• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.710-720
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• 2013

Radiotherapy is commonly used in treating many kinds of cancers which cannot be cured by other therapeutic strategies. However, radiotherapy also induces the damages on the normal tissues. Radiation-induced fibrosis is frequently observed in the patients undergoing radiotherapy, and becomes a major obstacle in the treatment of intrahepatic cancer. Hedgehog (Hh) that is an essential in the liver formation during embryogenesis is not detected in the healthy liver, but activated and modulates the repair process in damaged livers in adult. The expression of Hh increases with the degree of liver damage, regulating the proliferation of hepatic progenitors and hepatic stellate cells (HSC). In addition, Hh induces epithelial-to-mesencymal transition (EMT) and activation of myofibroblasts. In the irradiated livers, up-regulated expression of Hh signaling was associated with proliferation of progenitors, EMT induction, and increased fibrosis. Female-specific expression of Hh leaded to the expansion of progenitors and the accumulation of collagen in the irradiated livers of female mice, indicating that gender disparity in Hh expression may be related with radiation-susceptibility in female. Hence, Hh signaling becomes a novel object of studies for fibrogenesis induced by radiation. However, the absence of the established experimental animal models showing the similar physiopathology with human liver diseases and fibrosis-favorable microenvironment hamper the studies for the radiation-induced fibrosis, providing a few descriptive results. Therefore, further research on the association of Hh with radiation-induced fibrosis can identify the cell and tissue-specific effects of Hh and provides the basic knowledge for underlying mechanisms, contributing to developing therapies for preventing the radiation-induced fibrosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.253-264
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• 2002

Background : It has been reported that the expression of protein which influences on the cell cycle is significantly involved in the development, progress, treatment response, and survival of cancer, and also that the degree of expression of p27 and CDK4 is related to the prognosis. Recent research has revealed that uteroglobin, tumor suppressor gene, is related to cell cycle. This study is focused on the relations between expression of proteins related to cell cycle and clinical index of and survival of NSCLC. Methods : We examined immunohistochemically specimens of 110 surgically resected NSCLCs for expression of p27, CDK, Uteroglobin. Tissue array slide were obtained from 110 surgically resected NSCLCs. Immunohistochemical staining was performed by immuno-peroxidase technique using avidin-biotinylated horseradish peroxidase complex. Results : In 110 patients with resected NSCLCs, the ratio of male to female was 87:13, the median age was $56.43{\pm}9.41$ yrs. The positive staining of p27 was detected in 75% of the cases. A non-statistically significant trend toward increased p27 expression was observed in smoker and squamous cell cancer. The positive staining of CDK4 was detected in 89%, which was the highest expression of protein among 3 types. The survival ratio of CDK4 negative staining group was higher than that of positive staining group, which was significant diffrernce(P<0.05). There was no association between p27 or uteroglobin expression and survival. Conclusion : The expression degree of CDK4 is related to the prognosis. This findings suggests that the measurement of CDK4 may be useful in identifying patient at high risk for disease recurrence and survival.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 2001

