• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.173-180
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• 2006

Purpose: The TNM staging system showed limitation in stratifying patients into different prognostic groups with gastric cancer Since the treatment for stage IV gastric cancer with distant metastasis (M1) is defined as non-curative one, we hypothesized that the survival rate of stage IV gastric cancer with M1 is different to that of stage IV gastric cancer with no distant metastasis (M0), which will provide a rationale to subdivide stage IV into IVa and IVb. Materials and Methods: From June 1992 to December 2005, of 1,630 gastric cancer patients who underwent surgery, 308 patients with stage IV gastric cancer were selected and analyzed. The clinicopathologic characteristics and survival of the patients, according to distant metastasis, were determined retrospectively. Median follow-up period was 13 months (range: $1{\sim}154$ month). Results: 5 year survival rate of M0 and M1 group was 35% and 16% respectively with statistic significance (P=0.0000). When the survival rate of M0 group was analyzed according to the difference of T and M factor, T1-3N3M0 and T4N1-2M0 group showed no significant statistical difference (P=0.1898). Conclusion: Given the result in this study, we suggest that the stage IV gastric cancer be subclassified into stage IVa and IVb according to M factor.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2013

Purpose: Endoscopic submucosal dissection has recently been practiced on a differentiated type of early gastric cancer. However, there is no clear evidence for endoscopic treatments of signet ring cell carcinoma. The aim of this study is to identify the predictive clinicopathological factors for lymph node metastasis in signet ring cell carcinoma for assisting endoscopic submucosal dissection trials. Materials and Methods: A total of 186 patients with early signet ring cell carcinoma who underwent radical curative gastrectomy between January 2001 and September 2009 were enrolled in this study. Retrospective reviews of their medical records are being conducted. Several clinicopathologic factors were being investigated in order to identify predictive factors for lymph nodes metastasis: age, gender, tumor size, type of operation, tumor location, gross type, ulceration, Lauren's classification, depth of invasion, and lymphatic invasion. Results: The lymph node metastasis rate for signet ring cell carcinoma was 4.3% (n=8). Of the 186 lesions with early signet ring cell carcinoma, 91 (48.9%) tumors were larger than 15 mm in size and 40 (21.5%) showed submucosal invasions in the resection specimens. In multivariate analysis, only the lymphatic invasion (P<0.0001) showed an association with lymph node metastasis. To evaluate cutoff values for tumor sizes in the presence of lymph node metastasis, early signet ring cell carcinomas with lymphatic invasions were excluded. In the absence of lymphatic invasion, mucosal cancer with tumor sizes <15 mm had no lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: Endoscopic submucosal dissection can be performed on patients with early signet ring cell carcinoma limited to the mucosa and less than 15 mm.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.176-183
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• 1999

Chronic osteomyelitis have been treated with wound dressing and antibiotics therapy often results in healing but foul odor pus discharges from the fibrotic soft tissues reactivates and requires appropriate control of the infection. Debridement of the wound, curettage and sequestrectomy, bone graft and immediate free flap transplantation is the curative protocol for the chronic osteomyelitis in the lower extremity. Authors have treated 7 cases of chronic osteomyelitis in the lower extremity with microsurgical free tissue transplantation at Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chonbuk National University Hospital from December 1993 through February 1998. The results are as follows. 1. The chronic osteomyelitis occurred in tibial shaft in 4 cases, in calcaneus 2 cases and in femur 1 case. 2. Duration of the chronic osteomyelitis was at average 31.6 years. 3. Squamous cell carcinoma in the surrounding fibrotic tissue was biopsied in 1 case. 4. 4 cases had no trauma and occurred through hematogenous infection and 3 cases had fracture trauma. 5. Wound debridement and immediate free muscle transplantation had done in 5 cases and wound debridement, sequestrectomy and immediate free muscle transplantation in 2 cases. 6. Rectus abdominis muscle transplantation had peformed in 4 cases(57.1%), latissimus dorsi mucle 1 case(14.3%), latissimus dorsi myocutaneous 1 case(14.3%) and gracilis 1 case (14.3%). 6 cases of 7 were success(85.7%). 7. 1 case of failed latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap in thigh had done above knee amputation and 1 case of chronic posttraumatic osteoarthritis of the ankle joint had done below knee amputation at other hospital.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of esophageal reflux-induced symptoms after gastrectomy owing to gastric cancer and assess the relationship between esophageal reflux-induced symptoms and quality of life. Materials and Methods: From January 2012 to May 2012, 332 patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The patients had a history of curative resection for gastric cancer at least 6 months previously without recurrence, other malignancy, or ongoing chemotherapy. Esophageal reflux-induced symptoms were evaluated with the GerdQ questionnaire. The quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment QLQ-C30 and STO22 questionnaires. Results: Of the 332 patients, 275 had undergone subtotal gastrectomy and 57 had undergone total gastrectomy. The number of GerdQ(+) patients was 58 (21.1%) after subtotal gastrectomy, and 7 (12.3%) after total gastrectomy (P=0.127). GerdQ(+) patients showed significantly worse scores compared to those for GerdQ(-) patients in nearly all functional and symptom QLQ-C30 scales, with the difference in the mean score of global health status/quality of life and diarrhea symptoms being higher than in the minimal important difference. Additionally, in the QLQ STO22, GerdQ(+) patients had significantly worse scores in every symptom scale. The GerdQ score was negatively correlated with the global quality of life score (r=-0.170, P=0.002). Conclusions: Esophageal reflux-induced symptoms may develop at a similar rate or more frequently after subtotal gastrectomy compared to that after total gastrectomy, and decrease quality of life in gastric cancer patients. To improve quality of life after gastrectomy, new strategies are required to prevent or reduce esophageal reflux.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.284-290
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• 2006

