• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2001

Biliary atresia (BA) is very difficult to distinguish from neonatal hepatitis (NH) and its prognosis depends on the age at the time of Kasai operation. Therefore early differentiation between these two conditions is very important. Although various clinical and laboratory tests have been reported to differentiate between them, they are still of limited value. From 1980 to 1999, forty-five infants were referred to our pediatric surgical unit for operation for suspected BA. Eight patients underwent Kasai operation immediately because of late diagnosis. These were excluded from the study. The clinical history, physical findings. radiologic and laboratory examinations of 37 cases were analyzed retrospectively. The average age of BA (n=20) was $55.1{\pm}16.7$ days, and that of NH (n=17) was $55.8{\pm}15.6$ days. The sex ratio of BA was 13:7, and that of NH was 14:3. All the patients had obstructive jaundice and acholic stool except 4 BA and 6 NH patients. Acholic stool with yellow component was more frequent in NH. Onset of jaundice was within 2 weeks after birth in 85 % of BA, and in 65% of NH. The onset of acholic stool was within 2 weeks after birth in 60 % of BA, and in 23.5 % of NH. The duration of jaundice and acholic stool of BA were $50.9{\pm}16.6$ days and $41.3{\pm}18.4$ days and those of NH were $40.1{\pm}23.1$ days and $26.6{\pm}25.4$ days respectively. The ultrasonogram and hepatobiliary scan were useful, but not a definitively reliable method for the differentiation of these two diseases. There was no difference in laboratory data. Seventeen cases had NH among 45 referred cases for Kasai operation with the clinical impression of BA, and 4 cases of 17 NH cases needed to be explored to rule out BA. In conclusion. false positive rate of clinical impression of BA was 37.8 %. and negative exploration rate was 8.9 %, Therefore. careful clinical observation for 1-2 weeks by an experienced pediatric surgeon was very important to avoid unnecessary operation to rule out NH up to the age of 8 - 10 weeks. so long as the stool had yellow component.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.127-134
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• 1994

The aim of this study was to identify the usefulness of pelviscopy in treatment besides its diagnostic value. The advantages of pelviscopic surgery are low cost, rapid recovery, good cosmetic effect, low incidence of complication and postoperative adhesion. So most of the pelvic exploration in gynecologic patients are replaced by the pelviscopic surgery these days. Pelviscopic surgery was performed on 136 patients at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University from May 1991 to July 1993. The results obtained were as follows : The age distribution of the patients was from 19 to 55 with age of 31.2 years, and the mean parity was 0.96, the most common indication of pelviscopic surgery was tubal pregnancy(66.9%), the second most common indications was ovarian cyst(10.3%) and the other indications were endometriosis, corpus luteum cyst rupture, parovarian cyst, foreign body, tubal ligation, hydrosalpinx, uterine myoma and diagnostic procedure. The main types of surgery were salpingectomy in 58.8% and salpingoophorectomy in 16.3%. The mean duration of hospitalization was 2.1 days without specific complications. According to these results, it was postulated that the pelviscopic surgery was a useful operative tool in gynecologic treatment and its application could be extended to many other areas of gynecology with safety by the development of surgical techniques and instruments.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.170-174
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• 2010

Purpose: As techniques and instruments for video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) have been evolving, attempts to perform VATS for chest trauma have been increasing. Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility and safety of VATS for thoracic trauma. We reviewed our experience to evaluate the clinical feasibility and safety of VATS for thoracic trauma. Methods: Fifty-two patients underwent thoracic surgery for chest trauma in Asan Medical Center from January 1990 to December 2009. VATS was performed in 21 patients who showed stable vital signs. We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of those patients to investigate the results of VATS for thoracic trauma. Results: Thoracic exploration for chest trauma was performed in 52 patients. There were 46 males (88.5%) and 6 females (11.5%). The median age was 46.0 years (range: 11~81 years). There were 39 blunt and 13 penetrating traumas. A standard posterolateral thoracotomy was performed in 31 patients, and VATS was tried in 21 patients. We performed successful VATS in 13 patients; 11 males (84.5%) and 2 females (15.5%) with a median age of 46.0 years (range: 24~75 years). The indication of VATS was persistent intrathoracic hemorrhage in 10 patients and clotted hemothorax in 3 patients. There were no complications, but there were two mortalities due to multiple organ failure after massive transfusion. In 8 patients, VATS was converted to a standard posterolateral thoracotomy for several reasons. The reason was inadequate visualization for bleeding control or evacuation of the hematoma in 5 patients. In 3 patients, VATS was performed to evaluate diaphragmatic injury. After the diaphragmatic injury had been confirmed, a standard posterolateral thoracotomy was performed to repair the diaphragm. Conclusion: VATS should be safe and efficient method for diagnostic evaluation and surgical management of stable patients with thoracic trauma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 1980

