Predictors of Successful Trial without Catheter for Postoperative Urinary Retention Following Non-Urological Surgery

Purpose To investigate the success rate of trial without catheter (TWOC) for postoperative urinary retention (POUR) after non-urological surgery and to determine predictors of successful TWOC. Methods A total of 104 patients who underwent non-urological surgery and were referred to the department of urology for POUR were included in this retrospective study. All eligible patients underwent indwelling catheterization as an initial treatment and then TWOC was performed 3 to 7 days later. POUR was defined as micturition difficulty with greater than 400 mL of postvoid residual (PVR) urine volume measured by catheterization after non-urological surgery. Successful TWOC was defined as voiding with less than 100 mL of PVR urine volume. Predictive factors were identified by multivariate regression analysis. All definitions corresponded to recommendations of the International Continence Society. Results The mean age of the patients was 65.2 (range, 23 to 92) years. There were 45 male and 59 female patients. Intraoperative indwelling catheterization was performed in 69 (66.3%) patients. Mean duration of indwelling catheterization for POUR was 5.0 (range, 3.0 to 7.0) days and 83 (79.8%) patients received medication with an alpha-blocker. A successful TWOC was observed in 70 (67.4%) patients. The mean age of the patients with failure of TWOC was significantly higher than that of the patients with successful TWOC. The percentages of female patients, spinal surgery, and prone position during surgery in patients with unsuccessful TWOC were higher than in those with successful TWOC. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age and location of surgery (spine vs. non-spine) were the independent predictors of successful TWOC for POUR. Conclusions Our data suggest that older age and spinal surgery may be important risk factors for failure of TWOC for POUR after non-urological surgery. Thus, adequate prevention measures may be necessary for POUR after non-urological surgery, especially in patients with these risk factors

LOWER EXTREMITY KINEMATICS OF SKI MOTION ON HILLS

This research study aimed to collect thre- dimensional joint angles of the lower extremity during a basic ski motion in order to provide more quantitative teaching guide-lines for ski instructors. Eleven infrared cameras were placed to cover the capture volume of three different stopping movements (e.g. “Pflug Fahren”) on hills. Six ski instructors participated in the test. Three trials of each stop were selected for comparison. Based on the results, skiers tended to use the edge of the ski and maintain a wider “V” shape at the shortest stop distance (e.g. 2m) compared to the other stops. Also, each skier had to invert the foot with a less flexed and more abducted knee and hip position as the stopping distance was decreased. This information will be useful for the development of more objective teaching guide-lines for beginner skiers

A Survey of Diabetic Educators and Patients for the Revision of Korean Food Exchange Lists

BackgroundFood exchange lists are one of the main methods of nutritional education. However, Korean food exchange lists have not been revised since 1994. Therefore, we surveyed the opinions of diabetes educators and patients with diabetes regarding the need for revision of the current food exchange lists.MethodsFor two weeks beginning on 10 March 2008, a 12-item questionnaire regarding the opinion and need for revision of the current food exchange lists was e-mailed to diabetes educators nationwide. Another 15-question survey was administered to patients with diabetes in 13 hospitals located in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions of Korea.ResultsWe obtained survey responses from 101 diabetes educators and 209 patients; 65 (64.3%) of the educators answered that the current food exchange lists should be revised. The items that needed revision were the glycemic index, addition of new foods and reaffirmation of exchange standard amounts. The patients demanded specific education about choosing appropriate foods, a balanced meal plan, proper snacks, and dining intake.ConclusionOur survey results demonstrate the need to revise the Korean food exchange lists. This process should focus on glycemic index, the addition of new foods and reconfirmation of one exchange reference unit

Letter to the Editor: Detection of EML4-ALK and Other ALK Fusion Genes in Lung Cancer: A Lesson from the Leukemia Fusion Gene Analysis and Future Application

We read with interest the article “EML4-ALK Fusion Gene in Korean Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer ” in a recent issue of the Journal of Korean Medical Science by Jin et al. (1). In this study, EML4-ALK fusion gene was detected in 10 of 167 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a basic screening technique instead of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method. The frequency of EML4-ALK fusion gene in this study (6.0%) was not largely different from a previous study that used the FISH method on Korean NSCLC patients (4.2%) (2), while it did not diverge from the results in previous studies on a general NSCLC patient population that yielded 3%-7 % ratios as well. Based on the experience of detecting leukemia fusion genes with several new molecular methods during the diagnosis of leukemia (3-6), we would like to mention the pros and cons of such methods i

Five new wood decay fungi (Polyporales and Hymenochaetales) in Korea

The wood decay fungi are a diverse taxonomic group that plays a pivotal role in forest carbon cycling. Wood decay fungi use various enzymatic pathways to digest dead or living wood in order to obtain carbon and other nutrients and these enzymatic systems have been exploited for both industrial and medical applications. Over 600 wood decay fungi species have been described in Korea; however, the recent application of molecular markers has dramatically altered the taxonomy of many of these wood decay fungi at both the genus and species levels. By combining molecular methods, specifically sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region, with traditional morphological characters, this study identified five new species records for Korea in five genera: Aurantiporus, Favolus, Neofavolus, Loweomyces, and Hymenochaetopsis. Three of these genera (Aurantiporus, Favolus, and Loweomyces) were previously unknown in Korea. The relatively simple morphology of the wood decay fungi often leads to ambiguous taxonomic assignment. Therefore, molecular markers are a necessary component of any taxonomic or evolutionary study of wood decay fungi. Our study highlights the need for a more robust and multifaceted approach in investigating new wood decay fungi in Korea.OAIID:RECH_ACHV_DSTSH_NO:A201619724RECH_ACHV_FG:RR00200003ADJUST_YN:EMP_ID:A078617CITE_RATE:DEPT_NM:생명과학부EMAIL:[email protected]_YN:CONFIRM: