Lessons From the Success and Failure of Targeted Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Perspectives for Effective Basic and Translational Research.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a representative autoimmune disease that is primarily characterized by persistent inflammation and progressive destruction of synovial joints. RA has a complex and heterogeneous pathophysiology, involving interactions among various immune and joint stromal cells and a diverse network of cytokines and intracellular signaling pathways. With improved understanding of RA, over the past decades, therapeutic strategies have become considerably advanced and now included targeted molecular therapies, such as tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, IL-6 blockers, B-cell depletion agents, as well as inhibitors of T-cell co-stimulation and Janus kinases.

Clinical experience of tensor-valued diffusion encoding for microstructure imaging by diffusional variance decomposition in patients with breast cancer.

Background: Diffusion-weighted imaging plays a key role in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of breast tumors. However, it remains unclear how to interpret single diffusion encoding with respect to its link with tissue microstructure. The purpose of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to use tensor-valued diffusion encoding to investigate the underlying microstructure of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and evaluate its potential value in a clinical setting.

Prognostic Value of NOX4 Expression in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Recent studies have shown that nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4 (NOX4) is related to cancer development, proliferation, invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and metastasis. The prognostic value of NOX4 expression although has been reported in various cancers, it remains unclear as several studies have reported conflicting results. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to systematically investigate the prognostic value of NOX4 expression in cancer patients.

Burnout of Faculty Members of Medical Schools in Korea.

Background: There is no national survey on medical school faculty members' burnout in Korea. This study aimed to investigate burnout levels and explore possible factors related to burnout among faculty members of Korean medical schools.

Methods: An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to 40 Korean medical schools from October 2020 to December 2020.

Significance of HER2 and VEGFR2 in Early-stage Endometrial Cancer.

Background/aim: The majority of patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) have a good prognosis, but recurrence does occur despite diagnosis at an early stage. There is a growing need for early diagnosis of EC and novel treatment options.

Materials And Methods: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR) expression in microarrays of patient EC tissue was examined in association with clinicopathological data.

Venous outflow-targeted coil embolization of direct carotid-cavernous fistulas.

Background: Coil embolization is the mainstay treatment for carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs). However, few studies have reported entire occlusion of engorged veins to interrupt venous outflow. We report our experience with venous outflow-targeted coil embolization of direct CCFs.

Korean Surgical Practice Guideline for Pancreatic Cancer 2022: A summary of evidence-based surgical approaches.

Pancreatic cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Korea. Despite the increasing incidence and high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer, there are no appropriate surgical practice guidelines for the current domestic medical situation. To enable standardization of management and facilitate improvements in surgical outcome, a total of 10 pancreatic surgical experts who are members of Korean Association of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery have developed new recommendations that integrate the most up-to-date, evidence-based research findings and expert opinions.

Overlapping Pure LIVS Jr. Stents for Isolated Ruptured Dissecting Aneurysm of the Proximal Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery.

We report our experience in treating a ruptured dissecting posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) aneurysm. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of overlapping stenting without coils for a ruptured dissecting aneurysm of the proximal PICA. A 66-year-old male patient presented with sudden altered mental state and a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Effects of Location and Volume of Intraosseous Cement on Adjacent Level of Osteoporotic Spine Undergoing Kyphoplasty: Finite Element Analysis.

Objective: Kyphoplasty (KP) is a surgery used to reduce pain and increase stability by injecting medical bone cement into broken vertebrae. The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal amount of cement and injection site by analyzing forces with the finite element method.

Methods: We modeled the anatomical structure of the vertebra and injected the cement at T12.

Cavernous Hemangioma of the Maxillary Sinus Masquerading Recurrent Hemorrhagic Mass: Histological-Radiological Correlation and a Literature Review.

Background: Sinonasal cavernous hemangioma is rare. To date, fewer than 20 cases have been reported in the literature; however, they may be a source of recurrent epistaxis and masquerade of a hemorrhagic mass on CT and MRI.

Case Report: A 68-year-old woman was presented with recurrent epistaxis and progressive right malar fullness.

Effects of Carbonated Water Concentration on Swallowing Function in Healthy Adults.

In this study, we investigated the effects of carbonated water concentration on swallowing function using surface electromyography (sEMG). Healthy subjects (n = 52, 26.77 ± 3.

Changes in the characteristics of community-onset fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli isolates causing community-acquired acute pyelonephritis in South Korea.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the changes in the characteristics of community-onset fluoroquinolone-resistant (FQ-R) Escherichia coli isolates causing community-acquired acute pyelonephritis (APN) in South Korea.

Methods: Blood or urine samples were prospectively collected from patients aged ≥15 years with community-acquired APN who were admitted to one of the eight Korean hospitals included in this study between September 2017 and August 2018. Phylogenetic typing, multilocus sequence typing, and molecular characterization of β-lactamase resistance and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants were performed.

Is it Worthwhile to Undergo the Extended Stage Assessment in Orbital and Ocular Adnexal MALT Lymphoma with Symptoms Limited to the Ocular Adnexa?

