Congenital Heart Surgery Skill Training Using Simulation Models: Not an Option but a Necessity

Congenital heart surgery (CHS) is technically demanding, and its training is extremely complex and challenging. Training of the surgeon’s technical skills has relied on a preceptorship format in which the trainees are gradually exposed to patients in the operating room under the close tutelage of senior staff surgeons. Training in the operating room is an inefficient process and the concept of a learning curve is no longer acceptable in terms of patient outcomes. The benefits of surgical simulation in training of congenital heart surgeons are well known and appreciated. However, adequate surgical simulation models and equipment for training have been scarce until the recent development of three-dimensionally (3D) printed models. Using comprehensive 3D printing and silicone-molding techniques, realistic simulation training models for most congenital heart surgical procedures have been produced. Newly developed silicone-molded models allow efficient CHS training in a stress-free environment with instantaneous feedback from the proctors and avoids risk to patients. The time has arrived when all congenital heart surgeons should consider surgical simulation training before progressing to real-life operating in a similar fashion to the aviation industry where all pilots are required to complete simulation training before flying a real aircraft. It is argued here that simulation training is not an option anymore but should be a mandatory component of CHS training.     

Epidemiology and Transmission Dynamics of Infectious Diseases and Control Measures

The epidemiology and transmission dynamics of infectious diseases must be understood at the individual and community levels to improve public health decision-making for real-time and integrated community-based control strategies. Herein, we explore the epidemiological characteristics for assessing the impact of public health interventions in the community setting and their applications. Computational statistical methods could advance research on infectious disease epidemiology and accumulate scientific evidence of the potential impacts of pharmaceutical/nonpharmaceutical measures to mitigate or control infectious diseases in the community. Novel public health threats from emerging zoonotic infectious diseases are urgent issues. Given these direct and indirect mitigating impacts at various levels to different infectious diseases and their burdens, we must consider an integrated assessment approach, ‘One Health’, to understand the dynamics and control of infectious diseases.     

Agreement and Reliability between Clinically Available Software Programs in Measuring Volumes and Normative Percentiles of Segmented Brain Regions

ObjectiveTo investigate the agreement and reliability of estimating the volumes and normative percentiles (N%) of segmented brain regions among NeuroQuant (NQ), DeepBrain (DB), and FreeSurfer (FS) software programs, focusing on the comparison between NQ and DB.Materials and MethodsThree-dimensional T1-weighted images of 145 participants (48 healthy participants, 50 patients with mild cognitive impairment, and 47 patients with Alzheimer’s disease) from a single medical center (SMC) dataset and 130 participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset were included in this retrospective study. All images were analyzed with DB, NQ, and FS software to obtain volume estimates and N% of various segmented brain regions. We used Bland–Altman analysis, repeated measures ANOVA, reproducibility coefficient, effect size, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to evaluate inter-method agreement and reliability.ResultsAmong the three software programs, the Bland–Altman plot showed a substantial bias, the ICC showed a broad range of reliability (0.004–0.97), and repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant mean volume differences in all brain regions. Similarly, the volume differences of the three software programs had large effect sizes in most regions (0.73–5.51). The effect size was largest in the pallidum in both datasets and smallest in the thalamus and cerebral white matter in the SMC and ADNI datasets, respectively. N% of NQ and DB showed an unacceptably broad Bland–Altman limit of agreement in all brain regions and a very wide range of ICC values (-0.142–0.844) in most brain regions.ConclusionNQ and DB showed significant differences in the measured volume and N%, with limited agreement and reliability for most brain regions. Therefore, users should be aware of the lack of interchangeability between these software programs when they are applied in clinical practice.     

The Korea Cohort Consortium: The Future of Pooling Cohort Studies

ObjectivesWe introduced the cohort studies included in the Korean Cohort Consortium (KCC), focusing on large-scale cohort studies established in Korea with a prolonged follow-up period. Moreover, we also provided projections of the follow-up and estimates of the sample size that would be necessary for big-data analyses based on pooling established cohort studies, including population-based genomic studies.MethodsWe mainly focused on the characteristics of individual cohort studies from the KCC. We developed “PROFAN”, a Shiny application for projecting the follow-up period to achieve a certain number of cases when pooling established cohort studies. As examples, we projected the follow-up periods for 5000 cases of gastric cancer, 2500 cases of prostate and breast cancer, and 500 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The sample sizes for sequencing-based analyses based on a 1:1 case-control study were also calculated.ResultsThe KCC consisted of 8 individual cohort studies, of which 3 were community-based and 5 were health screening-based cohorts. The population-based cohort studies were mainly organized by Korean government agencies and research institutes. The projected follow-up period was at least 10 years to achieve 5000 cases based on a cohort of 0.5 million participants. The mean of the minimum to maximum sample sizes for performing sequencing analyses was 5917–72 102.ConclusionsWe propose an approach to establish a large-scale consortium based on the standardization and harmonization of existing cohort studies to obtain adequate statistical power with a sufficient sample size to analyze high-risk groups or rare cancer subtypes.     

Perception of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID 19 pandemic is far from over, and vaccines remain important tool for fighting the disease. As the preventive effects of the COVID-19 vaccine emerges, it is likely that the perception of importance and safety of vaccines have a positive effect on the acceptance of other vaccines. However, it is still unclear how COVID-19 pandemic has affected the general vaccination perception and acceptance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of HPV vaccination. This study involved an offline survey of 161 women aged between 20 and 49 years who visited the gynecologic clinic at Chung-nam National University Sejong Hospital from January 2021 to June 2021. The questionnaire consists of items related to experience and knowledge of COVID-19 and HPV viruses, as well as attitudes toward HPV vaccination. Knowledge about COVID-19 virus and HPV correlated positively with their experiences (P = .011 and P = .045, respectively). Positive attitude was increased, and negative attitude was reduced toward HPV vaccination in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Participants stated that accurate information and cost reduction about HPV vaccine was needed to increase the HPV vaccination rate. During the COVID-19 pandemic era, positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination have tended to increase. To increase the HPV vaccination rate, public efforts are needed for further information and cost reduction.     

Humoral response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in patients undergoing dialysis

Patients undergoing maintenance dialysis have a higher mortality rate associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and response rates to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 vary from 29.6% to 96.4% in such patients. This study aimed to assess the immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Korean patients undergoing dialysis. We enrolled 70 SARS-CoV-2-vaccinated patients undergoing dialysis, with 11 healthcare workers serving as healthy control subjects. Thirty-two patients had received a third vaccination, whereas 38 had received 2 vaccinations. The healthy control subjects completed the second vaccination. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies targeting the receptor-binding domain of the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein were measured The vaccination responder rates were 86% (37/43), 96% (26/27), and 91% (10/11) in the patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis and healthy controls, respectively. IgG antibody levels were significantly higher when a third dose was administered, independent of the type of vaccine or the time interval between vaccination and the subsequent blood sampling date. When a third dose of vaccine was administered, there was no difference in IgG antibody levels between those receiving cross-vaccination or a single vaccine. There was no significant difference in IgG antibodies between healthy controls and patients undergoing dialysis. Patients on dialysis exhibited a sufficient antibody-related response to vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, even in those receiving cross-vaccination, and the antibody titer was higher after a third vaccination. Therefore, it is necessary to administer a third vaccine dose to Korean patients undergoing dialysis.     

Long-term outcomes and risk factors for mortality of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy undergoing septal myectomy

BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate the long-term surgical outcomes of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and explore the risk factors for mortality, especially those related to atrial fibrillation.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 150 consecutive patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy who underwent surgical treatment between March 2003 and December 2020.ResultsFifty (33.3%, age 53.7±16.1 years) patients underwent isolated septal myectomy (SM), 79 (52.7%, age 52.3±12.6 years) underwent SM with mitral valve intervention (SM + MVI), and 21 (14.0%, age 57.1±13.5 years) underwent SM with mitral valve replacement (SM + MVR). Overall peak left ventricular outflow tract pressure gradient at rest was significantly decreased from 91.9±43.2 to 13.3±13.0 mmHg (P<0.0001). Survival rates were 96.7%, 89.1%, and 81.5% at 30 days, 5 years, and 10 years, respectively. Patients in the SM + MVI group survived longer than those in SM + MVR or isolated SM groups (94.1% vs. 75.4% vs. 88.0%, respectively, at 5 years, P=0.05). Patients with preoperative atrial fibrillation had a worse 5-year survival rate than those without atrial fibrillation (73.4% vs. 92.8%, respectively, P<0.001). Preoperative atrial fibrillation was an independent risk factor for late mortality in multivariable analysis. Notably, those whose atrial fibrillation was successfully eradicated by surgical ablation had a better 5-year survival rate than other patients (87.7% vs. 28.6%, respectively, P<0.001).ConclusionsSurgical outcomes in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy are favorable in the long-term, except in patients with preoperative atrial fibrillation. Therefore, intraoperative ablation for preoperative atrial fibrillation in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy should be actively considered to improve patient outcomes.     

Synovial Osteochondromatosis: Clinical Characteristics Unique to the Shoulder

BackgroundSynovial osteochondromatosis (SOC) of the shoulder is a rare condition with unclear characteristics. This study evaluated the clinical features and postoperative functional outcomes of SOC of the shoulder that are distinct from SOC of other joints.MethodsThe characteristics of 28 shoulders with SOC that underwent arthroscopy were retrospectively assessed. Ten shoulders (35.7%) had rotator cuff tears (RCTs) and underwent concomitant arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. The mean follow-up period was 83.6 months (range, 24–154 months). Demographic characteristics and loose bodies localized under arthroscopy were compared between cases with and without concomitant RCTs. Radiography, ultrasonography, or magnetic resonance imaging were performed preoperatively and postoperatively. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain and satisfaction were evaluated for all cases, and functional scores were assessed in shoulders with concomitant RCTs.ResultsThe average age was 36.2 ± 15.6 years among patients without RCTs and 58.3 ± 7.2 years among patients with RCTs. Seven shoulders (7%) had osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy revealed loose bodies in multiple spaces, including the glenohumeral joint, subacromial (SA) space, and biceps tendon sheath. Overall, loose bodies were found in multiple spaces in 12 shoulders (42.9%). Loose bodies were found in the SA space only in 4 shoulders (22.2%) without RCTs and in 7 shoulders (70.0%) with RCTs. VAS for pain decreased significantly from 3.9 ± 2.3 to 1.1 ± 1.3 (p < 0.001). The functional scores increased significantly after arthroscopic management for patients with concurrent RCTs (all p < 0.05). Recurrence of SOC occurred in 3 of the 22 shoulders (13.6%) who underwent postoperative imaging, but no patient had a recurrent RCT.ConclusionsPain relief and patient satisfaction were achieved via arthroscopic management. Unlike in other joints, loose bodies can occur simultaneously in several spaces in the shoulder, including the glenohumeral joint, SA space, and biceps tendon sheath. Early diagnosis of SOC of the SA space can help prevent osteoarthritis and RCT progression.     

Microsurgical anatomy of the facial nerve

The facial nerve connections and pathways from the cortex to the brainstem are intricate and complicated. The extra‐axial part of the facial nerve leaves the lateral part of the pontomedullary sulcus and enters the temporal bone through the internal acoustic meatus. In the temporal bone, the facial nerve branches into fibers innervating the glands and tongue. After it emerges from the temporal bone it supplies various facial muscles. It contains a motor, general sensory, special sensory, and autonomic components. The physician needs comprehensive knowledge of the anatomy and courses of the facial nerve to diagnose and treat lesions and diseases of it so that surgical complications due to facial nerve injury can be avoided. This review describes the microsurgical anatomy of the facial nerve and illustrates its anatomy in relation to the surrounding bone, connective, and neurovascular structures.