• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.13-27
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• 2022

Objectives This study investigated the trends in domestic and international clinical research in craniosacral therapy, classified as a type of Chuna manual therapy, and suggested further directions in Korean medicine. Methods This scoping review was performed using the Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework and preferred reporting items as per the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews checklist. Eight electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS], KMBASE, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], ScienceON) were searched to identify articles with the search terms "craniosacral therapy" and "cranial osteopathy" until December 2021. Results Forty-five studies were eligible as per our inclusion criteria. Most research studies (n=44) were conducted in the field of medicine and pharmacy, especially in rehabilitation medicine (n=16). As a result of the study design, randomized controlled trials (n=20) were the most common, and chronic pain (n=9) was the most frequently targeted disease, followed by headache (n=7). Thirty-two studies suggested interventions and 20 studies used Upledger's 10-step protocol. The average duration of craniosacral therapy was 41 min per session, administered 1.4 times per week. Outcome measurements were analyzed and categorized with the examination procedure for the patient. Conclusions This is the first scoping review of craniosacral therapy in Korea, and we believe that our findings could support its utility as Chuna. In the future, more studies should be conducted to establish the evidence of clinical efficacy of craniosacral therapy and develop standard techniques in Korean medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.64-77
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• 2023

Objectives : Recently, the number of patients with dry eye syndrome has been steadily increasing. However, established treatment for it does not yet exist. This study compared electronic moxibustion with acupuncture for patients with dry eye in terms of efficacy and safety. Methods : This trial was designed as an investigator-initiated, single-blinded, comparative, randomized controlled trial. Thirty patients with dry eye were randomized to the electronic moxibustion treatment group(EMG) or the acupuncture treatment group(AG) in equal proportion. The participants who assigned to the EMG were treated with electronic moxibustion to ten acupoints including both sides of BL2, GB14, TE23, and LI4 for 12 minutes. The participants who were assigned to the AG were treated with acupuncture to the same acupoints for 15 minutes. Over 4 weeks, each intervention was carried out twelve times in total. The primary outcome was the ocular surface disease index(OSDI). The secondary outcomes were the subjective symptoms visual analog scale(VAS), quality of life(QoL), Schirmer I test(SIT), and general assessment. Adverse events and vital signs were also investigated for safety assessment. Results : In intragroup comparisons, both the EMG and the AG significantly improved the OSDI scores, the subjective symptoms VAS scores, the QoL scores, and the SIT results after 4 weeks of the trial. However, there were no statistical differences in intergroup comparisons between the two groups after 4 weeks. The safety of electronic moxibustion and acupuncture was confirmed by no occurrence of serious adverse events. Conclusions : Both electronic moxibustion and acupuncture were effective for dry eye syndrome, and they were safe. Electronic moxibustion and acupuncture can be used for dry eye syndrome as equivalent treatments.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2021

Purpose: Glyphosate herbicide (GH) is a widely used herbicide and has been associated with significant mortality as poisoned cases increases. One of the reasons for high toxicity is thought to be toxic effect of its ingredient with glyphosate. This study was designed to determine differences in the clinical course with the salt-type contained in GH. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at a single hospital between January 2013 and December 2017. We enrolled GH-poisoned patients visited the emergency department. According to salt-type, patients were divided into 4 groups: isopropylamine (IPA), ammonium (Am), potassium (Po), and mixed salts (Mi) groups. The demographics, laboratory variables, complications, and their mortality were analyzed to determine clinical differences associated with each salt-type. Addtionally, we subdivided patients into survivor and non-survivor groups for investigating predictive factors for the mortality. Results: Total of 348 GH-poisoned patients were divided as follows: IPA 248, Am 41, Po 10, and Mi 49 patients. There was no difference in demographic or underlying disease history, but systolic blood pressure (SBP) was low in Po group. The ratio of intentional ingestion was higher in Po and Mi groups. Metabolic acidosis and relatively high lactate level were presented in Po group. As the primary outcome, the mortality rates were as follows: IPA, 26 (10.5%); Am, 2 (4.9%); Po, 1 (10%); and Mi, 1 (2%). There was no statistically significant difference in the mortality and the incidence of complications. Additionally, age, low SBP, low pH, corrected QT (QTc) prolongation, and respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation were analyzed as independent predictors for mortality in a regression analysis. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in their complications and the mortality across the GH-salt groups in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2020

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to define the prognostic factors for liposarcoma to aid in the selection of effective treatments. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed 41 cases out of 45 cases diagnosed with and treated for liposarcoma 2002 to 2015; 4 cases of well-differentiated liposarcoma were excluded. The effects of sex, age, site, stage, and histological classification on survival were analyzed retrospectively. For 28 cases diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma, additional analysis was performed after the inclusion of round cell components. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 52.05 years (range 25-82 years) and the average follow-up period was 63.7 months. The disease-free survival rate was 43.2%. Most factors, including sex and age, were not significantly associated with the survival rate. On the other hand, the stage (Musculoskeletal Tumor Society stage) was significantly associated with the survival rate. The survival rate of patients with myxoid liposarcoma was 69% and the local recurrence and metastasis results varied according to the presence of round cells. Conclusion: The stage of liposarcoma and the sex of the patient were found to be effective factors for prognosis. When planning the treatment for liposarcoma, the treatment outcome for liposarcoma differs according to several prognostic factors.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2022

