• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.519-528
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• 2002

Background : Steroid therapy has been shown to improve the clinical outcome in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients with histological evidence of fibroproliferation in the lung tissue and no identifiable source of infection. Because the histopathological features of acute interstitial pneumonia(AIP) are identical with that of ARDS, early steroid therapy was used in AIP patients who had histological evidence of fibroproliferation in the lung tissue and no identifiable source of infection. We analyzed seven years of our experience to evaluate the efficacy of early steroid therapy in AIP. Materials and Methods : A retrospective review was performed on AIP patients who received steroid therapy within 7 days of mechanical ventilatory support in Dankook university Hospital between May 1995 and May 2002. AIP was diagnosed clinically by ARDS without a known cause of the etiology and pathologically by a lung biopsy showing a fibroproliferative stage of diffuse alveolar damage. The clinical response and physiologic parameters were evaluated during steroid therapy. Results : Five AIP patients received intravenous methylprednisolone (1-2 mg/kg every 6 hours) after $0.6{\pm}1.7$ days of mechanical ventilatory support. Lung biopsies were performed after $1.8{\pm}1.4$ days of mechanical ventilatory support. Four patients(80%) survived and were extubated after $2.8{\pm}0.4$ days of steroid therapy with improvement in the $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio ($127.4{\pm}10.0$ at day 0 to $223.8{\pm}37.6$ at day 7) by steroid therapy. However, one patient(20%) died of respiratory failure after 15 days of steroid therapy. Conclusion : Early steroid therapy sppears to be beneficial in AIP patients without evidence of infection. However, as our study group was too small, further large scale studies to define the effectiveness of steroids are required.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1555-1562
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• 2000

Objects : Surgical management of the distal anterior cerebral artery(DACA) aneurysms presents several unique problems to surgeons, such as difficulty in early identification of parent arteries, high incidence of rebleeding and premature rupture, and requirement of unfamiliar approach other than conventional frontotemporal craniotomy. Therefore, preoperative anatomical knowledge of anterior interhemispheric fissure and entry point of dissection is prerequisite. Authors utilized a frontobasal approach for DACA aneurysms by using consistent external landmark for guidance to the deep structure. Materials and Methods : From Nov. 1995 to Jun. 1999, a surgical clipping of DACA aneurysms was carried out in 9 patients among a total 131 patients with intracranial aneurysms. In each case, the clinical and aneurysmal features were carefully reviewed through the angiograms, medical records, and intraoperative findings. Results : The incidence of DACA aneurysms was 6.9% from our series. All cases were arisen from juxtacallosal por-tion ; 6 cases from pericallosal-callosomarginal(PC-CM) junction and 3 from pericallosal-frontopolar(PC-FP) junction. Associated vascular anomalies were noted in 3 cases and multiple aneurysms in 3 cases, respectively. The preoperative clinical grades were generally poor. An early surgery was performed in 7 cases and frontobasal interhemispheric approaches in 7 cases. Postoperatively, two patients died of complications ; one delayed ischemic vasospasm and one aspiration pneumonia but remaining patients recovered well. Conclusion : The frontobasal interhemispheric approach was useful for DACA aneurysms in early surgery. Division of superior sagittal sinus(SSS) enabled a minimal retraction of brain on both sides, and prevention of intraoperative rupture was possible. Authors suggest the frontopolar(first frontal bridging) vein as a constant external landmark for approaching the genu of the corpus callosum and juxtacallosal DACA aneurysms.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2001

