• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 2009

Purpose: Early diagnosis and management of therapeutic interventions are very important in chest trauma. Conventional chest X-rays (CXR) and computed tomography (CT) are the diagnostic tools that can be quickly implemented for chest trauma patients in the emergency department. In this study, the usefulness of the CT as a diagnostic measurement was examined by analyzing the ability to detect thoracic injuries in trauma patients who had visited the emergency department and undergone CXR and CT. Methods: This study involved 84 patients who had visited the emergency department due to chest trauma and who had undergone both CXR and CT during their diagnostic process. The patients' characteristics and early vital signs were examined through a retrospective analysis of their medical records, and the CXR and the CT saved in the Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) were examined by a radiologist and an emergency physician to verify whether or not a lesion was present. Results: Pneumothoraxes, hemothoraxes, pneumomediastina, pulmonary lacerations, rib fractures, vertebral fractures, chest wall contusions, and subcutaneous emphysema were prevalently found in a statistically meaningful way (p<0.05) on the CT. Even though their statistical significance couldn' be verified, other disorders, including aortic injury, were more prevalently found by CT than by CXR. Conclusion: CT implemented for chest trauma patients visiting the emergency department allowed disorders that couldn' be found on CXR to be verified, which helped us to could accurately evaluate patients.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.180-185
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• 2006

Invasive Pseudomonas infections most often occur in the immunocompromised patients and are associated with high mortality rate. Rarely this disease may develop in healthy infants and children. We report two cases of invasive Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections that were diagnosed in otherwise healthy infants. The first case was a previously healthy 5-month-old infant with ecthyma gangrenosum and septicemia. She presented with fever, swelling of left periorbital area and multiple erythronodular skin lesions. Each skin lesion formed a black eschar surrounded by an erythematous areola over time. Cultures of blood, urine and discharge from skin lesions grew P. aeruginosa. On the day of visit, she showed pancytopenia which was normalized after 10 days. The patient responded well to the management with ceftazidime and tobramycin. The other case was a previously healthy 9-month-old infant with community-acquired pneumonia. He was referred from an outside hospital with fever and cough. Chest x-ray revealed pneumonic infiltrations on both lower lungs with pleural effusion on the right side. Cultures of blood and pleural fluid grew P. aeruginosa. Chest CT performed on the ninth day demonstrated pneumatoceles, lung abscess and necrosis of lung parenchyma. He was managed with ceftazidime and amikacin for 50 days. No residual pulmonary complications were noted during the three month follow-up. Laboratory results to evaluate immunologic defects of phagocytic cells, complement components and T- and B-lymphocytes were all within normal range in both patients. It should be kept in mind that Pseudomonas can be, though uncommon, a cause of community-acquired invasive infections in the previously healthy infants.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1097-1104
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• 1997

The expectoration of blood is always a fearful experience for the patient and a matter of grave concern to the attending physician, because it may be the warning sign of serious diseases. When such bleeding occurs, the possibility of its being due to pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchiectasis or carcinoma of the lung is promptly suggested. Nowadays, with the advance of modern diagnostic studies, differential diagnosis has become possible for the hemoptysis patients to have appropriate treatment. This evaluation is based on the review of 75 cases of patients whom we performed emergency open thoracotomies for 6 years from March 1992 to February 1997 in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul Adventist Hospital. The mean age of the patients was 36.6 years old with a range from 19 to 68, and most prevalent age group was thirties. The most common underlying lung disease causin hemoptysis was tuberculosis(44%). Most accurate diagnostic study was bronchoscopy during hemoptysis(95 Vo) and right middle & lower lobe(17.3%) was the most common site of lesion. Lobectomy(50%) was the most frequent operative method and recurrent hemoptysis(31.6%) was the most common postoperative complication. But most of the patients(82.6%) were completely recovered by surgical treatment. Now we concluded that the proper management of hemoptysis was completed by surgical approach with definite diagnosis and supportive medication.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.94-99
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• 2007

The spontaneous regression (SR) of cancer is defined as the complete disappearance of a malignant disease without adequate treatment. SR is a very rare biological event, particularly in a pulmonary sarcoma. We report the first documented case of an endobronchial sarcoma that regressed spontaneously in Korea. We encountered a rare case of a 72-year-old woman with an undiagnosed intrapelvic cystic mass, who presented with a smooth surfaced endobronchial tumor obstructing the orifice of the right lower lobe bronchus on a bronchoscopic examination. She had a prior history cervical cancer and adenocarcinoma in the right middle lobe lateral segment of her lung for which she had undergone radiation therapy. The tumor was diagnosed as an endobronchial sarcoma by the histopathology findings and immunohistochemistry. It was unclear if the tumor was a primary sarcoma of the lung or a metastatic lesion of an intrapelvic cystic mass because she refused a diagnostic exploratory laparotomy. Two months later, obstructive pneumonia of the right lower lobe with parapneumonic effusion developed with fever above 38.5degrees C for 10 days. After recovering from pneumonia, she was followed up regularly in the outpatient clinic without any specific treatment. One year later after treating the obstructive pneumonia, the follow-up bronchoscopy revealed complete SR of endobronchial sarcoma. It is believed that the obstructive pneumonia accompanied by fever above 38.5degrees C for 10 days might have played a role in this SR.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.490-495
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• 2006

