• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2008

Objective: This study was performed to investigate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency (RF) myolysis under transvaginal ultrasound guidance. Methods: Transvaginal RF myolysis had been performed in one hundred nine women with uterine leiomyoma at Chung-Ang University hospital between Dec. 2004 and Mar. 2007. All patients, mean aged $42.8{\pm}5.8$ years, desired their uterine conservation. Patients underwent physical examination, transvaginal pelvic ultrasound for measurement of the lesions preoperatively. Follow up was done at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months after RF myolysis by same physician and measurement of size and volume of myoma and improvement of myoma specific symptoms such as menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea were checked at each visit. Results: The mean maximal diameter of myomas treated by RF myolysis was $6.1{\pm}0.5\;cm$ and average time of the procedure was $16.3{\pm}8.5$ minutes. A significant decrease of myoma size and volume was observed at 1 month after myolysis. Mean reduction in maximal diameter was $29.9{\pm}4.8%$ at 1 week (p<0.001), $41.5{\pm}1.5%$ at 1 month (p=0.05), $46.2{\pm}3.9%$ at 3 months (p=0.003), $54.6{\pm}6.1%$ at 6 months (p<0.001) after RF myolysis respectively. Mean reduction in volume was $44.4{\pm}8.3%$ (p=0.001), $68.1{\pm}4.2%$ (p=0.035), 73.9$73.9{\pm}4.8%$ (p=0.042), $84.5{\pm}5.1%$ (p<0.001) at the same follow up period respectively. Significant improvement of symptom was observed at 3 months after RF myolysis. Transient low abdominal pain and prolonged vaginal bleeding were detected in 3 patients each but spontaneously resolved and no serious complication has been noticed or found. Conclusion: This study shows transvaginal RF myolysis could be a safe and effective method to treat uterine leiomyoma, allowing uterine conservation with significant volume reduction and rapid return to normal activity.

• Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2008

Purpose: Evaluation and analysis of the incidence of postoperative complications after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Materials and Methods: We reviewed 172 cases of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft in anterior cruciate ligament tear without meniscal injury. We performed Lysholm knee score and KT-2000 testing, simple radiograph, physical examination as evaluation factor. Also, around knee pain, swelling, limitation of motion, patellofemoral crepitation, paresthesia and pain on kneeling were evaluated. Results: The average follow up period was 49.8 months. In 172 patients, 148 males and 26 femlaes were evaluated. The average age was 34.4 years. The Lysholm knee score improved from 51.9 points preoperatively to 90.8 points at final follow up. Clinical outcome was excellent in 83%, good in 11%, fair in 4% and poor in 2%. There were many cases of complications, 24 cases (14%) of around knee pain, 12 cases (7%) of swelling, 45 cases (26.2%) of patellofemoral crepitation, 52 cases (30%) of donor site paresthesia, 65 cases (38%) of pain on kneeling, 10 cases (5.8%) of limitation of motion at extension, 13 cases (8%) of limitation of motion at flexion and 2cases (1.2%) of patellar fracture. Conclusion: Although arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone had good clinical results, many complications were noted. Some factors in surgical technique were suspected to be related to the complications and long term follow up will be necessary to further evaluated.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1172-1182
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• 1998

