• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.229-238
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• 2007

Purpose : Since the first febrile UTI(urinary tract infection) in infants is commonly associated with vesicoureteral reflux(VUR), imaging studies such as renal ultrasonography, dimercaptosuccinic acid(DMSA) scan, and voiding cystourethrography(VCUG) are recommended. How-ever, because of the invasiveness of VCUG, it is difficult to perform in all young infants with febrile UTI. The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical and laboratory characteristics, radiologic findings between the young infant group(1 to 6month, n=121) and the old infant group(7 to 24months, n=91), and to determine the clinical and radiologic risk factors that predict the presence of VUR before the VCUG in patients with their first febrile UTI under 2 years of age. Methods : We reviewed the medical records of 211 first febrile UTI patients under 2 years of age retrospectively, and compared clinical, laboratory, and radiologic findings between the two age groups. Results : The young infant group had a male preponderance and a higher incidence of Escherichia coli in their urine culture. The incidence of acute renal parenchymal defects on DMSA scans were significantly increased in the young infant group. The incidence of VUR was 29% in patients who had a VCUG, but there were no differences in the incidence of VUR between the two age groups. Abnormal findings on DMSA scan significantly correlated with higher incidence of VUR in the young infant group. Incidence of abnormal findings DMSA scan significantly increased with high grade VUR(garde III-V ). Conclusion : In treating first febrile UTI patients under 2 years, physicians have to consider such characteristics as age less than 6 months, male preponderance, E.coli in the urine culture, and increased incidence of abnormal findings on DMSA scans which correlated well with the presence of VUR. The results of the DMSA scan might help us to predict the presence of VUR before the VCUG in first febrile UTI and help us to reduce performing invasive radio-logic studies especially in the young infant group. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2007;11:229-238)

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.375-382
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• 2008

A low iodine diet (LID) is the recommended preparation for radioactive iodine treatment. However, the recommended duration and stringency of LID are different among each recommendation. More stringent LID is expected in Korea because Korea is a iodine-rich region. We investigated the decrement of urine iodine excretion by two-week stringent LID for remnant thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine in Korean patients with thyroid cancer, prospectively. Material and Method: From November 2006, patients who referred to our hospital for remnant ablation after total thyroidectomy were included in this study. To decrease total body iodine, our protocol included three strategies. First, we checked medication which could inhibit the radioactive iodine uptake. Second, the date of 1-131 treatment was scheduled at least 3 months later if contrast agent had been used. The last strategy was two-week stringent LID education by specialized nutritionist. Before and after two-week stringent LID, 24hr-urine iodine was analyzed respectively. 24hr-urine creatinine was also analyzed for determining more valid 24hr urine sampling subgroup. Results: Total 51 patients were finally enrolled. Average of 24hr-urine iodine excretion was significantly lowered ($787{\pm}2242\;{\rightarrow}\;85{\pm}85\;{\mu}g/d$, p=0.03) after LID and 74.4% of patients reached below the recommended urine iodine excretion level ($<100\;{\mu}g/d$). In subgroup (n=14), similar results was showed ($505{\pm}666\;{\rightarrow}\;99{\pm}116\;{\mu}g/d$, p=0.05) and 78.6% of patients met the criteria. Conclusion: Most patients could reach below the recommended urine iodine level after two-week stringent LID. Therefore, in our opinion, at least two-week stringent LID should be recommended in Korea.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 2008

Purpose: To conduct a nationwide academic hospital patterns of the practice status and principles of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The survey will help develop the framework of a database of Korean in Patterns of Case Study. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire about radiation treatment status and principles was sent to radiation oncologists in charge of prostate cancer treatment at thirteen academic hospitals in Korea. The data was analyzed to find treatment principles among the radiation oncologists when treating prostate cancer. Results: The number of patients with prostate cancer and treated with radiation ranged from 60 to 150 per academic hospital in Seoul City and 10 to 15 outside of Seoul City in 2006. The primary diagnostic methods of prostate cancer included the ultrasound guided biopsy on 6 to 12 prostate sites(mean=9), followed by magnetic resonance imaging and a whole body bone scan. Internal and external immobilizations were used in 61.5% and 76.9%, respectively, with diverse radiation targets. Whole pelvis radiation therapy(dose ranging from 45.0 to 50.4 Gy) was performed in 76.9%, followed by the irradiation of seminal vesicles($54.0{\sim}73.8$ Gy) in 92.3%. The definitive radiotherapy doses were increased as a function of risk group, but the range of radiation doses was wide(60.0 to 78.5 Gy). Intensity modulated radiation therapy using doses greater than 70 Gy, were performed in 53.8% of academic hospitals. In addition, the simultaneous intra-factional boost(SIB) technique was used in three hospitals; however, the target volume and radiation dose were diverse. Radiation therapy to biochemical recurrence after a radical prostatectomy was performed in 84.6%; however, the radiation dose was variable and the radiation field ranged from whole pelvis to prostate bed. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that a nationwide Korean Patterns of Care Study is necessary for the recommendation of radiation therapy guidelines of prostate cancer.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2001

