• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4645-4649
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• 2012

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MpBC) is a rare disease entity, accounting for less than 1% of all breast carcinomas. Furthermore, it is a heterogenous disease with different subgroups, including malignant epithelial (carcinoma) and stromal (sarcoma) features. Here we evaluated, retrospectively, 14 female MpBC patients admitted to Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital between 2005 and 2011. Median age was 45.5 (range:16.0-76.0) and tumor size 57.5 mm (range: 20.0-80.0 mm). Histopathological subtypes were as follows: 5 carcinosarcoma, 5 squamous and 4 adenosquamous carcinoma. All but one with upfront lung metastasis, had their primary breast tumor operated. Axillary lymph nodes were involved in 64.3%. The most common sites of metastasis were lungs and brain. Chemotherapy including antracycline, taxane and even platinium was planned for adjuvant, neoadjuvant and palliative purposes in 9, 3 and 1 patient, respectively. Median cycles of chemotherapy was 6 (range:4-8). Median follow-up of the patients was 52 months (95%CI 10.4-93.6 month). Median 3 year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in this patients cohort were 33% and 56%, respectively. In conclusion, MpBC is a rare and orphan disease without standardized treatment approaches and the prognosis is poor so that larger studies to investigate different treatment schedules are urgently needed.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.550-569
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of herbal medicine treatment for patients with migraine and to suggest research methods for herbal medicine treatment on migraine. Methods: In this study, a search was conducted through several academic sites using a combination of terms '편두통', 'Migraine', '한약', '한약치료', 'Herbal medicine', 'Herbal medicines', 'Herb', 'Traditional Chinese Medicine', and 'TCM'. Randomized controlled trials using herbal medicine treatments for adult patients with migraine were selected. Results: Ultimately, 46 papers were selected and analyzed. A statistically significant improvement was noted in the treatment group in terms of clinical migraine symptoms and other migraine evaluation tools before and after the herbal medicine treatment. Herbal medicines were administered in decoction, pill, and granule formulations. Many kinds of medicinal herbs, such as 解表藥類, 補益藥類, 淸熱藥類, 活血祛瘀藥類, and 平肝藥類, have been used for migraine. Among them, 川芎, belonging to 活血祛瘀藥類, is mentioned 36 times and is the most frequently used medicine. Herbal medicine was used safely for migraine treatment, without major adverse reactions, and the recurrence rate was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group. Conclusions: In conclusion, the herbal medicine treatment for patients with migraine showed a statistically significant improvement in 46 papers. Future studies should utilize standardized and objective evaluation tools, along with appropriate experimental design. The relevant articles should be increased to a significant level to verify the effect of herbal medicine treatments on migraine.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2010

Objectives : While there are many studies about treatments of facial palsy, no study has been performed on general population of Korea, especially concerning about comparison between western medicine and oriental medicine. This study aimed to investigate magnitude of health visits and treatment patterns for Korean patients with facial palsy through the computerized database of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service(HIRAS). Methods : According to the HIRAS database over 5 years' period from 2004 to 2008, the medical records of patients with facial palsy as a main diagnosis were extracted. Inclusion criteria of facial palsy are Bell's palsy(G510), Geniculate ganglionitis(G511), Melkersson's syndrome(G512), Other disorders of facial nerve(G518), Disorder of facial nerve, unspecified(G519) in western medicine. And Paralytic face(G016), Deviated eye and mouth(J01), The other facial palsy(J013) were included in oriental medicine. We compared the claim number of western medical care with that of oriental medicine treatment by year and month. Results : The total claim number of facial palsy was increasing on both western medicine and oriental medicine from 2004 to 2008. In western medicine, the claim number of Bell's palsy(G510) is the most. In oriental medicine the inpatients claim number of Deviated eye and mouth(J01) is the most, while outpatients claim number of the other facial palsy(J013) is the most. Conclusions : Medical database of HIRAS provided comprehensive and vast information on epidemiologic characteristics and treatment, which can be more reliable data to expect medical demand for facial palsy in condition that accurate diagnosis and standardized treatment is delivered in clinical settings.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.68-79
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• 2010

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to identify job definition, duties and tasks of Korean oncology Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and assess frequency, importance, and difficulty for each of duty and task using the DACUM method. Methods: The DACUM committee was organized with nine oncology APNs. The committee documented the job definition, duties and tasks based on their daily job descriptions. Validity of the elicited duties and tasks was tested by a study team and 6 oncology APNs. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 53 oncology APNs. Results: The job description of oncology APNs was identified 12 duties and 66 tasks. Among the twelve duties, 'education for patients/families' was the most frequently performed and was the most important duty. 'Case management' was the most difficult duty. Among 66 tasks, 'providing education for patients/families' was most frequently performed. 'Providing education for patients/families' and 'assessing patient condition comprehensively' were the most important tasks. 'Implementation research' as the principal investigator was perceived as the most difficult task. Conclusion: In this study, Korean oncology APNs' job performances were identified and analyzed. It is recommended that job description for oncology APNs needs to be standardized and reshaped in advanced way in future.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.676-683
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• 2007

