• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.157-160
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• 2007

Objective : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis in elderly patients. Methods : The authors reviewed the medical records of 49 patients older than 65 years of age with lumbar spinal stenosis who underwent surgical treatment from January 2002 to December 2004 in our institute. Results : Average age of patients was 70 years old [32 women, 17 men]. Twenty-four patients had chronic medical disorders. All patients were operated under the general anesthesia of these, 29 patients underwent decompressive laminectomy and decompressive laminectomy with instrumentation and fusion in 20 patients. The mean operation time was 193.5 minutes, mean estimated blood loss was 378cc and mean postoperative hospital stay length was 15.3 days. The mean follow-up duration was 11.9 months. The evaluation of outcome was assessed by Macnab classification. At first month after operation, the outcome showed excellent in 7 [14.3%]. good in 35 [71.4%], fair in 5 [10.2%], and poor in 2 [4.1%]. And at 6 months after operation, 17 patients were lost in follow-up, the outcome showed excellent in 4 [12.5%], good in 25 [78.1%], fair in 3 [9.4%], and no poor cases. There was no significant difference between outcome of laminectomy alone and that of laminectomy with fusion. Six patients [12.2%] experienced postoperative complications which included wound infection [3], nerve root injury [1], disc herniation [1], and reoperation due to insufficient decompression [1]. There were no deaths related to operation. Conclusion : We conclude that the surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis in elderly patients can provide good results with acceptable morbidity when carefully selected. In addition, decision on lumbar spinal fusion should not be against solely on advanced age.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.331-336
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• 2007

Objective : The aim of this study was to analyze the treatment results and prognostic factors in patients with massive cerebral infarction who underwent decompressive craniectomy. Methods : From January 2000 to December 2005, we performed decompressive craniectomy in 24 patients with massive cerebral infarction. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records, radiological findings, initial clinical assessment using the Glasgow Coma Scale, serial computerized tomography (CT) with measurement of midline and septum pellucidum shift, and cerebral infarction territories. Patients were evaluated based on the following factors : the pre- and post-operative midline shifting on CT scan, infarction area or its dominancy, consciousness level, pupillary light reflex and Glasgow Outcome Scale. Results : All 24 patients (11 men, 13 women; mean age, 63 years; right middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, 17 patients; left MCA territory, 7 patients) were treated with large decompressive craniectomy and duroplasty. The average time interval between the onset of symptoms and surgical decompression was 2.5 days. The mean Glasgow Coma Scale was 12.4 on admission and 8.3 preoperatively. Of the 24 surgically treated patients, the good outcome group (Group 2 : GOS 4-5) comprised 9 cases and the poor outcome group (Group1 : GOS 1-3) comprised 15 cases. Conclusion : We consider decompressive craniectomy for large hemispheric infarction as a life-saving procedure. Good preoperative GCS, late clinical deterioration, small size of the infarction area, absence of anisocoria, and preoperative midline shift less than 11mm were considered to be positive predictors of good outcome. Careful patient selection based on the above-mentioned factors and early operation may improve the functional outcome of surgical management for large hemispheric infarction.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제63권6호
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• pp.757-766
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• 2020

Objective : Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a severe and life-threatening disease. Although commonly performed, the effect of timing in surgical treatment on patient outcome is still unclear. With this study, we aim to provide evidence for early surgical treatment in patients with SEA. Methods : Patients treated for SEA in the authors' department between 2007 and 2016 were included for analysis and retrospectively analyzed for basic clinical parameters and outcome. Pre- and postoperative neurological status were assessed using the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS). The self-reported quality of life (QOL) based on the Short-Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36) was assessed prospectively. Surgery was defined as "early", when performed within 12 hours after admission and "late" when performed thereafter. Conservative therapy was preferred and recommend in patients without neurological deficits and in patients denying surgical intervention. Results : One hundred and twenty-three patients were included in this study. Forty-nine patients (39.8%) underwent early, 47 patients (38.2%) delayed surgery and 27 (21.9%) conservative therapy. No significant differences were observed regarding mean age, sex, diabetes, prior history of spinal infection, and bony destruction. Patients undergoing early surgery revealed a significant better clinical outcome before discharge than patients undergoing late surgery (p=0.001) and conservative therapy. QOL based on SF-36 were significantly better in the early surgery cohort in two of four physical items (physical functioning and bodily pain) and in one of four psychological items (role limitation) after a mean follow-up period of 58 months. Readmission to the hospital and failure of conservative therapy were observed more often in patients undergoing conservative therapy. Conclusion : Our data on both clinical outcome and QOL provide evidence for early surgery within 12 hours after admission in patients with SEA.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.793-805
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• 1994

