• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.594-600
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• 1989

Primary intracardiac repair of tetralogy of Fallot with low mortality and early good results, has been accomplished in recent years. But palliative procedures have been reserved for those hypoplastic pulmonary arteries, a hypoplastic left ventricle or anomalies of the coronary artery would make total correction difficult. And the Blalock-Taussig shunt operation is recognized as a standard and popular palliative procedure. I undertook a retrospective determination of the effect of the Blalock-Taussig shunt operation on the development of the main pulmonary artery and the right and left pulmonary arteries. Between January, 1980, and April, 1987, at the Severance Hospital, 16 patients were studied by cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography, before undergoing Blalock-Taussig shunting procedures for the palliation of severe symptoms of tetralogy of Fallot, and some time later, usually prior to a second procedure. The mean interval between catheterizations was 22.25 months. Patients with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia or with an occluded shunt were not included. The primary and secondary angiograms of each patient were reviewed, and measurements of the diameter of the main pulmonary artery, the right and left pulmonary arteries, and the descending thoracic aorta were taken. The results are as follows; 1. The hematocrit decreased from 56.39% to 50.34%[p< 0.05], and the arterial oxygen saturation increased from 62.00 % to 81.31 %[p< 0.001] following shunt procedures 2. The ratio of the diameter of the right pulmonary artery plus the left pulmonary artery to the diameter of the descending thoracic aorta increased 1.30 k 0.28 times [p< 0.01]; but the ratio of the diameter of the main pulmonary artery to the diameter of the descending thoracic aorta increased 1.10 * 0.33 times, which was not. significant[p< 0.05]. 3. The interval between shunting and second catheterization was not related to the magnitude of change in the pulmonary arteries[r=0.141, p >0.05]. 4. The changes in the ratio of the diameter of the right pulmonary artery plus the diameter of the left pulmonary artery to the diameter of the descending thoracic aorta was inversely related to the initial ratio[r=0.757, p >0.001], but the change in the ratio of the diameter of the main pulmonary artery to the descending thoracic aorta was not related[r=0.059, p >0.05]. 5. There were no differences in enlargement of the pulmonary artery on the side of the shunt [ipsilateral] versus enlargement on the opposite side [p >0.05], nor according to the size of the shunt[p >0.05]. In conclusion, this study suggests that the Blalock-Taussig shunt is effective for the development of the right and left pulmonary arteries but not effective for the main pulmonary artery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.283-289
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• 2002

Backgrouds: It is almost universally accepted that occlusive vascular diseases are best managed by anatomical reconstruction. However, the mortality and the morbidity have limited this operation for patients with high operation risks. In these patients, palliative operations such as extra-anatomic bypass and lumbar sympathectomy, are accepted as useful treatment. Material and Method: A retrospective study was conducted in 38 patients who underwent palliative operations for occlusive vascular disease at Korea University Guro Hospital between 1996 and 2000. Mean age of the patients was 60.37 $\pm$ 17.65 years, and preoperative diagnoses were atherosclerosis in 32 patients, Buerger's disease in 4 patients, Raynaud's syndrome in 1 patient and SVC syndrome in 1 patient. Result: Extra-anatomic bypass(40procedures), lumbar sympathectomy(17), thromboembolectomy(7) and femoral artery graft interposition(1) were performed. Six patients were required reoperation due to graft flow failure or fistula. Three year primary patency rate of entire operations was 78.29 $\pm$ 8.81%, and the correlation between type of operation and patency rate was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Palliative operations for occlusive vascular disease are useful treatment in limited patients with high operation risks or limited life expectancy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1191-1203
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• 1990

Pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect with major aortopulmonary collateral arteries [abbreviated as PA+VSD+MAPCA in the following] has limited the success of attempts at accurate diagnosis and complete surgical repair. From April 1986 to September 1990, 23 patients with PA+VSD+MAPCA among 96 patients of PA+VSD in Seoul National University Children’s Hospital were encountered. The group comprised 14 male and 9 female patients with ages ranging from 17 days to 177 months [mean 49.6 months]. We operated one stage total repair on good pulmonary artery sized two patients by R.E.V. [Reparation a l’etage ventriculaire] and Rastelli operation respectively. And the 11 patients who had independent MAPCAs and hypoplastic central pulmonary artery were dealt with unifocalization and modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt and followed by second stage repair in 3 patients later. We successfully had managed 7 patients whose MAPCAs could be ligated with modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt and followed by second stage repair in 3 patients with R.E.V or Rastelli operation. Recently, three obstruction after 11 unifocalization procedures made us to try palliative right ventricle-pulmonary artery conduit operation by Gore-Tex vascular graft interposition under cardiopulmonary bypass. And so we managed another 3 patients with these procedures for the purpose of pulmonary artery growth whose central pulmonary artery were severely hypoplastic. We experienced one death after second stage repair whose central pulmonary artery was created by 12mm Gore-Tex vascular graft and was unifocalized.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.922-928
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• 1990

