Risk Factors for Postoperative Hypothermia in Patients Undergoing Robot-Assisted Gynecological Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Since postoperative hypothermia increases the morbidity and mortality rates of surgery, identifying its risk factors is an important part of perioperative management. Considering the increasing demand for robot-assisted surgery and other characteristics of conventional laparoscopic surgery, identifying the risk factors for hypothermia in robot-assisted surgery is necessary. However, this has not yet been clearly established. This study aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence rate of postoperative hypothermia in patients undergoing robot-assisted gynecological surgery. In total, 516 patients aged ≥ 19 years undergoing robot-assisted gynecological surgery at a single university hospital between January 2018 and November 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Postoperative hypothermia was defined as 36.0°C or lower body temperature at the end of the surgery, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors for postoperative hypothermia. Among the 516 patients, the incidence rate of postoperative hypothermia was 28.1% in 145 patients. The independent risk factors for postoperative hypothermia included body mass index ≤ 22.9 kg/m², baseline heart rate ≤ 73 rate/min, baseline body temperature ≤ 36.8°C, use of intraoperative nicardipine, and amount of administered intravenous fluid larger than 800 mL. Therefore, to prevent hypothermia in patients undergoing robot-assisted gynecological surgery, these risk factors must be considered.     

The measurement of gastric emptying time with 3-D ultrasonography]

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Three dimensional (3-D) ultrasonography is definitely more accurate than conventional 2-D ultrasonography in volume measurement of intra-abdominal organs. However, its application in measuring gastric emptying time has been limited. Thus, we tried to measure gastric antral emptying time by using 3-D ultrasonography and compare with that by radio-scintigraphy. METHODS: We performed both 3-D ultrasonography and radio-scintigraphy on the same day in 23 healthy subjects. After overnight fast, the subjects ingested 500 mL of soup meal (84 Kcal) that had been pre-mixed with 1 mCi of technetium(99m). The half emptying time (T(1/2)) measured by 3-D ultrasonography was defined by the time when the gastric antral volume decreased to half. RESULTS: The mean T(1/2) of 23 healthy subjects measured by 3-D ultrasonography was 23.4 +/- 10.5 min, while that measured by scintigraphy was 28.4 +/- 14.4 min. The difference (p=0.11 by paired t-test) between the two methods was not significant. Moreover, no significant correlation of T1/2 between the two methods (r=0.361, p=0.09) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Measuring gastric antral emptying time with 3-D ultrasonography may be useful but require further validation studies and advance in technology.     

Clinical Course of COVID-19 in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Korea: a KASID Multicenter Study

In 2020, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread worldwide and remains an ongoing medical challenge. This case series reports on the clinical features and characteristics of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and confirmed COVID-19 infection. From February 2020 to March 2021, nine patients with IBD had confirmed COVID-19 across four hospitals in Korea. The median age at COVID-19 diagnosis was 42 years. Six patients were male, and seven patients had ulcerative colitis (UC). No patients required oxygen therapy, intensive care unit hospitalizations, or died. The most common symptom was fever, and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms developed as diarrhea in five patients with UC. Oral steroids were used to combat UC aggravation in two patients. In this case series of nine IBD patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Korea, the clinical presentation was predominately a mild respiratory tract infection. Most patients with UC developed new GI symptoms including diarrhea.     

Clinicopathologic factors and molecular markers related to lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer

AIM: To analyze predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer.METHODS: We analyzed 1104 patients with early gastric cancer(EGC) who underwent a gastrectomy with lymph-node dissection from May 2003 through July 2011. The clinicopathologic factors and molecular markers were assessed as predictors for lymph node metastasis. Molecular markers such as microsatellite instability, human mut L homolog 1, p53, epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2) were included. The χ2 test and logistic regression analysis were used to determine clinicopathologic parameters.RESULTS: Lymph node metastasis was observed in 104(9.4%) of 1104 patients. Among 104 cases of lymph node positive patients, 24 patients(3.8%) were mucosal cancers and 80 patients(16.7%) were submucosal. According to histologic evaluation, the number of lymph node metastasis found was 4(1.7%) for well differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, 45(11.3%) for moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, 36(14.8%) for poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, and 19(8.4%) for signet ring cell carcinoma. Of 690 EGC cases, 77 cases(11.2%) showed EGFR overexpression. HER2 overexpression was present in 110 cases(27.1%) of 406 EGC patients. With multivariate analysis, female gender(OR = 2.281, P = 0.009), presence of lymphovascular invasion(OR = 10.950, P 0.0001), diameter(≥ 20 mm, OR = 3.173, P = 0.01), and EGFR overexpression(OR = 2.185, P = 0.044) were independent risk factors for lymph node involvement.CONCLUSION: Female gender, tumor size, lymphovascular invasion and EGFR overexpression were predictive risk factors for lymph node metastasis in EGC.     

