Background: Flat-footed persons with collapsed medial longitudinal arch lose flexibility after skeletal maturity, resulting in several deformities and soft tissue injuries. Although arch support taping is usually applied in the clinic to support the collapsed arch, research on the use of different types of tape for more efficient arch support in flat-footed persons is lacking. Objects: The purpose of this study was to examine three conditions (barefoot, kinesio tape, and dynamic tape) and compare their effects on static and dynamic balance in persons with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot. Methods: Twenty-two subjects (9 females and 13 males) with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot participated in this study. The subjects performed the Y-balance test to measure the composite reach score. The subjects also performed a 30-second standing test to measure the center of pressure (COP) path length and a walking test to measure anteroposterior and lateral variability using the Zebris FDM system. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance compared the three conditions applied to the subjects’ feet for each balance variable. Results: The composite reach score significantly increased following the application of dynamic tape compared with barefoot and that of kinesio tape compared with barefoot. There was no significant difference in the COP path length during standing among the three conditions. Anteroposterior and lateral variability during walking significantly with dynamic tape application compared with barefoot. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that, in persons with asymptomatic flexible flatfoot, application of kinesio tape and dynamic tape may be effective in increasing the composite reach score in Y-balance test, whereas application of dynamic tape may be effective in reducing anteroposterior and lateral variability during walking.

Coronary artery complications are the most severe complications in Kawasaki disease (KD). Its cause is unclear but superantigens are considered to influence KD. This study aimed to determine whether coronary artery complications and level of Nterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) in patients with KD. We studied 142 pediatric patients diagnosed with KD. MP immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody examination was conducted. All patients underwent echocardiography, and coronary artery dilatation was defined as a coronary Z-score >2.0. We also evaluated their NT-proBNP findings. The independent t-test and Pearson chi-squared test were used to analyze betweengroup differences; a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Forty children were MP IgM positive. MP IgMpositive patients were older than MP IgM-negative patients. There was no significant difference in the clinical manifestations between the groups. Comparison of the mean Z-score of the coronary artery revealed that only the Z-score of the left anterior descending artery was significantly different between the groups. However, the number of patients with coronary artery dilatation was not significantly different between the groups. Our findings demonstrated no relationship between MP infection and coronary artery dilatation or NT-proBNP levels in patients with KD.

This study aimed to analyze difference in clinical findings, including coronary artery complications, in patients with Kawasaki disease and respiratory symptoms with several respiratory infections. We studied 182 pediatric patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. Examinations for respiratory viral polymerase chain reaction were conducted in the group of patients with respiratory symptoms. Echocardiography was perfomed by a pediatric cardiologist, and laboratory findings were evaluated. Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings based on medical records were compared. There were no differences between patients with and without respiratory viral infections with respect to age, male-female ratio, coronary artery complications, Kawasaki disease-specific clinical manifestations, duration of fever, duration of hospitalization, or recurrence rate. There was a significant difference in C-reactive protein levels (55.6 vs. 73.9 mg/L) between the two groups, but the other laboratory findings. The rate of respiratory infections in pediatric patients with Kawasaki disease was similar to those reported in previous studies, and clinical manifestations and laboratory findings were not significantly different between the groups.

Diagnosis of scrub typhus is difficult because of its unspecific symptoms. The authors studied the correlation between serum adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels and scrub typhus, with the aim of aiding diagnose of the disease. The medical records of 64 children, who visited Wonkwang University Hospital from 2005 to 2015 for fever of undetermined origin, were analyzed retrospectively. Serum ADA levels were measured and indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assays were conducted. The patients were divided into two groups based on diagnosis of scrub typhus. Of 64 febrile patients, 39 were confirmed to have scrub typhus. Mean serum ADA level in the scrub typhus group (58.54±2.82 IU/L) was significantly higher than that in the non-scrub typhus group (29.30±4.03 IU/L, p<0.05). In the 25 non-scrub typhus patients, mean serum ADA level was significantly higher (50.24±8.52 IU/L) in patients with Mycoplasma infection than that in those with other diseases (19.46±1.39 IU/L, p<0.05). The study shows that in patients with only fever who are difficult to diagnose, serum ADA levels substantially aid the diagnosis of scrub typhus. Ed:- please consider carefully