• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.214-224
• /
• 2022

Background: Studies of the prognostic role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still limited. This study investigated the prognostic power of CTCs from the pulmonary vein (PV), peripheral blood (PB), and bone marrow (BM) for postoperative recurrence in patients who underwent curative resection for NSCLC. Methods: Forty patients who underwent curative resection for NSCLC were enrolled. Before resection, 10-mL samples were obtained of PB from the radial artery, blood from the PV of the lobe containing the tumor, and BM aspirates from the rib. A microfabricated filter was used for CTC enrichment, and immunofluorescence staining was used to identify CTCs. Results: The pathologic stage was stage I in 8 patients (20%), II in 15 (38%), III in 14 (35%), and IV in 3 (8%). The median number of PB-, PV-, and BM-CTCs was 4, 4, and 5, respectively. A time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that PB-CTCs had excellent predictive value for recurrence-free survival (RFS), with the highest area under the curve at each time point (first, second, and third quartiles of RFS). In a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model, PB-CTCs were an independent risk factor for recurrence (hazard ratio, 10.580; 95% confidence interval, 1.637-68.388; p<0.013). Conclusion: The presence of ≥4 PB-CTCs was an independent poor prognostic factor for RFS, and PV-CTCs and PB-CTCs had a positive linear correlation in patients with recurrence.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.340-347
• /
• 2023

Background Though in facial plastic surgery, the ideal nasal characteristics are defined by average European-American facial features known as neoclassical cannons, many ethnicities do not perceive these characteristics as suitable. Methods To investigate the preferences for nasofrontal angle, nasolabial angle, dorsal height, alar width, and nasal tip projection, manipulated pictures of one male and one female model were shown to 203 volunteer patients from a tertiary university hospital's facial plastic clinic. Results The most aesthetically preferred nasofrontal angles were 137.64 ± 4.20 degrees for males and 133.55 ± 4.53 degrees for females. Acute nasofrontal angles were more desirable in participants aged 25 to 44. The most preferred nasolabial angles were 107.56 ± 5.20 degrees and 98.92 ± 4.88 degrees, respectively. Volunteers aged 19 to 24 preferred more acute male nasolabial angles. A straight dorsum was the most desirable in both genders (0.03 ± 0.78 and 0.26 ± 0.75 mm, respectively). The ideal male and female alar widths were -0.51 ± 2.26 and -1.09 ± 2.18 mm, respectively. More 45- to 64-year-old volunteers preferred alar widths equal to intercanthal distance. The ideal female and male tip projections were 0.57 ± 0.01 and 0.56 ± 0.01, respectively. Conclusion Results indicate that the general Iranian patients prefer thinner female noses with wider nasofrontal angles for both genders. However, the ideal nasolabial angles, dorsal heights, and tip projections were consistent with the neoclassical cannons. Besides ethnic differences, the trend of nasal beauty is also affected by gender, age, and prior history of aesthetic surgery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.67 no.2
• /
• pp.166-176
• /
• 2024

Objective : Three-dimensional (3D) printing in vascular surgery is trending and is useful for the visualisation of intracranial aneurysms for both surgeons and trainees. The 3D models give the surgeon time to practice before hand and plan the surgery accordingly. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of preoperative planning with 3D printing models of aneurysms in terms of surgical time and patient outcomes. Methods : Forty patients were prospectively enrolled in this study and divided into two groups : groups I and II. In group I, only the angiograms were studied before surgery. Solid 3D modelling was performed only for group II before the operation and was studied accordingly. All surgeries were performed by the same senior vascular neurosurgeon. Demographic data, surgical data, both preoperative and postoperative modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores, and Glasgow outcome scores (GOS) were evaluated. Results : The average time of surgery was shorter in group II, and the difference was statistically significant between the two groups (p<0.001). However, no major differences were found for the GOS, hospitalisation time, or mRS. Conclusion : This study is the first prospective study of the utility of 3D aneurysm models. We show that 3D models are useful in surgery preparation. In the near future, these models will be used widely to educate trainees and pre-plan surgical options for senior surgeons.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.30-35
• /
• 2024