The quantification analysis of renal scintigraphy is strongly affected by the location, shape and size of region of interest(ROI). When ROIs are drawn manually, these ROIs are not reproducible due to the operators' subjective point of view, and may lead to inconsistent results even if the same data were analyzed. In this study, the effect of the ROI variation on the analysis of renal scintigraphy when the ROIs are drawn manually was investigated, and in order to obtain more consistent results, methods for automated ROI definition were developed and the results from the application of the developed methods were analyzed. Relative renal function, glomerular filtration rate and mean transit time were selected as clinical parameters for the analysis of the effect of ROI and the analysis tools were designed with the programming language of IDL5.2. To obtain renal scintigraphy, $^{99m}$Tc-DTPA was injected to the 11 adults of normal condition and to study the inter-operator variability, 9 researchers executed the analyses. The calculation of threshold using the gradient value of pixels and border tracing technique were used to define renal ROI and then the background ROI and aorta ROI were defined automatically considering anatomical information and pixel value. The automatic methods to define renal ROI were classified to 4 groups according to the exclusion of operator's subjectiveness. These automatic methods reduced the inter-operator variability remarkably in comparison with manual method and proved the effective tool to obtain reasonable and consistent results in analyzing the renal scintigraphy quantitatively.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.1528-1533
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• 2002

Purpose : Isolated noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium(INVM) is one of the unclassified cardiomyopathies that is characterized by numerous, excessively prominent trabeculations, and deep intertrabecular recesses. We performed this study to evaluate the clinical features of INVM in children. Methods : The medical records of 10 patients with INVM were reviewed. We analyzed the clinical manifestations, hemodynamics, pattern of inheritance, and long-term prognosis of INVM in children. Results : Age at diagnosis was $45{\pm}53months$(1 day-14 years) with follow-up lasting as long as 78 months. Most INVM was asymptomatic on diagnosis. Associated cardiac anomalies were noted in six patients(ventricualr or atrial septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus with mitral valve prolapse, or mitral valve cleft). Depressed or flat changes of T wave in lead II, III and aVF were observed on electrocardiography. Various arrhythmia including WPW syndrome with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, third-degree atrioventricular block, and familial sick sinus node dysfuction were observed. The degree of trabeculation in INVM was significantly prominent from level of mitral valve to apex compared to age-matched control. Familial recurrences were noted in two patients. The systolic function of the left ventricle was decreased in 20% of patients during the follow-up period, but systemic embolism or ventricular tachycardia was not observed. Conclusion : INVM is not a rare disorder. The cardiac function may be deteriorated in children as well as adults during long-term follow up. Thus early diagnosis and long-term follow-up must be done. So, the nation-wide multicenter clinical study would be mandatory to evaluate the incidence, long-term prognosis, and establishment of objective diagnostic criteria of INVM.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.996-1002
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• 2003

Purpose : In Rett syndrome patients, the incidence of sudden death is greater than that of the general population, and cardiac electrical instability including fatal cardiac arrhythmia is a main suspected cause. In this study, we are going to find out the possible cause of the higher risk of sudden death in Rett patients by the evaluation of heart rate variability, a marker of cardiac autonomic activity and corrected QT intervals. Methods : Diagnosis of Rett syndrome was made by molecular genetic study of Rett syndrome (MECP2 gene) or clinical diagnostic criteria of Rett syndrome. Heart rate variability and corrected QT intervals were measured by 24 h-Holter study in 12 Rett patients, and in 30 age-matched healthy children with chief complaints of chest pain or suspected heart murmurs. The were compared with the normal age-matched control. Results : Patients with total Rett syndrome, classic Rett syndrome, and Rett variants had significantly lower heart rate variability(especially rMSSD)(P<0.05) and longer corrected QT intervals than age-matched healthy children(P<0.05). Sympathovagal balance expressed by the ratio of high to low frequency(LF/HF ratio) also showed statistically significant differences between the three groups considered(P<0.05). Conclusion : A significant reduction of heart rate variability, a marker of autonomic disarray, suggests a possible explanation of cardiac dysfunction in sudden death associated with Rett syndrome.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.321-327
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate the hypoglycemic effect of pine needle extract oil against type 2 diabetes. Six-week-old male C57BL/Ks(db/db) mice were divided into four groups : negative control, pine needle extract oil low dose, high dose and positive control groups, which fed daily for 6 weeks with corn oil, pine needle extract oil 112.5 mg/kg, 450 mg/kg or metformin (150 mg/kg ), respectively. The oral administration of the pine needle extract oil resulted in the significant and dose-dependent decreases of blood glucose levels in comparison with corn oil treatment. The levels of HbAlc showed a tendency of the decrease by the high dose treatment of the pine needle extract oil and were positively correlated with blood glucose levels (r=0.5046, p=0.0023) . However, the levels of serum insulin and C-peptide were not affected by pine needle extract oil or metformin treatments. The levels of serum leptin, which is related with the insulin sensitivity, showed a tendency of the increases by pine needle extract oil treatment and were negatively correlated to blood glucose levels (r=-0.4754, p=0.0052). In conclusion, these results suggest that the pine needle extract oil have a potential for the oral anti-hyperglycemic agent and the mode of action may be related with the improvement of the insulin sensitivity through blood leptin.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.321-328
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• 2003

