• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.262-266
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• 2010

Tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) is a major proinflammatory cytokine involved in the pathophysiology of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Etanercept is an effective inhibitor of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and has shown a beneficial effect in patients with JRA. However, the most important cause of concern related to etanercept administration is infection. We report a case of encephalitis in a JRA patient receiving long-term treatment with etanercept. The patient was a 4-year-old boy with refractory JRA, and he received etanercept subcutaneously at a dose of $0.4\;mg\;kg^{-1}\;day^{-1}$ twice a week for 14 months, along with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, methotrexate, oral steroids, and sulfasalazine. The patient presented with sudden fever, headache, vomiting, a generalized tonic seizure, and changes in mental status. We suspected a central nervous system infection, and simultaneously administered antibiotics, an antiviral agent, and steroids. After 2 days of hospitalization, his mental function returned to normal, and he showed no further seizure-like movements. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scan of the patient showed a multifocal cortical lesion on both sides of the temporoparietooccipital lobe, which indicated encephalitis. Although we were unable to identify the causative organism of encephalitis, we think that the encephalitis may be attributed to infection, and the use of etanercept may have increased the risk of severe infection. Therefore, etanercept was discontinued and the patient recovered shortly after. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of encephalitis in a juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patient treated with etanercept.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.274-282
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• 2014

This study aimed to investigate the general characteristics of patients with acute cerebral infarction, the characteristics of its treatment and its correlation with stroke rating scale and to analyze the factors that affect patient's quality of life. The subject of this study was 576 patients who survived more than a year after they were diagnosed with cerebral infarction that occurred within 7 days and discharged from a study center. Their quality of life was investigated through phone interview. The average age of subjects was $65.8{\pm}12.4$ years old and male subjects took up 62% among all subjects. The mean of quality of life showed $0.77{\pm}0.29$. There was statistically significant difference in factors such as gender, age, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, stroke history and smoking. The result of multiple regression analysis showed the quality of life was lower in females than in males and it was significantly low in older subjects or those with stroke history. Also high stroke scale was related to significantly low quality of life. As such, hospitalized patients due to stroke should receive appropriate intervention during the hospitalization and after their discharge and the development of program is required to prevent relapse.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.77-85
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• 2018

Dementia among the diseases occurring in the old age is recognized as a disease to be solved at the national level and systematic management is being carried out. However, the awareness and response of the mild cognitive disorder, which is the middle stage of normal aging and dementia, are insufficient and social costs are increasing every year. The subjects of the study were 303 hospitalized patients whose primary diagnosis was mild cognitive impairment (F067) in a nursing hospital located in one district in 2016. The number of days of hospitalization was shorter in autumn and longer in winter or in hospital discharge. The cost of treatment for patients with mild cognitive impairment is lower in autumn and higher in winter or in 'discharge' of medical treatment results. The total cost of medical treatment was high in the winter by season in the ADL 6-12 and ADL 13-20 groups. Difference in the cost of medical treatment according to the characteristics of medical treatment, the medical expenses were the highest when the number of corporal disease was 5 ~ 8. In the medical treatment results, the ADL 6-12 point group and the ADL 13-20 point group had high medical expenses in 'continue'. Considering the clinical characteristics of mild cognitive impairment and considering that 10-15% of the patients with mild cognitive impairment progress to dementia every year, early detection and treatment of mild cognitive impairment is an effective and potentially important task for reducing potential social and dementia patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.217-227
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• 2015

Objectives : This study is an evaluation of the effectiveness of treatments combined with Korean medical methods, such as relaxative Chuna and Gangchuk herbal medicines, for patients with failed back surgery syndrome. Methods : In this study, medical records of ten patients who experienced failed back surgery syndrome and participated in intensive Korean medical treatment were reviewed. All patients received relaxative Chuna and acupuncture along with Gangchuk herbal medicines during hospitalization. Numeric rating scale(NRS) in the degree of 0 to 10, pain-free walking distance(PFWD) and oswestry disability index(ODI) were measured before and after treatments. Results : The patients were hospitalized for an average of 22 days. The average NRS of lumbar pain in all patients decreased from $7.7{\pm}1.6$ to $3.2{\pm}2.2$ and the average NRS decline of leg pain was from $7.7{\pm}1.7$ to $3.2{\pm}2.2$, both of which indicate statistical significance(p < 0.05). PFWD in all patients increased from 113.3 m to 798.1 m on average. The average ODI in all patients significantly improved from $63.9{\pm}7.0$ to $43.9{\pm}6.9$(p < 0.05). Conclusions : The treatments combined with Korean medical methods for failed back surgery syndrome patients are clinically effective and viable.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1294-1317
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• 2023

