• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.280-289
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• 1997

Background : Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) has been reported to diveres spectrum of chinical presentations and radiologic patterns. The three representative radiologic patterns are followings ; 1) a solitary nodule or mass, 2) a localized consolidation, and 3) multicentric or diffuse disease. While, the localized consolidation and solitary nodular patterns has favorable prognosis, the multicentric of diffuse pattern has worse prognosis regardless of treatment. BAC presenting as a solitary pulmonary nodule is often misdiagnosed as other benign disease such as tuberculoma. Therefore it is very important to make proper diagnosis of BAC with solitary nodular pattern, since this pattern of BAC is usually curable with a surgical resection. Methods : We reviewed the clinical and radiologic features of patients with pathologically-proven BAC with solitary nodular pattern from January 1995 to September 1996 at Samsung Medical Center. Results : Total 11 patients were identified. 6 were men and 5 were women. Age ranged from 37 to 69. Median age was 60. Most patients with BAC with solitary nodular pattern were asymptomatic and were detected by incidental radiologic abnormality. The chest radiograph showed poorly defined opacity or nodule and computed tomography showed consolidation, ground glass appearance, internal bubble-like lucencies, air bronchogram, open bronchus sign, spiculated margin or pleural tag in most patients. The initial diagnosis on chest X-ray were pulmonary tuberculosis in 4 patients, benign nodule in 2 patients and malignant nodule in 5 patients. The FDG-positron emission tomogram was performed in eight patients. The FDG-PET revealed suggestive findings of malignancy in only 3 patients. The pathologic diagnosis was obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy in 1 patient, by CT guided percutaneous needle aspiration in 2 patients, and by lung biopsy via video-assited thoracocopy in 8 patients. Lobectomy was performed in all patients and postoperative pathologic staging were $T_1N_0N_0$ in 8 patients and $T_2N_0M_0$ in 3 patients. Conclusion : Patients of BAC presenting with solitary nodular pattern were most often asymptomatic and incidentally detected by radiologic abnormality. The chest X-ray showed poorly defined nodule or opacity and these findings were often regarded as benign lesion. If poorly nodule or opacity does not disappear on follow up chest X-ray, computed tomography should be performed. If consolidation, ground glass appearance, open bronchus sign, air bronchogram, internal bubble like lucency, pleural tag or spiculated margin are found on computed tomography, further diagnostic procedures, including open thoracotomy, should be performed to exclude the possiblity of BAC with solitary nodular pattern.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.286-291
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• 2004

Mediastinum is a very rare primary site of liposarcoma. In general, wide surgical excision with adequate resection margin is the treatment of choice for lipesarcoma. We experienced a case of liposarcoma in a 24 year-old male who complained of dyspnea and chest discomfort. Symptoms had been developed a month before admission, and the intensity had been gradually increased. He visited another general hospital, and there he received left closed thoracostomy because hemothorax was suspected. Afterwards, he was transferred to our hospital without a specific diagnosis, on review of outside chest computed tomography film, mass shadow was detected in the mediastinum. For the further evaluation, we checked the chest sonography and chest magnetic resonance imaging. MRI showed 10 cm sized mass contacted with pulmonary artery trunk and left main pulmonary artery. The radiologist strongly suggested sarcoma. On the 4th day after admission, we performed emergent exploratory left thoracotomy for hematoma evacuation because mediastinal shifting progressed and heart rate was increased. Biopsy confirmed that the evacuated materials were extraskeletal myxoid chondresarcoma, so we performed extrapleural left pneumonectomy including diaphragm and a part of the pericardium. The final pathologic diagnosis was myxoid/round cell liposarcoma. He was discharged without complication and systemic chemotherapy was scheduled to begin 2 month later. During chemotherapy, local recurrence and peritoneal metastasis developed, and he died 10 month after the surgical excision. We report this case with reviewal of literature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.355-365
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was conducted to better understand the relationship between health effects and exposure to dusts from a briquette fuel complex in Ansim, Daegu, Korea. Methods: The subjects of this study consisted of 2,980 persons over 40 years old who had lived 20 years or more around a briquette fuel complex in Daegu. We conducted a questionnaire survey, and chest radiography was performed. In addition, chest computed tomography(CT) (335 cases) and pulmonary function test(PFT) (658 cases) were done. Pneumoconiosis was diagnosed if one of three radiologists determined(or suspected) pneumoconiosis. We also conducted in-depth interviews for pneumoconiosis cases. We defined the exposed group as subjects residing within a 500 meter radius from the walls of the briquette fuel complex, and the others were defined as the control group. Results: Subjects in the exposed and control groups are respectively 715(24%) and 2,265 cases(76%). Major respiratory symptoms in the exposed group such as sputum, dyspnea, chest tightness and wheezing were significantly higher than in the control group. By chest radiography, 173 cases of pneumoconiosis or suspicious pneumoconiosis were detected. By PFT, 62 cases(29.5%) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) among 210 asymptomatic subjects were detected. Finally, by chest CT we concluded 28 cases to be pneumoconiosis, and eight cases among them proved to be pneumoconiosis by environmental exposure. Conclusions: Through this study, we concluded that health outcomes such as respiratory symptoms, pneumoconiosis, and COPD were caused by continuous exposure to dusts from the briquette fuel complex. Policies to reduce environmental exposure are needed, and cases of environmental disease should be intensively followed up by the government.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2010

