• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2010

Purpose : Adiponectin is an endogenous modulator of vascular remodeling that suppresses vascular inflammation. However, the role of adiponectin in Kawasaki disease (KD) has not been elucidated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between serum adiponectin level and several parameters, such as interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$, lipid profile, and C reactive protein (CRP), and to clarify the association between adiponectin and cardiac function. Methods : Twenty-two KD patients (22 patients in acute phase and 20 patients in subacute phase) were enrolled in the study group. The control group consisted of 31 subjects (13 febrile patients and 18 healthy children). Both groups underwent blood sampling and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Results : CRP was significantly increased in the KD group compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in serum $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and adiponectin levels between groups. However, a negative correlation was found between adiponectin level and CRP level or platelet count. Systolic myocardial velocity and A myocardial velocity measured by TDI were decreased significantly in the acute KD group compared with the subacute KD group and control group. Positive correlations were found between adiponectin level and systolic myocardial velocity or A myocardial velocity. Conclusion : In acute KD patients, low adiponectin level was related to severe inflammatory reactions and decreased left ventricular functions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.274-279
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• 1992

Clinical role of $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ myocardial scintigraphy in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) is now well accepted, however, the role of it in the identification of viable myocardium in patients with chronic CAD has not yet been clarified. To determine the usefulness of rest-injected $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ scan as a marker of myocardial viability, the regional uptake of this agent at rest was compared with that of $^{201}Tl$ on reinjection and 24 hours after reinjection images. Subject patients were 13 chronic CAD patients who showed irreversible perfusion defect(s) on standard pharmacologic (dipyridamole) stress-redistribution images. Immediately after the redistribution images were obtained, 37 MBq thallium was injected at rest, and images were reacquired at 10 minutes and 24 hours after reinjection. After then 740 MBq $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ was injected, and 1 hour later rest MIBI myocardial imaging was performed. Five sets of imagestress, redistribution, reinjection, delayed images of thallium, and rest image of MIBI) were then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Left ventricle was arbitrarily divided into 9 segments (apex, basal and apical portions of anterior, septal, inferior, and lateral walls). Seven patients and 30 regions showed a fixed perfusion defect on the stress-redistribution images. Among 30 regions, 15 showed positive uptakes and 6 showed negative uptakes on both $^{201}Tl$ reinjection/delayed images and $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ rest images. Five regions showed only thallium uptake and were regarded as viable clinically. Of four regions which showed only $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ uptake, two were regarded as viable, while the other two were regarded as a nonviable scar tissue clinically. In conclusion, $^{201}Tl$ reinjection technique was more reliable in the identification of viable myocardium. However, the role of $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ in identification of viable myocardium was still remained to be clarified because 2 of 9 regions showed only $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ uptake and were regarded as viable tissues.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.362-368
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• 2008

Purpose: It is well known that lung to heart ratio (LHR) is one of the high risk findings in TI- 201 myocardial perfusion SPECT. We evaluated the clinical efficacy of LHR to identify severe coronary artery disease in adenosine stress Tc-99m tetrofosmin gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (gSPECT). Materials and Methods: The study population was 157 patients who underwent both adenosine stress Tc-99m gSPECT and coronary angiography (CAG) within one month. According to the results of CAG and gSPECT LHR and the incidence of increased LHR were compared. Results: Among 53 patients with normal coronary arteries increased LHR was found in 2 patients (3.8%) and 0 in 44 patients (0%) with one vessel disease, 2 in 27 with two vessel disease (7.4%) and 8 in 33 with triple vessel disease (24.2%). Significant differences were found in LHR between subgroups of summed stress score, summed rest score and LV ejection fraction (LVEF). There were weak negative correlation between LHR and LVEF and weak positive correlation between LHR and SSS and SRS. Conclusion: Increased LHR had higher incidence in patients with triple vessel disease, severe LV dysfunction and/or extensive perfusion defect than those of normal group. Although its sensitivity might be low to identify severe coronary artery disease, LHR could be helpful in abnormal myocardial perfusion SPECT to stratify risk and prognosis.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.224-228
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• 2002

Myocardial tagging technique such as spatial modulation of magnetization (SPAMM) allows the study of myocardial motion with high accuracy. However, the accuracy of the estimation of tag intersection can be affected by tagline spacing. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between tagline spacing of SPAMM image and tagging contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in in-vivo study. Two healthy volunteers were undergone electrocardiographically triggered MR imaging with SPAMM-based tagging pulse sequence at a 1.5T MR scanner. Horizontally modulated stripe patterns were imposed with a range from 3.6 to 9.6 mm of tagline spacing. Images of the left ventricle(LV) wall were acquired at the mid-ventricle level during cardiac cycle with FE-EPI (TR/TE = 5.8/2.2 msec, FA= 10$^{\circ}$. Tagging CNR for each image was calculated with a software which developed in our group. During contraction, tagging CNR was more rapidly decreased in case of narrow tagline spacing than in case of wide tagline spacing. In the same heart phase, CNR was increased corresponding with tagline spacing. Especially, at the fully contracted heart phase, CNR was more rapidly increased than the other heart phases as a function of tagline spacing. The results indicated that the optimization of tagline spacing provides better tagging CNR in order to analyze the myocardial motion more accurately.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.259-260
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• 2008

