• Title/Summary/Keyword: Value Assessment

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Limitation of Prediction on Intravenous Immunoglobulin Responsiveness in Kawasaki Disease (가와사끼병에서 정맥용 면역글로불린 치료 반응 예측의 한계)

  • Kim, Seong-Koo;Han, Ji-Yoon;Rhim, Jung Woo;Oh, Jin Hee;Han, Ji-Whan;Lee, Kyung Yil;Kang, Jin-Han;Lee, Joon-Sung
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.169-176
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    • 2010
  • Purpose : We aimed to evaluate predictive parameters for non-response to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) before IVIG use using two controls. Methods : We evaluated 229 consecutive KD patients who were treated with 2 g/kg of IVIG at a single center. Those who had persistent fever >24 hours after IVIG infusion made up the 23 IVIG non-responders; the first control included a total 206 defervesced cases and the second control included 46 cases that were matched for age and pre-treatment fever duration to non-responders. Results : Demographic and clinical characteristics were similar in IVIG non-responders and responders at presentation. As for laboratory findings, the neutrophil differential, CRP, AST, ALT, and LDH were higher, and lymphocyte differential, total protein, albumin, platelet count, and total cholesterol were significantly lower in IVIG non-responders compared to responders by univariate analysis in both study designs. However in multivariate analysis, non-responders showed a significantly higher neutrophil differential (cutoff value, >77%, sensitivity 68.4% and specificity 79.5%) and lower cholesterol (<124 mg/dL, sensitivity 79% and specificity 70.5%). Whereas plasma albumin (<3.6 g/dL, sensitivity 73.7% and specificity 60%) was the sole laboratory parameter of non-responders in the second study design. Conclusion : Severity of inflammation in KD was reflected by higher or lower laboratory values at presentation. Because the multivariate analysis for these indices may be influenced by some confounding factors, including the numbers of patients of different ages and fever duration, other assessment modalities are needed for KD patients with the greatest risk of coronary artery lesions.

Evaluation between 3.0 T vs 1.5 T MRI in Detection of Brain Metastasis using Double Dose Gd-DTPA (뇌전이 종양의 발견에 있어서 Doble dose Gd-DTPA를 이용한 3 T MRI와 1.5 T MRI간의 비교연구)

  • Chung, Woo-Suk;Kim, Hyung-Jung;Ahn, Chul-Min;Lee, Jae-Hoon;Hur, Jin;Cho, Eung-Hyuck;Chung, Tae-Sub
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.101-108
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    • 2005
  • Purpose : Early detection of small brain metastases is important. The purpose of this study was to compare the detectability of brain metastases according to the size between 1.5 T and 3.0 T MRI. Materials and Methods : We reviewed 162 patients with primary lung cancer who were examined for TNM staging. After administration of double dose of Gd-DTPA, MR imaging was performed with SPGR by 3.0 T MRI and then with T1 SE sequence by 1.5 T MRI. In each patient, three readers performed qualitative assessment. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy were calculated in 3.0 T and 1.5 T MRI according to size. Using the signal intensity (SI) measurements between the metastatic nodules and adjacent tissue, nodule-to-adjacent tissue SI ratio was calculated. Results : Thirty-one of 162 patients had apparent metastatic nodules in the brain at either 1.5 T or 3.0 T MR imaging. 143 nodules were detected in 3.0 T MRI, whereas 137 nodules were detected at 1.5 T MRI. Six nodules, only detected in 3.0 T MRI, were smaller than 3.0 mm in dimension. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy in 3.0 T MRI were 100 %, 100 %, and 100 % respectively, and in 1.5 T MRI were 95.8%, 88.3%, and 85.1% respectively. SI ratio was significantly higher in the 3.0 T MRI than 1.5 T MRI (p=0.025). Conclusion : True positive rate of 3.0 T MRI with Gd-DTPA was superior to 1.5 T MRI with Gd-DTPA in detection of metastatic nodules smaller than 3.0 mm.