Purpose: This study investigates the characteristics and prognosis of acute poisoning patients visiting nationwide emergency departments before and after the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were obtained from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS). Methods: This nationwide retrospective observational study included acute poisoning patients who visited the emergency departments between February 1 to December 31, 2020, which has been determined as the pandemic period. The same periods in 2018 and 2019 were designated as the control periods. The primary outcome assessed was the length of stay in emergency departments (EDLOS). The secondary outcomes examined were intensive care unit admission rate and in-hospital mortality rate before and after the pandemic. A subgroup analysis was performed for inpatients and intentional poisoning patients. Results: A total of 163,560 patients were included in the study. During the pandemic, the proportion of women increased from 50.0% in 2018 and 50.3% in 2019 to 52.5% in 2020. Patients aged 20-29 years increased from 13.4% in 2018 and 13.9% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2020. A rise in cases of intentional poisoning was also noted - from 33.9% in 2018 and 34.0% in 2019 to 38.4% in 2020. Evaluating the hospitalized poisoned patients revealed that the EDLOS increased from 3.8 hours in 2018 and 3.7 hours in 2019 to 4.2 hours in 2020. ICU admissions were also markedly increased (2018, 48.2%; 2019, 51.8%; 2020, 53.2%) among hospitalized patients. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of acute poisoning patients visiting nationwide emergency departments in Korea. The proportion of young adults, women, and intentional poisoning patients has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. Prolonged length of stay at the emergency department and an increased rate of intensive care unit admissions were determined in hospitalized acute poisoning patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.203-215
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• 2023

Background: Surgical resection is the standard treatment for early-stage lung cancer. Since postoperative lung function is related to mortality, predicted postoperative lung function is used to determine the treatment modality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive performance of linear regression and machine learning models. Methods: We extracted data from the Clinical Data Warehouse and developed three sets: set I, the linear regression model; set II, machine learning models omitting the missing data: and set III, machine learning models imputing the missing data. Six machine learning models, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), Ridge regression, ElasticNet, Random Forest, eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and the light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) were implemented. The forced expiratory volume in 1 second measured 6 months after surgery was defined as the outcome. Five-fold cross-validation was performed for hyperparameter tuning of the machine learning models. The dataset was split into training and test datasets at a 70:30 ratio. Implementation was done after dataset splitting in set III. Predictive performance was evaluated by R² and mean squared error (MSE) in the three sets. Results: A total of 1,487 patients were included in sets I and III and 896 patients were included in set II. In set I, the R² value was 0.27 and in set II, LightGBM was the best model with the highest R² value of 0.5 and the lowest MSE of 154.95. In set III, LightGBM was the best model with the highest R² value of 0.56 and the lowest MSE of 174.07. Conclusion: The LightGBM model showed the best performance in predicting postoperative lung function.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.409-421
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• 2024

Background and Objectives: The recent developments in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) are emphasizing the multidisciplinary team. We report on the changes in clinical practice following the development of a multidisciplinary team, based on our 7 years of experience. Methods: Multidisciplinary team was established in 2015 offering both balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) and pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) with technical upgrades by internal and external expertise. For operable cases, PEA was recommended as the primary treatment modality, followed by pulmonary angiography and right heart catheterization after 6 months to evaluate treatment effect and identify patients requiring further BPA. For patients with inoperable anatomy or high surgical risk, BPA was recommended as the initial treatment modality. Patient data and clinical outcomes were closely monitored. Results: The number of CTEPH treatments rapidly increased and postoperative survival improved after team development. Before the team, 38 patients were treated by PEA for 18 years; however, 125 patients were treated by PEA or BPA after the team for 7 years. The number of PEA performed was 64 and that of BPA 342 sessions. World Health Organization functional class I or II was achieved in 93% of patients. The patients treated with PEA was younger, male dominant, higher pulmonary artery pressure, and smaller cardiac index, than BPA-only patients. In-hospital death after PEA was only 1 case and none after BPA. Conclusions: The balanced development of BPA and PEA through a multidisciplinary team approach proved synergistic in increasing the number of actively treated CTEPH patients and improving clinical outcomes.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.12 s.257
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• pp.815-820
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• 2005