The purpose of this study were to analyze the home care services and to evaluate the client's satisfaction with the home care services provided by home care service center in the C hospital. The data were collected by reviewing charts of 128 home care clients who were receiving home care services at C hospital from October 1997 to September 2000. The subjects for satisfaction of home care service were 20 clients from July 10 to September 30, 2000. The tool for measurement of present condition of home care service was developed by the researchers. The satisfactions of the home care services were measured by using the instrument developed by Im(997). The data were analyzed by using the SPSS/PC+. The results of this study were as followings : 1. Majority of the subjects was female(61.7%). The average of age was 63.5 years. The service has been used mostly by the elderly 60 years of age or older(71.1%). The economic level of most of subjects was in middle class(94.5%). 2. Majority of the subject had a cancer(55.4%), following stroke(25.0%). The average duration of disease for the subjects was 31 months. The average time of hospitalization for the subjects was 3.3 times. The duration of hospitalization was 10$\sim$30 days(26.6%), 30$\sim$60 days(23.4%) and above of the 210 days(9.4%). 3. Most of the subjects used his/her doctor (47.7%), as a consultant, following his/her nurse (28.1%), other patients or their family (21.9%). Most of reasons for a consultation were supportive management(Infusion or medication, 60.94%), following tube management(L-tube or T-tube, 25%), Foley catheter management (15.63%) etc. 4. 28 types of nursing diagnoses were used by the home care service. The nursing diagnosis altered nutrition: less than body requirement were used mostly by the home care service, following risk for infection, impaired skin integrity, impaired swallowing, ineffective airway clearance altered comfort: pain, impaired physical mobility. By the human-response pattern, exchanging(63.2%), moving(7.5%), feeling(10.4%), knowing(5.2%), communicating (2.6%), relating(0.5%) perceiving(0.4%) and choosing(0.3%). There were 42 nursing intervention types were performed by the home care service. By the NIC(nursing intervention classification. McCloskey. Bulech. 1996). physiologic: complex (30.3%) was the most, safety(28.3%), behavioral(20.0%), physiologic: basic(10.8%) and health system(1.7%). Observation or assessment was the most nursing intervention performed by the home care service. following IV infusion. vital sign observation. infusion management and fluid-electrolyte balance management. 5. The level of client's satisfaction with provided home care services showed considerably high(2.67/ 3).

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.335-344
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• 2012

Osteoporosis is increasing in Korea as it becomes an aging society with the rapid economic growth and the development of medical technology. Osteoporosis also develops due to chemo and radiation therapy of cancer which also increases owing to Westernized diet. Osteoporosis is caused by reduced bone density, has close relationship with the change of geometry of proximal femur, which is a factor of hip fracture risk. The purpose of this study was the analysis of the correlations of osteoporosis and the change of geometry of proximal femur, which was observed according to T-score variance. The 350 male and female patients are chosen from D hospital in Busan, who were classified by age, sex and T-score values (normal, osteopenia, and osteo porosis). The results show that the age and gender have significant difference in the incidence of osteoporosis; the disease classification according to T-score value has significant difference in the geometry of the proximal femur such as Cortical ratio calcar, Cortical ratio shaft, Hip/shaft Angle, Strength index, Section modulus, CSMI, and CSA, and is highly correlated with the incidence of osteoporosis. Therefore, the findings of this research is that the change of the geometry of the proximal femur could be used as an indicator in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, could enhance the accuracy of the diagnosis in the future, and could be used as a clinical predictive factors through the analysis of the correlations of T-score variance and the geometry changes of the proximal femur.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.776-785
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to report and demonstrate the effect of Korean medical treatment on a wedge resection of a lung patient with mucinous adenocarcinoma. The patient was an 84-year-old female who was diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma and underwent wedge resection. The patient was treated with acupuncture and herbal medicine (Banhahubak-tang and Gamiondam-tang). The EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire, Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire, Lung Cancer 13 (EORTC QLQ-LC13), numeric rating scale (NRS), and the Global Assessment (G/A) were used to assess the changes in symptoms, including operation site pain and dyspnea. After treatment, the patient showed improvement in operation site pain and dyspnea, based on the NRS and G/A. However, dyspnea and pain were aggravated based on the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13. Therefore, Korean medicine may have a substantial benefit for patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma after wedge resection of the lung.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.565-570
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• 2009

