• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.127-131
• /
• 2001

The authors performed the taste threshold tests in two patients complaining taste problem who visited the Department of Oral Diagnosis, Seoul National University Dental Hospital. The taste thresholds were determined using a concentration series of five tastants, sucrose ( sweet ), NaCl ( salty ), citric acid ( sour ), quinine hydrochloride ( bitter ) and monosodium glutamate ( umami ). The taste solutions were diluted by half quarter logarithmic steps. The two patients showed higher taste thresholds level than normal but the taste threshold results did not coincide with the patients appeal. Further researches are needed for developing simple and precise diagnostic methods which can be applied to the patients with taste disorder.

• Journal of TMJ Balancing Medicine
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2021

Dystonia is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary and uncontrollable muscle tonus abnormalities. It is a huge burden not only to the patients and their families, but also to the field of medicine, in that there has hardly been any substantial change in the concept of and approach to this intractable disorder and therefore no breakthrough to its diagnosis, evaluation and treatment. As an effort to solve the current impasse, this review briefly summarizes the current concept, etiology, diagnosis, treatment and management, and then suggests a rather new therapeutic approach to this disorder, based on the concept of neurological balance and TMJ integrative approach. These new approaches will provide a platform for the clinicians and researchers to have a leap in the concept, diagnosis and therapeutics.

• THE JOURNAL OF KOREAN ORIENTAL ONCOLOGY
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.89-97
• /
• 2003

Recently, the occurrence and death rates of cancer have increased rapidly. In oriental medicine, the tongue gives some kind of special physiological information on human body. Oriental medical doctors have used information about the color, degree of wetness and shape of the patient's tongue to determine patient's disease and body condition. This fact leads us that the tongue image is one of the most important clinical data for helping doctor's decision making. It also has significant meaning to cancer patients related with traditional theory of oriental medicine. In diagnosis and treatment of cancer, tongue diagnosis can give some prognosis and change o cancer. It also detect the sign of early stage cancer, but it cannot diagnose the kind of cancer and/or benign or malignant. Nowadays BioTechnology(BT) has developed rapidly, but there are a lot of limits(economy, accuracy, clinical significance, etc). Tongue diagnosis is very economic and practical way of diagnose and has a lot of possibility of development. The need for doctors and it also helps the development of tongue diagnosis related with cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.16-24
• /
• 1993

The fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic findings in 16 cases of histologically confirmed thymoma are reported. The aspirates were obtained under fluoroscopic guidance. The cytologic diagnoses were inadequate sample in one case, thymoma in 12(75%), small cell carcinoma or thymoma in 1, benign mesenchymal tumor in 1, and germ cell tumor in one. The cytologic features were detailed according to the constituent epithelial cell type, and into 4 small of epithelial cells and lymphocytes. Fifteen cases were classified into 4 small epithelial cell type, 6 intermediate epithelial cell type, 1 large epithelial cell type, 1 large pleomorphic epithelial cell type, and 3 spindle-shaped epithelial ceil type. Cytologic differential diagnosis was discussed, and the important criteria for the cytologic diagnosis of thymoma were reviewed. This review leads us to think that nonoperative cytologic approaches in the diagnosis of the thymoma are possible, and that correct cytologic diagnosis of thymoma with FNAs can easily be made, if adequate samples are obtained However the invasiveness and histologic type could not be predicted by cytological features only. Knowing various cytologic and histologic features of thymoma will be helpful for the diagnosis of thymoma and the differential diagnosis of modiastinal tumors.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.159-168
• /
• 2023

BACKGROUND: The gold standard for diagnosis of cardiac tumours is histopathological examination. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a valuable non-invasive, radiation-free tool for identifying and characterizing cardiac tumours. Our aim is to understand CMR diagnosis of cardiac tumours by distinguishing benign vs. malignant tumours compared to the gold standard. METHODS: A systematic search was performed in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases up to December 2022, and the results were reviewed by 2 independent investigators. Studies reporting CMR diagnosis were included in a meta-analysis, and pooled measures were obtained. The risk of bias was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tools from the National Institutes of Health. RESULTS: A total of 2,321 results was obtained; 10 studies were eligible, including one identified by citation search. Eight studies were included in the meta-analysis, which presented a pooled sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 94%, a diagnostic odds ratio of 185, and an area under the curve of 0.98 for CMR diagnosis of benign vs. malignant tumours. Additionally, 4 studies evaluated whether CMR diagnosis of cardiac tumours matched specific histopathological subtypes, with 73.6% achieving the correct diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published systematic review on CMR diagnosis of cardiac tumours. Compared to histopathological results, the ability to discriminate benign from malignant tumours was good but not outstanding. However, significant heterogeneity may have had an impact on our findings.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2014