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Factors Influencing the Adoption of Location-Based Smartphone Applications: An Application of the Privacy Calculus Model (스마트폰 위치기반 어플리케이션의 이용의도에 영향을 미치는 요인: 프라이버시 계산 모형의 적용)

  • Cha, Hoon S.
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.7-29
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    • 2012
  • Smartphone and its applications (i.e. apps) are increasingly penetrating consumer markets. According to a recent report from Korea Communications Commission, nearly 50% of mobile subscribers in South Korea are smartphone users that accounts for over 25 million people. In particular, the importance of smartphone has risen as a geospatially-aware device that provides various location-based services (LBS) equipped with GPS capability. The popular LBS include map and navigation, traffic and transportation updates, shopping and coupon services, and location-sensitive social network services. Overall, the emerging location-based smartphone apps (LBA) offer significant value by providing greater connectivity, personalization, and information and entertainment in a location-specific context. Conversely, the rapid growth of LBA and their benefits have been accompanied by concerns over the collection and dissemination of individual users' personal information through ongoing tracking of their location, identity, preferences, and social behaviors. The majority of LBA users tend to agree and consent to the LBA provider's terms and privacy policy on use of location data to get the immediate services. This tendency further increases the potential risks of unprotected exposure of personal information and serious invasion and breaches of individual privacy. To address the complex issues surrounding LBA particularly from the user's behavioral perspective, this study applied the privacy calculus model (PCM) to explore the factors that influence the adoption of LBA. According to PCM, consumers are engaged in a dynamic adjustment process in which privacy risks are weighted against benefits of information disclosure. Consistent with the principal notion of PCM, we investigated how individual users make a risk-benefit assessment under which personalized service and locatability act as benefit-side factors and information privacy risks act as a risk-side factor accompanying LBA adoption. In addition, we consider the moderating role of trust on the service providers in the prohibiting effects of privacy risks on user intention to adopt LBA. Further we include perceived ease of use and usefulness as additional constructs to examine whether the technology acceptance model (TAM) can be applied in the context of LBA adoption. The research model with ten (10) hypotheses was tested using data gathered from 98 respondents through a quasi-experimental survey method. During the survey, each participant was asked to navigate the website where the experimental simulation of a LBA allows the participant to purchase time-and-location sensitive discounted tickets for nearby stores. Structural equations modeling using partial least square validated the instrument and the proposed model. The results showed that six (6) out of ten (10) hypotheses were supported. On the subject of the core PCM, H2 (locatability ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) and H3 (privacy risks ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported, while H1 (personalization ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Further, we could not any interaction effects (personalization X privacy risks, H4 & locatability X privacy risks, H5) on the intention to use LBA. In terms of privacy risks and trust, as mentioned above we found the significant negative influence from privacy risks on intention to use (H3), but positive influence from trust, which supported H6 (trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The moderating effect of trust on the negative relationship between privacy risks and intention to use LBA was tested and confirmed by supporting H7 (privacy risks X trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The two hypotheses regarding to the TAM, including H8 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ perceived usefulness) and H9 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported; however, H10 (perceived effectiveness ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Results of this study offer the following key findings and implications. First the application of PCM was found to be a good analysis framework in the context of LBA adoption. Many of the hypotheses in the model were confirmed and the high value of $R^2$ (i.,e., 51%) indicated a good fit of the model. In particular, locatability and privacy risks are found to be the appropriate PCM-based antecedent variables. Second, the existence of moderating effect of trust on service provider suggests that the same marginal change in the level of privacy risks may differentially influence the intention to use LBA. That is, while the privacy risks increasingly become important social issues and will negatively influence the intention to use LBA, it is critical for LBA providers to build consumer trust and confidence to successfully mitigate this negative impact. Lastly, we could not find sufficient evidence that the intention to use LBA is influenced by perceived usefulness, which has been very well supported in most previous TAM research. This may suggest that more future research should examine the validity of applying TAM and further extend or modify it in the context of LBA or other similar smartphone apps.

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$^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT for the Preoperative Diagnosis of Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma: The Value of Dual Time Point Imaging (갑상선미세유두암의 수술 전 진단에서 $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT: 이중시간 영상의 유용성)

