• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2020

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to define the prognostic factors for liposarcoma to aid in the selection of effective treatments. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed 41 cases out of 45 cases diagnosed with and treated for liposarcoma 2002 to 2015; 4 cases of well-differentiated liposarcoma were excluded. The effects of sex, age, site, stage, and histological classification on survival were analyzed retrospectively. For 28 cases diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma, additional analysis was performed after the inclusion of round cell components. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 52.05 years (range 25-82 years) and the average follow-up period was 63.7 months. The disease-free survival rate was 43.2%. Most factors, including sex and age, were not significantly associated with the survival rate. On the other hand, the stage (Musculoskeletal Tumor Society stage) was significantly associated with the survival rate. The survival rate of patients with myxoid liposarcoma was 69% and the local recurrence and metastasis results varied according to the presence of round cells. Conclusion: The stage of liposarcoma and the sex of the patient were found to be effective factors for prognosis. When planning the treatment for liposarcoma, the treatment outcome for liposarcoma differs according to several prognostic factors.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.19-29
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• 2023

The eye tracking technology is widespread all around the society, and is demonstrating great performances in both preciseness and convenience. Hereby we can glimpse new possibility of an interface's conduct without screen-touching. This technology can become a new way of conversation for those including but not limited to the patients suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, who are paralyzed each part by part of the body and finally cannot help but only moving eyes. Formerly in that case, the patients were given nothing to do but waiting for the death, even being unable to communicate with there families. A new interface that harnesses eyes as a new means of communication, although it conveys great difficulty, can be helpful for them. There surely are some eye tracking systems and equipment for their exclusive uses on the market. Notwithstanding, several obstacles including the complexity of operation and their high prices of over 12 million won($9,300) are hindering universal supply to people and coverage for the patients. Therefore, this paper suggests wearable-type eye tracking device that can support minorities and vulnerable people and be occupied inexpensively and study eye tracking method in order to maximize the possibility of future development across the world, finally proposing the way of designing and developing a brought-down costed eye tracking system based on high-efficient wearable device.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.1139-1147
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• 2023

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate the performance of a method for controlling the dose for optimal image acquisition while minimizing patient exposure by applying a small-sized Photomultiplier(SiPM) sensor inside a portable detector. Portable detectors have the advantage of being able to quickly access the patient's location for rapid diagnosis, but this mobility comes with the challenge of dose control. This paper presents a method to identify the dose that can have the DQE and optimal image quality of the detector through image evaluation based on IEC62220-1-1, an international standard for X-ray imaging devices, and to identify the optimal dose by matching the ADU of the image and the output of the SiPM Sensor. The Skull AP image was acquired by implementing the detector manufacturer's reference dose. The optimal dose was 342.8 µGy, and the optimal controlled dose was 148.3 µGy, which is 57 % of the manufacturer's reference dose. The Chest AP image was 81.9 µGy and the optimal controlled dose was 27.9 µGy, which is a high dose reduction effect of 66 %. In addition, the two images were analyzed by five radiologists and found to have no clinically significant difference in anatomical delineation.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.67-77
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• 2023

As cities become overcrowded and concentrated, the demand for public services continues to increase due to the improvement of the living standards of urban residents. Among them, fire service can be seen as one of the important public services by reducing damage caused by accidents in emergency situations and affecting the improvement of access to medical services for urban residents. Rapid movement of patients and medical institutions within golden time and proper first aid are essential elements in emergency situations, and Seoul is a super-large city with a large population of about 10 million people and has a large number of emergency medical patients. Therefore, this study used spatial regression analysis to examine the factors affecting the delay factors of emergency dispatch in Seoul to secure golden time, and derived management priorities, and suggested implications for the management of emergency vehicle dispatch delay factors. As a result of the main analysis, land-use characteristics were the most influential factor in emergency vehicle dispatch time, and land-use mixing, commercial area density, average patient age, and average road length were found to affect emergency vehicle dispatch time in order. This study can be used as important basic data for an accurate understanding of the delay factors for emergency dispatch and preparing countermeasures according to priorities.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.765-769
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• 2007