Purpose: Many previous studies have suggested that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) over expression is closely related to angiogenesis. However, few have reported the relationship between COX-2 and lymphangiogenesis which is still unclear, The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between COX-2 expression and lymphangiogenetic factor, VEGF-C, in human gastric cancer and to correlate COX-2 and VEGF-C expression with other clinocopathological features to investigate whether COX-2 contributes to lymphangiogenesis and enhances lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: One hundred patients who underwent curative radical surgery in Hanyang University hospital from July 1998 to June 2001 were selected. The expression of COX-2 and VEGF-C were detected by using immunohistochemistry, and the relationships between these two parameters and several clinicopathological factors (gender, stage, lymph node status, tumor location, Lauren classification and angioinvasion) were determined. Results: Increased COX-2 expression was found in 86 of 100 tumor samples (86%) and in 70 of 100 tumor samples (70%) with VEGF-C. A high correlation between VEGF-C expression and lymph node metastasis was observed (P=0.033) along as well as COX-2 expression (P=0.012). Also, there was a significant correlation between COX-2 and VEGF-C expression (P=0.026), yet no correlation were found between COX-2 and VEGF-C expression and other clinicopathological parameters. Conclusion: Our study suggests that COX-2 expression contributes to lymphangiogenesis by mediating VEGF-C and finally promoting lymph node metastasis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.6-9
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• 2009

Gastric cancer with gastric outlet obstruction has a high incidence of direct invasion into neighboring organs, with a low resection rate and a poor prognosis. Traditionally, open gastrojejunostomy has been the standard palliative treatment in these patients. Recently, endoscopic self-expanding metal stents have been used increasingly for the palliative treatment of malignant gastric outlet obstruction, but the choice of modality to treat the obstruction caused by gastric cancer is still controversial. Many studies have shown that endoscopic stenting is less invasive and offers not only a shorter time to oral intake and length of hospital stay, but also less frequent complications compared to open gastrojejunostomy. However, recurrent obstruction by tumor overgrowth and ingrowth occur more frequently and re-intervention for recurrent obstructive symptoms are more frequently performed after stent placement than after gastrojejunostomy. Thus, stent placement may be associated with more favorable results in patients with a relatively short life expectancy, while gastrojejunostomy is preferable in patients with a more prolonged prognosis. Also, open surgery affords a greater chance for curative surgery. However, most underlying diseases analyzed in previous studies were pancreaticobiliary malignancies, and there have been few prospective studies specific for patients with gastric cancer. Additional randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are expected to decide the treatment modality for unresectable gastric cancer with gastric outlet obstruction.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2024

Objective : The Act on Life-Sustaining Treatment (LST) decisions for end-of-life patients has been effective since February 2018. An increasing number of patients and their families want to withhold or withdraw from LST when medical futility is expected. This study aimed to investigate the status of the Act on LST decisions for patients with acute cerebrovascular disease at a single hospital. Methods : Between January 2017 and December 2021, 227 patients with acute cerebrovascular diseases, including hemorrhagic stroke (n=184) and ischemic stroke (n=43), died at the hospital. The study period was divided into the periods before and after the Act. Results : The duration of hospitalization decreased after the Act was implemented compared to before (15.9±16.1 vs. 11.2±18.6 days, p=0.127). The rate of obtaining consent for the LST plan tended to increase after the Act (139/183 [76.0%] vs. 27/44 [61.4%], p=0.077). Notably, none of the patients made an LST decision independently. Ventilator withdrawal was more frequently performed after the Act than before (52/183 [28.4%] vs. 0/44 [0%], p<0.001). Conversely, the rate of organ donation decreased after the Act was implemented (5/183 [2.7%] vs. 6/44 [13.6%], p=0.008). Refusal to undergo surgery was more common after the Act was implemented than before (87/149 [58.4%] vs. 15/41 [36.6%], p=0.021) among the 190 patients who required surgery. Conclusion : After the Act on LST decisions was implemented, the rate of LST withdrawal increased in patients with acute cerebrovascular disease. However, the decision to withdraw LST was made by the patient's family rather than the patient themselves. After the execution of the Act, we also observed an increased rate of refusal to undergo surgery and a decreased rate of organ donation. The Act on LST decisions may reduce unnecessary treatments that prolong end-of-life processes without a curative effect. However, the widespread application of this law may also reduce beneficial treatments and contribute to a decline in organ donation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.769-776
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• 1996