Cerebrovascular disease(CVD) is one of the major causes of death in Korea as well as most countries in the world and the disease gives great burden to humans socio-economically due to its high fatality and common occurrence of disability as the sequelae. This study was performed to investigate the utilization of western hospital(WH) or oriental hospital(OH) due to CVD and compare the type and the clinical characteristics of patients with CVD between WH and OH located in Kwangju City, Chonnam Province and Chonbuk Province. We reviewed the medical records of 1,070 patients who were discharged from 12 WIT and 6 OH from January to March, 2000 and confirmed for the diagnosis of CVD. Fifty-one percent of the subjects were treated at WH and forty-nine percent at OH. Females were more prevalent than males. As well, the most common age group among these subjects was found to be 70 years and older. About 92% in W~H and 80% in OH received brain imaging diagnostic procedures such as CT or MRI. The cerebral infarction was the most common type of CVD when compared by the kind of utilized hospitals, sex, age group except patient Group who was treated at WH and whose age was lower than 50 years old. The cerebral hemorrhage was more frequent than cerebral infarction among this group. The proportion of cerebral hemorrhage was decreasing and that of cerebral infarction was increasing with age. The most common clinical manifestations of undetermined type of CVD was paralysis of lower extremity in WIT and paralysis of upper extremity in OH. In cerebral hemorrhage loss of consciousness in WIT and dysarthria in OH were most frequently manifested, while in the case of cerebral infarction hemiplegia in WIT and dysarthria in OH were the most common complaints. The interval from the onset of disease to admission to the hospital was 5.5 days in WH arid 31.4 days in OH and the difference was statistically significant. Average admission duration of patients at OH was longer than WH, but it was not statistically significant. In conclusion these results suggest that the effort for systematic and efficient management of CVD patients was necessary for close co-operation and role arrangement between WH and OH considering the positive and negative points of western and oriental medicines.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2013

This study investigated the rate of setup variance by the rotating unbalance of gantry in image-guided radiation therapy. The equipments used linear accelerator(Elekta Synergy TM, UK) and a three-dimensional volume imaging mode(3D Volume View) in cone beam computed tomography(CBCT) system. 2D images obtained by rotating $360^{\circ}$and $180^{\circ}$ were reconstructed to 3D image. Catpan503 phantom and homogeneous phantom were used to measure the setup errors. Ball-bearing phantom was used to check the rotation axis of the CBCT. The volume image from CBCT using Catphan503 phantom and homogeneous phantom were analyzed and compared to images from conventional CT in the six dimensional view(X, Y, Z, Roll, Pitch, and Yaw). The variance ratio of setup error were difference in X 0.6 mm, Y 0.5 mm Z 0.5 mm when the gantry rotated $360^{\circ}$ in orthogonal coordinate. whereas rotated $180^{\circ}$, the error measured 0.9 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 mm in X, Y, Z respectively. In the rotating coordinates, the more increased the rotating unbalance, the more raised average ratio of setup errors. The resolution of CBCT images showed 2 level of difference in the table recommended. CBCT had a good agreement compared to each recommended values which is the mechanical safety, geometry accuracy and image quality. The rotating unbalance of gentry vary hardly in orthogonal coordinate. However, in rotating coordinate of gantry exceeded the ${\pm}1^{\circ}$ of recommended value. Therefore, when we do sophisticated radiation therapy six dimensional correction is needed.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.154-163
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• 2015