Treatment of patients with esophageal carcinoma remains disappointing. Fewer than 20% *of patients with esophageal carcinoma treated with curative intent by surgery and radiation therapy will be alive at 5 years. Fifty five patients underwent treatment for carcinoma of the esophagus and cardia which retrospective clinical study done between January 1983, and December, 1989 in Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. There were 48 men. 7 women and the mean age was 56.2 years[range, 38 to 78 years]. The most frequent preoperative findings included dysphagia[46 cases], weight loss[33 cases] and substernal pain[19 cases]. 19 cases[34.5%] were underwent resectional surgery, which was total esophagectomy with esophagogastrostomy[ 5 cases], with colon interposition[3 cases], lower esophagectomy with esophagogastrostomy [10 cases], with total gastrectomy and esophagojejunostomy [1 case]. The operative mortality was 15.8%[3/19] and causes of death were respiratory failure in 2 cases, and 1 case of sepsis. Palliative procedures, such as feeding gastrostomy and jejunostomy[14 cases], bypass surgery without resection[ 4 cases], radiation therapy[ 3 cases] were done.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 1989

The emergence and expansion of cardiac surgery over the past decade has resulted in an increasing number of patients undergoing cardiac operations but many kinds of heart surgery was realized only palliative, resulting in increasing numbers of secondary cardiac procedures. From 1978 to 1988, 10 cases of various congenital heart diseases and 17 cases of acquired heart diseases were reoperated at Hanyang University Hospital. The leading indication of second operation was residual shunt or valvular malfunction due to technical failure in congenital heart disease and primary valve failure, endocarditis, paravalvular leakage were for acquired heart disease. The mortality of reoperation was 0% for congenital heart disease and 11.7%[2 death among the 17 patients] for acquired heart disease. The leading causes of death were myocardial failure, sepsis with endocarditis, acute renal failure and congestive heart failure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.766-774
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• 1989

Four neonates with critical pulmonary outflow obstruction underwent emergency palliative operation between February 1988 and May 1989 at the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital. There were three boys and one girl, the mean age was 12.25 days [ranging from 3 days to 26 days], and the mean body weight was 3,625 gm [ranging from 3,450 gm to 4,200 gm]. Two patients had severe pulmonic valvular stenosis with intact ventricular septum, a third had pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum, and another had pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect. All were cyanotic, showed arterial desaturation with metabolic acidosis, and had congestive heart failure. To relieve the pulmonary outflow tract obstruction, we performed transventricular pulmonary valvulotomy [Brock operation] with a mosquito clamp in all cases without extracorporeal circulation. Three patients survived the operation and showed satisfactory postoperative results. The patient who had pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect expired 5 days after surgery. We consider transventricular pulmonary valvulotomy [Brock operation] with a mosquito clamp as one of the preferable procedures for critical pulmonary outflow obstruction in the neonatal period.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.347-354
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• 2022

Referral to an endoscopist is often done once curative resection is no longer an option for cholangiocarcinoma management. In such cases, palliation has become the main objective of the treatment. Photodynamic therapy and radiofrequency ablation can be performed to achieve palliation, with both procedures associated with improved stent patency and survival. Despite the greatly increased cost and association with photosensitivity, photodynamic therapy allows transmission to the entire biliary tree. In contrast, radiofrequency ablation is cheaper and faster to apply, but requires intraductal contact. This paper reviews both modalities and compares their efficacy and safety for bile duct cancer palliation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.392-398
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• 2011

