• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2009

Purpose: Subtotal distal gastrectomy has been accepted as the standard treatment for early gastric cancer that's developed on the gastric body. EMR and ESD have been introduced to minimize the incidence of postgastrectomy syndrome, but these procedures can not detect lymph node metastasis and they have a risk for gastric perforation. Segmental gastrectomy has recently been applied for treating early gastric cancer, but its usefulness has not been clarified. The aim of this study was to compare segmental gastrectomy and distal gastrectomy with Billroth I reconstruction for treating early gastric cancer that's developed on the gastric body. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all the patients who were diagnosed as having early gastric cancer that developed on the gastric body at Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2004 through July 2007. During this period, 41 patients received segmental gastrectomy and 40 patients underwent subtotal distal gastrectomy. All the patients were studied via a biannual review of the body systems, a physical examination, endoscopy, computed tomography and the laboratory findings. Results: There were no significantly differences of the clinicopathologic characteristics between the two groups. The changes of the nutritional status (Hb, TP, Alb and TC) and the body weight change were not significantly different between the 2 groups. There were significantly more residual food in the SG group than that in the SDG group (RGB classification, Residual>Grade 2), but there were no differences for epigastric discomfort (P>0.05). Esophagitis developed at a similar rate for both two groups (LA classification, >Grade A), and bile reflux was found in only one patient of each group. Conclusion: We expected the reduction of esophagitis and gastritis and the improvement of nutritional status according to the type of procedure. Yet the results of our study showed no significant differences between the two study groups. More patients and a longer follow up time are needed for determining the advantage sand disadvantages of segmental gastrectomy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.294-303
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• 2015

American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Published Task Group 40 report which includes recommendations for comprehensive quality assurance (QA) for medical linear accelerator in 1994 and TG-142 report for recommendation for QA which includes procedures such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in 2010. Recently, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) published NSSC notification no. 2015-005 which is "Technological standards for radiation safety of medical field". This notification regulate to establish guidelines for quality assurance which includes organization and job, devices, methods/frequency/tolerances and action levels for QA, and to implement quality assurance in each medical institution. For this reason, all of these facilities using medical machine for patient treatment should establish items, frequencies and tolerances for proper QA for medical treatment machine that use the techniques such as non-IMRT, IMRT and SRS/SBRT, and perform quality assurance. For domestic, however, there are lack of guidelines and reports of Korean Society of Medical Physicists (KSMP) for reference to establish systematic QA report in medical institutes. This report, therefore, suggested comprehensive quality assurance system such as the scheme of quality assurance system, which is considered for domestic conditions, based the notification of NSSC and AAPM TG-142 reports. We think that the quality assurance system suggested for medical linear accelerator also help establishing QA system for another high-precision radiation treatment machines.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.169-175
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• 2003

Purpose : The purpose was to evaluate the early result of revision of failed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Materials and Methods : From August 1997 to February 2002, this report presents the findings of 18 patients who had revision surgery for failed ACL reconstruction. There was an average of 39 $(7\~120)$months from index procedure to the time of revision. Allografts were used in 14 $(78\%)$cases and autografts were used in 4 $(22\%)$cases and the revision procedures were assisted by arthroscopic technique. The majority of chief complaints were instability in 16 $(89\%)$cases. Sixteen $(89\%)$ cases had 1 previous reconstruction, 2 $(11\%)$ cases had 2. Before and after revision, patients were evaluated by Lachman test, pivot shift test, KT 2000, radiographs, Lysholm score and HSS score and subjective satisfaction. Results : Average length of followup was 27 $(12\~60)$months. Preoperatively, all cases were positive in Lachman test and pivot shift test. After revision the majority of cases were negative. Objectively improving stability was confirmed by KT 2000 and all average KT 2000 was 7.75 $(3.5\~12.5)$mm preoperatively and 2.36 $(1.0\~6.0)$mm at final followup. Lysholm score and HSS score were also improved from 72.6 $(66\~77)$ and 72.5 $(68\~78)$ preoperatively to 89.2 $(80\~92)$ and 88.2 $(81\~92)$ at final followup. Most $(89\%)$ of patients were satisfied with their results. The most common causes of failed ACL reconstruction were malposition of femoral tunnel in 11 $(61\%)$cases. Conclusion : Arthroscopic revision ACL surgery with adequate graft for failed ACL reconstruction was successful in objectively and subjectively improving stability. However, considering the most common causes of failure after ACL reconstruction were errors in surgical technique, it is important that the primary ACL reconstruction should be performed with correct surgical technique.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2005