Purpose: Osteoarticular infections in children and adolescents are important because it can cause functional compromise if appropriate treatment is delayed. Therefore, this study was designed to describe the clinical presentations and causative organisms of osteoarticular infections in children and adolescents in order to propose early diagnosis method and an appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy. Methods: Forty-two medical records were reviewed retrospectively, which were confirmed as osteomyelitis (OM) or septic arthritis (SA) at Department of Pediatrics or Orthopedic Surgery in patients under 18 years old of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital from March 2008 to March 2015. Results: We identified 21 cases of OM, 13 cases of SA and 8 cases of OM with SA. There were 31 males and 11 females and mean age was 7.1 years old. The most common symptoms were pain and tenderness of involved site. Major involved bones were femur (10 cases, 34.5%), tibia (7 cases, 24.1%) and major involved joints were hip (9 cases, 42.9%), and knee (5 cases, 23.8%). Increased serum C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were observed in 37 cases (88.1%) respectively. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 40 cases among 42 cases and was used to demonstrate osteoarticular infections and other adjacent infections. Nine cases (23.7%) among 38 cases and 20 cases (50.0%) among 40 cases were positive in blood culture and infected site culture respectively. The most common causative organism was Staphylococcus aureus, which was represented in 22 cases (75.9%), of which nine cases (40.9%) were resistant to methicillin. Conclusions: S. aureus was the most common causative organism of osteoarticular infections in children and adolescents and the proportion of MRSA was high in this study. Therefore, we recommend vancomycin as the first empiric antimicrobial therapy and suggest that further study is necessary to elucidate an appropriate guideline for treatment which takes into account MRSA proportion.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.30 no.1_2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2018

Purpose : Proton Therapy using Bragg-peak, because it has distinct characteristics in providing maximum dosage for tumor and minimal dosage for normal tissue, a medical imaging system that can quantify changes in patient position or treatment area is of paramount importance to the treatment of protons. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the usefulness of the algorithm by comparing the image matching through the set-up and in-house code through the existing dips program by producing a Matlab-based in-house registration code to determine the error value between dips and DRR to evaluate the accuracy of the existing treatment. Materials and Methods : Thirteen patients with brain tumors and head and neck cancer who received proton therapy were included in this study and used the DIPS Program System (Version 2.4.3, IBA, Belgium) for image comparison and the Eclipse Proton Planning System (Version 13.7, Varian, USA) for patient treatment planning. For Validation of the Registration method, a test image was artificially rotated and moved to match the existing image, and the initial set up image of DIPS program of existing set up process was image-matched with plan DRR, and the error value was obtained, and the usefulness of the algorithm was evaluated. Results : When the test image was moved 0.5, 1, and 10 cm in the left and right directions, the average error was 0.018 cm. When the test image was rotated counterclockwise by 1 and $10^{\circ}$, the error was $0.0011^{\circ}$. When the initial images of four patients were imaged, the mean error was 0.056, 0.044, and 0.053 cm in the order of x, y, and z, and 0.190 and $0.206^{\circ}$ in the order of rotation and pitch. When the final images of 13 patients were imaged, the mean differences were 0.062, 0.085, and 0.074 cm in the order of x, y, and z, and 0.120 cm as the vector value. Rotation and pitch were 0.171 and $0.174^{\circ}$, respectively. Conclusion : The Matlab-based In-house Registration code produced through this study showed accurate Image matching based on Intensity as well as the simple image as well as anatomical structure. Also, the Set-up error through the DIPS program of the existing treatment method showed a very slight difference, confirming the accuracy of the proton therapy. Future development of additional programs and future Intensity-based Matlab In-house code research will be necessary for future clinical applications.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.84-95
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• 2022

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common serious bacterial infections in young infants. Lumbar puncture (LP) has been used to diagnose coexisting meningitis in infants under 90 days of age with suspected UTI in many hospitals. However, the incidence of bacterial meningitis associated with UTIs is low. We aimed to describe the prevalence of concomitant bacterial meningitis in young infants with UTIs. Methods: The medical records of infants with the first episode of UTI admitted to the Chung-Ang University Hospital from January 2010 to December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Infants aged < 90 days who underwent LP with initial evaluation were included. Demographic and clinical features, laboratory findings, and imaging findings were collected and analyzed. Results: Eighty-six infants with UTIs were enrolled in the study. The median age was 61.5 days (interquartile range, 42.3-73.8 days) and boys (90.7%) were predominant. Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen (n=80, 93.0%) and followed by Klebsiella species (n=5, 5.8%). Fifteen (18.1%) specimens produced extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL). Five (5.8%) infants had positive blood culture results. Seven (8.1%) infants showed pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid, but none had coexisting bacterial meningitis. Twenty-four (30.8%) infants showed renal dilatation or hydronephrosis on ultrasonography. Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scans revealed cortical defects in 17 (21.3%) infants while voiding cystourethrography revealed vesicoureteral reflux in 6 (46.2%) infants. Conclusion: Co-existing bacterial meningitis was not observed in young infants with UTIs. LP could not be routinely performed considering the clinical condition of <90 days old UTI patients.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2015

