Germinal centers are associated with postthymectomy myasthenia gravis in patients with thymoma.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Germinal centers (GCs) can be observed in the thymic tissues of patients with thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (MG). Although an association between thymic GCs and MG has been suggested, it is unknown whether the presence of GCs could predict the development of MG after the resection of thymoma, known as postthymectomy MG. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of previously nonmyasthenic patients who underwent surgical removal of the thymoma. All available thymic tissue slides were rereviewed by a pathologist to assess for GCs. Patients were classified into GC-positive and GC-negative groups based on the presence of GCs. The incidence of postthymectomy MG was compared between the two groups, and the risk factors for postthymectomy MG were assessed. RESULTS: Of the 196 previously nonmyasthenic patients who underwent thymoma resection, 21 were GC-positive, whereas 175 were GC-negative. Postthymectomy MG developed in 11 (5.6%) patients and showed a higher incidence in the GC-positive group than in the GC-negative group (33.3% vs. 2.3%, p < 0.001). No postoperative radiotherapy and the presence of GCs were risk factors for postthymectomy MG in the univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, invasive thymoma (hazard ratio [HR] = 9.835, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.358-105.372), postoperative radiotherapy (HR = 0.160, 95% CI = 0.029-0.893), and presence of GCs (HR = 15.834, 95% CI = 3.742-67.000) were significantly associated with postthymectomy MG. CONCLUSIONS: Thymic GCs may be a significant risk factor for postthymectomy MG. Even in patients with thymoma who do not show clinical symptoms of MG, postthymectomy MG should be considered, especially if thymic GCs are observed.

Is Prophylactic Antibiotic Use Necessary Before Dental Procedures in Primary and Revision TKA? A Propensity Score-matched, Large-database Study.

BACKGROUND: The question of whether dental procedures increase the risk of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in patients who have undergone total joint arthroplasty (TJA) remains controversial. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) Are dental procedures associated with an increased incidence of PJI in the setting of either primary or revision TKA after controlling for relevant potentially confounding variables? (2) Is the administration of prophylactic antibiotics before dental procedures associated with any differences in this risk? (3) Which factors are associated with increased incidence of PJI after dental procedures? METHODS: This nationwide, retrospective, comparative, large-database study evaluated 591,602 patients who underwent unilateral primary or revision TKA between 2009 and 2019 using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data in South Korea, in which all people in South Korea were registered and to which all medical institutions must charge any procedures they performed. The study population was divided into 530,156 patients with dental procedures and 61,446 patients without dental procedures based on whether the patients underwent a dental procedure at least 1 year after the index surgery. After propensity score matching, patients were classified into a dental (n = 182,052) and a nondental cohort (n = 61,422). The dental cohort was then divided into two groups: 66,303 patients with prophylactic antibiotics and 115,749 patients without prophylactic antibiotics based on prophylactic antibiotic use. After propensity score matching, patients were categorized into prophylactic (n = 66,277) and nonprophylactic (n = 66,277) cohorts. Propensity score matching was used to control for covariates including posttraumatic arthritis associated with PJI risk according to the dental procedure and prophylactic antibiotic use among the cohorts. After propensity score matching, the standardized mean difference was confirmed to be less than 0.1 for all variables. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: Dental procedures were not associated with an increase in PJI risk after primary (adjusted HR 1.56 [95% CI 0.30 to 8.15]; p = 0.60) or revision TKA (adjusted HR 1.74 [95% CI 0.90 to 3.34]; p = 0.10). Additionally, use of prophylactic antibiotics was not associated with a reduced PJI risk after the index surgery, either for primary (adjusted HR 1.28 [95% CI 0.30 to 5.42]; p = 0.74) or revision TKA (adjusted HR 0.74 [95% CI 0.45 to 1.23]; p = 0.25). Although surgery type and prophylactic antibiotic use exhibited no influence on PJI occurrence after dental procedures, posttraumatic arthritis was associated with PJI. The adjusted HR for posttraumatic arthritis was 4.54 (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that dental procedures were not associated with an increased risk of PJI for up to 2 years after the dental procedure in patients who underwent either primary or revision TKA. Based on these findings, there is insufficient rationale for the use of prophylactic antibiotics before dental procedures in patients who have undergone primary or revision TKA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study.

