• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.188-197
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• 2015

Purpose: To investigate the patterns of care for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in South Korea. Materials and Methods: A multi-institutional retrospective study was performed (Korean Radiation Oncology Group [KROG] 11-06) on a total of 1,445 patients from 15 institutions. Results: Of the 1,445 patients, more than half were stages III (39.9%) and IV (35.8%). In addition to patterns of care, we also investigated trends over time with the periods 1988-1993, 1994-2002, and 2003-2011. The frequencies of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography-computed tomography were markedly increased in the third period compared to previous 2 periods. Concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) was performed on 894 patients (61.9%), neoadjuvant chemotherapy on 468 patients (32.4%), and adjuvant chemotherapy on 366 patients (25.3%). Of stage II-IV patients, CCRT performed on 78.8% in 2003-2011 compared to 15.0% in 1988-1993. For patients treated with CCRT, cisplatin was the most commonly used agent in 81.3% of patients. Over the periods of time, commonly used radiotherapy (RT) techniques were changed from 2-dimensional RT (1988-1993, 92.5%) to 3-dimensional RT (2003-2011, 35.5%) or intensity-modulated RT (IMRT; 2003-2011, 56.5%). Median RT doses given to primary tumors, high-risk lymphatics, and low-risk lymphatics were 70.0 Gy, 58.1 Gy, and 48.0 Gy, respectively. Adoption of IMRT increased the dose per fraction and escalated total radiation dose. Conclusion: Assessment of the patterns of care for NPC patients in South Korea demonstrated that management for NPC including diagnostic imaging, treatment regimen, RT techniques and dose schedule, advanced in accordance with the international guidelines.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.466-472
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• 2002

Purpose : The diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum is difficult and delayed because it presents with various clinical symptoms. We evaluated clinical, imaging and pathologic findings of Meckel's diverticulum to facilitate detection of Meckel's diverticulum in children. Methods : Review of clinical, imaging, surgical and pathological findings in 10 children aged 7 days to 14 years with Meckel's diverticulum during an 8-year period, 1993-2001, at Ewha Womans University Hospital was undertaken. Results : The male to female ratio was 2.3 : 1. The chief complaint was painless lower gastrointestinal( GI) bleeding; others were abdominal pain, abdominal distention and vomiting, in order of frequency. The diagonsis before surgery were Meckel's diverticulum in 5 patients, non-reducible intussusception in 3 patients and intestinal obstruction in 2 patients. The diverticulum was located between 35 cm to 70 cm proximal to the ileocecal valve. The length of the diverticulum ranged from 4 cm to 12 cm and 80% of it was within 5 cm. A Meckel scan($^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ scintigraphy) after cimetidine administration was done in 6 cases. All 5 cases that presented with lower GI bleeding had ectopic gastric mucosa confirmed on pathology. Out of 5 cases of ectopic gastric mucosa, only 4 cases were positive on the Meckel's scan. Conclusion : In cases of unexplained GI bleeding, obstruction, or inflammation diagnostic workup should be carried out to rule out Meckel's diverticulum. Laparoscopy, high resolution ultrasonography and computed tomography of the abdomen may be indicated in the assessment of pediatric patient with lower GI bleeding, especially in patients with suspected bleeding from Meckel's diverticulum showing negative Meckel's scan.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2001

Purpose : Authors investigated the efficiency of preoperative MRI in suspicious glomus tumor and the clinical outcomes after marginal excision. Materials and Methods : In 10 cases of glomus tumors in the fingers, authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical data, including previous trauma, treatment history, preoperative symptoms, physical examination, plain radiography, MRI (9 cases), pathological findings and postoperative complications. Results : The patients had pain in 10 cases, tenderness in 9 cases, cold sensitivity in 3 cases and edema in one case. MRI showed low signal (3 cases) or iso-signal (5) intensity on T1 weighted image, high signal intensity (8) on T2 weighted image, and all the lesions were enhanced in gadolinium enhancement images. The exact locations of glomus tumors were median in 6 cases, lateral in 5, lateral fold in 2 and pulp in 3 in transverse section and nail bed in 5 cases and nail matrix in 5 in sagittal section. Marginal excision was performed by lateral approach in one case and transungual in 9 cases. Histologically, all 10 cases were composed of solid sheets of round cells interrupted by thin-walled blood vessels. Most of clinical symptoms were disappeared in all cases after operation. Nail deformity was found in one case, which was originated from nail matrix, however, there was no recurrence. Summary : Clinical symptom was the most impotant factor in diagnosis of glomus tumor in the fingers. However, preoperative MRIs were helpful in patients, who had obscure pain or prolonged clinical symptoms with suspicious glomus tumors. Preoperative MRI might be one of the most useful tools for establishing the exact diagnosis and detecting the location of glomus tumors, in spite of the relatively high expenses.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.280-289
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• 1992

