• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.28-31
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• 2023

The radial forearm free flap (RFFF) has become popular for head and neck reconstructions. Owing to a constant anatomy the RFFF is relatively easy to dissect. Nevertheless, anatomical variations of the radial artery have been reported. Some variations could affect the survival of the flap. This paper reports an unusual anomaly of the radial artery where the radial artery was not located between the brachioradialis (BR) and flexor carpi radialis. The radial artery was observed above the BR and on the radial side of the BR. The survival of the elevated flap was deemed questionable because it had only few perforators. So we decided to discard the flap and to elevate another free flap for the head and neck defect. The donor area on the forearm was covered using the original skin of the first flap as a full-thickness skin graft. This case highlights a means to deal with anomalies of the radial artery encountered during the elevation of RFFF and the checking process for variations of the radial artery before RFFF.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.115-121
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• 2024

After treatment of unilateral vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA), de novo VADA rarely occurs on the contralateral side. In this article, we report a case of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to de novo VADA in the contralateral vertebral artery (VA) 3 years after parent artery occlusion of unilateral VADA, with a review of the literature. A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of headache and impaired consciousness. Head computed tomography showed SAH, and three-dimensional computed tomography angiography showed a fusiform aneurysm in the left VA. We performed an emergency parent artery occlusion. Three years and 3 months after the initial treatment, the patient presented to our hospital with complaints of headache and neck pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed SAH, and magnetic resonance angiography revealed de novo VADA in the right VA. We performed a stent-assisted coil embolization. The patient had a good postoperative course and was discharged with a modified Rankin scale score of 0. Long-term follow-up is necessary in patients with VADA because contralateral de novo VADA can develop even several years after the initial treatment.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.316-319
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• 2024

Comprehensive understanding of the variations in the branching of the external carotid artery (ECA) is essential to minimizing vascular complications during cranio-facial and neck surgical procedures. We demonstrate a rare case of unusual branching of ECAs in both carotid triangles and anomalous origin of the left ascending pharyngeal artery (APA) during dissection of embalmed cadaver. The right and left common carotid arteries (CCA) bifurcated at the level of the upper border of the thyroid cartilage. The right superior thyroid artery (STA) originated anterior to the carotid bifurcation (CB), while the left STA originated from the anterior aspect of the left CCA. The right ECA trifurcated into linguofacial trunk, APA, and distal ECA, 15.7 mm from CB. On the left side, lingual artery and APA arose as a short common linguopharyngeal trunk, 1.9 mm from CB. The left facial and occipital arteries originated anteromedially and posteriorly at the same level.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.979-984
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• 2003

Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is very rare disease. The diagnosis of pulmonary artery sarcoma is frequently confused with pulmonary embolism because its clinical symptom and radiologic findings are similar with pulmonary embolism. It was often diagnosed at autopsy as it progresses rapidly. So Pulmonary artery sarcoma must be suspected if the origin of thrombus is not known and anticoagulation therapy is not effective. In this case, a 57 years old man who has been diagnosed pulmonary embolism was transferred to our department because of ineffective anticoagulant therapy and its worsening lesion despite of 5 month-therapy. In operative findings, it was pulmonary artery sarcoma that invaded to pericardium. There was angiosarcoma in right pulmonary artery, which metastasized to lung parenchyme. Under cardiopulmonary bypass, we resected main pulmonary artery and right lung. The Gore-tex graft was interposed between main pulmonary artery and left pulmonary artery. He was discharged after chemotherapy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.37-40
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• 2015

The presence of a single coronary artery is a rare congenital anomaly; such patients often present with severe myocardial ischemia. We experienced the case of a 13-year-old girl with the right coronary artery originating from the left circumflex artery. She visited our Emergency Department owing to severe chest pain; her cardiac enzyme levels were elevated, but her initial electrocardiogram (ECG) was normal. Echocardiography showed normal anatomy and normal regional wall motion. When she presented with recurrent chest pain on admission, the ECG showed significant ST-segment elevation in the left precordial leads and inferior leads with ST-segment depression in aVR lead, suggesting myocardial ischemia, and her cardiac enzyme levels were also elevated. We performed coronary angiography that showed a single right coronary artery originating from the left circumflex artery without stenosis. We confirmed the presence of a single coronary artery using coronary computed tomography. In addition, the treadmill test that was performed showed normal results. She was discharged from the hospital without any medications but with a recommendation of a regular followup.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.125-135
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• 2020

Purpose : Obesity indices are major predictive markers for coronary artery stenosis, but there are few studies about the relationship between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis in the Korean population. Therefore, we analyzed the association between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis among health-screen examinees. Methods : This study included 99 males and females who visited a health-examination center. The obesity indices included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), visceral adipose tissue/subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (V/S ratio). All subjects had their degree of coronary artery stenosis measured using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). A multiple logistic regression test was conducted to analyze the association between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis. Results : This study was taken by multiple logistic regression test adjusted by age, sex, smoking status, frequency of alcohol drinking/week and frequency of exercise/week. The adjusted odds ratio for the presence of coronary artery stenosis for subjects with abdominal obesity (abdominal obesity defined as a waist circumference ≥ 90 cm in males; ≥ 85 cm in females) was 6.263 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.974-19.869), for subjects with visceral obesity by visceral adipose tissue (visceral obesity defined as a visceral adipose tissue ≥ 100) was 11.430 (95 % CI 3.044-42.928). Conclusion : In this study of adults, WC and VAT were independent predictors of coronary artery stenosis. These results suggest that WC and VAT may be useful markers of coronary artery stenosis.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.215-218
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• 2014

