• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.111-118
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• 1997

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) recently has been utilized widely as the most successful technique to overcome the unfertilization problem in cases of severe male infertility in couples who could not be treated by conventional IVF. Recently, indications of ICSI have been extended further and more fertilized oocytes become available. Thus, it is necessary to examine the efficiency of freezing the surplus embryos obtained from ICSI. We compared the survival rate and the future outcome of cryopreserved embryos obtained either after conventional IVF or ICSI during the same period. After ICSI or IVF, five best-quality embryos from each patient were transferred in the stimulation cycle and the surplus pronuclear (PN) stage oocytes or multicellular embryos were cryopreserved by slow freezing protocol with 1,2-propanediol (PROH) as a cryoprotectant. A total of 792 embryos from ICSI trial were thawed and 65.2% (516/792) survived. The survival rates of PN stage oocyte, multicellular embryo and PN + multicellular embryo were 63.5%, 68.2%, 64.0%, respectively. After 111 transfers, 34 pregnancies were achieved, corresponding to a clinical pregnancy rate of 30.6% per transfers. We thawed 1033 embryos from IVF trials and 57.5% (594/1033) survived. In IVF cycle, the survival rates of PN stage oocyte, multicellular embryo and PN + multicellular embryo were 58.2%, 65.2%, 40.2%, respectively. Thirty eight clinical pregnancies were established after 134 transfers, corresponding to a pregnancy rate of 28.4% per transfer. The cleavage rate of thawed PN stage oocytes from ICSI trial (61.3%) was significantly higher than those from conventional IVF (53.4%). The developmental rates of good embryo (${\geqq}$ grade II) in thawed PN stage oocytes obtained from conventional IVF and ICSI were 63% and 65%, respectively. We concluded that PN stage oocytes, multicellular embryos resulting from ICSI procedure can be successfully frozen/thawed with reasonable clinical pregnancy rates comparable to those of IVF.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.105-109
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• 2005

Purpose: We compared the clinical features of the ankle fractures treated by operation between the elderly and the young, and reviewed the principles of treatment of the ankle fractures in the elderly. Materials and Methods: We reviewed 49 cases of the ankle fractures, which were treated by open reduction from August 1991 to July 2002. Patients aged more than 60 were designated as the elderly, and patients aged between 15 and 33 were designated as the young. The average follow-up period was 13.2 months. Using the Lauge-Hansen classification, We defined stage I or II fractures as low stage and stage III or IV fractures as high stage fractures. Results: There were 15 cases of high stage fractures (78.9%) in the elderly and 11 cases (36.7%) in the young. High stage fracture rate was significantly higher in the elderly (P=0.004). Hospital day, period between primary injury and operation, and union time were significantly longer in the elderly (P<0.001). However, there was no statistical difference in immobilization time between the two groups. The results of treatment were satisfactory clinically and radiologically by the Meyer's criteria in both groups. Conclusion: In the elderly, high stage fractures were more common and longer hospitalization and union time were needed than the young. However, the result of surgical treatment was satisfactory.

• Journal of the Korean Statistical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.435-441
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• 2000

Ko(1998, 1999) proposed certain flexible two-stage plans that could be served as one-step interim analysis in on-going clinical trials. The proposed Plans are optimal simultaneously in both a Bayes and a Neyman-Pearson sense. The Neyman-Pearson interpretation is that average expected sample size is being minimized, subject just to the two overall error rates $\alpha$ and $\beta$, respectively of first and second kind. The Bayes interpretation is that Bayes risk, involving both sampling cost and wrong decision losses, is being minimized. An example of this correspondence are given by using a binomial setting.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.342-347
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• 1989

