• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.823-829
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• 2019

Objective: To summarize the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) features of duplicated internal auditory canals (DIACs). Materials and Methods: Ear HRCT data of 64813 patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), obtained between August 2009 and November 2017, were reviewed. Among these patients, 12 (13 ears) were found to have DIACs, 9 of whom underwent HRMRI. Their images were evaluated by two otoradiologists. Results: The rate of occurrence of DIAC among SNHL patients was 0.019% (12/64813). The internal auditory canals of 13 ears were divided into double canals by complete (n = 6) and incomplete (n = 7) bony septa, with varied orientations ranging from horizontal to approximately vertical. All of the anterosuperior canals extended into the facial nerve (FN) canal, except for 1, which also extended to the vestibule. The posteroinferior canals ended in the cochlea and vestibule, except for 2, which also connected to the FN canals. Magnetic resonance images revealed that 77.8% (7/9) and 22.2% (2/9) of vestibulocochlear nerves (VCNs) were aplastic and hypoplastic, respectively. Furthermore, 88.9% (8/9) of FNs were normal, except for 1, which was hypoplastic. All of the affected ears also had other ear anomalies: a narrow, bony cochlear nerve canal was the most common other anomaly, accounting for 92.3% (12/13). Malformations of other systems were not found. Conclusion: Double-canal appearance is a characteristic finding of DIAC on HRCT, and it is usually accompanied by other ear anomalies. The VCN usually appears aplastic, with a normal FN, on HRMRI.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2008

Purpose: There are various methods to diagnose hemangioma, such as ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear medicine. However, by development of SPECT imaging, the blood-pool scan using $^{99m}Tc$-labeled red blood cell has been used, because it was non-invasive and the most economical method. Therefore, in this study, we proposed that the usefulness of $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT of the head and neck to diagnose unlocated hemangiomas. Materials and Methods: $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT was performed on 6 patients with doubtful hemangioma (4 person, head; 1 person, neck; 1 person, another). We labeled radiopharmaceutical using modified in vivo method and then, centrifuged it to remove plasma. After a bolus injection of tracer, dynamic perfusion flow images were acquired. Then, anterior, posterior, both lateral static blood-pool images were obtained as early and 4 hours delayed. SPECT was progressed 64 projections per 30 seconds. Each image was interpreted by physicians, Nuclear medicine specialist, and technologist blinded to patient's data. Results: In 5 patients of all the radioactivity of doubtful site didn't change in flow images, but, in blood-pool, delayed and SPECT images, it was increased. So, it was a typical hemangioma finding. The size of lesion was over 2 cm, and it could discriminate as comparing to the delayed and SPECT imaging. On the other hand, in 1 patient, the radioactivity was increased in blood-pool images, but, not in delayed and SPECT images, so, it was proved no hemangioma. Conclusion: Using $^{99m}Tc$-RBC Scan and SPECT, we could diagnose the hemangiomas in head and neck, as well as, liver, more non-invasive, economical, and easy. Therefore, it considered that $^{99m}Tc$-RBC scan and SPECT would offer more useful information for diagnosis of hemangioma, rather than otherimaging such as US, CT, MRI.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 2006

Endobronchial leiomyoma is a rare tumor that accounts for less than 2% of pulmonary benign tumors. A 32 year-old woman was admitted with fever, cough and sputum for a month. She had suffered from intermittent cough over three years. The chest X-ray and chest CT(computed tomography) showed a nodular lesion obstructing the proximal portion of the left lower lobar bronchus and atelectasis of the left lower lobe. Flexible Bronchoscopy detected a mass obstructing the distal portion of the left main bronchus and endobronchial biopsy showed benign smooth muscle cells. There was no abnormal finding in the uterine examination. Therefore this case was diagnosed as primary endobronchial leiomyoma. The lobectomy was performed due to intractable pneumonia and secondary parenchymal destruction. Postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged in good health.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.149-152
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• 2008

A sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disorder that has a predilection for pulmonary involvement, and the common radiological findings for the disease are bilateral nodular or reticulonodular patterns. Pseudoalveolar sarcoidosis is a rare presentation of sarcoidosis. The radiological finding is an alveolar pattern that involves or compresses the alveoli by clustered interstitial granuloma. A 58-year-old man was admitted due to incidental findings of a unilateral consolidative lesion as seen on chest radiography. A chest computed tomography (CT) examination showed multiple bronchoalveolar consolidations that were suspicious of a malignancy. However, a percutaneous needle biopsy revealed non-caseating granuloma with an asteroid body that was compatible with sarcoidosis. After one month, the consolidative lesions improved without any treatment.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.35-69
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• 1995

