• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.742-755
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• 1997

Background : Endobronchial tuberculosis(ET) is still relatively common disease in Korea. We intended to evaluate the length of endobronchial lesion, peribronchial thickness, luminal irregularity and associated mediastinal lymph node enlargement with Chest CT to get information for such aggressive treatment as electrocautery, laser therapy and so on of bronchial stricture in ET, and also to compare the change of Chest CT finding with that of bronchoscopic finding after one month of anti-tuberculosis treatment. Method : We performed CT in 26 patients who were diagnosed as ET by bronchoscopy at Boramae Hospital from November 1991 to March 1996. After classifying ET into seven subtypes according to bronchoscopic finding, we analyzed the CT finding of each subtype. And we followed up the bronchoscopy, CT, and PIT after one month of anti-tuberculosis treatment, and compared the change of CT findings with those of bronchoscopic findings in nine patients. Results : Age of the patients was from 17 to 73 years old, and the ratio of male to female was 1 : 25 with absolute female predominance. The site(s) of bronchial involvement by tuberculosis is one in 14 cases, two in nine cases and three in one case, respectively, and the left main bronchus was the most frequently involved site (13 cases for multiple involvements and 7 cases for single involvement among 26 cases). The length of bronchial involvement by tuberculosis which was measured by CT was from 10 to 55 mm, and there was a tendency that the length of involved lesion in fibrostenotic type was shorter than that of actively caseating type. Bronchial stricture on CT was noticed in 25 (96%) cases and the range of severity was from total occlusion to near-normal and also showed wide variation even though the subtype of ET was same. The increase of peribronchial thickness which was measured by CT, was noticed in 21 cases (91%) among 23 cases (in which the measurement was possible), and there was no improvement of peribronchial thickness in those cases which showed little improvement in bronchial stricture despite anti-tuberculosis treatment. There was no difference in the luminal irregularity of involved bronchi on CT in relation to bronchoscopic subtypes. The mediastinal lymph node enlargement, defined as the diameter of lymph node was larger than 1cm on CT, was detected in 20 cases (77%), and right side was more frequently involved (L : R = 1 : 5.2). The CT finding usually showed extrinsic bronchial compression but showed direct invasion in two cases which were bronchoscopically classified as tumorous type. When follow-up bronchoscopy and CT was performed after one month of anti-tuberculosis treatment in nine patients, CT showed significant improvement in peribronchial thickness and mediastinal lymph node enlargement. Bronchial stricture was also improved in 6 cases but aggravated in 3 cases despite anti-tuberculosis therapy. In two cases which were classified as fibrostenotic type by bronchoscopy, CT showed significant improvement in bronchial stricture, interestingly. Conclusion : We concluded that the role of Chest CT was complimentary to bronchoscopy in ET, since CT was useful in evaluating the length of bronchial involvement, peribronchial thickness, and mediastinal lymph node enlargement.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.80-86
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• 2008

Background: Park et al. developed the Korean reference equation for the measurement of diffusing capacity in 1985. However, the equation has not been widely used in Korea and foreign reference equations have been popularly used. We intended to compare the clinical usefulness and the accuracy of the the Korean reference equation (Park's equation) with that of the foreign equation (Burrows' equation) that is commonly used in Korea. Methods: 1. Evaluation of clinical usefulness; Among 1,584 patients who underwent diffusing capacity ($D_LCO$) at the Asan Medical Center from July to December 2006, group A subjects included 276 patients who had different interpretations of $D_LCO$ in trials employing Burrows' equation and Park's equation. Clinical assessment was decided by consensus of two respiratory physicians. In order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of Burrows' equation and Park's equation, agreement of clinical assessment and $D_LCO$ interpretation were measured. 2. Evaluation of accuracy; Group B subjects were 81 patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and 39 normal subjects. The 81 ILD patients were diagnosed following a surgical lung biopsy. The accuracy of diagnosing ILD as well as sensitivity and specificity were evaluated according to the use of the reference equations (Burrows' equation and Park's equation) for $D_LCO$. Results: Agreement between clinical assessment and interpretation of $D_LCO$ was 22% for the use of Burrows' equation and 78% for the use of Park's equation. The sensitivity and specificity of the Burrows' equation for diagnosing ILD were 64.2% and 100%. The sensitivity and specificity of the Park's equation for diagnosing ILD were 90.1% and 100%. The sensitivity of the Park's equation for diagnosing ILD was significantly higher than that of Burrows' equation (p<0.001). Conclusion: The Korean reference equation (Park's equation) was more clinically useful and had higher sensitivity for diagnosing ILD than the foreign reference equation (Burrows' equation).