Clinical Features and Long-term Prognosis of Crohn’s Disease in Korea: Results from the Prospective CONNECT Study

Background/AimsThe prospective Crohn’s Disease Clinical Network and Cohort Study is a nationwide multicenter cohort study of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) in Korea, aiming to prospectively investigate the clinical features and long-term prognosis associated with CD.MethodsPatients diagnosed with CD between January 2009 and September 2019 were prospectively enrolled. They were divided into two cohorts according to the year of diagnosis cohort 1 (diagnosed between 2009 and 2011) versus cohort 2 (between 2012 and 2019).ResultsA total of 1,175 patients were included, and the median follow-up duration was 68 months (interquartile range, 39.0 to 91.0 months). The treatment-free durations for thiopurines (p<0.001) and anti-tumor necrosis factor agents (p=0.018) of cohort 2 were shorter than those of cohort 1. Among 887 patients with B1 behavior at diagnosis, 149 patients (16.8%) progressed to either B2 or B3 behavior during follow-up. Early use of thiopurine was associated with a reduced risk of behavioral progression (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50 to 0.90), and family history of inflammatory bowel disease was associated with an increased risk of behavioral progression (aHR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.16 to 4.50). One hundred forty-one patients (12.0%) underwent intestinal resection, and the intestinal resection-free survival time was significantly longer in cohort 2 than in cohort 1 (p=0.003). The early use of thiopurines (aHR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.23 to 0.51) was independently associated with a reduced risk of intestinal resection.ConclusionsThe prognosis of CD in Korea appears to have improved over time, as evidenced by the decreasing intestinal resection rate. Early use of thiopurines was associated with an improved prognosis represented by a reduced risk of intestinal resection.     

Diagnostic utility of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) and Interferon-γ assay in the differential diagnosis of Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis

BackgroundDifferential diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) from intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) is challenging. Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) is a specific serological marker for CD and INF-gamma assay (QuantiFERON-TB gold test, QFT) is a good supplementary diagnostic tool for ITB. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of ASCA and QFT for differential diagnosis of CD from ITB in Korean adults.MethodsA total of 147 patients suspected to have ITB or CD were prospectively enrolled from 13 hospitals. ASCA IgG and IgA serum titers were measured by ELISA, and the QFT test was also performed.ResultsThirty-two of 72 (44.4%) patients with CD were ASCA positive (titer > 25 U) compared to 10 of 75 ITB patients (13.3%) and 3 of 20 healthy controls (15%) (p < 0.01). The QFT test was positive in 7 patients with CD (9.7%) and 50 patients with ITB (66.6%) (p < 0.01). In cases which ASCA positive/QFT negative, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for the diagnosis of CD were 44.4%, 96.0%, 91.4%, and 64.3%, respectively.ConclusionASCA is a useful diagnostic tool for CD in Korea, where ITB is prevalent. In particular, when ASCA is combined with QFT, effective differential diagnosis of CD from ITB is possible.     

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach

Background

Signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC) of the stomach is a histological type based on microscopic characteristics. Although the distinctive clinicopathological features of SRC have been reported, results are inconsistent and survival outcomes are uncertain.

Methods

We retrospectively studied 769 patients with gastric carcinoma who underwent gastrectomy in our institute from 1999 to 2009. Among them, 326 patients (42.4 %) had early gastric cancer (EGC) and 443 patients (57.6 %) had advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Sex, age, tumor location, macroscopic type, tumor size, microscopic invasion, and survival rate were compared between patients with SRC, differentiated-, and undifferentiated-type gastric carcinomas.

Results

Fifty-one patients (15.6 %) had SRC in EGC; there were significant differences in sex, age, location, macroscopic type, and size between SRC and the differentiated histological type. However, there was no difference between SRC and undifferentiated-type gastric carcinoma, except for the macroscopic type. Fifty-seven patients (12.9 %) had SRC in AGC. Sex, age, location, size, macroscopic type, perineural invasion, N stage, and hepatic metastasis were significantly different between SRC and the differentiated histological type. Undifferentiated-type gastric carcinoma differed in sex, macroscopic type, and hepatic metastasis. The overall survival rate differed between SRC and other cell types (P < 0.001). Among all the study patients, age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.013, P = 0.041] and tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) stage (HR 2.350, P < 0.001) were important factors for predicting survival. Omitting patients with palliative resection or metastases, TNM stage was still an important factor for survival (HR 2.077, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Patients with SRC showed similar clinicopathological features with undifferentiated histology. The survival of patients with SRC reflected a better prognosis in patients with undifferentiated gastric carcinoma. However, when narrowing the patients to those with EGC only, survival in EGC patients exhibited no difference between histological types. Among AGC patients, SRC patients had a worse prognosis than other cell types.