Background Breast aesthetics evaluation often relies on subjective assessments, leading to the need for objective, automated tools. We developed the Seoul Breast Esthetic Scoring Tool (S-BEST), a photometric analysis software that utilizes a DenseNet-264 deep learning model to automatically evaluate breast landmarks and asymmetry indices. Methods S-BEST was trained on a dataset of frontal breast photographs annotated with 30 specific landmarks, divided into an 80-20 training-validation split. The software requires the distances of sternal notch to nipple or nipple-to-nipple as input and performs image preprocessing steps, including ratio correction and 8-bit normalization. Breast asymmetry indices and centimeter-based measurements are provided as the output. The accuracy of S-BEST was validated using a paired t-test and Bland-Altman plots, comparing its measurements to those obtained from physical examinations of 100 females diagnosed with breast cancer. Results S-BEST demonstrated high accuracy in automatic landmark localization, with most distances showing no statistically significant difference compared with physical measurements. However, the nipple to inframammary fold distance showed a significant bias, with a coefficient of determination ranging from 0.3787 to 0.4234 for the left and right sides, respectively. Conclusion S-BEST provides a fast, reliable, and automated approach for breast aesthetic evaluation based on 2D frontal photographs. While limited by its inability to capture volumetric attributes or multiple viewpoints, it serves as an accessible tool for both clinical and research applications.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.473-477
• /
• 2012

