• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.122-128
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• 2008

Roughly one third of medical problems in children are related to the musculoskeletal system. Most of these problems are common and can be precisely diagnosed. For these problems, nonoperative treatment or reassurance can be given by the pediatrician. Occasionally, a problem needs surgical treatment, but a precise diagnosis must be made. There is little agreement about what types of orthopedic problems a primary care pediatrician should understand in order to effectively care for children. Many pediatric residencies lack an organized teaching curriculum that effectively covers these topics or that includes a required pediatric orthopedic rotation. In this article the authors delineate pediatric orthopedic problems that require recognition and urgent surgical treatment and are relatively common, but have different treatment options (observation, conservative treatment, and surgery) depending on their natural history. Whenever possible, the diagnosis should be made before a decision to refer is made. An accurate diagnosis allows the pediatrician to discuss the natural history of the condition properly. Referral to the wrong specialty can needlessly generate expensive tests and further delay in treatment or generate inappropriate treatment. The parents can be reassured rather than waiting to hear the same information from another physician. In particular, orthopedic problems are known to generate pressure from the parents to seek specialty consultation for reassurance. It is important to communicate to the specialist that the reason for the referral is for parental reassurance rather than for further work-up or treatment. After a proper diagnosis, communication directly between the pediatrician and the appropriate specialist can often avoid an unnecessary referral, and avoid unnecessary tests. The authors reviewed our experience at our outpatient clinic over last 1 year and found that it is useful to classify conditions as common or uncommon, and whether they require surgical or nonsurgical treatment. Many conditions fall in between. The following is a discussion of some of these more important or common conditions.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.13 no.2 s.20
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• pp.59-63
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to diagnosis that what patterns identification using the statistical method. Discriminant analysis using the medical specialist and resident pattern identification agree case in stroke patients within 1 month of onset. The agreement rate of dificiency of Gi(75%), heat-transformation(74%), dampphlegm syndrome(69%), deficiency of Eum(51%) and syndrome of blood stagnation(43%) are respectively 0.75, 0.74, 0.69, 0.51 and 0.43 in medical specialist and using linear discriminant function pattern identification are same. The study of inspection, pulse feeling and palpitation will be continued to evaluate concordance rate. Discrimination model will be make to get higher Accuracy and prediction, it means becomes the help in pattern identification diagnosis objectivity and scientific.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.123-133
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• 2009

Background : The principal diagnosis has been used in many different fields such as hospital statistics, medical research, insurance claim, national health statistics and so on. Some principal diagnoses have a relatively low level of reliability in the medium-sized hospitals. The purpose of this study is to identify the reliability level of principal diagnoses and to suggest ways to improve reliability of the principal diagnosis. Method : Data were collected from a medium-sized hospital located in Pusan. The discharge summaries on 323 patients who were discharged in January, 2008 and the outpatient summaries on 251 patients who visited the hospital on March 28, 2008 were collected, and descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS version 12.0K. Result : The findings are the followings: (1) the diagnostic consistency rate between medical records and doctors' was 92.0%; (2) the diagnostic consistency rate between medical records and insurance claims was 86.1%; (3) the diagnostic consistency rate between doctors' diagnoses and insurance claims was 80.2%. The evidence seems to indicate that some principal diagnoses have reliability problems in the medium-sized hospitals. Conclusion : The results of this study suggest the followings: (1) employees should be trained and supervision of hospital activities are needed; (2) network systems should be constructed for each department; (3) professions need to be fostered (4) doctors' awareness of medical records should be changed.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.262-267
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• 2006

We verified the reproducibility of constitution by IGM and the agreement rate between sasang constitution by QSCCII and constitution by IGM. We analyzed the results of 64 subject who were judged as identical sasang constitution by repeated QSCC II. First, we compared the two results of constitutions by IGM hat peformed by one O.M.D(Oriental Medicine Doctor) at an interval of one year. Second, we examined hypothesis established by one O.M.D, that is about relation of constitutions by IGM and QSCCII, such as I type-Taeeumin, II type-Soyangin and III type-Soeumin in constitutions. There were no statistical significances in reproducibility of constitution by IGM. Although there was a tendency of relevance of sasang constitution by QSCC II with constitution by IGM, there was no statistical significance. Hypothesis that is established by clinical experiences must be verified by an effective statistical method. And there is a necessity to complement the method including mechanical measurements about constitution classification which are performed by a diagnosis relying on individual intuition.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.177-183
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliabilities of questions and diagnostic value of the Korean Sasang Constitutional Diagnostic Questionnaire(KS-15). The young adults aged 20's participated in this study. The first survey was conducted in march, 2016, and the second one was conducted two weeks later. Three hundred and three questionnaires and the informed consent were obtained from all participants. The test-retest kappa analysis was used to identify the reliabilities of the questions and diagnostic value, and the significance level was .05. The number of subjects was 303 [87(28.7%)males and 216(71.3%)females]. The Cronbach's α were .630 in 6 characteristic questions. The test-retest reliabilities of questions were ranged from .469 to 734. The agreement rate of KS-15 between the first and second constitutional diagnostic value was 87.13%(Kappa=0.794). The higher Sasang constitutional probability score in first survey resulted in the higher agreement rate between first and second diagnostic value. KS-15 seems to be a reliable implement. Further studies for the reliability of the people of different ages and suitable cut off point in Sasang constitutional probability score are needed for the practical use of KS-15.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.259-263
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• 2015

