• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1110-1115
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• 1998

Esophagectomy has a high morbidity rate, mainly related to pulmonary complications. The respiratory morbidity of open esophagectomy is high, ranging from 6% to 10%. This high morbidity is partially responsible for the 6∼15% mortality rate of esophagectomy. Many techniques of esophagectomy without thoracotomy have been described since the initial report of Orringer and Sloan. Endoscopic microsurgical dissection of the esophagus was clinically introduced in 1989. Endoscopic microsurgical dissection of the esophagus was developed as a minimally invasive procedure that avoids thoracotomy and provides precise vision during the operation in order to reduce mediastinal trauma and to improve the peri- and post-operative situation. A 20 year-old women who accidentally swallowed about 150 cc of glacial acetic acid underwent an esophagectomy using the operating mediastinoscopy, cervical esophagogastric anastomosis, pyloromyotomy, and feeding jejunostomy tube placement for esophageal stricture. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the 17th postoperative day. Our clinical experience shows that endoscopic microsurgical dissection of esophagus is a safe and feasible method because it offers excellent optical control and enables the surgeon to operate in a minimally invasive manner.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.100-103
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• 2009

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is the second most common cause of death from motor vehicle accidents after head injury. About 85% of these patients do not survive to reach the hospital. The most common mechanism for this is deceleration injury, as occurs in a high speed motor vehicle accident. The aortic isthmus is the site of disruption for about 95% of all blunt thoracic aortic injuries. Another mechanism is crush injury which causes compression of the aorta between the displaced sternal body or manubrium and the thoracic vertebral column. These forces tear the inner layer of the aortic wall at an unusual location. We report here on a case of aortic arch dissection where the injury clearly occurred due to a crush injury and not because of deceleration. The surgical repair was delayed for 10 days after administering intensive medical therapy. The ascending aorta and aortic arch were replaced with an artificial graft with the patient under circulatory arrest and cerebral protection.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.651-654
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• 2008

Posttraumatic psoudoaneurysrns of the subclavian artery are very rare. A 49-year-old woman who had been involved in a car accident ten years before presentation was initially diagnosed with a mediastinal tumor at a local clinic. Exploratory thoracotomy was performed for evaluation and treatment. During the operation, a hematoma was evacuated, and primary repair was undertaken to stop massive bleeding. Computed tomography angiography revealed a pseudoaneurysm of the left subclavian artery. The patient was treated with aneurysmectomy and end-to-end anastomosis. The postoperative course was uneventful.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.10
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• pp.1143-1143
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• 2005

The traumatic ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a rare but potentially life threatening complication of chest wall injury. The traumatic VSD occurs in up to 4.5% of penetrating cardiac trauma. Most of the patients are usually operated on because of heart failure and/or significant left-to-right shunt. The feasibility of surgical repair under cardiopulmonary bypass may be affected by coexisting pulmonary, cerebral or other vascular injuries. Transcatheter closure of VSD is being considered as an alternative therapeutic modality to surgery in order to avoid the potential risk of cardiopulmonary bypass. We report a patient who underwent a successful transcatheter closure of VSD with an $Amplatzer^{(R)}$ VSD occluder. The patient had a residual VSD with significant left-to-right shunt after surgical repair of post-traumatic VSD using cardiopulmonary bypass.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.782-786
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• 2008

Dissection intramural hematoma of the esophagus (DIHO) is a rare, but well-documented condition that is part of the spectrum of, acute esophageal injuries; these include the more common Mallory-Weiss tear and Boerhaave's syndrome. This disorder is predominantly seen in women during their sixth or seventh decade and the disease has various etiologies, but the pathogenesis has yet to be clarified. The triad of symptoms for this disorder includes retrosternal pain, hematemesis and odynophagia. It is important to differentiate esophageal submucosal dissection form other disorders that have a similar appearance, such as Mallory-Weiss syndrome and esophageal perforation because the prognosis of DIHO is excellent with conservative therapy and these other diseases require surgical treatment. We report here on a case of a dissecting intramural hematoma of the esophagus that was preoperatively misdiagnosed as the submucosal tumor of the esophagus preoperatively, and it was confirmed by Video-assisted thoracic surgery.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.178-182
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• 2006

