• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 1996

The number of multifetal pregnancies has increased dramatically as a result of the widespread clinical use of ovulation induction and assisted reproductive technology(ART) in infertile patients. In multifetal pregnancies, the adverse outcome is directly proportional to the number of fetuses within the uterus, primarily because of an increased predisposition to premature delivery. It is extremely difficult to counsel patients about the expected outcome of pregnancies involving three or more fetuses. To increase the chances of delivering infants mature enough to survive without being irreversibly damaged by the sequelae of marked prematurity, selective fetal reduction(SFR) to the smaller number of fetuses should be considered in multifetal pregnancies. From January, 1991 to December, 1992, transabdominal SFR in multifetal pregnancies was performed in 22 patients including 13 triplet, 7 quadruplet, 1 quintuplet and 1 heptuplet pregnancies. Transabdominal SFR using intracardiac KCI injection and aspiration of amniotic fluid was carried out in 8-13 weeks of gestation. After procedure, 20 patients were remained as twin pregnancies, and 2 patients as triplet pregnancies. There have been 11 sets of twin delivery including 2 stillbirths, 2 sets of triplet delivery including 1 stillbirth, and 1 singleton delivery. Six cases were delivered after 37 weeks of gestation, 4 cases in 33 - 37 weeks, and 1 case in 30 weeks. Unfortunately, 3 stillbirths occurred in 20-24 weeks of gestation, and 4 cases were aborted. As 7 losses of pregnanancy including 1 case of septic abortion occurred, the delayed fetal loss rate was 38.9%(7/18) in transabdominal SFR. All babies born after 30 weeks of gestation were healthy, and no fetal anomaly directly related to the procedure was encountered. From July, 1993 to February, 1995, transvaginal SFR was performed in 20 patients including 15 triplet, 4 quadruplet and 1 quintuplet pregnancies. Transvaginal SFR using the same method as transabdominal SFR was carried out in 8-11 weeks of gestation. After procedure, 19 patients were remained as twin pregnancies, and 1 patient as singleton pregnancy. There have been 13 sets of twin delivery including 2 stillbirths, and 1 singleton delivery. Six cases were delivered after 37 weeks of gestation, 5 cases in 36-37 weeks, and 1 case in 30 weeks. Unfortunately, 2 still-births occurred in 20 weeks and 21 weeks of gestation, respectively, and 2 cases were aborted. As 4 losses of pregnancy including 1 case of septic abortion occurred, the delayed fetal loss rate was 25.0%(4/16) in transvaginal SFR. No fetal anomaly directly related to the procedure was encountered. It is suggested that transvaginal SFR could be performed more easily and earlier with the lower fetal loss rate as compared with transabdominal SFR. In conclusion, SFR is a rather safe and ethically justified procedure that may improve the outcome of multifetal pregnancies.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.61-78
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the current characteristics of outpatients with postpartum disease and provide a treatment instruction in the clinical field. Methods: To analyze characteristics of outpatients with postpartum disease, We searched medical records from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017 using Z34 (Supervision of normal pregnancy), O94 (Sequelae of complication of pregnancy), U327 (産後風) and 388 postpartum patients were analyzed. Results: 1. The general characteristics of the subjects are as follows. The average age was $33.73{\pm}3.62$ years old, 356 (91.75%) patients are full term pregnancy, 201 (51.81%) patients are first delivery, 79 (20.36%) patients had past history of abortion and 63 (16.24%) patients had past history of gynecologic disease. 2. The most subjects visited in April (10.31%). The mean duration from delivery date to visiting date was $131.5{\pm}214.6$ days. The mean number of visits after the initial visit was $1.91{\pm}1.7$. 3. The characteristics related with pregnancy and delivery are as follows. The number of subjects taken assisted reproductive technology was 19 (4.9%) and suffering from gestational disease was 28 (7.22%). The mean body weight difference between full term pregnancy and visiting date was $-8.24{\pm}3.57kg$. The number of subjects discharging lochia on visiting date was 167 (43.04%) and breastfeeding was 262 (67.53%). 4. The most chief complaint was arthralgia in 217 (55.93%) followed by general weakness, cold sensation, edema, sweating disorder, dizziness, lower abdominal pain, digestion disorder, heat sensation, defecation disorder and urination disorder. 5. The most accompanied symptom was arthralgia in 322 (82.99%), followed by sleep disorder, cold sensation, general weakness, sweating disorder, defecation disorder, edema, dizziness, digestion disorder, urination disorder, lower abdominal pain and heat sensation. 6. A total of 356 subjects were taken herbal medicine. The most prescribed herbal medicine to subjects was Gungguijohyeol-eum-gamibang (29.59%). Conclusions: These results could be helpful to diagnose and treat postpartum patients in Korean gynecologic clinical fields.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.9-13