Purpose: A tension pneumothorax is a fatal condition that requires immediate intervention. Although a definitive treatment for a tension pneumothorax is a tube thoracostomy, needle decompression can provide temporary relief, that is lifesaving. The traditional procedure for needle decompression involves inserting a needle or catheter at the second intercostal space, the midclavicular line. Recent evidence suggests that the commonly used catheters do not have sufficiently penetrate the chest wall. There are also claims that a lateral approach to needle decompression is easier and safer than the traditional anterior approach. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the optimal approach for needle decompression for the Korean population by measuring chest wall thicknesses at the points used for both the anterior and the lateral approaches. Methods: The chest wall thickness (CWT) of trauma victims who visited the Emergency Center of Pusan National University Hospital was measured by computed tomography (CT) images. The CWT was measured at the points used for the anterior and the lateral methods and was compared with the length of commonly used catheters, which is 45 mm. Results: The mean CWT at the second intercostal space, the midclavicular line, was shorter than the CWT at the 5th intercostal space, the anterior axillary line. However, the percentage of patients whose CWT was greater than 45 mm was larger when measured anteriorly (8.2%) that when measure laterally (5.7%). Female patients and those older than 60 were more likely to have an anterior CWT greater than 45 mm (28.2% for females and 15.5% for those older than 60). Conclusion: The percentage of trauma victims in Korea whose CWT is greater than 45 mm is lower than the values previously reported by other countries. However, females and older patients tend to have thicker chest walls, so the lateral approach would be suggested when performing needle decompression for such patients with suspected tension pneumothoraces.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.994-1004
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• 2021

Objective: To extract pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics from chest CTs of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using a fully automated deep learning-based approach and assess their potential to predict patient management. Materials and Methods: All initial chest CTs of patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at our emergency department between March 25 and April 25, 2020, were identified (n = 120). Three patient management groups were defined: group 1 (outpatient), group 2 (general ward), and group 3 (intensive care unit [ICU]). Multiple pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics were extracted from the chest CT images using deep learning. Additionally, six laboratory findings indicating inflammation and cellular damage were considered. Differences in CT metrics, laboratory findings, and demographics between the patient management groups were assessed. The potential of these parameters to predict patients' needs for intensive care (yes/no) was analyzed using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves. Internal and external validity were assessed using 109 independent chest CT scans. Results: While demographic parameters alone (sex and age) were not sufficient to predict ICU management status, both CT metrics alone (including both pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics; area under the curve [AUC] = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-0.97) and laboratory findings alone (C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, white blood cell count, and albumin; AUC = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.77-0.94) were good classifiers. Excellent performance was achieved by a combination of demographic parameters, CT metrics, and laboratory findings (AUC = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.85-0.98). Application of a model that combined both pulmonary CT metrics and demographic parameters on a dataset from another hospital indicated its external validity (AUC = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.66-0.88). Conclusion: Chest CT of patients with COVID-19 contains valuable information that can be accessed using automated image analysis. These metrics are useful for the prediction of patient management.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.281-290
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• 2021

