• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2007

Object : This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of delirium in liver transplanted patients in a hospital in Korea. Method : We reviewed the medical records of 29 liver transplanted patients who were confirmed as delirium by psychiatrists with DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria. We estimated the correlation between delirium and clinical conditions of liver transplantations. Result : Post-operative delirium duration was significantly correlated with frequency of hepatic encephalopathy, pre-operative mental status, and stay of intensive care unit. Conclusion : Although there were many limitations of this study, it seemed that pre-operative hepatic encephalopathy affected post liver transplantation delirium.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.224-229
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• 2022

Biliary cast syndrome is an unusual complication in patients who have previously undergone liver transplantation. It occurs in approximately 5%-18% of such patients. Rare cases of biliary cast syndrome in patients without liver transplants have also been reported. The pathogenesis of biliary cast has not been clearly identified, although etiologic factors including post-transplant bile duct damage, ischemia, biliary infection, and presence of a post-operative biliary drainage tube have been proposed. Here we present a case of biliary cast that developed in a 49-year-old male who underwent a non-liver surgery after endoscopic and percutaneous management of common bile duct stone.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.368-380
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• 2002

Purpose: Liver transplantation (LT), one of the therapeutic options of primary liver cancer has been suffering from recurrence caused by metastasis in 8-54% of patients. This study was performed to investigate whether FDG-PET is useful for detecting hidden metastasis in LT candidates. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients (male:female=23:3, mean age 55.7 years) underwent FDG-PET. Their previous conventional diagnostic studies (CDS) like abdomen US and CT, chest x-ray and CT, and bone scan were negative (n=22) or equivocal (n=4) for metastasis. Positive FDG-PET findings were confirmed by biopsy or clinical follow-up. Results: Among 4 patients with equivocal metastatic lesions on CDS, 3 had 6 hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET, which were confirmed as metastasis and subsequently LTs were cancelled. Of these, 5 lesions were initially negative on CDS. Remained 1 patient underwent LT with a negative FDG-PET result. Among 22 patients without metastasis on CDS, 5 had 7 hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET. One of these patients proved to have 2 metastatic lesions, and LT was cancelled. The other 4 patients had S hypermetabolic lesions on FDG-PET, which were confirmed as benign lesions, and 3 patients of them underwent LT. In summary, FDG-PET was useful in avoiding 4 unwarranted LT by detecting unsuspected metastatic lesions on CDS. A total of 17 patients underwent LT. In comparison with pathology, the sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET for detecting viable primary liver cancer were 55.6% (5/9) and 87.5% (7/8), respectively. Conclusion: FDG-PET can detect additional hidden metastasis and contribute to reducing unwarranted LT in the patients with primary liver cancer.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2009

Liver transplantation is definitive treatment for the patients suffering from hepatitis, severe liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. In these patients, systemic infections under immunosuppression may occur easily. Therefore, primary object of dental treatments before liver transplantation is absolute removal of oral infection source. In addition, comprehensive dental management plan is essential for success of liver transplantation. The present study has been performed to investigate decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth index(DMFT index), degree of oral hygiene, past medical history, need of dental treatment, completion of dental treatment need and time interval between dental visit and operation date of liver transplantation in liver transplant candidates. Obtained results were as follows; 1. Decayed teeth of the patients were 2.68, missing teeth were 4.02 and filled teeth were 3.42. DMFT index was 10.12. 2. Twenty percents of patients showed moderate to severe food impactions, 42.2% of patients had moderate to heavy calculus and 37.8% of patients displayed gingival inflammation with swelling. 3. Patients needed periodontal treatments more than any other dental treatments. Periodontal treatments were needed for 88.9% of patients, operative & endodontic treatments were 46.7% of patients and 33.3% of patients needed for oral & maxillofacial surgical treatments. 4. Among 90 patients, time interval between scheduled operation date of liver transplantation and dental visit was within 2 weeks for 32.2% of patients, within 1 week for 20.0% of patients. In conclusion, most liver transplant candidates needed dental treatments for removal of potential infection sources. However because of insufficient interval between dental visit and operation date, they had taken liver transplantation procedures without comprehensive dental management. Development of preventive and comprehensive dental management program is mandatory for these patients. Cooperative interdisciplinary management will play a positive role for successful liver transplantation.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of treatment of living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) with the parental heterozygote carrier graft in children with Wilson disease. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 7 children with Wilson disease who had received liver transplantation from 1994 to 2002 at Asan Medical Center. All the donors were parental. Liver functions, Kayser-Fleischer ring, and other factors regarding to copper metabolism were analyzed. Results: Of the 7 children, 5 had fulminant hepatitis and 2 had decompensated liver cirrhosis irresponsive to medical therapy. All donors being parental, all grafts came to be heterozygote carrier grafts. Survival rate was 100% in those 7 children, 87% in all children with liver transplantation in the same period, and 84% in children with non-metabolic liver disease. After liver transplantation, all 7 children could stop low copper diet and penicillamine therapy and their AST, total bilirubin and prothrombin time were recovered to normal. After liver transplantation, ceruloplasmin and serum copper levels were also recovered to normal. A marked reduction in 24 hr-urinary copper excretion was observed in all recipients after transplantation. During follow-up, Kayser-Fleischer rings resolved completely after LRLT in 5 children and partially in 1 child. Conclusion: We concluded that living-related liver tranplantation in children with Wilson disease with parental heterozygote carrier graft is an effective treatment modality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.713-718
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• 2023