Purpose: To determine the prognostic values of the hematologic parameters checked preoperatively in gastric cancer patients, we evaluated and compared the relationship between hematologic parameters and clinicopathologic factors of gastric cancer patient. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 357 consecutive patients who had undergone surgery for gastric cancer at the Department of Surgery, Hanyang University Hospital, between Dec. 2,000 and Dec. 2003 were reviewed. To exclude any adverse effect of invasive procedures to hematologic parameters, the samples taken immediately at outpatient department was used. The normal range of serum albumin was defined above 3.5 g/dl, serum hemoglobin above 12 g/dl, and serum platelet count under $400\times10^{3}{\mu}l$. Patients were defined as group 1 when any of these parameters was abnormal, and defined as group 2 when all parameters were normal. The relationships between hematologic parameters and survival rate were investigated. Results: The mean values of platelet count increased, but level of serum albumin and serum hemoglobin decreased significantly according to the advancement of the disease stage (P=0.000). The differences of depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis between the group 1 and the group2 was statistically significant (P=0.001). Three-year survival difference between group 1 and group 2 was significant (P=0.037). Conclusion: The hematologic parameters checked preoperatively in patients of gastric cancer are simple and cheap, meanwhile reflect the general condition of the patients. Any presence of anemia, hypoalbuminemia, or thrombocytosis can predict the progression of the disease and poor survival rates.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2001

Objectives: An Increased level of psychophysiologic arousal and diminished physiologic flexibility would be observed in patients with panic disorder compared with a normal control group. We investigated the differences of psychophysiologic response between patients with panic disorder and normal control to examine this hypothesis. Methods: Ten Korean patients with panic disorder who met the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV were compared with 10 normal healthy subjects. In psychological assessment, levels of anxiety and depression were evaluated by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck's Depression Inventory and Hamilton Rating Scale For Anxiety and Depression. Heart rate, respiration rate, electrodermal response, and electromyographic activity were measured by biofeedback system (J & J I-330 model) to determine psychophysiologic responses on autonomic nervous system. Stressful tasks included mental arithmetic, video game, hyperventilation, and talking about a stressful event. Psychophysiologic responses were measured according to the following procedures : baseline(3 min)-mental arithmetic (3 min)-rest (3 min)-video game (3 min)-rest (3 min)-hyperventilation (3 min)-rest (3 min)-talking about a stressful event (3 min). Results: The baseline level of anxiety and depression, electrodermal response (p=.017), electromyographic activity (p=.047) and heart rate (p=.049) of patients with panic disorder were significantly higher than those of the normal subject group. In electrodermal response, patient group had significantly higher startle response than the control group during hyperventilation (p=.001). Startle and recovery responses of heart rate in the patient group were significantly lower than responses in the control group during mental arithmetic (p=.007, p=.002). In electrodermal response of the patient group, startle response was significantly higher than recovery response during mental arithmetic (p=.000) and video game task (p=.021). Recovery response was significantly higher than startle response in respiratory response during hyperventilation. Conclusion: The results showed that patients with panic disorder had higher autonomic arousal than the control group, but the physiologic flexibility was variable. We suggest that it is helpful for treatment of panic disorder to decrease the level of autonomic arousal and to recover the physiologic flexibility in certain stressful event.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.993-997
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• 2011

