• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.21-29
• /
• 2006

Purpose: This study explored the anal sphincter-saving rate and down-staging rate after preoperative chemoradiotherapy for treating lower rectal cancer. We also explored the prognosis of the patients who refused surgery after preoperative chemoradiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Thirty seven patients with histologically proven lower rectal cancer who underwent preoperative chemoradiotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. In each case, the tumor location was 0 to 5 em from the anal verge, and curative resection of the cancer with performing a sphincter-saving procedure was not feasible before chemoradiotherapy. In each case, the staging examinations, including biopsy, were done before starting radiotherapy and this was repeated at 1 month after radiation therapy. Results: After chemoradiotherapy, among the 37 included patients, 56.8% and 32.4% were downstaged to the T stage and N stage, respectively, when comparing the postradiotherapy stage with pre-radiotherapy stage. Twenty five patients underwent complete resection of cancer at 6 weeks after radiotherapy: eleven, eight and six patients underwent abdominoperineal resection, low anterior resection and local excision, respectively. The sphincter-saving rate among the 24 completely resected cases was 54.2%. Twelve patients refused surgery after radiotherapy. Among 6 patients who refused surgery with biopsy-proven complete remission after chemoradiotherapy, 5 patients were alive without disease at a median follow up period of 31 months, and only 1 patient had local failure. Conclusion: For lower rectal cancer, a high sphincter-saving rate was accomplished with preoperative chemoradiotherapy. The prognosis of the patients who refused surgery with biopsy proven complete remission after chemoradiotherapy was good and these patients need to be kept under close surveillance.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.149-192
• /
• 2024

People with mental illness are generally either unaware of their illness or unwilling to voluntarily seek treatment, which makes treatment difficult and the pain mainly passed on to their families. Accordingly, non-face-to-face treatment, in which the patient is diagnosed by interviews with the family and unannounced medication, in which medication is secretly administered through the family, can be performed, and this has been considered a necessary evil. Even considering realistic aspects such as the special nature of mental health care and families' suffer, not-informed treatment without consent violates not only medical laws, but also human rights of mentally ill patients. Above all, if the patient finds out about this late, the trust between the patient, family, and doctor is completely broken, and a treatment is absolutely refused. Japan's Chiba decision, which presents exceptional conditions for allowance might be a solution. However, it would not be a right solution, considering that it could lead to long-term unannounced medication and completely cut off treatment through therapeutic dialogue. Ultimately, it need to approach this problem and seek alternatives through restoration of therapeutic dialogue.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.198-206
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life was enacted in 2016 and has taken effect since 2018 February. The content of this act was based on Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) in the United States and we modified it for terminal cancer patients registering hospice. The object of this study is to investigate preference and implementation rate for modified Korean POLST (MMK-POLST) items in hospice ward. Methods: From February 1, 2017 to April 30, 2019, medical records regarding MMK-POLST were retrospectively analyzed for all patients hospitalized in the hospice ward of Gyeongsang National University Hospital. Results: Of the eligible 387 total cohorts, 295 patients filled out MK-POLST. MK-POLST has been completed in 133 cases (44.1%) by the patient themselves, 84 cases (28.5%) by the spouse, and 75 cases (25.4%) by their children, respectively. While only 13 (4.4%) out of 295 MK-POLST completed patients refused the parenteral nutrition and 5 patients (1.7%) for palliative sedation, the absolute majority of 288 (97.6%) patients did not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and ventilators and 226 people (76.9%) for pressor medications. Kappa values for the matched strength of MK-POLST implementation were poor for all items except CPR, ventilators and palliative sedation. Conclusion: Hospice patients refused to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventilators and pressor agents. In contrast, antibiotics, parenteral nutrition and palliative sedation were favored in the majority of patients.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.384-389
• /
• 2017

The resistance to dentistry is as old as the history of dentistry. Historically, dental treatment techniques have continued to evolve to minimize pain with effective treatment, but the negative perception of dentistry has not been reduced as much as the development of technology. Particularly, children have a lack of resistance to external stimuli, mental development and patience, and the degree of cooperation with dental care is reduced due to changes in parenting methods including parental influence, so can experience DFA(dental fear and anxiety) and DBMP(dental behavior management problem). Among the various stimuli experienced by the child in the dentist, psychological factors affecting the dentist, dental clinic, and social factors affect the formation of the relationship with the dentist. Especially in recent years, the addiction related to smartphone is emerging as a social problem, and the effects of smartphone addiction on the oral cavity and the effects on dental behavior are examined.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.525-532
• /
• 1998

The autism is a complex disorder, characterized language impairment, perceptual-motor difficulties, and social disturbance. The autistic children have hyperactivity, lack of communication' lack of cooperation, inappropriate patient/dentist interaction, so they require professionally recognized behavioral management technique during dental treatment such as behavior modification, phamacological agents, and general anesthesia. A behavior management technique can be chosen by factors such as the severity of autism and possible accompanying disabilities, degree of cooperation, oral and general conditions of children. A non-pharmacological behavior modification may be selected for the autistic children who are able to communicate with dentist with mild dental caries, without compromised medical history. In case of excessively hyperactive, destructive, antisocial, and/or severe communicative disorder, a sedation technic with chloral hydrate, hydroxyzine, midazolam or nitrous oxide gas might to be performed. General anesthesia is preferred for severe communicative and/or behavioral disorder, elder age, excessive dental care need, and living a remote area.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.12-18
• /
• 2011

