• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.122-126
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• 2010

Purpose: F-18-FPCIT that shows strong familiarity with DAT located at a neural terminal site offers diagnostic information about DAT density state in the region of the striatum especially Parkinson's disease. In this study, we altered the iteration and subset and measured SUV${\pm}$SD and Contrasts from phantom images which set up to specific iteration and subset. So, we are going to suggest the appropriate range of the iteration and subset. Materials and Methods: This study has been performed with 10 normal volunteers who don't have any history of Parkinson's disease or cerebral disease and Flangeless Esser PET Phantom from Data Spectrum Corporation. $5.3{\pm}0.2$ mCi of F-18-FPCIT was injected to the normal group and PET Phantom was assembled by ACR PET Phantom Instructions and it's actual ratio between hot spheres and background was 2.35 to 1. Brain and Phantom images were acquired after 3 hours from the time of the injection and images were acquired for ten minutes. Basically, SIEMENS Bio graph 40 True-point was used and True-X method was applied for image reconstruction method. The iteration and Subset were set to 2 iterations, 8 subsets, 3 iterations, 16 subsets, 6 iterations, 16 subsets, 8 iterations, 16 subsets and 8 iterations, 21 subsets respectively. To measure SUVs on the brain images, ROIs were drawn on the right Putamen. Also, Coefficient of variance (CV) was calculated to indicate the uniformity at each iteration and subset combinations. On the phantom study, we measured the actual ratio between hot spheres and back ground at each combinations. Same size's ROIs were drawn on the same slide and location. Results: Mean SUVs were 10.60, 12.83, 13.87, 13.98 and 13.5 at each combination. The range of fluctuation by sets were 22.36%, 10.34%, 1.1%, and 4.8% respectively. The range of fluctuation of mean SUV was lowest between 6 iterations 16 subsets and 8 iterations 16 subsets. CV showed 9.07%, 11.46%, 13.56%, 14.91% and 19.47% respectively. This means that the numerical value of the iteration and subset gets higher the image's uniformity gets worse. The range of fluctuation of CV by sets were 2.39, 2.1, 1.35, and 4.56. The range of fluctuation of uniformity was lowest between 6 iterations, 16 subsets and 8 iterations, 16 subsets. In the contrast test, it showed 1.92:1, 2.12:1, 2.10:1, 2.13:1 and 2.11:1 at each iteration and subset combinations. A Setting of 8 iterations and 16 subsets reappeared most close ratio between hot spheres and background. Conclusion: Findings on this study, SUVs and uniformity might be calculated differently caused by variable reconstruction parameters like filter or FWHM. Mean SUV and uniformity showed the lowest range of fluctuation at 6 iterations 16 subsets and 8 iterations 16 subsets. Also, 8 iterations 16 subsets showed the nearest hot sphere to background ratio compared with others. But it can not be concluded that only 6 iterations 16 subsets and 8 iterations 16 subsets can make right images for the clinical diagnosis. There might be more factors that can make better images. For more exact clinical diagnosis through the quantitative analysis of DAT density in the region of striatum we need to secure healthy people's quantitative values.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 1986

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) using crude and affinity-purified antigens of adult worms of Paragonimus westermani was performed for infected cat sera with different worm burden, from preinfection to 18th week after infection. Crude antigen was used with supernatant of homogenated worms by freezing-thawing method, and the supernate was centrifuged for 1 hour at 10,000 rpm at $4^{\circ}C$. Affinity-purified antigen(antibody-bound antigen) was prepared from fractions(bound and unbound) of crude antigen by affinity chromatography on CNBr-activated sepharose 4B, and IgG as a ligand was prepared from paragonimiasis cat serum(6 months infected) obtained by ammonium sulfate ($40%{\sim}45%$ saturated) precipitation method. By SDS-PAGE, crude antigen