We have experienced 2 cases of the hunshot wound sof the chest involving cardiac injuries at department of the thoracic surgery, Capital Armed Forces General Hospital during I year from April I 1979 to Jan. 1980. In one case of two patients , he was a 22 years old man who was transported to this emergency room 4 hour 10 minutes after having gunshot wound of the left chest by helicopter. Physical examination showed small inlet in left 3rd ICS and left parasternal border, large outlet in left 8th ICS and left scapular line, no breath sound on left side and distant heart sound. chest roentgenography demonstrated marked pleural effusion in left side and mediastinum shifted to right. As soon as chest X-ray was taken, the bleeding through penetrating wound became profuse and cardiac arrest ensued. Closed chest cardiac massage was started and vigorous transfusion continued, but no effective cardiac activity could not be obtained. The patient was pronounced dead due to exsanguinating hemorrhage from wuwpected cardiac wounds. In this critically injured patient with evidence of intrathoracic hemorrhage and suspected cardiac penetration, only emergency thoracic exploration and immediate surgical control of bleeding points might offer the maximum possibility of survival. The other case was a 23 years old man who was transferred to the emergency room 4 hours 50 minutes after having kmultiple communicated fractures of sternum and linear fracture of right mandible by a missile. Examination revealed about 30% skin loss of the anterior chest wall, weak pulse of 96 beats/min., distant heart sound and decreased breath sounds bilaterally. finding on the chest X-ray films showed multiple sternal fractures, marked pericardial effusion indicating hemopericardium. So, the patient was moved immediately to the operation room where, after endotracheal tube inserted, a median sternotomy was performced. A hemorrhagic congestion of the right upper lobe and marked bulging pericardium were disclosed. The pericardium was opened anterior to right phrenic nerve and exsanguinating hemorrhage ensued from the 0.5cm lacerated wound in the auricle of right atrium. The rupture site of right atrium was occluded with non-crushing vascular clamps and then was over sewn with interrupted sutures. It was thought to be highly possible that he was alive long enough to have cardiorrhaphy because of cardiac tamponade, which prevented exsanguinating hemorrhage. He was taken closed reduction for linear fracture of right mandible 2 weeks after repair of ruptured right auricle in dental clinic. This patient's post-operative course was not eventful.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.611-621
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• 2001

Objective : We analyzed the clinical and endocrinological results of the transsphenoidal microsurgery for ACTH secreting pituitary adenomas. Marerials and Methods : From October 1995 to August 2000, 18 patients underwent transsphenoidal microsurgery for Cushing's disease. We analyzed the surgical results of 17 patients, one patient who was previously operated from other hospital was excluded. Age of the patients were 18 to 61 years old(mean 37.7), male to female ratio was 1 : 3.3, and follow-up period was 3 to 50 months(mean 20.3). The selection of candidates for transsphenoidal exploration was based on endocrinologic criteria. Magnetic resonance imaging was the preferred radiologic test. Selective inferior petrosal sinus sampling of adrenocorticotropic hormone futher refined the diagnosis when endocrinologic and radiologic procedures were not definitive. Results : Results of the preoperative endocrinological test were : level of serum ACTH 29.4 to $225{\mu}g/dL$(mean $93.88{\mu}g/dL$) ; serum cortisol 11.9 to $47.5{\mu}g/dL$(mean $27.49{\mu}g/dL$) ; 24-hour urine free cortisol 235 to $1019{\mu}g/day$(mean $571.0{\mu}g/day$). Inferior petrosal sinus sampling for ACTH was performed in 11 patients and all were confirmed by Cushing's disease and we could predict the laterality of the tumor in 9 of 11 patients. We performed transsphenoidal selective adenomectomy in 5 patients, adenomectomy and subtotal hypophysectomy in 2 patients, adenomectomy and partial hypophysectomy in 9 patients, and in the remaining one patient, hemihypophysectomy followed by total hypophysectomy due to remission failure. Fifteen of 17 patients(88.2%) showed endocrinological remission. Glucocorticoid replacement therapy was performed in all the patients who showed remission for 1 to 24 months(mean 5.9 months), and 6 patients received steroid over 6 months. Conclusion : We conclude that the direct demonstration of a tumor in the pituitary gland by MRI is the most important and definitive diagnostic tool and the location of a mass should be confirmed with increased level of ACTH by the inferior petrosal sinus sampling. Transsphenoidal microsurgery is effective treatment modality for Cushing's disease and the immediate postoperative evaluation of the surgical resection of the tumor is very important. The patients should show hypocortisolism, decreased, subnormal serum ACTH and cortisol levels and 24-hours urine free cortisol. We performed 18 transsphenoidal microsurgery for Cushing's disease in 17 patients and 15 patients(88.2%) showed endocrinological remission.