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• 2016

Purpose PET-CT examinations using $^{18}F-FDG$ to treat urinary system cancer are limited in terms of anatomical structure and excretion route of $^{18}F-FDG$. But one of the ongoing examinations utilizing $^{11}C-Acetate$ can compensate for such defects. We would like to introduce a clinical application of $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT in urinary cancer patients. Materials and Methods We conducted a clinical survey of 22 patients diagnosed with urinary cancer at our hospital, 10 prostate cancer patients, 10 renal cell carcinoma patients, and 2 bladder cancer patients. All patients were performed $^{18}F-FDG$ PET-CT examinations, $^{11}C-Acetate$ examinations were performed after two weeks on average. The equipment used to D-710 PET-CT in GE Company and we performed PET-CT procedures 15 minutes after injecting $^{11}C-Acetate$, and a medical doctor from the department of nuclear medicine appraised and compared images between $^{18}F-FDG$ and $^{11}C-Acetate$. Results According to our survey, prostate cancer patients generally had lower uptake of $^{18}F-FDG$ than other cancer patients did. In 2 out of 10 prostate cancer patients, metastasized cancer showed greater uptake in $^{11}C-Acetate$ than $^{18}F-FDG$. In renal cell carcinoma cases, 8 out of 10 patients displayed evidently greater uptake in $^{11}C-Acetate$ than $^{18}F-FDG$. We excluded bladder cancer cases in this study because uptake of $^{18}F-FDG$ in the bladder was too hot, the number of patients was insufficient, and the cases did not meet criteria such as the use of diuretics. Conclusion It is too premature to draw solid conclusions from the survey, since it involved only a small number of participants. However, there are a number of studies conducted abroad that prove the effectiveness of the $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT examinations in treating urinary system cancer, and this study is still ongoing at our hospital. If the tests were to be conducted on a larger number of participants, this study could lead to numerous other potential research topics, such as the correlation between Prostatic specific antigen (PSA) values and $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT, Gleason sum values from biopsy before surgery, Specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) between $^{18}F-FDG$ PET-CT examinations and $^{11}C-Acetate$ PET-CT examinations in other urinary system cancers.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.400-414
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• 1999

Objectives: This is a descriptive study which was carried out to identify characteristics of the chronic mentally ill and their families in a rural area and the influencing factors on family burden. Methods : Data was collected for seven months beginning April 1, 1998 by questionnaire from chronic mentally ill patients and their families in two towns and seven townships of the rural areas of Kyonggi Province. In additional to the mental diagnosis of the mentally ill patients, family burden was measured by interviewing the other family members using the questionnaire developed by Pai & Kapur (1981). Of those interviewed, 103 patients were selected for final analysis. Results : Of 103 mentally ill patients, 36.1% of the subjects were not under treatment. In particular, of 29 patients with schizophrenia, 48.3% of the subjects had stopped taking medication and 6.9% of the subjects had never been treated. According to the results of a specialized examination by a psychologist, 81% of patients were in need of Hospitalization. Most primary caregivers were parents. Of the 101 primary caregivers in the study, 39.6% were over 65 years old. In case of death of the primary caregiver, 50.5% of these 101 mentally ill patients would not have anyone to care for them. Of the various kinds of family burden, primary caregivers most often reported psychological stress. Overall, the families of dementia and schizophrenia patients complained of the most family burden. Through univariative analysis, the variables of sex, education and current treatment type of the patients, the relationship with the patient and marital status of the primary caregiver and the number of people living together in the household showed significant correlation with the family burden of schizophrenia patients. Univariative analysis also showed that there were a number of variables which were correlated to the family burden in mentally retarded patients. Concerning the need for mental health services, the most common requests were for entitlement to disability benefits and housing programs. Conclusions: Community mental health services in rural areas must be developed, planned and executed in consideration of the local situation. In particular, the development of various family support programs is needed in order to mitigate emotional, mental and economic burdens and carry out a positive role to care for and rehabilitate patients.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2015