showed 22 polypeptide fractions while purified antigen showed 4 fractions: 36, 400, 34, 700, 27, 600 and 11, 500 in molecular weights. All cats were divided into five groups($G_1-G_5$) by different worm burdens. The mean of recovered worms(${\pm}SD$) and the number of cats in each group are as follows: $G_1$, 2 worms(0) and 4 cats; $G_2$, 4.75 (${\pm}0.66$) and eight; $G_3$, 10.75(${\pm}1.92$) and four; $G_4$, 23.20(${\pm}3.43$) and five; $G_5$, 48(${\pm}12.63$) and five cats. The results were summarized as follows: 1. The antibody levels(OD value) increased by worm burden in $G_1$ to $G_4$ generally. However, individual antibody levels were not exactly related with worm burden in all groups, especially there was a wide difference in $G_4$ and $G_5$. These results suggested that the worm burden in $G_4$ (about $20{\sim}30$ worms) is enough to produce antibody maximum in cats of $2{\sim}3kg$ weight. 2. The antibody levels increased significantly(p<0.05) compared to control sera at the 3rd week in $G_1$ and $G_2$, at the 2nd week in $G_3$, and at the 1st week in $G_4$ and $G_5$. Especially in the 4th week, OD value increased more in $G_1$(p<0.01) and in $G_2$ to $G_5$(p<0.001). In the pattern of antibody levels by ELISA in each group, OD in $G_1$ increased to the 18th week continuously, in $G_2$ OD was maintained same after the 16th week, but in $G_3$ it decreased after the 16th week, and it was maintained same in $G_4$ and $G_5$ after the 14th week. 3. The antibody levels by ELISA with the affinity-purified antigen were higher than those with crude antigen in all groups generally. Especially, the difference of OD values between two antigens was larger from the 4th to the 10th week. In $G_1$ and $G_2$ OD with purified antigen was higher than that with crude one to the 18th week. It was also higher in $G_3$ than that with crude antigen to the 16th week and OD of $G_4$ and $G_5$ were higher before the 14th week than that with crude antigen, however became lower at the 16th week. Consequently, the antibody level in ELISA with affinity-purified antigen was more sensitive at the early weeks after infection and in light infection groups than that with crude antigen.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2011

Our goal is to assess the suitability of a glass dosimeter on detection of high-energy electron beams for clinical use, especially for radiation therapy. We examined the dosimetric characteristics of glass dosimeters including dose linearity, reproducibility, angular dependence, dose rate dependence, and energy dependence of 5 different electron energy qualities. The GD was irradiated with high-energy electron beams from the medical linear accelerator andgamma rays from a cobalt-60 teletherapy unit. All irradiations were performed in a water phantom. The result of the dose linearity for high-energy electron beams showed well fitted regression line with the coefficient of determination; $R^2$ of 0.999 between 6 and 20 MeV. The reproducibility of GDs exposed to the nominal electron energies 6, 9, 12, 16, and 20 MeV was ${\pm}1.2%$. In terms of the angular dependence to electron beams,GD response differences to the electron beam were within 1.5% for angles ranging from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$ and GD's maximum response differencewas 14% lower at 180o. In the dose rate dependence, measured dose values were normalized to the value obtained from 500 MU/min. The uncertainties of dose rate were measured within ${\pm}1.5%$ except for the value from 100 MU/min. In the evaluation of the energy dependence of the GD at nominal electron energies between 6 and 20 MeV, we obtained lower responses between 1.1% and 4.5% based on cobalt-60 beam. Our results show that GDs have a considerable potentiality for measuring doses delivered by high-energy electron beams.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.328-341
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• 1995

