• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1063-1080
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• 2019

Objectives: With the aging of the population, the incidence of a variety of diseases is increasing. Cerebrovascular disease is a major cause of mortality worldwide and therefore requires timely treatment and management. We aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of herbal medicines in treating cerebrovascular disease by screening the most frequently prescribed herbal medicines and analyzing the clinical data of patients with cerebrovascular disease taking these medicines. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the electronic medical records of patients with cerebrovascular disease who received herbal medication at the Pusan National University Korean Medical Hospital from 10 March 2010 to 31 March 2017. The inclusion criteria were as follows: diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease, use of frequently prescribed herbal medicines, available records of laboratory tests and functional evaluation that was conducted within two weeks before and after admission and discharge, and herbal medicine usage exceeding half the period of hospitalization. Results: Of the total patients with cerebrovascular disease, the number of patients analyzed in this study was 49. There were some changes in the various variables examined after frequently used herbal medicines had been taken, such as complete blood count, liver function test, lipid test, and functional evaluation. No serious adverse events related to herbal medicine were found in this study. Conclusions: We concluded that herbal medicines frequently used for cerebrovascular disease may have some clinical effectiveness. However, because of the retrospective nature of this study and only one hospital involved, the generalizability of our findings is limited.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5473-5476
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• 2013

Background: In our study, the LDH, albumin, hemoglobin, neutrophile, thrombocyte, lymphocyte counts and prognostic significance of neutrophile-lymphocyte and thrombocyte-lymphocyte ratios in NSCLC derived from these counts obtained during regular examinations of patients were examined. Materials and Methods: Histopathologically diagnosed non-small-cell-lung cancer patients between 2008 and 2010 were included in the study. Before the treatment, full blood count including routine lymphocyte count, blood biochemistry examinations including liver (AST, ALT, total protein, Albumin), LDH and kidney (BUN, Cre) function tests were performed. Results: A total of 156 patients, 76 of whom (48.7%) were female and 80 of whom (51.3%) were male were included. Mean hemoglobin level was determined as 12. Overall survival was found to be significantly dependent on whether patients were anemic or not (p: 0.005). Mean LDH level was determined as 233.4. There was nosurvival difference between patients with and without high LDH (p: 0.532). In patients where NLR showed systemic inflammatory response, overall survival was 10.8 months whereas this duration was 19.6 months in patients where the systemic inflammatory response was negative (p: 0.012). In patients where TLR showed systemic inflammatory response, overall survival was 13.6 months whereas this duration was 21.9 months in patients where the systemic inflammatory response was negative (p: 0.04). Conclusions: Molecular methods have been changing rapidly in today's world and they manage the treatment besides defining the prognosis of patients. However, easily accessible and cheap laboratory parameters should be considered in the prognosis of patients besides these new methods.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.203-208
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the incidence of acalculous cholecystitis after multiple trauma with fractures and to analyze the characteristics of cholecystitis. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of multiple trauma patients with fractures between April 2010 and April 2012. Sixty- nine patients were identified, and the average age was 46.8(range: 15-74) years. Data were collected regarding associated injury, injury severity score (ISS), the diagnosis time after trauma, diagnostic tool, and management Results: There were three cases(4.3%) of cholecystitis among the 69 cases, and cholecystitis was diagnosed an average of 20.7(range: 8-33) days after injury. Two patients complained of abdominal pain at diagnosis, but the other patient who had undergone surgery for small bowel perforation at the time of the injury had no abdominal pain. All three patients had abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) at diagnosis. The cholecystitis was confirmed with ultrasonography or computed tomography, and all cases were acalculous cholecystitis. At first, percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage was performed; then, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) was tried an average of 12(range: 11-13) days later. An laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully done in only one case, the other cases being converted to an open cholecystectomy due to severe inflammation. Conclusion: The incidence of acaculous cholecystitis was 4.3% after multiple trauma with fractures. We should consider cholecystitis in patients with abdominal pain, fever and elevated LFTs after multiple trauma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.516-522
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• 1978

