• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.211-220
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• 2024

Non-secretory multiple myeloma (NSMM) is a rare cancer of plasma cells characterized by the absence of detectable monoclonal M protein in the blood or urine. A 57-year-old woman presented with mandibular pain but without intraoral swelling. Imaging studies revealed multiple osteolytic lesions in her mandible and pronounced root resorption of the left mandibular second molar. Biopsy results showed atypical plasmacytoid cells positive for anti-kappa, CD138, MUM1, and CD79a antibodies, but negative for anti-lambda and CD20. These results were indicative of a malignant plasma cell neoplasm. No abnormalities were revealed by free light chain assay or by serum or urine protein electrophoresis, leading to a diagnosis of NSMM. The patient began chemotherapy in conjunction with bisphosphonate therapy and achieved remission following treatment. This case underscores the critical role of dentists in the early detection and prevention of NSMM complications, as the disease can initially present in the oral cavity.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.480-486
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• 2005

Since the year 2000, lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death in South Korea as in many other parts of the world. The current multidisciplinary approach for lung cancer includes a wide range of modalities, not only surgery, radiotherapy, medical drug therapy but also pain control, as well as social and psychological support. Therefore, thoracic surgeons, radiologists, nuclear medicine specialists, anesthetists, psychologist, nurses and social workers as well as medical doctors care for lung cancer patients. Sharing a common treatment protocol and optimal communication are vital aspects of shared care both from a medical and cost-effectiveness point of view. We developed a shared electronic medical record (SEMR) for treating patients with lung cancer in a university hospital to facilitate the sharing protocols and communications between doctors involved in a lung cancer clinic. A SEMR system was developed within a order communication system(OCS) for a lung cancer clinic. The records of radiological, laboratory and pathological studies as well as the records of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were stored and presented to all doctors who treat the same patient. Every doctor was allowed to change his/her own records. They could review other doctor s records but could not alter them. With the SEMR, it was expected that the time to complete the medical records for one patient could be reduced because it was easy to review all the data from the other doctors who share the same patient. In addition, the confidence of the doctors who share a common treatment protocol would be higher. Therefore, a shared electronic medical record is expected to improve the quality of patient care.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2016

Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the correlations of the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) with semen parameters and apoptosis, and to investigate the effects of density-gradient centrifugation (DGC) and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) on reducing the proportion of sperm with DNA fragmentation and protamine deficiency. Methods: Semen analysis and a sperm DNA fragmentation assay were performed to assess the correlations between semen parameters and the DFI in 458 semen samples. Sperm with progressive motility or non-apoptosis were isolated by DGC or MACS, respectively, in 29 normozoospermic semen samples. The effects of DGC or MACS alone and of DGC and MACS combined on reducing the amount of sperm in the sample with DNA fragmentation and protamine deficiency were investigated. Results: The sperm DFI showed a significant correlation (r=-0.347, p< 0.001) with sperm motility and morphology (r=-0.114, p< 0.05) but not with other semen parameters. The DFI ($11.5%{\pm}2.0%$) of semen samples was significantly reduced by DGC ($8.1%{\pm}4.1%$) or MACS alone ($7.4%{\pm}3.9%$) (p< 0.05). The DFI was significantly further reduced by a combination of DGC and MACS ($4.1%{\pm}1.3%$, p< 0.05). Moreover, the combination of DGC and MACS ($1.6%{\pm}1.1%$, p< 0.05) significantly reduced the protamine deficiency rate of semen samples compared to DGC ($4.4%{\pm}3.2%$) or MACS alone ($3.4%{\pm}2.2%$). Conclusion: The combination of DGC and MACS may be an effective method to isolate high-quality sperm with progressive motility, non-apoptosis, high DNA integrity, and low protamine deficiency in clinical use.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.69 no.3
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• pp.121-140
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to use the Korea Health Panel to determine how the mother's characteristic and household characteristic variables were associated with dental clinic use of children in childhood and adolescence. The logistic regression analysis found that mother's education level was statistically significantly positively correlated with underage child's dental clinic use and children in single-parent family were less likely to use a dental clinic than those in two-parent family. As for dental clinic use by diseases, the higher level of mother's education, the more likely to use a dental clinic due to dental caries and children in single-parent family were less likely to use a dental clinic due to dental caries than those in two-parent family. No difference in dental clinic use due to tooth extraction was found by any of mother's characteristics or household characteristics, probably because age has an absolute impact during the period between milk teeth and permanent teeth. Lastly, mother's education level and household income were significantly positively correlated with dental clinic use due to orthodontics. On the basis of these results, it is necessary to develop a customized strategy reflecting children's growth stages and household characteristics in making a plan for promoting oral health of children and adolescents.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.122-128
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• 2018