Background: Post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF) is a common complication in severe COVID-19 cases, often associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome or mechanical ventilation. Patients with PCPF frequently experience a decline in their quality of life due to persistent COVID-19 sequelae, including cough and chest pain. However, there is currently no established standard treatment, and the efficacy of existing medications remains uncertain. Case Report: A 65-year-old female patient presenting with cough, dyspnea, chest pain, and fatigue due to PCPF received Korean medicine treatment for 25 days. Symptom evaluation utilized the modified Medical Research Council scale, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire, and the Numeral Rating Scale. Quality of life and functional status were assessed using the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status and the EuroQol 5-Dimensional 5-Level. The extent of pulmonary fibrosis was assessed by comparing chest computed tomography (chest CT) scans before and after hospitalization. Following treatment, the patient demonstrated clinically meaningful improvement in clinical symptoms, enhanced quality of life, and decreased fibrotic lesions on CT scans. Conclusion: This case report suggests that Korean medicine treatment may be effective in improving clinical symptoms, such as cough and dyspnea caused by PCPF, while also enhancing post-COVID-19 quality of life and ameliorating pulmonary fibrotic lesions.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.347-354
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• 2013

In contrast to the increase in demand for high quality healthcare, there is limited medical human resources such as doctors and nurses so an excessive amount of workload is being forced to them. Therefore, a patient monitoring system using USN(Ubiquitous Sensor Network) is becoming a solution. This paper proposes a patient monitoring system applying USN in maternity hospital to reduce the workload of nurses. According to the efficiency evaluation test based on the model of two university hospitals(S, K University Hospital) and their doctor's diagnosis, the results showed that under the circumstances that one nurse is in charge of 12 patients(6 normal delivery patients and 6 cesarean delivery patients), a total of 1,260 minutes of workload was saved during hospitalization period(5 days). Also, we compared the workload of nurses with or without our proposed system, and the figures showed that in case of normal delivery patients, the workload of nurses decreased by 50 minutes per patient, whereas in case of cesarean delivery patients, the workload of nurses decreased by 130 minutes per patient.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.61-105
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• 2007

The Hospitalized Acquired Infection is defined as the case where the hidden infection or not found at the time of hospitalization occurs during the hospitalized period or, within 30 days to those who performed the surgery operation and then left the hospital. About 2/3 of the Hospitalized Acquired Infection are found as having the internal infection cases that are occurred by the patients' own virus due to the lowered immune system, while about 1/3 are found as having the external infection. The latter 1/3 of the external infection cases can be prevented through the infection management. And in case the new Hospitalized Acquired Infection case occur to the patient who was treated in the hospital, its responsibility issue will matter. As well in the disputes over the Hospitalized Acquired Infection cases, the cause-result relation between the damages and the medical staff's fault and as to whether there is failure of the medical staff or not. personnel should be proved in the medical-malpractice cases. In addition, the difficulties in proving such as expertise, secrecy propensity, discrete propensity and incompleteness will be considered to ease the burden of patient side's proving. Probability theory, Fact based assumption theory, Most adequate plaintiff preassumption or Expressed evidence theories are being discussed as the theories of eased burden of proof. In the result of gathering and reviewing Korea's precedent cases concerning the Hospitalized Acquired Infection, there are only a few accumulated prece dent cases and the attitude of the court also are also not consistent. Therefore, there are the precedents where the cause-result relation and the failure are immediately assumed when (1) timely proximity between the medical behavior and malpractice results, (2) proximity between the medical behavior-applied parts and the malpractice results-found parts, and (3) lack of other causes are separately evidenced; while the are the precedents only when 'the existence of the medical faults based on the common sense' is separately evidenced. It was found that the former and latter cases coexisted. The former is considered as based on the theory that separates the fault and cause-result relation not to consider them together, or regarded as based on the doubts that assumes the medical staff's neglect even though the Hospitalized Acquired Infection might be completely prevented by their efforts. However, the modern medical technology has the limitation as far as the prevention of the Hospitalized Acquired Infection. In conclusion, the assumption of the cause-result relation and that of the fault should be separately reviewed. Therefore, the latter precedents are considered as more reasonable, in the point the faulty behavior may be proved based on the common sense.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.33-48
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• 2024

