• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.6
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• pp.250-255
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• 2013

Endobronchial metastasis of leiomyosarcoma is rare, but it can cause life-threatening complications, such as massive hemoptysis, respiratory failure or even death. The development of new endoscopic modalities allows for effective endobronchial management. We report three patients with endobronchial metastases from advanced leiomyosarcomas which caused bronchial obstruction. The bronchoscopic examinations revealed masses obstructing the left main bronchus in all three patients. After removing the endobronchial tumor via interventional bronchoscopy, there was symptomatic and radiologic improvement. Moreover, the patients were able to undergo additional palliative chemotherapy. Therefore, endobronchial management of endobronchial tumors should be considered in the treatment of endobronchial metastasis, even in patients with advanced malignancies.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2021

End-of-life patients experience physical, mental, social, and existential distress. While medical personnel provide medication and care to alleviate patients' distress, listening to and interacting with patients remains essential for understanding their psychological condition. The most important tool, though difficult to implement in practice, is end-of-life discussion (EOLD). EOLD has been shown to have positive effects on end-of-life treatment choices, achievement of patients' life goals, improvements in the quality of life of patients and their families, and the prevention of depression and complicated grief among bereaved family members. EOLD is not often undertaken in clinical practice, however, due to hesitancy among medical personnel and patients for various reasons. In order to conduct an EOLD, the patient's judgment, psychiatric illnesses such as delirium and depression, and psychological issues such as the side effects of psychotropic drugs, denial, and collusion must be evaluated. Open and honest conversation, treatment goal setting, the doctor's familiarity with the patient's background, and attentiveness when providing information are important elements for any dialogue. Meaning-centered psychotherapy was developed to alleviate the existential distress of cancer patients, and its application may promote EOLD. The future development of meaning-centered psychotherapy in practice and in research is expected to further promote EOLD.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2019.07a
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• pp.195-198
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• 2019

연명의료결정법의 정식 명칭은 '호스피스 완화의료 및 임종 과정에 있는 환자의 연명의료 결정에 관한 법'이다. 이 법은 호스피스 완화의료에 대한 것과 환자의 연명의료 결정에 대한 것을 규정하고 있다. 특히, 후자의 연명의료결정에 관한 부분은 법제정 과정에서 법 종교 의료 윤리 등 다양한 분야에서 논박이 있었지만 2018년 2월 4일부터 시행되고 있다. 법학에서는 이 법이 생명이라는 법익과 관련되어 있어 형사법적, 민사법적으로 중요한 의미를 갖는다. 이 법이 탄생되기 위해 두 번의 변곡점이 있었다. 첫째, 1997년 '보라매병원 사건'에서 의사를 작위에 의한 살인방조죄로 판결한 사건 둘째, 2009년 '김 할머니' 사건에서 회생할 수 없을 경우 가족 등이 진술한 환자 의사에 따라 연명 의료를 중단할 수 있다는 대법원 판결이다. 연명의료결정법은 헌법상 생명권과 자기운명결정권이라는 기본권 충돌이 발생한다. 두 기본권이 서로 상충 할 때에는 어떠한 기본권을 우선해야 하는지가 실질적으로 문제되는데, 이익형량을 통한 규범의 조화로운 해석을 통해 해결해야 한다. 또한 이 법의 흠결과 문제점을 고찰하여 개정작업이 진행되어야 한다.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.80-94
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to identify attitudes toward advance directives (ADs) among female cancer patients and factors related to ADs. Methods: The study was conducted at a university hospital in Seoul from September 19, 2020, to January 20, 2021. The participants were 153 patients diagnosed with gynecological cancer or breast cancer. Data were collected using questionnaires and included general characteristics, disease- and AD-related characteristics, knowledge and attitudes about ADs, and attitudes about dignified death. Data were analyzed using the t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Only 2% of the participants completed ADs. The mean score for attitudes toward ADs was 3.30, indicating a positive knowledge and attitude toward dignified death. The factors related to attitudes toward ADs were attitudes toward dignified death (𝛽=0.25, P=0.001), experience discussing life-sustaining treatment (𝛽=0.17, P=0.037), preferred time to have a consultation about ADs (𝛽=0.19, P=0.046), intention to write ADs (𝛽=0.15, P=0.038), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (𝛽=-0.37, P<0.001). The explanatory power of these variables for attitudes toward ADs was 38.5%. Conclusion: Overall, patients preferred to have a consultation about ADs when they were still active, mentally healthy, and able to make decisions. Education about ADs should be provided to patients on the first day of hospitalization for chemotherapy or while awaiting treatment in an outpatient setting so patients can write ADs and discuss them with family and friends.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.659-679
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• 2022

