• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.185-196
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current inter-expert agreement of Sasang Constitution Medicine (SCM), to expand the current knowledge on the causes of imperfect inter-expert agreement, and to explore possible solutions for improving inter-expert agreement. A literature search was conducted to gather data on the studies on diagnosis of SCM. The 127 articles included in this analysis had a mean 4.1 publications per year, 56.0% published in the Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine between the year of 1987 and 2017. SCM specialist participated in 96.3% of all the expert judgment cases. Inter-expert agreement was reported in 14.8% of the cases that had two or more experts. We recommend that expert panels integrate the results of current status of diagnostic consensus into guideline development and strengthen expert education and training with the aim of improving SCM diagnostic accuracy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2000

Objective: To determine the accuracy of CT and positron emission tomography (PET) in the diagnosis of recurrent uterine cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: Imaging findings of CT and PET in 36 patients (mean age, 53 years) in whom recurrent uterine cervical cancer was suspected were analyzed retrospectively. Between October 1997 and May 1998, they had undergone surgery and/or radiation therapy. Tumor recurrence was confirmed by pathologic examination or follow-up studies. Results: In detecting recurrent uterine cervical cancer, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CT were 77.8%, 83.3%, and 80.5%, respectively, while for PET, the corresponding figures were 100%, 94.4%, and 97.2%. The Chi-square test revealed no significant difference in specificity (p = .2888), but significant differences in sensitivity (p = .0339) and accuracy (p = .0244). Conclusion: PET proved to be a reliable screening method for detecting recurrent uterine cervical cancer, but to determine the anatomical localization of recurrent tumors, and thus decide an adequate treatment plan, CT was eventually needed.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 1993

Retrospective analysis of cholescintigraphy and ultrasonography was done in 76 patients with clinically suspected acute cholecystitis to assess the relative value of the two modalities. Excluding the Patients with obstructive jaundice, the overall results of cholescintigraphy(sensitivity 100%, specificity 95%, false positive rate 5%, false negative rate 0%, accuracy 97%) are nearly identical with or rather superior to those of the ultrasonography(sensitivity 94%, specificity 100%, false positive rate 0%, false negative rate 5%, accuracy 97%). We recommend the cholescintigraphy as the initial modality in patients with clinically suspected acute cholecystitis, and ultrasonography can be used in jaundiced patients to exclude the possibility of the false positive of cholescintigraphy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1240-1252
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• 2021

Objective: To compare the accuracy for detecting breast cancer in the diagnostic setting between the use of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), defined as DBT alone or combined DBT and digital mammography (DM), and the use of DM alone through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Ovid-MEDLINE, Ovid-Embase, Cochrane Library and five Korean local databases were searched for articles published until March 25, 2020. We selected studies that reported diagnostic accuracy in women who were recalled after screening or symptomatic. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. A bivariate random effects model was used to estimate pooled sensitivity and specificity. We compared the diagnostic accuracy between DBT and DM alone using meta-regression and subgroup analyses by modality of intervention, country, existence of calcifications, breast density, Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category threshold, study design, protocol for participant sampling, sample size, reason for diagnostic examination, and number of readers who interpreted the studies. Results: Twenty studies (n = 44513) that compared DBT and DM alone were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86-0.93) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.84-0.94), respectively, for DBT, which were higher than 0.76 (95% CI 0.68-0.83) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.73-0.89), respectively, for DM alone (p < 0.001). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.97) for DBT and 0.86 (95% CI 0.82-0.88) for DM alone. The higher sensitivity and specificity of DBT than DM alone were consistently noted in most subgroup and meta-regression analyses. Conclusion: Use of DBT was more accurate than DM alone for the diagnosis of breast cancer. Women with clinical symptoms or abnormal screening findings could be more effectively evaluated for breast cancer using DBT, which has a superior diagnostic performance compared to DM alone.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1993