Objective: To assess the performance of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) of chest CT for diffuse interstitial lung disease (DILD). Materials and Methods: The database was comprised by 246 pairs of chest CTs (initial and follow-up CTs within two years) from 246 patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP, n = 100), nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP, n = 101), and cryptogenic organic pneumonia (COP, n = 45). Sixty cases (30-UIP, 20-NSIP, and 10-COP) were selected as the queries. The CBIR retrieved five similar CTs as a query from the database by comparing six image patterns (honeycombing, reticular opacity, emphysema, ground-glass opacity, consolidation and normal lung) of DILD, which were automatically quantified and classified by a convolutional neural network. We assessed the rates of retrieving the same pairs of query CTs, and the number of CTs with the same disease class as query CTs in top 1-5 retrievals. Chest radiologists evaluated the similarity between retrieved CTs and queries using a 5-scale grading system (5-almost identical; 4-same disease; 3-likelihood of same disease is half; 2-likely different; and 1-different disease). Results: The rate of retrieving the same pairs of query CTs in top 1 retrieval was 61.7% (37/60) and in top 1-5 retrievals was 81.7% (49/60). The CBIR retrieved the same pairs of query CTs more in UIP compared to NSIP and COP (p = 0.008 and 0.002). On average, it retrieved 4.17 of five similar CTs from the same disease class. Radiologists rated 71.3% to 73.0% of the retrieved CTs with a similarity score of 4 or 5. Conclusion: The proposed CBIR system showed good performance for retrieving chest CTs showing similar patterns for DILD.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.369-372
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• 2008

A primary malignant lymphoma that originates in the heart is extremely rare. A 68-year-old male patient was admitted due to aggravated dyspnea. After echocardiography and chest computed tomography evaluation, a huge mass in the right atrium and the right ventricle was detected. We decided to perform emergency surgery due to a high risk of infarction and hemodynamic disturbance. After the near total removal of the huge mass in the right cardiac chamber, the interatrial septum and antero-lateral part of the right atrium were reconstructed by the use of a bovine pericardial patch. The final pathological diagnosis was a primary malignant lymphoma. The patient and his guardians refused chemotherapy (including radiotherapy), and the patient was discharged to his home, where the prognosis was hopeless.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.464-469
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• 2011

Adalimumab is a full human monoclonal antibody that inhibits tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-${\alpha}$). This has recently been shown to be effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis, and other conditions. Sacoidosis is known to be the target for adalimumab but we describe a patient who has developed sarcoidosis with lung involvement during adalimumab therapy for RA. A 48-year-old woman, who was treated with adalimumab for 5 months, was admitted because of chronic cough and both hilar lymphadenopathy on chest radiography. Chest computed tomography revealed the enlargement of multiple lymph nodes in the right supraclavicular, subcarinal, both hilar and right axillary area. She was diagnosed with sarcoidosis based on the biopsy of supraclavicular lymph node, skin and lung through video-associated thoracoscopic surgery, which was non-caseating epitheloid cell granuloma and excluded from a similar disease. She was treated for sarcoidosis with prednisolone and methotrexate instead of adalimumab.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.104-109
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• 2014

Objectives: To present the case of a 76-year-old man diagnosed with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) treated exclusively with traditional Korean medicine (TKM). Methods: The patient was treated with the revised Sasammaekmundong-tang (rSMT), acupuncture, and pharmacopuncture from September 2013 to May 2014 in our outpatient clinic. We prescribed rSMT three times a day for 4 months. Acupuncture and pharmacopuncture were performed twice a week for 9 months. To evaluate therapeutic efficacy, we recorded the patient's chief complaints at each visit, and pulmonary function test was performed at intervals of three months. Chest radiography and chest computed tomography were performed before and after treatment, respectively. Results: During the course of the treatment, dyspnea, cough, sputum, and overall pulmonary function improved. Conclusions: We suggest that traditional Korean medicine (TKM) for IIPs patients might be effective in the control of the main symptoms of IIPs and in the recovery of respiratory function.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 2006

Trousseau's syndrome comsists of migratory thrombophlebitis and thromboembolic disorders of the venous and arterial systems in a malignancy or occult cancer. The overall incidence has been reported to vary from 1 to 11%. Pancreatic, lung, prostate, and stomach cancer is associated with the greatest risk of thromboembolic events. We encountered a 49-year-old man who presented with painful swelling of his lower legs. The chest radiograph showed increased opacity of the Left middle lung fields and Doppler sonography showed a thrombus in the left superficial femoral vein. Chest Computed Tomography showed a 5cm sized left hilar mass invading the pericardium with lymphadenopathy. The bronchoscope biopsy demonstrated an adenocarcinoma of the lung. Platinum based chemotherapy and anticoagulant therapy with warfarin was carried out. The patient was later discharged with an improvement in the painful swelling of his lower legs.