• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1026-1034
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• 2019

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the lipid-lowering effect and safety of Daeshiho-tang in patients with uncontrolled lipid levels by statins. Methods: We investigated patients who had an abnormal lipid profile even when taking statins and who were administered Daeshiho-tang at Kyung-Hee University Korean Medical Hospital for at least one day between January 2008 and December 2018. Their basal characteristics and examinations were reviewed retrospectively with respect to lipid profile, AST, ALT, GGT, BUN, and creatinine. The lipid profile was composed of total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol. Subgroup analysis was performed on each component of dyslipidemia. Results: Among 20 participants, there were 10 males and 10 females. The mean BMI was 23.52. Eighty five percent of the participants were diagnosed as having cerebral infarction. After the administration of Daeshiho-tang, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced, to 41.3 mg/dl and 33.95 mg/dl, respectively. In subgroup analyses, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly decreased, to 63 mg/dl and 54.6 mg/dl, respectively. Liver and kidney function showed no significant difference after taking Daeshiho-tang. Conclusions: Daeshiho-tang as a decoction or powder had significant lipid-lowering effects on total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in patients with dyslipidemia. The lipid-lowering effect on total and LDL cholesterol increased in patients with hypercholesterolemia and hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, respectively. Based on the minimal changes in the liver and kidney function test, Daeshiho-tang would be safe enough to be used in clinics.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1318-1324
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the management of blood glucose in diabetes mellitus using modified Jawonjihwang-tang in a Korean medical clinic, retrospectively. Methods: From 2006 to 2018, 150 patients diagnosed with diabetes who visited a Korean medical clinic were treated with Korean medicine. Then, 81 of them were prescribed Jawonjihwang-tang. Five cases who changed the formula during the procedure were excluded; therefore, 76 cases were finally selected. Their therapeutic effects were evaluated by the variance in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Results: After administration of Jawonjihwang-tang, most patients exhibited a decreased level of HbA1c, and 24 patients had normalized the level of HbA1c. The HbA1c level of all patients decreased from 9.1±2.2 to 7.8±2.2 significantly (p<0.001). Conclusions: It is concluded that Jawonjihwang-tang may control blood glucose in diabetes patients. However, more prospective randomized clinical trials are warranted to verify this conclusion.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.206-212
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• 2014

Objectives: This was to evaluate the current usage of three erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESA) and their efficacy for management of anemia in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: It was a retrospective comparative study through review of electronic medical records of chronic kidney disease patients undergoing PD at a tertiary teaching hospital from January 1998 to June 2013. Results: Average administration frequency was 1.66 times/week in EPO group, 0.75 times/week in DA group, and 0.19 times/week in MPG-EPO group. At the first 4 weeks, there were significant differences in mean hemoglobin levels between EPO and DA groups ($9.25{\pm}1.28g/dL$, $10.02{\pm}0.95g/dL$ each, p = 0.018) and also in hemoglobin response rates (10.0%, 45.2% each, p = 0.008), but since after 4 week, there had been no significant differences. There also showed no significant differences in achievement of hemoglobin target between the two groups. When converted to MPG-EPO in EPO/DA groups, there showed a slight increase in hemoglobin levels of both groups. MPG-EPO was the highest compared with two other drugs by the average cost based on the average weekly dose. Conclusion: EPO, DA, and MPG-EPO showed similar effects in treatment of anemia of PD patients based on hemoglobin target range (11.0~12.0 g/dL) which NFK-K/DOQI guidelines suggest. Though the average cost of MPG-EPO was higher than the other two drugs, the number of PD patients using MPG-EPO has increased and it is thought that long half-life and low administration frequency of MPG-EPO have improved the compliance of PD patients who have to self-administrate.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.161-168
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• 2020

