• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.474-479
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• 2003

Purpose : The determination of exposure and prevalence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia of any region should be helpful for clinical diagnosis. We studied the pattern of occurrence of M. pneumoniae pneumonia among children living in southern central Korea during the last 13 years. This area has a relatively small population and less mobility compared with metropolitan areas. Methods : We performed a retrospective descriptive study of 143 patients admitted to the pediatrics ward among all the patients aged less than 15 years old diagnosed with M. pneumoniae pneumonia at our hospital, from July 1989 to June 2002. Results : The percentiles of incidence per year compared to the total patients admitted to a pediatric ward per year were 0.52% in 1989, 0.48% in 1990, 0.13% in 1991, 0% in 1992, 1.85% in 1993, 1.00% in 1994, 0.15% in 1995, 0.53% in 1996, 1.75% in 1997, 0.65% in 1998, 0.24% in 1999, 1.14% in 2000, 1.30% in 2001, 0.53% in 2002. In the peak incidence of monthly distribution for two consecutive years with outbreaks, its outbreak in the first year was concentrated in late fall and winter, but its outbreak in the following year was earlier than first year. There was peak incidence of age distribution in 4-5 years. It is shown gradually that age distributions per year of outbreak became earlier in age. Conclusion : The occurrences of M. pneumoniae pneumonia in southern central Korea occurred at 3-4 year intervals, 1-2 years in duration, compared to three year intervals, one year in duration, according to reports from metropolitan areas before 1997.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.132-137
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• 2004

Background : The measurement of adenosine deaminase(ADA) level in pleural fluid is useful in the diagnosis of tuberculous(TB) pleural effusion. However, ADA is also elevated in other diseases such as malignancy, bacterial infections, empyema, and collagen vascular disease, ADA alone has limited value. The object of this study is to determine diagnostic usefulness of the combined use of ADA value with lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio(L/N ratio) rather than the use of ADA alone. Method : We evaluated 198 patients(age=$55.9{\pm}12.9$, M/F=2.7:1) with pleural effusion who had admitted in Gyeong-sang National University Hospital from Jan. 1999 to Dec. 2001. retrospectively. Patients were divided into four diagnostic groups: TB pleural effusion(n=91), parapneumonic effusion(n=65), malignant effusion(n=21), and transudative effusion(n=13). The ADA level, differential cell count, biochemistry, cytology, and microbiology of each diagnostic groups were evaluated. The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value(npv), positive predictive value(ppv) and efficiency were calculated at each ADA values and combined ADA value with various L/N ratios. Results : The ADA level in TB pleural effusion was significantly higher than that of parapneumonic effusion, malignant pleural effusion, and transudative effusion(p<0.05). Sensitivity, specificity, ppv, npv and efficiency at $ADA{\geqq}50$ IU/L in the diagnosis of TB pleural effusion were 89.0%, 82.2%, 81.0%, 89.8% and 85.5% respectively. When $ADA{\geqq}50$ IU/L was combined with lymphocyte/neutrophil $ratio{\geqq}0.75$, sensitivity, specificity, ppv, npv, and efficiency were 83.5%, 96.3%, 95.0%, 87.9% and 90.5% respectively. Specificity, ppv and efficiency were increased with combination of ADA value and L/N ratio. Conclusion : Combination of ADA value and L/N ratio in pleural effusion is more useful than ADA value alone in the diagnosis of TB pleural effusion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2011