Impact of COVID-19 Infection and Its Association With Previous Vaccination in Patients With Myasthenia Gravis in Korea: A Multicenter Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) were more susceptible to poor outcomes owing to respiratory muscle weakness and immunotherapy. Several studies conducted in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic reported higher mortality in patients with MG compared to the general population. This study aimed to investigate the clinical course and prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with MG and to compare these parameters between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in South Korea. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study, which was conducted at 14 tertiary hospitals in South Korea, reviewed the medical records and identified MG patients who contracted COVID-19 between February 2022 and April 2022. The demographic and clinical characteristics associated with MG and vaccination status were collected. The clinical outcomes of COVID-19 infection and MG were investigated and compared between the vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients with MG contracted COVID-19 during the study. Nine (9.8%) patients required hospitalization, 4 (4.3%) of whom were admitted to the intensive care unit. Seventy-five of 92 patients were vaccinated before contracting COVID-19 infection, and 17 were not. During the COVID-19 infection, 6 of 17 (35.3%) unvaccinated patients were hospitalized, whereas 3 of 75 (4.0%) vaccinated patients were hospitalized (P < 0.001). The frequencies of ICU admission and mechanical ventilation were significantly lower in the vaccinated patients than in the unvaccinated patients (P = 0.019 and P = 0.032, respectively). The rate of MG deterioration was significantly lower in the vaccinated patients than in the unvaccinated patients (P = 0.041). Logistic regression after weighting revealed that the risk of hospitalization and MG deterioration after COVID-19 infection was significantly lower in the vaccinated patients than in the unvaccinated patients. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the clinical course and prognosis of patients with MG who contracted COVID-19 during the dominance of the omicron variant of COVID-19 may be milder than those at the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic when vaccination was unavailable. Vaccination may reduce the morbidity of COVID-19 in patients with MG and effectively prevent MG deterioration induced by COVID-19 infection.

Compound Heterozygous Mutations of SACS in a Korean Cohort Study of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Concurrent Cerebellar Ataxia and Spasticity.

Mutations in the SACS gene are associated with autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay disease (ARSACS) or complex clinical phenotypes of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). This study aimed to identify SACS mutations in a Korean CMT cohort with cerebellar ataxia and spasticity by whole exome sequencing (WES). As a result, eight pathogenic SACS mutations in four families were identified as the underlying causes of these complex phenotypes. The prevalence of CMT families with SACS mutations was determined to be 0.3%. All the patients showed sensory, motor, and gait disturbances with increased deep tendon reflexes. Lower limb magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in four patients and all had fatty replacements. Of note, they all had similar fatty infiltrations between the proximal and distal lower limb muscles, different from the neuromuscular imaging feature in most CMT patients without SACS mutations who had distal dominant fatty involvement. Therefore, these findings were considered a characteristic feature in CMT patients with SACS mutations. Although further studies with more cases are needed, our results highlight lower extremity MRI findings in CMT patients with SACS mutations and broaden the clinical spectrum. We suggest screening for SACS in recessive CMT patients with complex phenotypes of ataxia and spasticity.

Epidemiology and comorbidities in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is frequently accompanied by comorbidities, with the management of these comorbidities crucial for clinical outcomes. This study investigated the prevalence, incidence, changes over time, and clinical impact of comorbidities in IPF patients, based on nationwide claims data in South Korea. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilised nationwide health claim data in South Korea between 2011 and 2019. Patients with IPF were defined as those with ICD-10 code J84.1 and Rare Intractable Disease code V236 who made at least one claim per year. Patients were classified by sex, age, pirfenidone use and burden of comorbidities, and differences among groups were determined. RESULTS: The yearly prevalence rate of IPF increased from 7.50 to 23.20 per 100,000 people, and the yearly incidence rate increased from 3.56 to 7.91 per 100,000 person-years over time. The most common respiratory comorbidity was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (37.34%), followed by lung cancer (3.34%), whereas the most common non-respiratory comorbidities were gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (70.83%), dyslipidaemia (62.93%) and hypertension (59.04%). The proportion of some comorbidities differed by sex, age and use of pirfenidone. The proportion of lung cancer was higher in patients treated with pirfenidone, whereas the proportion of anxiety and depression were lower in patients not treated with pirfenidone. Charlson comorbidity index ≥ 4 was associated with increases in hospitalisations and total medical costs. CONCLUSIONS: The yearly prevalence and incidence of IPF and comorbidities in Korea increased over time. These comorbidities affected the use of pirfenidone and medical resources.

