• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.25-28
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• 1982

Estimation of liver size is essential in the diagnosis of liver disease, Many approaches have been attempted in evaluation of liver size such as the measurement of length, area and volume. Among these, area and volume measurements are accurate but complicated, so we commonly use formerly introduced various linear measurements, but in scintigraphy one must calculate the actual liver size using rate of reduction, which is time consuming. Because of these reasons, we carried out present study to represent liver size by means of a simple liver measurement like we express the cardiac size by cardiothoracic ratio. Our cases consisted of 100 clinically normal subjects as the normal group and 50 patients suffering from liver disease and diagnosed to have hepatomegaly on abdominal palpation and scintigram at Dept, of Radiology of St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic Medical College during the period of 8 months from Jan. 1980. We measured the liver size using 4 linear diameters(Fig. 1). And as the reference measurement, the distance from the right margin of the liver to the left margin of the spleen was measured. We called this "abdominal transverse diameter(ATD)". The results were as follows; 1) The smallest value was recorded in the midline vertical diameter (MVD). It was $4.2{\pm}0.4cm$ in normal group and $5.0{\pm}0.6cm$ in the hepatomegaly group. 2) The diameter using other methods ranged from 5.6 to 7.2 cm in the normal group and from 6.3 to 7.5cm in the hepatomegaly group. 3) There was significant difference in the ratio of each diameter to ATD between the normal and hepatomegaly group (<0.01). We called this "hepato-abdominal ratio". 4) The "hepato-abdominal ratio" using MVD is $0.43{\pm}0.06$ in the normal group and $0.53{\pm}0.07$ in the hepatomegaly group. The "hepato-abdominal ratio" of MVD was most significantly different between normal and hepatomegaly group. 5) The tolerance limits(99%) of "hepato-abdominal ratio" using MVD is from 0.41 to 0.45 in the normal group and from 0.51 to 0.55 in the hepatomegaly group. Therefore, by reasons of error during measurement and convenience of memory, it was warranted to suggest hepatomegaly when "hepato-abdominal ratio" using MVD is more than 0.5 in the interpretation of hepatic scintigram.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1180-1190
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• 1990

96 patients underwent cardiac valve replacement for valvular heart diseases consecutively between February 1986 to February 1990 in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Yeungnam University Hospital. The follow up period was between 6 months and 4.5 years postoperatively[mean 23.4$\pm$13.1 months]. 75 cases got mitral valve replacement, 6 cases, aortic valve replacement, 15 cases, double valve replacement. 30[31.2%] patients were male and 66[68.8%] were female and the age ranged from 14 to 66 years old. Early hospital death within 30 days postoperation were 5 patients[5.2%], consisting of by low cardiac output in 2, infective endocarditis in 1, multiple organ failure with sepsis in 1 patient. There was no late postoperative death. Most common early postoperative complication was wound disruption [8.7%] and then low cardiac output, pneumothorax, pleural effusion in order. Most common late postoperative complications were minor bleeding episodes[8.7%] related to anticoagulant therapy which were consisted of frequent epistaxis in 3, gum bleeding in 2, hemorrhagic gastritis in 1, hypermenorrhea in 1, hematoma in right arm in 1 patient. Valve-related complications included valve thrombosis [1.6%/ patient-year], valve failure due to pannus formation[1.1% /patient-year], prosthetic valve endocarditis[1, 1%o/patient-year] and minor anticoagulant hemorrhage[4.4% /patient-year]. 5 cases of reoperations were performed in 4 patients due to valve failure and all of them were in the mitral positions[2.7% /patient-year]. Cardiothoracic ratios in the chest X-ray decreased at the 6th month and 1st year postoperation in all patients. But in New York Heart Association[NYHA] functional class IV, no change in cardiothoracic ratio was found between 6 months and 1 year postoperation. In the echocardiogram, the size of the cardiac chambers decreased, but ejection fraction increased postoperatively in each functional class. In the electrocardiogram, decreases were found in the incidence of atrial fibrillation, left atrial enlargement, left ventricular hypertrophy with right bundle branch block increasing postoperatively in each functional class. The actuarial survival rate was 98.4% for all patients, 98.7% for mitral valve replacement, 83.8% for aortic valve replacement, and 80% for double valve replacement at the end of a 4.5 year follow up period. Meanwhile the actuarial freedom rate was 91.5% for prosthetic valve endocarditis, 91.6% for thromboembolism, 89.0% for prosthetic valve failure and 83.7% for minor anticoagulant hemorrhage. Preoperative NYHA class III and IV were 75% of all patients, but 95% of all patients were up graded to NYHA class I and II postoperatively.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.744-755
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: Aortic valve replacement (AVR) is considered a class I indication for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS). However, there is little evidence regarding the potential benefits of early AVR in symptomatic patients diagnosed with normal-flow, low-gradient (NFLG) severe AS. Methods: Two-hundred eighty-one patients diagnosed with symptomatic NFLG severe AS (stroke volume index ≥35 mL/m², mean transaortic pressure gradient <40 mmHg, peak transaortic velocity <4 m/s, and aortic valve area <1.0 cm²) between January 2010 and December 2020 were included in this retrospective study. After performing 1:1 propensity score matching, 121 patients aged 75.1±9.8 years (including 63 women) who underwent early AVR within 3 months after index echocardiography, were compared with 121 patients who received conservative care. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause death and heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Results: During a median follow-up of 21.9 months, 48 primary outcomes (18 in the early AVR group and 30 in the conservative care group) occurred. The early AVR group demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of primary outcomes (hazard ratio [HR], 0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-0.93; p=0.028); specifically, there was no significant difference in all-cause death (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.23-1.16; p=0.110), although the early AVR group showed a significantly lower incidence of hospitalization for HF (HR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.19-0.95, p=0.037). Subgroup analyses supported the main findings. Conclusions: An early AVR strategy may be beneficial in reducing the risk of a composite outcome of death or hospitalization for HF in symptomatic patients with NFLG severe AS. Future randomized studies are required to validate and confirm our findings.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.393-403
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• 2018

