene is the predominant cause of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the speech perception outcome after cochlear implantation according to the presence of a mutation.

Subjects And Methods: During the period from March 2004 to February 2005, 38 patients underwent cochlear implantation at Asan Medical Center.

Clinical features and outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma complicated with bile duct invasion.

Background/aims: Little is known about the treatment or outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicated with bile duct invasion.

Methods: A total of 247 consecutive HCC patients with bile duct invasion at initial diagnosis were retrospectively included.

Results: The majority of patients had Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C HCC (66.

Births to Parents with Asian Origins in the United States, 1992-2012.

Despite a remarkable increase in Asian births in the U.S., studies on their birth outcomes have been lacking.

Neonatal and Infant Mortality in Korea, Japan, and the U.S.: Effect of Birth Weight Distribution and Birth Weight-Specific Mortality Rates.

Difference in crude neonatal and infant mortality rates (NMR and IMR) among different countries is due to the differences in its two determinants: birth weight distribution (BWD) and birth weight-specific mortality rates (BW-SMRs). We aimed to determine impact of BWD and BW-SMRs on differences in crude NMR and IMR among Korea, Japan, and the U.S.

Value of pre-operative caloric test in predicting speech perception after cochlear implantation in adults with post-lingual hearing loss.

Conclusion: This study shows that, in cochlear implantation (CI) surgery, pre-operative caloric test results are not correlated with post-operative outcomes of dizziness or speech perception.

Objectives: To determine the role of pre-operative caloric tests in CI.

Methods: The records of 95 patients who underwent unilateral CI were reviewed retrospectively.

Surgical outcomes after cochlear implantation in children with incomplete partition type I: comparison with deaf children with a normal inner ear structure.

Objective: To compare audiologic performance after cochlear implantation (CI) in children with incomplete partition (IP) Type I and age-matched children with normal cochleae.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Academic center.

Anomalous facial nerve in congenital stapes fixation.

Objective: The aim of this article was to assess the prevalence and influence of anomalous facial nerves in patients undergoing surgery for congenital stapes anomalies.

Patients: The medical records of all patients who underwent surgery for congenital stapes fixation between January 1999 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. An abnormal facial nerve was found in 7 ears in 5 patients (from a total of 62 ears).

Reappraisal of serum alpha-foetoprotein as a surveillance test for hepatocellular carcinoma during entecavir treatment.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the diagnostic performance of alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) as a surveillance test for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with hepatitis B virus-related chronic liver disease who were treated with entecavir (ETV).

Methods: Between January 2007 and August 2012, we analysed 373 treatment-naïve patients with HBV-related chronic hepatitis (n = 229) or cirrhosis (n = 144) who were candidates for surveillance test, and were treated with ETV (0.5 mg/day) for longer than 12 months.

The surgical results of stapes fixation in children.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to review the causes of stapes fixation in children undergoing stapes surgery and to analyze the results of stapes surgery in children in the short term, at 1 year, and over the long term.

Methods: The medical records of 18 children (28 ears) who had undergone stapes surgery between January 1999 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. The medical history, computed tomography results, intraoperative findings, video clips, and hearing outcomes of all patients were reported.

Outcomes of cochlear implantation in children with CHARGE syndrome.

Conclusion: Regardless of the extent of inner ear anomalies and intellectual faculties, cochlear implantation (CI) with careful treatment planning can be a highly effective option for hearing rehabilitation in children with sensorineural hearing loss and CHARGE syndrome.

Objective: CHARGE is a mnemonic term for coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, retarded growth and development, genital abnormalities, and ear anomalies. CHARGE syndrome is one of the leading causes of congenital deafness and blindness in children.

Prevalence of radiologic superior canal dehiscence in normal ears and ears with chronic otitis media.

Objectives/hypothesis: Although labyrinth fistulae are caused mostly by cholesteatoma, they can occur in long-standing chronic otitis media (COM) without cholesteatoma. We aimed to compare the prevalence of radiologic SCD on computed tomography (CT) between normal ears and contralateral COM ears in patients with unilateral COM and to assess the prevalence of superior canal dehiscence (SCD) according to the age.

Study Design: Case series with comparison performed at a tertiary care academic referral center.

Audiologic performance after cochlear implantation in children with X-linked deafness: comparison with deaf children with a normal inner ear structure.

Objective: To compare audiologic performances of cochlear implantation (CI) in children with X-linked deafness with those of CI in age- and sex-matched children with normal cochleae.

Patients: We identified 4 patients with X-linked deafness and selected 10 age- and sex-matched deaf patients with normal cochleae between April 1999 and April 2012.

Main Outcome Measures: Auditory brainstem responses, Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), and Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS).

Proportion of bony cochlear nerve canal anomalies in unilateral sensorineural hearing loss in children.

