• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.236-245
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• 2024

Purpose: The prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is increasing with the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. Although NASH has a high risk of progression to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, few studies have reported noninvasive markers for predicting hepatic fibrosis in children. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracies of serologic biomarkers and scoring systems for hepatic fibrosis in obese children with NASH. Methods: A total of 96 children were diagnosed with NASH based on liver biopsy findings and divided into two groups according to the degree of liver fibrosis: mild (stage 0-1) or advanced (stage 2-4). Clinical and laboratory parameters and serum levels of hyaluronic acid and type IV collagen were measured. The aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were calculated. Results: Among the noninvasive markers, only serum type IV collagen level and FIB-4 were significantly different between the two groups. The area under the receiver operating curve of each biomarker and scoring system was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70-0.90) for type IV collagen at an optimal cutoff of 148 ng/mL (sensitivity 69.8%, specificity 84.6%), followed by 0.69 (95% CI: 0.57-0.83) for APRI, 0.68 (95% CI: 0.56-0.80) for FIB-4, and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.53-0.77) for hyaluronic acid. Conclusion: Type IV collagen as a single noninvasive serologic biomarker for hepatic fibrosis and FIB-4 as a hepatic fibrosis score are beneficial in predicting advanced hepatic fibrosis and determining proper diagnosis and treatment strategies before fibrosis progresses in obese children with NASH.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2021

Background: The diagnosis of esophageal varices (EV) is based on the findings of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), biopsy, and serum markers. Thus, noninvasive cost-effective tests through which high-risk EV children can be diagnosed are needed. Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the noninvasive markers for EV in children with liver cirrhosis. Methods: A total of 98 children with liver cirrhosis were evaluated in this study. The spleen size, platelet count, serum albumin, liver function test results, and risk scores were evaluated prior to endoscopy. The endoscopic investigations aimed to identify the presence of EV and red signs, and determine varices sizes. Results: Endoscopy revealed varices in 43 subjects (43.9%). The spleen size, platelet count, international normalized ratio, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), platelet count to spleen size ratio, and risk score differed significantly between patients with and without EV on univariate analysis; however, the logistic regression analysis showed no differences, indicating that none of these parameters were independently associated with the presence of EV. Conclusion: Platelet count, risk score, platelet count to spleen size, and APRI can be useful tools for the identification of high-risk patients with EV and might reduce the need for invasive methods like EGD.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2010

Noninvasive detection of patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) is of great importance for assisting a medical doctor's decision for early treatment of AD patients. In the present study, we have extracted quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) variables, which can be potentially used to diagnose AD, from resting eyes-closed continuous EEGs of 22 AD patients and 27 age-matched normal control (NC) subjects. We have extracted qEEG variables from mean phase coherence (MPC) and EEG coherence, evaluated for all possible combinations of electrode pairs. Preliminary trials to discriminate the two groups with the extracted qEEG variables demonstrated that the use of MPC as a supplementary or alternative measure for the EEG coherence may enhance the accuracy of noninvasive diagnosis of AD.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.449-456
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• 2006

The purpose of urodynamic investigation is to obtain the information on the function of the urinary system. The aim of this study is to acquire the useful information of lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) diagnosis through void force signal as noninvasive method. The system which could evaluate the function of compensatory hypertrophy with noninvasive and comfortable method was implemented to measure uroflow and void force during urination. The implemented system composes of the sensor parts, signal conditioning parts and PC monitoring program. For the evaluation of the implemented system, the simulation of control part of the system was performed and the model system for the lower urinary system was designed. The superiority of a measuring characteristic of the implemented system was verified using the model system. From the evaluation of the model system, we have found out that the void force was dependent on the occlusion degree and compensatory hypertrophy significantly.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.865-866
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to implement the system that could evaluate the function of urinary tract with noninvasive and comfort methods. There for in this study hardware device and computer software have been developed that enables the analysis of the urine flow rate and vesical pressure signal measured during voiding. These signals were recorded simultaneously and transmitted to the PC. For the measurement system evaluation, the model system for the lower urinary system of men was designed. From the evaluation of the model system, vesical pressure was correlated with the occlusion degree. In a pilot study on 5 male subjects, means of standard deviation was 1.06, average error rate was 2.09 and coefficient variation was 2.09.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.8
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• pp.1514-1520
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• 2007