Compared to ocular adnexal lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue-type (OAML) patients with symptoms related invasion beyond the ocular adnexa, the different approaches to staging assessment may be required in OAML patients with symptoms limited to the ocular adnexa. Seventy-six patients to be diagnosed with OAML and performed bone marrow biopsy and imaging study at Yeungnam University Hospital in 1995-2014 were enrolled. Patients with symptoms limited to the ocular adnexa were included.

Prognostic and clinicopathological value of CD90 expression in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Recent studies have shown that CD90 has an important role in cancer development. Moreover, CD90 is reportedly associated with cancer progression, metastasis, and poor prognosis. Thus, we performed this meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic and clinicopathological value of CD90 expression in patients with cancer.

High expression of S100A8 and S100A9 is associated with poor disease-free survival in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The expression of S100A8 and S100A9 is found to be related with the survival of cancer patients, but the results and information regarding their prognostic significance are inconsistent in literature. This study, therefore, aimed to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis and determine the prognostic significance of S100A8 and S100A9 expression in patients with cancer.

Methods: Data were collected by performing a literature search on the PubMed, Cochrane library, and Scopus databases.

Comparison of the incidence rates of hip and vertebral fragility fractures according to cataract surgery in elderly population: a nationwide cohort study.

Unlabelled: Elderly patients who underwent cataract surgery showed lower prevalence and cumulative incidence rates of hip and vertebral fragility fractures than those who did not. Therefore, cataract surgery in elderly patients may reduce the incidence of hip and vertebral fragility fractures.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence rates of hip and vertebral fragility fractures between patients who underwent cataract surgery and those who did not, and to investigate the effect of cataract surgery on the incidence of fragility fracture in elderly population using nationwide claims data.

Validation of a nomogram for predicting the risk of lymphedema following contemporary treatment for breast cancer: a large multi-institutional study (KROG 20-05).

Purpose: We previously constructed a nomogram for predicting the risk of arm lymphedema following contemporary breast cancer treatment. This nomogram should be validated in patients with different background characteristics before use. Therefore, we aimed to externally validate the nomogram in a large multi-institutional cohort.

Association of subcortical structural shapes with fatigue in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.

Although fatigue is a major symptom in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We explored the relationship between subcortical structures and fatigue severity to identify neural substrates of fatigue in NMOSD. Clinical characteristics with brain magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated in forty patients with NMOSD.

Application of Highly Flexible Adaptive Image Receive Coil for Lung MR Imaging Using Zero TE Sequence: Comparison with Conventional Anterior Array Coil.

(1) Background: Highly flexible adaptive image receive (AIR) coil has become available for clinical use. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of AIR anterior array coil in lung MR imaging using a zero echo time (ZTE) sequence compared with conventional anterior array (CAA) coil. (2) Methods: Sixty-six patients who underwent lung MR imaging using both AIR coil (ZTE-AIR) and CAA coil (ZTE-CAA) were enrolled.

Acute hepatitis E virus superinfection increases mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

Background: Although acute hepatitis E is not fatal in healthy individuals, it is unclear whether hepatitis E superinfection increases the mortality in patients with pre-existing liver disease. Thus, we investigated the prognosis of patients with acute hepatitis E according to their cirrhosis diagnosis, and the prognosis according to the development of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in patients with cirrhosis and chronic liver disease (CLD).

Methods: This study included 74 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with acute viral hepatitis E between January 2007 and December 2019.

Histopathological predictors of progression-free survival in atypical meningioma: a single-center retrospective cohort and meta-analysis.

To determine the prognostic significance of histopathological features included in the diagnostic criteria of atypical meningioma for progression-free survival (PFS). We performed a retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis. Brain invasion, mitotic index, spontaneous necrosis, sheeting, prominent nucleoli, high cellularity, and small cells were the histopathological features of interest.

Clinical Feasibility of Ultrafast Contrast-Enhanced T1-Weighted 3D-EPI for Evaluating Intracranial Enhancing Lesions in Oncology Patients: Comparison with Standard 3D MPRAGE Sequence.

Background And Purpose: Contrast-enhanced 3D T1WI is a preferred sequence for brain tumor imaging despite the long scan time. This study investigated the clinical feasibility of ultrafast contrast-enhanced T1WI by 3D echo-planar imaging compared with a standard contrast-enhanced 3D MPRAGE sequence for evaluating intracranial enhancing lesions in oncology patients.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-one patients in oncology underwent brain MR imaging including both contrast-enhanced T1WI, 3D-EPI and 3D MPRAGE, in a single examination session for evaluating intracranial tumors.

The Pattern of Care for Brain Metastasis from Breast Cancer over the Past 10 Years in Korea: A Multicenter Retrospective Study (KROG 16-12).

Purpose: We aimed to investigate manifestations and patterns of care for patients with brain metastasis (BM) from breast cancer (BC) and compared their overall survival (OS) from 2005 through 2014 in Korea.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 600 BC patients with BM diagnosed between 2005 and 2014. The median follow-up duration was 12.