• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.620-626
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• 2017

Objective : Although venous thromboembolism (VTE) is frequently related to dehydration, the impact of dehydration on VTE in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is not clear. This study investigated whether dehydration, as measured by blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine (Cr) ratio, influences the occurrence of VTE in patients with AIS. Methods : This is a retrospective study of patients with AIS between January 2012 and December 2013. Patients with newly diagnosed AIS who experienced prolonged hospitalization for at least 4 weeks were included in this study. Results : Of 182 patients included in this study, 17 (9.3%) suffered VTE during the follow-up period; in two cases, VTE was accompanied by deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Patients with VTE were more frequently female and had higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, more lower limb weakness, and elevated blood urea nitrogen BUN/Cr ratio on admission. In a multivariate analysis, BUN/Cr ratio >15 (odds ratio [OR] 8.75) and severe lower limb weakness (OR 4.38) were independent risk factors for VTE. Conclusion : Dehydration on admission in cases of AIS might be a significant independent risk factor for VTE.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.93-103
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• 2017

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the effect of active trunk training in the sitting position on balance and energy consumption in early stroke patients. METHODS: The subjects of this study were twenty four early stroke patients were recruited and randomly divided into two groups; experimental group (n=12) and control group (n=12). The subjects in the experimental group participated in active trunk training (20 min) and conventional physical therapy (20 min) five times a week for four weeks. The control group conducted general balance exercise (20 min) and conventional physical therapy (20 min) five times a week for four weeks. The outcomes were assessed using the Berg balance scale, Timed up and go test and energy cost and physiological cost index. RESULTS: Both groups showed a significant increase in their Berg balance scale and significant decrease in their Timed up and go test score, and energy cost and physiological cost index (p<.05). Compared to the control group, the experimental group experienced a greater increase in the Berg balance scale (p<.05) and a larger decrease in the timed up and go test score, and energy cost and physiological cost index (p<.05). CONCLUSION: We suggest that active trunk training in the sitting position may be effective in improving balance and energy consumption in early stroke patients. Thus, active trunk training is important for such patients. Further studies are needed to better understand the effectiveness of trunk training in early stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.284-294
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• 2001

Objective : Stroke is leading cause of death and more importantly it is cause of serious disability. The effective treatment of acute ischemic stroke still remains a challenge to modern medicine. Recent clinical trials have shown that carotid endareterctomy(CEA) provide overwhelming benefits compared with medical therapy in preventing subsequent stroke for symptomatic carotid stenosis. For the asymptomatic ones, the data are less compelling, but highly suggestive that CEA do have benefits in properly selected patients. Materials and Methods : To investigate the clinical manifestations of carotid stenosis and results of CEAs, authors analyzed retrospectively 19 CEAs in 16 patients from June 1986 to June 1999. Age of patients ranged from 55 to 76 years(median, 66) and male to female ratio was 14 to 2. The duration of follow-up was 1 to 144 months (median, 26). All of CEAs were done on the side of stenosis more than 80% and bilateral CEAs were done in three. Six CEAs were performed in asymptomatic patients. Results : Seventeen of 19 CEAs showed excellent results and complication rate was low although ipsilateral ischemic stroke occurred in two. Conclusion : CEA may be a valuable surgical treatment for ischemic stroke caused by carotid stenosis and also for prevention of stroke of asymptomatic patients with carotid stenosis.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.37-47
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• 2014

Falls are common after stroke and most frequently related to loss of balance while walking. Consequently, preventing falls is one of the goals of acute, rehabilitative, and chronic stroke care. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors of falls and to determine how well the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES), Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) could distinguish between fallers and non-fallers among stroke patients during inpatient rehabilitation. One hundred and fifteen participants with at least 3 months post-stroke and able to walk at least 3 m with or without a mono cane participated in this study. Fifty-four (47%) participants reported falling, and 15 (27.8%) had a recurrent fall. Logistic regression analysis for predicting falls showed that left hemiplegia [odds ratio (OR)=4.68] and fear of falling (OR=5.99) were strong risk factors for falls. Fallers performed worse than non-fallers on the FES, TUG, and BBS (p<.05, p<.01, respectively). In the receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, the TUG demonstrated the best discriminating ability among the three assessment tools. The cut-off score was 22 seconds on the TUG for discriminating fallers from non-fallers (sensitivity=88.9%, specificity=45.9%) and 27 seconds for discriminating recurrent fallers from single fallers and non-fallers (sensitivity=71.4%, specificity=40.2%). Results suggest that there is a need for providing fall prevention and injury minimization programs for stroke patients who record over 22 seconds on the TUG.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.118-126
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• 2024