I. Shear Bond Strength to Air-dried and Remoistened Dentin.. The effect of air-drying and remoistening of acid-conditioned dentin before priming with the primer of All-Bond 2(BISCO. INC., U. S. A.) on shear bond strength(SBS) was investigated. Ninty freshly extracted sound human molars were divided at random into 9 groups of 10 teeth each. SBSs were meaured for acid-conditioned and non-conditioned dentin to which the primer and bonding agent of All-Bond 2 and composite resin(Z-100, 3M Dental Products, U. S. A.) were applied. The following values(Mean${\pm}$ SD, MPa) were obtained for the groups conditioned with 10% phosphoric acid for 15 seconds: Group l(blot dried) $6.7{\pm}4.1$ ; Group 2(10 seconds dried) $16.1{\pm}5.3$ ; Group 3(20 seconds dried) $15.4{\pm}4.8$ ; Group 4(30 seconds dried) $15.2{\pm}6.3$ ; Group 5(10 seconds dried/remoistened) $26.4{\pm}2.6$ ; Group 6(20 seconds dired/remositened) $22.2{\pm}2.7$ ; Group 7(30 seconds dried/remoistened) $21.5{\pm}4.1$. For the non-conditioned groups the values were: Group 8 (blot dried) $13.3{\pm}2.6$ ; Group 9(10 seconds dried) $12.9{\pm}3.5$. The data were analyzed using ANOVA. In the acid-conditioned groups, mean values of SBS for the air-dried specimens(Grps. 2, 3 and 4) and the 20 and 30 seconds dried/remoistened specimens (Grps. 6 and 7) were significantly lower than that of blot dried specimens.(p<0.05) The value for 10 seconds dried/remoistened specimens (Grp. 5), however, was not statistically different compared to that of blot dried specimens.(p>0.05) In the non-conditined groups, there was no statistical difference between blot dried and 10 seconds dried specimens.(p>0.05) The results suggest that the acid-conditioned dentin surface is more vulnerable to dentin bonding when it is air-dried or even remoistened after long period of drying. II. Shear bond stengh to the moistened and primed enamel. The effect of moistening and priming of enamel compared to the air-drying of enamel on the shear bond strength of enamel bonding agent was investigated. The experiment was divided into 4 groups each containing 10 caries-free maxillary incisor teeth. Shear bond strength values were measured for the primed and non-primed enamel to which All-Bond 2 and Z-100 were applied. The following values(MPa) were obtained for the primed groups pretreated with 32 % phosphoric acid for 15 seconds. : Group 1 (10 seconds dried) $29.8{\pm}2.2$ ; Group 2(moistened) $26.8{\pm}5.4$. For the non-primed groups the values were: Group 3(10 seconds dried/primed) $27.6{\pm}5.0$ ; Group 4(mostened/primed) $28.2{\pm}3.5$. The data were subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA. The results showed that mean shear bond strengths among the experimental groups were not statistically different. (p>0.05) Conclusively, It is suggested that the bonding ability to enamel is not decreased by the moistening and priming of the enamel.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 1994

It is known that the normal His-Purkinje system provides for nearly synchronous activation of right (RV) and left (LV) ventricles. When His-Purkinje conduction is abnormal, the resulting sequence of ventricular contraction must be correspondingly abnormal. These abnormal mechanical consequences were difficult to demonstrate because of the complexity and the rapidity of it's events. To determine the relationship of the phase changes and the abnormalities of ventricular conduction, we performed phase image analysis of $^{99m}Tc$-RBC gated blood pool scintigrams in patients with intraventricular conduction disturbances (24 complete left bundle branch block (C-LBBB), 15 complete right bundle branch block (C-RBBB), 13 Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), 10 controls). The results were as follows; 1) The ejection fraction (EF), peak ejection rate (PER), and peak filling rate (PFR) of LV in gated blood pool scintigraphy (GBPS) were significantly lower in patients with C-LBBB than in controls ($44.4{\pm}13.9%$ vs $69.9{\pm}4.2%,\;2.48{\pm}0.98$ vs $3.51{\pm}0.62,\;1.76{\pm}0.71$ vs $3.38{\pm}0.92$, respectively, p<0.05). 2) In the phase angle analysis of LV, Standard deviation (SD), width of half maximum of phase angle (FWHM), and range of phase angle were significantly increased in patients with C-LBBB than in controls ($20.6{\pm}18.1$ vs $8.6{\pm}1.8,\;22.5{\pm}9.2$ vs $16.0{\pm}3.9,\;95.7{\pm}31.7$ vs $51.3{\pm}5.4$, respectively, p<0.05). 