Correlation between Internet Search Query Data and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Data for Seasonality of Plantar Fasciitis / 대한족부족관절학회지

Purpose@#This study examined whether there are seasonal variations in the number of plantar fasciitis cases from the database of the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service and an internet search of the volume data related to plantar fasciitis and whether there are correlations between variations. @*Materials and Methods@#The number of plantar fasciitis cases per month was acquired from the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service from January 2016 to December 2019. The monthly internet relative search volumes for the keywords ‘‘plantar fasciitis” and ‘‘heel pain” were collected during the same period from DataLab, an internet search query trend service provided by the Korean portal website, Naver. Cosinor analysis was performed to confirm the seasonality of the monthly number of cases and relative search volumes, and Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between them. @*Results@#The number of cases with plantar fasciitis and the relative search volume for the keywords “plantar fasciitis” and “heel pain” all showed significant seasonality (p<0.001), with the highest in the summer and the lowest in the winter. The number of cases with plantar fasciitis was correlated significantly with the relative search volumes of the keywords “plantar fasciitis” (r=0.632; p<0.001) and “heel pain” (r=0.791; p<0.001), respectively. @*Conclusion@#Both the number of cases with plantar fasciitis and the internet search data for related keywords showed seasonality, which was the highest in summer. The number of cases showed a significant correlation with the internet search data for the seasonality of plantar fasciitis. Internet big data could be a complementary resource for researching and monitoring plantar fasciitis.

Correlation between Internet Search Query Data and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Data for Seasonality of Plantar Fasciitis / 대한족부족관절학회지

Purpose@#This study examined whether there are seasonal variations in the number of plantar fasciitis cases from the database of the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service and an internet search of the volume data related to plantar fasciitis and whether there are correlations between variations. @*Materials and Methods@#The number of plantar fasciitis cases per month was acquired from the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service from January 2016 to December 2019. The monthly internet relative search volumes for the keywords ‘‘plantar fasciitis” and ‘‘heel pain” were collected during the same period from DataLab, an internet search query trend service provided by the Korean portal website, Naver. Cosinor analysis was performed to confirm the seasonality of the monthly number of cases and relative search volumes, and Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between them. @*Results@#The number of cases with plantar fasciitis and the relative search volume for the keywords “plantar fasciitis” and “heel pain” all showed significant seasonality (p<0.001), with the highest in the summer and the lowest in the winter. The number of cases with plantar fasciitis was correlated significantly with the relative search volumes of the keywords “plantar fasciitis” (r=0.632; p<0.001) and “heel pain” (r=0.791; p<0.001), respectively. @*Conclusion@#Both the number of cases with plantar fasciitis and the internet search data for related keywords showed seasonality, which was the highest in summer. The number of cases showed a significant correlation with the internet search data for the seasonality of plantar fasciitis. Internet big data could be a complementary resource for researching and monitoring plantar fasciitis.

Prevalence and Clinical Impact of Acromial Cupping after Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair:Does Acromioplasty Matter?

Background@#Although the effectiveness of acromioplasty is controversial, it is commonly performed during rotator cuff repair to reduce external impingement. During follow-up, osteolysis under the acromion (acromial cupping) could be observed. However, this phenomenon has been rarely addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence and severity of acromial cupping after rotator cuff repair depending on the concomitant performance of acromioplasty and evaluate the influence of acromial cupping on clinical and radiological outcome. @*Methods@#This is a retrospective study involving patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair for small-to-large fullthickness rotator cuff tears from October 2015 to March 2019 and clinical follow-up and magnetic resonance imaging at least 1 year postoperatively. A total of 110 patients were enrolled and divided into two groups depending on whether acromioplasty had been performed (group A) or not (group N). The prevalence of acromial cupping was evaluated in each group. In addition, we stratified patients according to the severity of acromial cupping to investigate its influence on healing and functional scores (visual analog scale [VAS], American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons [ASES] score, simple shoulder test [SST], and Constant-Murley score). @*Results@#There were 85 patients in group A and 25 patients in group N. The prevalence of acromial cupping and acromial cysts was as follows: 36.4% (40 patients) and 6.4% (7 patients), respectively, in the total subjects; 43.5% (37/85) and 5.9% (5/85), respectively, in group A; and 12.0% (3/25) and 8.0% (2/25), respectively, in group N. The prevalence of acromial cupping was significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.012). However, functional outcomes were not significantly different between groups stratified by the severity of acromial cupping (VAS, p = 0.464; ASES score, p = 0.902; SST, p = 0.816; and Constant-Murley score, p = 0.117). The difference in healing rate was statistically insignificant between groups (p = 0.726). @*Conclusions@#The incidence and severity of acromial cupping were significantly greater in patients who underwent rotator cuff repair with acromioplasty. It was a relatively common phenomenon, especially after acromioplasty. However, neither the existence nor the severity of acromial cupping affected functional outcomes or healing.