Background: The tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with pulmonary atresia (PA) and a ductus-dependent pulmonary circulation (no major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCAs)) has been treated with staged repair or primary repair depending on the preference of surgeons or institutions. We evaluated the 19-year outcome of staged repair for this anomaly to find out whether our surgical strategy should be changed. Materials and Methods: Forty-four patients with TOF/PA with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) who underwent staged repair from June 1991 to October 2010 were included in this retrospective study. The patients with MAPCAs were excluded. The average age at the first palliative shunt surgery was $40.8{\pm}67.5$ days (range: 0~332 days). Thirty-one patients (31/44, 70%) were neonates. The average weight was $3.5{\pm}1.6$ kg (range: 1.6~8.7 kg). A modified Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt was performed in 38 patients, classic BT shunt in 4 patients, and central shunt in 2 patients. Six patients required concomitant procedures: pulmonary artery angioplasty was performed in 4 patients, pulmonary artery reconstruction in one patient, and re-implantation of the left pulmonary artery to the main pulmonary artery in one patient. Four patients required a second shunt operation before the definitive repair was performed. Thirty-three patients underwent definitive repair at $24.2{\pm}13.3$ months (range: 7.3~68 months) after the first palliative operation. The average age at the time of definitive repair was $25.4{\pm}13.5$ months (range: 7.6~68.6 months) and their average weight was $11.0{\pm}2.1$ kg. For definitive repair, 3 types of right ventricular outflow procedures were used: extra-cardiac conduit was performed in 30 patients, trans-annular patch in 2 patients, and REV operation in 1 patient. One patient was lost to follow-up after hospital discharge. The mean follow-up duration for the rest of the patients was $72{\pm}37$ months (range: 4~160 months). Results: Ten patients (10/44, 22.7%) died before the definitive repair was performed. Four of them died during hospitalization after the shunt operation. Six deaths were thought to be shunt-related. The average time of shunt-related deaths after shunt procedures was 8.7 months (range: 2 days~25.3 months). There was no operative mortality after the definitive repair, but one patient died from dilated cardiomyopathy caused by myocarditis 8 years and 3 months after the definitive repair. Five-year and 10-year survival rates after the first palliative operation were 76.8% and 69.1%, respectively. Conclusion: There was a high overall mortality rate in staged repair for the patients with TOF/PA with PDA. Majority of deaths occurred before the definitive repair was performed. Therefore, primary repair or early second stage definitive repair should be considered to enhance the survival rate for patients with TOF/PA with PDA.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.322-328
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• 2015

Purpose: The aging of society has rapidly progressed, especially in Korea. Therefore, the necessity of research on end-of-life (EOL) care in elderly patients has increased. However, there are few studies on EOL care intensity for non-cancer patients. This study was designed to compare the EOL care intensity between cancer and non-cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the EOL care intensity based on medical records of decedents of Kyung Hee University Medical Center, a tertiary referral hospital from December 2014 through March 2015. And we compared EOL care intensity between cancer patients and non-cancer patients using statistical analysis of the frequency of invasive procedures and logistic regression analysis for factors that affect the EOL care intensity. Results: Statistical analysis showed invasive procedures, such as intensive care unit admission, endotracheal intubation followed by mechanical ventilation and emergency dialysis, were performed more frequently in non-cancer patients than cancer patients (29.3% vs. 72.4%, P<0.001). And age (P=0.038) and morbidity of cancer (P<0.001) influenced the invasive procedural decision when analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: The EOL care was more intensive in non-cancer patients, and age and morbidity of cancer were major factors for the treatment intensity.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.112-116
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• 2017

The ideal scalp reconstruction involves closure of the defect with similar hair-bearing local tissue in a single step. Various reconstructions can be used including primary closure, secondary healing, skin grafts, local flaps, and microvascular tissue transfer. A 53-year-old female patient suffered glioblastoma, which had recurred for the second time. The neuro-surgeons performed radial debridement and an additional resection of the tumor, followed by reconstruction using a serratus anterior muscle flap with a split-thickness skin graft. Unfortunately, the flap became completely useless and a bilateral rotation flap was used to cover the defect. Two month later, seroma with infection was found due to recurrence of the tumor. Additional surgery was performed using multiple perforator based island flap. The patient was discharged two weeks after surgery without any complications, but two months later, the patient died. Radical surgical resection of tumor is the most important curative option, followed by functional and aesthetic reconstruction. We describe a patient with a highly malignant tumor that required multiple resections and subsequent reconstruction. Repeated recurrences of the tumor led to the failure of reconstruction and our strategy inevitably changed, from reconstruction to palliative treatment involving fast and stable wound closure for the patient's comfort.