In spite of recent improvement of the medical and surgical treatments, there are many significant problems in the management of thoracic empyema. This is a clinical analysis of 49 cases of thoracic empyema who underwent lung decortication for a period of 6 years and 5 months extending from May, 1972 to Aug. 1975. The following results were obtained: Male to female ratio was 2. S to 1. The age ranged between Sand 69, bnt was mostly 2r.d and 5th decade. The underlying diseases were pulmonary tuberculosis (30 cases, 61. 1 SO, , ), posttraumatic hemothorax (7 cases, 14.396). pneumonia (6 cases, 12.2%), lung abscess (2 cases, 4.2%), paragonimiasis (2 cases, 4.2%). spontaneous pneumothorax (1 case, 2.1%), and unknown origin (1 case, 2.1%). In 13 cases (26.5%), positive bacterial growth on culture was reported. There were single infection in 11 cases and mixed infection in 2 cases. The organisms grown were Staphylococcus, alpha-hemolytIc Streptococcus, Alkaligenes fecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, SerratIa, Enterobacter agglomerans, and Enterococcus in order of frequency. Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Serratia were sensitive to several different kinds of antibiotics. But Pseudomonas, Escherichia co:i, and Enterococcus were sensitive to only one or two antibiotics. Leukocytosis was observed In acute empyema, but not in chronic empyema. Hemoglobin and hematocrit were all within normal limits. Preoperative liver function tests were within normal limits in most of the cases. In 49 cases, lung decortication alone was performed in 40 cases (S1. 696), and for the remaining 9 cases (1S. 4%), additional surgical procedures were necessary, i. e., lobectomy (6cases). partial thoracoplasty (2 cases), and lobectomy & partial thoracoplasty (1 cases). The results of lung decortication in thoracic empyema were goed. 38 cases (77.5%) healed with no complication, and 10 cases (20.4%) were complicated by bleeding, wownd infection, pleural infection, chondritis, and psychosis. These complications resolved ultimately leaving no sequelae. One death was recorded (2.1%), and the causes of death were postoperative pleural infection, sepsis and hepatic insufficiency.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.345-351
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• 2009

Organic cation transporters (OCTs) are important for absorption, elimination of many endogenous small organic cations as well as a wide array of drugs and environmental toxins. This gene is located in a cluster on chromosome 6 and OCTs are in major organs such as intestine, liver, kidney, brain and placenta. Therefore, expression levels and function of OCTs directly affect plasma levels and intracellular concentrations of drugs and thereby determine therapeutic response. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of the SNPs on OCT1 (C181T and C1022T) and OCT2 (G808T) to analyze haplotype frequency in healthy Korean population. Human subjects have been genotyped for OCT1 (C181T for 195 subjects and C1022T for 825 subjects), using polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic tests (RFLP). And for OCT2 (G808T), a total of 861 subjects have been genotyped, using pyrosequencing method. Haplotype was statistically inferred using an algorithm based on the expectation-maximization (EM). OCT1 C181T genotyping showed 100% homozygous wild-type (C/C). OCT1 C1022T genotyping showed wild-type (C/C), heterozygous (C/T) and homozygous mutant-type (T/T) and each accounted for 72.1, 24.5 and 3.4%, respectively. OCT2 G808T genotyping results also showed homozygous wild-type (G/G), heterozygous (G/T) and homozygous mutant-type (T/T) and each took 81.8, 17.9 and 0.3%, respectively. Based on these genotype data, haplotype analysis between OCT1 C181T and OCT1 C1022T has proceeded. The result has revealed that linkage disequilibrium between alleles is not obvious (P=0.0122).

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2017

Background: To assess the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following shoulder surgery and to evaluate the role of postoperative duplex ultrasonography. Methods: The study comprised a total of 224 patients who underwent shoulder surgery, including 180 shoulder arthroscopic surgeries, 28 shoulder arthroplasties, and 16 plate fixations for proximal humerus fracture between January 2014 and December 2014. The mean age of patients was 59.0 years, and there were 81 men and 143 women. Clinical data, including body mass index, blood tests, metabolic work-up for liver and renal function, previous, and present medical history, were evaluated. Duplex ultrasonography in the operative arm was performed on 2 to 4 days after surgery. Results: The overall incidence of VTE following shoulder surgery was 0.45% (1/224). One patient with open reduction and plate fixation for proximal humerus fracture had asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis that showed complete remission after anticoagulant medication during a 2-month period. Four patients had asymptomatic superficial cephalic vein thrombosis and complete remission without any treatment. There was no case of pulmonary embolism. Conclusions: The incidence of VTE following shoulder surgery was extremely low in Asians. Duplex ultrasonography may be not considered a routine follow-up of shoulder surgery and can be selectively performed in high-risk or symptomatic patients for VTE.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.201-210
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• 2013