Background: Primary goal of anticoagulation treatment in patients with mechanical heart valve is the effective prevention of thromboembolism and safe avoidance of bleeding as well. Material and Method: Two-hundred and nine patients with the St. Jude Medical prosthesis operated on between 1984 and 1995, for mitral(MVR 122), aortic(AVR 39) and double mitral and aortic valve replacement(DVR 48) respectively, were studied on the practically achieved levels of anticoagulation and the clinical outcomes. Patients were on Coumadin and followed up by monthly visit to outpatient clinic for examination and prothrombin time measurement to adjust the International Normalized Ratios(INRs) within the low-intensity target range between 1.5 and 2.5. Result: A total anticoagulation follow-up period was 1082.0 patient- years(mean 62.1 months) and INRs of 10,205 measurements were available for evaluation. The accomplished INRs among the replacement groups were not significantly different and only 65% of INRs were within the target range. And, in individual patients, only 37% of patients had INRs included within the target range in more than 70% of tests during follow-up period. The levels of INRs in patients with atrial fibrillation, which was found in 57% of patients, were definitely higher than the ones measured in patients with regular rhythm(p<0.001). Thromboembolisms were experienced by 15 patients with the incidence of 1.265%/patient- year(MVR 1.412%, AVR 0.462% and DVR 1.531%/patient-year) and major bleeding by 4 patients with the incidence of 0.337%/patient-year(MVR 0.424%, AVR none and DVR 0.383%/patient-year). Frequent as well as prolonged missing of prothrombin time tests was the main risk factor strongly associated with the thromboembolic complications(odds ratio 1.99). The proportion of INRs within target range of less than 60% in individual patient was the highly significant risk factor of both thromboembolic and overall embolic and bleeding complications(p<0.004 and p<0.002 respectively). Conclusion: In conclusion, the low-intensity therapeutic target range of INRs was adequate in patients with AVR and in sinus rhythm. However, the patients with replacement of the mitral valve were more likely to require higher target range of INRs, especially in the presence of atrial fibrillation, to achieve the practical levels of anticoagulation enough to prevent thromboembolic complications effectively. For the higher therapeutic target range of INRs between 2.0∼3.0, further accumulation of clinical evidences are required. It is highly desirable to improve the patients' compliance under continuous instructions in visiting outpatient clinic and in taking daily Coumadin without omission and to keep INRs consistently within optimal range with tight control for minimization of chances and of periods of exposure to the risk of complications. And, particularly, patients with high risk of complications and with wide fluctuation of INRs should be better managed with frequent monitoring anticoagulation levels.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.225-234
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• 2011

Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor of systemic health and also impairs oral health, which is related to development of oral cancers, periodontitis, delayed wound healing, tooth loss, failure of implant, etc. Aside from smoking, many other risk factors can be related to oral health and long-term effects of smoking on salivary flow and taste threshold are still in controversy. Authors considered dental students to be an appropriate group with good oral hygiene for a long-term study to reveal effects of smoking on oral health. This study was performed to compare smoking patterns and current oral health conditions between smokers and nonsmokers in dental students prior to long-term evaluation. 192 volunteers (85.7%) of 224 male dental students in Dankook University were evaluated through questionnaires and clinical examination in 2010. Questionnaires included smoking pattern, alcohol use, nicotine dependence, preventive care, psychological profile and clinical examinations comprised assessment of teeth or periodontal status, nicotine pigmentation, salivary flow, electrical taste thresholds and halitosis. From the study, (current) smokers were older, and drank more frequently with more alcohol intake compared to former smokers and nonsmokers(p<0.05). There was no significant difference among them in salivary flow rate, halitosis and electrical taste threshold. However, there was significant difference in DMFT rate, periodontal treatment need, nicotinic pigmentation between smokers and nonsmokers(p<0.05), irrespective of their levels of preventive care. The smokers in this study, who are young dental students with relatively shorter duration of smoking, less use of cigarettes and low level of nicotine dependence, did not reveal significant impairment of oral health. However, their oral health was found to be relatively impaired compared to nonsmokers', which suggests negative effect of smoking on the oral health and a need of smoking cessation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2009

Background: Solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) are encountered incidentally in 0.2% of patients who undergo chest X-ray or chest CT. Although SPN has malignant potential, it cannot be treated surgically by biopsy in all patients. The first stage is to determine if patients with SPN require periodic observation and biopsy or resection. An important early step in the management of patients with SPN is to estimate the clinical pretest probability of a malignancy. In every patient with SPN, it is recommended that clinicians estimate the pretest probability of a malignancy either qualitatively using clinical judgment or quantitatively using a validated model. This study examined whether Bayesian analysis or multiple logistic regression analysis is more predictive of the probability of a malignancy in SPN. Methods: From January 2005 to December 2008, this study enrolled 63 participants with SPN at the Kangnam Sacred Hospital. The accuracy of Bayesian analysis and Bayesian analysis with a FDG-PET scan, and Multiple logistic regression analysis was compared retrospectively. The accurate probability of a malignancy in a patient was compared by taking the chest CT and pathology of SPN patients with <30 mm at CXR incidentally. Results: From those participated in study, 27 people (42.9%) were classified as having a malignancy, and 36 people were benign. The result of the malignant estimation by Bayesian analysis was 0.779 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.657 to 0.874). Using Multiple logistic regression analysis, the result was 0.684 (95% CI, 0.555 to 0.796). This suggests that Bayesian analysis provides a more accurate examination than multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: Bayesian analysis is better than multiple logistic regression analysis in predicting the probability of a malignancy in solitary pulmonary nodules but the difference was not statistically significant.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 2001