Efforts to improve end-of-life (EOL) care have generally been focused on cancer patients, but high-quality EOL care is also important for patients with other serious medical illnesses including heart failure (HF). Recent HF guidelines offer more clinical considerations for palliative care including EOL care than ever before. Because HF patients can experience rapid, unexpected clinical deterioration or sudden death throughout the disease trajectory, choosing an appropriate time to discuss issues such as advance directives or hospice can be challenging in real clinical situations. Therefore, EOL issues should be discussed early. Conversations are important for understanding patient and family expectations and developing mutually agreed goals of care. In particular, high-quality communication with patient and family through a multidisciplinary team is necessary to define patient-centered goals of care and establish treatment based on goals. Control of symptoms such as dyspnea, pain, anxiety/depression, fatigue, nausea, anorexia, and altered mental status throughout the dying process is an important issue that is often overlooked. When quality-of-life outweighs expanding quantity-of-life, the transition to EOL care should be considered. Advanced care planning including resuscitation (i.e., do-not resuscitate order), device deactivation, site for last days and bereavement support for the family should focus on ensuring a good death and be reviewed regularly. It is essential to ensure that treatment for all HF patients incorporates discussions about the overall goals of care and individual patient preferences at both the EOL and sudden changes in health status. In this review, we focus on EOL care for end-stage HF patients.

• The Korean Journal of Medicine
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• v.99 no.1
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• pp.4-10
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• 2024

Malignant hilar biliary obstruction (MHO), an aggressive type of perihilar biliary obstruction caused by cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, or other metastatic malignancies, has a poor prognosis. Surgical resection is the only curative treatment for biliary malignancies. However, most patients with MHO cannot undergo surgery upon presentation because of their advanced inoperable state or poor performance resulting from old age or comorbid diseases. Therefore, palliative biliary drainage is required to improve symptomatic jaundice and quality of life. Preoperative biliary drainage is controversial in resectable cases of MHO. Preoperative biliary drainage should be considered according to specific selection criteria. Palliative drainage is currently the mainstay of symptomatic treatment. Compared with percutaneous access, primary endoscopic palliation using plastic or metal stents has recently shown higher technical feasibility and clinical success without increasing the frequency of adverse events, even in high-degree MHO. However, the use of stents still has numerous limitations, including challenges in determining the optimal type of stent, number of stents, deployment method, and additional local therapies. Therefore, this report presents the current optimal endoscopic drainage status for MHO based on recent guidelines and published literature.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.152-155
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• 2000

The authors reported a case of terminal pediatric cancer patient. The patient was ten-year-old girl, and she was diagnosed as osteosarcoma with multiple metastasis to lung and bones. She was markedly depressed and had severe bone and chest pain. The patient was treated with hypnotherapy once or twice a week for two months. There was marked improvement in pain control and emotional reactions, and the hospice team could establish good rapport with her. Hypnotherapy would be one of the effective treatment modalities in assisting patients.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.161-164
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• 2001

Elephantiasis, which is the final stage of lymphedema, has swelling, papillomas and discharges in the skin. Although this disease is recorded in literature since 50 AD, the treatment is not yet. After all this time, complex lymphedema therapy (CLT) involving lymphatic massaging, bandaging, exercise, and skin care is becoming recognized as the best approach to care for people who develop lymphedema. The patient was a 30-year-old male who complained of swelling, papillomas, and discharges on left leg. He was received with CLT for 2 months, and the symptoms of him were improved.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2003

The TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) transdermal plaster (also known as "cataplasma") are flexible adhesive patches used for treatment of any pain, resulted from arthritis, sprain and bruise, tendovaginitis, lumbar spine protrude, neuralgia, hyperosteogeny ache, abdominal discomfort and metastatic cancer, etc. This paper provides a review of the TCM transdermal agents for pain palliation and the preparation of these herbal patches.l patches.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2020

Purpose: This study investigated awareness of dying well, as well as attitudes and preferences toward advance directives (ADs), among elderly individuals who lived alone. Methods: The participants were 173 elderly people living alone. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 using questionnaires on perceptions of dying well, awareness of advance directives, and general characteristics. Results: The majority of participants (68.2%) stated that they had never heard of advance directives. The information they requested to include in their advance directives mostly involved decisions on pain treatment, such as the use of analgesic drugs in the final stages of a terminal disease. Perceptions of dying well were statistically significantly different according to age and education. Conclusion: This study discussed the attitudes and preferences of elderly living alone regarding advance directives to provide basic resources for the systematic and active use of advance directives.