Questionnaires were distributed to Radiology departments at hospitals with 300 sickbeds throughout the Pohang region of North Gyeongsang Province concerning awareness and performance levels of infection control. The investigation included measurements of the pollution levels of imaging equipment and assistive apparatuses in order to prepare a plan for the activation of prevention and management of hospital infections. The survey was designed to question respondents in regards to personal data, infection management prevention education, and infection management guidelines. The ATP Public Heath Monitering System was used to measure seven items for pollution levels of imaging equipment and assistive apparatuses in the Radiology Department. Data was analysed using SPSS version 12.0 for paired t-test and Pearson coefficient with a statistically significant level of 0.05. The results of the survey showed a total awareness level of infection management prevention education averaged at $3.73{\pm}0.64$ and performance levels resulted at $3.39{\pm}0.83$ which were statistically significant (p = 0.01). Also the measurements of pollution levels for equipment with high patient contact showed a Pearson Coefficient of over 0.5 implying a focus on pathogenic bacterium. There was no statistical significance with the frequency of imaging (p < 0.05). Therefore for general hospitals with high patient contact, there is a need to supply analyzing equipment for real time monitoring and the implementation of disinfection management that uses a Ministry of Health and Welfare approved antiseptic solution twice every minute.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.219-224
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• 2014

Purpose : To determine the incidence of truncated triangle appearance of anterior horn (AH) to body of medial meniscus (MM) and determine its clinical significance. Materials and Methods: IRB approval was obtained, and informed consent waived for this study. The criteria of "pseudoradial tear" was truncated triangle appearance of the tip of AH to body of MM on one or more coronal images with adjacent fluid signal intensity at the blunted tip. Two musculoskeletal radiologists retrospectively evaluated 485 knee MR images independently for the presence and number of sections with "pseudoradial tear" of AH to body of MM using proton density-weighted coronal MR images. Inter-and intraobserver agreement was calculated using kappa coefficients. Medical records were reviewed for arthroscopic correlation. Results: A pseudoradial tear in the AH to body of MM was present in 381 (78.6%) patients. Locations were 112 in AH (29.4%), 143 in AH to body (37.5%), and 126 in body (33.1%). Number of consecutive sections of pseudoradial tear were 1 in 100 (26.2%), 2 in 164 (43.0%), 3 in 94 (24.7%), 4 in 21 (5.5%), and 5 in 2 (0.5%). Interobserver agreement was 0.99 for presence and 0.43 for number of sections of pseudoradial tear. Arthroscopies were performed in 96 patients and none of the pseudoradial tears were proven as true radial tears on arthroscopy. Conclusion: Pseudoradial tears are frequently seen in AH to body of MM on coronal MR images and may be another pitfall that a radiologist needs to be aware of and be able to differentiate from true radial tear.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.591-598
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• 2001

Background : Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in the bronchus is an uncommon disease that is histologically and ultrastructurally identical to the salivary gland tumor of the same name and regarded as a slow growing low-grade malignancy. We examined its clinical characteristics. Method : We collected 13 Korean cases of primary adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in the bronchus including 5 cases of our own and 8 cases from the literature. Result : The patients ages ranged from 20 to 74. Men numbered 9 and women 4. The presenting symptoms were cough, dyspnea, and hemoptysis. The fiberoptic bronchoscopic findings were primarily hypervascular polypoid mass with a smooth surface that obstructed airway totally or near totally. There were three inoperable cases including two cases with distant metastasis to bone or cervical lymph node and one case with mediastinal invasion. The remaining 10 patients underwent surgical resection. Among them, two patients received postoperative radiotherapy. The median survival was 21 months in the 8 surgical and evaluable cases. One patient lived 13 years without recurrence. The prognosis was relatively favorable in operable cases. Conclusion : It was not common for primary adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in the bronchus to have distant metastasis or invasion to the mediastinum on presentation. The prognosis was relatively favorable in operable cases. It would be important to perform flexible bronchoscopy for early diagnosis and to do surgical treatment if possible.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2020