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize the various bony anomalies of the inner ear in patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss using high-resolution temporal bone computed tomography and establish the relationship between hearing and the diameter of the bony cochlear nerve canal.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 51 patients (mean age 11 years, range 0-20 years, 27 boys, 24 girls) who were diagnosed with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss with an audiogram. Coronal and axial diameter of the inner ear structures, including the internal auditory canal, bony cochlear nerve canal, and each turn of the cochlea and semicircular canals, were measured with high-resolution temporal bone computed tomography.

Normative diameters and effects of aging on the cochlear and facial nerves in normal-hearing Korean ears using 3.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives/hypothesis: To assess the normative size of the cochlear nerve (CN) and facial nerve (FN) in normal-hearing ears and to determine whether nerve size varies with age.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Methods: We included 169 ears with normal hearing between 2005 and 2010.

Hearing improvement after cochlear implantation in common cavity malformed cochleae: long-term follow-up results.

Conclusion: We suggest that cochlear implantation (CI) should be a good therapeutic modality for hearing restoration in patients with common cavity malformed ears.

Objective: To analyze hearing improvement from CI performed in common cavity malformed cochleae.

Methods: A total of 11 patients (5 male and 6 female, mean age 4.

Birth outcomes of Koreans by birthplace of infants and their mothers, the United States versus Korea, 1995-2004.

The acculturation effect of immigrant women on birth outcomes varies by race. We examined birth outcomes of three groups of births for the period 1995-2004, USA births to the USA-born Korean mothers, USA births to the non-USA-born Korean mothers, and births in Korea. In singleton USA births to both Korean parents, average birth weight was 3,294 g for the USA-born Korean mothers and 3,323 g for the non-USA-born Korean mothers.

Cochlear implantations in young children with cochlear nerve deficiency diagnosed by MRI.

Objective: To investigate postoperative outcomes after cochlear implantation in young children with cochlear nerve deficiency and compare the results with those of cochlear implantation in patients with normal cochlear nerve.

Study Design: Historical cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Long-term results of endolymphatic mastoid shunt surgery in patients with intractable Ménière's disease.

Objective: To evaluate changes in vertigo and hearing from patients with Ménière's disease managed by endolymphatic mastoid shunt (EMS).

Study Design: Case series with chart review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Clinical comparison of the auditory steady-state response with the click auditory brainstem response in infants.

Objectives: Our goal was to determine the effectiveness of using the auditory steady state response (ASSR) as a measure of hearing thresholds in infants who are suspected of having significant hearing loss, as compared with using the click-auditory brainstem response (C-ABR).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the audiologic profiles of 76 infants (46 boys and 30 girls, a total of 151 ears) who ranged in age from 1 to 12 months (average age: 5.7 months).

Early bile duct cancer in a background of sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune pancreatitis.

A 59-year-old man presented with recent onset jaundice. Initial laboratory and radiologic findings suggested autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) with consequent obstructive jaundice. All serologic markers for AIP were, however, normal.

Facial nerve stimulation after cochlear implantation according to types of Nucleus 24-channel electrode arrays.

Conclusion: In this study, we concluded that electrode design and location did not have a high level of influence on the prevalence of facial nerve stimulation (FNS) in normal cochleae.

Objective: To analysis the prevalence of FNS after cochlear implantation with Nucleus 24-channel devices according to types of electrodes arrays.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed medical and mapping records of 394 patients who received cochlear implants (CIs) manufactured by Cochlear Corporation from April 1999 to March 2007.

A phase II study of leucovorin, 5-FU and docetaxel combination chemotherapy in patients with inoperable or postoperative relapsed gastric cancer.

Purpose: To estimate the effect and toxicity of bimonthly low-dose leucovorin (LV) and fluorouracil (5-FU) bolus plus continuous infusion(LV5FU2) with docetaxel combination chemotherapy in patients with inoperable or postoperative relapsed gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: Total 27 patients are enrolled in this study. LV 20 mg/m(2) (bolus), 5FU 400 mg/m(2) (bolus), 5-FU 600 mg/m(2) (24-hour continuous infusion) on day 1, 2, 15, and 16, docetaxel 60 mg/m(2) (1-hour infusion) on day 15 every 4 weeks.

Infant mortality decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: the role of market milk.

Starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a precipitous decline in infant mortality was observed in the United States. Economic growth, improved nutrition, new sanitary measures, and advances in knowledge about infant care all contributed to this decline in infant mortality. Little is known, however, about how these individual factors affected disease-specific components of infant mortality over time.

Complications following cochlear implantation in patients with anomalous inner ears: experiences in Asan Medical Center.

Conclusion: Although the rate of postoperative complications was higher in patients with anomalous inner ears than in patients with normal inner ears, most were minor and could be managed conservatively. These findings suggest that cochlear implantation (CI) is safe even for patients with anomalous inner ears in experienced hospitals.

Objective: To report complications encountered in patients with various types of anomalous inner ears undergoing CI in Asan Medical Center.