Purpose: Numerous techniques have been introduced to reconstruct the perineal area in order to preserve function of both the recipient and the donor site while satisfying aesthetic results. There are several advantages of using the pudendal aretery perforator based flap in that it provides thin coverage of defect area and a relatively excellent circulation through perforators. The perineal region can be divided into two areas : the urogenital triangle and the anal triangle. Since each area differs in structure and function so does its reconstructive plan. The authors of this article report clinical results obtained from pudendal artery perforator based reconstructed cases according to each differrent triangles. Methods: A total of 15 patients who underwent perineal reconstruction were enrolled in our study between the year 2002 and 2006. There were 4 cases of vaginal cancer, 4 cases of extramammary Paget's disease, 1 case of rectovaginal fistula in females and 2 cases of Paget's disease and 4 cases of Fournier's gangrene in male cases. The follow up period was on average 6 month. In female, superfical pudendal artery perforator based local flap were used to reconstruct the urogenital triangle defects, while internal pudendal artery perfoator based local flaps were used to reconstruct the anal traingle defects. In males the gracilis myocutaneous flap and internal pudendal artery perforator based local flaps were used in reconstruction of the scrotum and perineal defect. Result: In females, there was 1 case of partial flap necorsis that employed the superficial pudendal artery perforator but secondary repair through the internal pudendal artery perforator based local flap was done. In addition, there were 4 wound dehiscence cases in females and 2 cases in males. Conclusion: We believe that a better aesthetic and functional outcome can be achieved in perineal reconstruction if discrete surgical planning is carried out systematically categorizing the choice of flap employed acccording to distinct anatomical regions : the urogenital and the anal triangle.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.553-563
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• 2023

Objective: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging-derived tractography (DTI-t) contribute to the localization of language areas, but their accuracy remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of preoperative fMRI and DTI-t obtained with a simultaneous multi-slice technique using intraoperative direct cortical stimulation (DCS) or corticocortical evoked potential (CCEP) as reference standards. Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 26 patients (23-74 years; male:female, 13:13) with tumors in the vicinity of Broca's area who underwent preoperative fMRI and DTI-t. A site-by-site comparison between preoperative (fMRI and DTI-t) and intraoperative language mapping (DCS or CCEP) was performed for 226 cortical sites to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of fMRI and DTI-t for mapping Broca's areas. For sites with positive signals on fMRI or DTI-t, the true-positive rate (TPR) was calculated based on the concordance and discordance between fMRI and DTI-t. Results: Among 226 cortical sites, DCS was performed in 100 sites and CCEP was performed in 166 sites. The specificities of fMRI and DTI-t ranged from 72.4% (63/87) to 96.8% (122/126), respectively. The sensitivities of fMRI (except for verb generation) and DTI-t were 69.2% (9/13) to 92.3% (12/13) with DCS as the reference standard, and 40.0% (16/40) or lower with CCEP as the reference standard. For sites with preoperative fMRI or DTI-t positivity (n = 82), the TPR was high when fMRI and DTI-t were concordant (81.2% and 100% using DCS and CCEP, respectively, as the reference standards) and low when fMRI and DTI-t were discordant (≤ 24.2%). Conclusion: fMRI and DTI-t are sensitive and specific for mapping Broca's area compared with DCS and specific but insensitive compared with CCEP. A site with a positive signal on both fMRI and DTI-t represents a high probability of being an essential language area.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1019-1027
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• 2022

Objective: Thyroidectomy bed lesions frequently show suspicious ultrasound (US) features after thyroid surgery. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) may not provide definitive pathological information about the lesions. Although core-needle biopsy (CNB) has excellent diagnostic performance in characterizing suspicious thyroid nodules, no published studies have evaluated the performance of CNB specifically for thyroidectomy bed lesions. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance and safety of CNB for characterizing thyroidectomy bed lesions. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 thyroidectomy bed lesions in 113 patients (79 female and 34 male; age, 23-85 years) who underwent US-guided CNB between December 2008 and December 2020 were included. We reviewed the US imaging features of the target lesions and the histories of previous biopsies. The pathologic results, diagnostic performance for malignancy, and complications of CNB were analyzed. Results: All samples (100%) obtained by CNB were adequate for pathological analysis. Pathological analysis revealed inconclusive results in two lesions (1.6%). According to the reference standard, 50 lesions were ultimately malignant (40.3%), and 72 were benign (58.1%), excluding the two inconclusive lesions. The performance of CNB for diagnosing malignant thyroidectomy bed lesions in the 122 lesions had a sensitivity of 98.0% (49/50), a specificity of 100% (72/72), positive predictive value of 100% (49/49), and negative predictive value of 98.6% (72/73). Eleven lesions were referred for CNB after prior inconclusive FNA results in thyroidectomy bed lesions, for all of which CNB yielded correct conclusive pathologic diagnoses. According to the pathological analysis of CNB, there were various benign lesions (58.9%, 73/124) besides recurrence, including benign postoperative lesions other than suture granuloma (32.3%, 40/124), suture granuloma (15.3%, 19/124), remnant thyroid tissue (5.6%, 7/124), parathyroid lesions (4%, 5/124), and abscesses (1.6%, 2/124). No major or minor complications were associated with the CNB procedure. Conclusion: US-guided CNB is accurate and safe for characterizing thyroidectomy bed lesions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 1993