Purpose: Several studies of an endoscopic mucosal resection(EMR) have been reported, but reports about benign protruding lesions that arise at the scar of EMR for early gastric cancer (EGC) or a gastric adenoma are rare. The purpose of this study was to elucidate endoscopic and histological characteristics of benign protruding lesions which arise at the scar of an EMR for EGC and a gastric flat adenoma. Materials and Methods: In 101 lesions (73 gastric flat adenomas and 28 EGCs) from 96 patients, 16 lesions developed new protruding lesions that arose at the scar of the EMR. We retrospectively analyzed the endoscopic findings of initial and protruding lesions, and several other clinical factors (H. pylori infection, eradication therapy, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or H2-blocker use). Results: 1. The mean duration until detection of the protruding lesion was 8.9 months ($1.5\∼27$). Protruding lesions arose at the scar of the EMR in 1 of 28 EGCs ($3.6\%$) and from 15 of 73 gastric flat adenomas ($20.5\%$). All of the patients were men. 2. With respect to the endoscopic findings, the shapes of the protruding lesions were as follows: 10 Yamada (Y) I, 4 Y-II, 1 Y-III, and 1 flat lesion. Histological examination of the protruding lesions revealed regenerating hyperplasia in 5 lesions, intestinal metaplasia in 5, and both in 6. 3. The incidence of these lesions was higher in cases of tubular adenomas with focal high-grade dysplasia than in cases of tubular adenomas without dysplasia (p<0.05). 4. The incidence of H. pylori infection was higher in patients ($81.7\%$) who developed a protruding lesion than in those ($51.8\%$) who did not develop (p=0.029); also, the incidence of use of PPI was higher in those patients (p=0.045). However, eradication therapy for H. pylori and duration of use of PPI or H2-blocker showed no difference between groups. Conclusions: It may be possible that the potential hyperplasia that may reside in normal mucosa surrounding EGC or a gastric adenoma might awaken during the healing process of the EMR ulcer and develop to benign protruding lesions. And, H. pylori and PPI might also be related to the development of the protruding lesions.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2008

Purpose: The early detection of gastric cancer and accuracy of preoperative staging has currently been on the increase due to the development of endoscopy and imaging techniques, but there are still many cases of advanced gastric cancer detected at the first diagnosis and there are also many cases of stage IV gastric cancer diagnosed after a postoperative pathological examination. Although the prognosis of stage IV gastric cancer is very poor, this study was performed to determine the value of the use of aggressive treatment determined after a clinical analysis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 150 patients that were diagnosed with stage IV gastric cancer among 1376 patients who underwent a laparotomy for gastric cancer from January 1994 to December 2006. Results: Of the 150 patients with stage IV gastric cancer who underwent a laparotomy, there were 104 men and 46 women. The mean patient age was 57.8 years (age range, 28~93 years). A subtotal gastrectomy or total gastrectomy was performed in 119 patients and 31 patients underwent an explorative laparotomy. The mean survival time of patients that underwent a gastrectomy and patients that did not undergo a gastrectomy was 722 days (range, 14~4,559 days) and 173 days (range, 16~374 days), respectively this result was statistically significant. When patients that underwent a gastrectomy were classified according to the TNM stage, the mean survival time of 33 patients with stage T4 disease was 534 days (range, 17~3,378 days) and the mean survival time of 63 patients with stage N3 disease was 521 days (range, 14~4,190 days), but there was no statistical significance. Chemotherapy was administered to 98 patients and 52 patients did not receive chemotherapy. The mean survival time of patients that received chemotherapy was 792 days (range, 36~4,559 days) and the mean survival time of patients that did not receive chemotherapy was 243 days (range, 14~2,413 days), with statistical significance. Conclusion: If there is no evidence of distant metastasis in stage IV gastric cancer, one can expect improvement of the survival rate by the use of aggressive treatment, including curative gastric resection with radical lymph node dissection and chemotherapy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.730-739
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• 2000