A 4-year-old male developed the esophageal perforation after air-gun shut injury in the thorax. The esophageal perforation was found on esophagogram at the next day after the accident. Because of delayed diagnosis, mediastinitis and pyopneumothorax were developed. The general conditions of the patient were very critical with sepsis on admission. Therefore, two staged operation was planned. At the first stage, exclusion and diversion of the esophagus was carried out to treat chemical pneumonitis due to gastric contents through the esophago-bronchial fistula by gastroesophageal reflux. Clinical conditions of the patient were improved after the first stage operation. At the second stage, the esophageal reconstruction with right colon was performed.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.177-186
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the development of clinical instruction by students ratings of teaching effectiveness in clinical education. The instrument used in this study was teaching effectiveness of clinical nursing by Yu and modified evaluation method by Kern and Mickelson. The results were are follows 1. Among the 12 categorial components of clinical teaching effectiveness, the highest satisfaction was 'encouraging to think for themselves' and the lowest was 'attitude of teacher and evaluation' 2. To compare teaching effectiveness between sex, 'resource for student' and 'professional competence' showed statistical significance. 3. To compare teaching effectiveness among clinical practice stage, 'encouraging' 'role model', 'professional competence', 'organization of subject mater' and 'attitude of teacher and evaluation' showed statistical significance. 5. Interrater ICCs for evaluation method did not showed statistical significance and interitem ICCs showed statistical significance. This article presents goal of clinical education, development of clinical instructor's educational program and a standardized method to measure clinical performance.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 1996

From June 1989 to May 1994, 23 patients with myasthenia gravis underwent thymectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Asan Medical Center. For the evaluation of the effect of thymectomy, clinical analysis including age and sex distribution, preoperative disease severity, duration of the symptoms, thymic pathology, and postoperative clinical improvement was performed. The mean follow-up period was 15 mon hs(range : 5∼60mon1hs). The effectiveness of thymectomy according to the postoperative symptoms and drug dose was graded as follow : a) complete remission in 5 cases (21.7%), b) clinical improvement with dose reduction in II cases (47.9%), c) clinical improvement without dose reduction in 3 cases(13.0%), 4) unchanged in 2 cases (8.8%), e) early death in 1 case(4.3%) and f) recurrence in 1 case(4.3%). According to the preoperative disease stage by Modified Osserman classification, 6(66.7%) of the 9 patients in stage I and 13 (92.9%) of 14 patients in stage II were clinically improved after thymectomy. although there was no significant statistical differences between these two groups (p> 0.05). According to the thymic pathology, 4 (100%) of 4 cases with normal thymus were clinically improved. Ten (90.9%) of 11 cases with thymic hyperplasia and 5 (62.5%) of 8 cases with thymoma were clinically improved, but there was no significant statistical differences in these three groups (p> 0.05 . The thymectomy resulted in dramatic clinical improvement in 19 (82.5%) out of 23 patients. According to the preoperative disease stage by Modified Osserman classification or the thymic pathology, there was no significant statistical differeneces in the effect of thyinectomy (p> 0.05).

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.149-156
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• 2013

Purpose: Clinical stage of gastric cancer is currently assessed by computed tomography. Accurate clinical staging is important for the tailoring of therapy. This study evaluated the accuracy of clinical N staging using stomach protocol computed tomography. Materials and Methods: Between March 2004 and November 2012, 171 patients with gastric cancer underwent preoperative stomach protocol computed tomography (Jeju National University Hospital; Jeju, Korea). Their demographic and clinical characteristics were reviewed retrospectively. Two radiologists evaluated cN staging using axial and coronal computed tomography images, and cN stage was matched with pathologic results. The diagnostic accuracy of stomach protocol computed tomography for clinical N staging and clinical characteristics associated with diagnostic accuracy were evaluated. Results: The overall accuracy of stomach protocol computed tomography for cN staging was 63.2%. Computed tomography images of slice thickness 3.0 mm had a sensitivity of 60.0%; a specificity of 89.6%; an accuracy of 78.4%; and a positive predictive value of 78.0% in detecting lymph node metastases. Underestimation of cN stage was associated with larger tumor size (P<0.001), undifferentiated type (P=0.003), diffuse type (P=0.020), more advanced pathologic stage (P<0.001), and larger numbers of harvested and metastatic lymph nodes (P<0.001 each). Tumor differentiation was an independent factor affecting underestimation by computed tomography (P=0.045). Conclusions: Computed tomography with a size criterion of 8 mm is highly specific but relatively insensitive in detecting nodal metastases. Physicians should keep in mind that computed tomography may not be an appropriate tool to detect nodal metastases for choosing appropriate treatment.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2015