Abnomalities in the embryologic development and migration of the thyroid gland can result in ectopic thyroid tissue, which may occur on the midline in any position from the base of the tongue to the mediastinum. Although ectopic thyroid may be asymptomatic, local obstructive, hemorrhagic or other complication may occur. Radinuclide thyroid scan is confirmatory when the diagnosis is suspected. Hypothyroidism is common in lingual thyroid, and thyroid supplementation is generally required. In order to evaluate the features of ectopic thyroid, we investigated the scintigraphic findings, thyroid function test and clinical symptoms of 19 patients with ectopic thyroid. 1) Th frequency of ectopic thyroid was about 5.3 times more common in female than in male. Then patients were mostly below 30 years old (79%). 2) The frequency of location of ectopic thyroid were as follows: 10 cases in the tongue base, 1 case in suprahyoid, 5 cases in infrahyoid and 3 cases over 2 areas. 3) The thyroid function test was done in 16 cases of the ectopic thyroid patients. The hypothyroidism was detected in 7 cases, subclinical hypothyroidism in 4 cases and normal thyroid function in 5 cases. 4) The rate of hypothyroidism is 90% in the lingual thyroid and 33% in the others. The thyroid dysfunction was related with the location of the ectopic thyroid (p < 0.05). 5) The clinical manifestations include a mass in the tongue base, the foreignbody sensation of a throat and a swallowing difficulty in lingual thyroid. The palpable mass was the chief complaint in the others. 6) We prescribed the thyroid hormone to 10 cases with hypothyroidism. The ectopic thyroid was removed in 2 cases with normal thyroid function. The rest is following up through OPD. We must consider the possibility of the ectopic thyroid and take the thyroid scan when the patient has a mass in the tongue base, the sublingual and the prelaryngeal area. Then we have to check the thyroid function and follow up when the ectopic thyroid is diagnosed, because the patient with normal thyroid function can result in the hypothyroidism. Except these, we must mind of the possibility of occurence of the cancer in the ectopic thyroid tissue.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.732-737
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• 2009

Background: Many video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomies are performed as a potential alternative to thoracotomy despite the controversy about the safety and the associated morbidity/mortality rates. Material and Method: Between November 2006 and August 2008, we performed 87 lobectomies (VATS 36, Thoracotomy 51) and we retrospectively reviewed the surgical treatment results. A VATS lobectomy was performed by a 4~5 cm thoracotomy without rib spreading and this included anatomic hilar dissection, individual vessel and bronchus stapling and lymph node dissection. Result: We studied 52 male and 35 female patients whose age ranged from 6 to 79 (average age: $59.8{\pm}15.0$ years). The cases were diagnosed with lung cancer (66) (SQC 24, ADC 38, others 4), pulmonary metastasis (2), carcinoid (2) and benign diseases (17). There was no intraoperative death. Postoperative complications were seen in 5 (15.6%) VATS and 33 (64.7%) thoracotomies, and perioperative death caused by adult respiratory distress syndrome occurred in 1 (2.8%) VATS and 3 (5.9%) thoracotomies. Three patients Underwent conversion to thoracotomy (8.3%). The mean time to chest tube removal was 6 days for VATS and 9.4 days for thoracotomy (p<0.001), and the mean length of the hospital stay was 8 days for VATS and 12.8 days for thoracotomy (p<0.001). Conclusion: VATS lobectomy can be performed safely with low morbidity/mortality rates. Furthermore, all the patients benefited from earlier postoperative rehabilitation and less pain and they were candidates for an earlier return to normal activities.