This study was performed in order to evaluate the accuracy and the usefulness of the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) on the breast lesions, to compare the FNAC findings between fibroadenoma and fibrocystic disease, and to determine the accuracy of cytologic Black's nuclear grading. The subjects in this study were 110 cases of FNAC, later confirmed by biopsy, between January 1988 and December 1991. The results are as follows ; 1 Comparison between the results of the FNAC and the histologic findings revealed that FNAC had a sensitivity of 96.6%, a specificity of 100%, a false negative rate of 3.4% a false positive rate of 0.0%, and an overall diagnostic accuracy of 98.2%. 2 Semi-quantitative evaluation of epithelial celluarity, stroma, and naked nuclei in the smears of aspirate showed high celluarity in 56.7% of the aspirates from fibroadenoma and in 0% of those from fibrocystic disease. Abundant stroma was found in 46.7% of the fibroadenoma and none of fibrocystic disease. Numerous naked nuclei were found in 60% of the fibroadenoma and 4.5% of the fibrocystic disease. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 98% 3. In order to determine the accuracy of Black's nuclear grading of FNAC on breast carcinoma, we retrospectively studied 38 cases of ductal carcinomas diagnosed by FNAC with subsequent histologic confirmation. The concordance rate with histology was 94.7%. These results suggest that FNAC of breast is a diagnostically accurate method, and provide for the preoperative differential diagnosis between fibroadenoma and fibrocystic disease. Our results also suggest that the evaluation of nuclear grading of FNAC can predict clinical outcome and decide the way of management of breast cancer.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.277-287
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• 1990

The purpose of this study was to estimate the diagnostic availability of the common periapical lesions by using computer. The author used a domestic personal computer and rearranged the applied program appropriately with RF (Rapid File), a program to answer the purpose of this study, and then input the consequence made out through collection, analysis and classification of the clinical and radiological features about the common periapical lesions as a basic data. The 256 cases (Cyst 91, Periapical granuloma 74, Periapical abscess 91) were obtained from the chart recordings and radiographs of the patients diagnosed or treated under the common periapical lesions during the past 8 years (1983-1990) at the infirmary of Dental School, Chosun University. Next, the clinical and radiographic features of the 256 cases were applied to RF program for diagnosis, and the diagnosis by using computer was compared with the hidden final diagnosis by clinical and histopathological examination. The obtained results were as follows: 1. In cases of the cyst, diagnosis through the computer program was shown rather lower accuracy (80.22%) as compared with accuracy (90.1 %) by the radiologists. In cases of the granuloma, diagnosis through the computer program was shown rather higher accuracy (75.7%) as compared with the accuracy (70.3%) by the radiologists. 2. In cases of periapical abscess, the diagnostic accuracy was shown 88% in both diagnoses. 4. The average diagnostic accuracy of 256 cases through the computer program was shown rather lower accuracy (81.2%) as compared with the accuracy (82.8%) by the radiologists. 5. The applied basic data for radiographic diagnosis of common periapical lesions by using computer was estimated to be available.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.458-470
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• 2011

