• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.1 s.270
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• pp.45-51
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• 2007

Background: Although echocardiography is usually used for quantitative assessment of left ventricular function, the recently developed 16-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is not only capable of evaluating the coronary arteries but also left ventricular function. Therefore, the objective of our study was to compare the values of left ventricular function quantified by MDCT to those by echocardiography for evaluation of its regards to clinical applications. Material and Method: From 49 patients who underwent MDCT in our hospital from November 1, 2003 to January 31, 2005, we enrolled 20 patients who underwent echocardiography during the same period for this study. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI), stroke volume index (SVI), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and ejection fraction (EF) were analyzed. Result: Average LVEDVI ($80.86{\pm}34.69mL$ for MDCT vs $60.23{\pm}29.06mL$ for Echocardiography, p<0.01), average LVESVI ($37.96{\pm}24.52mL$ for MDCT vs $25.68{\pm}16.57mL$ for Echocardiography, p<0.01), average SVI ($42.90{\pm}15.86mL$ for MDCT vs $34.54{\pm}17.94mL$ for Echocardiography, p<0.01), average LVMI ($72.14{\pm}25.35mL$ for MDCT vs $130.35{\pm}53.10mL$ for Echocardiography, p<0.01), and average EF ($55.63{\pm}12.91mL$ for MOCT vs $59.95{\pm}12.75ml$ for Echocardiography, p<0.05) showed significant difference between both groups. Average LVEDVI, average LVESVI, and average SVI were higher in MDCT, and average LVMI and average EF were higher in echocardiogram. Comparing correlation for each parameters between both groups, LVEDVI $(r^2=0.74,\;p<0.0001)$, LVESVI $(r^2=0.69,\;p<0.0001)$ and SVI $(r^2=0.55,\;p<0.0001)$ showed high relevance, LVMI $(r^2=0.84,\;p<0.0001)$ showed very high relevance, and $EF (r^2=0.45,\;p=0.0002)$ showed relatively high relevance. Conclusion: Quantitative assessment of left ventricular volume and function using 16-slice MDCT showed high relevance compared with echocardiography, therefore may be a feasible assessment method. However, because the average of each parameters showed significant difference, the absolute values between both studies may not be appropriate for clinical applications. Furthermore, considering the future development of MDCT, we expect to be able to easily evaluate the assessment of coronary artery stenosis along with left ventricular function in coronary artery disease patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.5
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• pp.273-279
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• 2010

Background: Pulmonary hypertension is considered as a poor prognosis factor in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There has been reported brain natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) is related with increased right ventricular (RV) workloads. However, there are few studies that evaluate the relationship between BNP and pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), RV function and St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score in patients with COPD, and the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) on these parameters. Methods: Pulmonary function test, echocardiography, blood BNP, and SGRQ score were evaluated in stabilized moderate degree COPD patients ($FEV_1$/FVC< 70%, $50%{\leq}FEV_1$ < 80%) aged 45 years and over, without worsening of symptoms within recent 3 months. After treating with ramipril 10 mg for 3 months, the same evaluation was repeated. Results: Twenty-two patients were included in this study. BNP was significantly correlated with PAP (Pearson coefficient ${\rho}=0.51$, p=0.02), but not with RV ejection fraction (EF) and predicted $FEV_1%$. The values for predicted $FEV_1%$ showed significant correlation with SGRQ total score and activity score, but not with BNP or PAP. After ramipril treatment, PAP showed significant decrease ($42.8{\pm}8.1$ vs. $34.5{\pm}4.5mm$ Hg p=0.0003), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion significant increase ($21.5{\pm}3.3$ vs. $22.7{\pm}3.1mm$ p=0.009). BNP showed a tendency to decrease without statistical significance ($40.8{\pm}59.6$ vs. $18.0{\pm}9.1pg/mL$ p=0.55). SGRQ scores showed no significant change. Conclusion: BNP showed significant correlation with resting PAP, which means BNP could be used as markers for pulmonary hypertension. Treatment with ACEI didn't show significant change in the level of BNP, while pulmonary hypertension and RV function were improved.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2301-2305
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• 2016