3) There was no significant difference in EF, PER, PFR between patients with the Wolff-parkinson-White syndrome and controls. 4) Standard deviation and range of phase angle were significantly higher in patients with WPW syndrome than in controls ($10.6{\pm}2.6$ vs $8.6{\pm}1.8$, p<0.05, $69.8{\pm}11.7$ vs $51.3{\pm}5.4$, p<0.001, respectively), however, there was no difference between the two groups in full width of half maximum. 5) Phase image analysis revealed relatively uniform phase across the both ventricles in patients with normal conduction, but markedly delayed phase in the left ventricle of patients with LBBB. 6) In 13 cases of WPW syndrome, the site of preexcitation could be localized in 10 cases (77%) by phase image analysis. Therefore, it can be concluded that phase image analysis can provide an accurate noninvasive method to detect the mechanical consequences of a wide variety of abnormal electrical activation in ventricles.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2001

Background : Bronchial asthma is characterized by a reversible airway obstruction, airway hyperresponsiveness, and eosinophilic airway inflammation. The bronchodilator response(BDR) after short acting beta agonist inhalation and PC20 with methacholine inhalation are frequently used for diagnosing bronchial asthma. However, the relationship between the presence of a bronchodilator response and the degree of airway hyperresponsiveness is uncertain. Therefore, the availability of a eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and a correlation ECP with a bronchodilator response and airway hyperresponsiveness was investigated. Method : A total 71 patients with a moderate to severe degree of bronchial asthma were enrolled and divided into two groups. 31 patients with a positive bronchodilator response and 38 patients with a negative bronchodilator response were evaluated. In both groups, the serum ECP, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, and total IgE level were measured and the methacholine bronchial provocation test was examined. Results : There were no differences observed in age, sex, atopy, and baseline spirometry in both groups. The peripheral eosinophil counts showed no difference in both groups, but the ECP level in group 1 (bronchodilator responder group) was higher than in group 2(non-bronchodilator responder group) ($22.4{\pm}20.7$ vs $14.2{\pm}10.4$, mean$\pm$SD). The PC20 in group 1 was significantly lower than in group 2 ($1.14{\pm}1.68$ vs $66{\pm}2.98$). There was a significant positive correlation between the BDR and ECP, and a negative correlation between the bronchial hyperresponsiveness and ECP. Conclusion : The bronchodilator response significantly correlated with the bronchial hyperresponsiveness and serum ECP in the moderate to severe asthma patients. Hence, the positive bronchodilator response is probably related with active bronchial inflammation and may be used as a valuable index in treatment, course and prognosis of bronchial asthma.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.186-189
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• 2005

For the assessment of the clinical application of histogram on internal parenchymal organs, ultrasonography with a multi-frequency transducer was taken. We scanned in the region of right cranial abdomen for both liver and right kidney, and left cranial abdomen for liver, spleen and left kidney in 9 normal Beagle dogs. The data from histogram examined in a region of interest centered on each picture element of B-mode images at the same depth were compared among liver, renal cortex, spleen, cortex and medulla of each kidney. The right renal cortex showed significantly lower echogenicity than parenchyma of liver by $15{\%}$. Spleen was more echogenic than the cortex of the left kidney by $23{\%}$, and liver was more echogenic than the left renal cortex by $30{\%}$. Renal cortex was more echogenic than medulla by $47{\%}$ and $65{\%}$ on the right and left side, respectively (p<0.05). The mean (${\pm}SD$) values calculated echogenicity were $46.2{\pm}12.3\;(95\%$ confidential interval (CI), 