Background: This study compared nutritional parameters in hemodialysis (HD) subjects and controls using bioimpedance analysis (BIA) and investigated how BIA components changed before and after HD. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 147 subjects on maintenance HD from two hospitals and 298 propensity score-matched controls from one healthcare center. BIA was performed pre- and post-HD at mid-week dialysis sessions. Results: Extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW) and waist-hip ratio were higher in the HD patients; the other variables were higher in the control group. The cardiothoracic ratio correlated best with overhydration (r = 0.425, P < 0.01) in HD subjects. Blood pressure, hemoglobin, creatinine, and uric acid positively correlated with the lean tissue index in controls; however, most of these nutritional markers did not show significant correlations in HD subjects. Normal hydrated weight was predicted to be higher in the pre-HD than post-HD measurements. Predicted ultrafiltration (UF) volume difference based on pre- and post-HD ECW/TBW and measured UF volume difference showed a close correlation ($r^2=0.924$, P < 0.01). Remarkably, the leg phase angle increased in the post-HD period. Conclusion: The estimated normal hydrated weight using ECW/TBW can be a good marker for determining dry weight. HD subjects had higher ECW/TBW but most nutritional indices were inferior to those of controls. It was possible to predict UF volume differences using BIA, but the post-HD increase in leg phase angle, a nutritional marker, must be interpreted with caution.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.92-99
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• 2014

