• 제목/요약/키워드: Improvement in quality of life

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The Therapeutic Effect of Postganglionic Nerve Block for Symptomatic Schmorl Nodule: A Retrospective Case Series (증후성 쉬모를 결절에 대한 신경절 이후 신경차단술의 치료 효과: 후향적 증례 분석)

  • Son, In Seok;Hwang, Suk Hyun;Lee, Suk Ha;Kang, Min Seok
    • Journal of Korean Society of Spine Surgery
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.147-153
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    • 2018
  • Study Design: Retrospective case series. Objectives: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical efficacy of postganglionic nerve block in symptomatic Schmorl nodules (SNs). Summary of Literature Review: SNs are common lesions that are often asymptomatic. In certain cases, SNs have been reported to cause severe axial back pain, thereby considerably impacting patients' quality of life. No consensus currently exists on the treatment of symptomatic SNs. Materials and Methods: From October 2015 to October 2017, a total of 21 patients with symptomatic SNs diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that did not respond to conservative treatment after 4 weeks were included in the study. All patients received postganglionic nerve block. We evaluated effective pain relief (improvement of back pain of more than 50% compared with before the intervention) and functional improvements, assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index scores obtained at 4 hours, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after the procedure. Results: Symptomatic SNs were more common at the L2-3 level, and the lower end plate was more commonly involved than the upper end plate. Eighteen of the 21 patients (85.7%) showed effective pain relief, and no deterioration was observed within the followup period. Throughout the follow-up period, the VAS remained significantly improved compared to before the procedure (p<0.05). Complications were not reported in any cases. Conclusions: Postganglionic nerve block for symptomatic SNs that do not respond to conservative treatment is a non-invasive modality for pain relief.

Ultrafiltration for Quality Improvement of Apple Wine (한외여과공정을 이용한 사과주의 품질개선)

  • Chung, Jae-Ho;Mok, Chul-Kyoon;Lim, Sang-Bin;Park, Young-Seo
    • Applied Biological Chemistry
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    • v.46 no.3
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    • pp.201-206
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    • 2003
  • An apple wine was prepared by fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$ for 2 weeks using Saccha개myces cerevisiae KCCM 12224, followed by aging at $15^{\circ}C$ for 14 weeks, and its physicochemical and microbiological changes were investigated. The viable bacterial cell numbers, increased from $1.4{\times}10^3\;CFU/ml$ at the beginning of fermentation, to $2.8{\times}10^6\;CFU/ml$ after 2 weeks, but decreased to $1.0{\times}10^5\;CFU/ml$ after aging. The viable yeast cell numbers changed from $4.3{\times}10^4\;CFU/ml$ to $1.2{\times}10^7\;CFU/ml$ during the fermentation, and decreased to $1.2{\times}10^4\;CFU/ml$ after aging. Sugar content changed from $20.0^{\circ}Brix$ to $8.5{\circ}Brix$, and reducing sugar content was changed from 9.66% to 6.44%. Alcohol content and acidity increased to 7.0% and from 0.19% to 0.24%, respectively. No changes in acidity, pH, and sugar content were observed during the aging, but reducing sugar and solid contents decreased. When apple wine was fultered through $0.45\;{\mu}m$ nitrocellulose membrane followed by various ultrafiltration membranes with different molecular weight cut-off values, the initial flux $(121.2\;liter/m^2/h)$ and the average flux of Biomax 100k membrane were the highest among the membranes used. These membrane filtration treatments resulted in complete removal of microorganisms as well as decrease in turbidity and solid content without changes in other chemical properties. No changes in the physicochemical properties of the apple wine and no microorganisms were detected during the storage at $156{\circ}C$ for 6 weeks.

The Clinical Outcome of Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy for the Treatment of Chronic Pulmonary Thromboembolism (만성 폐동맥 색전증 환자에서의 폐동맥 내막절제술의 임상적 결과)

  • Bang, Jeong-Hee;Woo, Jong-Soo;Choi, Pil-Jo;Jo, Gwang-Jo;Park, Kwon-Jae;Kim, Si-Ho;Yie, Kil-Soo
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.254-259
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    • 2010
  • Background: Diagnosing chronic pulmonary embolism at an early stage is difficult because of the patient’s nonspecific symptoms. This condition is not prevalent in Korea, and in fact, there have been only a few case reports on this in the Korean medical literature. We analyzed the surgical outcome of performing pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in patients with chronic pulmonary embolism. Material and Method: The study subjects included those patients who underwent surgery for chronic pulmonary embolism from 1996 to 2008. For making the diagnosis, echocardiography, chest CT and a pulmonary perfusion scan were performed on the patients who complained of chronic dyspnea. Result: Pulmonary endarterectomy was performed as follows: by incision via a mid-sternal approach (7 patients); by incision via a left posterolateral approach (1 patient); using the deep hypothermic circulatory arrest technique (4 patients); under ventricular fibrillation (3 patients); and under cardioplegic arrest (1 patient). The postoperative systolic pulmonary artery blood pressure significantly decreased from a preoperative value of $78.9{\pm}14.5\;mmHg$ to $45.6{\pm}17.6\;mmHg$ postoperatively (p=0.000). The degree of tricuspid regurgitation was less than grade II after surgery. Two patients died early on, including one patient who had persistent pulmonary hypertension without improvement and right heart failure. Conclusion: Patients who have chronic pulmonary embolism are known to have a poor prognosis. However, we think that early surgical treatment along with making the proper diagnosis before the aggravation of right heart failure can help improve the quality of a patient's life.