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2012

Purpose: This study mainly focuses on the patients treated with chemically stable radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO (d,l-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime) which yielded reduced image quality due to a decreased brain extraction rate. $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO will be examined further to determine whether this product may be accounted as a factor for this cause. Material and Methods: From January 2010 until December 2010, out of 272 patients who were all subjected to $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO brain blood flow SPECT scans resulting from Cerebral Infarction; 23 patients(ages $55.3{\pm}9$, 21 males, 3 females) with decreased tissue extraction rate were examined in detail. The radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO was used on patients with normal brain tissue exchange rate as well as those with reduced rate in order to prove its' chemical stability. The patients' age, sex, blood pressure, existence of diabetes, drug use, current health status, known side effects from CT/MRI, examination of the patients' past SPECT before/after images were accounted to determine the factors and correlations affecting the rate of blood tissue extractions. Result: After multiple linear regression analysis, there were no unusual correlations between the 6 factors excluding sex, and before/after examination images. Male subjects showed reduced brain tissue extraction rate than the females ($p$ > 0.05) 91.3% male, 8.7% female. Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks Test was used on the before/after images which yielded a value of 0.06, which did not indicate a significant amount of difference on the 2 tests ($p$ > 0.05). As a result, the before/after images indicated similar brain tissue extraction rates, and there were variations depending on the individual patient. Conclusion: The effects of the chemically stable radiopharmaceutical product $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO depended on the patient's personal characteristics and status, therefore was considered to be a factor in reducing brain tissue extraction rate. The related articles of $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO cerebral blood flow SPECT speculates a cerebrovascular disease and factors resulting from portal veins, and it was not possible to pin point the exact cause of decreasing brain tissue extraction rate. However, the $^{99m}Tc$-HMPAO cerebral blood flow SPECT scan proved to be extremely useful in tracking and inspecting brain diseases, as well as offering accurate results from patients suffering from reduced brain tissue extraction rates.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 1999

Purpose : The urinary mass screening program for the detection of proteinuria in school aged population has been performed in Seoul since 1981. Systematic evaluation in corporation with the Seoul School Health Center for students with proteinuria identified in the mass screening has been performed from 1987. The results of urinary mass screening up to 1994 was reported. I report here the results of urinary mass screening from 1995 to 1997 and compare them with previous results and attempt to reveal the significance of urinary mass screening. Objects and Methods : In the 3-year period between 1995 and 1997, annually about 460,000 students comprising 3 different age groups; 5th grade of elementary school, 2nd grade of middle school and 2nd grade of high school were chosen, corresponding to the approximate ages of 11, 14, and 17 years, respectively. These subjects accounted for 26% of total school aged children in Seoul. The screening program was carried out in 3 steps. The 1st test was performed with dipstick at school and the 2nd at the Seoul School Health Center. Those students who showed proteinuria in the 1st and 2nd tests were referred to the hospital. Laboratory examinations including renal biopsies were performed to those students with pathologic proteinuria to clarify the incipient renal diseases. Results : 1) The prevalence of asymptomatic proteinuria was 0.28% in the 1st test. It peaked at the group of 14 years old as 0.34%, compared with 0.26% at the group of 11 years old and 0.24% at the group of 17 years old. It reached to 0.26% in male and 0.30% in female. 2) 25 percent of those having proteinuria at the first test were positive at the second test. 3) The proportion of patients with proteinuria by 3rd test were as follows; 25% of transient proteinuria, 55% of orthostatic proteinuria, 6% of constant proteinuria, 12% of proteinuria with hematuria, and 2% of transient proteinuria with isolated hematuria. Pathologic proteinuria were totaled as 20%. The prevalence of renal diseases among the age group of 7-18 years old was estimated to be 1.4 per 10,000. 4) Renal biopsy performed on 38 children with proteinuria at the third test revealed IgA nephropathy in 17(44%), focal segmental glomerusclerosis in 5(13%), minimal change disease in 4(11%), membranoproliferative glomeronephritis in 3(8%), $Henoch-Sch\"{o}nlein$ purpura nephritis in 3(8%), and others in 6(16%). Therefore, the prevalence of IgA nephropathy among the age group of 7-18 years old was estimated to be 0.64 per 10,000. 5) The prevalence of chronic renal failure was estimated to be 5.7 per 1 million of 7 to 18 years age group. Conclusions : 1) The prevalence of proteinuria in the first screening test was 0.28% and finally only 5% of them showed the pathologic proteinuria at the third test. 2) The prevalence of IgA nephropathy and chronic renal failure were 0.63 per 10,000 and 5.7 per 1 million, respectively among school-aged children in Seoul.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2000