Pulmonary edema is a well known phenomenon in medicine, physical findings indicative of this condition include frothy pink sputum, dispnea, and chest X-ray may present cephalization of vessels, perihilar edema, or diffused increase of density. It is one of the most serious, life threatening situation and should be diagnosed and managed instantly. Early diagnosis and intensive treatment are mandatory in order to effectively resolve the situation. The most common etiology for this pathology is cardiogenic, such as left ventricular failure and valvular disease. The one following is noncardiogenic, such as transfusion, infectious pneumonia, inhaled toxins, shock lung in association with trauma. Other forms of pulmonary edema which have not been clearly explained result from pulmonary embolism, drug overdose, after anesthesia, epinephrine overdose, exposure to high altitude, neurogenic, etc. We experienced two cases of pulmonary edema during two jaw surgeries(Le Fort I Osteotomy & BSSRO). These patients were young and physically healthy individuals on preoperative evaluation. Thus we report and discuss the etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment with journals review.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.335-341
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• 2004

Traumatic cardiac injury is very rare but mortality is very high when the diagnosis and management are delayed. We reviewed our case retrospectively. Material and Method: From March 1995 to July 2003, 17 patients were diagnosed as having traumatic cardiac rupture. Five patients were stabbed, seven patients were motor vehicle accidents, four patients had fallen down, and the cause was unknown in one patient. Emergency operations were done and six patients were operated under CPB. Result: Four patients died during or after operation. The mean ICU stay period was 3.86$\pm$3.35 days and the mean hospital stay was 18.27$\pm$14.99 days. No mortality was observed in those whose vital signs were stable in the operating room. Conclusion: Preoperative vital status was very important and thoracic traumatic patient should be suspected as having cardiac injury.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.43-54
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore EMT-paramedic students' experience of simulation education and analyze the confidence before and after education, learning attitude and course evaluation. Method: Research survey was conducted on 38 EMT-paramedic students during November, 2011 and EMT-paramedic students' experience of simulation education was analyzed after applying head, spinal, and chest injury scenario. The confidence before and after education, learning attitude and course evaluation in gender were analyzed by Mann-Whitny U test and the difference of confidence before and after education was analyzed by Wilcoxon signed rank test and learning attitude & course evaluation were analyzed by evaluating frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation by using SPSS WIN 17.0 program. Results: 1. Students experienced various advantages such as increasing interest and self-reflection on learning, critical thinking ability, and EMT-paramedic-role experience and recognition of importance of teamwork. Students also pointed out disadvantages such as gap between real situation and simulation, limit of time and equipments, and burden of demonstration. 2. The confidence between before and after education, learning attitude and course evaluation in gender were not significant different statistically. 3. Confidence mean score elevated from 5.53(before education) to 5.87(after education), but the difference in their confidence did not show significant difference statistically. 4. Total mean score in learning attitude after simulation education was 3.70 out of 5.00, which is considerably very high. 5. Total mean score in course evaluation was 3.89 with score of 3.83 in evaluation in learning environment and 3.99 in evaluation of debriefing. Conclusion: The finding of this study demonstrate that the simulation education can provide a safe and repetitive practice environment, improve problem-solving ability and critical thinking, and increase the confidence in prehospital emergency care; therefore, simulation may be the new effective EMT-paramedic education strategy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.3
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• pp.261-265
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• 2011

Cholethorax is a bilious pleural effusion caused by a pleurobiliary fistula or leakage of bile into the pleural space. Most cases of cholethorax arise from a complication of abdominal trauma, hepatobiliary infection, or invasive procedures or surgery of hepatobiliary system. However, we experienced a case of a patient with cholethorax of unknown origin. There was no evidence of pleurobiliary fistula or leakage of bile from the hepatobiliary system although we examined the patient with various diagnostic tools including chest and abdominal computed tomography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, tubography, bronchofiberscopy, hepatobiliary scintigraphy and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Herein we report a case of cholethorax for which the specific cause was not identified. The patient was improved by percutaneous drainage of pleural bile.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.246-250
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• 2010

Mediastinal emphysema, also referred to as pneumomediastinum or Hamman's syndrome, is defined as the presence of air or gas within the fascial planes of the mediastinum. Superior extension of air into the cervicofacial subcutaneous space via communications between the mediastinum and cervical fascial planes or spaces occurs occasionally. The mediastinal air may originate from the respiratory tract, the intrathoracic airway, the lung parenchyma, or the gastrointestinal tract. The presence of air in the mediastinum may be spontaneous, iatrogenic or due to penetrating trauma. Pneumothorax is defined as the presence of air or gas within the pleural cavity. A pneumothorax can occur spontaneously. It can also occur as the result of a disease or injury to the lung or due to a puncture to the chest wall. Pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax is a rare complication of head and neck surgery. Nevertheless, when it occurs, it is usually considered to result from direct dissection by the air at the time of injury or of surgery. Most of the cases of pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax that have been described in the oral and maxillofacial surgery literature result from air dissecting down the fascial planes of the neck. The authors report a case with subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax after orthognathic surgery.