Background: In the field of cancer, the ICD-10 coding convention is based on the site of a neoplasm in the body and usually ignores the morphology, thus the same code may be assigned to tumors of different morphologic types in an organ. Nowadays, all general (provincial) and center hospitals in Thailand are equipped with the hospital information system (HIS) database. Objective: This study aimed to find the characteristics and magnitude of agreement represented by the positive predictive value (PPV) of provisional cancer diagnoses in the HIS database in Pattani Hospital in Thailand in comparison with the final cancer diagnosis of the ICD-10 codes generated from a well established cancer registry in Songklanagarind Hospital, the medical school hospital of Prince of Songkla University. Materials and Methods: Data on cancer patients residing in Pattani province who visited Pattani Hospital from January 2007 to May 2011 were obtained from the HIS database. The ICD-10 codes of the HIS computer database of Pattani Hospital were compared against the ICD-10 codes of the same person recorded in the hospital-based cancer registry of Songklanagarind Hospital. The degree of agreement or positive predictive value (PPV) was calculated for each sex and for both sexes combined. Results: A total of 313 cases (15.9%) could be matched in the two databases. Some 222 cases, 109 males and 113 females, fulfilled the criteria of referral from Pattani to Songklanagarind Hospitals. Of 109 male cancer cases, 76 had the same ICD-10 codes in both hospitals, thus, the PPV was 69.7% (95%CI: 60.2-78.2%). Agreement in 76 out of 113 females gave a PPV of 67.3% (95%CI: 57.8-75.8%). The two percentages were found non-significant with Fisher's exact p-value of 0.773. The PPV for combined cases of both sexes was 68.5% (95%CI: 61.9-74.5%). Conclusions: Changes in final diagnosis in the referral system are common, thus the summary statistics of a hospital without full investigation facilities must be used with care, as the statistics are biased towards simple diseases able to be investigated by available facilities. A systematic feedback of patient information from a tertiary to a referring hospital should be considered to increase the accuracy of statistics and to improve the comprehensive care of cancer patients.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.313-322
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• 2021