Conditional diagnostic accuracy according to inflammation status and age for diagnosing tuberculous effusion.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculous effusion varies from lymphocyte-dominant to neutrophilic effusion according to inflammation status. The criteria of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and lymphocyte/neutrophil (L/N) ratio have yet not been evaluated across different disease conditions. METHODS: Patients who conducted pleural fluid analysis from 2009 to 2019 at Asan Medical Center were included. Criteria (ADA of 50 and L/N ratio of 0.75) were evaluated by quantile subgroups according to age, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) by the Monte Carlo simulation method to diagnose tuberculosis. The model for the ADA and L/N ratio was evaluated by AUROC. RESULTS: Among the 2,918 reviewed cases, 2034 were included with 229 (11.26%) tuberculosis cases. The mean baseline ADA AUROC was 0.88 across all patients. Increased CRP and WBC showed high proportions of neutrophilic tuberculous effusion, with low sensitivity of approximately 45% and 33% in the fifth WBC and CRP groups, respectively. The AUROC of the models decreased with the increase in WBC and CRP groups (ADA model: 0.69 [the top quantile WBC group], 0.74 [the top quantile CRP group]). The AUROC of the models did not show a trend according to the increase in LD and age. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory status affects the diagnostic metrics for tuberculous effusion due to the progression of tuberculous effusion. Clinicians should consider the low accuracy of tuberculous effusion criteria in high-inflammatory conditions when diagnosing tuberculosis.

Relationship Between Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Rates and Rare But Potentially Fatal Adverse Events: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Western Countries.

BACKGROUND: Owing to limited experience with the new vaccine platforms, discussion of vaccine safety is inevitable. However, media coverage of adverse events of special interest could influence the vaccination rate; thus, evaluating the outcomes of adverse events of special interest influencing vaccine administration is crucial. METHODS: We conducted regression discontinuity in time analysis to calculate the local average treatment effect (LATE) using datasets from Our World in Data and Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. For the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, the cutoff points were April 23rd and June 23rd, April 7th, and the 14th week of 2021, respectively. RESULTS: The LATE of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting held on April 23rd was -0.249 for all vaccines, -0.133 (-0.189 to -0.076) for Pfizer, -0.064 (-0.115 to -0.012) for Moderna, and -0.038 (-0.047 to -0.030) for Johnson & Johnson. Discontinuities were observed for all three types of vaccines in the United States. The June 23rd meeting of the ACIP (mRNA vaccines and myocarditis) did not convene any discontinuities. Furthermore, there was no significant drop in the weekly average vaccination rates in Europe following the European Medicines Agency (EMA) statement on April 7th. Conversely, there was a significant drop in the first-dose vaccination rates in the United Kingdom related to the EMA report. The first-dose vaccination rate for all vaccines changed by -0.104 (-0.176 to -0.032). CONCLUSION: Although monitoring and reporting of adverse events of special interest are important, a careful approach towards public announcements is warranted.

Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Repair Restores Contact Pressure and Contact Area to Its Native State Even After Opening-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study.

PURPOSE: To elucidate the effect of medial meniscus posterior root (MMPR) repair during opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) in terms of contact pressure (CP) and contact area (CA). METHODS: Nine fresh-frozen human cadaveric knee specimens were included. Each specimen was tested under 9 conditions comprising 3 different degrees of correction during OWHTO (neutral, 5° of valgus, and 10° of valgus) and 3 different types of MMPR conditions (intact, torn, and repaired). The prepared specimens were attached to a customized tibiofemoral jig in a fully extended state. The CP and CA generated by a tibiofemoral axial load of 650 N was recorded using the Tekscan sensor's pressure mapping software. Statistical analysis was performed using a repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: The increased CP and decreased CA in torn MMPR was decreased and increased, respectively, to the intact MMPR after repairing, irrespective of whether OWHTO was performed. The mean CP at a correction angle of 5° of valgus was 0.4067 ± 0.0768 MPa for intact MMPR, which increased to 0.7340 ± 0.1593 MPa for the torn MMPR and decreased to 0.3614 ± 0.0639 MPa for the repaired MMPR. In addition, the proportion of decrease in CP and increase in CA after MMPR repair was constant, compared with the torn MMPR, irrespective of the degree of correction during OWHTO. CONCLUSIONS: MMPR repair decreases CP and increases CA, irrespective of whether OWHTO is performed. The biomechanical advantage of repairing torn MMPR is maintained, regardless of the degree of correction during OWHTO. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Both OWHTO and MMPR repair are known to protect the medial compartment of the knee. However, there are concerns in performing 2 procedures simultaneously. Results of our study showed that concurrent repair of the MMPR during OWHTO is useful for protecting the medial compartment of the knee with respect to tibiofemoral contact biomechanics.