Background: The early detection of anthracycline- induced cardiotoxicity is very important since it might be useful in prevention of cardiac decompensation. This study was designed with the intent of assessing the usefulness of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and NT- Pro BNP estimation in early prediction of anthracycline induced cardiotoxicity. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study histologically proven breast cancer patients who were scheduled to receive anthracycline containing combination chemotherapy as a part of multimodality treatment were enrolled. Baseline cardiac evaluation was performed by echocardiography (ECHO) and biomarkers like cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and N terminal- pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT- Pro BNP). All patients underwent cTnT and NT- Pro BNP estimation within 24 hours of each cycle of chemotherapy and were followed up after 6 months of initiation of chemotherapy. Any changes in follow up ECHO were compared to ECHO at baseline and cTnT and NT- Pro BNP levels after each cycle of anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Results: Initial data were obtained for 33 patients. Mean change in left ventricular diastolic diameter (LVDD) within 6 months was $0.154{\pm}0.433cms$ (p value=0.049). Seven out of 33 patients had an increase in biomarker cTnT levels (p value=0.5). A significant change in baseline and follow up LVDD was observed in patients with raised cTnT levels (p value=0.026) whereas no change was seen in ejection fraction (EF) and left atrial diameters (LAD) within 6 months of chemotherapy. NT- Pro BNP levels increased in significant number of patients (p value ${\leq}0.0001$) but no statistically significant change was observed in the ECHO parameters within 6 months. Conclusions: Functional monitoring is a poorly effective method in early estimation of anthracycline induced cardiac dysfunction. Estimation of biomarkers after chemotherapy may allow stratification of patients in various risk groups, thereby opening window for interventional strategies in order to prevent permanent damage to the myocardium.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 1999

Cardiac disease is one of the leading causes of death in Korea. In quantitative analysis of cardiac function and morphological information by three-dimensional reconstruction of magnetic resonance images, left ventricle provides an important role functionally and physiologically. However, existing procedures mostly rely on the extensive human interaction and are seldom evaluated on clinical applications. In this study, we developed a system which could perform automatic extraction of enpicardial and endocardial contour and analysis of cardiac function to evaluate reliability and stability of each system comparing with the result of ARGUS system offered 1.5T Siemens MRI system and manual method performed by clinicians. For various aspects, we investigated reliability of each system by compared with left ventricular contour, end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), stock volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO) and wall thickness (WT). When comparing with manual method, extracted results of developed process using minimum error threshold (MET) method that automatically extracts contour from cardiac MR images and ARGUS system were demonstrated as successful rate 90% of the contour extraction. When calculating cardiac function parameters using MET and comparing with using correlation coefficients analysis method, the process extracts endocardial and epicardial contour using MET, values from automatic and ARGUS method agreed with manual values within :t 3% average error. It was successfully demonstrated that automatic method using threshold technique could provide high potential for assessing of each parameters with relatively high reliability compared with manual method. In this study, the method developed in this study could reduce processing time compared with ARGUS and manual method due to a simple threshold technique. This method is useful for diagnosis of cardiac disease, simulating physiological function and amount of blood flow of left ventricle. In addition, this method could be valuable in developing automatic systems in order to apply to other deformable image models.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.299-302
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• 1999

Heart transplantation was planned for a 10-year old boy who had dilated cardiomyopathy with severe congestive heart failure and had been on dopamine for 1month. However, partial left ventriculectomy and mitral annuloplasty were performed instead, because there was no donor heart of the adequate size and the symptoms were aggravated. The clinical symptoms were markedly improved after the surgery. Comparing the postoperative echocardiographic results with the preoperative results, there were remarkable changes in the left ventricular ejection fraction(preoperative LV EF 17% to postoperative 3 months 29%, 6 months 35%, 1 year 36%) and the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension(preoperative 72 mm to postoperative 3 months 59 mm, 6 months 61 mm, 1 year 61 mm). Partial left ventriculectomy and mitral annuloplasty reduced the cardiac loading in the dilated cardiomyopathy. Partial left ventriculectomy and mitral annuloplasty may be considered as one of the alternative surgical metho s to carry over until a heart transplantation can be performed, especially for children.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.956-966
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• 2019