The 20-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake became readily available for routine use and it replaced $^{131}I$ for thyroid imaging. However measuring thyroid uptake during a 5-minute minimizes pertechnetate uptake by the salivary glands and presence of contaminated saliva from those glands in to the pharynx and esophagus. A study was carried out to determine the suitability of the utility of a S-minute and 20-minute interval from administration of $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ to imaging and uptake measurement as a replacement for the 24 hour standard originally established with $^{131}I$, and to evaluate the relationship between 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake and other thyroid functions. A 5-minute and 20-minute uptake of $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ were measured in 70 patients with thyroid disease at Yeungnam University Hospital from March 1, 1991 to Feb. 29, 1992. The results were as follows. 1) The 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake in Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, simple goiter, non toxic nodular goiter, subacute thyroiditis and euthyroid were 18.2%, 14.6%, 2.8%, 3.2%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the mean of the euthyroid group and the mean of the Graves' disease. So differenciation between them can be easily made. 2) The 5 minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with 24 hour $^{131}I$ thyroid uptake (r=0.75, p<0.001). These data provided an equation for estimating the 24 hour uptake of iodide given the 5 minute pertechnetate uptake: Estimated 24-hour $^{131}I$ thyroid Uptake= 7.188*ln (5 minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake)+16.94 3) The 20-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake (r=0.72, p<0.001) and 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake (r=0.96, p<0.001). 4) In the Graves' disease, The 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with serum $T_3-resin$ uptake (r=0.46, p<0.01), serum total $T_3$ (r=0.55, p<0.05), serum total $T_4$ (r=0.46, p<0.05). These results suggest that 5-minute ${99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake has been found at least as useful as 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake for diagnostic confirmation at our hospital, the logistical advantages of completing the diagnosis. The exam in 5-minutes led us to abandon the 24-hour study in the majority of patients, but the 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake is still obtained in patients with planned or potential radioiodine therapy.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2007

Purpose: The ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) are popular diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children, but there are many debates about their clinical significance. The purpose of this study is to clarify the clinical significance of USG, CT and follow-up CT performed subsequently to USG, especially in perforated acute appendicitis in children. Methods: We have reviewed 419 cases of surgically confirmed acute appendicitis in children under the age of sixteen, who had been treated in Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital from March 2002 to February 2006. All the clinical data including the results of USG and CT were collected and analyzed. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of USG were 98.7%, 96.8%, 98.1%, 97.8% in non-perforation group and 90.8%, 100%, 100%, 81.9% in perforation group. Those of CT were 96.4%, 100%, 100%, 96.5% and 86.6%, 100%, 100%, 87.5% respectively. Those of follow-up CT after USG were 100%, 100%, 100%, 100% and 87.5%, 100%, 100%, 92.0% respectively. The duration of using antibiotics in seven patients showed positive correlation with the interval between two imaging studies (r=0.0472, p=0.019). There was no statistical significance of correlation when these imaging studies performed within 30 hours together. Conclusion: In most of the cases, single choice between USG and CT would be enough to diagnose the acute appendicitis in children. But, it may be helpful to perform CT as early as possible subsequently to USG when there is discrepancy between initial USG and clinical impression.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.476-483
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• 1996

Following radiation therapy for brain tumors, patients often have clinical deterioration due to either radiation necrosis or recurrent tumor progression in the treatment field. The distinction between these entities is important but difficult clinically or even with CT or MRI. T1-201 has been known to accumulate in various tumors and be useful to grade, predict prognosis or detect recurrence of glioma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of T1-201 SPECT in the differentiation of recurrent tumor from radiation necrosis. Of 67 patients who did T1-201 brain SPECT imaging with clinically suspected recurrent tumor or radiation necrosis, 20 patients underwent histopathological examination and constituted the study population. T1-201 uptake indices on T1-201 brain SPECT imaging rrere calculated and correlated with histopathological diagnosis. Of 20 patients, 15 were histopathologically confirmed as recurrent original tumor or malignant transformation of benign tumor and 5 were diagnosed as radiation necrosis. On T1-201 SPECT, 18 of 20 had T1-201 index above 2.5 which was regarded as positive indicator for the presence of tumor. Seventeen cases showed concordance, which consisted of 15 true positive and 2 true negative. Discordant 3 cases were all false positive. There was no case of false negative. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of T1-201 SPECT were 100%, 40%, 83% and 100%. In conclusion, T1-201 brain SPECT is a sensitive diagnostic test in the detection of recurrent tumor following radiation therapy and is useful in the differentiation of recurrent tumor from radiation necrosis. Relatively low specificity should be evaluated further in larger number of patients in consideration of sampling error and referral bias for pathologic examination.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.66-73
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• 2014