Tetrofosmin is a ligand that forms a lipophilic, cationic complex with Tc-99m. Tc-99m tetrofosmin was developed as a myocardial perfusion imaging agent and also used to depict tumors. Mediastinal tumors is also detected by Tc-99m tetrofosmin. We report a case of extracardiac mediastinal activity detected by Tc-99m tetrofosmin scintigraphy, which revealed thymoma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.101-106
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• 2013

Despite developments in surgical techniques and other interventions, right ventricular (RV) failure remains an important clinical problem in several congenital heart diseases (CHD). RV function is one of the most important predictors of mortality and morbidity in patients with CHD. RV failure is a progressive disorder that begins with myocardial injury or stress, neurohormonal activation, cytokine activation, altered gene expression, and ventricular remodeling. Pressure-overload RV failure caused by RV outflow tract obstruction after total correction of tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary stenosis, atrial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries, congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, and systemic RV failure after the Fontan operation. Volume-overload RV failure may be caused by atrial septal defect, pulmonary regurgitation, or tricuspid regurgitation. Although the measurement of RV function is difficult because of many reasons, the right ventricle can be evaluated using both imaging and functional modalities. In clinical practice, echocardiography is the primary mode for the evaluation of RV structure and function. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly used for evaluating RV structure and function. A comprehensive evaluation of RV function may lead to early and optimal management of RV failure in patients with CHD.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.45-45
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• 2003

To evaluate remodeling of infarcted myocardium with contrast-enhanced MRI (co-MRI) at true end-diastole (ED) MRI was performed with a Gyroscan Intera (1.5 Tesla, Philips, Netherlands) in 13 patients with acute subendocardial myocardial infarction. The First exam was done 0-15 days (mean 5.2days) after symptom onset and the second exam 28-88days (mean 49 days) after the first exam. Ce-MRI encompassing the entire left ventricle was performed with a multi-shot, turbo-field-echo, breath-hold sequence and a non-selective, inversion prepulse 10 minutes after the intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA at a dose of 0.2 mmol/kg body weight. To allow the long TD, ECG synchronization should use two RR-intervals for one acquisition of a segment of k-space by setting the heart rate to half that of the true heart rate. Trigger delay time (TD) was adjusted to the RR-interval for true end-diastolic imaging. The other typical parameters were TR=5.4ms, TE=1.6ms, voxel size=1.37${\times}$1.37${\times}$10mm, k-space data segmented into 8 segments with 32 lines of segment per two cycles over 16 cardiac circles. The thickness of hyperenhanced myocardium and epicardially nonenhanced myocardium were followed.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.92-92
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• 2003

To evaluate remodeling of infarcted myocardium with contrast-enhanced MRI (co-MRI) at true end-diastole (ED) MRI was performed with a Gyroscan Intera (1.5 Tesla, Philips, Netherlands) in 13 patients with acute subendocardial myocardial infarction. The First exam was done 0-15 days (mean 5.2days) after symptom onset and the second exam 28-88days (mean 49 days) after the first exam. Ce-MRI encompassing the entire left ventricle was peformed with a multi-shot, turbo-field-echo, breath-hold sequence and a non-selective, inversion prepulse 10 minutes after the intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA at a dose of 0.2 mmol/kg body weight. To allow the long TD, ECG synchronization should use two RR-intervals for one acquisition of a segment of k-space by setting the heart rate to half that of the true heart rate. Trigger delay time (TD) was adjusted to the RR-interval for true end-diastolic imaging. The other typical parameters were TR=5.4ms, TE=1.6ms, voxel size=1.37$\times$1.37$\times$10mm, k-space data segmented into 8 segments with 32 lines of segment per two cycles over 16 cardiac cycles. The thickness of hyperenhanced myocardium and epicardially nonenhanced myocardium were followed.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.301-307
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to compare echocardiographic parameters of cloned beagle dogs with the previously reported reference range. Seven cloned dogs were assessed for anatomical features and cardiac function through left- and right-sided heart and right ventricle outflow tract from M-mode, 2D-mode, pulsed wave Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging. In all the cloned dogs, there were no abnormalities in anatomical structure and measurements were within the normal reference range. In addition, left- and right-sided myocardial function was within the normal reference range. Especially, pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure frequently encountered in cloned animals were not recognized in cloned dogs. In conclusion, no evidence of cardiovascular dysfunction in mature cloned dogs could be identified either at birth or the growing stage in this study. Therefore, serious adverse effects of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology including transgenesis on cardiac morphology and function were not found in cloned dogs.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2000

Purpose: Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is a useful technique to diagnose and to predict prognosis in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the prognostic value of normal exercise $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and to analyze results with regard to those of exercise electrocardiography or coronary angiography. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 301 patients (mean age $52{\pm}10$ years, 166 males and 135 females) with normal exercise $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI myocardial perfusion SPECT performed for suspected coronary artery disease. Subject were evaluated for cardiac events and followed for 8-55 months (mean $19{\pm}10$ months) after imaging. Results: During the follow-up period, there was no cardiac death but only one non-fatal myocardial infarction (event rate 0.21% per year). In addition, only one patient underwent coronary revascularization. There was no significant difference in cardiac event rate between patients with positive (n=27) and negative (n=235) exercise electrocardiography (p:NS). There was no cardiac event in 17 patients who underwent coronary angiography (4 patients with >50% luminal narrowing, 2 patients with vasospasm and 11 patients with no significant lesion). Conclusion: Patients with normal exercise $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI myocardial perfusion SPECT has a very low risk for cardiac events regardless of exercise electrocardiographic and coronary angiographic findings.