The managerial environment of hospitals in Korea characterized by low levels of medical insurance fees is worsening by increasing government regulations as to the utilization of medical services, rising costs of labor, material, and medical equipments, growing patient expectations concerning the quality of services, and escalating competitions among large hospitals in the market. Hospitals should seek for their survival strategies in this harsh environment and they should have information about costs of their products in doing so. However, it has not been available due to the complexity of the production process of hospital services. The objectives of this study were to develop a service-based cost accounting model and to apply the developed model to a study hospital to obtain cost information of hospital services. A model commonly used for the job-order product cost accounting in the manufacturing industry was modified for the use in hospitals in Korea. Actual costs, instead of standard costs, incurred to produce a unit of services during a given period of time were estimated in the model. Data required to implement the model included financial information, statistics for the allocation of supportive cost center costs to final cost centers, statistics for the allocation of final cost center costs to services, and the volume of each services charged to patients during a study period. The model was executed using data of a university teaching hospital located in Seoul for the fiscal year 1992. Data for financial information, allocation statistics fo supportive service costs, and the volume of services, most of them in electronic form, were available to the study. Data for allocation statistics of final cost center costs were collected in the study. There were 15 types of evaluation and management service, 2, 923 types of technical service, and 2, 608 types of drug and material service charged to patients in the study hospital during the fiscal year 1992. Labor costs of each of seven types of pesonnel, material costs of 611 types of drugs and materials, and depreciation costs of 212 types of medical equipments, miscellaneous costs, and indirect costs incurred in producing a unit of each services were estimated. Medical insurance fees for basic services such as evaluation and management of inpatients and outpatients, injection, and filling prescriptions, and for operating procedures were found to be set lower than costs. Infrequent services which use expensive medical equipments showed negative revenuse as well. On the other hand, fees for services not covered by the insurance such as CT, MRI and Sonogram, and for laboratory tests were higher than costs. This study has a significance in making it possible for a hospital to obtain cost information for all types of services which produced income based on all types of expenses incurred during a given period of time. This information can assist the management of a hospital in finding an effective cost reduction strategy, an efficient service-mix strategy under a given fee structure, and an optimum strategy for within-hospital resource allocations.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.970-975
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• 2001

Objective : By conducing a review of clinical outcomes for patients with aneurysm treated using current microneurosurgical techniques and intensive care unit management, we speculated that grading systems based only on clinical condition or CT finding after admission failed to provide a significant stratification of outcome between individual grades of patients, because these systems did not include the factor for postoperative vasospasm. We hypothesized that postoperative blood flow velocity could have a significant impact on outcome prediction for patients surgically treated for intracranial aneurysms. Methods : We conducted a analysis on patient- and lesion-specific factors that might have been associated with outcome in a series of 55 aneurysm operations performed with measurements of blood-flow velocity with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography(TCD). In the new scale(NS) score system, 1 point is assigned additionally for the case with Hunt and Hess(H-H)/World Federation of Neurological Surgeons(WFNS) Grade IV or V, Fisher Scale(FS) score 3 or 4, aneurysm size greater than 10mm, patient age older than 60 years, blood-flow velocity higher than 120cm/sec, and posterior circulation lesion. By adding the total points, a 6-point scale score(score 0-6) is obtained. Results : Age of patient, size of aneurysm, clinical condition(H-H grade and WFNS), FS score, and blood flow velocity(TCD 1day after operation) were independently and strongly associated with long-term outcome. When NS scores were applied to 55 patients with at least 6 months follow-up, the correlation of individual scores with outcome was strongly validated the retrospective findings. Conclusion : It was speculated that TCD could be used to assess postoperative vasospasm and to monitor noninvasively the patients with aneurysmal SAH. This NS score system is easy to apply, divide patients into groups with different outcome, and is comprehensive, allowing for more accurate prediction of surgical outcome.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.544-558
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• 2006

Trismus is a common problem to most people experiencing at once in his or her life and to most dental practitioners experiencing frequently. It has a number of potential causes which are single factor or complex factors. Its treatment will depend on the cause. The purpose of this study was to discuss the causes of trismus condition and the various treatments available. This study was made by reviewing of collected data from 86 patients complained of trismus among patients who were diagnosed by TMD, tumor, infection including tetanus, soft tissue anomalies, bony fracture and ankylosis from Jan 2002 to Dec 2004 on department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Pusan National University Hospital, South Korea. The clinical reviews regarding chief complaints, clinical characteristics, diagnostic examination, treatments and the results on the patients were given as follows. 1. The etiology of trismus commonly were derived from temporomandibular joint(TMJ) disorder, TMJ ankylosis, TMJ tumor, odontogenic maxillofacial infection, mandibular condylar fracture, tetanus. 2. The chief complaints of trismus patients were progressive mouth opening limitation, TMJ pain, malocclusion, facial asymmetry, retrognathic state. 3. Especially, for the differential diagnosis between the fibrous ankylosis and true bony ankylosis, computed tomogram (CT) was useful. Surgical gap arthroplasty on bony ankylosis patients was applied and the gain of mouth opening after operation was average 35.8 mm during 19 months. 4. The tetanus, rarely, also induced the trismus with the range of mouth opening less than 10 mm. The average serum level of tetanus anti-toxin was 0.02-0.04 IU/mL. The limitation of mouth opening was improved into average 38 mm on 4 weeks after injection of 10,000 units of tetanus immune globulin. 5. In the treatment of osteochondroma, TMD, odontogenic infection and fracture, and the others inducing trismus, to obtian the maximum result and decreased inadequate time and effort, it is important to finding the causes from the exact clinical examination and diagnosis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 1993