Purpose: To find diagnostic image features, to compare diagnostic performance of multiphase CT versus gadoxetic acid disodium-enhanced MRI (GAD-MRI), and to evaluate the impact of analyzing Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) imaging features, for distinguishing combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHC) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods: Ninety-six patients with pathologically proven CHC (n = 48) or HCC (n = 48), diagnosed June 2008 to May 2018 were retrospectively analyzed in random order by three radiologists with different experience levels. In the first analysis, the readers independently determined the probability of CHC based on their own knowledge and experiences. In the second analysis, they evaluated imaging features defined in LI-RADS 2018. Area under the curve (AUC) values for CHC diagnosis were compared between CT and MRI, and between the first and second analyses. Interobserver agreement was assessed using Cohen's weighted κ values. Results: Targetoid LR-M image features showed better specificities and positive predictive values (PPV) than the others. Among them, rim arterial phase hyperenhancement had the highest specificity and PPV. Average sensitivity, specificity, and AUC values were higher for MRI than for CT in both the first (P = 0.008, 0.005, 0.002, respectively) and second (P = 0.017, 0.026, 0.036) analyses. Interobserver agreements were higher for MRI in both analyses (κ = 0.307 for CT, κ = 0.332 for MRI in the first analysis; κ = 0.467 for CT, κ = 0.531 for MRI in the second analysis), with greater agreement in the second analysis for both CT (P = 0.001) and MRI (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Rim arterial phase hyperenhancement on GAD-MRI can be a good indicator suggesting CHC more than HCC. GAD-MRI may provide greater accuracy than CT for distinguishing CHC from HCC. Interobserver agreement can be improved for both CT and MRI by analyzing LI-RADS imaging features.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.274-287
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was aimed to figure out an agreement between the diagnosis of nasal endoscopy and a preexisting questionnaire focusing on Cold-Heat pattern. Methods: 52 patients with cough who met the criteria filled out a pattern questionnaire and the examiner looked at their nasal cavities through nasal endoscopy. According to the checked questionnaire results, the subjects were identified by 6 patterns. After examining subject's mucous membrane of oropharynx and nasal cavity through nasal endoscopy, we classified each to the Cold or Heat group. Correlation between questionnaire and nasal endoscopy results was analyzed. Results: In diagnosing Cold-Heat, there was no significant difference by McNemar test (p=0.227) between nasal endoscopy and the questionnaire, and the two methods agreed moderately (${\kappa}=0.428$). The color of mucous membrane of oropharynx and the Cold-Heat pattern on questionnaire agreed slightly (${\kappa}=0.133$). The color of mucous membrane of nasal cavity and the Cold-Heat pattern on questionnaire agreed fairly (${\kappa}=0.384$). In the patients with cough related to upper respiratory tract, they got higher diagnosis accuracy than the patients with cough related to lower respiratory tract did. Similarly, external cough patients got higher diagnosis accuracy than internal cough patients did. Conclusions: To identify Cold or Heat, examining oropharynx and nasal cavity using nasal endoscopy is a meaningful method in patients with cough, showing that two diagnosis methods which use nasal endoscopy and questionnaire agreed moderately. Especially, it is more useful diagnosing patients with cough related to the upper respiratory tract than diagnosing the patients with cough related to the lower respiratory tract.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.495-510
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• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the possibility of quantification of the diagnosis of abdominal coldness (AC) in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). Methods: Forty-four patients with FD were enrolled in this study. Three Korean medicine doctors each randomly examined all abdomens. Diagnosis of AC was made by consensus of at least two of the doctors. Body temperature (oral by digital oral thermometer) and skin temperature (by digital infrared thermal imaging [DITI]) were measured, followed by administration of the Cold and Heat questionnaire (CHQ) and the Instrument of Pattern Identification for Functional Dyspepsia (IPIFD). Results: Of the 44 patients with FD, 22 were assigned to the AC group and 22 to the non-AC group. The concordance rate of diagnosis among the three doctors was 63.6% (28/44), with a ${\kappa}$ of 0.504, indicating means moderate agreement). Neither the oral nor the skin temperatures showed statistically significant differences between the AC and non-AC groups. However, the CHQ scores and 'Simultaneous Occurrence of Cold and Heat Syndromes pattern' scores of the IPIFD were higher in AC group and showed statistically significant differences (p=0.010 and 0.009). Conclusions: This is the first study conducting quantitative measurements of abdominal coldness in patients with FD. Although oral and skin temperature showed no statistical significance between AC and non-AC groups, the concordance rate of diagnosis of AC among the three Korean Medicine doctors was moderate. The CHQ scores and 'Simultaneous Occurrence of Cold and Heat Syndromes pattern' scores of the IPIFD also suggest that diagnosis of AC is relevant to cold and heat patterns, and these questionnaires could be utilized as supportive data for the diagnosis of AC. Further studies should be conducted for the purpose of quantifying and standardizing abdominal examinations in Korean Medicine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.588-595
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• 2016

IFN-γ release assays (IGRAs) have been developed as viable alternative diagnostic tools for detecting latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). A customized homogeneous sandwich luminescent oxygen channeling immunoassay (LOCI) was used to quantify IFN-γ levels in IGRAs. Samples were collected from healthy volunteers (n = 40) who were T-Spot-negative and T-Spot-positive patients (n = 32) at rest. Then the amount of IFN-γ in the supernatant of IGRAs was measured by LOCI. The results demonstrated a low background, and high sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and reproducibility, and a short assay time (only 30 min) with LOCI for IFN-γ. The recovery range was 81.63-102.06%, the coefficients of variation were below 5%, and the limit of detection was 19.0 mIU/ml. Excellent agreement between LOCI IFN-γ and the T-SPOT.TB test was obtained (97.2% agreement, κ = 0.94). The LOCI IFN-γ concentrations were significantly higher in T-Spot-positive patients than in the healthy group (p < 0.001). Moreover, as observed for the comparative LOCI IFN-γ assay, IFN-γ concentrations were related to the numbers of T-SPOT.TB spots. We have established an in vitro blood test for LTBI diagnosis, defined as LOCI IFN-γ. A high level of agreement between the LOCI IFN-γ method and T-SPOT.TB assay was observed in clinical studies that showed the LOCI IFN-γ method could determine LTBI. This study shows acceptable performance characteristics of the LOCI IFN-γ assay to diagnose LTBI.