Objectives: The public relies on the news media to understand health risks. To examine the surveillance function of Korean health journalism, this study compared the rank-order of the 10 most frequently diagnosed cancers with that of the 10 cancers most frequently covered by three major Korean newspapers. Methods: News stories published between 1999 and 2010 by the Chosun-Ilbo, Joong-Ang-Ilbo, and Dong-A-Ilbo were examined. Data on cancer incidence were collected using the epidemiological data published by a governmental public health institution. To compare the level of the crude rates and the amount of news coverage, rank-order correlation tests and regression analyses were employed. Results: A reduction in the rank-ordered correlation coefficient was observed despite an increase in the overall number of cancer news stories released. The significance of the correlation disappeared after 2006. The big difference of the rank order between the crude rate and the amount of news coverage was observed in the cancer of breast, uteri, thyroid, and gallbladder/biliary. Finally, the three newspapers did not follow the amount change in stomach, lung, liver, and uterine cervix cancer. The four cancers' rank orders of crude rate were lowering, signifying a reduction of the comparative dangerousness of the four cancers. Conclusions: The news media's customization of news content and the negative bias in journalism are suggested as possible influences on the news media's inaccurate representation of cancer risk.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.308-313
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• 1997

Ceftriaxone, an effective third generation cephalosporin with a wide range of antimicrobial activity, has become widely used by pediatricians for a variety of bacterial infections including meningitis. It has been associated with the development of sludge or stone in the gallbladder of some patients treated with this drug. Ceftriaxone associated biliary sludge has unusual acoustic characteristics and resembles gallstone. The sludge can cause symptoms such as cramping abdominal pain, and disappears after stopping ceftriaxone administration. Because of these seemingly confusing observations, it is important for the clinicians to recognize these findings that ceftriaxone treatment can cause. We report a case of ceftriaxone associated biliary sludge in Korean children. A 6-year-old girl who was treated for meningitis with ceftriaxone (100mg/kg/day) developed cramping upper abdominal pain from 5th hospital day. Physical examination, liver function tests and X-ray revealed no specific abnormal findings. But abdominal ultrasound revealed high amplitude echogenic sludge with prominent post-acoustic shadow in gallbladder and its diameter was 1.5cm. We stopped ceftriaxone administration and tried conservative care. Abdominal cramping pain subsided after 3 days of ceftriaxone removal. Second abdominal ultrasound confirmed the disappearance of sludge at 3 weeks later.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.444-450
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• 2022

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of herbal medicine on the clinical symptoms and abnormal blood tests of a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome. Methods: A 64-year-old woman diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome in 2020 was prescribed Bojungikgi-tang-gagambang from January 6, 2022 to June 22, 2022 to reduce bleeding tendency and frequent defecation and to improve laboratory findings, such as platelet count. We observed changes in the symptoms and improvement of laboratory findings after six months of treatment. Results: In this study, approximately six months of treatment with Bojungikgi-tang-gagambang showed considerable improvement in laboratory findings and clinical symptoms, especially frequent defecation, petechiae, and gum bleeding, compared to the baseline parameters of the first visit. Also, no adverse effects, such as liver injury or decreased kidney function, were observed during herbal medicine treatment. Conclusion: This study suggests the availability of herbal medicine as a therapeutic option for managing patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.13-22
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• 1975

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of the ETR test as compared to other thyroid function tests in normal persons, patients with thyroid disorders and patients with alterations of thyroxine-binding proteins. The ETR values were obtained from 35 cases as normal control, 63 hyperthyroid patients, 56 euthyroid patients, 23 hypothyroid patients, 10 pregnant women, 5 women taking oral contraceptive medication, 8 liver cirrhosis patients and 4 nephrotic syndrome patients. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The mean value of ETR obtained from the normal controls was $0.99{\pm}0.06$. 2. The mean ETR values of various thyroid states were $1.25{\pm}0.16$ in hyperthyroidism, $0.99{\pm}0.08$ in euthyroidism and $0.82{\pm}0.05$ in hypothyroidism and significant difference was found between these groups. 3. Seven out of 63 hyperthyroid patients(11.1%) and 2 out of 23 hypothyroid patients(8.7%) had ETR values within normal range and among the 56 euthyroid patients 6(10.7%) had ETR values outside normal range, so the diagnostic compatibility of ETR was 89.4% in thyroid diseases. 4. Even though the ETR value was well correlated with $^{131}I$-thyroid uptake rate, serum $T_3$ resin uptake rate and serum $T_4$, a high positive correlation was found (r=0.79) between ETR and $T_7$. 5. The mean ETR values from patients with alteration in TBG binding capacity were $0.99{\pm}0.05$ in pregnant women, $0.98{\pm}0.04$ in women with oral contraceptive medication, $1.04{\pm}0.09$ in liver cirrhosis patients and $0.94{\pm}0.02$ in nephrotic syndrome patients and most of them (85.2%) had ETR values within normal range. Our results, therefore, suggests that the ETR estimation does offer the simplest and most reliable single procedure for the screening and diagnosis of various thyroid diseases as a indirect indicator of serum-free thyroxine concentration without essential influence of changes in the thyroxine-binding proteins in serum.