• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.178-183
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• 2020

During esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy, the prediction of anastomotic leakage relies on the operating surgeon's tactile or visual diagnosis. Therefore, anastomotic leaks are relatively unpredictable, and new intraoperative evaluation methods or tools are essential. A fluorescence imaging system enables visualization over a wide region of interest, and provides intuitive information on perfusion intraoperatively. Surgeons can choose the best anastomotic site of the gastric tube based on fluorescence images in real time during surgery. This technology provides better surgical outcomes when used with an optimal injection dose and timing of indocyanine green.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.136-139
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• 2008

A great variety of penetrating injuries is happening due to the increasing population and violence today. An optimal surgical approach is the key factor for successful repair of a complicated penetrating injury. A 23-year-old woman fell down the stairs from the second floor and received cervico-thoracic penetration injury due to a metalic bar. The metalic bar ruptured the right jugular vein and penetrated the left upper and lower lung. Under cervico-median sternotomy, neck vessels were repaired and the left thorax was successfully entered to repair the damaged lung through the mediastinal pleura. With this approach, the patient's position did not need to be changed during operation, while reduced the operation time compared to the conventional approach (cervical incision and standard thoracotomy).

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.43-51
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• 2019

Despite the increasing number of osteochondral lesions of the talus, there are a lack of definite evidence-based treatment protocols. Several types of treatments are available, each having their advantages and disadvantages. First-line therapy consists of well-conducted conservative treatment. Surgical treatment is the second choice. Treatments are chosen based on the size of the lesion, location, chronicity, and the condition of the neighboring cartilage. This article reviews the current updates in the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus to help clinicians use the available treatment strategies more efficiently.

• Clinical Pain
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.44-47
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• 2019

Lying on the side while falling asleep deeply after drinking or taking a sleeping pill can cause compressive neuropathy. We report a 70-year-old male patient of medial cord of left brachial plexus injury (BPI) after deep sleep. The mechanism of the injury might be compression and stretching of brachial plexus. The electrodiagnostic study was performed and the medial cord lesion of BPI was suggested. The ultrasonography image of compression site revealed the nerve swelling of medial cord of brachial plexus and median nerve at the mid-arm level. Pharmacologic treatment including oral prednisolone and exercise training were prescribed. On 6 months after initial visit, neurologic symptom and pain were improved but mild sequelae was remained.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2018

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of nonthermal plasma treatment on the bond strength of autopolymerizing relining resin to the injection molded thermoplastic denture base resins (TDBRs) with different surface treatments. Materials and methods: Acrylic Resin (Acrytone), Polyester (Estheshot-Bright), Polyamide (Valplast) and Polypropylene (Weldenz) were subjected to various surface treatments: No treatment, Nonthermal plasma, Sandblasting, Sandblasting and nonthermal plasma. Specimens were bonded using an autopolymerizing relining resin. Shear bond strength was tested using universal testing machine with crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. Statistical analysis by two-way analysis of variance with Tukey's test post hoc was used. Results: Acrytone showed significantly higher shear bond strength value among other TDBR group while Weldenz had the lowest. The sandblasting and nonthermal plasma condition had significantly higher shear bond strength value in all of the resin groups (P < .05). Conclusion: The use of nonthermal plasma treatment showed limited effect on the shear bond strength between TDBRs and relining resin, and combination of nonthermal plasma and sandblasting improved the shear bond strength between TDBR and reline material.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2010

Background: The aim of this study was to compare a novel mannose receptor-binding agent(Technetium-99m human serum albumin, $^{99m}Tc$-MSA) with $^{99m}Tc$-phytate for sentinel node mapping in patients with esophageal cancer. Material and Method: Twenty patients with clinical stage T1N0m0 or T2N0M0 esophageal cancer that were candidates for esophagectomy were enrolled. Endoscopic injection of $^{99m}Tc$-MSA or $^{99m}Tc$-phytate was administered at the peri-tumor region before surgery in 10 patients. The radioactive lymph nodes were identified with a handheld gamma probe after lymph node dissection. Results: The patient's age and the sex ratio of both groups were similar. The clinical stage, tumor location, and operative technique did not differ. The total number of dissected lymph nodes did not differ ($28.5{\pm}9.12$ in MSA group, $32.2{\pm}11.24$ in phytate group, p=0.430). The sentinel node was identified in all cases in both groups. The number of sentinel nodes per patient was $2.7{\pm}1.57$ in the MSA group, which was significantly greater than the $1.7{\pm}0.88$ in the phytate group (p=0.036). Five out of 20 patients whose sentinel nodes could be identified had metastases; however, neither group had any false-negative results for sentinel node identification. Conclusion: Sentinel nodes were detected more frequently with MSA than with phytate.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2010