Leiomyoma of the bronchus is a very rare benign tumor of the lung. Most endobronchial leiomyomas occur as secondary foci of primary uterine leiomyoma. We herein report a case with endobronchial tumor that had a different pathology from a primary resected uterine leiomyoma and was therefor considered a primary endobronchial leiomyoma. A 51-year-old woman with a history of uterine myoma presented with productive cough and fever. Bronchoscopy revealed a lightly yellow colored mass lesion that totally obstructed the orifice of the left lower lobe of the lung. The diagnosis of leiomyoma was made by histological examination of the obtained specimen. We considered the possibility of a benign metastasizing pulmonary leiomyoma. For treatment and differential diagnosis, a left lower lobe lobectomy of the lung and total hysterectomy with bilateral salphingooopherectomy were performed. The differences between lung and uterine lesions were confirmed by morphologic finding and immunohistochemical staining. The pathological diagnosis was primary endobronchial leiomyoma combined with uterine myoma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.481-487
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• 1998

The surgical management of acute type B dissection is controversial. The complexity of the repair usually requires a period of aortic cross-clamping exceeding 30 minutes, which can cause ischemic injury of the spinal cord. Several forms of distal perfusion have been considered for use to prevent this injury. To determine the safety and efficacy of a graft replacement with cardiopulmonary bypass in reparing acute dissection of descending thoracic aorta, we retrospectively reviewed our surgical experience treating 8 patients who had aortic dissection secondary to atherosclerosis, trauma, and carcinoma invasion. Cardiopulmonary bypass was performed with two aortic cannulas for simultaneous perfusion of the upper and lower body and one venous cannula for draining venous blood from the right atrium or inferior vena cava. Although aortic cross-clamp time was relatively long (average, 117.8 minutes; range, 47 to 180 minutes) in all cases, there was no neurologic deficit immediately after graft replacement for the aortic lesion. Two patients(25%) of relatively old age died on the postoperative 31st and 41st days, respectively, because of delayed postoperative complications, such as pulmonary abscess and adult respiratory distress syndrome. Although any of several maneuvers may be appropriate in managing dissection of the descending aorta, graft replacement with cardiopulmonary bypass during aortic cross-clamping may be a safe and effective method for the treatment of acute dissection of the descending thoracic aorta.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.130-134
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• 2023

A 12-year-old Standard Poodle presented with intermittent weakness and occasional dyspnea at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital of Kangwon National University. A grade of 4 out of 6 systolic murmur with an irregular tachycardic rhythm was auscultated on both sides of the chest. Systolic blood pressure was 140 mmHg. Panting was noticed in the hospital, but there was no crackle sound. Blood analysis revealed mild increases in liver panel levels (alanine aminotransferase 149 [reference interval, 19-70] U/L; and alkaline phosphatase, 185 [reference interval, 15-127] U/L) and severe increases in cardiac biomarker levels (n-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, 4169 [reference interval, 50-900] pmol/L; and cardiac troponin I, 0.22 [reference interval, 0.03-0.12] ng/mL). On electrocardiography, irregularly irregular supraventricular tachycardic rhythm with an f-wave and no distinct p-wave was observed. Generalized cardiomegaly with an enlarged right atrium and left ventricle was confirmed on thoracic radiography. Moreover, hepatomegaly and an enlarged caudal vena cava were observed. Echocardiographic evaluation revealed a fibromuscular diaphragm in the right ventricle. Because of the obstructive lesion in the right ventricle, the right atrium and ventricle were enlarged (right atrial area index, 38.82 cm²/m² [reference interval, 4.2-10.2 cm²/m²]; right ventricle end-diastolic area index, 14.152 cm²/m² [reference interval, 4.9-10.92 cm²/m²]). Accordingly, the patient was diagnosed with double-chambered right ventricle (DCRV). Pimobendan, furosemide, enalapril, diltiazem, and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) were prescribed, and all symptoms were relieved. DCRV is a right-sided congenital heart defect resembling pulmonic valve stenosis. If symptoms are not severe, medical therapy can be facilitated without surgery or the balloon dilation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.628-637
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• 2004

