• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.361-370
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• 2009

The image quality management of bone mineral density is the responsibility and duty of radiologists who carry out examinations. However, inaccurate conclusions due to lack of understanding and ignorance regarding the methodology of image quality management can be a fatal error to the patient. Therefore, objective of this paper is to understand proper image quality management and enumerate methods for examiners and patients, thereby ensuring the reliability of bone mineral density exams. The accuracy and precision of bone mineral density measurements must be at the highest level so that actual biological changes can be detected with even slight changes in bone mineral density. Accuracy and precision should be continuously preserved for image quality of machines. Those factors will contribute to ensure the reliability in bone mineral density exams. Proper equipment management or control methods are set with correcting equipment each morning and after image quality management, a phantom, recommended from the manufacturer, is used for ten to twenty-five measurements in search of a mean value with a permissible range of ${\pm}1.5%$ set as standard. There needs to be daily measurement inspections on the phantom or at least inspections three times a week in order to confirm the existence or nonexistence of changes in values in actual bone mineral density. in addition, bone mineral density measurements were evaluated and recorded following the rules of Shewhart control chart. This type of management has to be conducted for the installation and movement of equipment. For the management methods of inspectors, evaluation of the measurement precision was conducted by testing the reproducibility of the exact same figures without any real biological changes occurring during reinspection. Bone mineral density inspection was applied as the measurement method for patients either taking two measurements thirty times or three measurements fifteen times. An important point when taking measurements was after a measurement whether it was the second or third examination, it was required to descend from the table and then reascend. With a 95% confidence level, the precision error produced from the measurement bone mineral figures came to 2.77 times the minimum of the biological bone mineral density change. The value produced can be stated as the least significant change (LSC) and in the case the value is greater, it can be stated as a section of genuine biological change. From the initial inspection to equipment moving and shifter, management must be carried out and continued in order to achieve the effects. The enforcement of proper quality control of radiologists performing bone mineral density inspections which brings about the durability extensions of equipment and accurate results of calculations will help the assurance of reliable inspections.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2015

Purpose: Varicella Zoster Immune Globulin (VZIG) is available in Korea for post-exposure prophylaxis of the Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in high-risk patients. In July 2013, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) recommended extending the time for administration of VariZIG$^{(R)}$ from within 96 hours up to 10 days after VZV exposure. This study was performed to analyze the effectiveness of VZIG prophylaxis between the two groups of patients who received VZIG within 96 hours and more than 96 hours of exposure to varicella. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed in pediatric patients who received VZIG at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea from January 2001 to December 2012. Results: A total of 91 patients were identified. Fifty-seven patients were male (62.6%) and the median age was 5.91 years. Thirty-nine patients (42.9%) were exposed to VZV in the hospital. Underlying diseases were solid tumors (41.8%), hematologic malignancies (40.7%), and others (17.5%). Forty-five patients (49.5%) were hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. Seventy-four patients (81.3%) received VZIG within 96 hours after VZV exposure. There was no significant difference in the development of chickenpox between the two groups (2.7% vs. 5.9%, P=0.4664). In 22 seronegative patients, we also observed no significant difference between the groups in terms of the development of chickenpox (6.6% vs. 0%, P=0.667). Conclusions: This study showed that the effectiveness of VZIG for the prevention of chickenpox was comparable between patients who received VZIG within 96 hours and those who received VZIG more than 96 hours after exposure to VZV.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.172-179
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• 2016