Comparison of mortality and clinical failure rates between vancomycin and teicoplanin in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Very few studies have compared the effects and side effects of vancomycin and teicoplanin in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of vancomycin and teicoplanin in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia. METHODS: This study examined 116 patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia who met the inclusion criteria and were treated with either vancomycin (n = 54) or teicoplanin (n = 62). The primary (i.e., clinical failure during treatment) and secondary outcomes (i.e., mortality rates, discontinuation of study drugs due to treatment failure, side effects, and clinical cure) were evaluated. RESULTS: The vancomycin group presented lower clinical failure rates (25.9% vs. 61.3%, p < 0.001), discontinuation due to treatment failure (22.2% vs. 41.9%, p = 0.024), and mortality rates (3.7% vs 19.4%, p = 0.010). The Cox proportional hazard model revealed that teicoplanin was a significant clinical failure predictor compared with vancomycin (adjusted odds ratio, 2.198; 95% confidence interval 1.163-4.154). The rates of drug change due to side effects were higher in the vancomycin group than in the teicoplanin group (24.1% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Vancomycin presented favorable treatment outcomes and more side effects compared with teicoplanin, which suggests that clinicians would need to consider the efficacy and potential side effects of these drugs before prescription.

Automated extraction of information of lung cancer staging from unstructured reports of PET-CT interpretation: natural language processing with deep-learning.

BACKGROUND: Extracting metastatic information from previous radiologic-text reports is important, however, laborious annotations have limited the usability of these texts. We developed a deep-learning model for extracting primary lung cancer sites and metastatic lymph nodes and distant metastasis information from PET-CT reports for determining lung cancer stages. METHODS: PET-CT reports, fully written in English, were acquired from two cohorts of patients with lung cancer who were diagnosed at a tertiary hospital between January 2004 and March 2020. One cohort of 20,466 PET-CT reports was used for training and the validation set, and the other cohort of 4190 PET-CT reports was used for an additional-test set. A pre-processing model (Lung Cancer Spell Checker) was applied to correct the typographical errors, and pseudo-labelling was used for training the model. The deep-learning model was constructed using the Convolutional-Recurrent Neural Network. The performance metrics for the prediction model were accuracy, precision, sensitivity, micro-AUROC, and AUPRC. RESULTS: For the extraction of primary lung cancer location, the model showed a micro-AUROC of 0.913 and 0.946 in the validation set and the additional-test set, respectively. For metastatic lymph nodes, the model showed a sensitivity of 0.827 and a specificity of 0.960. In predicting distant metastasis, the model showed a micro-AUROC of 0.944 and 0.950 in the validation and the additional-test set, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our deep-learning method could be used for extracting lung cancer stage information from PET-CT reports and may facilitate lung cancer studies by alleviating laborious annotation by clinicians.

A Trade-Off Analysis between Sensor Quality and Data Intervals for Prognostics Performance.

In safety-critical systems such as industrial plants or aircraft, failure occurs inevitably during operation, and it is important to prevent it in order to maintain high availability. To reduce this risk, a lot of efforts are directed from developing sensing technologies to failure prognosis algorithms to enable predictive maintenance. The success of effective and reliable predictive maintenance not only relies on robust prognosis algorithms but also on the selection of sensors or data acquisition strategy. However, there are not many in-depth studies on a trade-off between sensor quality and data storage in the view of prognosis performance. The information about (1) how often data should be measured and (2) how good sensor quality should be for reliable failure prediction can be highly impactful for practitioners. In this paper, the authors evaluate the efficacy of the two factors in terms of remaining useful life (RUL) prediction accuracy and its uncertainty. In addition, since knowing true degradation information is almost impossible in practice, the authors validated the use of the prognosis metric without requiring the true degradation information. A numerical case study is conducted to identify the relationship between sensor quality and data storage. Then, real bearing run-to-failure (RTF) datasets acquired from accelerometer (contact type) and microphone (non-contact type) sensors are evaluated based on the prognosis performance metric and compared in terms of the sensors' cost-effectiveness for predictive maintenance.

Null variants in DYSF result in earlier symptom onset.