Objective: To determine whether fragment removal on in vitro fertilization (IVF) day 2 improved the subsequent development and pregnancy outcomes of fragmented embryos compared to similar-grade embryos without fragment removal. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis involving 191 IVF cycles in which all embryos had over 10% fragmentation (grade 3 or 4) on day 2 of the IVF-embryo transfer cycle from March 2015 to December 2017. IVF cycles were divided into the fragment removal group (n = 87) and the no fragment removal group (n = 104) as a control cohort. Before fragment removal, embryos with fragmentation on day 2 were incubated in $Ca^{2+}$- and $Mg^{2+}$-free biopsy medium under paraffin oil for 30 minutes. Microsurgical fragment removal was performed with later-assisted hatching and a handmade suction micropipette that had an outer diameter of $30{\mu}m$. Results: There were no significant differences in the characteristics of the patients between the control and the fragment removal groups. After fragment removal and subsequent in vitro culture for 24 hours, the number of blastomeres ($7.1{\pm}1.7$ vs. $6.9{\pm}1.6$) was comparable between the transferred embryos in the two groups, but the morphological grade of the embryos in the fragment removal group ($1.9{\pm}0.7$) was significantly higher than that of the control group ($3.1{\pm}0.5$, p< 0.01). The clinical pregnancy (43.7%) and implantation rates (25.8%) in the fragment removal group were significantly higher than those in the control group (28.8% and 14.0%, respectively; p< 0.05). Conclusion: Early fragment removal on day 2 significantly improved the subsequent development and pregnancy outcomes of fragmented embryos.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.104-116
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• 2021

In order to reduce the social and economic costs due to the increase in dementia patients, which is a representative senile disease in an aging society, it will be important to prevent dementia and to detect and treat early in high-risk groups. This study reported the results of treatment for the elderly with high risk of dementia and depression who received Korean medicine (KM) treatment in 9 KM clinics. Medical charts were surveyed on 116 patients with high risk of dementia and depression who received KM treatment at 9 KM clinics in Gangseo-gu from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The majority of the patients were female(76.72%), the average age was 71.66±7.18 years old, and the average education level was 8.96±3.91 years. The average treatment period was 61.47±10.30 days, the average number of treatments was 15.38±1.06 times, and both acupuncture and herbal medicine were administered. After receiving KM treatment, cognitive assessment scores such as MMSE-DS and MoCA-K, depression-related GDSSF-K score, dementia knowledge, attitude, and preventive behavior, blood debilitation scale, and GQOL-D score were improved compared to before. There was no specific adverse reaction except that one patient with elevated AST and ALT levels was observed. This study showed improvement in cognitive function, depression, dementia-related scale, and quality of life in high-risk groups for dementia and depression over 60 years old who received KM treatment. More systematic and large-scale planned clinical studies will be needed.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2013

The aim of this research is to compare the attitude toward the special needs of dental staffs between the special dental clinic (SDC) and the general dental clinic (GDC). Surveys were done on 21 dental staffs (7 dentists and 14 dental hygienists) of SDC and 47 dental staffs (10 dentists and 37 dental hygienists) of GDC. Attitudes were rated on a questionnaire with the five-point Likert scale. Mann-Whitney test was utilized for statistical analysis. In SDC, more female dentists and dental staffs who have relatives with disability were working. Dental staffs of SDC showed that the more experience they had, the more positive attitudes toward the communication with the patients with special needs (p<0.05). Dental staffs of SDC represented more active attitudes toward the oral health promotion, treatment, research and volunteering (p<0.05). In conclusion, dental staffs who have personal motivation were working in SDC and the experience of dental treatment to the patients with special needs influenced the dental staffs' attitudes toward them. In future, a research about the attitude toward the disabled with more exact scale should be followed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4453-4458
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• 2012