A stroke is a condition where an ischemic injury occurs in the brain tissue due to blockage or rupture of cerebral blood vessels. The damage to the brain nerve cells caused by a stroke is irreversible. Significant recovery is generally observed within the first six months after the onset, but the natural recovery rate decreases after six months. Therefore, intensive rehabilitation therapy is necessary within the first six months of the onset. This case report presents three cases of patients in the sequelae phase of stroke, where treatments based on integrative medicine system between traditional Korean medicine and Western medicine were applied. The treatments included scalp acupuncture from traditional Korean medicine and rehabilitation exercises and electrical therapy from Western medicine. In this case report, we evaluated the Manual Muscle Test (MMT), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and the patients' subjective symptom interviews before and after the implementation of the integrative treatment. As a result, significant improvements in MMT and MBI were observed in acute stroke cases, whereas the improvement was minimal in cases with chronic progression. However, in all cases, the patients expressed high satisfaction with the treatment during the interviews.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.761-771
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• 2009

Objectives : The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between metabolic syndrome and erythrocyte deform ability in acute stroke patients. Methods : Among 88 of the recruited patients, 52 were diagnosed as metabolic syndrome. We assessed their general characteristics, risk factors. We compared the assessed variables between metabolic syndrome and control group. We analyzed the relationship between metabolic syndrome and erythrocyte deform ability. We analyzed relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and erythrocyte deformability. Results : The general characteristics waist and hip circumference, waist/hip ratio were higher in metabolic syndrome group. The metabolic syndrome group was also diagnosed with hypertension, DM, and hyperlipidemia more often than the control group. The blood test metabolic syndrome group showed higher triglycerides, total lipids, fasting blood sugar, and 2 hours postprandial plasma glucose level and lower HDL-cholesterol than the control group. There were more patients diagnosed with Dampness-Phlegm in the metabolic syndrome group. There were more patients showing lower erythrocyte deform ability in the metabolic syndrome group. The plasma homocysteine level was negatively correlated with erythrocyte deform ability. Conclusion : The results reconfirmed that the risk factors are more in metabolic syndrome group. The results indicated that metabolic syndrome lead to a lower erythrocyte deform ability in small vessel disease stroke patients. The Plasma homocysteine level was negatively correlated with erythrocyte deform ability.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between sitting and standing balance in acute stroke patients and gait outcome, and to determine appropriate test times. The subjects of this study were 20 hemiplegic patients who had been hospitalized in Sangji University Oriental Medical Hospital from August 26, 1997 through November 3, 1997. Twenty patients with cerebral infarcts had sitting and standing balance assessed on the 5th day and 10th day of stroke onset. Gait outcome was assessed 5 weeks later using the MMAS (Modified Motor Assessment Scale) score. The data were analyzed by the Spearman's Rho test and Wilcoxon signed rank test. The results were as follows: 1) Correlation coefficients between sitting balance on the 5th day and 10th day after their stroke and gait outcome 5 weeks after their stroke were $r_s$=0.89 and $r_s$=0.83, respectively. All of the sitting balance data significantly correlated with gait outcome (p<0.05). 2) Correlation coefficients between standing balance on the 5th day and 10th day after their stroke and gait outcome 5 weeks after their stroke were $r_s$=0.82 and $r_s$=0.87, respectively. All of the standing balance data significant1y correlated with gait outcome (p<0.05). 3) The difference between sitting balance scores on the 5th day and 10th day after stroke onset were statistically significant (p<0.05). But the difference between standing balance scores on the 5th day and 10th day after stroke onset were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In conclusion, sitting and standing balance tests on the 5th day and 10th day after their stroke appear to be predictive of gait outcome. Also, the result of this study can provide reference for appropriate test times as an assessment of sitting and standing balance in stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.419-425
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• 2015

