• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4487-4490
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• 2012

This study aimed to screen for anal cancer and to determine its cytomorphology using liquid-based cytology (LBC) with specimens preserved in 95% ethyl alcohol. Anal swabs were collected for cytological examination from 177 adult, HIV-infected patients. After collection, sample slides were reviewed and classified according to their cytomorphology using the modified Bethesda 2001 system. An abnormal anal Pap smear was found in 26.0% of the patients. The diagnoses were: 66.7% negative for intraepithelial lesions (NIL), 14.1% with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), 10.7% (19) with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), and 1.13% with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). The cytological evaluation was an unsatisfactory result only with 6.67%. The present modified LBC using 95% ethyl alcohol as the preservative could thus be used for anal cancer screening. The number of SILs in Thai HIV-infected patients is lower than that in Western countries. We found anal cytology a satisfactory tool for early screening and detection of anal dysplasia commonly found in high-risk, HIV-infected patients.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2017

Lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) are a group of rare inherited metabolic disorders caused by the deficiency of specific lysosomal enzymes and subsequent accumulation of substrates. Enzyme deficiency leads to progressive intra-lysosomal accumulation of the incompletely degraded substances, which cause dysfunction and destruction of the cell and eventually multiple organ damage. Patients have a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes which are generally not specific for some LSDs, leading to missed or delayed diagnosis. Due to the availability of treatment including enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for some LSDs, early diagnosis is important. ERT products have been approved with optimal outcomes for some LSDs in the recent decades, including Gaucher, Fabry, mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) I, Pompe, MPS VI, MPS II, and MPS IVA diseases. ERT can stabilize the clinical condition, prevent disease progression, and improve the long-term outcome of these diseases, especially if started prior to irreversible organ damage. Based on the availability of therapy and suitable screening methods in the recent years, some LSDs, including Pompe, Fabry, Gaucher, MPS I, MPS II, and MPS VI diseases have been incorporated into nationwide newborn screening panels in Taiwan.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5693-5697
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• 2013

Background: Changes in the attitudes and behavior of relatives of breast cancer patients concerning cancer prevention and screening after diagnosis in a loved one were evaluated. Materials and Methods: Forty-three questions were used to collect data from the relatives of the breast cancer patients who had been living with their relatives for at least one year. Results: The study group was composed of 171 female relatives (median age: 43, range: 17-82 yr). After the patients were diagnosed with breast cancer, changes in the attitudes and behavior of their relatives toward the prevention and screening of cancer were evident in 78 (45.6%) of the study participants (e.g. eating habits, quit or reduced smoking, exercise habits). In addition, it was noted that some characteristics of the relatives had different effects on different attitudes and behavior. Conclusions: Awareness on breast cancer among the relatives of breast cancer patients is useful for the management of health and social problems that can be seen in these individuals. At the same time, this information could help countries determine whether their actual level of healthcare for early cancer diagnosis, prevention, and screening are adequate.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.57-63
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• 2014

A number of kidney diseases of childhood may present as isolated proteinuria or/and hematuria, without any overt signs or symptoms. Urinalysis is a simple and inexpensive test used to evaluate various renal disorders. A school urine screening (SUS) program for kidney disease was conducted in Korea in 1998. Several research reports, including case reports and systemic reviews of SUS data, claimed that early detection and confirmatory diagnosis by renal biopsy seems to be helpful for determining the prognosis and intervention of progressive chronic renal disease. However, there is no global consensus as to whether screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD) should be undertaken in children and adolescents. This paper reviews the SUS for CKD in Korea, including the history and structure of the program, its assessment, related research, and associated problems.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.642-650
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• 2021