Investigating the existence of volume-outcome relationships for specific disease groups relates directly to the policy issue of whether, and how, specific inpatient services should be regionalized. This study examined whether medical costs and lengths of stay as outcomes were affected by changes in volume within hospitals. Based on the claims data obtained from National Federation of Medical Associations, each six disease categories from medical and surgical conditions were selected and 29,720 cases from 1,266 hospitals were analyzed. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows: 1. Analyzing volume and cost per case relationship, tonsillectomy class 1, hernia procedure class 0, appendectomy and cesarean section class 0,1 in surgical conditions showed negative relationship significantly. In cases of medical conditions, costs per case in respiratory neoplasm class 2, COPD class 1, 2, digestive malignancy were also related to volume negtively. 2. Comparing volume with length of stay per case, lens procedure class 0, hernia procedure class 0, appendectomy class 0,1, cesarean section class 1 in surgical conditions showed negative relationships significantly. In medical conditions, volume of respiratory neoplasm class 2, COPD class 1,2, digestive malignancy class 0 were associated with negatively. 3. Within same disease categories, changes in cost and length of stay per case to volume were more remarkable in severe cases. These results suggested a significant inverse relationship between disease cases and cost, length of stay per case as outcome variables.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• 제42권sup1호
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• pp.172-176
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• 2008

FDG PET has been used as a diagnostic tool for localization of seizure focus for last 2-3 decades. In this article, the clinical usefulness of FDG PET in the management of patients with epilepsy has been reviewed, which provided the evidences to justify the medicare reimbursement for FDG PET in management of patients with epilepsy. Literature review demonstrated that FDG PET provides an important information in localization of seizure focus and determination whether a patients is a surgical candidate or not. FDG PET has been reported to have high diagnostic performance in localization of seizure focus in neocortical epilepsy as well as temporal lobe epilepsy regardless of the presence of structural lesion on MRI. Particularly, FDG PET can provide the additional information when the results from standard diagnositic modality such as interictal or video-monitored EEG, and MRI are inconclusive or discordant, and make to avoid invasive study. Furthermore, the presence of hypometabolism and extent of metabolic extent has been reported as an important predictor for seizure free outcome. However, studies suggested that more accurate localization and better surgical outcome could be expected with multimodal approach by combination of EEG, MRI, and functional studies using FDG PET or perfusion SPECT rather than using a single diagnostic modality in management of patients with epilepsy. Complementary use of FDG PET in management of epilepsy is worth for good surgical outcome in epilepsy patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.2529-2532
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• 2013

Background: Pelvic exenteration is a procedure which includes enbloc resection of pelvic organs followed by surgical reconstruction. Aims include both cure and palliation but data for pelvic exenteration in Thailand are very limited. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate characteristics of patients, operative procedure outcomes and complications. Materials and Methods: This retrospective review covered all of the charts of exenteration patients during January 2002 to December 2011. Baseline characteristic of the patients were collected as well as details of clinical results. Results: A total of 13 cases of pelvic exenteration were included. Most underwent total pelvic exenteration (9 cases) and the remainder posterior and anterior exenteration. Their primary cancers were ovarian, cervical and vulva. Mean operative time was 532 minutes (SD 160.2, range 270-750) and estimated blood loss was 2830 ml (1850, 1000-8000). Mean tumor size was 7.33 cm (3.75, 4-15). Mean hospital stay was 35.2 days (29.8, 13-109). The most common post operative complication was urinary tract infection. Overall disease free survival with a negative surgical margin was significantly better than in positive surgical margin patients (p=0.014). Conclusions: Surgical margin was the most significant prognostic factor for disease free survival, in line with earlier studies.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.62-78
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• 1995

In industrialized countries, low back pam is very common, with up to 60 to 80% of the population being affected at some time in their lives. Herniated lumbar intervertebral disc is one of principal cause of low back pain and radiculopathy. The therapy of the disease is classified into conservative treatment or surgical intervention. The majority of these cases successfully heal with conservative managemant, even though it was claimed that the henirated disc material would not resolved spontaneously without surgical removal. It was reported that there was no significant difference in outcome and cost effectiveness between conservative and surgical therapy group. Also after conservative therapy the resorption of herniated disc with satisfactory improvement of symptom was reported. Conservative treatment includes bed rest, heat, drug therapy, therapeutic exercises, physical therapy such as traction and manipulation, and acupuncture. These managements show favorable outcome in the patients with herniated lumbar intervertebral disc. So conservative management should be applied in the therapy of herniated intervertebral disc, unless there exist aggravation during the first 3 weeks of treatment or apparent surgical care indication. And further investigation to improve effectiveness of conservative therapy should be ensued.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권15호
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• pp.6339-6342
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• 2014