Purpose: This retrospective study of 126 children with symptomless primary hematuria was undertaken to determine the distribution of various histologic types by renal biopsy, clinical outcome according to the biopsy findings and also to find out feasibility of performing renal biopsy in these children. Patients and Methods : Study population consisted of 126 children with symptom-less primary hematuria who have been admitted to the pediatric department of Kyung-poot National University Hospital for the past 11 years from 1987 to 1998 and renal biopsy was performed percutaneously. Hematuric children with duration of less than 6 months, evidences of systemic illness such as SLE or Henoch-Schonlein purpura, urinary tract infection, and idiopathic hypercalciuria were excluded from the study. Results : Mean age of presentation was 9.2${\pm}$3.3 years (range ; 1.5-15.3 years) and male preponderance was noted with male to female ratio of 2:1. IgA nephropathy was the most common biopsy finding occuring in 60 children ($47.6\%$), followed by MsPGN in 13 ($10.3\%$), MPGN in 5 ($3.9\%$), TGBM in 6 ($4.7\%$), Alport syndrome in 2 ($1.6\%$), FSGS in 1 ($0.8\%$), and in 39 children ($30.9\%$), 'normal' glomeruli were noted. Recurrent gross hematuria was more common than persistent microscopic hematuria (84 versus 42), and especially in IgA nephropathy, recurrent gross hematuria was the most prevalent pattern of hematuria. In 58 out of 126 cases ($46.0\%$), hematuria was isolated without accompa-nying proteinuria and this was especially true In cases of MsPGN and 'normal' glomer-uli by biopsy finding. Normalization of urinalysis (disappearance of hematuria) in IgA nephropathy, MsPGN and 'normal' glomuli group were similar and it was $14\%,\;27\%\;and\;21\%$ respectively during 1-2 years of follow-up period, and $37.1\%,\;40\%\;and\;35\%$ respectively during 3-4 years of follow-up periods. However, abnormal urinalysis persi-sted in the majority of children with MPGN, TGBM. Alport syndrome and FSGS. Renal function deteriorated progressively in 6 cases (3 with IgA nephropathy, 2 with Alport syndrome and 1 with TGBM). Conclusion : In summary, present study demonstrates that in 126 children with symptomless primary hematuria, IgA nephropathy was the most common biopsy findings followed by MsPGN, MPGN, TGBM, Alport syndrome and FSGS, and 'normal glomeruli' was also seen in 39 cases ($30.9\%$). Renal histology could not be predictable on the clinical findings, so that to establish appropriate long-term planning for these children, we would recommend to obtain precise histologic diagnosis by renal biopsy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2002

