• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.109-118
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• 2019

Physical activities in the forest environment stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system of humans and have positive effects on the autonomic nervous system as well as moods and emotions. However, there are almost no studies on the benefits of exercise in the forest environment for patients with myocardial infarction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 15-minute single session walking by myocardial infarction patients in the forest and urban environment on the physiological and psychological states. The heart rate variability was measured in 10 patients with myocardial infarction to assess physiological state after single session walking for 15 minutes in the forest environment and urban environment. In order to evaluate the psychological state, a profile of mood scale (POMS) and semantic differential (SD) questionnaire were used. The results of this study showed that 15-minute single session walking in the forest environment activated the parasympathetic nervous system of adult myocardial infarction patients more than 15 minutes of single session walking in the urban environment, and also made them feel more positive in terms of the POMS and SD. Therefore, this study suggests that even single session walking in the forest environment can positively influence the physiological and psychological states of adult heart disease patients and may also contribute to health care.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.896-901
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• 2007

Objectives : This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of patients with single infarction and multiple infarctions. Method : We studied inpatients who were admitted from 2005/10/1 to 2007/3/30 at the KyungHee University Oriental Medical Center (KOMC) Department of Cardiovascular & Neurology (stroke center). We sorted small vessel occlusion patients and evaluated general characteristics of the patients along with the characteristics of single and multiple infarction patients. Result : We evaluated 262 inpatients, and did not find any significant difference in age, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, diet, exercise, homocysteine, or Sasang constitution between single infarction and multiple infarction. However, there were more significant associations with patients' smoking and stress with multiple infarctions than single infarction. Conclusion : From this study we could roughly grasp the characteristics of Small Vessel Occlusion patients and evaluated the characteristics of patients with multiple infarction. However, due to the special circumstance of the KOMC inpatients it is difficult to generalize our results; further multiple center research with a larger study group is needed.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.182-185
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• 2007

Acute stroke with isolated monoparesis manifesting as distal weakness of a single lower extremity has rarely been described. We report two patients with small cortical infarction who had distal weakness of a single lower extremity. In both cases, diffusion-weighted image [DWI] was used to detect small lesions in the contralateral cortex. These cases illustrate that small cortical infarction can cause isolated monoparesis limited to distal part of the leg and it may be misdiagnosed as spinal lesions, especially when lower back pain and transient sensory symptoms are accompanied. In case of the abrupt onset of weakness limited to one lower limb, the possibility of stroke should be considered and careful attention to identify cortical lesions using magnetic resonance imaging, especially DWI is required.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.993-999
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• 2008

Ischemic brain injury such as cerebral infarction is characterized by acute local inflammatory response mediated by cytokines. The mechanism of cytokines involved in cerebral infarction progression are uncompletely revealed yet. We investigated to find out the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of interleukin 4 receptor(IL4R) and Oriental Medicine therapy efficacy in patients with cerebral infarction for 2 weeks. Oriental Korean Medicine therapies (herbal medicine and acupuncture) were applied daily and motor functions of patients were assessed using the modified cerebral vascular accident (MCVA) scores. Genotyping for IL4R polymorphism was done by pyrosequencing analysis. In IL4R genotypes and the frequency of alleles, there was no significant difference between cerebral infarction patients (n=124) and controls group (n=175). And there was also no significant difference among good and bad responders in cerebral infarction patients. In this study the IL4R genotype might not be the risk factor or a good predictive genetic marker for good and bad responders in cerebral infarction patients in Korean. Further studies including different cytokine genes will be necessary for the exact genetic markers.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2014

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical characteristics of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) in a single center in Korea. Methods : A total of 36 patients were diagnosed with CVT from August 2005 to May 2013. The patient data regarding age, sex, disease stage, pathogenesis, location, laboratory findings, radiological findings, and treatment modalities were retrospectively collected. The results were compared with those of previous studies in other countries. Results : The patient group comprised 21 men and 15 women with a mean age of 46.9 years (ranging from three months to 77 years). The most common cause was a prothrombotic condition (8 patients, 22.2%). Within the patient group, 13 patients (36.1%) had a hemorrhagic infarction, whereas 23 (63.9%) had a venous infarction without hemorrhage. By location, the incidence of hemorrhagic infarction was the highest in the group with a transverse and/or sigmoid sinus thrombosis (n=9); however, the proportion of hemorrhagic infarction was higher in the cortical venous thrombosis group (75%) and the deep venous thrombosis group (100%). By pathogenesis, the incidence of hemorrhagic infarction was the highest in the prothrombotic group (n=6), which was statistically significant (p=0.016). Conclusion : According to this study, CVT was more prevalent in men, and the peak age group comprised patients in the sixth decade. The most common cause was a prothrombotic condition. This finding was comparable with reports from Europe or America, in which CVT was more common in younger women. Hemorrhagic infarction was more common in the prothrombotic group (p=0.016) than in the non-prothrombotic group in this study.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1030-1039
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• 1988