Angiogenesis plays a significant role in colorectal cancer (CRC) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) appears to be involved with multiple aspects of CRC angiogenesis. Our aim was to investigate the inhibitory effects of Tan II-A (Tanshinone II-A, Tan II-A) on tumor growth in mice, as well as alteration of expression of COX-2 and VEGF in CRC. We established the mice xenograft model of C26 CRC cell line, and injected 0.5, 1, 2mg/kg of Tan II-A and 1mg/kg of 5-FU in respectively in vivo. Then, we assayed tumor weight and volume, and evaluated microvascular density and expression of VEGF. COX-2 promoter and COX-2 plasmids were transfected into HCT-116 cells, followed by detection of COX-2 promoter activity by chemiluminescence, and detection of COX-2 mRNA expression by fluorescence quantitative PCR. Taken together, the results showed Tan II-A could inhibit tumor growth and suppress the VEGF level in vivo. HCT-116 cell experiments showed marked inhibitory effects of Tan II-A on COX-2 and VEGF in a dose-dependent manner. The results indicate that Tan II-A can effectively inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis of human colorectal cancer via inhibiting the expression level of COX-2 and VEGF.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.157-163
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• 2016

Objective: The decision to use in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), or split insemination (IVF-ICSI) in the first cycle is based on the number of motile sperm. Hence, total fertilization failure (TFF) often occurs during IVF cycles, despite normozoospermia. To investigate whether the cumulative motile swim-up spermatozoa percentage at 22 hours post-insemination (MSPPI) is an indicator for ICSI, we analyzed TFF, fertilization, blastocyst development, chemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and live birth rates. Methods: This prospective study was performed using data obtained from 260 IVF cycles. At 22 hours after insemination, the remaining swim-up spermatozoa were observed and divided into six groups according to MSPPI (<10%, 10% to <30%, 30% to <50%, 50% to <70%, 70% to <90%, and 90% to 100%). Results: Regardless of the ejaculated motile sperm concentration ($0.6-280{\times}10^6/mL$ motile spermatozoa), the incidence of TFF significantly increased when MSPPI was <10%, and the fertilization rate significantly decreased when MSPPI was <30%. We found that cumulative MSPPI correlated with the cumulative fertilization rate (Spearman correlation, 0.508, p<0.001). Regarding embryo development, we observed no significant differences in the rates of blastocyst development, chemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, or live birth among all groups. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that MSPPI is a viable indicator for split IVF-ICSI and ICSI. Taken together, by employing the MSPPI test in advance before IVF, ICSI, or split IVF-ICSI cycles, unnecessary split IVF-ICSI and ICSI may be avoided.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.38
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• pp.32.1-32.6
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• 2016

Background: This study aimed to analyze and describe the morbidity and mortality associated with tracheostomy in patients with oral cancer and to identify the risk factors associated with tracheostomy complications. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients who underwent tracheostomy during a major oral cancer resection between March 2001 and January 2016 at the National Cancer Center, Korea. Overall, we included 51 patients who underwent tracheostomy after oral cancer surgery. We assessed the morbidity and mortality of tracheostomy and determined the risks associated with tracheostomy complications. Results: Twenty-two tracheostomy-related complications occurred in 51 patients. The morbidity and mortality rates were 35.2 % (n = 18) and 0 % (n = 0), respectively. Tracheostomy-related complications were tracheitis (n = 4), obstructed tracheostomy (n = 9), displaced tracheostomy (n = 5), air leakage (n = 1), stomal dehiscence (n = 1), and decannulation failure (n = 2). Most complications (19/22) occurred during the early postoperative period. Considering the risk factors for tracheostomy complications, the type of tube used was associated with the occurrence of tracheitis (p < 0.05). Additionally, body mass index and smoking status were associated with tube displacement (p < 0.05). However, no risk factors were significantly associated with obstructed tracheostomy. Conclusions: Patients with risk factors for tracheostomy complications should be carefully observed during the early postoperative period by well-trained medical staff.