Purpose : To determine the optimal scheme of postoperative chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer by comparing survival, Patterns of failure, toxicities in early and late radiotherapy groups using a Phase III randomized prospective clinical trial. Materials and Methods : From January 1996 to March 1999, 307 patients with curatively resected AJCC stage II and III rectal cancer were assigned randomly to an 'early (151 patients, arm 1)' or a 'late (156 patients, arm II)' and were administered combined chemotherapy (5-FU $375\;mg/m^2/day$, leucovorin $20\;mg/m^2$, IV bolus daily, for 3 days with RT, 5 days without RT, 8 cycles with 4 weeks interval) and radiation therapy (whole pelvis with 45 Gy/25 fractions/5 weeks). Patients of arm I received radiation therapy from day 1 of the first cycle of chemotherapy and those of arm II from day 57 with a third cycle of chemotherapy. The median follow-up period of living patients was 40 months. Results : Of the 307 patients enrolled, fifty patients did not receive scheduled radiation therapy or chemotherapy. The overall survival rate and disease free survival rate at 5 years were $78.3\%\;and\;68.7\%$ in arm I, and $78.4\%\;and\;67.5\%$ in arm II. The local recurrence rate was $6.6\%\;and\;6.4\%$ (p=0.46) in arms I and II, respectively, no significant difference was observed between the distant metastasis rates of the two arms ($23.8\%\;and\;29.5\%$, p=0.16). During radiation therapy, grade 3 diarrhea or more, by the NCI common toxicity criteria, was observed in $63.0\%\;and\;58.2\%$ of the respective arms (p=N.S.), but most were controlled with supportive care. Hematologic toxicity (leukopenia) greater than RTOG grade 2 was found in only $1.3\%\;and\;2.6\%$ of patients in each respective arm. Conclusion : There was no significant difference in survival, patterns of failure or toxicities between the early and late radiation therapy arms. Postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation was found to be a relatively safe treatment but higher compliance is needed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.8 s.253
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• pp.538-544
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• 2005

Background: Pulmonary artery banding (PAB) is an initial palliative procedure for a diverse group of patients with congenital cardiac anomalies and unrestricted pulmonary blood flow. We proved the usefulness of PAB through retrospective investigation of the surgical indication and risk analysis retrospectively. Material and Method: One hundred and fifty four consecutive patients (99 males and 55 females) who underwent PAB between January 1986 and December 2003 were included. We analysed the risk factors for early mortality and actuarial survival rate. Mean age was $2.5\pm12.8\;(0.2\sim92.7)$ months and mean weight was $4.5\pm2.7\;(0.9\sim18.0)\;kg$. Preoperative diagnosis included functional single ventricle $(88,\;57.1\%)$, double outlet right ventricle $(22,\;14.2\%)$, transposition of the great arteries $(26,\;16.8\%)$, and atrioventricular septal defect $(11,\;7.1\%)$. Coarctation of the aorta or interrupted aortic arch $(32,\;20.7\%)$, subaortic stenosis $(13,\;8.4\%)$ and total anomalous pulmonary venous connection $(13,\;8.4\%)$ were associated. Result: The overall early mortality was $22.1\%\;(34\;of\;154)$, The recent series from 1996 include patients with lower age $(3.8\pm15.9\;vs.\;1.5\pm12.7,\;p=0.04)$ and lower body weight $(4.8\pm3.1\;vs.\;4.0\pm2.7,\;p=0.02)$. The early mortality was lower in the recent group $(17.5\%;\;16/75)$ than the earlier group $(28.5\%;\;18/45)$. Aortic arch anomaly (p=0.004), subaortic stenosis (p=0.004), operation for subaortic stenosis (p=0.007), and cardiopulmonary bypass (p=0.007) were proven to be risk factors for early death in univariate analysis, while time of surgery (<1996) (p=0.026) was the only significant risk factor in multivariate analysis. The mean time interval from PAB to the second-stage operation was $12.8\pm10.9$ months. Among 96 patients who survived PAB, 40 patients completed Fontan operation, 21 patients underwent bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt, and 35 patients underwent biventricular repair including 25 arterial switch operations. Median follow-up was $40.1\pm48.9$ months. Overall survival rates at 1 year, 5 years and 10 years were $81.2\%\;65.0\%,\;and\;63.5\%$ respectively. Conclusion: Although it improved in recent series, early mortality was still high despite the advances in perioperative management. As for conventional indications, early primary repair may be more beneficial. However, PA banding still has a role in the initial palliative step in selective groups.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.417-424
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• 1992

