Skeletal Muscle Index Changes on Locoregional Treatment Application After FOLFIRINOX and Survival in Pancreatic Cancer.

Background: Patients with borderline resectable (BR) or locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) require complex management strategies. This study evaluated the prognostic significance of the perichemotherapy skeletal muscle index (SMI) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) in patients with BRPC or LAPC treated with FOLFIRINOX.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 227 patients with BR or LAPC who received at least four cycles of chemotherapy between 2015 and 2020.

Long-term effects of local radiotherapy on growth and vertebral features in children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Background: To evaluate the effects of local radiotherapy (RT) on growth, we evaluated the chronological growth profiles and vertebral features of children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Methods: Thirty-eight children who received local photon or proton beam therapy to the abdomen or retroperitoneum between January 2014 and September 2019 were included. Simple radiography of the thoracolumbar spine was performed before and every year after RT.

Real-world outcome of patients with extensively pretreated multiple myeloma who were treated with selinexor and dexamethasone: a Korean multicenter retrospective analysis.

The outcomes of patients with myeloma after exposed to penta-classes are extremely poor. Selinexor is the first approved exportin inhibitor for those patients, but intractable toxicities may limit its use. This retrospective study evaluated the real-world efficacy and safety of selinexor plus dexamethasone (XD) and involved 48 patients with multiple myeloma, who were treated from November 2020 to October 2022.

Imaging of Facial Nerve With 3D-DESS-WE-MRI Before Parotidectomy: Impact on Surgical Outcomes.

Objective: The intra-parotid facial nerve (FN) can be visualized using three-dimensional double-echo steady-state water-excitation sequence magnetic resonance imaging (3D-DESS-WE-MRI). However, the clinical impact of FN imaging using 3D-DESS-WE-MRI before parotidectomy has not yet been explored. We compared the clinical outcomes of parotidectomy in patients with and without preoperative 3D-DESS-WE-MRI.

Upper gastrointestinal tract perforation assessed by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography after oral Sonazoid administration in a stomach leakage mouse model.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) can visualize orally administered Sonazoid leaking into the peritoneal cavity in a postoperative stomach leakage mouse model.

Methods: Adult female mice (n=33, 9-10 weeks old) were used. Preoperative CEUS was performed after delivering Sonazoid via intraperitoneal injection and the per oral route.

First and second kidney transplantations from living donors offer comparable outcomes for patients.

Background: Increasingly many patients are being relisted for repeat kidney transplantation due to longer survival times after transplantation. This study compared the outcomes of second living donor kidney transplantations (LDKTs) with those of first LDKTs.

Methods: Data were collected retrospectively for 1,429 LDKTs performed from 1995 to 2020 at Samsung Medical Center.

Defining the learning curve for endotracheal intubation in the emergency department.

To determine the minimum number of endotracheal intubation (ETI) attempts necessary for a novice emergency medicine (EM) trainee to become proficient with this procedure. This single-center study retrospectively analyzed data obtained from the institutional airway registry during the period from April 2014 to March 2021. All ETI attempts made by EM trainees starting their residency programs between 2014 and 2018 were evaluated.

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters of vancomycin for predicting clinical outcome of enterococcal bacteremia.

Purpose: To find pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters of vancomycin associated with the optimal outcome of severe infection due to Enterococcus species.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed enterococcal bacteremia cases treated with vancomycin from January 2015 to December 2020. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality.

Development of prediction models for distinguishable cognitive trajectories in patients with amyloid positive mild cognitive impairment.

The clinical outcomes of patients with amyloid beta-positive (Aβ+) mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are heterogeneous. We therefore developed prediction models for distinguishable cognitive trajectories in Aβ+ participants with MCI. We included 238 Aβ+ participants with MCI from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative to develop a group-based trajectory model and 63 Aβ+ participants with MCI from the Samsung Medical Center for external validation.

Preoperative Helical Dynamic Enhanced Multidetector Row Computed Tomography: Can It Be a Prognostic Indicator in Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer?

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography in patients with stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 139 patients (77 men, 62 women; mean age, 59 years) with stage IA NSCLC who underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Data on age, pathologic subtype, peak enhancement, and net enhancement of primary lung cancer were collected and correlated with 5-year survival.

F-THK5351 PET Positivity and Longitudinal Changes in Cognitive Function in β-Amyloid-Negative Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Purpose: Neuroinflammation is considered an important pathway associated with several diseases that result in cognitive decline. F-THK5351 positron emission tomography (PET) signals might indicate the presence of neuroinflammation, as well as Alzheimer's disease-type tau aggregates. β-amyloid (Aβ)-negative (Aβ-) amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) may be associated with non-Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology.

Independent effects of amyloid and vascular markers on long-term functional outcomes: An 8-year longitudinal study of subcortical vascular cognitive impairment.

Background And Purpose: Subcortical vascular cognitive impairment (SVCI) is characterized by the presence of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) markers. Some SVCI patients also show Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy markers. However, the effects of these imaging markers on long-term clinical outcomes have not yet been established.