Background : Percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy(PNAB) of the lung is a safe procedure for diagnosis of various pulmonary diseases but complications such as pneumothorax can occasionally develop. We reviewed the complications arising after PNAB and analysed the risk factors of pneumothorax. Method : We collected data by reviewing medical records and radiographic studies of 403 patients who underwent PNAB of the lung between 1988 and 2002 and analyzed the risk factors of pneumothorax. Result : The incidence of complication was 12.9%, 48 patients with pneumothorax and 4 patients with mild hemoptysis. Among the 48 pneumothorax patients, 35 patients showed mild(<20%) and was treated by only oxygen supply, 11 patients had severe pneumothorax(>50%) and chest tube insertion was done and 2 patients were treated by needle aspiration. As the results of multivariate analysis, size and location of lesion, location of approach, diagnosis of lesion showed no significant relationship, while age and gender of patients(p<0.05) and the depth of approach(p<0.001) were significantly related to pneumothorax. Smoking amount(p<0.001) as well as the smoking history(p<0.005) were also significantly related and the examiner displaying various incidence of pneumothorax from 4.0% to 23.1% among individuals also was a significant independent risk factor(p<0.05). While the average depth of approach for 13 patients treated by chest tube insertion or needle aspiration was $8.2{\pm}1.2cm$, 35 patiens treated only by oxygen supply was $6.7{\pm}1.6cm$ suggesting that the depth of approach was lead to a severe pneumothorax. Conclusion : The independent risk factors of pneumothorax, the most common complication after PNAB, are age and gender of patients, depth of approach, examiner of procedure, smoking history and smoking amount.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.492-498
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• 2004

Background: In this study, we investigated the risk factors for the development or progression of aortic regurgitation(AR) in patients with type I ventricular septal defect (VSD) to determine the optimal surgical timing and strategy. Material and Method: Three-hundred and ten patients with type I VSD with or without AR were included. The mean of age was 73.7$\pm$114.7 (1-737) months. One hundred and eighty six patients (60%) had no AR, 83 (27%) had mild AR, 25 (8%) had moderate AR and 16 (5%) had severe AR. Aortic valve was repaired in 5 patients and replaced in 11 patients with closure of VSD in the first operation. Four patients required redo aortic valve repair and 11 patients required redo aortic valve replacement. Age at operation, association with aortic valve prolapse, Qp/Qs, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure, VSD size and systolic pulmonary artery to aortic pressure ratio(s[PAP/AP］) were included as risk factors analysis for the development of AR. The long-term result of aortic valve repair and aortic valve replacement were compared. Result: Older age at operation, association with aortic valve prolapse, high Qp/Qs, and s[PAP/AP] were identified as risk factors for the development of AR (p<0.05, Table 2). The older the patient at the time of operation, the higher the severity of preoperative AR and the incidence of postoperative AR (p<0.05, Table 1, Fig. 1). For the older patients at operation, aortic valve repair had higher occurrence of AR compared to those who had aortic valve replacement (p<0.05, Fig. 2). Conclusion: From the result of this study, we can concluded that early primary repair is recommended to decrease the progression of AR. Aortic valve repair is not always a satisfactory option to correct the aortic valve pathology, which may suggest that aortic valve replacement should be considered when indicated.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.174-179
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• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of adolescent TB. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the adolescents aged 12 to 18 years and who are hospitalized with the diagnosis of TB at Dong Kang General Hospital between January 2003 and December 2007. Results : Of the 29 patients who were identified, 65.5% were male. The median age at diagnosis was 16.9 years (range: 12.1-18.9 years). A tuberculin skin test (TST) was performed for 6 patients (20.7%). Among them, 5 (5 of 8[62.5%]) in the 12-15 years age group (Group A) and 1 (1 of 21[4.8%]) in the 16-18 years of age group (Group B) were TST positive, which showed that the TST performing rate decreased with age (P<0.01). Twenty-five patients (86.2%) were detected by evaluating the clinical symptoms that suggested TB and 4 patients (13.8%) were detected by screening, but no cases were detected by contact tracing. Twenty patients (69.0%) had isolated pulmonary disease. Seven patients (24.1%) had pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease and 2 patients (6.9%) had exclusively extrapulmonary disease. Most patients presented with multiple symptoms, and the most common were cough (79.3%), fever (75.9%), sputum (65.8%) and chest pain (34.5%). M. tuberculosis was isolated from the sputum of 20 patients (69.0%). The culture-positive rate increased with age (range: 62.5% in Group A to 71.4% in Group B), but the difference between the groups was not significant. Cavitary lesions were found 13 patients (44.8%). The cavitary lesion rate increased with age (range: 25.0% in Group A to 52.4% in Group B), but the difference between the groups was not significant. Four patients (13.8%) were lost during follow-up. One patient (6.9%) relapsed. Conclusion : Clinicians need to be aware of the unique features of adolescent TB, and they also need awareness of the importance of TST and contact investigation for an adult suspected of having TB for making the diagnosis of TB.