  • Seo, Young-Duk;Kim, Seong-Min;Kim, Kun-Ho;Kim, Je-Ryong
    • Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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    • v.43 no.6
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    • pp.543-556
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    • 2009
  • Purpose: We studied the patterns of FDG uptake of primary papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMCa) lesions and benign thyroid nodules in dual time point $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT imaging. Materials and Methods: Consecutive 134 patients (154 lesions) with PTMCa and 49 patients (61 nodules) with benign thyroid nodules equal to or less than 1.0 cm who underwent dual time point $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT study before surgery were enrolled. We calculated the maximum standardized uptake value of PTMCa and benign nodules in both time points, and percent change of SUVmax (${\Delta}%SUVmax$) and lesion to background ratio of SUVmax (${\Delta}L:B$% ratio) between both time points. The mean time interval between scans was $23.4{\pm}4.4$ minutes (thyroid to thyroid interval: $10.7{\pm}4.4$ minutes). Results: The mean of SUVmax of PTMCa was increased from $4.9{\pm}4.3$ to $5.3{\pm}4.7$ (p<0.001) and ${\Delta}%SUVmax$ was $12.3{\pm}23.6%$. But, the mean of SUVmax of benign nodules was no definite change ($2.1{\pm}1.0$ to $2.1{\pm}1.3$, p=0.686) and ${\Delta}%SUVmax$ was $-0.3{\pm}20.5%$. Of the 154 PTMCa, 100 nodules (64.9%) showed an increase in SUVmax over time, while 19 (31.1%) of the 61 benign thyroid nodules showed an increase (p<0.001). The dual time point $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT found more PTMCa in visual assessment (62.3% vs. 76.6%, p=0.006), even in smaller than 0.5 cm (38.6% vs. 60.0%, p=0.011). Conclusion: Dual time time $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT imaging was more useful than single time point $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT imaging for distinction between PTMCa and benign nodule, especially when nodule showed equivocal or negative findings in single time point $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT imaging or was smaller than 0.5 cm.

The First Newborn Screening Study of T-Cell Receptor Excision Circle and κ-Deleting Recombination Excision Circle for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency in Korea: A Pilot Study (국내 최초 T-Cell Receptor Excision Circle과 κ-Deleting Recombination Excision Circle 신생아 선별검사에 관한 연구)

  • Son, Sohee;Kang, Ji-Man;Kim, Jong Min;Sung, Sein;Kim, Yi-Seoul;Lee, Haejeong;Kim, BitA Reum;Lee, Yeon Kyoung;Ko, Sun Young;Shin, Son Moon;Kim, Yae-Jean
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.134-140
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    • 2017
  • Purpose: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is the most serious form of primary immunodeficiency. Infants with SCID are susceptible to life-threatening infections. To establish newborn screening for SCID in Korea, we performed a screening test for T-cell receptor excision circle (TREC) and ${\kappa}$-deleting recombination excision circle (KREC) in neonates and investigated the awareness of SCID among their parents. Methods: Collections of dried blood spots from neonates and parent surveys were performed at the Samsung Medical Center and Cheil General Hospital & Women's Healthcare Center in Korea. The amplification crossing point (Cp) value <37.0 was defined as TREC/KRECpositive based on cutoff values from measuring multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction. A Cp value >39.0 was defined as negative. Results: For TREC/KREC screening, 141 neonates were enrolled; 63 (44.7%) were male. One hundred forty neonates (99.3%) had positive TREC/KREC results at the time of the initial test; 82.3% and 75.9% were positive and 17.0% and 23.4% were weakly positive for TREC and KREC, respectively. In one neonate (0.7%), the initial TREC/KREC test result was negative. However, repeated tests obtained and confirmed a positive result. For an awareness survey, 168 parents were engaged. Only 2% of parents (3/168) knew that the newborn screening test for SCID had been introduced and performed in other countries. Eighty-four percent of parents (141/168) replied that nationwide newborn SCID screening should be performed in Korean newborns. Conclusions: In this study, newborn SCID screening was performed along with assessment of public awareness of the SCID test in Korea. The study results showed that newborn SCID screening can be readily applied for clinical use at a relatively low cost in Korea.

Ecological health assessments using fish communities in the habitat of Manchurian trout (열목어 서식지의 어류군집을 이용한 생태적 건강성 평가)