41.0 to 55.0) and $53.4{\pm}12.1\;(95\%$ CI, 47.0 to 55.1) in in the right renal cortex and liver parenchyma, $65.0{\pm}11.8\;(95\%$ CI, 57.9 to 71.0) and $51.0{\pm}16.9\;(95\%$ CI, 42.8 to 54.1) in splenic parenchyma and renal cortex. And the mean values calculated echogenicity were $65.0{\pm}10.15\;(95\%$ CI, 60.1 to 71.5) and $52.0{\pm}9.4\;(95\$ CI, 43.8 to 60.3) in liver parenchyma and the left renal cortex, $54.5{\pm}18.3\;(95\%$ CI, 40.1 to 62.8) and $35.0{\pm}16.2\;(95\%$ CI, 24.2 to 43.6) in the left renal cortex and medulla. And the mean values calculated echogenicity were $55.0{\pm}14.4\;(95\%$ CI, 47.3 to 61.7) and $40.0{\pm}13.2\;(95\%$ CI, 34.3 to 46.7) in the right renal cortex and medulla, respectively. In addition, the echogenicity ratios were $0.86{\pm}0.11$ between the right renal cortex and liver parenchyma, $1.37{\pm}0.47$ between spleenic parenchyma and the left renal cortex, $1.30{\pm}0.19$ between liver parenchyma and the left renal cortex. All the values measured showed significant different (p<0.05). Ultrasound histogram is simple, useful and feasible to evaluate the sonographic architecture of the internal organs such as liver, spleen and kidney, quantitatively.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.281-292
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• 1997

The objective of this study was to compare retrospectively the survival and pregnancy rates(PR) of cryopresered-thawed embryos obtained from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF). Ninety-six cycles of cryopresered-thawed embryo transfer (ET) were performed in 79 patients from June, 1996 to September, 1997 and grouped as followings: 20 cycles (16 patients) inseminated by ICSI (ICSI Group) and 76 cycles (63 patients) by conventional IVF (IVF Group). Slow-freezing and rapid-thawing protocol was used with 1.5M propanediol (PROH) and 0.1M sucrose as cryoprotectant. All embryos were frozen-thawed at the two pronuclear (2 PN) stage excluding four cycles in which the early cleavage stage embryos were frozen, and allowed to cleave in vitro for one day before ET. The duration from freezing to thawing was comparable in both groups ($mean{\pm}SD$, $112.1{\pm}80.0$ vs. $124.8{\pm}140.1$ days). The age of female ($31.2{\pm}3.4$ vs. $32.6{\pm}3.3$ years) and the endometrial thickness prior to progesterone injection ($9.4{\pm}2.0$ vs. $9.3{\pm}1.8$ mm) were also comparable in both groups. There was no significant difference in the outcomes of cryopreserved-thawed ET between two groups: survival rate ($85.2{\pm}16.1%$ vs. $82.2{\pm}19.7%$), cleavage rate ($96.9{\pm}6.7%$ vs. $94.7{\pm}13.0%$), cumulative embryo score (CES, $54.5{\pm}31.1$ vs. $49.0{\pm}20.0$), preclinical loss rate (5.0% vs. 5.3%), clinical miscarriage rate (0% vs 29.4%), clinical PR per transfer (35.0% vs. 22.4%), implantation rate (9.9% vs. 5.6%), and multifetal PR (42.9% vs. 17.6%). In conclusion, human embryos resulting from ICSI can be cryopreserved-thawed and transferred successfully, and the survival rate and PR are comparable to conventional IVF.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.52-58
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• 2012

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) often have more aggravated symptoms in the supine position. We tried to investigate the clinical characteristics and the predictive factors for positional OSA. Polysomnographic data were reviewed for OSA patients (apnea hypopnea index, $AHI{\geq}5$) from April, 2008 to April, 2011 at the Asan Medical Center. Clinical data, comorbid medical condition data and questionnaires (SF-36, MFI-20, ESS, BDI, STAI) were assessed. All patients were classified into two groups: positional patients (PP) group and non-positional patients (NPP) group. PP was defined as a patient who had the AHI in the supine position was at least twice as high as that in the lateral position. The body position of patients was confirmed by sleep position sensor and video monitor. All patients had at least 30 minutes of positional and 30 minutes of non-positional sleep. We compared clinical, medical, polysomnographic data, and questionnaire results between two (PP and NPP) groups and investigated predictive factors for the PP group using binary logistic regression analysis. In total, 371 patients were investigated. 