• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.118-124
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• 1998

Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a recently accepted modality of myocardial revascularization prcedures which is particularly suitable to the patients with lesions in the left anterior descending(LAD) and the right coronary arteries. Of the consecutive 35 patients of coronary artery bypass grafting performed at Sejong General Hospital from March to August 1996, six patients underwent minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without CPB. All had stenotic lesions of the LAD more than 90%. Bypass grafting of the LAD was approached through midline sternotomy in one, through ministernotomy in two, and through limited left anterior thoracotomy in three patients, respectively. The internal mammary arteries were prepared without the use of thoracoscope. The mobilized mammary arteries were connected directly to the LAD in 5 patients, and the anastomosis required interposition of a segment of the radial artery in the remaining one. The diagonal branch was revascularized with the saphenous vein graft at the same time in one patient. No blood transfusion was necessary in 2 patients, and average blood required during surgery was 800ml in 4 patients. All patients were extubated from 4 to 14 hours(mean 9 hours) after operation. Early postoperative coronary angiography in 5 patients between 7 and 10 days after surgery has proved full patency of the grafts. With these limited clinical experiences, the clinical results demonstrated that minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without CPB is an useful procedure especially in patients with isolated lesion in the proximal LAD.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1406-1413
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate the effect of ethanol extract of Pimpinella brachycarpa(PBE) on chronically ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rat liver. Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 90-130 g were divided into 5 groups; normal group(NOR), ethanol(35%, 10 ml/kg) treated group(CON), PBE 200 mg/kg treated group(P1), PBE 200 mg/kg and ethanol treated group(P2), and PBE 400 mg/kg and ethanol treated group(P3). PBE was also fractionated by the following solvent: n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and n-butanol. The antioxidative capacity of the n-hexane fraction was the highest among fractions and was similar to that of butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT). The body weight gain and feed intake of the rats were decreased by ethanol administration, but were gradually increased to the similar levels of the NOR group by administering PBE. The AST activity in serum elevated by ethanol was significantly decreased by administering the high dosage of PBE, but exerted no significant change on serum ALT activity. It was also observed that the hepatic activities of xanthine oxide(XO), catalase and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) increased by ethanol were markedly decreased in the combined ethanol and PBE administered groups(P2 and P3), but not in the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) as compared with the CON group. The glutathione(GSH) contents were decreased by ethanol adminstration, however, increased after administering PBE. These results suggest that ethanol extract of Pimpinella brachycarpa has a possible positive effect on the liver function in hepatotoxicity-induced rats by ethanol administration.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.244-254
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• 2002

Purpose: This study investigated the differences between technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer (Tc-99m ECD) and technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (Tc-99m HMPAO) uptake in the normal brain by means of statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed age and sex matched 53 cases of normal brain SPECT. Thirty-two cases were obtained with Tc-99m ECD and 21 cases with Tc-99m HMPAO. There were no abnormal findings on brain MRIs. All of the SPECT images were spatially transformed to standard space, smoothed and globally normalized. The differences between the Tc-99m ECD and Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT images were statistically analyzed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM'99) software. The differences bgetween the two groups were considered significant ant a threshold of corrected P values less than 0.05. Results: SPM analysis revealed significantly different uptakes of Tc-99m ECD and Tc-99m HMPAO in the normal brains. On the Tc-99m ECD SPECT images, relatively higher uptake was observed in the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes, in the basal ganglia and thalamus, and in the superior region of the cerebellum. On the Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT images, relatively higher uptakes was observed in subcortical areas of the frontal region, temporal lobe, and posterior portion of inferior cerebellum. Conclusion: Uptake of Tc-99m ECD and Tc-99m HMPO in the normallooking brain was significantly different on SPM analysis. The selective use of Tc-99m ECD of Tc-99m HMPAO in brain SPECT imaging appears especially valuable for the interpretation of cerebral perfusion. Further investigation is necessary to determine which tracer is more accurate for diagnosing different clinical conditions.