• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.123-135
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• 2012

Purpose: It is essential to minimize the movement of tumor due to respiratory movement at the time of respiration controlled radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer patient. Accordingly, this Study aims to evaluate the usefulness of restricted respiratory period by comparing and analyzing the treatment plans that apply free and restricted respiration period respectively. Materials and Methods: After having conducted training on 9 non-small cell lung cancer patients (tumor n=10) from April to December 2011 by using 'signal monitored-breathing (guided- breathing)' method for the 'free respiratory period' measured on the basis of the regular respiratory period of the patents and 'restricted respiratory period' that was intentionally reduced, total of 10 CT images for each of the respiration phases were acquired by carrying out 4D CT for treatment planning purpose by using RPM and 4-dimensional computed tomography simulator. Visual gross tumor volume (GTV) and internal target volume (ITV) that each of the observer 1 and observer 2 has set were measured and compared on the CT image of each respiratory interval. Moreover, the amplitude of movement of tumor was measured by measuring the center of mass (COM) at the phase of 0% which is the end-inspiration (EI) and at the phase of 50% which is the end-exhalation (EE). In addition, both observers established treatment plan that applied the 2 respiratory periods, and mean dose to normal lung (MDTNL) was compared and analyzed through dose-volume histogram (DVH). Moreover, normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) of the normal lung volume was compared by using dose-volume histogram analysis program (DVH analyzer v.1) and statistical analysis was performed in order to carry out quantitative evaluation of the measured data. Results: As the result of the analysis of the treatment plan that applied the 'restricted respiratory period' of the observer 1 and observer 2, there was reduction rate of 38.75% in the 3-dimensional direction movement of the tumor in comparison to the 'free respiratory period' in the case of the observer 1, while there reduction rate was 41.10% in the case of the observer 2. The results of measurement and comparison of the volumes, GTV and ITV, there was reduction rate of $14.96{\pm}9.44%$ for observer 1 and $19.86{\pm}10.62%$ for observer 2 in the case of GTV, while there was reduction rate of $8.91{\pm}5.91%$ for observer 1 and $15.52{\pm}9.01%$ for observer 2 in the case of ITV. The results of analysis and comparison of MDTNL and NTCP illustrated the reduction rate of MDTNL $3.98{\pm}5.62%$ for observer 1 and $7.62{\pm}10.29%$ for observer 2 in the case of MDTNL, while there was reduction rate of $21.70{\pm}28.27%$ for observer 1 and $37.83{\pm}49.93%$ for observer 2 in the case of NTCP. In addition, the results of analysis of correlation between the resultant values of the 2 observers, while there was significant difference between the observers for the 'free respiratory period', there was no significantly different reduction rates between the observers for 'restricted respiratory period. Conclusion: It was possible to verify the usefulness and appropriateness of 'restricted respiratory period' at the time of respiration controlled radiotherapy on non-small cell lung cancer patient as the treatment plan that applied 'restricted respiratory period' illustrated relative reduction in the evaluation factors in comparison to the 'free respiratory period.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.192-196
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• 2007

Background: Right middle lobe syndrome (RMLS) is defined as transient or chronic and recurrent atelectasis of the right middle lobe. Although numerous conditions are associated with RMLS, there are very few recent reports in Korea. This study evaluated the causes of RMLS in a local tertiary hospitalover a period of 42 months. Method: Eighty-eight patients (M:F=64:22, mean age: $67.2{\pm}10.3years$), who had consistent chest radiography findings and underwent bronchoscopy in Gyeongsang University Hospital from January 2003 to July 2006, were enrolled in this study. The clinical characteristics and causes of RMLS in these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results: The most common symptoms fo RMLS were cough, dyspnea and sputum. Tuberculosis was the most common cause (endobronchial tuberculosis in 22 and pulmonary tuberculosis in 1) The other causes were bronchial stenosis by benign fibrotic changes in 22 cases (25%), anthracofibrosis in 13 cases (14.8%), pneumonia in 11 cases (12.5%), lung cancer in 10 cases (11.4%), mucus impaction in 3 cases (3.4%), bronchiectasis in 2 cases (2.3%) and no demonstrable causes in 7 cases (8%). The bronchoscopy findings were mucosal edema with hyperemic changes in 38 cases (43.2%), mucosal edema with anthracotic pigmentation in 16 cases (18.2%), mucus impaction in 13 cases (14.8%), fibrotic stenosis in 13 cases (14.8%), a mass like lesion in 8 cases (9.1%), exudative necrotic material in 4 cases (4.5%), narrowing as a result of extrinsic compression in 2 cases (2.3%) and no demonstrable abnormalities in 12 cases (13.6%). Conclusion: Right middle lobe syndrome was observed more frequently in patients over the age of 65. The causes were mainly benign diseases with endobronchial tuberculosis being the most common.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.288-294
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• 2009