We investigated the clinical, laboratory, and genetic spectra in Korean patients with dysferlinopathy to clarify its genotype-phenotype correlation. We retrospectively reviewed 101 patients from 96 unrelated families with pathogenic variants of DYSF. The most common initial phenotype was Miyoshi myopathy in 50 patients. Median ages at examination and symptom onset were 23 [interquartile range (IQR): 18-30] and 36 years [IQR: 27-48], respectively. We observed 38 variants, including nine novel variants. Four variants (c.2494C > T, c.1284 + 2 T > C, c.663 + 1G > C, and c.2997G > T) in DYSF accounted for 62% of total allele frequencies of pathogenic variants. To analyze the genotype-phenotype correlation, we compared the clinical phenotype between patients with null/null (N/N; n = 55) and null/missense variants (N/M; n = 35). The N/N group had an earlier symptom onset age (median: 20 years [IQR: 17-25]) than the N/M group (median: 29 years [IQR: 23-35], p < .001). Total manual muscle testing scores in lower extremities were lower in the N/N group (median: 80 [IQR: 56-92]) than in the N/M group (median: 89 [IQR: 78-98], p = .013). Our study is the first to report that null variants in DYSF result in an earlier symptom onset than missense variants.

Correlation of glenohumeral internal rotation deficit with shear wave ultrasound elastography findings for the posterior inferior shoulder capsule in college baseball players.

BACKGROUND: The glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD), primarily caused by the tightness of the posterior capsule, is a major risk factor for shoulder injuries in overhead throwing athletes. Quantitative evaluation of posterior capsular thickness and tightness can help determine the relationship between the posterior inferior capsule and GIRD. One previous study has assessed posterior capsule tightness using shear wave elastography (SWE), in college baseball players; however, it did not address the cutoff value of capsular elasticity that could be considered as abnormal capsular tightness. We aimed to re-evaluate effectiveness of SWE in quantifying posterior shoulder capsule tightness in college baseball players and determine the cutoff value of abnormal capsular elasticity that can predict impending throwing-related shoulder injuries associated with GIRD. METHODS: Twenty-four college baseball players were enrolled in this study. External and internal rotation of the shoulder joint was assessed. The participants were classified into the GIRD group if their throwing shoulder showed >20° of internal rotation loss compared with their nonthrowing shoulder. In a longitudinal ultrasonographic scan of the posterior inferior capsule, shear wave (SW) velocity and thickness were measured at the point nearest to the labrum on both shoulders. RESULTS: Of the 24 subjects, 6 had a GIRD. The mean value of the SW velocity in the throwing shoulder was greater in the GIRD group than in the non-GIRD group (P = .006). The SW velocity difference between the throwing and nonthrowing shoulder was also greater in the GIRD group than in the non-GIRD group (P < .001). There was no significant difference in the thickness of the posterior inferior capsule between both groups. In correlation analysis, the difference in the SW velocity was more strongly correlated with the GIRD than with the SW velocity in the throwing shoulder. When we assume that a 20° GIRD is indicative of a shoulder at risk, the cutoff SW velocity in the throwing shoulder is 4.81 m/s and the SW velocity difference is 0.77 m/s. CONCLUSION: The SW velocity is closely associated with posterior shoulder capsular tightness and may be of quantitative value in baseball players.

Effects of Intravenous Dexamethasone on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine whether administrations of intravenous (IV) dexamethasone jeopardize blood glycemic control, increase rates of postoperative complications, and diabetic medication change after TKA. METHODS: This retrospective study included 427 patients with DM who underwent TKA. Patients were divided into two groups according to the use of IV dexamethasone (Dexa and No Dexa). For the Dexa, IV dexamethasone (5mg) was administered twice (surgery day, postoperative day 1). Blood glucose level until postoperative day 5, whether the mean blood glucose level was ≥200 mg/dL or not, the rate of a diabetic medication change, and postoperative complications (surgical site infection, delayed wound healing) were analyzed. RESULTS: The adverse effects of IV dexamethasone on glycemic control were limited to the day of injection. The mean blood glucose level was 168.8 mg/dL and 204.4 mg/dL on operation day and 193.0 mg/dL and 210.5 mg/dL on postoperative day 1 in the No Dexa and the Dexa, respectively. High preoperative glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, but not IV dexamethasone administration, increased the risk of postoperative blood glucose level ≥200 mg/dL (odds ratio [OR], 2.810) and diabetic medication change (OR, 3.635, P < .001). A preoperative HbA1c level of >7.05% was associated with the risk of diabetic medication change. There was increase of postoperative complications (OR, 0.693, P = .552). CONCLUSIONS: IV dexamethasone have transient effects on increasing the blood glucose level after TKA in patients with DM. However, patients with a preoperative HbA1c level of ≥7.05% may need to change their diabetic medication after TKA, regardless of IV dexamethasone administration.

