This prospective multicenter cohort study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS) in Korean patients with class II obesity or higher and those with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 27.5 kg/m². Between September 2020 and December 2022, 116 patients undergoing BMS were enrolled from nine centers in Korea. Of these, 37 patients underwent gastric bypass and 79 underwent sleeve gastrectomy. Follow-up evaluations were performed for up to 2 years. Clinical data were collected alongside four quality of life (QOL) surveys (EQ-5D, IWQOL-lite, OP-scale, and BAROS) administered at 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 weeks postoperatively. Clinical parameters included obesity severity, complications by surgery type, associated medical problems, nutritional status, and their longitudinal changes. The cohort had a mean age of 37.0 ± 11.1 years and a mean BMI of 41.9 ± 7.6 kg/m²; 71.6
Background: Ward patients who experience clinical deterioration are at high risk of mortality. Conventional rapid response systems (RRS) using track-and-trigger protocols have not consistently demonstrated improved outcomes. This study evaluated the impact of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based cardiac arrest prediction model. Methods: This 1-year, prospective, non-randomized interventional trial assigned hospitalized patients with AI-based software as a medical device (AI-SaMD) high-risk alerts to groups based on their subsequent clinical response; those reassessed or treated within 24 h comprised the AI-SaMD-guided cohort, while the remainder formed the usual care cohort. Alerts prompted an optional but not mandatory treatment review. The primary outcome was ward-based cardiac arrest; the secondary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Multivariable regression analysis was used to adjust for potential confounders. Results: Of 35,627 general ward admissions, 2906 triggered an AI-SaMD alert. Among these, 1409 (48.4%) were allocated to the AI-SaMD-guided cohort. The incidence of cardiac arrest significantly decreased from 2.07% to 1.06% (adjusted risk ratio (RR), 0.54; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.20-0.88; p < 0.01). In-hospital mortality also significantly declined (adjusted RR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.32-0.98; p < 0.05). Conclusions: AI-SaMD-guided alerts were associated with reductions in cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality without requiring additional resources, supporting their integration into current clinical workflows to improve patient safety and optimize RRS performance.
OBJECTIVES:To provide the clinically validated, nationwide estimates of multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) in Korea, and to describe their relative proportions. METHODS:From January to March 2025, 47 referral hospitals participating in a nationwide hospital-based registry identified actively followed patients with MS, NMOSD, or MOGAD. Diagnoses followed international criteria, and antibody status was confirmed using validated CBAs. Actively followed patients had ≥1 outpatient visit in the prior 6 months. Centers provided demographics, treatments, and Expanded Disability Status Scale. Prevalence used national population data. RESULTS:A total of 4,196 patients were identified, 1,799 MS, 1,616 NMOSD, and 781 MOGAD (ratio 2.3:2.1:1). Mean age at onset was 33.4 ± 12.0 years for MS, 42.7 ± 14.7 for NMOSD, and 41.7 ± 17.8 for MOGAD, and the female-to-male ratios were 2.2:1 for MS, 5.1:1 for NMOSD (6.5:1 in aquaporin-4-IgG positive cases), and 1.5:1 for MOGAD. Crude prevalence estimates were 3.48, 3.13, and 1.51 per 100,000, respectively. DISCUSSION:This nationwide registry demonstrates a distinctive Korean CNS inflammatory demyelinating disease profile, with a relatively higher proportion of NMOSD and MOGAD reflecting the low prevalence of MS in East Asia.
CONTEXT:Most infants born small for gestational age (SGA) experience catch-up growth within 2 years, while 10% to 15% remain short. The cause of this persistent growth failure remains unknown. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the genetic causes of SGA with short stature (SGA-SS) due to failure of catch-up growth. METHODS:A total of 191 children from multicenter SGA-SS cohorts across 7 hospitals in South Korea underwent whole-exome sequencing. Identified copy number variants (CNVs) were confirmed via chromosomal microarray analysis. RESULTS:Genetic variants were identified in 34 children (17.8% diagnostic rate). CNVs accounted for 50% (17/34), including 6 children with 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome, predominantly exhibiting mild dysmorphic features without severe intellectual disability (ID), developmental delay (DD) or severe anomalies. Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified in 17 children (17/34, 50%). One had compound heterozygous mutations in SLC26A2, 1 likely pathogenic mutation, and another of uncertain significance. The remaining children had heterozygous variants, including 5 pathogenic variants in COL2A1, ACAN, SALL1, TAOK1, ANKRD11 and 11 likely pathogenic variants in PIK3R1, PLAG1, SCUBE3, COL9A2 (in 2 patients), SMAD4, PTPN11 (in 2 patients), CDKN1C, ACAN, NF1. A novel familial Silver-Russell syndrome case was linked to a CDKN1C mutation. Genetic causes were identified in 14 (58.3%) of 24 patients with ID/DD: 9 with CNVs and 5 with SNVs. CONCLUSION:SGA-SS has a heterogeneous genetic basis, with CNVs significantly contributing. The variable presentation of 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome highlights its relevance. A genetic diagnosis is more likely in familial cases or those with ID/DD, supporting the utility of genetic testing.
