• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.195-199
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• 2016

Phlegmonous gastritis is a rare and rapidly progressive bacterial infection of the stomach wall, with a high mortality rate. Antibiotics with or without surgical treatment are required for treatment. We present a case in which phlegmonous gastritis occurred during the diagnostic evaluation of early gastric cancer. The patient showed improvement after antibiotic treatment, but attempted endoscopic submucosal dissection failed because of submucosal pus. We immediately applied argon plasma coagulation since surgical resection was also considered a high-risk procedure because of the submucosal pus and multiple comorbidities. However, there was local recurrence two years later, and the patient underwent subtotal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection. Considering the risk of incomplete treatment immediately after recovery from phlegmonous gastritis and that recurrent disease can be more difficult to manage, delaying treatment and evaluation until after complete recovery of PG might be a better option in this particular clinical situation.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.87-91
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• 2009

Esophageal diverticulum is a rare entity, the true incidence of which is unknown, mainly because there are usually no clinical symptoms. Most esophageal diverticulum are found incidentally during an endoscopic or radiologic examination. Their classification is based on anatomical location; namely, upper third(Zenker or pharyngoesophageal), middle third(thoracic), or lower third(epiphrenic). Here we report a 52-years-old female presenting with dysphagia and regurgitation. Esophagogram showed esophageal diveticulum at lower cervical esophagus. Its positional aspect, it is different from Zenker's diveticulum. Treatment is surgical via an endoscopic or external approach. In view of the patient's age and anatomical location, various surgical approaches were considered as a therapeutic option for the management. This paper presents our experience in the management of esophageal diverticulum which was unusual location and stapled open resection without sternotomy.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.10-16
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• 2008

Surgical resection and reanastomosis has been the treatment of choice in patients with tracheobronchial stenosis. Recent development of bronchoscopic intervention has been replacing the role of surgery in these patients. After summarizing the upto date data of bronchoscopic intervention, the proper management of tracheobronchial stenosis will be presented. Bronchoscopic intervention would be much effective when performed under rigid bron- choscopy, due to the stable patients' condition and endoscopic view. The usual method of intervention includes ballooning, Nd-YAG laser resection, bougienation, mechanical airway dilatation, stenting and photodynamic therapy. Silicone stents are very effective in patients with tracheobronchial stenosis to maintain airway patency. Bronchoscopic intervention provided immediate symptomatic relief and improved lung function in most of patients. After airway stabilization, stents were removed successfully in 2/3 of the patients at a 12-18 months post-insertion. Less than 5% of patients eventually needs surgical management. Acute complications, including excessive bleeding, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum develops in less than 5% of patients but managed without mortality. Stent-related late complications, such as, migration, granuloma formation, mucostasis, and restenosis are relatively high but usually controlled by follow-up bronchoscopy. In conclusion, bronchoscopic intervention, including silicone stenting could be a useful and safe method for treating tracheobronchial stenosis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.375-387
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• 2023

Stomach cancer has a high annual mortality rate worldwide necessitating early detection and accurate treatment. Even experienced specialists can make erroneous judgments based on several factors. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are being developed rapidly to assist in this field. Here, we aimed to determine how AI technology is used in gastric cancer diagnosis and analyze how it helps patients and surgeons. Early detection and correct treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC) can greatly increase survival rates. To determine this, it is important to accurately determine the diagnosis and depth of the lesion and the presence or absence of metastasis to the lymph nodes, and suggest an appropriate treatment method. The deep learning algorithm, which has learned gastric lesion endoscopyimages, morphological characteristics, and patient clinical information, detects gastric lesions with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, and predicts morphological characteristics. Through this, AI assists the judgment of specialists to help select the correct treatment method among endoscopic procedures and radical resections and helps to predict the resection margins of lesions. Additionally, AI technology has increased the diagnostic rate of both relatively inexperienced and skilled endoscopic diagnosticians. However, there were limitations in the data used for learning, such as the amount of quantitatively insufficient data, retrospective study design, single-center design, and cases of non-various lesions. Nevertheless, this assisted endoscopic diagnosis technology that incorporates deep learning technology is sufficiently practical and future-oriented and can play an important role in suggesting accurate treatment plans to surgeons for resection of lesions in the treatment of EGC.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.512-522
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• 2023

Purpose: Dental floss clip (DFC) traction-assisted endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is widely performed owing to its simplicity. This study aimed to clarify the appropriate indications for the DFC traction method in early gastric cancer when ESD is performed by less-experienced endoscopists. Methods and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1,014 consecutive patients who had undergone gastric ESD performed by less-experienced endoscopists between January 2015 and December 2020. Gastric ESD was performed without DFC in all cases before December 2017 [DFC (-) group, 376 cases], and ESD was performed with DFC in all cases after January 2018 [DFC (+) group, 436 cases]. The procedure time and rates of en bloc resection, complete resection, and adverse events of the groups were compared. Results: The procedure time did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, when comparing lesions >20 mm, the procedure time in the DFC (+) group was significantly shorter than that in the DFC (-) group (95±46 vs. 75±31, P<0.01). The procedure time for lesions located in the greater curvature of the upper or middle stomach and lesions >20 mm located in the lesser curvature side of the stomach in the DFC (+) group was significantly shorter than that in the DFC (-) group. Conclusions: The indications for DFC during gastric ESD by less-experienced endoscopists include lesions located in the greater curvature of the upper or middle stomach, and lesions >20 mm located in the lesser curvature of the stomach.

• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.99 no.1
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• pp.4-10
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• 2024

Malignant hilar biliary obstruction (MHO), an aggressive type of perihilar biliary obstruction caused by cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, or other metastatic malignancies, has a poor prognosis. Surgical resection is the only curative treatment for biliary malignancies. However, most patients with MHO cannot undergo surgery upon presentation because of their advanced inoperable state or poor performance resulting from old age or comorbid diseases. Therefore, palliative biliary drainage is required to improve symptomatic jaundice and quality of life. Preoperative biliary drainage is controversial in resectable cases of MHO. Preoperative biliary drainage should be considered according to specific selection criteria. Palliative drainage is currently the mainstay of symptomatic treatment. Compared with percutaneous access, primary endoscopic palliation using plastic or metal stents has recently shown higher technical feasibility and clinical success without increasing the frequency of adverse events, even in high-degree MHO. However, the use of stents still has numerous limitations, including challenges in determining the optimal type of stent, number of stents, deployment method, and additional local therapies. Therefore, this report presents the current optimal endoscopic drainage status for MHO based on recent guidelines and published literature.

• Gut and Liver
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.674-681
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The cumulative surgery rate and postoperative relapse of intestinal Behçet's disease (BD) have been reported to be high. This study aimed to establish a scoring system based on follow-up endoscopic findings that can predict intestinal BD recurrence after surgery. Methods: Fifty-four patients with intestinal BD who underwent surgery due to bowel complications and underwent follow-up colonoscopy were retrospectively investigated. Their clinical data, including colonoscopic findings, were retrieved. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to develop an appropriate endoscopic classification model that can explain the postsurgical recurrence of intestinal BD most accurately based on the following classification: e0, no lesions; e1, solitary ulcer <20 mm in size; e2, solitary ulcer ${\geq}20mm$ in size; and e3, multiple ulcers regardless of size. Results: Clinical relapse occurred in 37 patients (68.5%). Among 38 patients with colonoscopic recurrence, only 29 patients had clinically relapsed. Multivariate analysis identified higher disease activity index for intestinal BD at colonoscopy (hazard ratio [HR], 1.013; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.005 to 1.021; p=0.002) and colonoscopic recurrence (HR, 2.829; 95% CI, 1.223 to 6.545; p=0.015) as independent risk factors for clinical relapse of intestinal BD. Endoscopic findings were classified into four groups, and multivariate analysis showed that the endoscopic score was an independent risk factor of clinical relapse (p=0.012). The risk of clinical relapse was higher in the e3 group compared to the e0 group (HR, 6.284; 95% CI, 2.036 to 19.391; p=0.001). Conclusions: This new endoscopic scoring system could predict clinical relapse in patients after surgical resection of intestinal BD.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2015

Background: Treatment of skull base tumors is challenging due to limited access and presence of important neurovascular structures nearby. The success of a complete tumor resection depends on the extent of tumor exposure and secure field of view. While these tumors are often removed by transcranial endoscopic access, transfacial approach is sometimes required depending on the location and size of the tumor. This study describes various transfacial approaches in patients undergoing skull base tumor resection. Methods: From March to November 2013, 15 patients underwent skull base tumor resection via transfacial accesses at a tertiary institution. Data were reviewed for patient demographics, type of access used, completeness of tumor resection, surgical outcome, and postoperative complications. Results: Two clivus tumor patients underwent transmaxillary approach; three tuberculum-sellae and suprasellar-hypothalamus tumor patients underwent transbasal approach; three clinoid and retrobulbar intraconal orbital tumor patients underwent orbitozygomatic approach; and seven petroclival-area, pons, cavernous sinus, and lateral-sphenoid-wing tumor patients underwent zygomatic approach. In all cases, the upper and lower margins of the tumor were visible. Complete tumor removal consisted of 10 cases, and partial tumor removal in 5. There were no immediate major complications observed for the transfacial portion of the operations. The overall cosmetic results were satisfactory. Conclusion: Plastic surgeons can use various transfacial approaches according to the location and size of skull base tumors to secure a sufficient field of view for neurosurgeons.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.38-40
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• 2020

Bronchobiliary fistula is a rare disease defined as an abnormal connection between the biliary tract and the bronchial tree. We report the successful surgical repair of bronchobiliary fistula. A 78-year-old man underwent surgery and several rounds of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation as treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma. He presented with greenish sputum and chronic cough for several months, and his symptoms did not resolve after endoscopic treatment. We performed lobectomy of the right lower lobe and omentopexy for bronchobiliary fistula under laparotomy and thoracotomy. The bronchobiliary fistula was successfully closed, and the bilious sputum disappeared after surgery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.114-122
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• 2022

Objective : Early descent of the diaphragm sellae (DS) during endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (EETS) for pituitary macroadenoma surgery is occasionally a troublesome event by blocking the surgical field. Here we introduce an alternative technique with the new pituitary retractor and present our clinical experiences. Methods : We designed a simple and rigid pituitary retractor with the least space occupation in the nasal cavity to be compatible in EETS. The pituitary retractor was held by external holder system to support the herniated DS stably. We retrospectively reviewed a clinical 22 cases of pituitary macroadenomas underwent EETS using the pituitary retractor. Results : The pituitary retractor stably pushed up the herniated DS in all cases, and the surgeon proceeded the procedure with bimanual maneuver. The pituitary retractor was helpful to remove tumors around the medial cavernous sinus and behind the DS in 16 and seven cases, respectively. In four cases, the meticulous hemostasis was completed with the direct visualization by the DS elevation with this retractor. Gross total tumor resection was performed in 20/22 patients (91%). The impaired visual function and hypopituitarism were improved in 18/20 (90%) and 7/14 (50%) patients after surgery, respectively. There was no complication related with the pituitary retractor. Conclusion : During EETS for pituitary macroadenomas, the novel pituitary retractor reported in this study is a very useful technique when the herniated DS block the surgical field and bimanual maneuver. This pituitary retractor can help to result in the excellent surgical outcomes with minimal morbidity.