Purpose: Bacillus cereus has been reported as the cause of nosocomial infections in cancer patients. In our pediatric cancer ward, a sudden rise in the number of patients with B. cereus bacteremia was observed in 2013 to 2014. This study was performed to investigate the molecular epidemiology of increased B. cereus bacteremia cases in our center. Methods: Pediatric cancer patients who developed B. cereus bacteremia were identified from January 2001 to June 2014. The B. cereus bacteremia in this study was defined as a case in which at least one B. cereus identified in blood cultures, regardless of true bacteremia. Available isolates were further tested by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis. A retrospective chart review was performed. Results: Nineteen patients developed B. cereus bacteremia during the study period. However, in 2013, a sudden increase in the number of patients with B. cereus bacteremia was observed. In addition, three patients developed B. cereus bacteremia within 1 week in July and the other three patients within 1 week in October, respectively, during emergency room renovation. However, MLST analysis revealed different sequence types without consistent patterns. Before 2013, five tested isolates were ST18, ST26, ST177, and ST147-like type, and ST219-like type. Isolates from 2013 were ST18, ST73, ST90, ST427, ST784, ST34-like type, and ST130-like type. Conclusions: MLST analyses showed variable ST distribution of B. cereus isolates. Based on this study, there was no significant evidence suggesting a true outbreak caused by a single ST among patients who developed B. cereus bacteremia.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore insomniac demographic characteristics and the type of consultation provided to hospitalized patients asked to the Department of Psychiatry for insomnia and to compare patient insomnia characteristics by consultation type. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of 4,966 patients who were hospitalized from August 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011 that received consultation in the Department of Psychiatry. Among them, 236 patients were referred for insomnia. We compared the differences in demographic characteristics and types of consultation between the insomnia patient group and other patient group. We also compared the difference between demographic characteristics and type of consultation by dividing total subjects into 'with reconsultation' and 'without reconsultation' groups. Results: Our results came from the analysis of 9,689 consecutive consultation requests. There were 4,966 patients that participated in the study over 6 years and 6 months. The overall consultation rate was 3.3% of all admissions and insomnia patients comprised 4.8% of those. The ratio of re-consultation for insomnia was 27.5%. There was no significant difference in mean age between the insomnia 'with reconsultation group' and the insomnia 'without reconsultation group', but the 'with reconsultation' group had significantly more male patients and medical patients than the 'without re-consultation' group. For insomnia patients, consultation types were in the order of Mending request (51.3%), Paralle request (36.6%), Complementary request (9.0%) and this composition differed from that of total admission patients. Conclusion: Hospitalized patients referred for insomnia showed a higher proportion of male patients, lower rates of re-consultation compared with other patients, and most of these were for secondary insomnia. Each doctor should be aware of the possibility of inpatient insomnia, conduct positive assessments and referrals as necessary, and psychiatrists who might be asked for consultation need to prepare an active intervention with initial diagnosis and treatment, as well as recommendations for the timing of reconsultation.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2021

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of depressive patients who admitted to general hospital. We examined the clinical characteristics of patients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry as depressive symptoms, according to the type of consultation request, and comparing 'with re-consultation' and 'without re-consultation' groups. Methods : We performed a retrospective chart review of 4,966 inpatients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry from August 2005 to December 2011. Results : For about 6 years, among the inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation, a total of 647 patients were referred for depressive symptoms, accounting for 13.82% of the total consultations. The average age of depressive patients was 58.6 years, which was higher than the average of 56.4 years of overall patients. Among the depressive patients, 275 patients were included in 'with re-consultation' group and there was no statistically significant difference when comparing 'with re-consultation' group and 'without re-consultation' group. However, there was a difference in the tendency of the two groups in the type of consultation request. 'With re-consultation' group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 3-2-1, whereas the 'without re-consultation' group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 2-3-1. Conclusions : The group of inpatients who were referred for depressive symptoms in general hospital showed the largest proportion of the group of patients referred to the Department of Psychiatry. 'With re-consultation' group had a higher rate of re-consultation due to the occurrence of new symptoms after hospitalization compared to 'without re-consultation' group. Therefore, doctors in each department and psychiatrists should pay attention to the depressive symptoms of inpatients and actively discuss treatment plans to improve the quality of medical services, identify risk factors, and make efforts to intervene early if necessary.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 1998

