Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2020
Revised Triage and Surveillance Protocols for Temporary Emergency Department Closures in Tertiary Hospitals as a Response to COVID-19 Crisis in Daegu Metropolitan City.
When an emergency-care patient is diagnosed with an emerging infectious disease, hospitals in Korea may temporarily close their emergency departments (EDs) to prevent nosocomial transmission. Since February 2020, multiple, consecutive ED closures have occurred due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in Daegu. However, sudden ED closures are in contravention of laws for the provision of emergency medical care that enable the public to avail prompt, appropriate, and 24-hour emergency medical care. Therefore, this study ascertained the vulnerability of the ED at tertiary hospitals in Daegu with regard to the current standards. A revised triage and surveillance protocol has been proposed to tackle the current crisis. ⋯ Triage screening by emergency physicians and surveillance protocols with an externally located chest imaging facility were effective in the early isolation of COVID-19 patients. In future outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases, efforts should be focused toward the provision of continued ED treatment with the implementation of revised triage and surveillance protocols.
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Pregnancy in women with epilepsy (WWE) is known to have a higher risk for fetal development complications, which may include congenital malformations. Unfortunately, information pertaining to pregnancy in WWE is difficult to obtain because there are considerable ethical issues preventing these studies from being conducted on pregnant women. Therefore, this study investigated the pregnancies of Korean WWE in a tertiary epilepsy center to observe data resulting from the outcome of the pregnancies. ⋯ In WWE, epilepsy classification, number of AEDs taken, and frequency of seizures are not significantly correlated with delivery and fetal condition. This data could be used as a clinical reference for physicians to provide useful information to WWE if they are concerned about their pregnancies.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2020
Vasospasm-related Sudden Cardiac Death Has Outcomes Comparable with Coronary Stenosis in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.
Characteristics of coronary vasospasm-related sudden cardiac death are not well understood. We aimed to compare the characteristics and clinical outcomes between coronary vasospasm and stenosis, in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors, who underwent coronary angiogram (CAG). ⋯ Our analysis of propensity score-matched cohorts finds that vasospasm OHCA survivors have survival and neurologic outcomes comparable with those of stenotic OHCA survivors.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · May 2020
Predicting First-Year Growth in Response to Growth Hormone Treatment in Prepubertal Korean Children with Idiopathic Growth Hormone Deficiency: Analysis of Data from the LG Growth Study Database.
The first-year growth in response to growth hormone (GH) treatment seems to be the most important factor in determining the overall success of GH treatment. ⋯ The present model to predict first-year response to GH treatment might allow more tailored and personalized GH treatment in Korean prepubertal children with idiopathic GHD.