A non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy system like those based on external anatomic motion gives better comfortableness to patients than invasive system on treatment. However, higher correlation between the external and internal anatomic motion is required to increase the effectiveness of non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy. Both of invasive and non-invasive methods need to track the internal anatomy with the higher precision and rapid response. Especially, the non-invasive method has more difficulty to track the target position successively because of using only image processing. So we developed the system to track the motion for a non-invasive respiratory gated system to accurately find the dynamic position of internal structures such as the diaphragm and tumor. The respiratory organ motion tracking apparatus consists of an image capture board, a fluoroscopy system and a processing computer. After the image board grabs the motion of internal anatomy through the fluoroscopy system, the computer acquires the organ motion tracking data by image processing without any additional physical markers. The patients breathe freely without any forced breath control and coaching, when this experiment was performed. The developed pattern-recognition software could extract the target motion signal in real-time from the acquired fluoroscopic images. The range of mean deviations between the real and acquired target positions was measured for some sample structures in an anatomical model phantom. The mean and max deviation between the real and acquired positions were less than 1mm and 2mm respectively with the standardized movement using a moving stage and an anatomical model phantom. Under the real human body, the mean and maximum distance of the peak to trough was measured 23.5mm and 55.1mm respectively for 13 patients' diaphragm motion. The acquired respiration profile showed that human expiration period was longer than the inspiration period. The above results could be applied to respiratory-gated radiotherapy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.131-140
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• 2016

Purpose: The Korean Gastric Cancer Association (KGCA) has conducted nationwide surveys every 5 years, targeting patients who received surgical treatment for gastric cancer. We report the results of the 2014 nationwide survey and compare them to those of the 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2009 surveys. Materials and Methods: From March 2015 to January 2016, a standardized case report form was sent to every member of the KGCA via e-mail. The survey consisted of 29 questions, regarding patient demographics as well as tumor-, and surgery-related factors. The completed data forms were analyzed by the KGCA information committee. Results: Data on 15,613 patients were collected from 69 institutions. The mean age was $60.9{\pm}12.1$ years, and the proportion of patients more than 70 years of age increased from 9.1% in 1995 to 25.3% in 2014. Proximal cancer incidence steadily increased from 11.2% in 1995 to 16.0% in 2014. Early gastric cancer incidence consistently increased and accounted for 61.0% of all cases in 2014. The surgical approach was diversified in 2014, and 7,818 cases (50.1%) were treated with a minimally invasive approach. The most common anastomosis was Billroth I (50.2%) after distal gastrectomy, and the proportion of Roux-en-Y anastomoses performed increased to 8.6%. Conclusions: The results of this survey are expected to be important data for future studies and to be useful for generating a national cancer control program.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.95-103
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate antihypertensive effect by single adminstration of Chunghyul-dan in stroke patients. Methods: This is a 31-patient case series from retrospective chart review of inpatients who diagnosed with stroke at a Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital (Seoul) between October 2016 to October 2017. We reviewed patient's charts with transient and sudden increases in blood pressure who were treated with Chunghyul-dan and analyzed blood pressure over time. In addition we classified patients by using the standardized predictive models for Korean medical diagnostic pattern-identification to find out if there are some differences in responder ratios. Results: Thirty one patients who took Chunghyul-dan were identified. 60 minutes, 120 minutes after 1200mg administration, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly compared to baseline. We could not identify the difference between the groups of each pattern-identification because of small number of some groups. Conclusions: Although limited by its retrospective nature, this study suggests that Chunghyul-dan may be effective as short term antihypertensive method for stroke patient.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to improve the asymmetrical weight-bearing ratio, by applying different repetitive sit-to-stand training methods to the paretic-side foot of hemiplegic patients, as well as to provide the necessary information for applying balance training with hemiplegic patients. Methods: The subjects were divided into two groups: a spontaneous foot group and an asymmetrical foot group. They all performed repetitive sit-to-stand training five times a week for a total of six weeks. The sit-to-standing movement was studied using standardized clinical tests. The Biodex Balance System, Time up and go test (TUG), 5 times sit-to-stand test (5XSST), and functional reach test (FRT) were used to measure the static and dynamic standing balance of the patients. Results: In the balance system measurement, the results for the overall index, ant-post index, med-lat index, fall risk index, 5XSST, and FRT after the training differed significantly between the comparison groups (p<0.05). In the evaluation of dynamic balance, the differences in TUG did not differ significantly between the comparison groups after the training (p>0.05). Conclusion: The study found that the asymmetrical group showed significant increases in static and dynamic balance in comparison to the spontaneous group after repetitive sit-to-stand training. Based on this result, it is clear that training in an asymmetrical position with the paretic foot back can increase the left-right stability limit and the anterior-posterior stability limit, thus improving balance control.