Introduction: The esophagus squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most deadly malignances, and a current challenge is the development of effective therapeutic agents. Our present work addressed the effect of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA alone or in combination with cisplatin on the growth of ESCC in nude mice. Materials and Methods: Xenografts were established by inoculating ESCC TE-1 cells in nude mice, and transplanted tumors were treated with HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA, cisplatin alone or together. Growth was assessed by measuring tumor volume. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ mRNA and protein expression were detected using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Apoptosis of ESCC TE-1 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: In our nude mice model, HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA effectively inhibited the growth of transplanted ESCC, downregulating HIF-$1{\alpha}$ mRNA and protein expression, and inducing ESCC TE-1 cell apoptosis. Notably when combinated with cisplatin, HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA showed synergistic interaction in suppressing tumor growth. Furthermore, the proportion of apoptotic cells in HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA plus cisplatin group was significantly higher than that in cisplatin or HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA-treated groups (P<0.05). Conclusions: Down-regulated HIF-$1{\alpha}$ expression induced by siRNA could effectively suppress the growth of transplanted ESCC $in$ $vivo$. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ siRNA could enhance the cytotoxicity of cisplatin, which suggests that a combination of these two agents may have potential for therapy of advanced ESCC.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.280-284
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study evaluated woven silk textile for burn wound dressing materials in an animal model. Methods: Ten rats were used in this experiment. Full-thickness $2{\times}2cm$ burn wounds were created on the back of the rats under anesthesia. In the experimental group, the wounds were treated with three different dressing materials from woven silk textile. In the control group, natural healing without any dressing material was set as control. The wound surface area was measured at five days, seven days, and 14 days. Wound healing was evaluated by histologic analysis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences among groups at five days post injury. The mean defect size at seven days was largest in Group 3 ($462.87mm^2$), and smallest in Group 1 ($410.89mm^2$), not a significant difference (P=0.341). The mean defect size at 14 days was smallest at the Group 3 ($308.28mm^2$) and largest in the control group ($388.18mm^2$), not a significant difference (P=0.190). The denuded area was smaller in Group 1 ($84.57mm^2$) and Group 2 ($82.50mm^2$) compared with the control group ($195.93mm^2$), not statistically significant differences (P=0.066, 0.062). The difference between Group 3 and control was also not statistically significant (P=0.136). In histologic analysis, the experimental groups re-epithelialized more than control groups. No evidence was found of severe inflammation. Conclusion: The healing of burn wounds was faster with silk weave textile more than the control group. There was no atypical inflammation with silk dressing materials. In conclusion, silk dressing materials could be used to treat burn wounds.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.112-119
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Collagen membranes are used extensively as bioabsorbable barriers in guided bone regeneration. However, collagen has different effects on tissue restoration depending on the type, structure, degree of cross-linking and chemical treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inflammatory reaction, bone formation, and degradation of dehydrothermal treated porcine type I atelocollagen (CollaGuide$^{(R)}$) compared to of the non-crosslinked porcine type I, III collagen (BioGide$^{(R)}$) and the glutaldehyde cross-linked bovine type I collagen (BioMend$^{(R)}$) in surgically created bone defects in rat mandible. Methods: Bone defect model was based upon 3 mm sized full-thickness transcortical bone defects in the mandibular ramus of Sprague-Dawley rats. The defects were covered bucolingually with CollaGuide$^{(R)}$, BioMend$^{(R)}$, or BioGide$^{(R)}$ (n=12). For control, the defects were not covered by any membrane. Lymphocyte, multinucleated giant cell infiltration, bone formation over the defect area and membrane absorption were evaluated at 4 weeks postimplantation. For comparison of the membrane effect over the bone augmentation, rats received a bone graft plus different covering of membrane. A $3{\times}4$ mm sized block graft was harvested from the mandibular angle and was laid and stabilized with a microscrew on the naturally existing curvature of mandibular inferior border. After 10 weeks postimplantation, same histologic analysis were done. Results: In the defect model at 4 weeks post-implantation, the amount of new bone formed in defects was similar for all types of membrane. Bio-Gide$^{(R)}$ membranes induced significantly greater inflammatory response and membrane resorption than other two membranes; characterized by lymphocytes and multinucleated giant cells. At 10 weeks postoperatively, all membranes were completely resorbed. Conclusion: Dehydrotheramal treated cross-linked collagen was safe and effective in guiding bone regeneration in alveolar ridge defects and bone augmentation in rats, similar to BioGide$^{(R)}$ and BioMend$^{(R)}$, thus, could be clinically useful.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.576-584
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The shape and location, the amount of the wound and the characteristics of the remaining tissues are known to influence wound contraction. The previous studies using small animals have not been an appropriate model because the wound healing mechanisms and skin structures are different from those of the human. The purpose of this study is to evaluate wound contraction according to the shape and location of the wound using a $Micropig^{(R)}$. Methods: Four $Micropigs^{(R)}$ (Medikinetics, Pyeongtaek, Korea) that were 10 months of age weighed 25 kg were used. Full thickness skin defects were made by clearing all the tissues above the fascial layer in the shape of square, a regular triangle and a circle of 9 $cm^2$ each on the back around the spine. Eight wounds were created on the back of each pig, 50 mm apart from each other. The randomly chosen wound shapes included 11 squares, 11 regular triangles, and 10 circles. Wound dressing was done every other day with polyurethane foam. The wound size was measured using a Visitrak $Digital^{(R)}$ (Smith & Nephew, Hull, UK) on every other day after surgery from day 2 to day 28. A biopsy was performed on day 3, and 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks to investigate the degree of acute and chronic inflammation, the number of microvesssel and myofibroblast density using H & E stain and immunohistochemistry. The wound contraction rate was calculated to figure out the differences among each of the shapes and the locations. Results: The ultimate shape of the circle wound was oval, and that of the regular triangle and square were stellate. The maximum contraction rate was obtained on 8 to 10 days for all the shapes, which corresponds with the immunohistochemical finding that myofibroblast increases in the earlier 2 weeks whereas it decreases in the later 2 weeks. Epithelialization was seen in the wound margin on day 7 and afterwards. The final wound contraction rates were highest for the regular triangle shapes; however, there were no statistically significant differences. The wound contraction rates by locations showed statistically significant differences. The wound in the cephalic area presented more contractions than that of the wounds in the caudal area. Conclusion: The location of a wound is more important factor than the wound shape in wound contraction.

