• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1230-1233
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• 1998

The Cox-Maze procedure was developed as a cure for atrial fibrillation. The recovery rate of both atrial contractility is reported low in the atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valvular heart disease than that of loan atrial fibrillation. We performed the Cox-Maze procedure (Maze III) in three cases who suffered from non-mitral heart diseases associated with atrial fibrillation: A ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm, a ventricular septal defect, and an aortic stenoinsufficiency. The Cox-Maze procedure was performed concomitantly with correction of the underlying heart disease. Conversion to sinus rhythm was achieved in all three patients, and both right and left atrial mechanical activities could be identified echocardiographically after three postoperative months.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.161-164
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• 2009

Ginseng is one of the most popular herbs throughout the world. Ginsenosides, the active constituent of ginseng, have been suggested to have diverse effects on cardiovascular, immune, mood and endocrine systems as well as cognitive performance. Many studies have revealed the beneficial effect of ginseng on cognition in normal human subjects and in animals. Recently, a few studies showing effects of ginseng on the patients with Alzheimer's disease have been reported. However, the underlying mechanism is not clear at this stage and it is still obscure whether ginseng is cognitive stimulant or disease modifying agent. More detailed studies exploring the relationship between clinical efficacy and pathophysiology are required.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1307-1313
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• 2015

Colangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a progressively fatal disease which generally occurs due to malignant transformation of hepatic biliary cholangiocytes. The incidence of CCA has been increasing worldwide and there is an urgent requirement for effective diagnosis and treatment strategies against this devastating disease. Different factors including liver-fluke infestation, viral hepatitis, exogenous nitrosamine-mediated DNA damage, and chronic inflammation have been linked to CCA genesis. However, the risk factors and underlying complex mechanisms leading to development of CCA are not sufficiently understood to devise an effective targeted treatment therapy. In this review, we summarize currently known epidemiological and pathological aspects of the disease and briefly describe various potential biomarkers and experimental anticancer phytochemicals related to CCA research. In addition, we also sum up recent findings that link chronic inflammation of hepatic biliary cholangiocytes with CCA. The collective information concisely presented in this article would provide useful insights into the current understanding of this cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 1991

Pulmonary aspergillosis is a rare disease, most commonly presenting pre-existing cavitary disease. In Department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Chonbuk National University, 5 patients have been recognized as having this disorder from 1988 to 1990, June. Of the 5 patients, three were female and two were male. Age ranged from 30 to 53 years, the average age was 38.4 years. The most common presenting symptoms were blood-tinged sputum, hemoptysis, coughing, and chest pain Pulmonary tuberculosis occupied 8-% of underlying pulmonary disease. The locations of lesion were right upper lobe in 3 cases, left upper lobe in 1, and right lower lobe in l. All of these patients were treated by surgical resection. The operative procedures were as follows: lobectomy, 3 cases; segmentectomy, 1 case; lobectomy and segmentectomy, 1 case. There was no death in early and late postoperative period. Empyema and dead space developed in two cases, respectively. The postoperative empyema was treated with open thoracostomy and the dead space was carefully observed. During follow-up, there was no recurrence.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.193-199
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• 2006

