• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.299-304
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• 2004

To investigate the presence of infectious agents in human atherosclerotic arterial tissues. Atherosclerotic plaques were removed from 128 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy or other bypass proce­dures for occlusive disease, and from twenty normal arterial wall samples, obtained from transplant donors with no history of diabetes, hypertension, smoking, or hyperlipidemia. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or reverse transcription-PCR, these samples were analyzed for the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus, enterovirus, adenovirus, herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2, and Epstein-Barr virus. The amplicons were then sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses were per­formed. Enteroviral RNA was found in 22 of 128 atherosclerotic vascular lesions $(17.2\%),$ and C. pneu­moniae and cytomegalovirus were each found in 2 samples $(1.6\%).$ In contrast, adenovirus, herpes simplex viruses, and Epstein-Barr virus were not identified in any of the atherosclerotic samples. Enterovirus was detected in 6/24 $(25.0\%)$ aortas, 7/33 $(21.2\%)$ carotid arteries, 6/40 $(15.0\%)$ femoral arteries, and 3/31 $(9.7\%)$ radial arteries of patients with chronic renal failure. There were no infectious agents detected in any of the control specimens. Using phylogenetic analysis, the enterovirus isolates were clustered into 3 groups, arranged as echovirus 9 and coxsackieviruses Bl and B3. Enteroviral RNA was detected in $17.2\%$ of atherosclerotic plaques, but was not observed in any of the control spec­imens. This suggests a connection between enteroviral infection and atherosclerosis. These findings dif­fer from those of other studies, which found more frequent incidence of C. pneumoniae and cytomegalovirus infection in atherosclerotic plaques.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was performed to assess the correlation of calcified carotid atheromatous plaque (CCAP), the mandibular cortical index, and periodontal bone loss in panoramic radiographs. Materials and Methods: One hundred eighty-five panoramic radiographs with CCAP and 234 without this finding were evaluated by 3 observers for the presence of osseous changes related to osteoporosis and periodontal bone loss. Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the two groups for an association of CCAP with the mandibular cortical index and periodontal bone loss, respectively. Results: There was a statistically significant coincidence of CCAP and osseous changes related to osteopenia/osteoporosis, with a p-value <0.001. There was no statistically significant coincidence of CCAP and periodontal bone loss. When comparing the 2 groups, "With CCAP" and "Without CCAP", there was a statistically significant association with the mean body mass index (BMI), number of remaining teeth, positive history of diabetes mellitus, and vascular accidents. There was no statistically significant association with gender or a history of smoking. Conclusion: This study identified a possible concurrence of CCAP and mandibular cortical changes secondary to osteopenia/osteoporosis in panoramic radiographs. This could demonstrate the important role of dental professionals in screening for these systemic conditions, leading to timely and appropriate referrals resulting in early interventions and thus improving overall health.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2019

Purpose: To determine whether calcified carotid atherosclerotic plaques(CCAPs) and mineralized laryngeal cartilages (MLCs) were more frequently detected on digital or film-based panoramic radiographs. The clinical relevance of this question is that some radiopacities seen on digital radiographs may correspond to medium-density tissues that are not necessarily mineralized. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from panoramic radiographs and the respective reports issued by 2 private oral radiology centers. A total of 388 radiographs and reports were divided into film-based (group A) and digital (group D) radiographs. The frequencies of CCAPs and MLCs were analyzed using the Fisher exact test, and odds ratios were also calculated (${\alpha}=1%$). Results: The mean age of patients whose reports and radiographs showed CCAPs and/or MLCs ranged from 50.1 to 54.1 years. There was a predominance of females. A higher frequency of CCAPs and MLCs was observed in group D than in group A at both centers(P<0.01). CCAPs and MLCs were detected 4 times more frequently in group D than in group A at one of the centers. Conclusion: CCAPs and MLCs were more frequently detected on digital than on film-based panoramic radiographs. Further studies are needed to determine whether such radiopacities do indeed correspond to mineralized, rather than medium-density, tissues.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.345-353
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• 2018