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the use of Korean medicine in patients with dizziness or vertigo, since such study has not been performed previously. Methods: In the current study, we included 3 diagnoses i.e., Disorders of vestibular function (H81), Vertiginous syndromes in diseases classified elsewhere (H82), and Dizziness and giddiness (R42) from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRAS) database for 4 years. We analyzed the database and compared treatment with Korean vs. Western medicine. Results: 1. Korean medical visits and cost have been increasing for 4 years, except 2011. Western medical visits are 11.9 times higher than Korean medical visits. 2. The number of women who received Korean medicine was 2.6 times higher than that of men. 3. Among all ages, the 70~79 years group were the most frequent users of Korean medicine. The older age was correlated with more patients' visits. 4. The comparative number of visits by patient care type for 4 years indicated that outpatients had more visits than hospitalization. Furthermore, outpatient visits have been increasing for 4 years. 5. The comparative number of visits by hospital type for 4 years indicated that visits to the Korean medical clinic were the highest. In primary care, patients used more Korean medicine than Western medicine. In tertiary care, patients used more Western medicine than Korean medicine. 6. Korean medical cost per patient by patient care type for 4 years was a total 89,000 won, hospitalization 449,000 won and outpatient 83,000 won. Costs of all patient care types have been increasing. 7. Korean medical cost per patient by hospital type for 4 years was 156,000 won for Korean medical hospital, 83,000 won for local clinic and 127,000 won for miscellaneous facilities. Costs of all types have been increasing. Conclusions: This study provided objective information about epidemiologic characteristics of Korean medicine in patients with dizziness or vertigo. Furthermore, it provides an understanding of the recent status and forms the basis for further expansion of demand for Korean medicine among patients with dizziness or vertigo.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to assess pain, discomfort, depression and coping patterns and the relations between these in chronic arthritis patients. The sampling method was a purposive sampling technique. 1) Who have been diagnosed as having chronic arthritis and. 2) Who were at the out patients clinic of rheumatoid arthritis departments of one University hospital in seoul between september, 11, 1993 to september, 18, 1993. The instruments used for this study were Graphic Rating Scales of pain, discomfort level of the activities of daily living(ADL) developed by Lee, Eun Ok and The Beck Depression inventory. The research used to measure coping patterns was a tool developed by the present study researcher. Analysis of data was done frequency, Pearson correlation coefficients, ANOVA, regression and ANCOVA. The results were summerlized as follows ; 1. Female exceed male patients in number and onset of joint pain were more prevalent in the age groups of the 40s and the 50s. The average duration of suffering from the pain were seven years six mounths. 2. The mean pain score : The mean sensory score was 119mm and the affective score was 109mm. 3. The discomfort level of ADL, the mean score was 2.95 out of a possible score of 5.0 and depression syndrome subjects were 62.2%. 4. The coping responses for each pattern were as follows : 1) "Active coping" mean score was 2.28. 2) "Wishful coping" mean score was 2.89. 3) "Receptive coping" mean score was 3.31. 4) "Negative coping" mean score was 1.82. 5. Significant differences were found in age, religion, marriage status and the coping patterns of patients. 1) In the coping pattern of "receptive coping", the score of the age groups of the 50s were higher than that of 20s, and in the coping pattern of "negative coping", the score of the age groups of the 20s were higher than other age groups. 2) In the coping pattern of "wishful coping", the score of the christian were higher than other religion groups. 3) In the coping pattern of "negative coping", the score of the marrieds were lower than other groups. 6. Patients who scored low on factor 2, wishful coping, were much more likely to report having pain sensory than patioets scoring high on this factor. 7. Patients who scored high on factor 4, negative coping, were significantly more likely to report having pain sensory than patients scoring high on this factor. Consider overall, chronic arthritis patients report using a wide varity of strategies, certain strategies such as receptive, wishful and active coping are used frequently, whereas other strategies such as negative coping are rarely used. One of the most important finding of present study is that the reported use of coping strategies is related to adjustment to a chronic pain problem. The present study suggests that negative coping is related to poor emotional adjustment as assessed by depression, but not pain ratings. Considered overall, this pattern of findings suggests that counseling patients to decreased their use of negative coping may be useful. The present study has a number of limitations. First, the sample is restricted to chronic arthritis patients. Weather chronic pain patients suffering from other types of pain syndromes use similar coping strategies needs to be determined in subsequent research. Second, the tool of coping pattern must be studied further to obtain reliability.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.27-64