Objectives：Assessment of sleep disturbance is an essential part of the diagnostic criteria used for several psychiatric disorders. Change in sleep patterns over time may indicate response to treatment. In clinical practice, sleep is usually evaluated subjectively by patient self-report. This study was aimed to compare subjective sleep assessment with objective sleep measurement by actigraphy in psychiatric inpatients. Methods：A total of 32 psychiatric inpatients were studied. Patients were asked to wear a wrist actigraphy for three consecutive days and nights and to fill out a sleep log each morning. The severity of depression and anxiety was evaluated according to Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory on the first day of the study. The subjective level of satisfaction with quality of sleep was also evaluated according to visual analog scale. Nurses assessed sleep at one hour interval between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM for three consecutive nights. Results：There was statistically significant difference of sleep latency between patient's sleep log and acti-graphic measurement. Nursing reports were more consistent with actigraphic measurement than sleep log. Interestingly, subjectively poor sleepers show no significant difference in sleep parameters compared with those of good sleepers. Subjectively poor sleepers report longer sleep latency than that of actigraphic assessment. The discrepancy between subjective and objective assessment of sleep latency was significantly correlated with scores of Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Conclusion：These results show that there are discrepancies between subjective and objective assessment of sleep. The discrepancy of sleep assessment could be influenced by severe depression and anxiety. Especially objective sleep measurement is needed to assess sleep in psychiatric inpatients with severe depression or anxiety and the subjectively poor sleepers for more reliable measurements.

• The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.162-168
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• 2012

Background: Potassium, the most common cation in the intracellular space, plays a critical role in our physiology. Potassium imbalance may cause life-threatening problems, ranging from general weakness to cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. For emergency physicians, detection of such derangement within a short period of time is of critical importance. In this study, we wanted to determine whether analysis of whole blood samples can be used as a screening tool for potassium imbalance by comparative analysis of whole blood and serum samples. Methods: Two samples were drawn from 227 patients. The whole blood sample was taken from the radial artery and contained in a commercially available arterial blood collection syringe with a lithium-heparin coating. The serum sample was contained in a commercially available vacuum bottle in a non-additive silicone coated tube and transported to the laboratory. The study population was divided into three groups, patients with normal whole blood potassium, patients with decreased whole blood potassium, and patients with elevated whole blood potassium. Potassium levels for each group were coupled with serum potassium levels and compared. Results: No significant difference in potassium values was observed between whole blood and serum samples (P<0.05). Strong associations were observed among the three groups (normal range, hypokalemia, and hyperkalemia group). Compared to the normal group (r=0.851), the hyperkalemia group showed a stronger association between variables (r=0.897), and the hypokalemia group showed a weaker association (r=0.760). Their correlation coefficients were highly significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Our study illustrates that point-of-care testing using whole blood with whole blood can be a reliable screening tool when treating patients with suspicious potassium abnormality, especially in hyperkalemia patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.136-143
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• 2021

Objectives : The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is a global medical crisis imposing particular burden on public sector employees. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychiatric distress among public sector workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study with 531 public sector workers in Gwangmyung city who completed Korean versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised-Korean (IES-R-K). Results : The results revealed more than moderate levels of stress (85.2%), depressive symptoms (22.2%), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (38.8%). PSS total score was significantly correlated with PHQ-9, IES-R-K total scores as well as IES-R-K subscale scores. Total scores on the PSS, PHQ-9, and IES-R-K were all inversely correlated with age. Conclusions : COVID-19-related workers experience considerable stress and depressive symptoms, with self-rated stress correlating significantly with depression scores. Age may serve as a protective factor against occupational stress and burnout. These findings highlight the need for adequate psychiatric screening and intervention for public sector workers.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.43.1-43.10
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• 2023

The continuous emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has provided insights for updating current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. We examined the neutralizing activity of Abs induced by a BA.4/5-containing bivalent mRNA vaccine against Omicron subvariants BN.1 and XBB.1.5. We recruited 40 individuals who had received a monovalent COVID-19 booster dose after a primary series of COVID-19 vaccinations and will be vaccinated with a BA.4/5-containing bivalent vaccine. Sera were collected before vaccination, one month after, and three months after a bivalent booster. Neutralizing Ab (nAb) titers were measured against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron subvariants BA.5, BN.1, and XBB.1.5. BA.4/5-containing bivalent vaccination significantly boosted nAb levels against both ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron subvariants. Participants with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection had higher nAb titers against all examined strains than the infection-naïve group. NAb titers against BN.1 and XBB.1.5 were lower than those against the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and BA.5 strains. These results suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations specifically targeting emerging Omicron subvariants, such as XBB.1.5, may be required to ensure better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in high-risk groups.