• Journal of International Society for Simulation Surgery
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.26-32
• /
• 2015

Purpose When a surgeon examines the morphology of skull of patient, locations of craniometric landmarks of 3D computed tomography(CT) volume are one of the most important information for surgical purpose. The locations of craniometric landmarks can be found manually by surgeon from the 3D rendered volume or 2D sagittal, axial, and coronal slices which are taken by CT. Since there are many landmarks on the skull, finding these manually is time-consuming, exhaustive, and occasionally inexact. These inefficiencies raise a demand for a automatic localization technique for craniometric landmark points. So in this paper, we propose a novel method through which we can automatically find these landmark points, which are useful for surgical purpose. Materials and Methods At first, we align the experimental data (CT volumes) using Frankfurt Horizontal Plane (FHP) and Mid Sagittal Plane(MSP) which are defined by 3 and 2 cranial landmark points each. The target landmark of our experiment is the anterior nasal spine. Prior to constructing a statistical cubic model which would be used for detecting the location of the landmark from a given CT volume, reference points for the anterior nasal spine were manually chosen by a surgeon from several CT volume sets. The statistical cubic model is constructed by calculating weighted intensity means of these CT sets around the reference points. By finding the location where similarity function (squared difference function) has the minimal value with this model, the location of the landmark can be found from any given CT volume. Results In this paper, we used 5 CT volumes to construct the statistical cubic model. The 20 CT volumes including the volumes, which were used to construct the model, were used for testing. The range of age of subjects is up to 2 years (24 months) old. The found points of each data are almost close to the reference point which were manually chosen by surgeon. Also it has been seen that the similarity function always has the global minimum at the detection point. Conclusion Through the experiment, we have seen the proposed method shows the outstanding performance in searching the landmark point. This algorithm would make surgeons efficiently work with morphological informations of skull. We also expect the potential of our algorithm for searching the anatomic landmarks not only cranial landmarks.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.353-359
• /
• 2010

Introduction: This study examined the effect of cyclosporine A (CsA) on the allogenic cranial bone graft in the mice. Materials and Methods: Twenty eight 12-week-old male ICR mice weighing 40 g were used. The experimental group was injected subcutaneously with CsA (10 mg/kg/day) diluted in Caster oil for 7 days prior to the graft until sacrifice. The control group was injected with the same solution without CsA. Two full-thickness bone defects with a diameter of 3 mm were made with a trephine bur in the parietal bone lateral to the sagittal suture. A calvarial defect of a mouse was grafted with allogenic calvarial bone disc from another mouse. The experimental and control groups were injected with CsA and the solution without CsA in the same manner before surgery, respectively. The mice were sacrificed at 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the bone graft, respectively. Results: In the experimental group, fibrous connective tissues and small amounts of inflammatory cells were observed. At 2 weeks after the allograft in the experimental group, new bone formation in fibrous collagenous tissue and around the allogenic bone was noted. At 4 weeks after the allograft, new bone formation was active along and at the periphery of the mature allogenic bone. The proliferation of blood vessels increased in bone marrow. In the control group, fibrous tissues and inflammatory cells were observed around the allogenic bone and existing bone at 1 week. At 2 weeks after the allograft, the proliferation of blood vessels accompanied by inflammatory cells were scattered in the fibrous connective tissues. New bone formation around the allogenic and existing bone could be observed. At 4 weeks after the allograft, inflammatory cells were severely infiltrated around the allogenic bone. Osteoclasts were scattered along the allogenic bone and induced bone resorption. Conclusion: These results suggest that the daily administration of CsA (10 mg/kg/day) induces efficient immunosuppression without serious complications, and this protocol might be useful for the experimental model of allogenic bone grafts.