Purpose: Various diagnostic imaging modalities have been used to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for osteosarcoma early and noninvasively. We evaluated the effectiveness of imaging studies of plain radiographs and positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in predicting neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect for osteosarcoma and tried to establish a general principle in interpretation of PET/CT parameters. Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients who underwent two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical excision for osteosarcoma were enrolled. There were 13 males and 5 females, with a median age of 19 (11-63) years. Fifteen patients of 18 had the American Joint Committe on Cancer (AJCC) stage IIB. They had plain radiographs and PET/CT before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The resected tumor specimens were pathologically examined to determine histological response grade using a conventional mapping method. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between histopathological necrosis rate, and radiographic finding category, post-chemotherapy maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), average standardized uptake value and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) as well as reduction rates of them. Results: Eight patients were good responders to neoadjuvant chemotherapy based on histological evaluation. Median SUVmax reduction rate was 73 (23-77) % in good responders and 42 (-32-76) % in poor responders. Median MTV reduction rate was 93.5 (62-99) % in good responders and 46 (-81-100) % in poor responders. While radiographic finding category was not different according to histological response (p=1.0), SUVmax reduction rate was significantly different (p=0.041). Difference in MTV reduction rates approached statistical significance as well (p=0.071). Conclusion: While radiographic finding category was not reliable to assess neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect for osteosarcoma, reduction rate of SUVmax was a useful indicator in this study. As parameters of PET/CT can be influenced by various factors of settings, different centers have to make an effort to establish their own standard of judgement with reference of previous studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to quantitate signal to noise ratio and contrast to noise ratio of the portal vein using CT and 3.0T MRI and to investigate the optimal imaging device. Twenty patients who inspective CT and 3.0T MRI between February 2018 and April 2018 were randomly assigned to receive data from the picture archiving communication system. The SNR and CNR values were evaluated by measuring the mean and standard deviation of the region of interest of the four regions of the portal vein (the main portal vein, the right vein, the left vein, and the middle vein). The results showed that SNR was 9.180.72 in the right context, 9.410.84 in the left context, 9.540.59 in the middle context, 9.550.75 in the order context, and 22.292.03 in the right context and 25.893 in the 3.0T MRI. 19, median context: 24.392.87, and order Mac: 26.642.30 (p<0.05). CNR was 3.790.68 in the CT context, 3.740.65 in the left context, 3.710.39 in the middle context, 3.790.68 in the order context, 9.490.65 in the right context, and 11.0001.90 in the 3.0T MRI, Intermediate context: 12.701.75, order Mac: 10.010.98, 3.0T MRI was higher than CT (p<0.05). In conclusion, SNR and CNR values were higher in the 3.0T MRI than CT in the 4 portal regions. Therefore, 3.0T MRI using non-ionizing radiation was the most superior imaging equipment than CT.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.331-343
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• 2022

Purpose To systematically compare the performance of liver imaging reporting and data system treatment response (LR-TR) with the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) for diagnosing viable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with locoregional therapy (LRT). Materials and Methods Original studies of intra-individual comparisons between the diagnostic performance of LR-TR and mRECIST using dynamic contrast-enhanced CT or MRI were searched in MEDLINE and EMBASE, up to August 25, 2021. The reference standard for tumor viability was surgical pathology. The meta-analytic pooled sensitivity and specificity of the viable category using each criterion were calculated using a bivariate random-effects model and compared using bivariate meta-regression. Results For five eligible studies (430 patients with 631 treated observations), the pooled per-lesion sensitivities and specificities were 58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45%-70%) and 93% (95% CI, 88%-96%) for the LR-TR viable category and 56% (95% CI, 42%-69%) and 86% (95% CI, 72%-94%) for the mRECIST viable category, respectively. The LR-TR viable category provided significantly higher pooled specificity (p < 0.01) than the mRECIST but comparable pooled sensitivity (p = 0.53). Conclusion The LR-TR algorithm demonstrated better specificity than mRECIST, without a significant difference in sensitivity for the diagnosis of pathologically viable HCC after LRT.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.403-414
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• 2023

Backgrounds/Aims: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is recommended in fit patients with a carcinoma (PDAC) of the pancreatic head, and a delayed resection may affect survival. This study aimed to correlate the time from staging to PD with long-term survival, and study the impact of preoperative investigations (if any) on the timing of surgery. Methods: Data were extracted from the Recurrence After Whipple's (RAW) study, a multicentre retrospective study of PD outcomes. Only PDAC patients who underwent an upfront resection were included. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemo-/radiotherapy were excluded. Group A (PD within 28 days of most recent preoperative computed tomography [CT]) was compared to group B (> 28 days). Results: A total of 595 patents were included. Compared to group A (median CT-PD time: 12.5 days, interquartile range: 6-21), group B (49 days, 39-64.5) had similar one-year survival (73% vs. 75%, p = 0.6), five-year survival (23% vs. 21%, p = 0.6) and median time-to-death (17 vs. 18 months, p = 0.8). Staging laparoscopy (43 vs. 29.5 days, p = 0.009) and preoperative biliary stenting (39 vs. 20 days, p < 0.001) were associated with a delay to PD, but magnetic resonance imaging (32 vs. 32 days, p = 0.5), positron emission tomography (40 vs. 31 days, p > 0.99) and endoscopic ultrasonography (28 vs. 32 days, p > 0.99) were not. Conclusions: Although a treatment delay may give rise to patient anxiety, our findings would suggest this does not correlate with worse survival. A delay may be necessary to obtain further information and minimize the number of PD patients diagnosed with early disease recurrence.