• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.537-547
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• 2008

Purpose: The study aimed to apply Tai Chi exercise to patients with coronary artery disease for 6 months, and to examine changes on body composition, physical strength, and cardiovascular risks. Methods: Applying a quasi experimental design with a nonequivalent control group, 90 subjects with cardiovascular disease were recruited at C university hospital. For 6 months, 44 subjects performed Tai Chi exercise once a week and daily home exercise, while 46 subjects did not. Body composition was assessed by body mass index, % body fat, and waist-hip ratio; physical strength by balance, mobility, flexibility, grip strength, and back muscle strength; and cardiovascular risk checklist for fixed and modifiable risk factors. Data were analyzed by SPSS/WIN program with ANCOVA to consider group differences at the pretest. Results: The subjects were 66 years old in average. In 6 months, Tai Chi group improved significantly in balance, mobility, and flexibility with decreased modifiable cardiovascular risks after adjusting for the pretest scores. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise was safely applicable to individuals with coronary artery disease, and effective in some measures of physical strength and modifiable cardiovascular risks. It could be an alternative exercise for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program in this population.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.136-144
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• 2009

Purpose: Natural menopause resulting in the decline in endogenous estrogen concentrations is responsible for an increased risk of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of a 6-month Tai Chi exercise program on cardiovascular risk factors and quality of life in post-menopausal women. Methods: A quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures was used. The participants in the study, 29 women in the Tai Chi group and 31 in the control group, were enrolled for 6 months. Results: After 6 months of Tai Chi exercise, total cholesterol (M=213 to 185), LDL-cholesterol (M=135 to 128), and their 10 yr cardiovascular disease risk (M=2.62 to 2.27) had improved significantly for the Tai Chi participants compared to the control group. Total scores for quality of life along with the sub-dimensions of health perception and mental functioning were also significantly higher in the Tai Chi participants. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise favorably affected cardiovascular health and quality of life in post-menopausal women after 6 months. Additional rigorous studies are needed to examine long term effects on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in this population.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.249-255
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• 2013

Background: The continuous suture (CS) technique has several advantages as a method for simple, fast, and secure aortic valve replacement (AVR). We used a simple CS technique without the use of a pledget for AVR and evaluated the surgical outcomes. Materials and Methods: Between October 2007 and 2012, 123 patients with aortic valve disease underwent AVR alone (n=28) or with other concomitant cardiac procedures (n=95), such as mitral, tricuspid, or aortic surgery. The patients were divided into two groups: the interrupted suture (IS) group (n=47), in which the conventional IS technique was used, and the CS group (n=76), in which the simple CS technique was used. Results: There were two hospital deaths (1.6%), which were not related to the suture technique. There were no significant differences in cardiopulmonary bypass time or aortic cross-clamp time between the two groups for AVR alone or AVR with concomitant cardiac procedures. In the IS group, two patients had prosthetic endocarditis and one patient experienced significant perivalvular leak. These patients underwent reoperations. In the CS group, there were no complications related to the surgery. Postoperatively, the two groups had similar aortic valve gradients. Conclusion: The simple CS method is useful and secure for AVR in patients with aortic valve disease, and it may minimize surgical complications, as neither pledgets nor braided sutures are used.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.366-379
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• 2017

In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the effects of exercise on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted database searches (Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, Scopus, KoreaMed, KISS, RISS, KMBASE) for the effect of exercise on cardiovascular disease, using heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, exercise, motor activity, rehabilitation, and endothelial progenitor cells as the keywords. Of the 539 studies identified, 9 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 2.0 was used to analyze the effect size and the publication bias was checked with a funnel plot. Exercise was found to improve the VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), CD34+KDR+, and endothelial function, assessed via FMD (flow-mediated dilation), in the exercise vs. control groups, viz. 2.008 (95% CI 0.204-3.812), 1.399 (95% CI 0.310-2.489), and 1.881 (95% CI 0.848-2.914), respectively. Exercise improved the VEGF, number of EPCs, and endothelial function in the CVD patients. Considering the increasing prevalence and mortality rates for cardiovascular disease in Korea, the findings of this study that analyzed the effects of exercise on EPCs might provide guidelines for planning exercise interventions for patients with CVD.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.371-382
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• 1985