Objectives: This retrospective study evaluated the therapeutic effects of the intentional replantation (IR) procedure performed on the maxillary and mandibular molars of 35 patients. Materials and Methods: For the subjects, IR was performed due to difficulties in anatomically accessing the lesions and/or close proximity to the thick cortical bone, inferior alveolar nerve, or maxillary sinus, which rendered the ordinary periradicular surgery impossible. The patients'progress was followed for a year and up to 2 years and 4 months. The success of the procedure was evaluated in terms of clinical and radiographic success (%). Results: The results revealed the following: (a) 1 case (3%) of failed tooth extraction during IR; (b) 2 cases (6%) of extraction due to periodontal diseases and inflammatory root resorption; (c) 3 cases (9%) of normally functioning teeth in the oral cavity with minor mobility and apical root resorption, and; (d) 29 cases (82%) of normally functioning teeth without obvious problems. Conclusions: IR was confirmed to be a reliably repeatable, predictable treatment option for those who cannot receive conventional periradicular surgery because of anatomic limitations or patient factors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.82 no.4
• /
• pp.914-922
• /
• 2021

Purpose To investigate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) after > 10 years of follow-up. Materials and Methods This study included five patients who underwent RFA to treat PTMCs (five lesions, mean diameter 0.5 cm, range 0.4-0.7 cm) between November 2006 and December 2009. The inclusion criteria were histopathologically confirmed PTMCs, a single PTMC lesion without extrathyroidal extension, no metastasis, and ineligibility or refusal to undergo surgery. RFA was performed by a single radiologist using a radiofrequency generator and an internally cooled electrode. We retrospectively analyzed the procedure-induced complications, serial changes in ablated tumors, recurrence, and local as well as lymph node metastasis based on data obtained from medical records and radiological images. Results The mean follow-up period was 130.6 months (range 121-159 months). Three patients underwent a single RFA session, and two patients underwent two RFA sessions. We observed no procedure-induced complications. Three tumors completely disappeared after ablation, and ablation of the other two tumors resulted in the formation of a small scar that showed long-term stability (mean duration 16.8 months, range 12-27 months). At the last follow-up, no patient showed recurrence or lymph node metastasis, and serum thyroglobulin levels were within normal limits in all patients. Conclusion RFA may be effective and safe to treat low-risk PTMC in patients who refuse or are ineligible for surgery.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.28 no.6
• /
• pp.603-606
• /
• 2011

An 11-year-old castrated male cocker spaniel presented with halitosis, anorexia, and swelling of the left face. Upon physical examination, a firm mass was detected in the left buccal mucosa. Fine needle aspiration cytology revealed a malignant tumor of mesenchymal origin. We performed biopsy, which gave a diagnosis of oral fibrosarcoma. The client refused surgical treatment, and carboplatin chemotherapy (300 $mg/m^2$, IV, q 21 days) was initiated. The mass gradually decreased in size and disappeared about 89 days after the initial chemotherapy. Complete remission was attained, and the tumor did not relapse. This case report shows that a single carboplatin chemotherapy session can achieve macroscopic complete remission of oral fibrosarcoma.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.177-182
• /
• 1990

From 1984 to 1988, fourty two patients with nasopharyngeal cancer were treated at the Department of Radiation Oncology in Kyungpook National University Hospital. Thirteen patients refused treatment and the median survival time was 7.8 months. Twenty nine patients received a full course of radiation at least 70 Gy to the primary site and 60 Gy to the nodal sites. These patients were all belonged to stage III or IV, The local control rate was $75\% in squamous cell carcinomas, and all the patients with lymphoepithelioma showed a complete response. Overall locoregional failure was $27.6\%. Distant metastasis was the predominant pattern of failures; 4/6 in lymphoepithelioma, 4/10 En squamous cell carcinoma. The Three-year-survival rate for squamous cell carcinoma was $40.5\%$, and for lymphoepithelioma $25.9\%, respectively. This may be due to the more frequent distant metastases in lymphoepithelioma and ineffective chemotherapy. No survival correlation was found with the level of neck node involvement. Though adjuvant chemotherapy was found to be of no benefit in overall survival, more prudent and aggressive chemotherapy would be necessary.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.457-464
• /
• 1998

This report describes a 5-month follow-up of the efficacy of Herbst oral appliance(OA) in a obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patient who has failed with uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP) and was unable to tolerate to subsequent nasal continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP) because of mouth air leak. The obstructive sleep apnea and daytime performance were markedly improved by regular home use of OA, and the patient still continues to use OA without complications. It is suggested that OA can be a successful alternative therapeutic modality in patients who are unable to tolerate to nasal CP AP, especially after UPPP.