The aims of this research were to determine the proximate composition of various salts and to compare two digestion methods (direct digestion without heating, and microwave digestion) for the determination of the main mineral contents of various salts. Twelve salt samples were divided into three groups of four samples each (imported, Korean gray, and Korean white salts). As a result, the NaCl contents of the Korean white, Korean gray, and imported salts were 85.1, 89.3, and 91.3%, respectively. The salts in the three groups were analyzed for their main mineral contents via AAS. The sodium (Na) content of the Korean white salt was found to be slightly lower than that of the imported salt while the magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) contents of the Korean white salt were found to be higher than those of the imported salt. The mineral composition (% Na:Mg) obtained using microwave-assisted digestion procedures, and the other dissolutions for the subsequent sample analysis, were 89:1 (for both the imported and Korean gray salts) and 82:3 vs. 81:3 (Korean white salt), respectively. The data regarding the mineral contents and composition of the sun-dried salts obtained through the analysis method of wet digestion and the dissolution procedure were compared, and no significant difference was found between the two datasets. Consequently, in this paper, a direct dissolution procedure is suggested for the analysis of the mineral composition of salt.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.176-189
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• 2003

Background : Gastric cancer is the most common malignant tumor in Korea. Surgical operation is one of the major treatment modalities for gastric cancer patients. Therefore, gastrectomy is one of the most common procedures in General Surgery. There were variation in length of hospital stay and medical treatment for gastrectomy between three surgeons at Asan Medical Center. Clinical pathways have received considerable attention as a tool for reducing the medical practice variation, increasing the efficiency of care process, and improving the quality of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a clinical pathway for gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients. Methods : The clinical pathway for gastrectomy was developed and implemented by a multidisciplinary group in Asan Medical Center. A computerized clinical pathway program was developed and revised after a pilot test. A total of 145 patients underwent gastrectomy by three surgeons at Asan Medical Center. We compared the length of hospital stay, patient satisfaction, and the unplanned readmission rate between the pre-pathway group (n=67) and the post-pathway group (n=78). We also investigated the degree of satisfaction among the physicians and nurses who were main end-users of the clinical pathway. Results : The clinical pathway was applied to all target patients. The average length of hospital stay was shortened from 12.7days to 10.6days (p<0.01). The degree of patient satisfaction with the care process changed from 90.3% to 89.2% after the implementation of the clinical pathway, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.761). Unplanned readmission rate was 2.9% in the pre-pathway group and 0% in the post-pathway group. More than 90% of physicians and nurses answered that the clinical pathway had been a useful tool in their medical practice. Conclusions : The findings of the study demonstrated that implementation of the clinical pathway for gastrectomy produced substantial reduction in the length of hospital stay while improving the quality of patient outcomes. The computerized clinical pathway program can be used as one of the powerful patient management tools for reducing the practice variations and increasing the efficiency of care process in Korean hospital settings.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.213-218
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• 2004