Background: A lung hyperinflation, or air trapping, caused by expiratory flow-limitation contributes to dyspnea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$) has served as an important diagnostic measurement of COPD, but does not correlate with patient-centered outcomes such as dyspnea. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the role of radiologic quantity in evaluating the dyspnea in patients with COPD by measuring lung hyperinflation in chest x-ray and high resolution chest tomography (HRCT). Methods: Fifty patients with COPD were enrolled in this study. Their subjective dyspnea score (modified Borg scale dyspnea index), spirometry, and lung volume were measured. Simultaneous hyperinflations of chest x-ray score ("chest score") and degree of emphysema of HRCT ("HRCT score") were measured. The "chest score" were composed of lung length, retrosternal space width, and height of the arc of the diaphragm and "HRCT score" were composed of severity and extent of emphysema. Results: The mean age of patients was 69 years old and their mean $FEV_1$ was 51.7%. The Borg score significantly correlated with parameters of spirometry and lung volume, including FVC, $FEV_1$, $FEV_1$/FVC, RV, RV/TLC, and DLCO. The Borg score correlated well with "HRCT score", but did not correlate with "chest score". Also, the Borg scale correlates inversely with body mass index. Conclusion: The quantity of emphysema on chest HRCT may serve as an objective marker of dyspnea in patients with COPD.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 2010

Purpose: Infectious ileocecitis is an infection confined to the ileocecal area and one of the most common causes of pediatric abdominal pain. This study was performed to demonstrate the clinical features of infectious ileocecitis in children. Methods: The medical records and radiologic findings of 37 patients with ileocecitis diagnosed by ultrasonography and/or computed tomography, who were admitted to Pusan National University Hospital from January 2004 and July 2008, were reviewed retrospectively. Viral gastroenteritis and secondary ileocecitis were excluded. Results: The mean age of the patients was 4.8${\pm}$3.4 years. One-half of the patients were preschool children. The chief complaint was abdominal pain (75.7%), diarrhea (10.8%), and vomiting (8.1%). Accompanying symptoms were fever (56.8%), vomiting (21.6%), and diarrhea (16.2%). The mean duration of abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting was 3.8${\pm}$2.1, 3.0${\pm}$1.9, 3.4${\pm}$1.9, and 2.4${\pm}$2.3 days, respectively. The frequency of diarrhea and vomiting was 5.8${\pm}$2.2 and 4.0${\pm}$2.8 per day, respectively. Diagnosis was made by abdominal ultrasonography in 22 patients (59.5%), abdominal CT in 2 patients (5.4%), and both modalities in 13 patients (35.1%). Besides the radiologic finding of thickening of the bowel wall, mesenteric lymphadenitis (59.5%), ascites (5.4%), and both mesenteric lymphadenitis and ascites (16.2%) were revealed. The mean duration of illness was 7.5${\pm}$5.0 days. There were no specific laboratory findings, and culture studies with stool or blood were negative. All of the patients recovered completely without specific treatment. Conclusion: Infectious ileocecitis has acute appendicitis-mimicking symptoms, but is self-limited within a few days, thus unnecessary treatment and work-up is avoided. However, distinguishing infectious ileocecitis from appendicitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and mesenteric lymphadenitis is important.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2007

Background: Toxocariasis is a common cause of eosinophilia and eosinophilic lung disease in Korea. We analyzed the characteristics of eosinophilic lung disease in toxocariasis. Method: One hundred and forty one patients with eosinophilia caused by a toxocara larval infection were evaluated from September 1, 2001 through March 30, 2006. The plain chest x-ray, chest CT(computed tomography), and bronchoalveolar larvage(BAL) were examined. A diagnosis of toxocariasis was made by ELISA using that secretory-excretory antigen from the T. canis larvae. Results: Toxocarial eosinophilic lung diseases was diagnosed in 32 out of 141 patients. Ground glass attenuation was the main feature on the CT scans in 23 out of 141 patients (71.9%). Thirteen patients (40.6%) had a random in zonal distribution on CT. Pleural effusion was observed in 9 patients (28.1%). Twenty eight patients (87.5%) complained of respiratory symptoms. Eleven patients (34.4%) had gastrointestinal symptoms and 12 patients (37.5%) had liver infiltration. Conclusions: The most common findings of the chest CT in patients with toxocariasis was a randomly distributed ground grass attenuation. A toxocara infection should be considered in a differential diagnosis of patients who exhibit pulmonary infiltration with eosinophilia in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.669-679
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• 2022

Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of pediatric low-dose facial CT reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) using adequate kernels. Materials and Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and imaging data of children aged < 10 years who underwent facial CT at our emergency department. The patients were divided into two groups: low-dose CT (LDCT; Group A, n = 73) with a fixed 80-kVp tube potential and automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) and standard-dose CT (SDCT; Group B, n = 40) with a fixed 120-kVp tube potential and ATCM. All images were reconstructed with FBP using bone and soft tissue kernels in Group A and only bone kernel in Group B. The groups were compared in terms of image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Two radiologists subjectively scored the overall image quality of bony and soft tissue structures. The CT dose index volume and dose-length product were recorded. Results Image noise was higher in Group A than in Group B in bone kernel images (p < 0.001). Group A using a soft tissue kernel showed the highest SNR and CNR for all soft tissue structures (all p < 0.001). In the qualitative analysis of bony structures, Group A scores were found to be similar to or higher than Group B scores on comparing bone kernel images. In the qualitative analysis of soft tissue structures, there was no significant difference between Group A using a soft tissue kernel and Group B using a bone kernel with a soft tissue window setting (p > 0.05). Group A showed a 76.9% reduction in radiation dose compared to Group B (3.2 ± 0.2 mGy vs. 13.9 ± 1.5 mGy; p < 0.001). Conclusion The addition of a soft tissue kernel image to conventional CT reconstructed with FBP enables the use of pediatric low-dose facial CT protocol while maintaining image quality.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2021

Purpose: The clinical outcomes were investigated to determine if arthroscopic management is a useful method for 19 hips with iliopsoas tendon impingement (IPI) after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients (19 hips), who complained of groin pain and flexion pain that persisted after THA from September 2013 to December 2019, were the subjects of this investigation. The mean time to manifestation after THA was four months (range, 1-9 months) in patients of an average age of 60 years (range, 50-69 years). Thirteen out of 18 patients underwent THA using the direct anterior approach and five by the lateral approach. IPI was diagnosed by the medical history, physical examination, blood test, radiographic examination using X-ray and computed tomography, and topical injection therapy. All patients underwent arthroscopic treatment and a dynamic arthroscopic physical examination after exposure to the iliopsoas tendon revealed impingement. Tenotomy was then performed on the muscle portion through the total tendon portion. Symptoms and pain levels of preoperative, postoperative and follow-up period were investigated and compared. Results: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index score decreased from an average of 58.4 (range, 40-88) before surgery to an average of 35.0 (range, 15-76) after surgery. Similarly, the visual analogue scale decreased from an average of 4.0 (range, 2-6) before surgery to an average of 1.4 (range, 0-4) after surgery. Sixteen patients (88.9%) showed pain relief and improvement in the straight leg raise test, and two patients showed postoperative muscle weakness and sustained pain. In the follow-up period, muscle weakness improved. One patient underwent arthroscopic iliopsoas tenotomy at the lesser trochanteric level but the symptoms persisted. The clinical symptoms were improved after one more tenotomy at the joint level. Conclusion: Arthroscopic iliopsoas tenotomy performed in patients with IPI after THA showed good clinical results.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2014