Infectious and inflammatory bone diseases include a wide range of disease process, depending on the patient's age, location of infection, various causative organisms, duration from symtom onset, accompanied fracture or prior surgery, prosthesis insertion, and underlying systemic disease such as diabetes, etc. Bone infection may induce massive destruction of bones and joints, results in functional reduction and disability. The key to successful management is early diagnosis and proper treatment. Various radionuclide imaging methods including three phase bone scan, Ga-67 scan, WBC scan, and combined imaging techniques such as bone/Ga-67 scan, WBC/bone marrow scan add complementary role to the radiologic imaging modalities including plain radiography, CT and MRI. F-18 FDG PET imaging also has recently been introduced in diagnosis of infected prosthesis and chronic active osteomyelitis. Selection of proper nuclear medicine imaging method will improve the diagnostic accuracy of infections and inflammatory bone diseases, based on understading of pathogenesis and radiologic imaging findings.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with extracellular plaques, composed of amyloid-beta ($A{\beta}$), in the brain. Although the precise mechanism underlying the neurotoxicity of $A{\beta}$ has not been established, $A{\beta}$ accumulation is the primary event in a cascade of events that lead to neurofibrillary degeneration and dementia. In particular, the $A{\beta}$ burden, as assessed by neuroimaging, has proved to be an excellent predictive biomarker. Positron emission tomography, using ligands such as $^{11}C$-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B or $^{18}F$-labeled tracers, such as $^{18}F$-florbetaben, $^{18}F$-florbetapir, and $^{18}F$-flutemetamol, which bind to $A{\beta}$ deposits in the brain, has been a valuable technique for visualizing and quantifying the deposition of $A{\beta}$ throughout the brain in living subjects. $A{\beta}$ imaging has very high sensitivity for detecting AD pathology. In addition, it can predict the progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD, and contribute to the development of disease-specific therapies.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.111-112
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• 2019

Although many studies have reported that the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) represents one of the major pathological changes in aging, the mechanism underlying this process remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we described that acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) derived from endothelial cells plays a critical role in BBB disruption in aging. ASM levels were elevated in the brain endothelium and plasma of aged humans and mice, resulting in BBB leakage through an increase in caveolae-mediated transcytosis. Moreover, ASM caused damage to the caveolae-cytoskeleton via protein phosphatase 1-mediated ezrin/radixin/moesin dephosphorylation in primary mouse brain endothelial cells. Mice overexpressing brain endothelial cell-specific ASM exhibited acceleration of BBB impairment and neuronal dysfunction. However, genetic inhibition and endothelial specific knock-down of ASM in mice improved BBB disruption and neurocognitive impairment during aging. Results of this study revealed a novel role of ASM in the regulation of BBB integrity and neuronal function in aging, thus highlighting the potential of ASM as a new therapeutic target for anti-aging.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2021

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have changed the process of genetic diagnosis from a gene-by-gene approach to syndrome-based diagnostic gene panel sequencing (DPS), diagnostic exome sequencing (DES), and diagnostic genome sequencing (DGS). A priori information on the causative genes that might underlie a genetic condition is a prerequisite for genetic diagnosis before conducting clinical NGS tests. Theoretically, DPS, DES, and DGS do not require any information on specific candidate genes. Therefore, clinical NGS tests sometimes detect disease-related pathogenic variants in genes underlying different conditions from the initial diagnosis. These clinical NGS tests are expensive, but they can be a cost-effective approach for the rapid diagnosis of rare disorders with genetic heterogeneity, such as the glycogen storage disease, familial intrahepatic cholestasis, lysosomal storage disease, and primary immunodeficiency. In addition, DES or DGS may find novel genes that that were previously not linked to human diseases.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.68-72
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• 2022

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) and reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) are relatively uncommon neurological disorders. These two independent syndromes can be concurrent as a part of a continuum process; however, the specific mechanism is not well known. Although the relationship between RCVS and PRES is currently unclear, they could share a common pathophysiology. This case report aimed to determine the pathophysiology underlying the co-occurrence of PRES and RCVS in a patient with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.426-438
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• 2023

Muscle wasting in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is an escalating issue due to the increasing global prevalence of ESRD and its significant clinical impact, including a close association with elevated mortality risk. The phenomenon of muscle wasting in ESRD, which exceeds the rate of muscle loss observed in the normal aging process, arises from multifactorial processes. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of muscle wasting in ESRD, covering its epidemiology, underlying molecular mechanisms, and current and emerging therapeutic interventions. It delves into the assessment techniques for muscle mass and function, before exploring the intricate metabolic and molecular pathways that lead to muscle atrophy in ESRD patients. We further discuss various strategies to mitigate muscle wasting, including nutritional, pharmacological, exercise, and physical modalities intervention. This review seeks to provide a solid foundation for future research in this area, fostering a deeper understanding of muscle wasting in ESRD, and paving the way for the development of novel strategies to improve patient outcomes.