The Learning Curve of Laparoscopy-assisted Distal Gastrectomy (LADG) for Cancer (학습곡선을 기준으로 한 복강경 보조 원위절제술에 대한 결과)

  • Kim, Kab-Choong;Yook, Jeong-Hwan;Choi, Ji-Eun;Cheong, Oh;Lim, Jeong-Taek;Oh, Sung-Tae;Kim, Byung-Sik
    • Journal of Gastric Cancer
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.232-236
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    • 2008
  • Purpose: Laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer was introduced in the past decade because it was considered less invasive than open surgery, and this results in less postoperative pain, faster recovery and an improved quality of life. Several studies have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this procedure. We examined the outcome of performing laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer over the last two year. Materials and Methods: From April 2004 to December 2006, 329 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma underwent a laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection. The data was retrospectively reviewed in terms of the clinicopathologic findings, the perioperative outcomes and the complications. Results: The total patient group was comprised 196 men (59.6%) and 133 women (40.4%). The mean BMI was 23.6 and the mean tumor size was 2.7 cm. The mean number of harvested lymph node was 22.7, and this was 18.6 before 30 cases and 23.1 after 30 cases, and the difference was significant (P=0.02). The mean operation time was 180.9 min, and this was than 287.9 min before 30 cases and 170.2 min after 30 cases. After 30 cases, there was a significant improvement of the operation time (P<0.01). The mean incision length after 30 cases was shorter than that before 30 cases (P<0.01). Postoperative complications occurred in 24 (7.3%) of 329 patients and there was no conversion to open surgery. Conclusion: Even though the LADG was accompanied by a difficult learning curve, we successfully performed 329 LADG procedures over the past 2 years and we believe that LADG is a safe, feasible operation for treating most early gastric cancers (EGC).

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Trend Analysis of Barrier-free Academic Research using Text Mining and CONCOR (텍스트 마이닝과 CONCOR을 활용한 배리어 프리 학술연구 동향 분석)

  • Jeong-Ki Lee;Ki-Hyok Youn
    • Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.19-31
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    • 2023
  • The importance of barrier free is being highlighted worldwide. This study attempted to identify barrier-free research trends using text mining. Through this, it was intended to help with research and policies to create a barrier free environment. The analysis data is 227 papers published in domestic academic journals from 1996 when barrier free research began to 2022. The researcher converted the title, keywords, and abstract of an academic thesis into text, and then analyzed the pattern of the thesis and the meaning of the data. The summary of the research results is as follows. First, barrier-free research began to increase after 2009, with an annual average of 17.1 papers being published. This is related to the implementation guidelines for the barrier-free certification system that took effect on July 15, 2008. Second, results of barrier-free text mining i) As a result of word frequency analysis of top keywords, important keywords such as barrier free, disabled, design, universal design, access, elderly, certification, improvement, evaluation, and space, facility, and environment were searched. ii) As a result of TD-IDF analysis, the main keywords were universal design, design, certification, house, access, elderly, installation, disabled, park, evaluation, architecture, and space. iii) As a result of N-Ggam analysis, barrier free+certification, barrier free+design, barrier free+barrier free, elderly+disabled, disabled+elderly, disabled+convenience facilities, the disabled+the elderly, society+the elderly, convenience facilities+installation, certification+evaluation index, physical+environment, life+quality, etc. appeared in a related language. Third, as a result of the CONCOR analysis, cluster 1 was barrier-free issues and challenges, cluster 2 was universal design and space utilization, cluster 3 was Improving Accessibility for the Disabled, and cluster 4 was barrier free certification and evaluation. Based on the analysis results, this study presented policy implications for vitalizing barrier-free research and establishing a desirable barrier free environment.

The Jurisdictional Precedent Analysis of Medical Dispute in Dental Field (치과임상영역에서 발생된 의료분쟁의 판례분석)