The epithermal gold and base metal deposit of the Tanggeung district of West Java consists of four major veins(Celak, Cigodobras, Cilangkap and Pasirbedil) with NS to N10$^{\circ}$∼20$^{\circ}$E and N75$^{\circ}$W strikes. The veins occur within fractures cutting the crystal and lithic tuff of Jampang Formation(Oligo-Miocene) in and around the Mt. Subang of the western Java, Indonesia. The ore mineralization is characterized by the occurrence of pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, and small amounts of bornite and Fe-oxides. Hydrothermal alteration, associated with the mineralization, was dominantly silicified and enveloped by the phyllitic(sericitic), argillic and propylitic alteration containing the disseminated pyrite. Gangue minerals consist of interstratified smectite-illite, chlorite, sericite, and minor kaolinite. The presence of vapor-rich fluid inclusions in quartz veins suggests that boiling occurred locally throughout ore deposition. Fluid inclusion studies suggest that the ore fluid evolved from initial high temperatures(〓34$0^{\circ}C$) to later lower temperatures(〓19$0^{\circ}C$). Salinities range from 0.0 to 8.3 wt percent NaCl equiv. The relatively high increase in salinity(up to 8.3 wt percent NaCl equiv) might be explained by a local boiling and by a participation of magmatic fluids, supported by the sulfur isotope results. Evidence of fluid boiling suggests that the pressure decreased from 200 bars to 120 bars. This corresponds to the depths of approximately 750 to 1,200 m in a hydrothermal system that changed from lithostatic to hydrostatic conditions. Using homogenization temperatures and paragenetic constraints, the calculated $\delta$$^{34}$ S values of $H_2S$ in ore fluid are -0.2 to 1.8 permil close to the 0 permil isotopic value of magmatic sulfur.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.137-148
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• 2010

The Myoungbong mine located in Boseong-gun, Jellanamdo consists of Au-Ag bearing quartz veins which filled the fissures of Bulguksa granitic rocks of Cretaceous. The tailings obtained from the Myungbong mine were used to investigate the effects of various processes, such as oxidation of primary sulfides and formation(alteration) of secondary and/or tertiary minerals, on arsenic immobilization in tailings. This study was conducted via both mineralogical and chemical methods. Mineralogical methods used included gravity and magnetic separation, ultrasonic cleaning, and instrumental analyses(X-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalyzer) and aqua regia extraction technique for soils was applied to determine the elemental concentrations in the tailings. Iron (oxy)hydroxides formed as a result of oxidation of tailings were identified as three specific forms. The first form filled in rims and fissures of primary pyrites. The second one precipitated and coated the surfaces of gangue minerals and the final form was altered into yukonites. Initially, large amounts of acid-generating minerals, such as pyrite and arsenopyrite, might make the rapid progress of oxidation reactions, and lots of secondary minerals including iron (oxy)hydroxides and scorodite were formed. The rate of pH decrease in tailings diminished, in addition, as the exposure time of tailings to oxidation environments was prolonged and the acid-generating minerals were depleted. Rather, it is speculated that the pH of tailings increased, as the contribution of pH neutralization reactions by calcite contained in surrounding parental rocks became larger. The stability of secondary minerals, such as scorodite, were deteriorated due to the increase in pH, and finally arsenic might be leached out. Subsequently, calcimn and arsenic ions dissociated from calcites and scorodites were locally concentrated, and yukonite could be grown tertiarily. It is confirmed that this tertiary yukonite which is one of arsenate minerals and contains arsenic in high level plays a crucial role in immobilizing arsenic in tailings. In addition to immobilization of arsenic in yukonites, the results indicate that a huge amount of iron (oxy)hydroxides formed by weathering of pyrite which is one of typical primary minerals in tailings can strongly control arsenic behavior as well. Consequently, this study elucidates that through a sequence of various processes, arsenic which was leached out as a result of weathering of primary minerals, such as arsenopyrite, and/or redissolved from secondary minerals, such as scorodite, might be immobilized by various sorption reactions including adsorption, coprecipiation, and absorption.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.976-981
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• 2007