Background: Recently, a study comprising adult patients with sepsis admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) was conducted. The patients were treated with high doses of intravenous ascorbic acid, thiamine, and hydrocortisone; the clinical outcomes demonstrated significant therapeutic benefits. The mortality rate in children with sepsis is approximately 25%. However, the effects of additional treatment with ascorbic acid and thiamine ("vitamin protocol") in children are rarely investigated. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using medical records of patients diagnosed with sepsis and admitted to the pediatric ICU (PICU) between September 2016 and June 2019. The control group received treatment only as per sepsis protocol, whereas the treated group received both sepsis protocol and the vitamin protocol. The primary endpoint was change in Vasoactive-Inotropic Score (VIS) for 5 days. The secondary endpoints included the length of stay in the PICU, duration of using mechanical ventilators and vasopressors, and mortality rate. Results: The number of patients in the treated and control groups was 33 and 24, respectively. The treated group showed greater decrease in their VIS for 5 days than the control group (44.4 vs 18.6); however, the difference was not statistically significant. The length of stay in the PICU was significantly longer for the treated group than for the control group [10.0 days (Interquartile range (IQR), 6-18) vs 4.5 days (IQR, 4-10.3); p=0.004]. Conclusions: No significant treatment benefits were observed following vitamin protocol administration to the pediatric patients with sepsis. Further studies are necessary for improving the efficacy and safety of the vitamin protocol.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.95-101
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• 2012

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the impact of advanced maternal and paternal age on perinatal outcome in Korea. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study involving 1,622 Korean women who delivered at M Woman Hospital from January to December 2010 and their spouses were included. We obtained obstetrics database which included demographic characteristics, medical and obstetrics history, course of the current pregnancy and advised perinatal outcome. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounding variables. Results: Women giving birth age 35 or older were statistically significant in paternal age, gravidity, spontaneous abortion experience, method of conception, method of delivery, and multiple gestation compared to women aged <34 years. After adjusting for the confounding effects of maternal characteristics, women aged 35 or older were at increased risk for cesarean section delivery (adjusted OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.22-2.13) and preterm birth (adjusted OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.03-4.63). Conclusion: In this population of Korean women, advance maternal and paternal age is independently associated with specific adverse perinatal outcome, especially preterm birth and cesarean section delivery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5933-5937
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• 2015

Background: We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of baseline neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts along with the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in local and advanced gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, a total of 103 patients with gastric cancer were included. For all, patient characteristics and overall survival (OS) times were evaluated. Data from a complete blood count test including neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, white blood cell (WBC) and platelet (Plt) count, hemoglobin level (Hb) were recorded, and the NLR and PLR were obtained for every patient prior to pathological diagnosis before any treatment was applied. Results: Of the patients, 53 had local disease, underwent surgery and were administered adjuvant chemoradiotherapy where indicated. The remaining 50 had advanced disease and only received chemotherapy. OS time was $71.6{\pm}6$ months in local gastric cancer patients group and $15{\pm}2$ months in the advanced gastric cancer group. Univariate analysis demonstrated that only high platelet count (p=0.013) was associated with better OS in the local gastric cancer patients. In contrast, both low NLR (p=0.029) and low PLR (p=0.012) were associated with better OS in advanced gastric cancer patients. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that NLR and PLR had no effect on prognosis in patients with local gastric cancer who underwent surgery and received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. In advanced gastric cancer patients, both NLR and PLR had significant effects on prognosis, so they may find application as easily measured prognostic factors for such patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3351-3354
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• 2015

Background: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in the pediatric age group. All patients with RMS regardless of their initial stage or group receive combination chemotherapy as 'standard therapy' consisting of vincristine, actinomycin-D and cyclophosphamide. Actinomycin-D was not readily available in Turkey at one time. Carboplatin was used instead in order to prevent delays in treatment. The aim of this report is to present the results of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma receiving carboplatin or actinomycin-D therapy. Materials and Methods: Twenty four patients with rhabdomyosarcoma treated between December 2000 and June 2011 were included in this retrospective study. The patients were treated according to International Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group guidelines. Eleven patients were treated with actinomycin-D and 13 with carboplatin ($250mg/m^2/dose$ for 2 days). The two groups were then compared in terms of 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and hematological and non-hematological toxicities. Results: Age, sex, stage and the mean duration of follow-up were similar in both groups (p>0.05). Two- and five-year OS levels were 68.2% in the carboplatin group and 78.0% and 40.0%, respectively, in the actinomycin-D group. There was no statistical difference in the number of febrile episodes (p=0.86) and no other hematological and non-hematological adverse effects were recorded in both groups. Conclusions: The findings show that carboplatin can be used as an alternative drug in the primary treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma in the event that actinomycin-D is unavailable or not tolerated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4219-4222
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• 2015