Objective : Acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (AVBAO) is a devastating disease with a high mortality rate. One of the most important factors affecting favorable clinical outcome is early recanalization. Mechanical thrombectomy is an emerging treatment strategy for achieving a high recanalization rates. However, thrombectomy alone can be insufficient to complete recanalization, especially for acute stroke involving large artery atheromatous disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy in AVBAO. Methods : Fourteen consecutive patients with AVBAO were treated with mechanical thrombectomy. Additional multimodal treatments were intra-arterial (IA) thrombolysis, balloon angioplasty, or permanent stent placement. Recanalization by thrombectomy alone and multimodal treatments were assessed by the Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) score. Clinical outcome was determined using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at 7 days and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months. Results : Thrombectomy alone and multimodal treatments were performed in 10 patients (71.4%) and 4 patients (28.6%), respectively. Successful recanalization (TICI 2b-3) was achieved in 11 (78.6%). Among these 11 patients, 3 (27.3%) underwent multimodal treatment due to underlying atherosclerotic stenosis. Ten (71.4%) of the 14 showed NIHSS score improvement of >10. Overall mortality was 3 (21.4%) of 14. Conclusion : We suggest that mechanical thrombectomy is safe and effective for improving recanalization rates in AVBAO, with low complication rates. Also, in carefully selected patients after the failure of recanalization by thrombectomy alone, additional multimodal treatment such as IA thrombolysis, balloons, or stents can be needed to achieve successful recanalization.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2011

Objective : We retrospectively evaluated the prognostic factors that can influence long-term survival in patients who suffered acute large cerebral infarction. Methods : Between June 2003 and October 2008, a total of 178 patients were diagnosed with a large cerebral infarction, and, among them, 122 patients were alive one month after the onset of stroke. We investigated the multiple factors that might have influenced the life expectancies of these 122 patients. Results : The mean age of the patients was $70{\pm}13.4$ years and the mean survival was $41.7{\pm}2.8$ months. The mean survival of the poor functional outcome group ($mRS{\geq}4$) was $33.9{\pm}3.3$ months, whereas that of the good functional outcome group ($mRS{\leq}3$) was $58.6{\pm}2.6$ months (p value=0.000). The mean survival of the older patients (270 years) was $29.7{\pm}3.4$ months, whereas that of the younger patients (<70 years) was much better as $58.9{\pm}3.2$ months (p value=0.000). Involvement of ACA or PCA territory in MCA infarction is also a poor prognostic factor (p value=0.021). But, other factors that are also known as significant predictors of poor survival (male gender, hypertension, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, a previous history of stroke, smoking, and dyslipidemia) did not significantly influence the mean survival time in the current study. Conclusion : Age (older versus younger than 70 years old) and functional outcome at one month could be critical prognostic factors for survival after acute large cerebral infarction. Involvement of ACA or PCA territory is also an important poor prognostic factor in patients with MCA territorial infarction.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.51-62
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• 2001

Objectives : In Oriental Medicine, the improvement of constipation is very important for patients at the acute stage of cerebrovascular accident. For constipation, oral medicine has usually been used but is not available to stroke patients with dysphagia and mental disorder, and may bring about side effects on the gastrointestinal tract. In such cases, general enema has been used for assistant therapy, We needed to develop a more effective enema technique on constipation of stroke patients. Methods : Sixty-three patients were researched. We treated 29 patients with Bo-Ryu enema and 34 patients with general enema. To compare the effect of the Bo-Ryu enema group with that of the general enema group, we analyzed general characteristics, bowel movement, abdominal examination and related symptoms. Results : Sixty-three patients comprised the Bo-Ryu (n=29) and general (n=34) enema groups. Between the Bo-Ryu and general enema groups, the Bo-Ryu enema was more effective than the general enema in the number of bowel movements, total and corrected amount of stool, tonus of rectus abdominis muscle and abdominal discomfort. However, there were not significant differences in the power of abdominal muscle, digestion and physical power. Among the subgroups, Bo-Ryu enema group was most effective in the number of bowel movements, total amount of stool and tonus of rectus abdominis muscle, and Bo-Ryu enema group was best in the corrected amount of stool and abdominal discomfort. Conclusions : Bo-Ryu enema should be considered as an effective and safe treatment for patients with constipation during the acute stage of cerebrovascular accident.