Background: There were many reports about the clinical aspect and outcomes of pulmonary tuberculosis in health center but few in a medium sized general hospital. The purposes of this study were to find any characteristic differencies in the patients and the general outcomes of the treatments and also to give some suggestive points for the insurance policy making. Methods: We made a retrograde analysis of the medical records of 1981 patients (male 992 female 1,059) who attended our clinics of the 4th internal department, Daedong general hospital during two years from January 1989 to December 1990. Result: 1) Of 1981 patients, 96 were diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis taking relatively large proportion in the prevalence. The ratio of prevalence between male and female was 7.81% to 2.27%. The 61.46% were the first diagnosis & initial treatment cases and the remaining 38.54% were the retreatment cases with no statistical significance between sex. 2) The most prevalent age group was between 21~40 years old and the prevalence rate was 45.45% of male and 76.76% of female. The lowest age group in male patient was above 61 showed 3.03%, and there was no female patients above age 60 years old. This phenomena could be thought as the negligence for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in the old age groups rather than true tuberculosis prevalence and it could be proved by the higher rates towards old age groups in the national tuberculosis prevalence survey. 3) There were 57.07% of the minimal case, 48.96% of the moderate, 18.75% of the far advanced. The sputum examination showed 37.07% were culture positive, 46.88% were the negative, and 15.63% of the patients had no stutum examination. Moreover, uncoperatives among the far advanced cases were notable showing 22.22% of the stutum examination, where 16.13% in the minimal cases. The stutum positive rate among the initial treatment cases were 41.07% and 55.00% for the retreatment cases. The sputum no examination rates were 17.86% and 12.50% respectively. 4) The classfication of the mode of disease onset showed 68.75% with gradual onset, 9.38% hemoptic, 3.13% acute pneumonic and 18.75% was found through the radiologic examination in various occasions. 5) The percentages of patients who continued their treatment for more than 8 month were 35.71% (for initial treatment), 25.00% (for retrement), 16.13% (for the minimal), 27.78% (for the far advanced). 6) The group of patients who were treated more than 8 months showed the negative conversion rate of 80% on sputum and marked improvement on chest x-ray in 56.67%. However, in far advanced or retreatment cases, the rate of negative conversion on sputum and the rate of improvement on chest x-ray were low being 60% and 20% for the former and 60% and 10% for the latter, each respectively. Conclusion: It would be strongly emphasized that the improvement of National medical insurance system and social welfare system in Korea must be definite to improve overall treatment and control of tuberculosis diseases as well as physician's devotious National tuberculosis control policy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.817-824
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• 2007