This study examined the associations of smoking, alcohol drinking habits and both with the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in university students. This study was performed using a CAGE (test for alcohol: cutting down, annoyance by criticism, guilty feeling, and eye-openers) questionnaire, FTND (the Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence) questionnaire, and CIMT of university students. No statistically significant differences were observed among the CIMT results according to each CAGE level classified into 3 groups. The results of CIMT according to the FTND smoking categorization showed that the smoking group was higher than nonsmoking group (P<0.01). A statistically significant difference was observed between the left and right CIMT regarding smoking and drinking (P<0.01). In the only drink risk group, the left CIMT (19.84 rank) showed a low-ranking. The CIMT on the left (42.38 rank) and right (42.81 rank) showed high scores in the group with only the risk of smoking (P<0.01). These results suggested that there are distinct differences in CIMT and relevant risk factors between smokers and drinkers, particularly among those with a high smoking status. This study had several limitations: the study population was small; the relatively young age of the study subjects; and limited of focus on smoking, drinking and CIMT. In conclusion, cigarette smoking significantly exacerbates the adverse effects and higher CIMT on the subclinical atherosclerosis risk in young adults, which underscores the importance of prevention and cessation of cigarette smoking in young adults.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.935-938
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• 2005

Purpose : The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether the increase of carotid intima-media thickeness(cIMT) as one of premature pathologic changes of atherosclerosis, was present in obese children compared to normal weight children. Methods : The obese group consisted of 21 obese/overweight(body mass index(BMI) above 85 percentile of age, sex standards) children and the control group of 11 normal weight children. None of the children had any chronic illnesses or previous medication history. We investigated the age, sex, height, weight, and systolic/diastolic blood pressure. We measured cIMT by ultrasonogram. In 19 of the obese group, we tested the serum glucose level, liver transaminase level, and cholesterol level etc. Results : The increase of cIMT in obese group did not achieved statistical significance(obese group vs. control group; 0.42 vs. 0.40 mm, P=0.0592). In addition, cIMT showed no significant correlation with any physical/laboratory variables including BMI(P=0.0585). Conclusion : To our knowledge, this is the first study to measure the cIMT in Korean children. Though the results approached statistical significance, we could not prove an increase of cIMT in obese children or an association between cIMT and BMI, due to the study's small sample size. In the future, larger and more extensive trials are needed.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.277-280
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• 2017

Elsholtzia splendens, which grows on moist soil of mountainous regions, is widely distributed at all regions of Korea, especially at Mountain Ji ri. It is categorized as a Labiatae plant which is dried aerial part. It has the following medicinal properties; removal of fever, alleviation of pain, a good antiphlogistic agent as well as antibacterial effects. However, the effects of E. splendens on thrombosis and platelet activation are not precisely understood. We performed this study to develop antithrombotic agents from oriental medicine herb extracts. E. splendens inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and U46619 in a concentration dependent manner. E. splendens did not show an effect on anticoagulation as determined by prothrombin time (PT) or activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). We also tested the effects of E. splendens using a carotid artery thrombosis rat model induced by 35% $FeCl_3$ treatment. E. splendens significantly inhibited thrombus weight compared with the control group. These results show that E. splendens may be developed as a potential antiplatelet activity agent for treatment of cardiocerebrovascular disease and atherosclerosis.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.240-250
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• 1998

Background: Ginkgo biloba extract is used in disorser of cerebral and peripheral blood circulation, dysfunction of brain, atherosclerosis etc., but there are little study about GbE in oriental medicine. We wished to assessthe efficacy of GbE for the treatment of cerebral infarction Method : The study group comprised 40 patients who arrived at hospital during 48 hours after attack. All patient were devided into two group. The control group was treated with Uhuangcheongsimhuan, Seonghyangjeonggisan, acupuncture therapy only, while the GbE group was treated with above therapy plus 5 days of administration of GbE(40mg three times per day). Result: 1. Symptom improve scores did not showed significant difference between control and GbE group. 2. Vasoreactivity of carotid siphon increased significantly in GbE group after treatment (in the left only : p<0.05). 3. Vasorcactivity of radial artery increased significantly in GbE group after treatment(in the right only ; p<0.05). 4. PT, a-PTT, Fibrinogen did not showed significant changes between before and after treatment in both group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that vasoreactivity increasing effect of GbE may be useful in the prevention and treatment of cerebral infarction. But the vasoreactivity increasing effect of GbE may be different from symptom imroving.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.482-489
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• 2010