Prognostic Value of Preoperative Serum Calcitonin Levels for Predicting the Recurrence of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Background: Serum calcitonin level is a useful biomarker for predicting primary tumor size, the extent of lymph node, and distant metastasis in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). However, the association between preoperative serum calcitonin levels and long-term oncologic outcomes has not yet been established. The aims of this study were to determine the preoperative serum calcitonin cut-off value for predicting disease recurrence and to evaluate its prognostic value.

Combined transarterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation for subphrenic versus nonsubphrenic hepatocellular carcinoma: a propensity score matched study.

Purpose: To compare therapeutic outcomes of combined transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatment for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in subphrenic versus nonsubphrenic locations by propensity score matching.

Methods: This retrospective study included 293 patients with single HCC (≤ 3 cm) ineligible for ultrasound-guided RFA who received iodized oil TACE and subsequent RFA between June 2010 and January 2017. The patients were divided into two groups according to the tumor location: subphrenic (n = 99) and nonsubphrenic (n = 194).

Trimodality therapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: the role of volume-based PET/CT in patient management and prognostication.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in predicting pathologic complete response (pCR) and identify relevant prognostic factors from clinico-imaging-pathologic features of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (eSCC) patients undergoing trimodality therapy.

Methods: We evaluated 275 patients with eSCCs of T3-T4aN0M0 and T1-T4aN1-N3M0 who received trimodality therapy. We correlated volume-based PET/CT parameters before and after concurrent chemoradiation therapy with pCR after surgery, clinico-imaging-pathologic features, and patient survival.

Surgeon Volume and Long-Term Oncologic Outcomes in Patients with Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Background: Surgery is the most important curative treatment for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The relationship between surgeon volume (the number of surgeries performed) and short-term surgical outcomes, such as increased postoperative complication or costs, is well established. This study evaluated whether surgeon volume influenced long-term oncologic outcomes.

Differential effects of risk factors on the cognitive trajectory of early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Although few studies have shown that risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with cognitive decline in AD, not much is known whether the impact of risk factors differs between early-onset AD (EOAD, symptom onset < 65 years of age) versus late-onset AD (LOAD). Therefore, we evaluated whether the impact of Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk factors on cognitive trajectories differ in EOAD and LOAD.

Methods: We followed-up 193 EOAD and 476 LOAD patients without known autosomal dominant AD mutation for 32.

Absolute Neutrophil Count after the First Chemotherapy Cycle as a Surrogate Marker for Treatment Outcomes in Patients with Neuroblastoma.

Purpose: We performed this study to determine whether the degree of neutropenia after the first chemotherapy cycle can be used as a surrogate marker of individual susceptibility to chemotherapeutic agents affecting treatment outcome in patients with neuroblastoma.

Materials And Methods: The study included 313 patients who received the first cycle chemotherapy with a CEDC (cisplatin+etoposide+doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide) regimen and had absolute neutrophil count (ANC) data available. The cumulative incidences of progression and treatment-related mortality (TRM) were estimated.

CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, ATRIA, and Essen stroke risk scores in stroke with atrial fibrillation: A nationwide multicenter registry study.

The performance of scoring systems for risk stratification in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) was not validated well in patients with stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the risk scoring systems predict vascular outcomes in stroke patients with AF.Data were obtained from a nationwide multicenter registry for acute stroke with AF from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015.

The different central nervous system efficacy among gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Brain metastasis is common in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and has an even higher incidence in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant cancers. Although EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are effective against brain metastases, it is unknown which first- or second-generation EGFR TKI is most effective.

Methods: Patients treated with first-line gefitinib, erlotinib, or afatinib for advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC were included.

Predicting the Risk of Malignancy of Lung Nodules Diagnosed as Indeterminate on Radial Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Biopsy.

The next diagnostic step in cases of indeterminate radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (radial EBUS)-guided biopsy results remains uncertain. This study aimed to identify risk factors for malignancy based on clinical findings, chest computed tomography (CT), and radial EBUS images, and to estimate the risk of malignancy in lung nodules that showed indeterminate radial EBUS-guided biopsy results by constructing a nomogram. This retrospective study included 157 patients with indeterminate results on an initial radial EBUS biopsy performed at the Samsung Medical Center from January 2017 to December 2018, but with a definitive final diagnosis.

Disease progression modeling of Alzheimer's disease according to education level.

To develop a disease progression model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that shows cognitive decline from subjective cognitive impairments (SCI) to the end stage of AD dementia (ADD) and to investigate the effect of education level on the whole disease spectrum, we enrolled 565 patients who were followed up more than three times and had a clinical dementia rating sum of boxes (CDR-SB). Three cohorts, SCI (n = 85), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (AMCI, n = 240), and ADD (n = 240), were overlapped in two consecutive cohorts (SCI and AMCI, AMCI and ADD) to construct a model of disease course, and a model with multiple single-cohorts was estimated using a mixed-effect model. To examine the effect of education level on disease progression, the disease progression model was developed with data from lower (≤ 12) and higher (> 12) education groups.