  • Ko, Min Seop;Choi, Jun Kil;Lee, Hwang Goo
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.652-663
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    • 2019
  • The purpose of this study was to conduct ecological health assessments by using the fish communities in the Manchurian trout habitat. Sampling was conducted twice in July and September 2018. In the survey, 1,119 individuals belonging to 16 species and seven families were collected. The dominant species by number was Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and the subdominant species was Zacco koreanus. Korean endemic species represented 73.33% at Geybang Stream and 76.92% at Naerin Stream. Community analysis revealed that the structure of the fish community was unstable by the dominance index 0.63 (±0.09)-0.97 (±0.01), the diversity index 1.63 (±0.23)-0.33 (±0.09), the evenness index 0.79 (±0.06)-0.24 (±0.07) and the richness index 0.67 (±0.14)-1.80(±0.16). According to the analysis of the tolerance guilds, the total individual number of sensitive species was higher than the intermediate and tolerant species. The insectivore species accounted for 65.09-98.56% of the total trophic guilds, which was the highest observed. The value of the QHEI (Qualitative habitat evaluation index) in the Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis habitat was 119.5 (±0.5)-153.5 (±0.5), indicating an optimal-suboptimal condition. The FAI (Fish assessment index) stream health value was A to B in the study sites. Correlation analysis with FAI and various factors was conducted and a high correlation in QHEI, Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis individuals, species, individuals, diversity, richness, sensitive species, carnivorous species, insectivorous species, and omnivorous species was found. The similarity analysis was divided into three groups from A to C, based on 56.9%.

Comparison of Forage Yield and Quality, and Soil Improvement of Legumes (콩과작물의 사초생산성, 품질 및 토양개량 비교)

  • Kim Jong Duk;Kim Su Gon;Kwon Chan Ho;Abuel Sherwin J.;Chae Sang Heon;Kim Myoung Ki
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.151-158
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    • 2005
  • This experiment was conducted to evaluate forage production and quality, and soil improvement of three legumes at Cheonan Yonam College. The three legumes used in the experiment were crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) red clover(Trifolium pratense L.) and chinese milk vetch(Astragalus sinicus L.). Flowering stage was observed on the 20th of April for chinese milk vetch and on the 30th of April for crimson clover, but the red clover did not produce flower until harvest time. The dry matter(DM) content of crimson clover was the highest among the three legumes. In terms of DM yield, crimson clover has the highest yield, the highest yield in crude protein(CP) and total digestible nutrients(TDN) was red clover. In terms of forage quality, the highest CP content was red clover, while the chinese milk vetch was the lowest for both neutral detergent fiber(NDF) and acid detergent fiberr(ADF). Red clove. and chinese milk vetch were highest fur TDN content, and the chinese milk vetch has the highest for relative feed value(RFV). Assessment of the chemical properties of soil after harvest showed that the nitrogen content of soil increased in all legumes. The organic matter(OM) content of soil in both crimson and red clover increased, while the chinese milk vetch decreased. The available $P_2O_5$ decreased in all three legumes, but the biggest decrease was in the chinese milk vetch. The exchangeable potassium in the soil for both crimson and red clover increased, but in chinese milk vetch it decreased. Based on the results of this study, the chinese milk vetch was superior in terms of forage quality, but crimson and red clover are excellent in forage yield and in maintaining soil quality in upland.

A Study on Comparative Analysis of Socio-economic Impact Assessment Methods on Climate Change and Necessity of Application for Water Management (기후변화 대응을 위한 발전소 온배수 활용 양식업 경제성 분석)

  • Lee, Sangsin;Kim, Shang Moon;Um, Gi Jeung
    • Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.73-78
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    • 2011
  • In order to resolve the problem of change in global climate which is worsening as days go by and to preemptively cope with strengthened restriction on carbon emission, the government enacted 'Framework Act on Low Carbon Green Growth' in 2010 and selected green technology and green industry as new national growth engines. For this reason, the necessity to use the un-utilized waste heat across the whole industrial system has become an issue, and studies on and applications of recycling in the agricultural and fishery fields such as cultivation of tropical crops and flatfishes by utilizing the waste heat and thermal effluent generated by large industrial complexes including power plants are being actively carried out. In this study, we looked into the domestic and overseas examples of having utilized waste heat abandoned in the form of power plant thermal effluent, and carried out economic efficiency evaluation of sturgeon aquaculture utilizing thermal effluent of Yeongwol LNG Combined Cycle Power Plant in Gangwon-do. In this analysis, we analyzed the economic efficiency of a model business plan divided into three steps, starting from a small scale in order to minimize the investment risk and financial burden, which is then gradually expanded. The business operation period was assumed to be 10 years (2012~2021), and the NVP (Net Present Value) and economic efficiency (B/C) for the operation period (10 years) were estimated for different loan size by dividing the size of external loan by stage into 80% and 40% based on the basic statistics secured through a site survey. Through the result of analysis, we can see that reducing the size of the external loan is an important factor in securing greater economic efficiency as, while the B/C is 1.79 in the case the external loan is 80% of the total investment, it is presumed to be improved to 1.81 when the loan is 40%. As the findings of this study showed that the economic efficiency of sturgeon aquaculture utilizing thermal effluent of power plant can be secured, it is presumed that regional development project items with high added value can be derived though this, and, in addition, this study will greatly contribute to reinforcement of the capability of local governments to cope with climate change.

