Risk of cardiovascular disease with high-dose versus low-dose use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: To investigate the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with increasing dose of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods: Using the Korean National Health Insurance database, patients newly diagnosed with AS without prior CVD between 2010 and 2018 were included in this nationwide cohort study. The primary outcome was CVD, a composite outcome of ischaemic heart disease, stroke or congestive heart failure.

Self-Reported Findings of the Korean Intermittent Exotropia Multicenter Study Questionnaire.

Purpose: To determine subjective symptoms and medical history of patients with intermittent exotropia in a large study population.

Methods: The Korean Intermittent Exotropia Multicenter Study (KIEMS) is a nationwide, observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study conducted by the Korean Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus including 5,385 patients with intermittent exotropia. Subjective symptoms and medical history of patients with intermittent exotropia were extracted by a comprehensive survey based on a self-administered questionnaire according to the study protocol of the KIEMS.

Infective Endocarditis and Antithrombotic Therapy.

Background: Incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) is progressively raising because of the increasing number of cardiovascular invasive procedures, support treatment and devices, awareness in the medical community, and improved diagnostic modalities. IE pathophysiology is a unique model of immunothrombosis, and the clinical course is often complicated by either embolic or hemorrhagic events. Managing antithrombotic treatment is challenging and the level of supporting evidence scant.

Real-world effectiveness of a single conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (cDMARD) plus an anti-TNF agent versus multiple cDMARDs in rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective observational study.

Objective: The objective of this prospective, observational multicenter study (NCT03264703) was to compare the effectiveness of single conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (cDMARD) plus anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy versus multiple cDMARD treatments in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) following cDMARD failure in the real-world setting in South Korea.

Methods: At the treating physicians' discretion, patients received single cDMARD plus anti-TNF therapy or multiple cDMARDs. Changes from baseline in disease activity score 28-joint count with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), corticosteroid use, and Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ-20) scores were evaluated at 3, 6, and 12 months.

Microcurrent wave alleviates mouse intracranial arterial dolichoectasia development.

Intracranial arterial dolichoectasia (IADE) is associated with the interaction of hypertension and inflammation, and microcurrent can be effective in hypertension. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of microcurrent electrical stimulation in a mouse IADE model. This study randomly categorized 20 mice into five groups: group 1-C (healthy control), group 2-D (IADE model), group 3-M + D (microcurrent administration before nephrectomy and until brain surgery), group 4-D + M (microcurrent administration for 4 weeks following brain surgery), and group 5-M (microcurrent administration for 4 weeks).

Baseline clinical and neuroradiological predictors of outcome in patients with large ischemic core undergoing mechanical thrombectomy: A retrospective multicenter study.

Background: Recent randomized trials have shown the benefit of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) also in patients with an established large ischemic core.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to define baseline predictors of clinical outcome in patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) in the anterior circulation and an Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score (ASPECTS) ⩽ 5, undergoing MT.

Material And Methods: The databases of 16 comprehensive stroke centers were retrospectively screened for patients with LVO and ASPECTS ⩽5 that received MT.

Parental perspectives and concerns regarding exotropia surgery and comparison with clinicians' predictions.

Purpose: To evaluate parental perspectives and concerns regarding exotropia surgery and compare them with clinicians' predictions of parental responses in Korean pediatric patients with intermittent exotropia.

Methods: This survey study included the parents of pediatric patients with intermittent exotropia who underwent surgery and clinicians at five hospitals from June 2022 to February 2023, who participated in the Survey of Parental Attitude and Concerns of Exotropia surgery (SPACE) study 1. Parental attitudes and concern about exotropia surgery were assessed using a questionnaire.

Correlation analysis of cancer stem cell marker CD133 and human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-K env in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells.

Background: Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-K is a type of retrovirus that is present in the human genome, and its expression is usually silenced in healthy tissues. The precise mechanism by which HERV-K env influences cancer stemness is not fully understood, but it has been suggested that HERV-K env may activate various signaling pathways that promote stemness traits in cancer cells.

Objective: To establish the connection between HERV-K env expression and cancer stemness in ovarian cancer cells, we carried out correlation analyses between HERV-K env and the cancer stem cell (CSC) marker known as the cluster of differentiation 133 (CD133) gene in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells.

Ambient particulate matter and surrounding greenness in relation to sleep quality among pregnant women: A nationwide cohort study.

Background: Particulate air pollution and residential greenness are associated with sleep quality in the general population; however, their influence on maternal sleep quality during pregnancy has not been assessed.

