• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
• /
• 1993.05a
• /
• pp.99-99
• /
• 1993

Radiography of nasopharynx are routinely performed for nasopharyngeal soft tissue changes. Although CT scan is widely performed nowadays, the value of lateral neck radiograph is still important to detect the masses in the nasopharynx. The purpose of this study was to establish the constitution of the normal dimension of the nasopharyngeal soft tissue on the lateral neck radiograph and make a parameter of the nasopharyngeal soft tissue hypertrophy. We have made various measurements of the thickness of the nasopharyngeal soft tissue on the lateral skull films in 214 Korean adults (109 males and 104 females). We found that the diameter of the nasopharyngeal soft tissue was decreased by age and the value of males were always greater than that of females and the thickness of the roof was always less than the posterior wall.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2013

Purpose: A selection of proper energy in treatment planning is very important because of having different dose distribution in body as photon energy. In generally, the low energy photon has been used in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for head and neck (H&N) cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of partially used high energy photon at posterior oblique fields on IMRT plan for H&N cancer. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 10 patients (nasopharyngeal cancer 5, tonsilar cancer 5) treated with IMRT in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. CT images were acquired 3 mm of thickness in the same condition and the treatment plan was performed by Eclipse (Ver.7.1, Varian, Palo Alto, USA). Two plans were generated under same planing objectives, dose volume constraints, and eight fields setting: (1) The low energy plan (LEP) created using 6 MV beam alone, (2) the partially used high energy plan (PHEP) created partially using 15 MV beam at two posterior oblique fields with deeper penetration depths, while 6 MV beam was used at the rest of fields. The plans for LEP and PHEP were compared in terms of coverage, conformity index (CI) and homogeneity index (HI) for planning target volume (PTV). For organs at risk (OARs), $D_{mean}$ and $D_{50%}$ were analyzed on both parotid glands and $D_{max}$, $D_{1%}$ for spinal cord were analyzed. Integral dose (ID) and total monitor unit (MU) were compared as addition parameters. For the comparing dose to normal tissue of posterior neck, the posterior-normal tissue volume (P-NTV) was set on the patients respectively. The $D_{mean}$, $V_{20Gy}$ and $V_{25Gy}$ for P-NTV were evaluated by using dose volume histogram (DVH). Results: The dose distributions were similar with regard to coverage, CI and HI for PTV between the LEP and PHEP. No evident difference was observed in the spinal cord. However, the $D_{mean}$, $D_{50%}$ for both parotid gland were slightly reduced by 0.6%, 0.7% in PHEP. The ID was reduced by 1.1% in PHEP, and total MU for PHEP was 1.8% lower than that for LEP. In the P-NTV, the $D_{mean}$, $V_{20Gy}$ and $V_{25Gy}$ of the PHEP were 1.6%, 1.8% and 2.9% lower than those of LEP. Conclusion: Dose to some OARs and a normal tissue, total monitor unit were reduced in IMRT plan with partially used high energy photon. Although these reduction are unclear how have a clinical benefit to patient, application of the partially used high energy photon could improve the overall plan quality of IMRT for head and neck cancer.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.48-51
• /
• 2014

Multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL) is a rare disease characterized by symmetrical massive fatty deposits on the face, neck, shoulders, and upper trunk. We report a 74-year-old man who complained of painless subcutaneous nodules on his posterior neck that developed 3 weeks earlier. In a week, variably-sized similar lesions developed on both his shoulders and upper extremities. At the time of his hospital visit, several firm nodules as big as a walnut to a child's fist and with the normal-skin-hue were observed on his posterior neck, both shoulders, upper extremities, and trunk. The histological examination of his upper left arm revealed more mature adipocytes without encapsulation in the subcutaneous tissue. MSL was generally known to occur slowly over months or years. However, this is an unusual case that showed a fast-growing nature.