Objective: To characterize the changes in right ventricular (RV) volume, volume load, and function measured with cardiac computed tomography (CT) over the entire time course of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Materials and Methods: In 374 patients with TOF, the ventricular volume, ventricular function, and RV volume load were measured with cardiac CT preoperatively (stage 1), after palliative operation (stage 2), after total surgical repair (stage 3), or after pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) (stage 4). The CT-measured variables were compared among the four stages. After total surgical repair, the postoperative duration (POD) and the CT-measured variables were correlated with each other. In addition, the demographic and CT-measured variables in the early postoperative groups were compared with those in the late postoperative and the preoperative group. Results: Significantly different CT-based measures were found between stages 1 and 3 (indexed RV end-diastolic volume [EDV], 63.6 ± 15.2 mL/m² vs. 147.0 ± 38.5 mL/m² and indexed stroke volume (SV) difference, 7.7 ± 10.3 mL/m² vs. 32.2 ± 16.4 mL/m²; p < 0.001), and between stages 2 and 3 (indexed RV EDV, 72.4 ± 19.7 mL/m² vs. 147.0 ± 38.5 mL/m² and indexed SV difference, 5.7 ± 13.1 mL/m² vs. 32.2 ± 16.4 mL/m²; p < 0.001). After PVR, the effect of RV volume load (i.e., indexed SV difference) was reduced from 32.2 mL/m² to 1.7 mL/m². Positive (0.2 to 0.8) or negative (-0.2 to -0.4) correlations were found among the CT-based measures except between the RV ejection fraction (EF) and the RV volume load parameters. With increasing POD, an early rapid increase was followed by a slow increase and a plateau in the indexed ventricular volumes and the RV volume load parameters. Compared with the preoperative data, larger ventricular volumes and lower EFs were observed in the early postoperative period. Conclusion: Cardiac CT can be used to characterize RV volume, volume load, and function over the entire time course of TOF.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.511-516
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• 2002

Background: This study was undertaken in infant patients with isolated ventricular septal defect(VSD) to determine the effect of surgical closure on ventricular systolic time interval, as a parameter for ventricular performance, by echocardiography. Material and Method: Thirty patients were enrolled. Mean age of patients at operation was 6.5$\pm$3.2 months and all patients had non-restrictive VSD. We checked the left atrium/aorta(LA/Ao) ratio, left ventricle ejection fraction(EF), left ventricular systolic time interval(LVSTI), and right ventricular systolic time interval(RVSTI). Echocardiographic studies were done before surgical correction and postoperative periods(postopl: within 2 weeks, postop2: between 4 and 6 months, postop3: between 1 and 2 years). Result: LA/Ao ratio decreased significantly at immediate postoperative period compared to preoperative period and sustained during further follow-up period(from 1.74$\pm$0.37 to 1.36$\pm$0.24＊, 1.32$\pm$0.22＊, and 1.27$\pm$0.19＊, p<0.01). LV EF had not changed during follow-up periods(from 65.1$\pm$7.0 to 62.3$\pm$9.5, 62.8$\pm$5.7, and 64.1$\pm$6.9). LVSTI decreased significantly at postop2 and sustained during further follow-up period (from 0.46$\pm$0.13 to 0.46$\pm$0.11, 0.37$\pm$0.08＊, and 0.34$\pm$0.07＊, p<0.01). RVSTI decreased significantly at postop3(0.33$\pm$0.08 to 0.32$\pm$0.08, 0.31$\pm$0.07, and 0.27$\pm$0.05＊, p<0.01). Conclusion: We found that right and left ventricular systolic time intervals had decreased over the period of 1 year after surgical correction of VSD. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the change of ventricular function during that period.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2010