Background : It is almost important therapy modality to control pain for the terminal cancer patients for the last 24 hours because those terminally illed patient deserved to have pain free and peaceful time before death. Physician who is deal with terminal cancer patients for their last 24 hours does not need to worry about drug addiction or other untoward side reactions of pain medications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if terminally illed cancer patient was given pain medication properly and sufficiently and if there was any different behavior to control pain of terminal cancer patients between medical physicians and surgeons in terms of type, amount and administration route and frequency. Methods : A retrospective chart audit of analgesic type, amount and administration route was performed on the medical recorders of 160 hospitalized terminal cancer patients who had died in the Korea University Medical Center Anam Hospital during the period of July 1, 1994 to June 30, 1995. Patients were classified into 103 patients were cared for by medical physicians and 57 patients were cared for by surgeons. After then, we analysed the difference of pain control pattern between them. Different types and amount of analgesics were converted to a common standard, an oral morphine equivalents(OME) relative to 1mg of oral morphine. Results : 1) The total number of patients was 160, male 102 cases(63.8%), and the female was 58 cases(36.2%) respectively. 2) The mean age was 56.4(${\pm}14.62$) years old and mean admission period was 27.8 days(${\pm}34.85$). 3) The frequent cancer site was stomach 42 cases(26.315), lung and liver 29 cases(18.1%) each, pancreas 10 cases(6.2%) in order 4) 125 out of 160 subjects (78.13%) complained pain, and 66 out of 103(64.08%) and 31 out of 57(54.39%) were treated with analgesics to relieve pain. 50 out of 97(51.55%) were able to continue on oral medication. 5) 86 cases(53.75%) were well oriented 24 hours prior to death. 6) The frequent analgesics for regular basis were long acting form of oral morphine 34 cases(Medical phsicians 24, Surgeons 10), intravenous morphine 26 cases(Medical physicians 20, Surgeons 6) in order, and the most common p.r.n.(pro re nata) analgesics used was intravenous morphine. 7) The mean amount of analgesics on regular basis was 115.41 OME by medical physicians and 52.7 OME by surseons(P<0.05). The mean amount of p.r.n. analgesics was significantly larger in patients are for by surgeons(66.64 OME) than medical physicians 23.49 OME(P<0.01). 8) The mean frequency of administrated number of p.r.n. analgesics was 0.62 times/day on medical part and 1.88 times/day on surgical part (P<0.001). Conclusion : Of the 97 patients with advanced cancer, 51.55% were able to take oral medications in the last day of life. The parenteral analgesics were more frequently used in the patients cared for by surgeons than medical physicians. Over the half of terminal cancer patients were well oriented in the last day of life. Doctor's knowledge and attitude towards pain is very important to mange the pain, effectively.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.349-358
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• 2003

Objectives : Aseptic meningitis is a major cause of Korean childhood morbidity late spring and early summer. However, the nationwide incidences of the disease have not been reported. This study was conducted to evaluate the availability of National Health Insurance data (NHID) for the study of an epidemiological trend in the surveillance of aseptic meningitis in children. Methods : All the claims, under A87, A87.8, and A87.9 by ICD-10, among children below 15 years of age, to the National Health Insurance Corporation, between January and December 1998, were extracted. A survey of the medical record of 3,874 cases from 136 general hospitals was peformed. The availability of the NHID was evaluated by the three following methods: 1) The diagnostic accuracy (the positive Predictive value : proportion of the confirmed aseptic meningitis among the subjects registered as above disease-codes in NHID) was evaluated through a chart review, and according to age, gender, month and region of disease-occurrence. 2) The distribution of confirmed cases was compared with the distribution of total subjects from the NHID, for subjects in General hospitals, or the subjects surveyed. 3) The proportion of confirmed CSF test was confirmed, and the relating factor, which was the difference in CSF-test rate, analyzed. Results : Among 3,874 cases, CSF examinations were peformed on 1,845 (47.6%), and the CSF-test rates were different according to the medical utility (admission vs. OPD visit) and the severity of the symptoms and signs. The diagnostic accuracy for aseptic meningitis, and during the epidemic (May-Aug) and sporadic (Sept-Apr) periods, were 85.0 (1,568/1,845), 86.0 (1,239/l,440) and 81.2% (329/405), respectively. The distributions by age, sex, month or period (epidemic/sporadic) and region, in the confirmed cases, were similar to those in the NHID, in both the subjects at General hospitals and in those surveyed, to within ${\pm}7%$. Conclusions : In this paper, the NHID for the subjects registered with an aseptic meningitis disease-code might be available for an epidemiological study on the incidence-estimation of childhood aseptic meningitis, as the NHID could include both the probable and definite cases. On the basis of this result, further studies of time-series and secular trend analyses, using the NHID, will be peformed.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.11B no.4
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• pp.403-410
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• 2004