Several hard tick species in Ixodidae are medically important pests that transmit infectious disease including severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS). In Korea, the number of SFTS patients continues to steadily increase since its first report in 2013, and Gyeongsangbuk-do (province) is the second most frequent area of SFTS patient occurrence. In order to investigate the distribution of ticks in Sangju city, we collected ticks using the flagging method from 26 sites comprising urban green area, vulnerable area of management, and rural area, and examined SFTS virus from the collected ticks in 2019. Based on Collection Index (CI = tick number / 1 h / 2 people), CI 143 ticks, including Haemaphysalis longicornis, Haemaphysalis flava, and Ixodes nipponensis, were collected; the most abundant species among the three tick species was H. longicornis (CI 138, 96.5%). Ninety two percent (CI 131) of ticks were collected in vulnerable area of management, where people cannot easily enter and are not managed by city hall, whereas only 8.4% (CI 12) were collected in the urban green area and rural area. Regarding SFTS virus detection, virus was not investigated from 26 pools containing CI 143 ticks. The results of this study are expected to be used as a recommendation for ensuring the safety of local residents from tick-borne diseases.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.224-229
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• 2001

Purpose : The aim of this study is to analyze the treatment failure patterns and the risk factors for locoregional or distant failure of uterine cervical carcinoma treated with radiation therapy. Materials and methods . A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 154 patients treated with curative radiation therapy in Gyeongsang National University Hospital from April 1989 through December 1997. According to FIGO classification, 12 patients were stage IB, 24 were IIA, 98 were IIB, 1 were IIIA, 17 were IIIB, 2 were IVA. Results : Overall treatment failure rate was $42.1\%$ (65/154), and that of complete responder was $31.5\%$ (41/130). Among 65 failures, 25 failed locoregionally, another 25 failed distantly, and 15 failed locoregionally and distantly. Multivariate analysis confirmed tumor size (>4 cm) as risk factor for locoregional failure, and tumor size (>4 cm), pelvic lymph node involvement as risk factors for distant failure. Conclusion : On the basis of results of our study and recent published data of prospective randomized study for locally advanced uterine cervical carcinoma, we concluded that uterine cervical carcinoma with size more than 4 cm or pelvic lymph node involvement should be treated with concurrent chemoradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.297-303
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• 2023

Pediatric Computed Tomography (CT) examinations can often result in exam failures or the need for frequent retests due to the difficulty of cooperation from young patients. Deep Learning Image Reconstruction (DLIR) methods offer the potential to obtain diagnostically valuable images while reducing the retest rate in CT examinations of pediatric patients with high radiation sensitivity. In this study, we investigated the possibility of applying DLIR to reduce artifacts caused by respiration or motion and obtain clinically useful images in pediatric chest CT examinations. Retrospective analysis was conducted on chest CT examination data of 43 children under the age of 7 from P Hospital in Gyeongsangnam-do. The images reconstructed using Filtered Back Projection (FBP), Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction (ASIR-50), and the deep learning algorithm TrueFidelity-Middle (TF-M) were compared. Regions of interest (ROI) were drawn on the right ascending aorta (AA) and back muscle (BM) in contrast-enhanced chest images, and noise (standard deviation, SD) was measured using Hounsfield units (HU) in each image. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (ver. 22.0), analyzing the mean values of the three measurements with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the SD values for AA were FBP=25.65±3.75, ASIR-50=19.08±3.93, and TF-M=17.05±4.45 (F=66.72, p=0.00), while the SD values for BM were FBP=26.64±3.81, ASIR-50=19.19±3.37, and TF-M=19.87±4.25 (F=49.54, p=0.00). Post-hoc tests revealed significant differences among the three groups. DLIR using TF-M demonstrated significantly lower noise values compared to conventional reconstruction methods. Therefore, the application of the deep learning algorithm TrueFidelity-Middle (TF-M) is expected to be clinically valuable in pediatric chest CT examinations by reducing the degradation of image quality caused by respiration or motion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.281-290
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• 2012

