The main purpose of this study was to develop a model predictive of dysphagia in hospital survivors with severe pneumonia who underwent tracheostomy during their hospital stay. The present study included 175 patients (72% male; mean age, 71.3 years) over 5 years. None of these patients had a history of deglutition disorder before hospital admission. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors predicting dysphagia at hospital discharge. Dysphagia scores were calculated from β-coefficients and by assigning points to variables. Of the enrolled patients, 105 (60%) had dysphagia at hospital discharge. Factors prognostic of dysphagia at hospital discharge included being underweight (body mass index < 18.5 kg/m2), non-participation in a dysphagia therapy program, mechanical ventilation ≥ 15 days, age ≥ 74 years, and chronic neurologic diseases. Underweight and non-participation in a dysphagia therapy program were assigned +2 points and the other factors were assigned +1 point. Dysphagia scores showed acceptable discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for dysphagia 0.819, 95% confidence interval: 0.754–0.873, p < 0.001) and calibration (Hosmer–Lemeshow chi-square = 9.585, with df 7 and p = 0.213). The developed dysphagia score was predictive of deglutition disorder at hospital discharge in tracheostomized patients with severe pneumonia.

Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol found in some fruits and fermented foods, which is used as a dietary sweetener because it has few calories. Here, we describe a 36-year-old woman who experienced anaphylaxis upon ingestion of an erythritol-containing drink. She presented to the emergency department with dyspnea and angioedema after drinking a peach-containing diet beverage. Her blood pressure dropped to 70/40 mmHg and the symptoms improved after administration of an antihistamine, glucocorticoid, and epinephrine. After 10 days, she drank another peach-containing diet beverage and experienced urticaria. No serum-specific immunoglobulin E findings were observed, including against peach components. A skin prick test (SPT) was performed using a peach, the two ingested diet beverages, and another peach-containing beverage. The SPT results for the peach and the peach-containing product were negative, but the wheal sizes for the two diet beverages were > 3 mm. The diet beverages contained erythritol as a food additive. The SPT result was positive for erythritol. The patient was diagnosed with anaphylaxis to erythritol and was instructed to avoid foods containing erythritol. She was prescribed a self-injectable epinephrine pen. To our knowledge, this is the first case of erythritol-induced anaphylaxis in Korea. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of allergic reactions to food additives, and additives should be evaluated to prevent the recurrence of symptoms.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between the Korean national health insurance coverage benefit extension policy and clinical outcomes of patients who were ventilated owing to various respiratory diseases.Methods: Data from 515 patients (male, 69.7%; mean age, 69.8±12.1 years; in-hospital mortality rate, 28.3%) who were hospitalized in a respiratory intensive care unit were retrospectively analyzed over five years.Results: Of total enrolled patients, 356 (69.1%) had one benefit items under this policy during their hospital stay. They had significantly higher medical expenditure (total: median, 23,683 vs. 12,742 USD, P<0.001), out-of-pocket (median, 5,932 vs. 4,081 USD; P=0.008), and a lower percentage of out-of-pocket medical expenditure relative to total medical expenditure (median, 26.0% vs. 32.2%; P<0.001). Patients without benefit items associated with higher in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 2.825; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.995–4.000; P<0.001). In analysis of patients with benefit items, patients with three items (“cancer”, “tuberculosis,” and “disability”) had significantly lower out-of-pocket medical expenditure (3,441 vs. 6,517 USD, P<0.001), and a lower percentage of out-of-pocket medical expenditure relative to total medical expenditure (17.2% vs. 27.8%, P<0.001). They were associated with higher in-hospital mortality (HR, 3.996; 95% CI, 2.535–6.295, P<0.001).Conclusions: Our study showed patients with benefit items had more medical resources and associated improved in-hospital survival. Patients with the aforementioned three benefit items had lower out-of-pocket medical expenditure due to the implementation of this policy, but higher in-hospital mortality.

Background:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of early tracheostomy on clinical outcomes in patients requiring prolonged acute mechanical ventilation (≥96 hours). Methods: Data from 575 patients (69.4% male; median age, 68 years), hospitalized in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) of a university-affiliated tertiary care hospital March 2008-February 2017, were retrospectively evaluated. Early and late tracheostomy were designated as 2-10 days and >10 days after translaryngeal intubation, respectively. Results: The 90-day cumulative mortality rate was 47.5% (n=273) and 258 patients (44.9%) underwent tracheostomy. In comparison with the late group (n=115), the early group (n=125) had lower 90-day mortality (31.2% vs. 47.8%, p=0.012), shorter stays in hospital and ICU, shorter ventilator length of stay (median, 43 vs. 54; 24 vs. 33; 23 vs. 28 days; all p<0.001), and a higher rate of transfer to secondary care hospitals with post-intensive care settings (67.2% vs. 43.5% p<0.001). Also, the total medical costs of the early group were lower during hospital stays than those of the late group (26,609 vs. 36,973 USD, p<0.001). Conclusion:Early tracheostomy was associated with lower 90-day mortality, shorter ventilator length of stay and shorter lengths of stays in hospital and ICU, as well as lower hospital costs than late tracheostomy.

Background: The present study evaluated the association between participation in a rehabilitation program during a hospital stay and 1-year survival in patients requiring at least 21 days of mechanical ventilation (prolonged mechanical ventilation [PMV]) whose main diagnosis leading to mechanical ventilation was various respiratory diseases.Methods: Retrospective data of 105 patients (71.4% male, mean age 70.1 ± 11.3 years) who received PMV in the past 5 years were analyzed. The rehabilitation program was defined as a physiotherapy, physical rehabilitation, and dysphagia treatment program that was individually provided by physiatrists.Results: The main diagnosis leading to mechanical ventilation was pneumonia (n=101, 96.2%) and the 1-year survival rate was 33.3% (n=35). One-year survivors had lower Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II (20.2 ± 5.8 vs. 24.2 ± 7.5, p=0.006) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (6.7 ± 5.6 vs. 8.5 ± 2.7, p=0.001) scores at the day of intubation than non-survivors. More survivors participated in a rehabilitation program during their hospital stay (88.6% vs. 57.1%, p=0.001). The rehabilitation program was an independent factor for 1-year survival based on the Cox proportional hazard model (hazard ratio 3.513, 95% confidence interval 1.785-6.930, p<0.001) in patients with APACHE II scores ≤ 23 (cutoff based on Youden's index).Conclusion: Our study showed that participation in a rehabilitation program during the hospital stay was associated with an improvement of the 1-year survival of PMV patients who had less severe illness on day of intubation.