• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.58-60
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• 2011

A seventeen-month-old male baby, who had received conventional biventricular repair for congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, underwent excision of supratricuspid ring. Although tricuspid valve annulus was marginally small on direct inspection in the operating theater, circumferential excision of supratricuspid ring alone completely relieved the right ventricular inflow obstruction.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.94-98
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• 2023

A forty-three-year-old male patient was diagnosed with an acute abscess in the dorsum of the right hand. On the 5th day of conventional pharmacological therapy the patient was still suffering, and was referred to the Outpatient department (OPD) to evacuate and drain the abscess and treat the edema around the area with Hijama (wet cupping therapy, WCT). The hand abscess was successfully cured within a week using an integrative approach of wet cupping therapy together with conventional drug therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1829-1831
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• 2012

Background: The generalized gamma distribution statistics constitute an extensive family that contains nearly all of the most commonly used distributions including the exponential, Weibull and log normal. A saturated version of the model allows covariates having effects through all the parameters of survival time distribution. Accelerated failure-time models assume that only one parameter of the distribution depends on the covariates. Methods: We fitted both the conventional GG model and the saturated form for each of its members including the Weibull and lognormal distribution; and compared them using likelihood ratios. To compare the selected parameter distribution with log logistic distribution which is a famous distribution in survival analysis that is not included in generalized gamma family, we used the Akaike information criterion (AIC; r=l(b)-2p). All models were fitted using data for 369 women age 50 years or more, diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer in BC during 1990-1999 and followed to 2010. Results: In both conventional and saturated parametric models, the lognormal was the best candidate among the GG family members; also, the lognormal fitted better than log-logistic distribution. By the conventional GG model, the variables "surgery", "radiotherapy", "hormone therapy", "erposneg" and interaction between "hormone therapy" and "erposneg" are significant. In the AFT model, we estimated the relative time for these variables. By the saturated GG model, similar significant variables are selected. Estimating the relative times in different percentiles of extended model illustrate the pattern in which the relative survival time change during the time. Conclusions: The advantage of using the generalized gamma distribution is that it facilitates estimating a model with improved fit over the standard Weibull or lognormal distributions. Alternatively, the generalized F family of distributions might be considered, of which the generalized gamma distribution is a member and also includes the commonly used log-logistic distribution.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2018

An overdose of antihypertensive agents, such calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARBs), and the antihyperglycemic agent, metformin, leads to hypotension and lactic acidosis, respectively. A 40-year-old hypertensive and diabetic man with hyperlipidemia and a weight of 110 kg presented to the emergency room with vomiting, dizziness, and hypotension following an attempted drug overdose suicide with combined CCBs, ARBs, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coemzyme A reductase inhibitors, and metformins. A conventional medical treatment initially administered proved ineffective. The treatment was then changed to simultaneous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), which was effective. This shows that simultaneous ECMO and CRRT can be an effective treatment protocol in cases of ineffective conventional medical therapy for hypotension and lactic acidosis due to an overdose of antihypertensive agents and metformin, respectively.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2017

Background: We evaluated a sensitive and quantitative method utilizing fragment analysis of the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD), simultaneously measuring mutant allele burden and length, and verified the analytical performance. Methods: The number and allelic burden of FLT3-ITD mutations was determined by fragment analysis. Serial mixtures of mutant and wild-type plasmid DNA were used to calculate the limit of detection of fragment analysis, conventional PCR, and Sanger sequencing. Specificity was evaluated using DNA samples derived from 50 normal donors. Results of fragment analysis were compared to those of conventional PCR, using 481 AML specimens. Results: Defined mixtures were consistently and accurately identified by fragment analysis at a 5% relative concentration of mutant to wild-type, and at 10% and 20% ratios by conventional PCR and direct sequencing, respectively. No false positivity was identified. Among 481 AML specimens, 40.1% (193/481) had FLT3-ITD mutations. The mutant allele burden (1.7-94.1%; median, 28.2%) and repeated length of the mutation (14-153 bp; median, 49 bp) were variable. The concordance rate between fragment analysis and conventional PCR was 97.7% (470/481). Fragment analysis was more sensitive than conventional PCR and detected 11 additional cases: seven had mutations below 10%, three cases represented conventional PCR failure, and one case showed false negativity because of short ITD length (14 bp). Conclusions: The new fragment analysis method proved to be sensitive and reliable for the detection and monitoring of FLT3-ITD in patients with AML. This could be used to simultaneously assess ITD mutant allele burden and length.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.526-530
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• 2007

The incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been estimated worldwide to range from 1.7 to 75 cases per 100,000. There are many treatments for ARDS, but only the low tidal volume strategy is based on strong clinical evidence from randomized clinical trials. The efficacy of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in adults remains controversial. Ongoing clinical trials and research have shown a benefit for its use to salvage severe ARDS patients that are in failure with conventional treatment. We encountered a 41-year-old woman who developed ARDS induced by pneumococcal pneumonia. Despite conventional mechanical ventilation in the emergency room, severe hypoxia remained. We treated the patient immediately with ECLS. The patient has almost fully recovered, and was discharged from a 177-day stay at our hospital.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.96-109
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy for the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis. There were 9 databases searched to retrieve randomized controlled trials until August 3, 2019 regarding acupotomy versus conventional Western medicine, conventional Western medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and Korean medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and meta-analysis was performed. Of 303 potentially relevant studies retrieved, 43 were systematically reviewed. All studies were conducted in China. Effective rate, visual analogue scale, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index were used as the evaluation scales. The Ashi point was selected most frequently. In all studies, the intervention group was more effective than the control group. Meta-analysis revealed that acupotomy showed statistically significant beneficial results. Although acupotomy had a beneficial effect on knee osteoarthritis, the risk of bias of the included studies was not low. The majority of the results from the evaluation scales used were highly heterogeneous (> 50%) which reduced confidence in the estimation of effect, or had a small sample size. Further clinical research and development is required in the future.

• 대한세포병리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.21-21
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• 2007

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.444-450
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• 2020

Background Fingertip injuries are the most common type of traumatic injury treated at emergency departments and require prompt and adequate interventions for favorable wound survival outcomes. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) therapy is well known for its many positive effects on wound healing. We hypothesized that treatment with HBO₂ would improve the graft survival outcomes of amputated fingertip injuries treated with composite grafts. Methods This retrospective observational study included fingertip amputations that were treated between January 2013 and December 2017. A conventional group and an HBO₂ therapy group were statistically compared to evaluate the effect of HBO₂ treatment. Graft survival was categorized as either success or failure. Results Among 55 cases (digits), 34 digits were conventionally treated, while 21 digits were treated with HBO₂. No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with regard to general characteristics. Among patients with guillotine-type injuries, the composite graft success rate was statistically significantly higher in the group that received HBO₂ therapy than in the conventional group (P=0.0337). Overall, the HBO₂ group also demonstrated a statistically significantly shorter healing time than the conventional group (P=0.0075). As such, HBO₂ treatment facilitates composite graft survival in cases of fingertip injury. Conclusions HBO₂ treatment was associated with an increased composite graft survival rate in guillotine-type fingertip injuries and reduced the time required for grafts to heal.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.238-245
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• 2015

Background: Some patients show favorable changes in the descending aortic false lumen after conventional repair of acute type A dissection, although the incidence of favorable changes has been reported to be low. We aimed to investigate the incidence of positive postoperative changes in the false lumen and the factors associated with positive outcomes. Methods: In 63 patients who underwent surgery for type A acute dissection as well as serial computed tomography (CT) scanning, morphological parameters were compared between the preoperative, early postoperative (mean interval, 5.4 days), and late CT scans (mean interval, 31.0 months) at three levels of the descending thoracic aorta. Results: In the early postoperative CT images, complete false lumen thrombosis and/or true lumen expansion at the proximal descending aorta was observed in 46% of the patients. In the late images, complete thrombosis or resolution of the proximal descending false lumen occurred in 42.9% of the patients. Multivariate analysis found that juxta-anastomotic false lumen thrombosis was predictive of favorable early changes, which were in turn predictive of continuing later improvement. Conclusion: Even after conventional repair without inserting a frozen elephant trunk, the proximal descending aortic false lumen showed positive remodeling in a substantial number of patients. We believe that the long-term prognosis of type A dissection can be improved by refining surgical technique, and particularly by avoiding large intimal tears at the anastomosis site during the initial repair.