• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.127-143
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• 2004

Computed tomography (CT) plays an important supplementary role in the evaluation of patients with heart disease. CT can be used to evaluate the aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein, cardiac chambers, coronary artery, valves and systemic veins (superior vena cava, inferior vena cava and hepatic veins). The "Learning Objectives" describe the normal anatomy and typical pathological conditions seen on axial scans and reformatted images from CT in patients with heart disease, focusing focus on frequent, fatal, and rare but characteristic diseases encountered in routine practice.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.350-354
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• 1979

The incidence of congenital aortic valvular stenosis has been known rare, and approximately 3-6% of congenital heart diseases. Recently, we experienced 1 case of congenital aortic valvular stenosis, and which was corrected surgically under extracorporeal circulation successfully. A 11 years old male pt. was admitted to N.M.C. because of dyspnea, dizziness, chest pain and episode of syncope. An auscultation, harsh systolic murmur [Gr. IV/VI] was noted at aortic area and also palpable strong thrill. ECG showed LVH c strain pattern and suspicious LVH finding in simple chest P-A film. In Lt. cardiac catheterization, abrupt pressure change [110mmHg] between LV & Aorta was noted across the aortic valve. And aortic insufficiency was absent, well visualized both coronary arteries and suspicious bicuspid aortic valve in aortography. Valve form was bicuspid, large one was noncoronary cusp and another cusp was Rt. & Lt. coronary cusp which was interpositioned rudimentary commissure. Central aortic orifice was about 5ram in diameter. Valvulotomy was done along the fusioned commissure between noncoronary cusp and Rt. & Lt.coronary cusp, and then short incision was added between Rt. coronary cusp & Lt. coronary cusp. Immediate postoperative course smooth but unknown cardiac arrest was noted in POD second day. Complete recovery was done without sequelae by resuscitation. After operation, clinical symptoms were subsided but systolic murmur [Gr. II/VI] was audible at aortic area, diastolic murmur was absent. ECG showed still remained LVH but much decreased R wave voltage in Lt. precordial leads. Simple chest P-A showed no interval changes compared to preop film. Control Lt. heart catheterization revealed still remained pressure gradient [40ramrig] between LV & Aorta. But much decreased pressure gradient compared to preop pressure gradient [110mmHg].

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 2006

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) catalyzes the lysine-derived cross-links of fibrillar collagens and elastin in the extracellular matrix. Recent molecular cloning has revealed existence of a LOX family consisting of LOX and four lysyl oxidase-like proteins (LOXL, LOXL2, LOXL3 and LOXL4). Pathological conditions associated with impaired LOX activity in several heritable and acquired disorders lead to severe structural and functional abnormalities of cardiovascular tissues, such as occlusion of coronary arteries and aneurysms, suggesting an essential role for the LOX family proteins in the maintenance of the cardiovascular system. However, the specific roles of the lysyl oxidase-like proteins in normal and pathological conditions of the cardiovascular tissues have not been established yet. Here, I report that LOXL3, a novel member of the LOX family, is predominantly expressed in the aorta, with an amine oxidase activity toward collagen and elastin, suggesting an essential role of LOXL3 in the development and maintenance of the aorta.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.121-131
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• 2001

Echocardiography and catheterization angiography suffer certain limitations in the evaluation of congenital heart diseases in adults, though these are overcome by MRI, in which a wide field-of view, unlimited multiplanar imaging capability and three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MR angiography techniques are used. In adults, recently introduced fast imaging techniques provide cardiac MR images of sufficient quality and with less artifacts. Ventricular volume, ejection fraction, and vascular flow measurements, including pressure gradients and pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratio, can be calculated or obtained using fast cine MRI, phase-contrast MR flow-velocity mapping, and semiautomatic analysis software. MRI is superior to echocardiography in diagnosing partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection, unroofed coronary sinus, anomalies of the pulmonary arteries, aorta and systemic veins, complex heart diseases, and postsurgical sequelae. Biventricular function is reliably evaluated with cine MRI after repair of tetralogy of Fallot, and Senning's and Mustard's operations. MRI has an important and growing role in the morphologic and functional assessment of congenital heart diseases in adolescents and adults.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.188-192
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• 2004

Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, involving mainly the aorta and its main branches, which can cause stenosis or occlusion. It involves the bracheocephalic, carotid, subclavian, vertebral, and renal, as well as the coronary and pulmonary arteries. The clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic to catastrophic, with dizziness, hypertension, claudication, cerebral infarction, chest pain and dyspnea. Takayasu's arteritis involving the pulmonary arteries, but not the aorta and its main branches, is very rare. Herein, a case of isolated pulmonary Takayasu's arteritis combined with pulmonary thromboembolism, and hyperthyroidism is reported, with a review of the literature.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.324-336
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• 2020