Purpose: To evaluate treatment outcomes and determine prognostic factors in patients with esophageal cancer treated with esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 39 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by esophagectomy between 2002 and 2012. Initial clinical stages of patients were stage IB in 1 patient (2.6%), stage II in 5 patients (12.9%), and stage III in 33 patients (84.6%). Results: The median age of all the patients was 62 years, and the median follow-up period was 17 months. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 33.6% in all the patients. The 3-year locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rate was 33.7%. In multivariate analysis with covariates of age, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tumor length, clinical response, clinical stage, pathological response, pathological stage, lymphovascular invasion, surgical type, and radiotherapy to surgery interval, only pathological stage was an independent significant prognostic factor affecting both OS and LRFS. The complications in postoperative day 90 were pneumonia in 9 patients, anastomotic site leakage in 3 patients, and anastomotic site stricture in 2 patients. Postoperative 30-day mortality rate was 10.3% (4/39); the cause of death among these 4 patients was respiratory failure in 3 patients and myocardial infarction in one patient. Conclusion: Only pathological stage was an independent prognostic factor for both OS and LRFS in patients with esophageal cancer treated with esophagectomy after NCRT. We could confirm the significant role of NCRT in downstaging the initial tumor bulk and thus resulting in better survival of patients who gained earlier pathological stage after NCRT.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.182-185
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• 2003

Purpose: Preoperative staging of gastric cancer is crucial because the treatment modality and the prognosis depend upon the stage of gastric cancer. Current treatment modalities for early gastric cancer have focused on the quality of life. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and abdominal computed tomography (CT) are commonly used diagnostic tools to evaluate the invasiveness (T stage) of the primary tumor. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the sensitivity and the specificity of preoperative EUS and CT in comparison with postoperative pathology. Materials and Methods: From October 2001 to October 2002, EUS and abdominal CT were performed simultaneously on 75 patients who underwent radical gastric surgery for the treatment of gastric cancer. Through analyzing the clinical T stage and the pathologic T stage, We evaluated the diagnostic sensitivities and specificities of endoscopic ultrasonography and abdominal computed tomography. Results: The male-to-female sex ratio was 1 : 0.6 (males: 47, females: 28). The mean age was 55.4 years in males (range: $28\~81$) and 54.4 years in females (range: $23\∼77$). The clinical T stage based on EUS included 22 T1mm, 7 T1sm, 22 T2, and 24 T3. The clinical T stage based on CT included 20 Tx, 23 T2, and 32 T3. The permanent pathologic report confirmed 23 T1mm, 10 T1sm, 17 T2, 24 T3, and 1 T4. The sensitivity and specificity of EUS were $84.2\%\;and\;94.7\%$, respectively. However, the sensitivity and specificity of abdominal CT were $53.3\%\;and\;77.0\%$, respectively. Conclusion: Our data suggest that EUS is a very useful diagnostic tool for evaluating the T stage of gastric cancer because EUS has higher specificity than abdominal CT. Therefore, EUS may have a significant role as a preoperative diagnostic modality in patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2012

This study developed a test entitled Clinical Critical Thinking Skills (CCTS) by using item response theory (IRT) and examined its validity. In the development stage, data obtained from a convenience sample of 627 undergraduate nursing students were analyzed using a discrimination and difficulty index with the TestAn 1.0 program. In the evaluation stage, data from a convenience sample of 284 nursing and non-nursing students were analyzed using a discrimination and difficulty index with the BILOG-MG program. Criterion validity was verified by the group comparison method. Five items received low discrimination index scores according to the IRT results. In terms of the criterion validity, CCTS scores differed according to major (t=2.21, p=0.028), location of high school (F=4.35, p=0.014), clinical experience (t=5.66, p=0.004), and grade point average (F=7.17, p< 0.001). The CCTS can be used to measure critical thinking skills in the clinical setting.