Positron emission tomography scan has been growing diagnostic equipment in the development of medical imaging system. Compare to 99mTc emitting 140 keV, Positron emission radionuclide emits 511 keV gamma rays. Because of this high energy, it needs to reduce radioactive emitting from patients for radio technologist. We searched the external dose rates by changing distance from patients and measure the external dose rates when we used shielder investigate change external dose rates. In this study, the external dose distribution were analyzed in order to help managing radiation protection of radio technologists. Ten patients were searched (mean age: $47.7{\pm}6.6$, mean height: $165.5{\pm}3.8cm$, mean weight: $65.9{\pm}1.4kg$). Radiation was measured on the location of head, chest, abdomen, knees and toes at the distance of 10, 50, 100, 150, and 200 cm, respectively. Then, all the procedure was given with a portable radiation shielding on the location of head, chest, and abdomen at the distance of 100, 150, and 200 cm and transmittance was calculated. In 10 cm, head ($105.40{\mu}Sv/h$) was the highest and foot($15.85{\mu}Sv/h$) was the lowest. In 200 cm, head, chest, and abdomen showed similar. On head, the measured dose rates were $9.56{\mu}Sv/h$, $5.23{\mu}Sv/h$, and $3.40{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm, respectively. When using shielder, it shows $2.24{\mu}Sv/h$, $1.67{\mu}Sv/h$, and $1.27{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm on head. On chest, the measured dose rates were $8.54{\mu}Sv/h$, $4.90{\mu}Sv/h$, $3.44{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm, respectively. When using shielder, it shows $2.27{\mu}Sv/h$, $1.34{\mu}Sv/h$, and $1.13{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm on chest. On abdomen, the measured dose rates were $9.83{\mu}Sv/h$, $5.15{\mu}Sv/h$, and $3.18{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm, respectively. When using shielder, it shows $2.60{\mu}Sv/h$, $1.75{\mu}Sv/h$, and $1.23{\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150, and 200 cm on abdomen. Transmittance was increased as the distance was expanded. As the distance was further, the radiation dose were reduced. When using shielder, the dose were reduced as one-forth of without shielder. The Radio technologists are exposed of radioactivity and there were limitations on reducing the distance with Therefore, the proper shielding will be able to decrease radiation dose to the technologists.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.159-165
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• 2010

Purpose: Positron emission tomography scan has been growing diagnostic equipment in the development of medical imaging system. Compare to $^{99m}Tc$ emitting 140 keV, Positron emission radionuclide emits 511 keV gamma rays. Because of this high energy, it needs to reduce radioactive emitting from patients for radiotechnologist. We searched the external dose rates by changing distance from patients and measure the external dose rates when we used shielder investigate change external dose rates. In this study, the external dose distribution were analyzed in order to help managing radiation protection of radiotechnologists. Materials and Methods: Ten patients were searched (mean age: $47.7{\pm}6.6$, mean height: $165.5{\pm}3.8$ cm and mean weight: $65.9{\pm}1.4$ kg). Radiation were measured on the location of head, chest, abdomen, knees and toes at the distance of 10, 50, 100, 150 and 200 cm. Then, all the procedure was given with a portable radiation shielding on the location of head, chest and abdomen at the distance of 100, 150 and 200 cm and transmittance was calculated. Results: In 10 cm, head (105.40 ${\mu}Sv/h$) was the highest and foot (15.85 ${\mu}Sv/h$) was the lowest. In 200 cm, head, chest and abdomen showed similar. On head, the measured dose rates were 9.56 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 5.23 ${\mu}Sv/h$, and 3.40 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200 cm respectively. When using shielder, it shows 2.24 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 1.67 ${\mu}Sv/h$, and 1.27 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200 cm on head. On chest, the measured dose rates were 8.54 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 4.90 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 3.44 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200 cm, respectively. When using shielder, it shows 2.27 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 1.34 ${\mu}Sv/h$, and 1.13 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200 cm on chest. On abdomen, the measured dose rates were 9.83 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 5.15 ${\mu}Sv/h$ and 3.18 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200cm respectively. When using shielder, it shows 2.60 ${\mu}Sv/h$, 1.75 ${\mu}Sv/h$ and 1.23 ${\mu}Sv/h$ in 100, 150 and 200 cm on abdomen. Transmittance was increased as the distance was expanded. Conclusion: As the distance was further, the radiation dose were reduced. When using shielder, the dose were reduced as one-forth of without shielder. The Radio technologists are exposed of radioactivity and there were limitations on reducing the distance with Therefore, the proper shielding will be able to decrease radiation dose to the radiotechnologists.