Between December 1979 and September 1989, 23 patients with craniopharyngioma who underwent surgery and postoperative radiation therapy were retrospectively evaluated to assess the efficacy of this management at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital. Total removal of tumor was attempted in all patients. Of these, surgeons tried total removal in eight patients, but revealed residual mass by postoperative CT, and partial removal was done in 15 patients. The morphology of tumor on the operative finding was grouped into three types: cystic 13 ($57{\%}$), solid 4 ($17{\%}$), and mixed 6 ($26{\%}$). Cystic type was predominant in$\leq$20 years old group. Actuarial overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were $95{\%}$ and $81{\%}$ respectively and actuarial tumor control rates were $74{\%}$ and $50{\%}$. Surgical extent was not related to the survival rates (p=0.41). Pediatric and adolescent patients (age of$\leq$20 years) had a trend of better survival than that of adult patients (p=0.10). The results indicated that limited surgical excision followed by radiation therapy is recommended when total excision is not possible.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.76-82
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• 2000

Objectives : We attempted to assess He accuracy of ICD codes for cerebrovascular diseases in medical insurance claims (ICMIC) and to investigate the reasons for error. This study was designed as a preliminary study to establish a nationwide surveillance system. Methods : A total of 626 patients with medical insurance claims who indicated a diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases during the period from 1993 to 1997 was selected from the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation cohort (KMIC cohort: 115,600 persons). The KMIC cohort was 10% of those insured who had taken health examinations in 1990 and 1992 consecutively. The registered medical record administrators were trained in the survey technique and gathered data from March to May 1999. The definition of cerebrovascular diseases in this study included cases which met ore of two criteria (Minnesota, WHO) or 'definite stroke' in CT/MRI finding. We questioned the medical record administrators to explain the error if the final diagnoses were not coded as stroke. Results : The accuracy rate of the ICMIC was 83.0% (425 cases) Medical records were not available for 8.2% (51 cases) due to the closing of hospitals, the absence of a computer system or omission of medical record, etc. Sixty-three cases (10.0%) were classified as impossible to interpret due to insufficient records in 'major clinical symptoms' or 'neurological deficits'. The most common reason was 'to meet review criteria of medical insurance benefits (52.9%)'. The department where errors in the ICMIC occurred most frequently was the department for medical insurance claims in the hospital. Conclusion : The accuracy rate of the ICMIC was 83.0%.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.4
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• pp.352-359
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• 2012

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether measuring the ratio of descending aortic enhancement (DAE) to main pulmonary artery enhancement (MPAE) on pulmonary computed tomography angiography (PCTA) can predict poor outcome in patients with acute massive or submassive pulmonary embolism (PE). Methods: We retrospectively, reviewed computed tomgraphy findings and charts of 37 patients with acute PE and right ventricular dysfunction. We divided the enrolled patients into 3 groups; group Ia (n=8), comprised of patients with major adverse event (MAE); group Ib (n=5), consisted of those with PE-related MAE; and group II (n=29), those without MAE. We analyzed the right ventricular diameter (RVD)/left ventricular diameter (LVD) and DAE/MPAE on PCTA. Results: For observer 1, RVD/LVD in group Ia ($1.9{\pm}0.36$ vs. $1.44{\pm}0.38$, p=0.009) and group Ib ($1.87{\pm}0.37$ vs. $1.44{\pm}0.38$, p=0.044) were significantly higher than that of group II. For observer 2, RVD/LVD in group Ia ($1.71{\pm}0.18$ vs. $1.41{\pm}0.47$, p=0.027) was significantly greater than that of group II, but RVD/LVD of group Ib was not ($1.68{\pm}0.2$ vs. $1.41{\pm}0.47$, p=0.093). For both observers, there was a significant difference of DAE/MPAE between group Ib and group II ($0.32{\pm}0.15$ vs. $0.64{\pm}0.24$, p=0.005; $0.34{\pm}0.16$ vs. $0.64{\pm}0.22$, p=0.004), but no significant difference of DAE/MPAE between group Ia and group II ($0.51{\pm}0.3$ vs. $0.64{\pm}0.24$, p=0.268; $0.53{\pm}0.29$ vs. $0.64{\pm}0.22$, p=0.302). Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for the measurement of DAE/MPAE (ICC=0.97) was higher than that of RVD/LVD (ICC=0.74). Conclusion: DAE/MPAE measured on PCTA may predict PE-related poor outcomes in patients with massive or submassive PE with an excellent inter-observer agreement.