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• 1988

Most hospital administrators in our country have doubted whether or not the size of their hospital personnel staffs, and the personnel management styles implemented are efficient or not. Actually, increased personnel expenditures due to sophisticated specialization of medical practices has become the biggest hospital expense. Therefore, it is said that hospitals can be run move efficiently by implementing reasonable management strategies for hospital personnel management. In this paper, the departments of diagnostic radiography in 16 general hospitals in Seoul, which were classified into 4 groups by the scale of hospital beds, were used as sample cases. Then, the data for the number of X-ray examination by diagnostic item was collected from sample hospitals. The unit hour spent on X-ray examinations in each diagnostic service was quoted from "A Study on setting-up of the relative value units of medical services and on the structure of current fee schedules" written by Mr. Ik Je Seong. The data analysis results are as follows; First, the number of hours per day spent on X-ray examinations in 13 hospitals out of 16 hospitals, was shorter than the general daily working hours (8 hours). Second, in the morning there was not enough time to work for X-ray examinations required, with the available manpower. In the afternoon, however, the situation was diametrically opposed to that in the morning. Third, in light of above results, though most hospitals employ sufficient personnel for the quantity of the actural work, they were always short-handed where their works were performed Fourth, this study tells us that there is a maldistribution of the work in the schedule : too much work for the available personnel in the morning. The following recommendations are resulted from the data analysis described above. First, it is recommended that all out-patients coming again, except specific patients(G. B. or I.V.P. etc) who have to have their X-ray examinations on an empty stomach in the morning among out-patients, be required to visit the hospital in the afternoon. Second, it is recommended that all new out-patients be required to make a reservation in order to equalize the number of patients throughout the day. Third, it is recommended that all in-patients, except specified patients, be arranged to have their X-ray examinations in the afternoon. Fourth, it is recommended that part time workers be employed during peak hours. This recommendation, if applied in a wider scale, would allow hospitals to overcome the problem of the maldistribution of work and personnel, and then more efficient hospital management through the appropirate personnel management procedures could be expected.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.260-266
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• 2004

Objectives : To assess the impacts of implementing case payment system (CPS) to Medical Aid (MA) hemodialysis patients on the frequencies and expenditure of dialysis. Methods : Fifty-eight clinics and 35 tertiary care hospitals were identified as having a minimum of 10 hemodialysis patients for each of the MA and Medical Insurance (MI) programs, who received hemodialysis from the same dialysis facilities for both periods of July 2001 and July 2002. From these facilities, a total of 2,167 MA and 2,928 MI patients were identified as the study subjects. Using electronic claims data, the changes in the total number of monthly treatments and charges for outpatient hemodialysis treatments for each patient after the introduction of the CPS were compared between the MA and MI patients. Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the independent impact of the CPS on the utilization and expenditure of dialysis treatments among the MA patients. Results : There was a significant decrease in the total charges for the hemodialysis treatments of the MA patients, 3.4% (p<0.05), whereas a significant increase was observed for the MI patients, 2.5% (p<0.05). For both the MA and MI patients, the frequency of the monthly hemodialysis treatments were significantly increased, 5.5 (from 12.1 to 12.7) and 7.8% (from 11.6 to 12.5), for the MA and MI patients, respectively. However, a multivariate regression analysis showed no significant difference in the changes in the total number of monthly hemodialysis treatments between the MA and MI patients after implementation of the CPS. Another regression model, regressing on the changes in the monthly claims of dialysis treatments, showed a significant negative coefficient for the MA ((=-70725, p<0.05). Conclusion : The significant decrease in the total charges for hemodialysis treatments among MA as compared to MI patients suggests that there was a cost reduction in the MA program following the introduction of the CPS.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.52-57