From 1985 through Oct. 1988, we have experienced 5 cases of Aorto-Coronary Bypass Surgery [ACBS] and 3 cases of Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Anogioplasty [PTCA]under the diagnosis of unstable angina. There were 6 males and 2 females who ranged from 48 to 70 years old. Almost all patients had a evidence of hypertension & hyperlipidemia. Two patients showed old myocardial infarction and remaining patients showed myocardial ischemia on resting state. The patterns of involvement of coronary artery disease were single vessel disease [4 cases], double vessel disease [3 cases], Triple vessel disease [1 case]. Among 5 cases of ACBS, double bypass graft was in 3 cases and single bypass graft was in 2 cases. Mode of anastomosis were all individual anastomosis, using Saphenous vein graft. Postoperative complications were perioperative myocardial infarction [2 cases], postoperative bleeding [1 case], leg wound disruption [1 case]. Perioperative myocardial infarction cases didn*t survive. In cases of PTCA, there were no complications. Follow up periods were ranged from 1 month to 25 months. All survived cases were asymptomatic except one case, who showed Functional Class II.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2002

Objective : Hyperhomocysteinemia has been proven to be an independent risk factor for stroke. The genetic mutation of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase(MTHFR) elevates serum homocysteine level, but it still remains controversial whether the MTHFR gene mutation could be a predictor of ischemic stroke. Therefore, we studied if this genetic defect could cause ischemic stroke independently. Methods : We gathered ischemic stroke subjects and age, sex-matched controls. Age, gender, past medical history, smoking habit, serum homocysteine level, and the MTHFR genotype were recorded. General characteristics of ischemic stroke subjects were compared to the controls. We classified the stroke according to the related vessels(small and large artery infarction) and single lesion and multiple infraction. Relevant risk of the MTHFR genotype was evaluated in each stroke subtype with multiple logistic regression analysis. Results : When the controls were compared to the whole ischemic stroke, there was no specific difference except some medical histories. However, further analysis based on stroke subtypes showed important results. The small artery infarction group, multiple infraction group had significant odds ratio of the MTHFR TT genotype adjusted for age, gender, medical history and smoking habit. Conclusions : The MTHFR TT genotype is an independent risk factor for certain types of ischemic stroke, small artery infarction and multiple infarction.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.337-340
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• 1999

Thallium-201 brain SPECT is utilized in the diagnosis of brain tumor especially in cases where CT or MRI findings alone cannot differentiate malignant lesion from benign. Recently we came across two cases of positive T1-201 brain SPECT in clinically suspected brain tumor patients that turned out to be hemorrhagic cerebral infarction instead on biopsy. The findings in these cases demonstrate that thallium-201 accumulation may occur by the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and phagocytic cell infiltration in the liquefaction stage of infarction.

• Journal of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.403-410
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• 2023

Objective: While patients with medically intractable acute cerebellar infarction typically undergo suboccipital craniectomy and removal of the infarcted tissue, this procedure is associated with long operating times and postoperative complications. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of minimally invasive navigation-guided burr hole aspiration surgery for the treatment of acute cerebellar infarction. Methods: Between January 2015 and December 2021, 14 patients with acute cerebellar infarction, who underwent navigation-guided burr hole aspiration surgery, were enrolled in this study. Results: The preoperative mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was 12.7, and the postoperative mean GCS score was 14.3. The mean infarction volume was 34.3 cc at admission and 23.5 cc immediately following surgery. Seven days after surgery, the mean infarction volume was 15.6 cc. There were no surgery-related complications during the 6-month follow-up period and no evidence of clinical deterioration. The mean operation time from skin incision to catheter insertion was 28 min, with approximately an additional 13 min for extra-ventricular drainage. The mean Glasgow Outcome Scale score after 6 months was 4.8. Conclusions: Navigation-guided burr hole aspiration surgery is less time-consuming and invasive than conventional craniectomy, and is a safe and effective treatment option for acute cerebellar infarction in selected cases, with no surgery-related complication.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.179-189
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• 2009

Objectives : Coptidis Rhizoma (Coptis japonica MAKINO; CR) is a well known crude drug as antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity. However, there is no study of the effect of CR on brain infarction and it's mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on ischemic stroke induced by photothrombotic infarction by evaluating the functional & neuronal recovery after brain infarction. Materials & Methods : Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) were induced photothrombotic brain infarction on sensorimotor cortex, and brain infarction volume by image J software (NIH, USA) after Nissl stain, also single pellet reaching task as a functional motor recovery were observed. After orally pretreated by CR (500 mg/kg) or normal saline as a sham control before 7 days from the time of photothrombotic infarction, rats were sacrificed. After then we analysed anti-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6, IL-1$\beta$), by RT-PCR and ELISA method, and immunohistochemistry (GFAP, connexin-43) as a marker of neural plasticity. Results : CR (100, 250, 500 mg/kg) decreased the infarction volume dose-dependently, however the effect of 500mg/kg of CR (CR 500) showed the best (P=0.051). Also, CR 500 decreased the infarction volume time-dependently, the most effective time was 3-7 days after stroke. Photothrombosis increased inflammatory cytokines after infarction, CR 500 suppressed significantly mRNA expression of IL-1$\beta$, IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$. In serum, CR 500 decreased the amount of IL-1$\beta$, 12h, 24h and 48h respectively (p < 0.05), also decreased that of IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$, 12h respectively (p < 0.05) after infarction. The more astrocytes were observed and neural plasticity was facilitated in the rat brain of CR 500 than that of sham control in immunohistochemistry. Conclusions : This results suggest that CR decrease infarction volume and improve functional motor recovery in acute stage in photothrombotic ischemic infarction model in the mechanism of anti-inflammation and promoting neural plasticity.