Purpose: The superficial spreading type of early gastric cancer has different clinicopathologic features from other types of early gastric cancer in terms of its invasiveness and lymph-node metastases. Therefore, we attempted to elucidate the pathological features, surgical procedures and patients prognoses. Materials and Methods: Clinical information was reviewed for patients who had undergone a gastrectomy for gastric cancer during an 8-year period ($1995\~2002$) at Dankook University Hospital and Ulsan University, with an average follow-up of 48 months. Three hundred (300) superficial spreading lesions were analyzed with respect to macroscopic type, lymph-node (LN) metastasis, recurrent pattern, survival rate and method of surgical operation. In addition, the clinicopathological features of the superficial spreading type were compared with those of 739 other patients with small-sized cancer. Results: In both groups, the IIc-type macroscopic lesion, the elevated subtype to be more specific, occurred most frequently. There was no significant difference in the method of surgery between the groups. The submucosal invasion was $39.8\%$ in small-sized cancer, and $61.7\%$ in superficial spreading cancer (P=0.005). The incidence of LN metastasis was $11.3\%$ in early gastric cancer, $7.8\%$ in small-sized cancer and $20.0\%$ in superficial spreading cancer (P=0.005). The incidence of lymphatic invasion was $4.6\%$ in small-sized cancer and $13.0\%$ in superficial spreading cancer (P=0.009). The incidence of recurrence was $1.4\%$ in small-sized cancer and $3.6\%$ in superficial spreading cancer. The overall 5-year survival rate was $84.8\%$ in superficial spreading cancer and $93.0\%$ in small-sized cancer (P=0.052). The 5-year diseasefree survival rate was $94.7\%$ in superficial spreading cancer and $87.5\%$ in small-sized cancer (P=0.053). Conclusion: The superficial spreading type of early gastric cancer tends to be more invasive and to show a higher incidence of lymph-node metastasis than small-sized early gastric cancer. A wide resection with extensive lymph-node dissection seems to be an appropriate treatment for a superficial spreading type of early gastric cancer.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was to investigate whether the application of different diagnostic criteria affected the frequency of convergence insufficiency (CI). Methods: Eighty one subjects with mean age of 22.54 years (20 to 27 years) were evaluated. Binocularity tests after refraction were performed as the following tests: near point of convergence (NPC) with an accommodative target, phoria using von Graefe method, positive fusional vergence (PFV) with a phoropter. Subjects with CI were diagnosed when exophoria (exo) was greater at near than at distance ($exo{\geq}4{\Delta}$, or >$6{\Delta}$), fusional vergence was $PFV{\leq}11{\Delta}$ for blur, $PFV{\leq}15{\Delta}$ for break, Sheard's or Percival's criterion, and NPC was $NPC{\geq}6cm$, ${\geq}7.5cm$ or >10 cm. Results: Frequency of CI with one diagnostic criterion was ranged from 6.2% to 77.8%, and was overestimated or underestimated according to criteria. It was reduced to the range of 6.2% to 43.2% with diagnostic criteria more than two, especially to the range of 24.7% to 28.4% with lower variability in diagnostic criteria including phoria and Sheard's criterion. There were high relationship between total score of signs and phoria score (r = 0.772, p<0.001), and measured phoria and Sheard's criterion (r = -0.654, p<0.001), but NPC had a high variability and a weak or no significant relationship with other diagnostic criteria. Results suggested $exo{\geq}4{\Delta}$, Sheard's criterion and $NPC{\geq}7.5cm$ for diagnostic criteria of signs and sequence for CI. Conclusions: Frequency of CI is likely to be over- and underestimated with diagnostic criteria. Cutoff values and procedures for phoria, Sheard's criterion and NPC as clinical signs should be suggested definitely in diagnosis associated with CI.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.1120-1125
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• 2002

Purpose : Percutaneous cannulation of the central vein in children and infants may be technically difficult and can cause serious complications. There are many techniques to improve the success rate and to decrease the complications in central vein cannulation. This study was undertaken to determine whether audible Doppler guidance can help operators improve the results of central vein cannultion in pediatric ICU. Methods : A total of 46 central vein cannulations were performed using audible Doppler guidance technique. Using an 8-MHz Doppler ultrasound device(Pocket-Dop II. iMex. USA), the artery and the vein were identified by their characteristic Doppler sounds. Results : There was a total of 46 patients with 20 boys and 26 girls, respectively. The mean age was $3years{\pm}45months$(range : 1-156 months). The number of infants was 18 and the mean age was $6.3{\pm}3.8$ months(range : 1-12 months). The most common site of central vein cannulation was the right internal jugular vein(63%). The cannulation was successful in 44 out of 46 procedures(96%). The success rate at the first attempt was 59% with 48% in the patients who had the history of previous cannulation and 70% in the patients who did not, respectively. The success rate in infants was 94%(17 out of 18). The average access time was $5.2{\pm}8.3$ minutes in children contrary to $7.5{\pm}10.3$ minutes in infants. There were no serious complications, but six patients had complications including four hematoma, one arterial puncture, and one pneumothorax. Conclusion : This central vein cannulation using Doppler guidance may improve the success rate of central vein cannulation and decrease the development of serious complications in infants and children.