Causative Factors Regarding the Clinical Outcomes after Arthroscopic Treatment for Pyogenic Knee Arthritis / 대한정형외과학회잡지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to analyze the causative factors that affect the recurrence and positive culture results of pyogenic knee arthritis after arthroscopic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 69 patients, who were followed-up for more than one year after arthroscopid lavage and debridement for pyogenic knee arthritis, between February 2011 and February 2015, were retrospectively reviewed for analysis. We analyzed the factors affecting the recurrence rate, preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) level, neutrophil count in synovial fluid, growth of bacteria in culture, and normalization of CRP level, and also analyzed potential factors that may influence the treatment results and recurrence. RESULTS: The recurrence rate was significantly higher in the culture-positive group (p=0.014). Culture-positive patients had low preoperative CRP (p=0.004), shorter duration for normalization of CRP (p=0.037), shorter duration of hospital stay (p=0.001) and intravenous antibiotics use (p=0.021). The duration for normalization of the CRP level had was associated with symptom-to-treatment interval (p=0.005), neutrophil count in synovial fluid (p=0.007), and growth of bacteria in the culture (p=0.001). There were 16 cases (23.2%) culture-positive cases and 15 cases (21.7%) recurrent cases. CONCLUSION: According to our study, early diagnosis and management affect rapid recovery of the CRP level in pyogenic arthritis of the knee. Preoperative CRP and leukocyte counts in the joint fluid are of diagnostic value in acute infection. However, it should not be overlooked that their diagnostic value is limited as a single factor as they may have low preoperative values. Therefore preoperative CRP and leukocyte counts in the joint fluid should be considered in conjunction with symptoms and intra-articular fluid manifestations. Bacteria growth in the culture are meaningful factors in an evaluation for postoperative recovery and recurrence.

Effect of RNA Interference-Mediated Suppression of p75 on the Viability of Rat Notochordal Cells

STUDY DESIGN: In vitro cell culture model. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of RNA interference (RNAi) on p75 expression and viability of rat notochordal cells treated with serum deprivation. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: RNAi enables the inhibition of specific genes by sequence-specific gene silencing using a double-stranded RNA. METHODS: Notochordal cells were isolated, cultured, and placed in 10% (control) or 0% (apoptosis-promoting) fetal bovine serum (FBS) for 48 hours. The expression of p75, apoptosis, and cell proliferation were determined. To suppress p75 expression, a small interfering RNA (siRNA) was synthesized against p75 (p75 siRNA) and transfected into cells. The suppression of p75 mRNA expression was investigated using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The degree of p75 suppression was semiquantitatively analyzed using densitometry. The effect of p75 siRNA on apoptosis and proliferation of cells was determined. Solutions of an unrelated siRNA and transfection agent alone served as controls. RESULTS: Serum deprivation significantly increased apoptosis by 40.3%, decreased proliferation of notochordal cells by 45.3% (both, p<0.001), and upregulated p75 expression. The p75 siRNA suppressed p75 expression in cells cultured in 0% FBS. The rate of suppression by p75 siRNA of p75 mRNA was 72.9% (p<0.001). Suppression of p75 expression by p75 siRNA inhibited apoptosis by 7% and increased proliferation by 14% in cells cultured in 0% FBS (both, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: siRNA-mediated suppression of p75 inhibited apoptosis and increased proliferation of notochordal cells under conditions of serum deprivation, suggesting that RNAi might serve as a novel therapeutic approach for disc degeneration caused by insufficient viability of disc cells through the suppression of the expression of harmful genes.

Medication Persistence for Osteoporosis and Its Related Factor in Patients with Osteoporotic Compression Vertebral Fracture / 대한골다공증학회지

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporotic vertebral fractures, which account for the largest part of the disease has become important and common diseases. We studied persistence for osteoporosis medication and its related factor in patients with osteoporotic compression vertebral fracture. METHODS: A total of 458 patients that visited our outpatient clinic with osteoporotic vertebral fractures and were prescribed with osteoporosis medication at the Seoul Spine Center from January 2010 to February 2014 and were analyzed retrospectively. The male to female ratio was 403: 55 and the mean age was 75 years. Survival analysis was used with the Kaplan-Meier method. Related factor analysis was performed with the log rank test and Cox regression test. RESULTS: The survival rate at 6 months was 52%, 12 months was 40%, 24 months was 28%, and at 3 years it was 25%. There was no difference between the persistent rate according to age. Women demonstrated higher persistent rate than men in significantly. It showed a significant difference between some of the groups in accordance with the dose rate and duration of the drug dose interval. Especially, medication change group had significant higher persistence rate than not changing group. CONCLUSIONS: Persistence rate of osteoporosis drugs, decreased rapidly with the passage of time. The patients with changing medication during follow-up had significantly higher persistence ratio than those without it. The persistence rate of osteoporosis medication could be increased through actively solving the problems of the patients, which are associated with taking medication.