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of Korean-Western medicine integrative care for patients on hospitalized with gynecologic and breast cancer. Methods: The records were searched for integrative medical treatment the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in a Korean medical hospital between January 1st, 2021 and April 30, 2024, based on the Electronic Medical Record system (EMR). The records were reviewed and analyzed based on the patient's characteristics, the chief symptom, Korean medical treatment which patients received, and follow-up observation Results: 61 cases were screened, the patient's age is the highest in their 50s with 16 cases (26.23%). The average hospitalization period for patients with integrative care is 7.64 days. Among the patients with integrative care, 60 patients (98.36%) underwent surgery. Gastro-intestinal symptoms (nausea/vomiting, constipation /diarrhea etc.) showed the largest proportion in total symptoms (40.72%). After Korean-medicine integrative treatment, 62.30% of patients improved their symptoms, and 19.67% of cases were not improved because follow-up was not performed. Acupuncture is the most frequently performed Korean-medicine treatment (90.16%), followed by moxibustion (55.74%) and herbal medicine (37.70%). Among the herbal medicines, Gamisipjeon-tang and Geonchil-dan were the two most used herbal medicines. Conclusions: Included cases showed that treatments used in Korean medicine hospitals for integrative care with gynecologic and breast cancer are safe and effective based on several evidence. In the future, further high-quality large-scale study is needed to prove effectiveness of Korean-Western integrative care for patients with gynecologic and breast cancer.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2008

Purpose: In terminally ill cancer patients, accurate prediction of survival is necessary for clinical and ethical reasons, especially in helping to avoid harm, discomfort and inappropriate therapies and in planning specific care strategies. The aim of the study was to investigate prognostic factor of dying patients. Methods: We enrolled the terminal cancer patients from Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital from 2004 until their death. We observed symptoms shown in dying patients and assess 17 common symptoms shown in terminally ill cancer patients, performance status, pain and analgesic use. Results: Average period from hospitalization to death was 11.7 days. The most important prognostic factor is performance status (KPS), average KPS at enrollment is 48% and at last 48 hours is 25%. Physical symptoms that have significant prognostic importance are poor oral intake, weakness, constipation, decreased Karnofsky performance status, bed sore, edema, jaundice, dry mouth, dyspnea. Dying patients showed markedly decreased systolic blood pressure, cyanosis, drowsiness, abnormal respiration, death rattle frequently at 48 hours before death. Conclusion: If we assess the symptoms more carefully, we can predict the more accurate prognosis. The communication about the prognostic information will influence the personal therapeutic decision and specific care planning.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.468-473
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• 1993

Background: Recent advance in video technology, endoscopic equipments, and surgical techniques have expanded the use of thoracoscopy from diagnosis of the pleural diseases to treatment of the various intrathoracic diseases. Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery(VATS) is a pretty new and fascinating thoracic surgical modality, and so we present our early VATS resuls. Methods: Using Video Thoracoscopic techniques in 30 patients for 10 months from July 1992 to April 1993, we had performed a variety of procedures. These incuded (1) bleb resections in 18 patients (19 cases), (2) mediastinal tumor excision in 4, (3) lung biopsies for parenchymal pulmonary disease in 3, (4) pleural biopasies in 3, (5) pleural tumor excision in 1, (6) and pleuropericardial window in 1. Results: There were no mortality associated with the procedures. We had minor 8 complications; prolonged air leak in 3 patients, prolonged serous drainage in 2, recurrence of pneumothorax in 1, Honer's syndrome in 1, and hoarseness in 1 patient. None of the 30 patients had reverted to the conventional full thoracotomies. Mean postoperative hospital stay of non-complicated pneumothoraces was about 5 days, which was a little shorter than conventional thoracotomy group. Conclusion: Though we had somewhat higher postoperative complication rate due to lack of experiences in the begining, we were able to convince that VATS had benifical value for patients; lesser postoperative pain, shorter hospitalization, quicker recovery time, and cosmetically superior scar. The role of VATS can be expanded to the diagnosis and treatment of various thoracic diseases, even to the cardiovascular diseases, with satisfactory outcome and less postoperative morbidity.