Objective: This cross-sectional study investigated the individual and interactive effects of exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution and residential greenness on sleep quality in pregnant women.

Methods: Pregnant women (n = 4933) enrolled in the Korean Children's Environmental Health Study with sleep quality information and residential address were included.

OrthoID: profiling dynamic proteomes through time and space using mutually orthogonal chemical tools.

Identifying proteins at organelle contact sites, such as mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAM), is essential for understanding vital cellular processes, yet challenging due to their dynamic nature. Here we report "OrthoID", a proteomic method utilizing engineered enzymes, TurboID and APEX2, for the biotinylation (Bt) and adamantylation (Ad) of proteins close to the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), respectively, in conjunction with high-affinity binding pairs, streptavidin-biotin (SA-Bt) and cucurbit[7]uril-adamantane (CB[7]-Ad), for selective orthogonal enrichment of Bt- and Ad-labeled proteins. This approach effectively identifies protein candidates associated with the ER-mitochondria contact, including LRC59, whose roles at the contact site were-to the best of our knowledge-previously unknown, and tracks multiple protein sets undergoing structural and locational changes at MAM during mitophagy.

Utilization of Tenting Pole Abutments for the Reconstruction of Severely Resorbed Alveolar Bone: Technical Considerations and Case Series Reports.

Introduction: Although various surgical techniques have been utilized in the reconstruction of severely resorbed alveolar bone, its regeneration is still regarded as a major challenge. Most of the surgical techniques used in advanced ridge augmentation have the disadvantages of prolonging the patient's edentulous healing and increasing the need for surgical revisits because simultaneous implant placement is not allowed. This report presents a new and simplified method for advanced ridge augmentation, which utilizes a vertical tenting device.

Thromboxane biosynthesis and future events in diabetes: the ASCEND trial.

Background And Aims: Thromboxane (TX) A2, released by activated platelets, plays an important role in atherothrombosis. Urinary 11-dehydro-TXB2 (U-TXM), a stable metabolite reflecting the whole-body TXA2 biosynthesis, is reduced by ∼70% by daily low-dose aspirin. The U-TXM represents a non-invasive biomarker of in vivo platelet activation and is enhanced in patients with diabetes.

Real-World Risk of Gastrointestinal Bleeding for Direct Oral Anticoagulants and Warfarin Users: A Distributed Network Analysis Using a Common Data Model.

Background/aims: Early studies on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) reported a higher risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) compared with warfarin; however, recent studies have reported a reduced risk. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the risk of GIB in users of DOAC and warfarin.

Methods: Using a common data model, we investigated the comparative risk of GIB in subjects from eight hospitals who were newly prescribed DOACs or warfarin.

New pharmacological agents and novel cardiovascular pharmacotherapy strategies in 2023.

Although cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, their pharmacotherapy remains suboptimal. Thus, there is a clear unmet need to develop more effective and safer pharmacological strategies. In this review, we summarize the most relevant advances in cardiovascular pharmacology in 2023, including the approval of first-in-class drugs that open new avenues for the treatment of atherosclerotic CVD and heart failure (HF).

Extracellular vesicles produced by irradiated endothelial or Glioblastoma stem cells promote tumor growth and vascularization modulating tumor microenvironment.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adult, characterized by highly aggressive and infiltrative growth. The current therapeutic management of GBM includes surgical resection followed by ionizing radiations and chemotherapy. Complex and dynamic interplay between tumor cells and tumor microenvironment drives the progression and contributes to therapeutic resistance.

Two Cases of Robot-Assisted Totally Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy with Colon Interposition for Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer: Surgical Considerations.

This case report presents 2 patients with gastroesophageal junction cancer who both underwent totally minimally invasive esophagectomy with colon interposition. Patients 1 and 2, who were 43-year-old and 78-year-old men, respectively, had distinct clinical presentations and medical histories. Patient 1 underwent minimally invasive robotic esophagectomy with a laparoscopic total gastrectomy, colonic conduit preparation, and intrathoracic esophago-colono-jejunostomy.

Changes in ocular extorsion after horizontal muscle surgery in patients with intermittent exotropia coexisting with hypertropia and mild inferior oblique overaction.

Purpose: To investigate changes in vertical strabismus and extorsion in patients with intermittent exotropia and mild unilateral inferior oblique muscle overaction (IOOA) who underwent horizontal muscle surgery without vertical or oblique muscle surgery.

Methods: The medical records of 41 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were followed up for at least 6 months after surgery.