Background: Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum is a rare congenital cardiac disease. There have been various surgical options, but there are still controversies. Material and Method: Fourteen neonates who were operated on between 1999 and 2000 were enrolled in this study. We measured Z-value of tricuspid valve by echocardiography. We performed right ventricular outflow tract transannular patch in 9 patients. Modified Blalock-Taussig shunt was placed according to the condition of patients. Mean follow up period was 46.0 months. Result: There were 2 operative mortality and 1 late mortality. Biventricular repair was possible in 7 patients. One and a half ventricular repair were done in 3 (tricuspid valve Z-value was -2, -2.5 and -3) and single ventricular repair in 2 patients (tricuspid z-value was -4.6, -4.5) The tricuspid valve Z-value for the patients who had biventricular repair and one and a half ventricular repair were -0.8$\pm$1.50 (-3.2$\∼$1.2) and -2.5$\∼$0.5 (-3$\∼$ -2) respectively. All patients who survived had fair to good right ventricular function, good left ventricular function and good clinical states. Conclusion: Neonatal surgical management of pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum has a good surgical outcome, z-value of tricuspid may be helpful for the determination of surgical options.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1488-1502
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• 2000

This study, based on current home nursing services, aims at promoting measures for establishing a community-based home nursing system derived from the pilot home nursing demonstration project conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association. The study was based on an analysis of home nursing records from march 1993 to December 1999. The following is a summary analysis, based on individual characteristics of the patients, the organization, which recommended the service for their patients and personnel services. 1. The service has been used by many elderly people 60years of age or older(66.4%). and married people(60.9%). The average number of visits by service personnel for patients of city government was 23.5. This is 2.5 times as many visits by general patients. General patients(20.2%) had only one visit from service personnel, while 65.5% of patients of city government had 10 or more visits. Particularly, for government recommended patients, 72.7% of the patients were recommended by nurses, while only 21.9% where referred to the services by doctors. The main focus of a home nursing service was to maintain present health status (53.4%), and hospice(11.6%). Also to increase hospital-based home nursing services focused on recovery(55.9%) and maintain present health conditions (19.0%). 2. For general patients, 42.0% of patients were suffering from problems related to CVA, 11.3% from high blood pressure, and for patients referred from city, 21.2% from skeletal muscular disease. Results of home nursing services 29.4% of patients were able to recover or maintain their health status, but 48.9% of the patients died. Another main point of community-based home nursing services is medication(6.7%), other basic nursing services(6.1%), special treatment, instructions on how to use medical devices(5.9%), change of physical posture(4.6%), and training on changing physical positions(4.7%). As mentioned above there were some differences between the characteristics of patients who used the pilot home nursing service conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association and those hospital-based service users. The results are believed to be useful to support a community-based home nursing service model. Particularly, patients under medical supervision and patients recommended by government-run health clinics show a higher frequency and longer use of home nursing services compared to general patients or hospital-based home nursing service users. According to the study, nurses accounted for a large number of recommendations for home nursing services. Many patients with CVA, high blood pressure, skeletal muscular disease and bedsores used community-based home nursing services, while others used the service for minor treatments or maintaining their current health status. Based on the study, the researchers make several suggestions to establish a community- based home nursing service system. First, different ways of setting up a community-based home nursing system have to be mapped out based on the evaluation of the pilot home nursing service conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association. Secondly, a new, community-based, home health care nursing service model, and reimbursement payment system have to be developed. This is based on the outcome of the analysis, and implemented policy. Accordingly, efforts are needed to develop a community- based home nursing system with an intermediary role to promote the visiting nursing services of government-run health centers.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.301-317
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• 2005

The number of patients with tongue carcinoma is increasing rapidly among young individuals in many parts of the world. Oral carcinoma progresses from hyperplastic lesion through dysplasia to invasive carcinoma and the concept of "field cancerization" with molecular alteration has been suggested for oral cavity carcinogenesis. Significant improvement in treatment and prognosis will depend on more detailed understanding of the multi-step process leading to cancer development. To induce tongue carcinoma in rat by 4-NQO, each drinking water was made to 10 ppm, 25 ppm, 50 ppm and control (only D.W. without 4-NQO). Specimens were classified into 4 groups such as control, I (mild & moderate dysplasia), II (severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ), III (carcinoma). The mRNA expressions of Bcl-2 family were evaluated by RT-PCR technique. For anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family, mRNA expression of Bcl-w was down-regulated in all stages of tongue carcinogenesis model. However, mRNA expression of Bcl-2 was up-regulated. For pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family, all members were down-regulated in all stages of tongue carcinogenesis model except for Bad mRNA in group III. In terms of BH3 only protein, mRNA expressions of Bok and Mcl-1 were down regulated in all stages of specimen, but Bmf in group II and BBC3 in group III were up-regulated. Our current findings demonstrated the involvements of mRNA expression of Bcl-2 family in multi-step tongue carcinogensis. This highlights the necessity for continued efforts to discover suitable biomakers (Bcl-2 family) for early diagnosis of the disease, and to understand its pathogenesis as a first step in improving methods of treatment. The discovery of these potential biomarkers and molecular targets for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics has the potential to significantly change the clinical approach and outcome of the disease.