Background: The curative treatment of choice for empyema is decortication of the pleura. The risks of this treatment however are increased for the patient with reduced pulmonary function, complicated calcification or septic shock. In the past, open window thoracostomy was a final stage treatment for chronic empyema. Relatively safe treatment of empyema could be achieved in difficult cases with a closure of the open window after open drainage and use of a myocutaneous flap (one stage or staged). Material and Method: A retrospective study of the cause, progression and final outcome of empyema patients who received open window thoracostomy was performed. 21 patients were followed from 1995 to 2004 in the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the College of Medicine, Pusan National University. Result: The average age of the patients was $57.5{\pm}15.5$ years (range $25{\sim}78$ years), of whom 16 (76.2%) were men and five (23.8%) were women. Pulmonary function test results showed an average FEV1 of $1.58{\pm}0.49 L$. The type of empyema was tuberculous empyema in 13 cases (61.9%), aspergillosis in three cases (14.3%), parapneumonic empyema in three cases (14.3%) and post-resectional empyema in two cases (10%). Bronchopulmonary fistula was seen in 14 cases. Eight cases were complicated by severe calcification of the pleura. For the four cases of bronchopulmonary fistula, the patients' serratus anterior muscle was covered in their first operation. The average number of ribs resected was $4{\pm}1$. Closure of the open window thoracostomy was performed in 12 cases. The average time to closure after open drainage was $10.22{\pm}3.11$ months and the average defect of the empyemal cavity before the final operation was $330{\pm}110 cc$. Among the 12 cases, there were two cases of spontaneous closure. In two cases closure was only achieved by using the reserved skin fold during the first surgery. Of the remaining eight cases, in seven we used the myocutaneous flap (four cases of lattisimus dorsi muscle and three cases of pectoralis major muscle), and in one case we used soft tissue. As regards complications of the closure, tissue necrosis occurred in one case, which led to failed closure, and there was one case of abdominal hernia in the rectus abdominis muscle flap. One patient died within 30 days of the surgery and one patient died of metastatic cancer. Conclusion: A staged operation with a final closure using open window thoracostomy, which consists of open drainage, transposition of the muscle and a myocutaneous flap, can be a safe and effective option for the chronic empyema patient who is difficult to cure with traditional surgical methods.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.211-220
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate whether nutritional supply influences biochemical markers and clinical outcomes in patients who received continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) by evaluating adequacy of nutritional supply for patients. Methods: From January 2012 to December 2013, 239 adult patients who received CRRT in the intensive care unit for more than 3 days were included. General information from electronic medical records and nutritional status related biochemical data and clinical outcomes on the first day of CRRT and 2 weeks after CRRT were collected. Results: The rate of delivered energy and protein was 68.06% and 43.13% which was much lower than energy and protein supply based on their requirement. When the patients were divided into two groups according to 70% of energy received rate and 50% of protein received rate, the group with more than 70% of energy received rate showed significant decrease of length of hospital stay (p = 0.007), length of stay in intensive care unit (ICU) (p = 0.008), duration of CRRT (p < 0.001), and APACHE II score (p < 0.001) compared to less than 70% of energy received rate after adjusting for age. In addition, the group with more than 50% of protein received rate showed decreased mortality (p = 0.031), length of hospital stay (p = 0.008), length of ICU stay (p = 0.035), duration of CRRT (p < 0.001), and APACHE II score (p < 0.001) after adjusting for age. We found that the level of hematocrit (p = 0.006) was significantly improved in the group with more than 70% of energy received rate, and the level of TLC (p = 0.049), hematocrit (p = 0.041) was significantly improved in the group with more than 50% of protein received rate. We also found that energy delivery was negatively correlated with length of stay in ICU (p = 0.049) and positively correlated with level of calcium (p = 0.037). In addition, protein delivery was correlated with the levels of serum total protein (p = 0.021), serum albumin (p = 0.048), hematocrit (p = 0.009), and total cholesterol (p = 0.021) when dead patients were included, but was correlated with the levels of hematocrit (p = 0.034) and calcium (p = 0.024) when dead patients were excluded. Conclusion: Proper nutritional delivery may help patients' clinical outcomes for patients receiving CRRT. However, their actual intakes of energy and protein were not adequate for their requirements. Identification of patients with malnutrition is necessary and a multidisciplinary approach for systemic management is also required.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.656-663
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• 2005

Background : The B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac neurohormone that is specifically secreted from the ventricles in response to volume expansion and a pressure overload. Differentiating congestive heart failure from the pulmonary causes of dyspnea is very important for patients presenting with acute dyspnea. Methods : A retrospective study was carried out on 261 patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Hanyang University Hospital due to acute dyspnea from March to July 2004. The serum BNP levels of the patients were measured using the ELISA method. Results : The BNP levels were 382, 111-1140 pg/ml (median, interquartile range) in the heart failure group (n=119) and 29, 7-81 pg/ml in the non-heart failure group (n=142). The BNP levels according to the subgroups of heart failure were 820, 354-1620 pg/ml, 1650, 239-1990 pg/ml, and 378, 106-1120 pg/ml for the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with combined left heart failure (n=5), cor pulmonale (n=3), and left heart failure groups (n=111), respectively. The BNP levels according to the subgroups of non-heart failure were 39, 21-101 pg/ml, 59, 10-129 pg/ml, and 15, 6-47 pg/ml for the COPD (n=20), other pulmonary diseases (n=56), and other causes groups (n=66), respectively. The BNP levels were significantly different according to the underlying etiology (p<0.001), and were significantly higher in the COPD patients with left heart failure than in those without (p=0.002). When the patients with no cardiovascular risk factor such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking or renal failure were analyzed, the BNP levels were also significantly higher in the patients with heart failure than in those without(p<0.001). When 133 pg/ml was designated as the BNP cut-off level the sensitivity for predicting heart failure was 73 percent and the specificity was 87 percent. Conclusion : BNP measurements are useful for determining the presence of heart failure in the patients presenting with acute dyspnea. The possibility of heart failure must be seriously considered in patients with high BNP levels even when they have a pre-existing pulmonary disease such as COPD or no risk factors for heart failure.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 1996