Background: Korea's primary care clinics are seeking increase in consultation fees by expanding supply within the frame of the health insurance system, but inequality of physician income between regions and individuals is exacerbating. The purpose of this study lies in analyzing the distribution of patients of primary care clinics, their specialized field, and the degree of inequality between medical fee income according to region. Data was acquired from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on charged bills made by clinic-size medical institutions from 2008 to 2011. Methods: By comparing the outpatient number per clinic according to the clinic's specialized field, results showed that ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dermatology, orthopedics, and internal medicine showed high numbers whereas plastic surgery, neuropsychiatry, cardiothoracic surgery had fewer outpatients. The number of outpatients for clinic according to region showed Chuncheonnam-do, Jeju-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Ulsan to have higher numbers of outpatients. For those four years, clinics in the Seoul area had a rather lower number. Results: As a result of comparing the decile hierarchy distribution ratio between specialized fields according to primary care clinics income from National Health Insurance, the inequality degree showed that obstetrics and gynecology and general medicine were each 0.130, 0.280 for the decile distribution ratio, which was the highest degree of inequality within the specialized field. Their Gini coefficient were also relatively high at 0.691, 0.528 respectively. On the other hand, the decile distribution ratio for otolaryngology and orthopedics were 0.510, 0.468, respectively, while their Gini coefficient each at 0.318, 0.314 makes their inequality degree relatively lower than other fields. Conclusion: This study is limited in that the data used was the health insurance charges submitted by clinics, which does not provide total information of the doctors' income. However, because most clinics are largely dependant on their income to come from health insurance reimbursements. Therefore, the results of this study can be used effectively. In the future, research that includes data on non-covered service income should be conducted to closely examine policy plans with a new medical fee policy which can resolve the medical fee income inequality issue between clinics as well as revitalize primary medical care.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7249-7254
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• 2015

Background: Previous studies evaluated associations between the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism and bladder cancer risk. However, the results were inconsistent. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of the published case-control studies to assess in detail the association between CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism and bladder cancer risk. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched to identify relevant studies and the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated. Results: A total of seven articles including 3,013 cases and 2,771 controls were finally included. Overall, a significant association was found between the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism and bladder cancer susceptibility for CC vs AA (OR=0.82, 95% CI=0.69~0.99), but no significant associations were found for the other three models (AC vs AA: OR=0.91, 95% CI=0.81~1.02; the dominant model: OR=0.90, 95% CI=0.80~1.00; the recessive model: OR=0.84, 95% CI =0.72~1.00). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, we detected significant associations between the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism and bladder cancer susceptibility for GA vs GG (OR = 0.78, 95% CI =0.64~0.96) and for the recessive model (OR=0.80, 95% CI=0.66~0.96) in Caucasians, but not for Asians. Conclusions: The results from the meta-analysis suggested that the CYP1A2 rs762551 polymorphism is a protective factor for bladder cancer, especially in Caucasians.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.61 no.11
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• pp.362-365
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze changes in QRS duration and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) following pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Methods: Children and adolescents who had previously undergone total repair for TOF (n=67; median age, 16 years) who required elective PVR for pulmonary regurgitation and/or right ventricular out tract obstruction were included in this study. The QRS duration and CTR were measured pre- and postoperatively and postoperative changes were evaluated. Results: Following PVR, the CTR significantly decreased (pre-PVR $57.2%{\pm}6.2%$, post-PVR $53.8%{\pm}5.5%$, P=0.002). The postoperative QRS duration showed a tendency to decrease (pre-PVR $162.7{\pm}26.4$ msec, post-PVR $156.4{\pm}24.4$ msec, P=0.124). QRS duration was greater than 180 msec in 6 patients prior to PVR. Of these, 5 patients showed a decrease in QRS duration following PVR; QRS duration was less than 180 msec in 2 patients, and QRS duration remained greater than 180 msec in 3 patients, including 2 patients with diffuse postoperative right ventricular outflow tract hypokinesis. Six patients had coexisting arrhythmias before PVR; 2 patients, atrial tachycardia; 3 patients, premature ventricular contraction; and 1 patient, premature atrial contraction. None of the patients presented with arrhythmia following PVR. Conclusion: The CTR and QRS duration reduced following PVR. However, QRS duration may not decrease below 180 msec after PVR, particularly in patients with right ventricular outflow tract hypokinesis. The CTR and ECG may provide additional clinical information on changes in right ventricular volume and/or pressure in these patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1081-1089
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• 1991