1. Objectives Vocal characteristics are commonly considered as an important factor in determining the Sasang constitution and the health condition. We have tried to find out the classification procedure to distinguish the constitution objectively and quantitatively by analyzing the characteristics of subject's voice without noise and error. 2. Methods In this study, we extract the vocal features from voice selected with prior information, remove outliers, minimize the correlated features, correct the features with normalization according to gender and age, and make the discriminant functions that are adaptive to gender and age from the features for improving diagnostic accuracy. 3. Results and Conclusions Finally, the discriminant functions produced about 45% accuracy to classify the constitution for every age interval and every gender, and the diagnostic accuracy was meaningful as the result from only the voice.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7583-7588
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of cancer-related death and cancer-related incidence worldwide. The potential of microRNA-21 (miR-21) as a biomarker for CRC detection has been studied in several studies. However, the results were inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted the present meta-analysis to systematically assess the diagnostic value of miR-21 for CRC. Materials and Methods: Using a random-effect model, the pooled sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance of miR-21 for CRC. A summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve and an area under the curve (AUC) were also generated to assess the diagnosis accuracy of miR-21 for CRC. Q test and I2 statistics were used to assess between-study heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated by the Deeks' funnel plot asymmetry test. Results: A total of 986 CRC patients and 702 matched healthy controls from 8 studies were involved in the meta-analysis. The pooled results for SEN, SPE, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC were 57% (95%CI: 39%-74%), 87% (95%CI: 78%-93%), 4.4 (95%CI: 2.4-8.0), 0.49 (95%CI: 0.32-0.74), 9 (95%CI: 4-22), and 0.83 (95%CI: 0.79-0.86), respectively. Subgroup analyses further suggested that blood-based studies showed a better diagnostic accuracy compared with feces-based studies, indicating that blood may be a better matrix for miR-21 assay and CRC detection. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that miR-21 has a potential diagnostic value for CRC with a moderate level of overall diagnostic accuracy. Hence, it could be used as auxiliary means for the initial screening of CRC and avoid unnecessary colonoscopy, which is an invasive and expensive procedure.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.214-225
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• 2021

Purpose: This study reviewed screening and assessment tools that are used to measure delirium in patients with cancer in hospice and palliative care settings and examined their psychometric properties. Methods: Four databases were searched for studies using related search terms (delirium, tools, palliative care, cancer, and others). The inclusion criteria were a) studies that included screening/assessment tools for measuring delirium in cancer patients receiving hospice/palliative care, and b) studies published in English or Korean. The exclusion criteria were a) studies that were conducted in an intensive care setting, and b) case studies, qualitative studies, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses. Results: Out of the 81 studies identified, only 10 examined the psychometric properties of tools for measuring delirium, and 8 tools were ultimately identified. The psychometric properties of the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS) were the most frequently examined (n=5), and the MDAS showed good reliability, concurrent validity, and diagnostic accuracy. The Delirium Rating Scale had good reliability and diagnostic accuracy. The Delirium Rating Scale-Revised 98 also showed good reliability and structural validity, but its diagnostic performance was not examined in hospice/palliative care settings. The Nursing Delirium Screening Scale showed relatively low diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: The MDAS showed evidence of being a valid assessment tool for assessing delirium in patients with cancer in palliative care. Few studies examined the diagnostic performance of delirium tools. Therefore, further studies are needed to examine the diagnostic performance of screening/assessment tools for the optimal detection of delirium in patients with cancer in hospice/palliative care.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2017

Purpose: Erosions and osteophytes are radiographic characteristics that are found in different stages of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis. This study assessed the effectiveness of digital subtraction radiography (DSR) in diagnosing simulated osteophytes and erosions in the TMJ. Materials and Methods: Five intact, dry human skulls were used to assess the effectiveness of DSR in detecting osteophytes. Four cortical bone chips of varying thicknesses (0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, and 2.0 mm) were placed at the medial, central, and lateral aspects of the condyle anterior surface. Two defects of varying depth (1.0 mm and 1.5 mm) were created on the lateral, central, and medial poles of the condyles of 2 skulls to simulate erosions. Panoramic images of the condyles were acquired before and after artificially creating the changes. Digital subtraction was performed with Emago dental image archiving software. Five observers familiar with the interpretation of TMJ radiographs evaluated the images. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the imaging methods. Results: The area under the ROC curve (Az) value for the overall diagnostic accuracy of DSR in detecting osteophytic changes was 0.931. The Az value for the overall diagnostic accuracy of panoramic imaging was 0.695. The accuracy of DSR in detecting erosive changes was 0.854 and 0.696 for panoramic imaging. DSR was remarkably more accurate than panoramic imaging in detecting simulated osteophytic and erosive changes. Conclusion: The accuracy of panoramic imaging in detecting degenerative changes was significantly lower than the accuracy of DSR (P<.05). DSR improved the accuracy of detection using panoramic images.