Measuring blood pressure (BP) at home and remote monitoring can improve the patient's adherence to BP control and vascular outcomes. This study evaluated the feasibility of a trial regarding the effects of an intensive mobile BP management strategy versus usual care in acute ischemic stroke patients. A feasibility-testing, randomized, open-labeled controlled trial was conducted. Remote BP measurement, data transmission, storage, and centralized monitoring system were organized through a Bluetooth-equipped sphygmomanometer paired to the participants' smartphones. Participants were randomized equally into intensive management (behavioral intensification to measure BP at home by texting, direct telephone call, or breakthrough visit) and control (usual care) groups. The primary feasibility outcomes were: 1) recruitment time for the pre-specified number of participants, 2) retention of participants, 3) frequency of breakthrough visit calls, 4) response to breakthrough visit call, and 5) proportions satisfying BP measurement criteria. Sixty participants were randomly assigned to the intensive management (n = 31) and control (n = 29) groups, of which 57 participants were included in the primary analysis with comparable baseline characteristics. Recruitment time from the first to the last participant was 350 days, and 95% of randomized participants completed the final visit (intensive, 94%; control, 98%). Eight breakthrough visit calls were made to 7 participants (23%), with complete and immediate responses within 3 ± 4 days. The median of half-day blocks fulfilling the BP measurement criteria per patient were 91% in the intensive group and 83% in the control group (difference, 12.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-22.2). No adverse events related to the trial procedures were reported. The intensive monitoring, including remote BP measurement, data transfer, and centralized monitoring system, engaged with behavioral intensification was feasible if the patients complied with the intervention. However, the device utilized would need further improvement prior to a large trial.

Background To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors associated with myopia and high myopia in children in South Korea. Methods A total of 983 children 5–18 years of age who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016–2017 (KNHANES VII), a nationwide population-based cross-sectional study, were evaluated. Myopia and high myopia were defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) ≤ − 0.5 diopters (D) and SE ≤ --6.0 D. The association between refractive errors and potential risk factors for myopia was analyzed. Results The prevalence of myopia and high myopia was 65.4 and 6.9%, respectively. Older age and parental myopia were significantly associated with both myopia and high myopia, while higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with high myopia only. Although the proportion of subjects who spent more time on near work activities (≥4 h/day) was sequentially increased with increased refractive error, this tendency was not statistically significant by multivariable logistic regression. Conclusions Korean children had a high prevalence of myopia and high myopia. In this age group, the risk of myopia increased with aging and parental myopia. Higher BMI may be associated with high myopia.

Background: Thyroid cancer is becoming increasingly common worldwide, but little is known about the epidemiology of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). This study investigated the current status of the incidence and treatment of MTC using Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) data for the entire Korean population from 2004 to 2016. Methods: This study included 1,790 MTC patients identified from the NHIS database. Results: The age-standardized incidence rate showed a slightly decreasing or stationary trend during the period, from 0.25 per 100,000 persons in 2004 to 0.19 in 2016. The average proportion of MTC among all thyroid cancers was 0.5%. For initial surgical treatment, 65.4% of patients underwent total thyroidectomy. After surgery, external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) was performed in 10% of patients, a proportion that increased from 6.7% in 2004 to 11.0% in 2016. Reoperations were performed in 2.7% of patients (n=49) at a median of 1.9 years of follow-up (interquartile range, 1.2 to 3.4). Since November 2015, 25 (1.4%) patients with MTC were prescribed vandetanib by December 2016. Conclusion: The incidence of MTC decreased slightly with time, and the proportion of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy was about 65%. EBRT, reoperation, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy are additional treatments after initial surgery for advanced MTC in Korea.

Background Identifying acute ischemic stroke (AIS) among potential stroke cases is crucial for stroke research based on claims data. However, the accuracy of using the diagnostic codes of the International Classification of Diseases 10 th revision was less than expected. Methods From the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) claims data, stroke cases admitted to the hospitals participating in the multicenter stroke registry (Clinical Research Collaboration for Stroke in Korea, CRCS-K) during the study period with principal or additional diagnosis codes of I60-I64 on the 10 th revision of International Classification of Diseases were extracted. The datasets were randomly divided into development and validation sets with a

Background Patients who survive an acute phase of stroke are at risk of falls and fractures afterwards. However, it is largely unknown how frequent fractures occur in the Asian stroke population. Methods Patients with acute (< 7 days) ischemic stroke who were hospitalized between January 2011 and November 2013 were identified from a prospective multicenter stroke registry in Korea, and were linked to the National Health Insurance Service claim database. The incidences of fractures were investigated during the first 4 years after index stroke. The cumulative incidence functions (CIFs) were estimated by the Gray's test for competing risk data. Fine and Gray model for competing risk data was applied for exploring risk factors of post-stroke fractures. Results Among a total of 11,522 patients, 1,616 fracture events were identified: 712 spine fractures, 397 hip fractures and 714 other fractures. The CIFs of any fractures were 2.63% at 6 months, 4.43% at 1 year, 8.09% at 2 years and 13.00% at 4 years. Those of spine/hip fractures were 1.11%/0.61%, 1.88%/1.03%, 3.28%/1.86% and 5.79%/3.15%, respectively. Age by a 10-year increment (hazard ratio [HR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17–1.30), women (HR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.54–1.97), previous fracture (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.54–1.92) and osteoporosis (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.27–1.63) were independent risk factors of post-stroke fracture. Conclusion The CIFs of fractures are about 8% at 2 years and 13% at 4 years after acute ischemic stroke in Korea. Older age, women, pre-stroke fracture and osteoporosis raised the risk of post-stroke fractures.