Background : The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical manifestations and efficacy of treatment regimens in order to determine the adequate combination of anti-tuberculotic agents and duration of treatment for tuberculous lymphadenitis. Methods : We made a review of 373 patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis, who were admitted to four medical college hospitals in Taegu Korea from 1989 to 1998, and their diagnoses were confirmed histologically and bacteriologically. Results : The incidence of tuberculous lymphadenitis was 71.3% in women and 57.7% were between the ages of 20 and 39 years. The most common symptom was painless swelling. The most commonly involved lymph nodes were unilateral superficial cervical lymph node groups. Tuberculous lymphadenitis was accompanied with active pulmonary tuberculosis, commonly. The sensitivity of fine needle aspiration(FNA) in tuberculous lymphadenitis was 79.6%, and 92.2% of the patients had a strong positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test. The most commonly prescribed anti-tuberculotic regimen was the combination of INH, RMP, EMB, and PZA(62.6 %). Eighty percent of patient were treated for 9-12 months. There was no significantly difference in the recurrence rate of tuberculous lymphadenitis between the combinations of anti-tuberculotic agent, including INH and RMP, and between the durations of treatment, for a period of 6 months of more. Conclusion : The combination of FNA cytologic examination and tuberculin skin test may be helpful in the diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. We propose that the combination of anti-tuberculotic agents, INH, RMP, EMB, and PZA, be prescribed to patients for 6 to 9 months.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2007

Purpose: We describe clinical, radiographic, MRI and pathologic findings as well as final outcome after simple curettage and bone graft of cystic fibrous dysplasia (FD) in the long bone, which has been rarely documented in the literature. Materials and Methods: Clinical records, radiographs, MRI and histologic slides of 11 patients with cystic FD in the long bone were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Six patients complained pain for several months, 4 patients presented pain after trivial injury event, and 1 patient suffered pathologic fracture. The mode of involvement was monostotic in 10 patients and polyostotic in l patient. The femur was affected in 7 patients, the humerus in 3, and the radius in 1. Radiography showed prominent, expansive lysis associated with ground-glass density of FD. MRI revealed 2 different signals of FD and cyst. Microscopic examination revealed classic findings of FD and non-specific cystic degeneration. The final outcome was satisfactory in every patient. Local recurrence was not observed. Conclusion: Cystic FD in the long bone seems not as rare as the scarcity of reported cases would indicate. MRI features provide a basis for differential diagnosis between benign cystic change and malignant transformation. Cystic FD would be an indication for surgery and simple curettage with allo-chip-bone graft is effective.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2002

Background and Objectives : Intracordal cysts may occur secondary to voice abuse and overuse or may be secondary to a remnant of epithelium trapped within the lamina propria. They nay occur spontaneously or may be associated with poor vocal hygiene. As the cyst enlarges it can start to significantly affect the vibratory region of the vocal fold. Recently, with the advancement of the microsurgical technique and the laryngeal stroboscopy, correct diagnosis of intracordal cyst have been increased. The aims of this study is to review the important clinical characteristics of the intracordal cyst. Materials and Method : In the present study, 121 cases of the intracordal cyst were treated by the microsurgical technique. These lesions were diagnosed before the operation with indirect laryngoscopy, laryngeal endoscopy, laryngeal stroboscopy and confirmed with the findings observed during operations and the results of the biopsies. Results : The intracordal cysts were 121 cases in the 2595 patients who underwent laryngeal micorosurgery(4.7%). Ductal cyst were 88 cases and epidermoid cyst were 33 cases. The lesions are more frequent in women and anterior third of true vocal cord is more frequently involved site. With the indirect laryngoscopic examination, the ductal cysts are more frequently misdiagnosed as other diseases of the vocal cord such as vocal polyps or nodules. The degree of postoperative voice satisfaction is similar to that of vocal polyps. Conclusion : Intracordal cysts are very similar to the other mucosal disorders of the vocal cord and it may be misdiagnosed as vocal polyps or nodules, frequently. Therefore careful preoperative examinations for the vocal cord lesions with stroboscopy and other endoscopic instruments are important part of the correct diagnosis. An ideal treatment is enucleation of the cysts without upture of the cystic wall or injury of the lamina propria.