265 (71.4%) was categorized as PP group and 106 (28.5%) as NPP group. The mean age ($mean{\pm}SD$) was higher in the PP group ($52.4{\pm}9.8$) than in the NPP group ($49.5{\pm}11.9$) (p<0.05). Comparison of sleep parameters between the PP and the NPP group showed that the PP group had significantly lower BMI (PP: $26.1{\pm}3.2kg/m^2$; NPP: $27.8{\pm}4.3kg/m^2$, p<0.001), neck circumference (PP: $39.7{\pm}2.8cm$; NPP: $41.5{\pm}3.7cm$, p<0.001) and hypertension rate (PP: n=89/265 (33.5%); NPP: n=48/106 (45.2%), p=0.0240). In the PP group, the percentage of deep sleep (PP: $8.7{\pm}8.1%$; NPP: $5.6{\pm}7.0%$, P=0.001) and rapid eye movement (REM) (PP: $17.5{\pm}6.1%$; NPP: $14.0{\pm}6.9%$, p<0.001) were significantly higher whereas the percentage of light sleep (stage N1) was significantly lower than the NPP group (PP: $30.4{\pm}12.3$; NPP: $44.5{\pm}20.8%$, p<0.001). During the sleep, the AHI in the supine position (PP: $48.6{\pm}19.5$; NPP: $60.5{\pm}22.6$, p<0.001) and in the non-supine position (PP: $9.4{\pm}8.9$; NPP: $48.4{\pm}24.8$, p=<0.001) were significantly lower and the minimal arterial oxygen saturation in non-REM sleep was significantly higher in the PP group (PP: $80.3{\pm}7.6$; NPP: $75.1{\pm}9.9$, p=<0.001). There were no significant differences in all questionnaires including quality of life. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis showed that age, the amount of REM sleep(%) and AHI were significant predictive factors for positional OSA. The significant predictive factors for positional OSA were older age, higher percentage of REM and lower AHI. The questionnaire results were not significantly different between the two groups.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2000

Purpose: Pregnancy in transplanted mother is considered as a high-risk pregnancy, and significant incidences of prematurity and low-birthweight(LBW) infants have been reported. The objective of this study is to examine the outcome of pregnancy in transplanted mothers and to evaluate the current growth status in their children. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 54 pregnancies in 40 kidney recipients until June 1999. Outcomes of pregnancy were reviewed and assessment of the current growth status in children was performed. Results: 54 pregnancies in 40 recipients were identified; 22 ended in termination of pregnancy because of unwanted pregnancy or therapeutic purposes. And of the other 32, 29 livebirths resulted in 28 recipients. The mean age of conception was $30.3{\pm}3.8$ years, with a mean interval from transplantation to conception of $35.9{\pm}23.2$ months. All patients were maintained on immunosuppressive regimens. Incidence of drug-treated hypertension(HTN) prior to pregancy was $52\%$, HTN during pregnancy, $48\%$; preeclampsia, $41\%$; urinary tract infection, $48\%$; oligohydramnios $4\%$; and no rejection during pregnancy and up to 3month post delivery. Of the 29 liveborn infants, prematurity(<37wk) occurred in $52\%$, LBW(<2500g) in $62\%$, VLBW(<1500g) in $7\%$ and $48\%$ born intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR). Mean gestational age was $36.3{\pm}3.0\;wk$; a mean birthweight, $2.23{\pm}0.6\;kg$; a mean birth-height, $45.1{\pm}3.6cm$. Current mean height standard deviation score (height SDS) was $0.29{\pm}0.91$ and mean weight SDS was $0.62{\pm}1.34$. Only one child($4\%$) under 1 year of age was below 10 percentile in height. Most of children had no medical problems except for 4 children; cleft palate(1), tuberous sclerosis(1), essential hematuria(1), and one child expired due to sepsis. Conclusion: This study showed similar incidence of premaure birth($57\%$) and low birth weight infants($62\%$), but lower incidence of spontaneous abortion($5.6\%$) was observed and compared to other studies. Postnatal growth in majority of children($96\%$) achieved catch-up growth before 1 year. Present study supports a more optimistic view of pregnancy in renal transplant mother and normal growth in their children.