Strabismus is one of the most common disease that might be associated with vision impairment. Especially in infants and children, it is critical to detect strabismus at an early age because uncorrected strabismus may go on to develop amblyopia. To this end, ophthalmologists usually perform the Hirschberg test, which observes corneal light reflex (CLR) to determine the presence and type of strabismus. However, this test is usually done manually in a hospital, which might be difficult for patients who live in a remote area with poor medical access. To address this issue, we propose an automatic strabismus screening method that calculates the CLR ratio to determine the presence of strabismus based on image processing. In particular, the method first employs a pre-trained face detection model and a 68 facial landmarks detector to extract the eye region image. The data points located in the limbus are then collected, and the least square method is applied to obtain the center coordinates of the iris. Finally, the coordinate of the reflective light point center within the iris is extracted and used to calculate the CLR ratio with the coordinate of iris edges. Experimental results with several images demonstrate that the proposed method can be a promising solution to provide strabismus screening for patients who cannot visit hospitals.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.117-120
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• 2021

We experienced a case of Xq deletion -- 46,X,del(X)(q22.3) -- detected by abnormal noninvasive prenatal screening, subsequently diagnosed by amniocentesis. Genetic counseling was a challenge because there are few reports of prenatal diagnosis of Xq deletion. In each female cell, one X chromosome is inactivated at random early in development, and there may be a preferential inactivation of the abnormal X chromosome. But some proportions of genes escape inactivation. The most common manifestation in women with Xq deletion is primary or secondary ovarian failure. Critical regions for ovarian function may be located at the long arm of the X chromosome. But, the onset and the severity of ovarian failure may vary with diverse, intricate factors. We anticipate that noninvasive prenatal screening can identify the broader range of chromosomal or genetic abnormalities with the advances in technology and analytic methods. We report our case with a brief review of the literature.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.23-37
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• 2007

Background: Even though cervical cancer poses a significant global cancer burden, successful implementations for early detection offer an opportunity to prevent deaths and reduce the cancer burden. In Korea, cervical cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among adult women, but it is one of the few cancers in which a consensus-approved screening test exists for early diagnosis, Pap test, that can be combined with highly efficacious treatment regimens for early-stage disease. Purpose: This study was carried out to identify the cognitive-behavioral factors associated with cervical cancer screening behavior among adult women, aged 40 to 59, and to develop tailored messages and to evaluate the effectiveness of stage-matched educational program. Method: A total of 283 women who aged 40 years or older was recruited in Seoul, from September, 1st to November, 14th, 2003. The intervention group (N=162) and the control group (N=121) were selected from five sub-districts in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Building on the TTM, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to test the effectiveness of stages-matched intervention addressed at the five stages of cervical cancer screening behavior. Women in the intervention group were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, internet or postal services. Results: In our results, 88.9% of participants had received a Pap test at least once in their life-time, and 65.4% had got it in the past two years. With regard to cognitive-behavioral factors, the stages-matched educational program increased attitude and process of change for cervical cancer screening. The percentage changed was the largest in maintenance stage. With regard to delivery methods for tailored messages, the print materials were more effective at increasing screening adherence than the e-mail. Whereas the postal service group showed remarkable the change of behavior stage, the internet service group did not. Also it was not shown any difference of the satisfaction with stages-matched educational program between internet and postal service groups. Conclusion: This study suggested that cervical cancer screening behavior could be changed by tailored messages which had developed with cognitive-behavioral factors. The stages-matched educational program was effective to promote the screening adherence for cervical cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1837-1846
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• 2016