Recently, studies of image analysis, as the preprocessing stage for medical image analysis or image retrieval, are actively carried out. This paper intends to propose a way of utilizing color components for image retrieval. For image retrieval, it is based on color components, and for analysis of color, CLCM (Color Level Co-occurrence Matrix) and statistical techniques are used. CLCM proposed in this paper is to project color components on 3D space through geometric rotate transform and then, to interpret distribution that is made from the spatial relationship. CLCM is 2D histogram that is made in color model, which is created through geometric rotate transform of a color model. In order to analyze it, a statistical technique is used. Like CLCM, GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix)[1] and Invariant Moment [2,3] use 2D distribution chart, which use basic statistical techniques in order to interpret 2D data. However, even though GLCM and Invariant Moment are optimized in each domain, it is impossible to perfectly interpret irregular data available on the spatial coordinates. That is, GLCM and Invariant Moment use only the basic statistical techniques so reliability of the extracted features is low. In order to interpret the spatial relationship and weight of data, this study has used Principal Component Analysis [4,5] that is used in multivariate statistics. In order to increase accuracy of data, it has proposed a way to project color components on 3D space, to rotate it and then, to extract features of data from all angles.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2020

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of pain, clinical characteristics of pain, association between clinical features and pain of patients with Parkinson's Disease(PD). Methods: We undertook a retrospective review of the medical records of patients diagnosed with PD between 2012 and 2019 at Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital at Gangdong in South Korea. Results: A total of 172 PD patients met entry criteria and 147 out of 172 patients(85.5%) reported pain. In comparison with general population, PD patients has high prevalence of pain. Female PD patients more frequently reported pain than male (P=0.03). 102 out of 147patients(69.3) complained of musculoskeletal pain, and musculoskeletal pain show significant difference depending on the PD motor subtypes (P=0.039). Pain was mainly locatedin the leg (57.8%) in all PD motor subtypes. Tremor-dominant PD more frequently felt pain in upper limb than postural instability-gait difficulty dominant(PIGD) PD, but it was not statistically significant. Conclusions: These findings showed high prevalence of pain in PD patients, the correlation between female and pain, and the relationship between PD motor subtype and pain type. Our study can contribute to the clinical approach based on a more in-depth understanding of PD patients with pain.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.233-250
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• 2013

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of inpatients who were admitted to Korean medicine hospital due to traffic accident. Methods 1,162 traffic accident patients who were admitted to department of Korean Rehabilitation Medicine of Cheonan Korean Medicine Hospital, Dae-Jeon University from 1st, January, 2011 to 31th, December, 2012 were analyzed according to the medical charts. Results 1. The average treatment result was 3.22 and in most (71.52%) of the patients, symptoms were more than improved. 2. In distribution according to age and sex, people in their 30s numbered the most both in male (12.65%) and female (14.72%). The 1,162 inpatients comprised of 457 (39.33%) male and 705 (60.67%) female. 3. 541 (46.56%) patients admitted in 2011 and 621 (53.44%) patients admitted in 2012. 4. 695 (59.81%) patients visited Cheonan Korean Medicine Hospital within 0~2 days after their traffic accident, followed by 242 (20.83%) patients who visited within 3~5 days after their traffic accident. Patients who admitted earlier showed more improvement in symptoms. 5. The average admission days were 9.32 days. Most (57.66%) patients discharged within 1 week. 6. 825 (71.00%) patients were driving sedan at the time of accident, followed by 105 (9.04%) SUV owners and 71 (6.11%) pedestrians. 7. Rear-end collision accident numbered the most (45.61%), followed by lateral collision (24.35%) and frontal collision (14.72%). 8. Most frequently prescribed examination was X-ray (95.52%), followed by CT (8.69%) and MRI (3.01%). 9. Most frequently given diagnosis was sprain (1,126 (96.90%) patients), followed by concussion & abrasion (178 (15.32%) patients) and fracture (109 (9.38%) patients). 10. Most frequently given Korean medicine treatment was acupuncture (1,162 (100%) patients), followed by anti-inflammatory pharmacopuncture (652 (56.11%) patients) and moxibustion (462 (39.76%) patients). 11. Most frequently given Korean medicine physiotherapy was infra-red (1,161 (99.91%) patients), followed by cupping therapy (1,152 (99.14%) patients) and hotpack (1,137 (97.85%) patients). 12. Most frequently prescribed herb medicine was huishou-san (13.51%), followed by dangguixu-san (12.65%) and yaojiao-tang G (7.06%) Conclusions In this study, people in their 30s, females, within 0~2 days since the accident took the highest percentage from each category of patients who admitted to Korean Medicine Hospital due to traffic accident. Patients who admitted earlier showed more improvement in symptoms and also discharged earlier.