The application of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in the examination of the thoracic cavity can be a new option in patients with mediastinal tumor because it provides outstanding visibility of the structures of the mediastinum. By clear viewing through the thoracoscope, a mediastinal tumor can be biopsied or resected, depending on the findings during an operation. We reviewed all patients who underwent curative or diagnostic operations from March 1990 to August 1995 under the impression of a mediastinal mass. The total number of patients were 113 with 59 males and 54 females. Group A underwent resection of tu or by thoracotomy(38 patients: 18 males, 20 females), and group B underwent resection of tumor by VATS (36 patients : 20 males and 16 females). Seven patients in group B were excluded because they underwent thoracotomy due to pleural adhesion or intra-operative bleeding ; therefore, the true VATS group numbered 29 cases. Group C underwent Iymph node biopsy by VATS(33 patients'16 males, 17 females), and group D(6 patients: 5 males, 1 female) underwent Iymph node biopsy through anterior mediastinotomy. The mean age in group A was 36.2 years compared to 41.3 years In group B. We compared operation time, frequency of injection for pain control, duration of chest tube insertion, postoperative hospital stay, and diagnostic yield. In group A, they were 164 minutes, 3.4 times, 5.2 days, and 11.3 days, respectively, in comparison to 152 minutes, 2 times, 4.7 days, and 8.3 days, respectively, in group B. These data revealed that the day of discharge was significantly shorter in group B (p valu : 0.03). In group C, the mean age was 45.8 years (range 1 ∼70). The operation time was from 30 to 335 minutes (mean 105), pain control was required from 0 to 15 times(mean 3.2), and a chest tube was needed for 1 to 36 days (mean 6.1). In group D, mean age was 53.3 years, operation time 121 minutes, pall control injec- tion frequency 2.6 times, and mean chest tube duration 10.5 days. The diagnostic yield in group C was 8 oyo compared to 100 oyo in group D although the number of patients in group D is small.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the preoperative and postoperative nutritional statuses of patients with gastric cancer and to investigate the nutritional factors that are correlated with perioperative complications. Materials and Methods: From January 2008 to Jun 2008, 669 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy were enrolled in a retrospective study. To evaluate the changes of their nutritional status preoperatively and postoperatively, we measured the total lymphocyte count, the serum albumin, the body weight change and the BMI. The nutritional factors correlated with short-term postoperative complications were analyzed. Results: The total lymphocyte count and serum albumin decreased from the first preoperative day to the $5^{th}$ day after operation, but they tended to increase and approach the normal range 6 months after operation. The only factor correlated with the short-term postoperative complications (defined as the ones that occurred for 30 days) was the serum albumin checked on the $5^{th}$ day after operation. Conclusion: Low serum albumin on the $5^{th}$ day after operation was correlated with postoperative short-term complications. Serum albumin can be the preoperative statistical parameter that can predict the occurrence of postoperative complications.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.185-192
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• 2007

Purpose: RUNX3, a novel tumor suppressor, is frequently inactivated in gastric cancer. In the present study, we examined the pattern of RUNX3 expression in gastric cancer cells from gastric cancer specimens and the impact of its alteration on clinical outcome. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 samples of both gastric cancer and normal tissue were obtained from 124 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy at the Seoul Medical Center from January 2001 to December 2005. RUNX3 expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining, and the results were analyzed. Statistical analysis wabased on clinicopathological findings and differences in survival rates. Results: The mean age of the patients was 61 years, and the male:female ratio was 1.9:1. The expression rate of RUNX3 was 59.7% (74/124). The expression rate was higher in differentiated gastric cancers (nucleus: 9.1%, cytoplasm: 57.6%) than in the undifferentiated types (nucleus: 5.2%, cytoplasm: 46.6%) (P=0.133). The 5-year survival rates according to RUNX3 expression determined from cancer tissue were 88.9% for the nucleus $\pm$ cytoplasm(+) group of patients, 76.1% for the cytoplasm only (+) group of patients, and 65.3% for the RUNX3 negative expression group of patients (P=0.626). Only UICC TNM staging showed statistical significance related to the survival rate, as determined by multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The RUNX3 expression rate was higher in differentiated gastric cancer than in the undifferentiated types without significance. Although RUNX3 expression predicted better survival, based on multivariate analysis, the finding was not statistically significant. More cases should be further evaluated.