Atrial fibrillation is characterized by beat to beat irregularity of shape, size, conduction time and polarity. The mechanism of atrial fibrillation can be explained by so called "Multiple wavelet theory". The adverse effect of atrial fibrillation is the decrease of cardiac output by absence of atrial kick[10 ~ 15%] and the possibility of thrombosis in the left atrium which is dangerous to develop the thromboembolism is increased. The present study was designed to assess the effect of overdrive pacing on the suppression of recurring of atrial fibrillation after open heart surgery and the results were summarized as follows: 1. There were no significant differences of factors between converting patients and non-converting patients to normal sinus rhythm by electric cardioversion after open heart surgery. 2. Among converting patients to normal sinus rhythm, there were no significant differences of factors between study group and control group. 3. Cardiothoracic Ratio on the preoperative chest film was significantly larger in the patients of recurring atrial fibrillation within 72hrs than in the patients of maintaining normal sinus rhythm. [61.7$\pm$ 1.4% vs 67.7$\pm$2.4%, p=0.03] 4. There was a significant difference of suppressive effects between overdrive pacing group and control group among recurred cases until 24, 48, and 72hours [Fisher`s exact test ; p=0.037, p=0.076, p=0.53, respectively] 5. There was a difference of the delay of recurring of atrial fibrillation between study group and control group among recurred cases within 72 hours.[53.4$\pm$6.9hr vs. 19.3$\pm$3.8 hr, p<0.01] We think that the overdrive pacing may suppress the natural pacemaker and the converted normal sinus rhythm is maintained longer than control group during critical immediate postoperative period.ve period.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.766-771
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• 1995

The trachea is defined as the airway from the inferior border of the cricoid cartilage to the top of the carinal spur. This paper would confirm the normal tracheal length of Korean adults through the actual measurement using the fiberoptic bronchoscopy. The subjects of this study were 25 patients, 13 males and 12 females between the age of 20 to 69 without abnormality on the neck, trachea, mediastinum and lung pharenchyme on the preoperative chest X-ray, who received the operations from the period of July to September, 1994. For those patients who had heart diseases, the cardiothoracic ratio was below 50%. The measurement was performed on the patients with endotracheal intubation under the general anesthesia in supine and neutral position. The tracheal length was calculated by the difference between the length from the tip of the endotracheal tube [E-tube to carina and to the needle which was inserted into the E-tube at the lower border of the palpated cricoid cartilage, by inserting the broncoscopy through the E-tube. The result was as follow : 1 The measured tracheal length for men was 11.8 0.2 cm[mean standard deviation and women was 10.5 0.3 cm, and that was longer than this [p<0.01 . The average was 11.2 1.0 cm and the standard error was 0.20 cm. 2 According to the correlation between the tracheal length to weight, height[Ht , age, and body surface area[BSA respectively, the Ht [p=0.003 , age [p=0.055 , and the BSA[p=0.017 were significant, while weight was not [p=0.314 . 3 From the regression analysis of the tracheal length[T.L. to the Ht, Age, and the BSA which were significant, the following equation was derived.i Ht : T.L.= -1.29 + 0.076 x Ht [P=0.003 ii Age: T.L.= 10.04 + 0.028 x Age [P=0.055 iii BSA : T.L.= 5.60 + 3.48 x BSA [P=0.017 iv In multi-regression : T.L. = -4.15 + 0.034 x Age + 0.085 x Ht [P=0.0002]

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2013

Background: We present our 12-year experience of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Materials and Methods: Between January 1999 and March 2011, 16 patients underwent pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. Eleven patients (69%) were classified as functional class III or IV based on the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Seven patients had a history of inferior vena cava filter insertion, and 5 patients showed coagulation disorders. Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy was performed during total circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia in 14 patients. Results: In-hospital mortality and late death occurred in 2 patients (12.5%) and 1 patient (6.3%), respectively. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support was required in 4 patients who developed severe hypoxemia after surgery. Thirteen of the 14 survivors have been followed up for 54 months (range, 2 to 141 months). The pulmonary arterial systolic pressure and cardiothoracic ratio on chest radiography was significantly decreased after surgery ($76{\pm}26$ mmHg vs. $41{\pm}17$ mmHg, p=0.001; $55%{\pm}8%$ vs. $48%{\pm}3%$, p=0.003). Tricuspid regurgitation was reduced from $2.1{\pm}1.1$ to $0.7{\pm}0.6$ (p=0.007), and the NYHA functional class was also improved to I or II in 13 patients (81%). These symptomatic and hemodynamic improvements maintained during the late follow-up period. Conclusion: Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension shows good clinical outcomes with acceptable early and long term mortality.