Background: The incidence of rectal cancer is increasing in younger age groups. Limited data is available regarding survival outcome in younger patients with conflicting results from western world. The goal of this study was to determine survival in patients with rectal cancer <30 years of age and compare it with their older counterparts in the Pakistani population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients operated for rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2005 and December 2010 was performed. Patients were divided into two groups, Group 1 aged ${\leq}30years$ and Group 2 aged >30years. Patient characteristics, surgical procedure, histopathological details and number of loco-regional and distant failures were compared. Expected 5 year survival was calculated using Kaplan Meier curves and significance was determined using the Log rank test. Results: There were 38 patients in group 1 and 144 in group 2. A significantly high number of younger patients presented with poorly differentiated histology (44.7% vs 9.7%) (p=0.0001) and advanced pathological stage (63.1% vs 38.1%) (p=0.04). Predicted overall 5 year survival was 38% versus 57% in groups I and II, respectively (p=0.05). Disease free survival was 37% versus 52% and was significantly different (p=0.007). Conclusions: Early onset rectal cancer is associated with poor pathological features and a worse outcome in Pakistani population.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제29권12호
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• pp.1612-1619
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• 2000

Objective : To retrospectively analyse the surgical outcome and efficacy of the lumbar spinal surgery in sixty to older patients who failed to conservative treatments. Methods : Between July 1990 and November 1996, the authors retrospectively investigated the medical records of 46 patients who over 60 years of age at the time of surgery. The clinical severity was assessed with Prolo's grade(economic and functional). Questionnaire was sent to each patient regarding long-term effect, satisfaction, and side effects. Results : In 46 patients, 2 patients(1 case died of lung cancer, 1 case lost in follow-up) were lost. Among 44 patients (28 men, 16 women ; mean age 64 years), 22 patients underwent partial or total laminectomy, 17 spinal fusion with instruments, 2 chemonucleolysis, 2 adhesiolysis for failed back surgery syndrome, and 1 automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy. Although postoperative complications were observed in 5 patients, they were successfully managed. No deaths were documented in the perioperative periods. The average Prolo's economic and functional grade improved from 2.98 to 3.48 and 2.81 to 3.75, respectively. Conclusion : In overall, the favorable surgical outcome was obtained. This results indicated that with appropriate preoperative selections and indications, careful intraoperative monitoring, and attentive postoperative care, the surgical treatment of eldery patients for the lumbar spinal disorders, significant improvement with acceptable levels of morbidity and mortality can be achived.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.141-151
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• 2019

Objectives: The outcomes of the treatment of unilateral cleft lip can vary considerably due to variations in repair techniques. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare treatment outcomes of surgical repair of unilateral cleft lip using either the Tennison-Randall or Millard technique based on (qualitative) parent/subject and professional assessments. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled study conducted at Lagos University Teaching Hospital between January 2013 and July 2014. A total of 56 subjects with unilateral cleft lip presenting for primary surgery who satisfied the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to surgical groups A or B through balloting. Group A underwent cleft repair with the Tennison-Randall technique, while group B underwent cleft repair with the Millard rotation advancement technique. Surgical outcome was assessed using qualitative evaluation by the guardian/subject and independent assessors based on a modified form of the criteria described by Christofides and colleagues. Results: Of the 56 subjects enrolled in this study, 32 were male, with a male to female ratio of 1.3:1. Fifteen of the guardians/subjects in the Tennison-Randall group were most bothered about the lower part of the residual lip scar, while 12 guardians/subjects in the in the Millard group were most bothered about the upper part of the scar. More noses were judged to be flattened in the Millard group than in the Tennison-Randall group. Assessors observed a striking disparity in scar transgression of the philtral ridges between the two groups. Conclusion: Essentially, there were no major difference in the overall results between Millard rotation-advancement and Tennison-Randall repairs. Both Millard and Tennison-Randall's techniques require significant improvements to improve the appearance of the scar on the upper part and lower part of the lip, respectively.