Background: There are two choices for heart valve replacement-the use of a tissue valve and the use of a mechanical valve. Using a tissue valve, additional surgery will be problematic due to valve degeneration. If the risk of additional surgery could be reduced, the tissue valve could be more widely used. Therefore, we analyzed the risk factors and mortality of patients undergoing repeated heart valve replacement and primary replacement. Material and Method: We analyzed 25 consecutive patients who underwent repeated heart valve replacement and 158 patients who underwent primary heart valve replacement among 239 patients that underwent heart vale replacement in out hospital from January 1995 to December 2004. Result: There were no differences in age, sex, and preoperative ejection fraction between the repeated valve replacement group of patients and the primary valve replacement group of patients. In the repeated valve replacement group, the previously used artificial valves were 3 mechanical valves and 23 tissue valves. One of these cases had simultaneous replacement of the tricuspid and aortic valve with tissue valves. The mean duration after a previous operation was 92 months for the use of a mechanical valve and 160 months for the use of a tissue valve. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross clamp time were 152 minutes and 108 minutes, respectively, for the repeated valve replacement group of patients and 130 minutes and 89 minutes, respectively, for the primary valve replacement group of patients. These results were statistically significant. The use of an intra aortic balloon pump (IABP) was required for 2 cases (8%) in the repeated valve replacement group of patients and 6 cases (3.8%) in the primary valve replacement group of patients. An operative death occurred in one case (4%) in the repeated valve replacement group of patients and occurred in nine cases (5.1%) in the primary valve replacement group of patients. Among postoperative complications, the need for mechanical ventilation over 48 hours was different between the two groups. The mean follow up period after surgery was $6.5{\pm}3.2$ years. The 5-year survival of patients in the repeated valve replacement group was 74% and the 5-year survival of patients in the primary valve replacement group was 95%. Conclusion: The risk was slightly increased, but there was little difference in mortality between the repeated and primary heart valve replacement group of patients. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider the issue of avoiding the use of a tissue valve due to the risk of additional surgery, and it is encouraged to use the tissue valve selectively, which has several advantages over the use of a mechanical valve. In the case of a repeated replacement, however, the mortality rate was high for a patient whose preoperative status was not poor. A proper as sessment of cardiac function and patient status is required after the primary valve replacement. Subsequently, a secondary replacement could then be considered.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.509-518
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• 1998

Background: Short-course chemotherapy for 6 months is well established for pulmonary tuberculosis. However, little is known about the efficacy of the short-course chemotherapy for tuberculous pleural effusion. Tuberculous pleural effusion itself may be self-limiting without any treatment, but about two thirds of the patients with tuberculous pleural effusion may subsequently develop pulmonary tuberculosis within 5 years. After completing treatment for tuberculous pleural effusion. prolonged follow-up is necessary for evaluating the efficacy of the treatment There is still no report on the efficacy of 6-month regimens for tuberculous pleural effusion in Korea, where the incidence of tuberculous disease and drug resistance is high. We studied the efficacy of 6 month short-course chemotherapy comparing with 9 month chemotherapy. Method : Retrospective study was done through medical record review in 238 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion who admitted to Asan Medical Center during May 1989-May 1993. The diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion was made by bacteriologic or histopathologic study. Results: Among 238 patients, 38 patients were dropped out during follow-up period. In 2 patients, second line drugs were prescribed according to known drug resistance results. And, in 23 patients, treatment longer than 9 months was done due to accompanying extrapulmonary tuberculosis or durg resistance. In 8 patients, treatment regimen was changed due to hepatotoxicity. Remaining 167 cases (70.2%) completed the treatment as scheduled ; 6 month chemotherapy in 88 cases and 9 month chemotherapy in 79 cases. In 60 patients (35.9%) with pleural effusion only in chest X-ray finding, sputum smear or culture for M.tuberculosis was positive in 6 cases (10.0%), and in 63 patients (37.7%) with radiologically inactive pulmonary tuberculosis, sputum smear or culture was positive in 18 cases (28.6%). In 44 patients (26.3%) with radiologically active pulmonary tuberculosis, the sputum smear or culture was positive in 24 cases (54.5%). In 6-month chemotherapy group (n=88), during mean 23 months (range; 1~61months) follow-up period, pulmonary tuberculosis developed in 1 case (1.4%). In 9-month chemotherapy group(n=79), during mean 23 months (range; 3~70months) follow-up period, pulmonary tuberculosis developed in 2 cases (2.5%). All the cases who developed pulmonary tuberculosis also showed active pulmonary tuberculosis on initial chest X-ray before treatment Conclusion: In patients with tuberculous pleural effusion, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis after 6 month chemotherapy showed no difference from that after 9 month chemotherapy. Thus, 6 month short-course chemotherapy seems to be an effective treatment for tuberculous pleural effusion.