Background: Colon cancer screening (CRCS) uptake is markedly affected by public awareness of the disease. This study was conducted to assess levels of knowledge of CRC, to explore the pattern of CRCS uptake and identify possible barriers to screening among Saudis older than 50 years of age and primary care providers (PCPs) in Al Hassa region, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected primary health care (PHC) centers, 884 Saudis and 39 PCPs being enrolled for data collection. Structured interviews were conducted to obtain information regarding socio-demographic characteristics, personal information relevant to CRC, awareness about early signs/symptoms and risk factors, and barriers to CRCS. Also, a self- administered data collection form was used to assess barriers to CRCS from the physicians' perspectives. Results: More than 66% of participants were lacking knowledge about CRC. Participants with higher educational levels, having ever heard about CRC, and having relatives with CRC had a significantly higher awareness of the disease. The rate of reported CRCS was low (8.6%). After conducting a logistic regression analysis, it was observed that female gender (OR=0.28; 95% CI=0.14-0.57; P=0.001), being unmarried (OR=0.11; 95% CI=0.10-0.23; P=0.001), lower levels of education (OR=0.36; 95% CI=0.16-0.82; P=0.015), and having no relatives with CRC (OR=0.30; 95% CI=0.17-0.56; P=0.001) were significantly associated with a lower CRCS uptake. There was a significant difference between most of the perceived barriers to CRCS and gender. Exploratory factor analysis showed that personal fear (especially fear of the screening results and shyness) was the major factor that hindered CRCS with high loading Eigen value of 2.951, explaining 34.8% of the barriers of the included sample toward utilization of CRCS, followed by lack of awareness of both person and providers (high Eigen value of 2.132, and explaining 23.7% of the barriers). The most frequently cited barriers to CRCS from the physicians' perspectives were lack of public awareness, lack of symptoms and signs, and fear of painful procedures. Conclusions: Poor levels of knowledge about CRC were found among older Saudis attending PHC centers in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia. It is crucial to implement an organized national screening program in Saudi Arabia to increase public awareness.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.329-334
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• 2010

Purpose : The neonatal screening test for homocystinuria primarily measures methionine by using a dried blood specimen. We investigated the incidence and clinical manifestations of homocystinuria, isolated hypermethioninemia, and transient hypermethioninemia among patients with hypermethioninemia on a neonatal screening test. Methods : We performed a retrospective study of 58 patients transferred to Shoonchunhyang Hospital because of hypermethioninemia on a neonatal screening test between January 1996 and August 2009. We analyzed the level of amino acid from plasma and urine, as well as blood homocysteine.Results : Almost half of the 58 patients were identified as normal. Whereas only 3 (5.1%) patients were identified as having homocystinuria, about 20.7% (12 cases) of the patients had isolated hypermethioninemia. The ages of these two groups at initial detection of hypermethioninemia on plasma amino acid analysis were $50.0{\pm}22.5$ days and $34.9{\pm}13.5$ days, respectively. Both groups were put on diets, and they showed a normal developmental course as a result of early diagnosis and treatment. Conclusion : Hypermethioninemia without homocystinuria, referred to as isolated hypermethioninemia, was also detected. Thus, the impact of hypermethioninemia on a neonatal screening test should be carefully evaluated through analysis of amino acid levels from blood and urine, and we need to detect and treat an early stage of isolated hypermethioninemia as well as homocystinuria.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.491-500
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• 2021

The status of breast cancer screening of women at a breast clinic in a small city in Korea-Using medical records Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate breast cancer incidence by age, including those under 40, and to emphasize the importance of early breast cancer screening for young breast cancer patients. Method: The study was designed as a retrospective survey method. We investigated the medical charts of 483 patients diagnosed with breast cancer among 23,200 visitors to local breast clinic from May 1, 2010 to April 30, 2020. Results: The average age of 483 patients was 47.9, with 36% in their 40s and 28.6% under 40. Among the patients, 5.4% had a family history of breast cancer, and 70.8% were pre-menopausal. The most common reason for visiting the clinic was the mass(54.2%). The size of tumors was less than 2cm (56%), followed by 2-5cm (43.4%) and more than 5cm (5.6%). The size of tumors was smaller in the asymptomatic case than in the symptomatic case. In the pathologic results, invasive ductal cancer was the most common at 80.3%. Conclusions: Breast cancer screening program should be activated even for young women under the age of 40. We suggest educating the importance of breast cancer screening, and lowering the age of national breast cancer screening program.