Orthotopic liver transplantation has become the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage liver disease. Various early or delayed vascular complications, including arterial pseudoaneurysm, thrombosis, or stenosis, and venous stenosis or occlusion, may lead to graft failure. Early detection and prompt management of such complications are essential to achieve successful transplantation and prevent the need for retransplantation. This report presents differentiating points, using computed tomography and digital subtraction angiography findings and measurement of pressure gradient across the stenotic lesion, that require immediate intervention in patients with inferior vena cava stenosis after orthotopic liver transplantation.

• 간의등불
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• s.18
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• pp.16-23
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• 2001

치료 불가능한 말기 간질환 환자에게 새로운 간을 심어주는 수술을 하여 생명을 구하고 더 나은 삶을 누릴 수 있게 하는 간 이식에 대하여 알아본다. 아울러 한국 장기 이식의 현주소와 그 미래, 산 자와 죽은 자에 대한 보고서이기도 한 간 이식은 의학의 차원을 넘어 생명의 존재 가치에 대한 진지한 질문을 던져줄 것이다.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.178-185
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• 2008

Living donor liver transplantation is increasingly performed as an alternative to cadaveric transplantation. Preoperative screening of the donor candidates is very important. The quality, size, and vascular and biliary anatomy of the liver are best assessed with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging or computed tomography (CT). In particular, the volume of the potential graft must be measured to ensure sufficient liver function after surgery. Preoperative liver segmentation has proved useful for measuring the graft volume before living donor liver transplantations in previous studies. In these studies, the liver segments were manually delineated on each image section. The delineated areas were multiplied by the section thickness to obtain volumes and summed to obtain the total volume of the liver segments. This process is tedious and time consuming. To compensate for this problem, automatic segmentation techniques have been proposed with multiplanar CT images. These methods involve the use of sequences of thresholding, morphologic operations (ie, mathematic operations, such as image dilation, erosion, opening, and closing, that are based on shape), and 3D region growing methods. These techniques are complex but require a few computation times. We made a phantom for volume measurement with pig and evaluated actual volume of spleen and liver of phantom. The results represent that our semiautomatic volume measurement algorithm shows a good accuracy and repeatability with actual volume of phantom and possibility for clinical use to assist physician as a measuring tool.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2003

Purpose: Hepatic allografts from donors with hepatitis B core antibody have been demonstrated to transmit hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to recipients after liver transplantation (LT). The efficacy of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg) to prevent de novo hepatitis B was investigated by comparing active immunization in the early phase to HBIg monotherapy in the late phase of pediatric liver transplants at Samsung Medical Center. Methods: Among pediatric liver transplants, from May, 1996 to June, 2002, 15 recipients who were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (-) received an allograft from a donor with hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) (+). Except two who died from unrelated causes, eleven of 13 recipients were HBsAb (+), and 2 were naive (HBsAb(-), HBcAb(-)). All patients were vaccinated for HBV before LT. In the early phase (January, 1997~November, 1997, 3 patients), HBsAb (+) recipients received booster vaccination after LT. In the late phase (December, 1997~, 10 patients), all recipients were given booster vaccination and received HBIg therapy in order to maintain HBsAb titer greater than 200 IU/L. Lamivudine was given in one case because of severe side effect of HBIg. We retrospectively analyzed the effect of the preventive therapy for de novo hepatitis B through medical records. Results: De novo hepatitis B developed in three of 13 recipients (23.1%). All of 3 patients who received active immunization in the early phase became HBsAg (+) at 7~19 months after transplantation. One of them was naive before LT and the other two were HBsAb (+). All of 10 recipients who were given HBIg in the late phase remained HBsAg (-) at 7~55 months' follow-up. Conclusion: Passive immunization with HBIg was effective for prevention of de novo hepatitis B in HBsAg (-) recipients of hepatic allografts from HBcAb (+) donors.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2017

End-stage liver disease (ESLD) is a terminal condition of cirrhosis which cannot be treated without liver transplantation. Thus, it is natural for patients to consider hospice/palliative care (HPC). Since the recent legislation of the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients in Hospice and Palliative Care or at the End of Life (Act No. 14013) in Korea, the practicality of this law has become an issue. The criteria for HPC should be defined with consideration to how the severity of each ESLD complication may vary by individual patients. Generally, patients qualify if they have an intractable condition despite aggressive treatment such as the hepatorenal syndrome, hepatic encephalopathy or variceal hemorrhage. However, the option of liver transplantation should be sufficiently discussed with patients and their families before making a decision on HPC. The evaluation of which ESLD patients should receive HPC should be based on a long-term doctor-patient relationship and sufficient objective data. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach and mutual consultation among cirrhosis specialists and doctors with other expertise are essential to offer optimal and balanced treatments between liver-specific treatment and HPC. Discussed in this review are adequate criteria for HPC and special considerations for ESLD at the point of HPC.