• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2009

Nuclear cardiology in Korea is less active, compared to nuclear oncology, but it has been specialized and ramified. Lately, sophisticated nuclear cardiac imaging methods provide more convenience for patients. It is necessary to accurately estimate the recent progress in the imaging devices for nuclear cardiology. Myocardial perfusion imaging is a well established study to evaluate heart function. Myocardial perfusion SPECT and PET have been used for assessment of coronary artery disease with various radiopharmaceuticals. And of late, the development of advanced imaging devices - multi-pinhole technique and high definition imaging technique - and software made the scanning time shorter and expanded the application field. Therefore, it is required to review the nuclear cardiology hardware/software for the clinical practice and research. In this review, the characteristics about recently-developed SPECT/PET and software for nuclear cardiology are described. It is hoped that this information would contribute to improving the activity of nuclear cardiac research in Korea where the research for the fusion imaging combining a and nuclear imaging is drawing more attention.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.159-164
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• 2009

Coronary artery disease is on the rise over the world. Myocardial perfusion SPECT is a well established technique to detect coronary artery disease and to assess left ventricular function. In addition, it has the unique ability to predict the prognosis of the patients. Moreover, the application of ECC-gated images provided the quantitatve data and improved the accuracy. This approach has been proved to be cost-effective and suitable for the emerging economies as well as developed countries. However, the utilization of nuclear cardiology procedures vary widely considering the different countries and region of the world. Korea exits 2-3 times less utilization than Japan, and 20 times than the United States. Recently, with the emerging of new technology, namely cardiac CT, cardiac MR and stress echocardiography, the clinical usefulness of nuclear cardiology has been called in question and its role has been redefined. For the proper promotion of nuclear cardiology, special educations should be conducted since the nuclear cardiology has the contact points between nuclear medicine and cardiology. Several innovations are in horizon which will impact the diagnostic accuracy as well as imaging time and cost savings. Development of new tracers, gamma camera technology and hybrid systems will open the new avenue in cardiac imaging. The future of nuclear cardiology based on molecular imaging is very exciting. The newly defined biologic targets involving atherosclerosis and vascular vulnerability will allow the answers for the key clinical questions. Hybrid techniques including SPECT/CT indicate the direction in which clinical nuclear cardiology may be headed in the immediate future. To what extent nuclear cardiology will be passively absorbed by other modalities, or will actively incorporate other modalities, is up to the present and next generation of nuclear cardiologists.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.407-412
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• 2005

Echocardiography is one of the most frequently used techniques for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases. Over the last twenty years, technological advances have enabled the application of high-quality imaging. Important recent developments have occurred in echocardiography that are already being used clinically. Equipment and hardware is now available to produce reai time three-dimensional and contrast enhanced imaging.. Tissue Doppler and stress echocardiography have provided potential benefit to analyze hemodynamic information of heart. This review discusses each of these new developments and their potential impact on the practice of echocardioaraphy and cardiology in general.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1995.09a
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• pp.373-373
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• 1995

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1986

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.6-6
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• 2001

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2005

In myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, the results of this evalution now confront the practitioner of nuclear medicing with methodologic options. Most nuclear cardiologic studies are performed using thallium-201, Tc-99m sestamibi and Tc-99m tetrofosmin. Some part of these studies use some form of pharmacologic stress test. While tailoring each test to the individual is ideal, this may be impractical for a busy department. Accordingly, established protocols to be used for patients with similar clinical presentations will be helpful. The following review presents methodology of various imaging protocols mainly according to the guidelines of nuclear cardiology procedures in American Society of Nuclear Cardiology.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.209-221
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• 1999

Coronary restenosis is still regarded as Achilles' Hill of interventional cardiology despite relentless efforts of many investigators. Recent experimental and clinical studies have suggested that both gamma and beta radiation can reduce restenosis after angioplasty. Currently, intracoronary brachytherapy for the prevention of restenosis has become a new evolving treatment modality in interventional cardiology. This report discusses a physical aspect of gamma and beta radiation, initial clinical results and delivery systems used in intracoronary brachytherapy. We shall take a brief overview of methods and their advantages in intra-coronary brachytherapy. Future work should provide further insight for the best way of treating restenosis.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.90-95
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• 2005

A coronary artery perforation is a rare but often fatal complication of angioplasty. We experienced a coronary artery perforation and cardiac tamponade during balloon angioplasty. A polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE)-covered stent was used to successfully close the perforation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.124-132
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• 2005

Cardiac PET emerged as a powerful tool that allowed in vivo quantification of physiologic processes including myocardial perfusion and metabolism, as well as neuronal and receptor function for more than 25 years. Wow PET imaging has been playing an important role in the clinical evaluation of patients with known or suspected ischemic heart disease. This important clinical role is expected to grow with the availability of PET/CT scanner that allow a true integration of structure and function. The objective of this review is to provide an update on the current and future role of PET in clinical cardiology with a special eye on the great opportunities now offered by PET/CT.