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• 2012

Objective: During IVF, non-transferred embryos are usually selected for cryopreservation on the basis of morphological criteria. This investigation evaluated an application for array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in assessment of surplus embryos prior to cryopreservation. Methods: First-time IVF patients undergoing elective single embryo transfer and having at least one extra non-transferred embryo suitable for cryopreservation were offered enrollment in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups: Patients in group A (n=55) had embryos assessed first by morphology and then by aCGH, performed on cells obtained from trophectoderm biopsy on post-fertilization d5. Only euploid embryos were designated for cryopreservation. Patients in group B (n=48) had embryos assessed by morphology alone, with only good morphology embryos considered suitable for cryopreservation. Results: Among biopsied embryos in group A (n=425), euploidy was confirmed in 226 (53.1%). After fresh single embryo transfer, 64 (28.3%) surplus euploid embryos were cryopreserved for 51 patients (92.7%). In group B, 389 good morphology blastocysts were identified and a single top quality blastocyst was selected for fresh transfer. All group B patients (48/48) had at least one blastocyst remaining for cryopreservation. A total of 157 (40.4%) blastocysts were frozen in this group, a significantly larger proportion than was cryopreserved in group A (p=0.017, by chi-squared analysis). Conclusion: While aCGH and subsequent frozen embryo transfer are currently used to screen embryos, this is the first investigation to quantify the impact of aCGH specifically on embryo cryopreservation. Incorporation of aCGH screening significantly reduced the total number of cryopreserved blastocysts compared to when suitability for freezing was determined by morphology only. IVF patients should be counseled that the benefits of aCGH screening will likely come at the cost of sharply limiting the number of surplus embryos available for cryopreservation.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.190-202
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• 2000

Background : The objectives of this study were to examine patients' satisfaction with the DRG based payment method and its association with their awareness of the method, to examine patient reported changes in doctors' caring attitude, level of their out-of-pocket payments, providers' acceptance of patients' request for additional services after the program, and to examine changes in service utilization recorded in medical records. Method : One hundred-four patients who had cesarean sections before and after the demonstration program at two hospitals located in Seoul participated in the study. Patients were surveyed before discharges when their charges were finalized. Their medical records were reviewed as well to collect data for service utilization during hospital stays. The association between patients' satisfaction with the payment method and their awareness of the method was analyzed by ${\chi}^2$-test, and the significance of changes in providers' acceptance of patients' request for additional services and service utilization after the program were examined by ${\chi}^2$-test and t-test, respectively. Results : A large proportion of patients did not know of the DRG based payment method at the time of survey and a significantly larger proportion of patients who came to the hospitals with the knowledge satisfied with the method. About the same proportion of patients reported improvement and deterioration in doctors' caring attitude compare to the previous hospitalizations and a similar result was found concerning out-of-pocket payments. Providers' acceptance of patients' request for medication, PCA and painless delivery decreased significantly after the program whereas the acceptance for additional hospital days and laboratory and radiology tests did not. Length of stay, the numbers of days on antibiotics and antianemic medication, and the number of blood tests decreased significantly after the program, however, decreases in the rate of antianemic medication and the number of urine analyses were not statistically significant. Re-operation, in-hospital death, and complications were not observed before and after the program. Conclusion : The study findings indicated a need for better patient education and publicity about the newly introduced payment method to improve their satisfaction with the system. Other study findings concerning service utilization and quality of care indicators were consistent with the government funded evaluation studies.