Lacrimal Gland Ductal Cyst Infection Presenting as Acute Orbital Cellulitis With Abscess.

ABSTRACT: Herein, the authors report a case of lacrimal gland ductal cyst infection presenting as acute orbital cellulitis with an abscess. A 45-year-old man without any history of trauma and a specific medical history presented with progressive painful periorbital swelling in the left eye and diplopia. At the first visit, the patient showed a best-corrected visual acuity of 0.2; erythematous swelling of the upper eyelid; superficial punctate keratitis, severe conjunctival chemosis in the left eye; and pus in the lateral canthal area. The patient had binocular diplopia and left eyeball movement limitation. Orbital computed tomography showed a peripherally enhanced periorbital soft tissue mass along the superotemporal aspect of the left globe, which was suggestive of an abscess. The authors diagnosed the patient with acute orbital cellulitis with an abscess. Intravenous antibiotics and steroids and topical antibiotics and steroids were administered. On the 4th day of the treatment, visual acuity and eyeball movement limitation had improved, and a small opening of the lacrimal gland duct was observed in the left upper conjunctival fornix. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was identified on culture. Finally, the patient was diagnosed with lacrimal gland ductal cyst infection presenting as acute orbital cellulitis. Lacrimal duct cyst infection should be considered as a cause of orbital cellulitis.

Prevalence, Mortality, and Cause of Death in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease in Korea: A Nationwide, Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders that primarily affect the peripheral nervous system. Epidemiological studies of CMT have not yet been performed in Korea. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to estimate the prevalence of CMT in Korea and the socioeconomic status, mortality, and causes of death of Korean patients with CMT. METHODS: Data on patients with CMT were obtained from the rare intractable disease registry and the National Health Insurance Service for the years 2005-2018. RESULTS: During the study period, 2,885 CMT patients were enrolled. The prevalence per 100,000 persons in 2018 was 5.2 (6.1 for men and 4.4 for women), peaking at ages 15-39 years, with almost twice as many men (n = 714) as women (n = 402) in this age group. Of the CMT patients, 226 (7.8%) were receiving medical aid, a public assistance program targeting poor individuals, at the time of diagnosis and 253 (8.8%) at last follow-up or death. From 2005 to 2017, 170 patients died, including 118 men and 52 women. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 1.57 (95% CI 1.34-1.83) for all patients and did not differ in men and women. Age-specific SMR was highest in patients aged under 9 years, gradually declining thereafter. Neurologic disease as a cause of death was significantly more frequent in CMT patients than in the general population. CONCLUSIONS: This was the first nationwide epidemiologic study of CMT patients in Korea. This study confirmed the characteristics associated with the prevalence of and mortality from CMT by age and is the first to report the socioeconomic status and causes of death of CMT patients.

Effectiveness of Penalties for Lockdown Violations During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany.

Objectives. To investigate whether the imposition of fines can mitigate the spread of COVID-19.Methods. We used quasi-experimental difference-in-difference models. On March 20, 2020, Bavaria introduced fines as high as €25 000 (US $28 186) against citizens in violation of the Bundesland's (federal state's) lockdown policy. Its neighboring Bundesländer (federal states), on the other hand, were slow to impose such clear restrictions. By comparing 38 Landkreise (counties) alongside Bavaria's border from March 15 to May 11 using data from the Robert Koch Institute, we produced for each Landkreis its (1) time-dependent reproduction numbers (Rt) and (2) growth rates in confirmed cases.Results. The demographics of the Landkreise were similar enough to allow for difference-in-difference analyses. Landkreise that introduced fines on March 20 reduced the Rt by a further 0.32 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.46, -0.18; P < .001) and decreased the growth rate in confirmed cases by an additional 6 percentage points (95% CI = -0.11, -0.02; P = .005) compared with the control group.Conclusions. Imposing fines may slow down the spread of COVID-19.Public Health Implications. Lockdowns may work better when governments introduce penalties against those who ignore them.

Detection of Bacteremia in Surgical In-Patients Using Recurrent Neural Network Based on Time Series Records: Development and Validation Study.

