• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.2 s.247
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• pp.152-156
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• 2005

Background: Occlusive complications after arterial revascularization are difficult to treat and have high recurrence rate. This study was performed to establish an effective treatment modality and to evaluate the factors affecting the occlusive complications by analysis of clinical data. Material and Method: During the period of 5 years. 33 patients (55 reoperations) were studied at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National University Hospital following 173 arterial revascularization surgeries. The clinical characteristics, operating methods, the time intervals of reoperation, used graft, and the results of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Result: All the patients were men except one and the mean age was 63.5 years old. The mean time internal from first operation to reoperation was 11.9 months. The cause of arterial occlusive diseases were 28 atherosclerosis and 5 Burger's diseases, Associated diseases were Hypertension $(57.6\%)$, Diabetes mellitus $(33.3\%)$, heart failure $(18.2\%)$, and so on. The mean rate of reoperation was 1.67 times and the most common type of first operation was femoro-popliteal bypass grafting $(57.6\%)$. The graft that used revascularization surgery were 25 cases of PTFE and 6 case were Dacron. There was no statistical difference between two groups. The kinds of reoperations were thrombectomy in 20 cases, angioplasty 18 cases, re-bypass surgery in 13 cases, and lumbar sympathectomy in 4 cases. The results of reoperation were 15 cases of functional recovery, 7 cases of limb salvage, 5 cases of above-knee amputation. 3 cases of below-knee amputation and 3 deaths. Conclusion: The main cause of occlusive complications are occlusion of inflow or outflow artery. Treatments were different according to the first operation methods and graft used. The most frequent time of reoperation was within one year after the first operation. We believe that graft surveillance especially during the first year is very important factor in observing the patient. We can look forward to improving limb salvage rate to perform additional treatment such as radiological interventions and lumbar sympathectomy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2008

Purpose: The best treatment for advanced esophageal cancer is chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. In spite of the advance of multimodality therapy, most patients with esophageal cancer are treated with radiation therapy alone. This study reports the outcome of the use of conventional external beam radiotherapy alone for the treatment of esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2005, 30 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with external beam radiotherapy using a total dose exceeding 40 Gy. Radiotherapy was delivered with a total dose of 44-60 Gy(median dose, 57.2 Gy) over $36{\sim}115$ days(median time, 45 days). Thirteen patients(43.3%) had a history of disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, lye stricture, asthma, cerebral infarct, and cancers. Four patients metachronously had double primary cancers. The most common location of a tumor was the mid-thoracic portion of the esophagus(56.7%). Tumor lengths ranged from 2 cm to 11 cm, with a median length of 6 cm. For AJCC staging, stage III was the most common (63.3%). Five patients had metastases at diagnosis. Results: The median overall survival was 8.3 months. The survival rates at 1-year and 2-years were 33.3% and 18.7%, respectively. The complete response rate $1{\sim}3$ months after radiotherapy was 20%(6/30) and the partial response rate was 70%(21/30). Sixteen patients(53.3%) had an improved symptom of dysphagia. Significant prognostic factors were age, tumor length, stage, degree of dysphagia at the time of diagnosis and tumor response. Cox regression analysis revealed the aim of treatment, clinical tumor response and tumor length as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Twenty-eight patients had local failure and another four patients had metastases. Three patients were detected with double primary cancers in this analysis. A complication of esophageal stricture was observed in three patients(10%), and radiation pneumonitis occurred in two patients(6.7%). Conclusion: The prognosis of esophageal cancer remains poor, in spite of advances in radiotherapy techniques. Radiotherapy is one of the main treatment modalities for the relief of dysphagia and treatment related complications are minimal. It is expected that the addition of chemotherapy or another systemic modality to radiotherapy will improve tumor control and increase the survival rate in advanced esophageal cancer.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2008

The 25 healthy male volunteers aged from 20 to 50years old have been employed in this study. 2D-PC MRA was performed to measure the velocity of the blood flow in the internal carotid artery and internal jugular veins using 3.0T MRI Whole body (signa VH/i GE). ECTRICKS-CEMRA was performed to evaluate the pattern of blood circulation from internal carotid artery to internal jugular vein. Using 2D-PC MRA, the cross-section of the 4th and 5th cervical discs was scanned with 24cm FOV. Then the speed of blood flow was measured for internal carotid artery and internal jugular vein when the subject wears a necktie tightly and no tie. The average of maximum velocity of internal carotid arteries without a necktie was 72.13cm/sec in the right side and 74.96cm/sec in the left side(average 73.54cm/sec in both sides) while the average of maximum velocity of internal jugular veins without a necktie was -34.45cm/sec in the right side and -24.99cm/sec in the left side (-29.72cm/sec in both sides). However, when wearing a necktie tightly, the average of maximum velocity of internal carotid arteries was 61.35cm/sec in the right side and 65.19cm/sec in the left side(average 63.27cm/sec in both sides) while the average of maximum velocity of internal jugular veins was -22.14cm/sec in the right side and -17.93cm/sec in the left side(-20.03cm/sec in both sides). With the necktie tightly knotted, the average blood flow speed of both internal carotid arteries slightly decreased to 86% (63.27/73.54cm/sec) compared to no tie case in which both internal jugularveins significantly went down to 67% (-20.03/-29.72 cm/sec). Thus it is suggested that wearing a necktie affects the circulation of internal jugular veins(33% decrease in blood flow speed) more significantly than that of internal carotid artery(14% decrease in blood flow speed). Without a necktie, ECTRICKS-CEMRA showed natural blood circulation patterns of internal carotid arteries and internal jugular veins without any disturbances or compressions. However, when wearing a necktie tightly, ECTRICKS-CEMRA showed severe compression onto both internal jugular veins in all 25 volunteers. In conclusion, the result of the study showed that the tightly worn necktie instantly presses more internal jugular veins than internal carotid arteries, thereby significantly reducing the blood flow speed and leading to the temporary occlusion. Thus, the defecation or washing the face under the tightly tied necktie situations can cause the unexpected and temporary compression or occlusion of the internal jugular veins, subsequently leading to the occurrences of the stroke due to the secondary intracranial venous hypertension.