Survival benefit of metformin use according to cancer diagnosis in diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is a disease cluster causing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and high mortality. Metformin is the most common antidiabetic agent inhibiting the tumorigenesis and insulin resistance of MetSyn. We describe the association between metformin intake and survival of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and MetSyn, according to the presence of cancer.

Long-term Outcomes of Polytetrafluoroethylene Bicuspid Pulmonary Valve Replacement.

Background: In 2016 we reported promising midterm outcomes of bicuspid pulmonary valve replacement using 0.1-mm polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane. This follow-up study analyzes long-term outcomes and risk factors for reintervention and structural valve deterioration (SVD).

Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes of Transition among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess disease characteristics and outcomes of transition in patient care among adolescent patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Materials And Methods: Data from patients younger than 18 years who were diagnosed with IBD (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or intestinal Behçet's disease) were investigated. We categorized the patients into two groups: transition IBD group (Group A, diagnosed in pediatric care followed by transfer to/attendance in adult IBD care) and non-transition group (Group B, diagnosed and followed up in pediatric care or adult IBD care without transfer).

Fast and non-destructive Raman spectroscopic determination of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) contents in MWCNT/polydimethylsiloxane composites.

A versatile Raman spectroscopic method to determine the contents of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in CNT/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites is demonstrated, and important issues directly related to the accuracy of the measurement have been investigated. Initially, Raman microscopic mappings over an area of 6.0 × 6.

Epicardial Fat Thickness and Free Fatty Acid Level are Predictors of Acute Ischemic Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Increased epicardial fat is known to be associated with the presence and chronicity of atrial fibrillation (AF). Free fatty acids (FFAs) are major components of epicardial fat; however, their potential association with AF in ischemic stroke has not been investigated. We aimed to assess the performance of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and plasma FFA level in identifying patients with ischemic stroke and AF.

Blunted heart rate recovery is associated with coronary artery spasm in patients with suspected vasospastic angina.

Background: Autonomic nervous system activity has been shown to be altered in patients with vasospastic angina (VA). Heart rate recovery (HRR) is a simple, non-invasive measurement of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. We aimed to investigate whether HRR is related to VA, as established by an ergonovine test.

The Influence of Epicardial Fat and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease on Heart Rate Recovery in Metabolic Syndrome.

Background: Epicardial adipose tissues reflecting visceral fat accumulations of the heart are associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and can be a predictor of other cardiometabolic diseases. It can adversely influence autonomic nervous system (ANS) of heart. Heart rate recovery (HRR) is an easy method for measuring ANS dysfunction.

Prognostic Utility of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio on Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Severe Calcific Aortic Stenosis.

Background: Inflammation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of calcific aortic stenosis (AS). We aimed to evaluate the association between an inflammatory marker, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with severe calcific AS.

Methods: A total of 336 patients with isolated severe calcific AS newly diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 were enrolled in this study.

The Combined Impact of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus on Significant Coronary Artery Disease and Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis.

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently emerged as a new important inflammatory marker for predicting cardiovascular events. This study aimed to evaluate the combined impact of NLR and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on significant coronary artery disease (CAD) and carotid artery atherosclerosis.

Methods: This study includes a total of 828 patients evaluated by coronary angiography and carotid ultrasonography.

Prognostic factors for patients with bone-only metastasis in breast cancer.

Purpose: Bone is the most frequent site of metastasis among breast cancer patients. We investigated prognostic factors affecting survival following bone-only metastasis in breast cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: The medical records of breast cancer patients who were treated and followed at Gangnam Severance Hospital retrospectively reviewed to identify patients with bone-only metastasis.

The difference in prognostic factors between early recurrence and late recurrence in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer: nodal stage differently impacts early and late recurrence.

Background: Probability of recurrence in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer remains constant for long periods. We compared tumor burden impact on late versus early recurrence in our cohort with long-term follow-up.

Methods: Five hundred and ninety five patients diagnosed with ER-positive breast cancer between 1989 and 2001 were classified into three groups: early recurrence within 5 years, late recurrence after 5 years, and no recurrence.

Personalized medicine in breast cancer: a systematic review.

The recent advent of "-omics" technologies have heralded a new era of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine is referred to as the ability to segment heterogeneous subsets of patients whose response to a therapeutic intervention within each subset is homogeneous. This new paradigm in healthcare is beginning to affect both research and clinical practice.

Multi-gene expression-based statistical approaches to predicting patients' clinical outcomes and responses.

Gene expression profiling technique now enables scientists to obtain a genome-wide picture of cellular functions on various human disease mechanisms which has also proven to be extremely valuable in forecasting patients' prognosis and therapeutic responses. A wide range of multivariate techniques have been employed in biomedical applications on such expression profiling data in order to identify expression biomarkers that are highly associated with patients' clinical outcome and to train multi-gene prediction models that can forecast various human disease outcome and drug toxicities. We provide here a brief overview on some of these approaches, succinctly summarizing relevant basic concepts, statistical algorithms, and several practical applications.