The difference of radiation dose of MDCT due to different protocols between hospitals was analyzed by CTDI, DLP, the number of Slice and the number of DLP/Slice in 30 cases of the head, the abdomen and the chest that have 10 cases each from MDCT examination of the department of diagnostic imaging of three general hospitals in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The difference of image quality, CTDI, DLP, radiation dose in the eye and radiation dose in thyroid was analyzed after both helical scan and normal scan for head CT were performed because a protocol of head CT is relatively simple and head CT is the most frequent case. Head CT was significantly higher in two-thirds of hospitals compared to A hospital that does not exceed a CTDI diagnostic reference level (IAEA 50mGy, Korea 60mGy) (p<0.001). DLP was higher in one-third of hospitals than a diagnostic reference level of IAEA 1,050mGy.cm and Korea 1,000mGy.cm and two-thirds exceeded the recommendation of Korea and those were significantly higher than A hospital that does not exceed a diagnostic reference level (p<0.001). Abdomen CT showed 119mGy that was higher than a diagnostic reference level of IAEA 25mGy and Korea 20mGy in one-third. DLP in all hospitals was higher that Korea recommendation of 700mGy.cm. Among target hospitals, C hospital showed high radiation dose in all tests because MPR and 3D were of great importance due to low pitch and high Tube Curren. To analyze the difference of radiation dose by scan methods, normal scan and helical scan for head CT of the same patient were performed. In the result, CTDI and DLP of helical CT were higher 63.4% and 93.7% than normal scan (p<0.05, p<0.01). However, normal scan of radiation dose in thyroid was higher 87.26% (p<0.01). Beam of helical CT looked like a bell in the deep part and the marginal part so thyroid was exposed with low radiation dose deviated from central beam. In addition, helical scan used Gantry angle perpendicularly and normal scan used it parallel to the orbitomeatal line. Therefore, radiation dose in thyroid decreased in helical scan. However, a protocol in this study showed higher radiation dose than diagnostic reference level of KFDA. To obey the recommendation of KFDA, low Tube Curren and high pitch were demanded. In this study, the difference of image quality between normal scan and helical scan was not significant. Therefore, a standardized protocol of normal scan was generally used and protective gear for thyroid was needed except a special case. We studied a part of CT cases in the local area. Therefore, the result could not represent the entire cases. However, we confirmed that patient's radiation dose in some cases exceeded the recommendation and the deviation between hospitals was observed. To improve this issue, doctors of diagnostic imaging or technologists of radiology should perform CT by the optimized protocol to decrease a level of CT radiation and also reveal radiation dose for the right to know of patients. However, they had little understanding of the situation. Therefore, the effort of relevant agencies with education program for CT radiation dose, release of radiation dose from CT examination and addition of radiation dose control and open CT contents into evaluation for hospital services and certification, and also the effort of health professionals with the best protocol to realize optimized CT examination.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2009

Purpose : The concentration of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is estimated as an iron parameter to evaluate erythropoiesis and iron status. The aim of our study is to evaluate the correlation between sTfR concentration and inflammatory parameters and to distinguish iron deficiency anemia from anemia of inflammation. Methods : One hundred and forty-four infants younger than two years of age who visited Gyeongsang University Hospital for 7 years from 2000 to 2006 were enrolled. Patients who had hemoglobin (Hb) <11 g/dL and ferritin <12 mg/L were excluded. Routine hematologic lab, serum ferritin, sTfR, and inflammatory markers [C-reactive protein(CRP), interleukin-6(IL-6), and absolute neutrophil count (ANC)] were investigated. Results : In all patients, the sTfR concentration showed a correlation with Hb, ferritin, MCV, and ANC, but not with CRP and IL-6. In multiple regression models, positive correlations were found between sTfR concentration and IL-6 (r=0.078, P=0.043), and negative correlations were found between sTfR concentration and ANC (r=-0.117, P=0.033) and MCV (r=-0.027, P=0.009). Conclusion : sTfR concentration was influenced by inflammatory parameters. Therefore, sTfR does not appear to be a useful parameter for discriminating between iron deficiency anemia and anemia of inflammation in infants.