Blunt abdominal trauma may often cause multiple vascular injuries. However, common iliac artery injuries without associated bony injury are very rarely seen in trauma patients. In the present case, a 77-year-old male patient who had no medical history was admitted via the emergency room with blunt abdominal trauma caused by a forklift. At admission, the patient was in shock and had abdominal distension. On abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (CT), the patient was seen to have hemoperitoneum, right common iliac artery thrombosis and left common iliac artery rupture. During surgery, an additional injury to inferior vena cava was confirmed, and a primary repair of the inferior vena cava was successfully performed. However, the bleeding from the left common iliac artery could not be controlled, even with multiple sutures, so the left common iliac artery was ligated. Through an inguinal skin incision, the right common iliac artery thrombosis was removed with a Forgaty catheter and a femoral-to-femoral bypass graft was successfully performed. After the post-operative 13th day, on a follow-up CT angiography, the femoral-to-femoral bypass graft was seen to have good patency, but a right common iliac artery dissection was diagnosed. Thus, a right common iliac artery stent was inserted. Finally, the patient was discharged without complications.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2013

Purpose: Although a fasciocutaneous perforator artery as a vascular pedicle has previously been shown to be predominant in the anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap, recent studies have shown that a myocutaneous perforator artery is predominant. We have attempted to attain a clinical understanding of the vascular variations in the ALT flap. Materials and Methods: We confirmed the origin of a perforator artery in 11 cases of ALT flap. We then reviewed the variations of the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery, known as the major origin of the flap, and the overall variations associated with an ALT flap. Results: In a total of 11 cases, there were 18 perforator arteries of the ALT flaps. In addition, there were 9 fasciocutaneous perforator arteries and another 9 myocutaneous ones. However, depending on the origin, there was great variability in the perforator artery. That is, there were unique variants in the descending branches of the lateral femoral circumflex artery, the major origin of the perforator artery, in 3 of the total 11 cases. Conclusion: Our results showed that (1) a perforator artery accounts for the high proportion of fasciocutaneous ones, (2) a perforator artery might not originate from the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery and (3) there might be unique variants in the descending branch. If considering this, surgeons would successfully elevate an ALT flap.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.119-125
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• 2005

The previous reports demonstrated that ginseng saponins, active ingredient of Panax ginseng, inhibited blood vessel contraction induced by various hormones or high $K^+$. Recently, we demonstrated that 20(R)- and 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$. regulate ion channel activities with differential manners. The aim of this study was to examine whether ginsenoside $Rg_3$ isomers also show differential effects on swine coronary artery contractionresponses induced by high $K^+$, serotonin (5-HT) or acetylcholine. Treatment of 20(S)- but not 20(R)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ caused a concentration-dependent relaxation of coronary artery contracted by 25mM KCI. 20(S)- and 20(R)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ induced significant relaxations of coronary artery contraction induced by 5-HT $(3{\mu}M)$ in the presence of endothelium with concentration-dependent manner and, also in the absence of endothelium only 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ induced a strong Inhibition of coronary artery contraction induced by 5-HT in a concentration-dependent manner. 20(S)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ caused relaxation of coronary artery in the absence and presence of endothelium. In contrast, treatment of 20(S)- and 20(R)-ginsenoside $Rg_3\;(100{\mu}M)$ did not show significant inhibition of coronary artery contraction induced by acetylcholine $(0.01\;to\;30{\mu}M)$ in the presence of endothelium, whereas both isomers caused significant inhibition of coronary artery contraction induced by acetylcholine $(0.01\;to\;30{\mu}M)$ in the absence of endothelium in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings indicate that 20(S)-or 20(R)-ginsenoside $Rg_3$ exhibits differential relaxation eff3cts of swine coronary artery contractions caused by high $K^+$, acetylcholine, and 5-HT treatment and that this differential vasorelaxing effects of ginsenoside $Rg_3$ isomers also might be dependent on endothelium.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.444-447
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• 2004

A 59 year-old male diagnosed as unstable angina underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery using in situ left internal mammary and right gastroepiploic artery grafts. During harvesting the right gastroepiploic artery, there was no abnormal finding in intraabdominal organs including stomach and liver. He was discharged at the 3rd postoperative day without complication. In case of using in situ right gastroepiploic artery, we recommend gastrofberscopic study at regular follow-up, The patient underwent the gastrofiberscopic study at postoperative 3rd month and diagnosed as advanced gastric cancer on the posterior wall of gastric fundus. At 5th postoperative month, total gastrectomy without intraoperative injury of the right gastroepiploic artery was performed at the department of general surgery. He was discharged at the 9th postoperative day. Follow-up coronary angiography performed at the 1st postoperative year demonstrated patent grafts including right gastroepiploic artery.