Cardiovascular calcifications can occur in various cardiovascular diseases and can serve as a biomarker for cardiovascular event prediction. Advances in CT have enabled evaluation of calcifications in cardiovascular structures not only on ECG-gated CT but also on non-ECG-gated CT. Therefore, many studies have been conducted on the clinical relevance of cardiovascular calcifications in patients. In this study, we divided cardiovascular calcifications into three classes, i.e., coronary artery, thoracic aorta, and cardiac valve calcifications, which are closely associated with cardiovascular events. Further, we briefly described pericardial calcifications, which can be found incidentally. Since the start of lung cancer screening in Korea in the second half of 2019, the number of non-enhanced, non-ECG-gated, low-dose chest CT has been increasing, and the number of incidentally found cardiovascular calcifications has also been increasing. Therefore, understanding the relevance of cardiovascular calcifications on non-enhanced, non-ECG-gated, low-dose chest CT and their proper reporting are important for radiologists.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.114-119
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• 2002

Takayasu's arteritis(TA) is a chronic idiopathic vasculitis mainly involving the aorta and its main branches, such as brachiocephalic, carotid, subclavian, vertebral and renal arteries, as well as coronary and pulmonary arteries The clinical features usually reflect limb or organ ischemia resulting from gradual stenosis of involved arteries. We experienced a case of idiopathic Takayasu's arteritis with negative tuberculin test involving multiple main branch arteries at active stage without pulse. We treated this patient with combined therapy of steroid and azathioprine, with remission of disease activity. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2002 ;6 : 114-9)

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.124-135
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• 2010

Background and Objective: Atherosclerosis is a diffuse, systemic disease that affects the coronary, cerebral, and peripheral arterial trees. Clopidogrel is widely used antiplatelet agent and its efficacy has been proven in cardiac and extracardiac vascular diseases, but it has several side effects. Therefore we investigated whether Sopunghwalhyeoltang, which is widely used for treating the blood stasis syndrome in traditional medicine, could decrease the side effect of antiplatelets and have a synergic effect. Methods & Materials: Male $ApoE^{(-/-)}$ mice were randomly divided into three different experimental groups, non-treated group (Control group), clopidogrel-treated group (CP group) and clopidogrel with Sopunghwalhyeol-tang treated group (CPS group). The control group was fed with only an atherogenic diet, the CP group an atherogenic diet plus clopidogrel 25mg/kg and the CPS group an atherogenic diet plus clopidogrel 25mg/kg with Sopunghwalhyeol-tang 100 mg/kg. We investigated plasma lipids with liver function test, and performed a histological investigation of liver and abdominal aorta. Results: 1. Photomicrographs of liver and abdominal aorta tissue showed lower histological injury and lipid accumulation in the CP and CPS groups than those in the Control group. 2. In the CPS group, plasma triglyceride level was significantly lower than in the Control and CP groups. 3. In the CPS group, the plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level was significantly lower than in the CP group. Conclusions: The above results shows that a combined treatment of Sopunghwalhyeol-tang and clopidogrel have a synergic effect through inhibiting vessel injury and decrease the side effects of clopidogrel alone.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.229-238
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• 2008

Background: Protection of the brain is a major concern during thoracic aortic surgery using hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA). This study compares the surgical outcomes of two different cerebral protection methods in thoracic aortic surgery using HCA: retrograde cerebral protection (RCP) and antegrade cerebral protection (ACP). Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed data on 146 patients who underwent thoracic aortic surgery from May 1995 to February 2007 using either RCP (114 patients, Group 1) or ACP (32 patients, Group 2) during HCA. There were 104 dissections (94 acute and 10 chronic) and 42 aneurysms (41 true aneurysms and 1 pseudoaneurysm), and all patients underwent ascending aortic replacement. There were 33 cases of hemiarch replacement, 5 of partial arch replacement, and 21 of total arch replacement. Result: The two groups were similar in preoperative and operative characteristics, but Group 2 had more elderly (over 70 years old) patients (34.4% vs. 10.5%), more coronary artery diseases (18.8% vs. 4.4%), more total arch replacements (46.9% vs. 5.3%) and longer HCA time ($50{\pm}24$ minutes vs. $32{\pm}17$ minutes) than Group 1. The operative mortality was 4.4% (5/114) and 3.1% (1/32), the incidence of permanent neurologic deficits was 5.3% (6/114) and 3.1% (1/32), and the incidence of temporary neurologic deficits was 1.8% (2/114) and 9.4% (3/32) in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. There were no statistical differences between the two groups in operative mortality, postoperative bleeding, or neurologic deficits (permanent and temporary). Conclusion: The early outcomes of aortic surgery using HCA were favorable and showed no statistical difference between RCP and ACP. However, the ACP patients endured longer HCA times and more extended arch surgeries. ACP is the preferred brain protection technique when longer HCA time is expected or extended arch replacement is needed.