Background : In case of tuberculous pneumonia, differentiation from bacterial lobar pneumonia is sometimes very difficult because clinical symptoms, signs and radiological images are very similar. So we investigated the usefulness of CA125, which is known to increase in tuberculous diseases, in differential diagnosis between tuberculous pneumonia (TBPN) and community acquired bacterial lobar pneumonia (LP). Methods : Serum CA125 level was measured in 20 patients with TBPN (female 12 male 8 : mean age 36.1 years) and 14 patients with LP (female 5 male 9 : mean age 45.1 years) by radioimmunoassay (Centocor(R) CA125 RIA kit). Results : 1) The serum CA125 level in TBPN ($333.7{\pm}283.5\;u/ml$) was higher than in LP ($60.9{\pm}66.2\;u/ml$). (P < 0.05) 2) If we took cut-off value as 195 u/ml in differential diagnosis between TBPN and LP, the sensitivity and specificity of CA125 level in the diagnosis of TBPN were 70% and 93%, respectively. 3) There was no significant difference in serum CA125 level between noncavitary TBPN ($242.1{\pm}76.6\;u/ml$, n=10) and cavitary TBPN ($399.6{\pm}318.4\;u/ml$, n=10). (P > 0.05) 4) Following up of serum CA125 level after initiation of antituberculosis treatment showed rapid decline and approach to near normal range in 6 months. Conclusion : High serum CA125 level (> 195 u/ml) was useful in differential diagnosis of TBPN from LP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2006

Background: Although airway hyper-responsiveness is one of the characteristics of asthma. bronchial hyper-responsiveness has also been observed to some degree in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Moreover, several reports have demonstrated that a number of patients have both COPD and asthma. The methacholine bronchial challenge test (MCT) is a widely used method for the detecting and quantifying the airway hyper- responsiveness, and is one of the diagnostic tools in asthma. However, the significance of MCT in differentiating asthma or COPD combined with asthma from pure COPD has not been defined. The aim of this study was to determine the role of MCT in differentiating asthma from pure COPD. Method: This study was performed prospectively and was composed of one hundred eleven patients who had undergone MCT at Chonbuk National University Hospital. Sixty-five asthma patients and 23 COPD patients were enrolled and their MCT data were analyzed and compared with the results of a control group. Result: The positive rates of MCT were 65%, 30%, and 9% in the asthma, COPD, and control groups, respectively. The mean $PC_{20}$ values of the asthma, COPD, and control groups were $8.1{\pm}1.16mg/mL$, $16.9{\pm}2.21mg/mL$, and $22.0{\pm}1.47mg/mL$, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of MCT for diagnosing asthma were 65%, 84%, 81%, and 69%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of MCT (ed note: please check this as I believe that these values correspond to the one $PC_{20}$ value. Please check my changes.) at the new cut-off points of$PC_{20}{\leq}16mg/ml$, were 80%, 75%, 78%, and 78%, respectively. Conclusion: MCT using the new cut-off point can be used as a more precise and useful diagnostic tool for distinguishing asthma from pure COPD.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1151-1157
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• 1998

Many type II diabetic patients use folk remedies to. treat diabetes in Korea. The physiology, pathology, usage, and prescriptions of folk remedies are not well established, and the effects of those remedies were handed down by word of mouth of experienced persons. Most of these remedies can cause unexpected side effects if consumed in large amounts since patients lack scientific backgrounds and the precise effects as well as the possible side effects have not been proven. The purpose of this survey was to investigate the prevalence of diabetic f31k remedies used by adult diabetic patients who use diet therapy to treat diabetes. This information can be used for a basic scientific approach to diabetic f31k remedies. The results of the survey were as follows : 1) Thiry-nine patients(53.4%) out of a total of 75 patients, answered that they used folk remedies. 2) There were 54 kinds of folk remedies f3r diabetes, and the most popular ones are silk worm powder, red jinseng, silkworm pupa, raw lentils, and cabbage, that to accounted for 97.4% of the experienced group. 3) The most common way to be exposed to folk remedies were recomnendations by friends and relatives, and through the mass communication such as TV, newspaper, magazine. As fir as the effects of the flok remedies goes, 17% answered that they experienced positive effects in controlling blood glucose levels and 5.7% reported negative effects. Moreover, 17.1% answered that they experienced side effects like stomach ache and bloating. 4) The 82.9% of the experienced group answered that they used silkworm powder, which was the most popular one in folk remedies. 5) 75% of the experienced group patients showed positive responses to folk remedies, saying that they will try new folk remedies if introduced. Even 66.7% of inexperienced group showed their interest saying that they will try new folk remedies.