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Assessment of Sensory and Safety Evaluation of Cook/Chill Pajeon (Cook-chill 파전의 관능성 및 안전성 평가)

  • Lyu, Eun-Soon;Jeong, Dong-Kwan
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.34 no.5
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    • pp.674-680
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    • 2005
  • The purposes of this study were to compare the effect of several reheating treatments (heating in the frying pan, convection oven and microwave oven) on sensory characteristics and to evaluate the safety during storage period of cook/chill Pajeon. The sensory evaluations were made on 5 sensory attributes by a 9-member panel using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). The fresh cooked Pajeon and the Pajeon reheated in the frying pan obtained a significantly (p<0.01) higher score in taste than the ones reheated in a convection oven and microwave oven. The reheated cook/chill Pajeon had a significantly (p<0.01) lower score in flavor than the freshed cooked one. Regardless of the reheating methods, sensory scores in texture of the Pajeon reheated at $v$ for 1 day were not different from that of fresh cooked one. However, the scores of the reheated ones in a convection oven and in a microwave oven decreased with storage time up to 5 days at $3^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, the Pajeon reheated in the frying pan, even after 3 days' storage at $3^{\circ}C$, was not found to be inferior to the freshed cook one in every quality attributes except flavor. Therefore, the reheating treatment in frying pan may be superior to those in a convection oven and a microwave oven. The safety of Pajeon was also evaluated by measuring total count, coliform count, psychrotrophic count, acid value and peroxide value during 5 days of storage periods at $4^{\circ}C$. Total counts of Pajeon was ranged from not detectable to $5.2\times10^2$ CFU/g. The coliform and psychrotroph were not detected at all experiments. The acid values were ranged from 1.90 to 4.03 mg of KOH/g of fat until 5 days at $4^{\circ}C$. And the peroxide values were ranged from 3.63 to 12.50 meq of peroxide/kg of fat until 5 days of storage period. Therefore, these results demonstrated that Pajeon is microbiologically and chemically safe during 5 days of storage period at refligeration temperature.

Objective in Vivo Quantification of Emphysema by Thin-Section CT: Correlation with Physiologic Findings (고해상 전산화단층촬영을 이용한 폐기종의 정량적 분석: 폐기능 검사와의 비교)

  • Lee, Jee-Young;Lee, Kye-Young;Choi, Eun-Kyoung;Kim, Sang-Joon;Choi, Young-Hi
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.45 no.5
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    • pp.992-999
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    • 1998
  • Background: To correlate the emphysema score for quantification of the overall extent of emphysema in both lungs by CT with physiologic fingings and to get more objective and simple method to assess the extent of emphysema. Method: Thin-section CT and pulmonary function test(PFT) were performed in 17 patients with emphysema (all males, mean age, 62 years). Emphysema score was obtained as percentage of emphysematous lung area, dividing the total area of the emphysema(voxels with attenuation value less than -880, -900, -920HU, respectively) by the overall area of both lungs(voxels with attenuation value less than -400HU) with highlighting voxels using "Density mask" program. Emphysema score was calculated from whole lung(ESV) and 5 representative scans(ESR) using "Density mask", Visual emphysema score(ESV) was obtained by visual assessment from 5 representative scans. Correlation of these emphysema scores(ESW, ESR, ESV) and physiologic findings were performed, comparing the ESW with ESR and ESV. Results: ESW had correlation with DLCO(r=0.53-0.64) and $FEV_1/FVC$(r=0.42-0.57) among PFT parameters. ESR had good correlation with ESW and with PFT parameters as well. ESV did not correlate with PFT parameters except DLCO. Conclusion: CT quantification of emphysema using "density mask" correlated well with physiologic findings. To assess the severity of emphysema, both ESW and ESR are more reliable than ESV, and ESR is recommended in routine practice as it is objective, simple and reliable.

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