  • Kwon, Byung-Ki;Ahn, Hyoung-Joon;Kang, Jin-Kyu;Kim, Chong-Youl;Choi, Jong-Hoon
    • Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.283-296
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    • 2006
  • Along with the development of scientific technologies, health care has been growing remarkably, and as the social life quality improves with increasing interest in health, the demand for medical service is rapidly increasing. However, medical accident and medical dispute also are rapidly increasing due to various factors such as, increasing sense of people's right, lack of understanding in the nature of medical practice, over expectation on medical technique, commercialize medical supply system, moral degeneracy and unawareness of medical jurisprudence by doctors, widespread trend of mutual distrust, and lack of systematized device for solution of medical dispute. This study analysed 30 cases of civil suit in the year between 1994 to 2004, which were selected among the medical dispute cases in dental field with the judgement collected from organizations related to dentistry and department of oral medicine, Yonsei university dental hospital. The following results were drawn from the analyses: 1. The distribution of year showed rapid increase of medical dispute after the year 2000. 2. In the types of medical dispute, suit associated with tooth extraction took 36.7% of all. 3. As for the cause of medical dispute, uncomfortable feeling and dissatisfaction with the treatment showed 36.7%, death and permanent damage showed 16.7% each. 4. Winning the suit, compulsory mediation and recommendation for settlement took 60.0% of judgement result for the plaintiff. 5. For the type of medical organization in relation to medical dispute, 60.0% was found to be the private dental clinics, and 30.0% was university dental hospitals. 6. For the level of trial, dispute that progressed above 2 or 3 trials was of 30.0%. 7. For the amount of claim for damage, the claim amounting between 50 million to 100 million won was of 36.7%, and that of more than 100 million won was 13.3%, and in case of the judgement amount, the amount ranging from 10 million to 30 million won was of 40.0%, and that of more than 100 million won was of 6.7%. 8. For the number of dentist involved in the suit, 26.7% was of 2 or more dentists. 9. For the amount of time spent until the judgement, 46.7% took 11 to 20 months, and 36.7% took 21 to 30 months. 10. For medical malpractice, 46.7% was judged to be guilty, and 70% of the cases had undergone medical judgement or verification of the case by specialists during the process of the suit. 11. In the lost cases of doctors(18 cases), 72.2% was due to violence of carefulness in practice and 16.7% was due to missing of explanation to patient. Medical disputes occurring in the field of dentistry are usually of relatively less risky cases. Hence, the importance of explanation to patient is emphasized, and since the levels of patient satisfaction are subjective, improvement of the relationship between the patient and the dentist and recovery of autonomy within the group dentist are essential in addition to the reduction of technical malpractice. Moreover, management measure against the medical dispute should be set up through complement of the current doctors and hospitals medical malpractice insurance which is being conducted irrationally, and establishment of system in which education as well as consultation for medical disputes lead by the group of dental clinicians and academic scholars are accessible.

The Present Status and a Proposal of the Prospective Measures for Parasitic Diseases Control in Korea (우리나라 기생충병관리의 현황(現況)과 효율적방안에 관(關)한 연구(硏究))

  • Loh, In-Kyu
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.1-16
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    • 1970
  • The present status of control measures for public health important helminthic infections in Korea was surveyed in 1969 and the following results were obtained. The activities of parasitic examination and Ascaris treatment for the positives which were done during 1966 to 1969 were brought in poor result and could not decrease the infection rate. It is needed to improve or strengthen the activities. The mass treatment activities for paragonimiasis and clonorchiasis in the areas which were designated by the Ministry of Health were carried out during 1965 to 1968 with no good results in decrease of estimated number of the patients. There were too many pharmaceutical companies where many kinds of anthelmintics were produced. It may be better to reduce the number of anthelmintics produced and control the quality. The human feces, the most important source of helminthic infections, was generally not treated in sanitary ways because of the poor sewerage system and no sewage treatment plant in urban areas and insanitary latrines in rural areas. The field soils of 170 specimens were collected from 34 areas out of 55 urban and tourist areas where night soil has been prohibited by a regulation to be used as a fertilizer, and examined for parasites contamination with the result of Ascaris egg detection in 44%. Some kinds of vegetables of 64 specimens each from the supply agents of parasite free vegetables and general markets were collected and examined for parasites contamination with the results of Ascaris egg detection in 25% and 36% respectively. The parasite control activities and the ability of parasitological examination techniques in the health centers of the country were not satisfactory. The budget of the Ministry of Health for the parasite control was very poor. The actual expenditure needed for cellophane thick smear technique was 8 Won per a specimen. As a principle the control of helminthic infections might be led toward breaking the chain of events in the life cycle of the prasites and eliminating environmental and host factors concerned with the infections, and the following methods nay be pointed out. 1) Mass treatment might be done to eliminate human reservoirs of an infection. 2) Animal reservoirs which are related with human infections night be eliminated. 3) The excretes of reservoirs, particularly human feces, should be treated in sanitary ways by the means of sanitary sewerage system and sewage treatment plant in urban areas and sanitary latrines such as waterborne latrine, aqua privy and pit latrine in rural areas. The increase of national economical development and prohibition of the habit of using night soils as a fertilizer might be very important factors to achieve the purpose. 4) The control of vehicles and intermediate hosts might be done by the means of prohibition of soil contamination with parasites, food sanitation, insect control and snail control. 5) The improvement of insanitary attitudes and bad habits which are related with parasitic infections night be done by the means of prohibition of habit of using night soils as a fertilizer, and improving eating habits and personal hygiene. 6) Chemoprophylactic measure and vaccination may be effective to prevent the infections or the development of a parasite to adult in the bodies when the bodies were invaded by parasites. Further studies and development of this kind of measures are needed.

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