Over the past 4 decades after World War II a great deal of data and clinical experiences have been accumulated relating to the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Clinical data on cardiovascular surgical cases performed in all 22 hospitals for open heart surgery in Korea was collected from it`s starting up to December 1984. The first recorded open heart surgery for a young adult atrial septal defect was performed by Young Kyoon Lee, M.D. on August 7, 1959, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. And, some scattered reports on cardiovascular surgical cases in it`s early period have changed recently the number of hospitals for open heart surgery and clinical cases enormously in total amount of 13, 100 cardiovascular operations performed on 12, 990 cases up to December 1984. Of the total 13, 100 cardiovascular operations, congenital cardiovascular anomaly occupied 70%. Of the congenital cases, 6, 580 operations for acyanotic group [operative mortality 4.5%], and 2, 489 operations for cyanotic group [operative mortality 20%]. The incidence of congenital cardiovascular anomaly in order of frequency was ventricular septal defect [29%], patent ductus arteriosus [26%], Tetralogy of Fallot [22%], atrial septal defect [8, 6%], pulmonary valve stenosis [3.0%], and endocardial cushion defect [1.1%]. Of the 3, 412 valvular heart disease cases, which occupied 85% of total 4, 031 acquired cardiovascular disease, individual incidence was in mitral 2, 565 [63.5%], double valve 451 [11.1%], and simple aortic valve 351 [8.7%]. Total number of valve replaced, mechanical and tissue, was 2, 795, and 1, 884 for mitral, 808 for aortic, and 103 for tricuspid in position. Operative mortality for prosthetic valve replacement in total was 9.8%. Remained acquired cardiovascular cases chronic constrictive pericarditis [7.9%], cardiac tumor [1.9%], coronary artery bypass [1.8%], cardiac trauma [1.2%] and less than 1% of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Overall operative mortality for open and non-open cardiovascular surgical operation was 7.7% [congenital acyanotic group 3.2%, congenital cyanotic group 19.4%, and acquired group 7.8%]. In conclusion, present status of cardiovascular surgery in Korea is stabilized with accumulation of clinical cases and experiences, and the future in the field of cardiovascular surgery is promising, especially in the infant cardiac surgery and aortocoronary bypass surgery, with abrupt increase of specialized cardiac centers, trained specialists, and expanding social health insurance.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제21권7호
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• pp.900-907
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• 2020

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of intraplaque neovascularization (IPN) for cardiovascular outcomes. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 217 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) (158 men; mean age, 68 ± 10 years) with a maximal carotid plaque thickness ≥ 1.5 mm for the presence of IPN using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography. We compared patients with (n = 116) and without (n = 101) IPN during the follow-up period and investigated the predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, coronary artery revascularization, and transient ischemic accident/stroke. Results: During the mean follow-up period of 995 ± 610 days, the MACE rate was 6% (13/217). Patients with IPN had a higher maximal thickness than those without IPN (2.86 ± 1.01 vs. 2.61 ± 0.84 mm, p = 0.046). Common carotid artery-peak systolic velocity, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and ventricular-vascular coupling index were significantly correlated with MACE. However, on multivariate Cox regression analysis, increased LVMI was independently related to MACE (p < 0.05). The presence of IPN could not predict MACE. Conclusion: The presence of IPN was related to a higher plaque thickness but could not predict cardiovascular outcomes better than conventional clinical factors in patients with CAD.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.347-361
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• 2012