Background: Hydronephrosis is frequently encountered in advanced stage cervical cancers, and may be associated with mortality. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the effect of hydronephrosis on survival in patients with inoperable advanced stage cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: The study data were acquired by retrospective analysis of the patient records belonging to 165 women with FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage-IIIB or more advanced cervical cancer, which were not surgical candidates. Parameters including patient age, pathological diagnosis, disease stage, pelvic sidewall extension, presence of hydronephrosis and administration of chemoradiation were analyzed. Further, the effects of these variables on survival were assessed. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The distribution of the study patients according to disease stage was as follows: 131 (79.4%) had stage-IIIB, 18 (10.9%) had stage-IVB and 16 (% 9.7) patients had stage-IVA disease. Hydronephrosis was not evident in 91 (55.2%) of these patients, whereas 41 (24.8%) had unilateral and 33 (20%) patients had bilateral hydronephrosis. When compared to mean survival in patients who did not have hydronephrosis, survival was significantly shortened in patients who had bilateral and unilateral hydronephrosis (p<0.05). There was no significant survival difference between patients with unilateral and bilateral hydronephrosis (p>0.05). Although patient age, pathological type, pelvic involvement, and chemotherapy treatment rates were similar (p>0.05), radiotherapy requirement rate and disease stage were significantly different among the study groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: Hydronephrosis was found to be a significant predictor of poor survival in patients with advanced stage cervical cancer, irrespective of unilateral or bilateral involvement.While waiting for future studies with larger sample sizes, we believe that the FIGO stages in advanced cervical cancer could further be stratified into subgroups according to presence or absence of hydronephrosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1019-1024
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• 2015

Background: Survival of breast cancer patients depends on a number of factors which are not only prognostic but are also predictive. A number of studies have been carried out worldwide to find out prognostic and predictive significance of different clinicopathological and molecular variables in breast cancer. This study was carried out at Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI), Islamabad, to find out the impact of different factors on overall survival of breast cancer patients coming from Northern Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This observational retrospective study was carried out in the Oncology Department of NORI Hospital. A total of 2,666 patients were included. Data were entered into SPSS 20. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to determine associations of different variables with overall survival. P values <0.05 were considered significant. Results: The mean age of the patients was 47.6 years, 49.5% being postmenopausal. Some 1,708 were ER positive and 1,615 were PR positive, while Her 2 neu oncogene positivity was found in 683. A total of 1,237 presented with skin involvement and 426 had chest wall involvement. Some 1,663 had > 5cm tumors. Lymph node involvement was detected in 2,131. Overall survival was less than 5 years in 669 patients, only 324 surviving for more than 10 years, and in the remainder overall survival was in the range of 5-10 years. Conclusions: Tumor size, lymph node metastases, receptor status, her 2 neu positivity, skin involvement, and chest wall involvement have significant effects whereas age and menopausal status have no significant effect on overall survival of breast cancer patients in Pakistan.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.969-973
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• 2014

Background: The number of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in Taiwan has increased in recent years; therefore, the effective dissemination of information related to symptom care has become especially important. Previous studies indicated that the physical and psychological status of cancer patients can be effectively improved by telephone counseling services (TCS). Thus, determining the most effective means of establishing a TCS to support the clinical practice of oncology has become a crucial goal for nursing. The purposes of this study were to analysis the content of the TCS for CRC and explore stratification of the TCS. Materials and Methods: The study design was retrospective. A total of 850 calls were made to CRC patients in the cancer center of Southern Taiwan during the period of January 2007- December 2011. A structure questionnaire was adopted to analysis satisfaction. Results: Responses provided by the TCS included information regarding nutrition, side effects resulting from chemotherapy and pain. Moreover, 28.7% of CRC patients needed advanced treatment. More than 90% satisfaction with all aspects of the calls was found. Conclusions: The TCS coulkd be shown to provide an effective means by which to expand the reach of nursing care to different times, places and patients, allowing for greater cost efficiency and more rapid service.