Objective : The purpose of this study is to summarize the differential diagnosis between allergic and nonallergic rhinitis and suggest management. Methods : We reviewed the current update of medical history and physical examination for allergic and nonallergic rhinitis. Then we analyzed clinical characteristics according to onset age, gender incidence and state of nasal symptoms, etc. Results : 1. Patients with nonallergic rhinitis tend to develop symptoms at a later age(>35 years of age), and there is a female-to-male incidence ratio for nonallergic rhinitis of 2:1 to 3:1. 2. Patients with nonallergic rhinitis report nasal congestion, nasal rhinorrhea and more often report postnasal drip rather than sneezing and itching, which are predominant symptoms of allergic rhinitis. And the nasal mucosa in nonallergic rhinitis usually looks normal. 3. Patients with nonallergic rhinitis have few complaints of concomitant symptoms of allergic symptoms and the absence of other atopic diseases in the patient or in the family supports the diagnosis of nonallergic rhinitis. 4. Common triggers of nonallergic rhinitis are nonspecific irritant exposures and many patients with nonallergic rhinitis find that antihistamines have no benefit. Conclusions : The differential diagnosis between allergic and nonallergic rhinitis is clinical and relies on a detailed medical history and physical examination.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.150-155
• /
• 2011

It is a very important diagnosis and evalution of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Korea where hepatitis B-virus is endemic. Protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) appears to be a useful tumor marker. This study was purposed to investigate usefulness of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis and fallow-up after treatment of HCC. A total of 418 patients were included in 187 patients (44.7%) of HCC, 83 patients (19.9%) of liver cirrhosis, 74 patients (17.7%) of chronic hepatitis and 74 patients (17.7%) of other liver diseases with serum PIVKA-II levels by Hicatch PIVKA-II kit. PIVKA-II level were analysed for difference of groups and the comparison of treatment responses. The sensitivity and specificity of PIVKA-II in the diagnosis of HCC were 80.2%, 87.0% at the cut-off value of 40 mAU/mL. There were statistically significant difference between the HCC and other groups (p<0.001), before and after PIVKA-II levels after treatment in HCC (p<0.001). PIVKA-II can be used as a useful tumor marker for patients with HCC, especially early diagnosis in high risk groups, treatment response assesment and monitoring of recurrence.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.109-125
• /
• 2018

Objectives : It is difficult to make accurate diagnosis of musculoskeletal disease because of its multiple, subjective and non-specific symptoms. It is possible to reduce errors of differential diagnosis through detailed history taking and physical examination in parallel with laboratory tests based on clinical decision. Methods : Korean and foreign on-line databases(Pubmed, Cochran Library, NDSL, KISS and OASIS) were researched for articles discussing laboratory tests in musculoskeletal diseases. Results : Laboratory tests could be applied usefully for various musculoskeletal diseases, In this review, available laboratory components in these musculoskeletal diseases are summarized, and then significance and usefulness of disease-specific laboratory examination are described. Conclusions : When examining musculoskeletal patients, it needs to accurate differential diagnosis by full interview and physical examination, to select required tests by understanding laboratory tests thoroughly, and to judge the prognosis precisely.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.34-41
• /
• 2012

Objectives In this study, we developed a mock-up of the system for Sasang Constitutional (SC) diagnosis. This system consists of 5 devices which are the face analyzer, the voice analyzer, the skin analyzer, the pulse analyzer, and the computer-based questionnaire. Our goal is to evaluate the repeatability of the system. Methods Each device is capable of classifying SC types. The classification probability of the integrated system for the SC types was obtained by summing the probability from each device. For evaluating the repeatability of the system, we collected data for 5 subjects, and repeated the measurement three times for each individual. The average and standard deviation were used for calculating the Coefficient of Variation. Results The results showed that the repeatability of the classification probability of the integrated system is about 8%, which implies the system is repeatable. Conclusions To increase usability of this system, it is desirable for the system to offer information on health condition of the user. The integrated constitutional diagnosis system will be upgraded to complement the convenience and to develop the diagnostic algorithm for the user's health condition.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.495-510
• /
• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the possibility of quantification of the diagnosis of abdominal coldness (AC) in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). Methods: Forty-four patients with FD were enrolled in this study. Three Korean medicine doctors each randomly examined all abdomens. Diagnosis of AC was made by consensus of at least two of the doctors. Body temperature (oral by digital oral thermometer) and skin temperature (by digital infrared thermal imaging [DITI]) were measured, followed by administration of the Cold and Heat questionnaire (CHQ) and the Instrument of Pattern Identification for Functional Dyspepsia (IPIFD). Results: Of the 44 patients with FD, 22 were assigned to the AC group and 22 to the non-AC group. The concordance rate of diagnosis among the three doctors was 63.6% (28/44), with a ${\kappa}$ of 0.504, indicating means moderate agreement). Neither the oral nor the skin temperatures showed statistically significant differences between the AC and non-AC groups. However, the CHQ scores and 'Simultaneous Occurrence of Cold and Heat Syndromes pattern' scores of the IPIFD were higher in AC group and showed statistically significant differences (p=0.010 and 0.009). Conclusions: This is the first study conducting quantitative measurements of abdominal coldness in patients with FD. Although oral and skin temperature showed no statistical significance between AC and non-AC groups, the concordance rate of diagnosis of AC among the three Korean Medicine doctors was moderate. The CHQ scores and 'Simultaneous Occurrence of Cold and Heat Syndromes pattern' scores of the IPIFD also suggest that diagnosis of AC is relevant to cold and heat patterns, and these questionnaires could be utilized as supportive data for the diagnosis of AC. Further studies should be conducted for the purpose of quantifying and standardizing abdominal examinations in Korean Medicine.