Currently, the signal of the human body is measured with various methods, and a noninvasive investigation of various methods is useful diagnosis method. PTT(Pulse Transit Time) which is noninvasive investigation make use of to estimate the physiological phenomena. PTT has a latent information of cardiovascular system. So we have the experiments for analysis of the relations between PTT and physiological parameters. We examine to correlate to the physiological parameters, an age and degree of paralysis on the ultrasound therapy. The 40 patients who has a such paralysis join our experiment, and we obtain the PTT data that normal condition and states after ultrasound therapy. We study that PTT after the ultrasound therapy for patients who have a paralysis was related to an age and degree of paralysis.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.13 no.1_2
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• pp.55-60
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• 1979

The radiographic diagnosis of osteomyelitis can be suspected early with deep soft tissue swelling, but the actual bone changes of osteomyelitis may be delayed as long as 10 to 14 days after onset or may be totally aborted by antibiotic therapy. Recognition of osteomyelitis by bone imaging is far more rapid than by conventional radiographic examination and can be used on admission to establish the diagnosis. Ten patients suspected of having early, acute osteomyelitis were studied by TC-99m Pyrophosphate bone imaging. Radiographs taken at the same time were all negative. Of these 9 patients showed positive bone images. The bone imaging provides a safe, accurate, noninvasive technique for the early diagnosis of osteomyelitis.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2023

Renal nutcracker syndrome (NCS) is the entrapment of the left renal vein between the abdominal aorta and superior mesenteric artery. Although uncommon in pediatric patients, early diagnosis is crucial to avoid potential severe complications, such as anemia or renal vein thrombosis. NCS presents a variety of symptoms, most commonly including "Triade's symptoms"-hematuria, proteinuria, and flank pain. Diagnosis and treatment include invasive and noninvasive management, although due to a lack of pediatric clinical studies, management is widely variable. Conservative diagnosis and treatment are recommended as a first-line option for pediatric patients; however, invasive surgical treatment may be recommended based on symptom severity. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of NCS in children to better understand the widely variable incidence, occurrence, and management from early on to allow for early-onset management.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2015

Purpose: We developed and validated a fetal trisomy detection method for use as a noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) including a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified bioinformatics pipeline on a cloud-based computing system using both Illumina and Life Technology sequencing platforms for 221 Korean clinical samples. We determined the necessary proportions of the fetal fraction in the cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sample for NIPT of trisomies 13, 18, and 21 through a limit of quantification (LOQ) test. Materials and Methods: Next-generation sequencing libraries from 221 clinical samples and three positive controls were generated using Illumina and Life Technology chemistries. Sequencing results were uploaded to a cloud and mapped on the human reference genome (GRCh37/hg19) using bioinformatics tools. Based on Z-scores calculated by normalization of the mapped read counts, final aneuploidy reports were automatically generated for fetal aneuploidy determination. Results: We identified in total 29 aneuploid samples, and additional analytical methods performed to confirm the results showed that one of these was a false-positive. The LOQ test showed that the proportion of fetal fraction in the cfDNA sample would affect the interpretation of the aneuploidy results. Conclusion: Noninvasive chromosome examination (NICE), a CLIA-certified NIPT with a cloud-based bioinformatics platform, showed unambiguous success in fetus aneuploidy detection.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2011

Owing to the risk of fetal loss associated with prenatal diagnostic procedures (amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling), noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) is ultimate goal of prenatal diagnosis. The discovery of circulating cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma in 1997 has opened up new probabilities for NIPD by Dr. Lo et al. The last decade has seen great development in NIPD. Fetal sex and fetal RhD status determination by cffDNA analysis is already in clinical use in certain countries. For routine use, this test is limited by the amount of cell-free maternal DNA in blood sample, the lack of universal fetal markers, and appropriate reference materials. To improve the accuracy of detection of fetal specific sequences in maternal plasma, internal positive controls to confirm to presence of fetal DNA should be analyzed. We have developed strategies for noninvasive determination of fetal gender, and fetal RhD genotyping using cffDNA in maternal plasma, using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) including RASSF1A epigenetic fetal DNA marker (gender-independent) as internal positive controls, which is to be first successful study of this kind in Korea. In our study, accurate detection of fetal gender through gestational age, and fetal RhD genotyping in RhD-negative pregnant women was achieved. In this assay, we show that the assay is sensitive, easy, fast, and reliable. These developments improve the reliability of the applications of circulating fetal DNA when used in clinical practice to manage sex-linked disorders (e.g., hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy), congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), RhD incompatibility, and the other noninvasive pregnant diagnostic tests on the coming soon. The study was the first successful case in Korea using cffDNA in maternal plasma, which has created a new avenue for clinical applications of NIPD.