Limited studies are available concerning the effect of heavy metal exposure on cardiovascular diseases. As environmental pollution increases, food contamination, including heavy metal contamination of fish, also increases. However, researches based on the intake of heavy metals, cardiovascular disease, and fish intakes are inconclusive. We assessed an association of heavy metal exposure with cardiovascular disease and fish intake in a nationally representative group of general Korean adults. We used data from the combined 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), and analyzed the data of 5,139 Koreans who participated in KNHANES. All participants were older than 20 years, and were diagnosed with stroke, ischemic heart disease, or hypertension. The mean blood cadmium, lead concentration, and mercury concentration of subjects were $1.07{\pm}0.01{\mu}g/L$, $2.49{\pm}0.02{\mu}g/dL$, and $5.19{\pm}0.08{\mu}g/L$, respectively. We used the survey logistic regression model to account for the complex sample design of the cardiovascular disease risk in order to estimate the odds ratios (OR). After adjusting for age, education, income, alcohol, smoking, and BMI, the increase of serum cadmium in blood was associated with the increase in the prevalence of hypertension. Further, the increase in blood cadmium concentration was associated with the increase of both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Although higher fish intakes were significantly associated with higher blood mercury concentration (p for trend < 0.0001), fish intakes did not affect either blood cadmium or lead concentration. Comparing the highest fish intake group with the lowest intake group, the OR of hypertension was 0.31 (95% CI: 0.19-0.59) in the crude model for total fish. However, these associations were no longer significant after the adjustment for potential confounding factors. In conclusion, cadmium in blood was associated with an increased risk of hypertension in the general Korean adult population. However, we found no evidence of a clear relationship between cardiovascular disease and frequency of fish consumption.

• Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.176-183
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• 2018

Background: Although the frequency and intensity of headaches decrease in older adults, headaches in this population are still an important neurological disorder. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of headache characteristics in older adults with the development of cardiovascular disease and cognitive dysfunction. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 125 older (${\geq}65$ years old) patients with headache who were making their first visit to outpatient clinics and who had no prior history of cognitive dysfunction from 11 hospitals in Korea between August 2014 and February 2015. We investigated the occurrence of newly developed/or recurrent headache, cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, and poor functional outcomes. Results: The mean age of all included patients was 72.6 years, 68.8% were women, and 43 (34.4%) had newly developed/or recurrent headache during follow-up. During a median follow-up of 31 months (interquartile range, 28-34 months), 21 participants (16.8%) experienced cardiovascular disease, and 26 (20.8%) developed cognitive dysfunction. Upon multivariate analysis and after adjusting for sex, age, and other factors, presence of newly developed/or recurrent headache was found to be associated with cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio [HR], 4.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28-12.61; p=0.017) and frequency of headache for the recent 3 months was related with cognitive dysfunction (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.00-1.09; p=0.017) and poor functional outcomes (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11; p=0.011). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, and poor functional outcomes in older patients with frequent, newly developed, or recurrent headache.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.33-38
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• 1999

Since binge eating is known to be related to increased risk of body weight fluctuations, it may be associated with increased health risks. This study was conducted to investigate the risks of binge eating on the cardiovascular system of female university students in Korea. Sixty-five female university students who were interested in a weight control program were recruited from a university campus. After personal interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, 36 individuals were classified as binge eaters and 29 as non-binge eaters according to modified criteria of the proposed DSM-IV by the American Psychiatric Association(APA). All subjects participate in anthropometric and clinical measurements to evaluate the level of obesity and cardiovascular risks. Binge eating subjects showed no significant differences in obesity index compared to non-binge eating subjects. However, they had a higher level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and a higher atherogenic index. They also showed close correlations with general obesity and cardiovascular risk factors. Body mass index(BMI) was the main explanatory index related to cardiovascular risk factors according to the stepwise regression analysis. Furthermore, obese binge subjects had higher levels than non-obese binge subjects or non-binge subjects for total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerols, atherogenic index, and systolic blood pressure. The findings strongly suggest that obese young women having binge eating episodes might display a greater risk for cardiovascular disease tan that shown for obese non-binge eating women.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.796-803
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• 1984

Pure Red-Cell Aplasia [P.R.C.A.] is rare disease characterized by absence of erythroid precursors in the bone marrow, normocytic normochromic anemia with profound reticulocytopenia in the peripheral blood, and relatively or completely spared granulopoiesis and thrombopoiesis. The association rates of P.R.C.A. with Thymoma is approximately 50%, but only 5-10% of all patients with a Thymoma have a P.R.C.A.. P.R.C.A. is thought to be a variety of autoimmune disease, and humoral inhibitor, i.e. IgG, has been demonstrated experimentally. Its treatments such as thymectomy, immunosuppressants, steroid, androgenic hormone, and splenectomy have been tried but the result is not satisfactory and the prognosis is poor. We experienced a case of P.R.C.A. with Thymoma treated with thymectomy and postoperative steroid therapy, and which showed good postoperative recovery clinically and hematologically.