Purpose : In case of the intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) using Tomotherapy and linear accelerator (Linac), it was to compare and to evaluate the imaging dose of MVCT and CBCT that were performed daily for the correct set up of the patient. Materials and Methods : The human body model Phantom (Anderson rando Phantom, USA) was divided into the three parts as Head, Thorax, pelvis, and after GafChromic EBT3 film cut to the size of $0.5{\times}0.5cm2$.in the center of the recording area were situated on the ant, post, left, and right surface of the phantom and 2cm in depth from the ant, post, left, right, and center surface of the phantom, the surface dose and inner dose were measured repeatedly three times, respectively, using the tomotherapy (Hi Art) and the OBI of NovalisTx. The measured film calculated the output value by RIP version6.0 and then the average value of the dose was calculated by the one-way analysis of variance. Results : Using the human body model phantom, the results of MVCT and CBCT performance were that measurements of MVCT inner dose were showed $15.43cGy{\pm}6.05$ in the head, $16.62cGy{\pm}3.08$ in the thorax, $16.81cGy{\pm}5.24$ in the pelvis, and measurements of CBCT inner dose were showed $13.28{\pm}3.68$ in the head, from $13.66{\pm}4.04$ in the thorax, $15.52{\pm}3.52$ in the pelvis. The measurements of surface dose were showed in case of MVCT performance, $11.64{\pm}4.05$ in the head, $12.16{\pm}4.38$ in the thorax, $12.05{\pm}2.71$ in the pelvis, and in case of CBCT performance, $14.59{\pm}3.51$ in the head, $15.82{\pm}2.89$ in the thorax, $17.48{\pm}2.80$ in the pelvis, respectively. Conclusion : In case of Inner dose, the MVCT using MV energy showed higher than the CBCT using kV energy at 1.16 times in the head, at 1.22 times in the thorax, at 1.08 times in the pelvis, and in case of surface dose, the CBCT was higher than MVCT, at 1.25 times in the head, at 1.30 times in the thorax, at 1.45 times in the pelvis. Imaging dose was a small amount compared to the therapeutic dose but it was thought to affect partially to normal tissue because it was done in daily schedule. However, IMRT treatment was necessarily parallel with the IGRT treatment through the image-guide to minimize errors between planned and actual treatment. Thus, to minimize imaging dose that the patients receive, when planning the treatment, it should be set up a treatment plan considering imaging dose, or it must be performed by minimizing the scan range when shooting MVCT.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.389-399
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• 2008

Corrections of attenuation, scatter and resolution are important in order to improve the accuracy of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) image reconstruction. Especially, the heart movement by respiration and beating cause the errors in the corrections. Myocardial phantom is used to verify the correction methods, but there are many different parts in the current phantoms in actual human body. Therefore the results using a phantom are often considered apart from the clinical data. We developed a new phantom that implements the human body structure around the thorax more faithfully. The new phantom has the small mediastinum which can simulate the structure in which the lung adjoins anterior, lateral and apex of myocardium. The container was made of acrylic and water-equivalent material was used for mediastinum. In addition, solidified polyurethane foam in epoxy resin was used for lung. Five different sizes of myocardium were developed for the quantitative gated SPECT (QGS). The septa of all different cardiac phantoms were designed so that they can be located at the same position. The proposed phantom was attached with liver and gallbladder, the adjustment was respectively possible for the height of them. The volumes of five cardiac ventricles were 150.0, 137.3, 83.1, 42.7 and 38.6ml respectively. The SPECT were performed for the new phantom, and the differences between the images were examined after the correction methods were applied. The three-dimensional tomography of myocardium was well reconstructed, and the subjective evaluations were done to show the difference among the various corrections. We developed the new cardiac and torso phantom, and the difference of various corrections was shown on SPECT images and QGS results.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.855-861
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• 2002

Purpose : Thymus size can be affected by several factors and perinatal diseases can be estimated by its size. The purpose of this study was to search for a relationship between cardiothymic/thoracic(CT/T) ratio and perinatal diseases such as neonatal respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) and intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR) by measuring the width of the cardiothymic shadow at the level of the carina and dividing it by the width of the thorax at the costophrenic angles. Methods : A clinical study was conducted on newborn infants with RDS(n=51), IUGR(n=27), and premature rupture of membranes(PROM, n=48), who were admitted at NICU of Catholic University of Daegu from June 2000 to Oct. 2001. CT/T ratio was measured within six hrs of age, at 2-3 days of age, and at 5-7 days of age. Results : CT/T ratios of RDS group, IUGR group, and PROM group were $0.46{\pm}0.07$, $0.32{\pm}0.04$. $0.36{\pm}0.06$, respectively. CT/T ratios of RDS group within 6hrs of age, at 2-3 days of age, and at 5-7 days of age were $0.43{\pm}0.07$, $0.34{\pm}0.06$, $0.25{\pm}0.04$, respectively. There were statistically significances among the RDS group, the IUGR group, and the PROM group and in the RDS group at different times. Regression for gestational age among three groups was not statistically significant but correlation for gestational age in the entire groups was statistically significant. CT/T ratio between normal spontaneous vaginal delivery and c-section among three groups was not statistically significant. CT/T ratios with dexamethasone-treated group and untreated group was not statistically significant. Conclusion : We concluded that thymus size differed significantly in the perinatal diseases such as RDS and IUGR, and so can be used as an early diagnostic tool for perinatal diseases.