Purpose : Aortic valve or aortic root (AoRo) replacement is occasionally required because of AoRo dilatation and aortic regurgitation (AR) in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). We evaluated AoRo size and possible factors associated with its hemodynamic nature in patients with repaired TOF. Methods : We investigated 130 repaired TOF patients more than 15 years of age who followed-up by echocardiography from January 2002 to December 2003. Of 130 patients, we identified 17 patients with AoRo dilatation, which was defined as ratio of expected AoRo size by standard nomogram (AoRo ratio) >1.5 (dilator group), and 113 TOF controls, with AoRo ratio <1.5 (non-dilator group). Results : Mean indexed AoRo size ($mm/m^2$) in the first echo was $24{\pm}3.2$ in the dilator group and $18{\pm}3.4$ in the non-dilator group (P<0.0001). AoRo rate of change (mm/year) from the first to latest echo study was $1.6{\pm}3.8$ in dilator group and $0.05{\pm}1.6$ in the non dilator group (P=0.0021). Patients from the dilator group showed a higher prevalence of pulmonary atresia (P=0.031) and a history of aortopulmonary shunt before repair (P=0.048), moderate to severe AR (P=0.0065), and increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions (P=0.003). Conclusions : A subset of patients late after TOF repair may show progressive dilatation of AoRo. To identify and prevent long-term sequelae in this patient group, regular follow-up and speculation about AoRo after TOF repair is recommended.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.970-975
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• 2007

Purpose : Accurate measurement of defect size is important in transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD). We performed this study to analyze the difference between the measured ASD size and balloon occlusive diameter (BOD) by transthoracic (TTE) or transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Methods : We investigated 78 patients who underwent transcatheter closure of ASD. The defect size and the distance between the surrounding structures were measured by TTE and TEE. The BOD was measured by TEE during cardiac catheterization. Clinical characteristics and echocardiographic data were compared and analyzed. Results : The difference between BOD and diameter by TTE was $4.8{\pm}3.6mm$ on short axis view, $5.4{\pm}3.2mm$ on long axis view. The difference between BOD and diameter by TEE was $3.6{\pm}2.2mm$ on short axis view, $4.2{\pm}3.1mm$ on long axis view. The difference between BOD and the diameter of defects on TTE, TEE had statistically significant positive correlations with the age of the patients, distance between the, defect and posterior atrial septal wall, the distance between the defect and the mitral valve leaflet, and the diameter of defects and the length of the atrial septum on TTE (P<0.05). Conclusion : BOD of ASD can be estimated by the diameter on TTE and TEE. BOD is expected to measure larger, depending on the size of defects, the distance from surrounding structures and the location of defects on echocardiography. Our data offers important information on details of transcatheter ASD closure which can be helpful in predicting suitability and judging the procedural appropriateness during the procedure.