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether hand-measured carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was a reliable and simple tool that could be used to evaluate the severity of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) with normal high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP). Material and Method: We examined left carotid IMTs in 688 patients with stable CAD and excluded 121 patients with abnormally elevated hs-CRP ($\geq$0.5 mg/dL). We sought to determine the association between risk factors and the severity of stable CAD and carotid IMT in 567 patients who were divided into lower and higher groups based on the median value. Patients underwent a coronary artery angiogram and had at least significant stenosis (>50% of the original luminal diameter involving one or more major coronary artery). Result: Of the 567 patients, 300 (52.9%) were in the lower IMT group and 267 (47.1%) were in the higher IMT group; the median value was 0.76 mm. By multivariable logistic regression analysis, the following groups were different: older age (~49 vs. 70~ years, respectively; OR=6.552), high FBS (~99 vs. 120~ mg/dL; OR=1.713) and severity of CAD (1 vessel vs. 2 vessel disease; OR=1.711, 1 vessel vs. 3 vessel disease; OR=1.714). Conclusion: We conclude that there are correlations between increased carotid IMT and severity of CAD in stable angina patients with normal CRP levels.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartA
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• v.14A no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2007

The intima media thickness(IMT) of the carotid artery from B mode ultrasound images has recently been proposed as the most useful index of individual atherosclerosis and can be used to predict major cardiovascular events. Ultrasonic measurements of the IMT are conventionally obtained by manually tracing interfaces between tissue layers. The drawbacks of this method are the inter and intra observer variability and its inefficiency. In this paper, we present a multiresolution snake method combined with the dynamic programming, which overcomes the various noises and sensitivity to initialization of conventional snake. First, an image pyramid is constructed using the Gaussian pyramid that maintains global edge information with smoothing in the images, and then the boundaries are automatically detected in the lowest resolution level by minimizing a cost function based on dynamic programming. The cost function includes cost terms which are representing image features and geometrical continuity of the vessel interfaces. Since the detected boundaries are selected as initial contour of the snake for the next level, this automated approach solves the problem of the initialization. Moreover, the proposed snake improves the problem of converging th the local minima by defining the external energy based on multiple image features. In this paper, our method has been validated by computing the correlation between manual and automatic measurements. This automated detection method has obtained more accurate and reproducible results than conventional edge detection by considering multiple image features.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2020

■ Objectives 당귀작약산 단회 복용으로 정상인의 총경동맥 탄력도에 미치는 영향을 평가하고자 하였다. ■ Methods 본 연구는 정상인 남성을 대상으로 한 전향적 무작위 대조군 교차시험연구다. 모든 대상자들은 임의로 당귀작약산 복용군과 비복용군인 대조군으로 나누어졌다. 1주일 간격으로 총 2회 방문하며, 첫 번째 방문 시에 당귀작약산 복용군은 당귀작약산 1포(2.5g)과 물을 제공받고, 대조군은 물만 제공받아 복용하였다. 두 번째 방문 시 첫 번째 방문과 반대로 당귀작약산을 복용했던 복용군은 물만 제공받고, 물만 복용했던 피험자들은 당귀작약산 1포와 물을 제공받았다. 물은 100 cc로 매번 동일하게 제공되었다. 모든 대상자들은 복용 직전과 복용 2시간, 4시간 후에 총경동맥 탄력도, 혈압, 총경동맥 내막-중막 두께와 맥박수를 측정하였다. ■ Results 총 20명의 정상인 남성이 모집되었으며, 시간에 따라 당귀작약산 복용 후의 총경동맥 탄력도가 대조군에 비하여 유의하게 상승한 것이 확인되었다. 내막-중막 두께, 혈압 및 맥압, 맥박은 유의한 변화가 나타나지 않았다. ■ Conclusion 당귀작약산의 단회 복용으로 총경동맥 탄력도가 즉시 개선되는 것을 확인하였고, 이로써 당귀작약산이 동맥 경직도 완화 및 탄성의 개선에 영향을 미친다는 것을 알 수 있었다.