Background: Fulminant myocarditis is a rare, but life threatening condition. Its prognosis is related with proper management in the acute phase. A cardiopulmonary support device can be very useful in this phase. We report on our experiences with managing acute fulminant myocarditis with a cardiopulmonary support (CPS) device. Material and Method: We reviewed retrospectively 9 patients who had a CPS device used for their fulminant myocarditis between September, 2006 and October, 2008. A Capiox emergency bypass system (Terumo Inc, Tokyo, Japan) was percutaneously inserted in all the patients. Upon implantation, all the patients were in cardiogenic shock because of ventricular arrhythmia or severe left ventricular dysfunction. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) was $20{\pm}6%$ according to transthoracic echocardiography. Result: 3 patients died despite CPS. The CPS was bridged to a transplanted heart in one patient. The rest were successfully explanted after a mean time of $107{\pm}70$ hours of running. The mean EF after discharge was $56{\pm}7%$ without dilated cardiomyopathy. Conclusion: Fulminant myocarditis can be fatal, but its prognosis is excellent if these patients receive proper, timely treatment. A cardiopulmonary support device can be very useful in this acute period. However, the implantation and management protocol of cardiopulmonary support are not yet settled. Further study is necessary to lower the complications of cardiopulmonary support for patients with fulminant myocarditis.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 1994

The coronary collateral vessels have revealed their significance in terms of reduction of infarct size, preservation left ventricular function, and prevention of left ventricular aneurysm in patients with myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study were to evaluated the relation between collateral circulation and $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI Heart SPECT in patient with acute myocardial infarction and their clinical significance. The fifty six MI patients with antegrade TIMI perfusion grade 0 and 1 were studied. The patients were classified into two groups; Group I inclueded 30 patients with grade 2, 3 Collateral flow. Group II inclueded 26 patients with grade 0, 1 Collateral flow. Collateral filling were graded from 0 to 3: 0- none, 1- Filling of side branch only, 2- Partial filling of the epicardial segment, 3- Complete filling of epicardial segment. Clinical variables, left ventricular function, $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI Heart SPECT were analyzed with angiographic finding. Results were following: 1) Collateral visualization was found to be greater in patient with involvement of right coronary artery (RCA). The collateral development site of infarct related artery was RCA 15 cases, left anterior descending artery (LAD) 10 cases, left circumflex artery (LCX) 5 cases, and the collateral circulation from LAD to RCA was 13 cases (40.6%). 2) There was a tendency to be decreased in peak CK activity with group I. 3) The presence of good collateral channels was more frequently $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI reversible perfusion defect (83.4% vs 15.3%, p<0.05). 4) No differences of left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV), ejection fraction (EF) were noted between group I and group II. The presence of good collateral channels did affect the frequency of occurrence of $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI reversible perfusion defect.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.727-732
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• 2007

Background: The reciptents of aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation usually display various degrees of mitral regurgitation. When deciding whether or not to correct the mitral regurgitation, one must consider its severity, underlying causes and operative risk. Recently, the operation method for correcting the concomitant mitral regurgitation has been done through aortic root to reduce the operation time and the cardiac trauma. We report our experiences that transaortic mitral valve commissuroplasty done with aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation has been a simple, less invasive, effective method in the operative management of mitral valve regurgitation without significant organic changes. Material and Method: Between June 2002 and June 2005, twenty patients under-went mitral valve commissuroplasty via the aortic root with aortic valve replacement (n=14) or a Bentall operation (n=7). The mitral valve regurgitation of the patients didn't exceed a moderate (grade 2) degree and there was no significant organic disease. The preoperative diagnosis of MR was established by TTE and intraoperative TEE, and the patients were followed postoperatively by TTE. The operative technique was a simple anterolateral commissuroplasty of the mitral valve with a single mattress suture via the transaortic annular approach after excision of the aortic valve leaflets. Result: The mean patient age was 56.2 years and 65% (n=13) were male. The preoperative MR was mild (grade 1) in 9 (45%), mild to moderate in 8 (40%), and moderate (grade 2) in 3 (15%) patients. There were no operative mortalities. The MR improved in all patients (p=0.002) and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF) improved in 14 (70%) patients (p=0.005). The mean cross-clamp time for the patients who under- went aortic valve replacement with transaortic mitral repair was $62.1{\pm}13.9 min$ and this was $137.5{\pm}7.2 min$ for the patients who underwent a Bentall operation with transaortic mitral repair. Conclusion: For selected patients without significant mitral organic disease, transaortic mitral valve commissuroplasty combined with aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation may be a feasible, effective method without adding significant aortic cross clamping time and more cardiotomy.