BACKGROUND: Detecting bacteremia among surgical in-patients is more obscure than other patients due to the inflammatory condition caused by the surgery. The previous criteria such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome or Sepsis-3 are not available for use in general wards, and thus, many clinicians usually rely on practical senses to diagnose postoperative infection. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the performance of continuous monitoring with a deep learning model for early detection of bacteremia for surgical in-patients in the general ward and the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we included 36,023 consecutive patients who underwent general surgery between October and December 2017 at a tertiary referral hospital in South Korea. The primary outcome was the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) for detecting bacteremia by the deep learning model, and the secondary outcome was the feature explainability of the model by occlusion analysis. RESULTS: Out of the 36,023 patients in the data set, 720 cases of bacteremia were included. Our deep learning-based model showed an AUROC of 0.97 (95% CI 0.974-0.981) and an AUPRC of 0.17 (95% CI 0.147-0.203) for detecting bacteremia in surgical in-patients. For predicting bacteremia within the previous 24-hour period, the AUROC and AUPRC values were 0.93 and 0.15, respectively. Occlusion analysis showed that vital signs and laboratory measurements (eg, kidney function test and white blood cell group) were the most important variables for detecting bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS: A deep learning model based on time series electronic health records data had a high detective ability for bacteremia for surgical in-patients in the general ward and the ICU. The model may be able to assist clinicians in evaluating infection among in-patients, ordering blood cultures, and prescribing antibiotics with real-time monitoring.

Postoperative Intravenous Iron Supplementation Does Not Improve Hemoglobin Level and Transfusion Rate Following Staged Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: We determined whether postoperative intravenous (IV) iron supplementation could reduce transfusion rate in patients undergoing staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Furthermore, we examined whether hemoglobin (Hb) levels and iron profile differed between patients with and without postoperative IV iron supplementation. METHODS: This retrospective, comparative cohort study included 126 patients who underwent primary staged bilateral TKA during a single hospitalization. The second TKA was performed at a week's interval. Group iron (n = 65) received IV iron immediately after each surgery, while patients in group no-iron (n = 61) received no iron after surgery. Transfusion rate, change in Hb levels, and iron profile including serum iron, ferritin, total iron binding capacity, and transferrin saturation were evaluated preoperatively; on postoperative days 1, 2, and 4 after the first TKA; and postoperative days 1, 2, 4, and 7, 6 weeks, and 3 months after the second TKA. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in Hb levels and transfusion rate following staged bilateral TKA between patients with and without postoperative IV iron supplementation although serum iron profiles were improved in patients with IV iron supplementation. CONCLUSION: Postoperative IV iron supplementation immediately after acute blood loss caused by TKA was not effective in improving the transfusion rate. Therefore, surgeons should use protocols other than postoperative IV iron supplementation for reducing the transfusion rate in patients undergoing staged bilateral TKA in a single hospitalization. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Prevalence and Socioeconomic Status of Patients with Genetic Myopathy in Korea: A Nationwide, Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Genetic myopathy is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of genetic disorders characterized by progressive degeneration of skeletal muscles. Epidemiological studies of genetic myopathy have not yet been performed in Korea. OBJECTIVES: This study used data from the national health insurance claims database to determine the prevalence and socioeconomic status of patients with genetic myopathy in Korea. METHODS: We analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment database from 2007 to 2011. Patients with genetic myopathy were defined based on diagnostic and procedure codes. We then evaluated the prevalence, types of health insurances, and medical expenses of these patients. RESULTS: During the 11-year study period, 2,988 patients with genetic myopathy were enrolled. Among them, 1,762 were men and 1,226 were women. The prevalence per 100,000 population in 2017 was 3.09 (3.94 for men and 2.24 for women). The prevalence of genetic myopathy among men <35 years old (8.33 per 100,000 population) was approximately twice that among women <35 years old (4.06 per 100,000 population). However, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of genetic myopathy among those ≥35 years old according to sex. The ratio of patients using medical aid among all genetic myopathy patients was approximately 4 times than that among the general population in Korea. The medical expenses per person for genetic myopathy increased from USD 2,027 in 2007 to USD 4,810 in 2017. CONCLUSIONS: Our study was the first nationwide epidemiologic study of the prevalence and socioeconomic status of patients with genetic myopathy in Korea. Our results confirmed a sex divergence in a younger population and those with low socioeconomic status among patients with genetic myopathy.