• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.5
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• pp.837-842
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• 2021

An atlantoaxial subluxation from the unstable Os odontoideum by the failure of proper integrations between the embryological somites might be a commonly reported pathology. However, its suspicious origin or paralleled occurrence with other congenital anomalies of vertebral body might be a relatively rare phenomenon. The authors present two cases, who simply presented with clinical signs of prolonged, intractable cervicalgia without any neurological deficits, revealed this rare feature of C1-2 subluxation from the unstable, orthotropic type of Os odontoideum that coincide with congenitally fused cervical vertebral bodies between C2-3. Surprisingly, in one case, when traced from the lower cervical down to the thoracic-lumbar levels during the preoperative work-up process, was also compromised with multi-level butterfly vertebrae formations. Presented cases highlight the association of various congenital vertebrae anomalies and the rationale to fuse only affected joints.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.65-67
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• 2015

Cavernous hemangiomas were first reported in 1929 by Globus and Doshay, and are defined as benign vascular structures developed between the neural tissues occurring in the central nervous system, consisting of a dilated vascular bed. Cavernous hemangiomas comprise nearly 5-12% of all spinal vascular malformations; however, existence in the epidural space without bone involvement is rare. Only 4% of all cavernous hemangiomas (0.22/1.000.000) are purely epidural cavernous hemangiomas. In this case report, we removed a hemorrhagic thoracic mass presenting with progressive neurological deficits in a 55-year-old male patient. We found this case to be appropriate for presentation due to the rare occurrence of this type of cavernous hemangioma.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.309-311
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• 2013

Ganglion cysts usually arise from the tissues around the facet joints. It is usually associated with degenerative cahanges in facet joints. Bilateral thoracic ganglion cysts are very rare and there is no previous case that located in bilateral intervertebral foramen compressing the L1 nerve root associated with severe radiculopathy. We report a 53 years old woman who presented with bilateral groin pain and severe numbness. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed bilateral cystic mass in the intervertebral foramen between 12th thoracal and 1st lumbar vertebrae. The cystic lesions were removed after bilateral exposure of Th12-L1 foramens. The result of hystopathology confirmed the diagnosis as ganglion cyst. The ganglion cyst may compromise lumbar dorsal ganglion when it located in the intervertebral foramen. The surgeon should keep this rare entity in their mind for differential diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.251-254
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• 2012

Pectus excavatum (PE) is a ventral chest wall deformity, also known as funnel chest, sunken chest, chondrosternal depression or koilosternia. The 4 months old, 1.3 kg intact-female Pekingese dog was evaluated for acute semicoma and convulsion. The client reported that this patient have had chronic loss of appetite, intermittent dyspnea and palpable sunken breast. The other littermates did not show any abnormalities. On physical examination, cachexia (BCS 1/5), concave sternum, flatten thoracic cavity and cardiac murmur were observed. On radiographic study, the caudal sternum cave to vertebrae and narrowing thoracic cavity. The severities of thoracic deformity were evaluated by deformation indices such as-Frontosagittal index (FSI) and vertebral index (VI). Moderate to severe PE was founded by the radiological measurements.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2010

Background: Epidural anesthesia is widely used to provide pain relief, whether for surgical anesthesia, postoperative analgesia, treatment of chronic pain, or to facilitate painless childbirth. In many cases, however, the epidural catheter is inserted blindly and the indwelling catheter position is almost always uncertain. Methods: In this study, the loss-of-resistance technique was used and an imaging agent was injected through the indwelling epidural anesthesia catheter to confirm the position of its tip and examine the migration rate. Study subjects were patients scheduled to undergo surgery using general anesthesia combined with epidural anesthesia. Placement of the epidural catheter was confirmed postoperatively by injection of an imaging agent and X-ray imaging. Results: The indwelling epidural catheter was placed between upper thoracic vertebrae (n = 83; incorrect placement, n = 5), lower thoracic vertebrae (n = 123; incorrect placement, n = 5), and lower thoracic vertebra-lumbar vertebra (n = 46; incorrect placement, n = 7). In this study, a relatively high frequency of incorrectly placed epidural catheters using the loss-of-resistance technique was observed, and it was found that incorrect catheter placement resulted in inadequate analgesia during surgery. Conclusions: Although the loss-of-resistance technique is easy and convenient as a method for epidural catheter placement, it frequently results in inadequate placement of epidural catheters. Care should be taken when performing this procedure.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.391-396
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cross arms and palms facing forward on spinopelvic parameters during the whole spine lateral radiography. In addition, we would like to present the usefulness of a posture with the palm facing forward during whole spine lateral radiography of the spine using EOS. The subjects of this study were images of a total of 50 patients (18 males, 32 females) who whole spine lateral radiography using the conventional method and the EOS method from October 2020 to March 2021. The posture used in this study was set as 'CAP' for cross arms and 'PUSH' for posture with palms facing forward. In this study, among the spinal stability factors, thoracic kyphosis (thoracic vertebrae 4 to 12), lumbar lordosis (lumbar vertebrae 1 to sacrum 1), sagittal vertical axis, sacral slope, and shoulder flexion angle were compared on average. The mean thoracic kyphosis was 34.52±12.46° for CAP and 28.46±10.81° for PUSH (p<0.01). The lumbar lordosis of CAP was 42.45±17.45°and that of PUSH was 40.56±16.14°(p>0.57). The sagittal vertical axis was 26.59±34.34 mm in CAP and 21.21±35.41 mm in PUSH (p>0.44). In CAP, the sacral slope was 30.96±10.29°, and in PUSH, it was 31.01±10.19° (p>0.98). shoulder flexion angle was 38.31±8.24° for CAP and 26,08±6.71° for PUSH(p<0.01). As a result of this study, the PUSH posture is considered to be a posture that can minimize the shoulder flexion angle and can perform a stable examination while minimizing changes in spino-pelvic parameter.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.568-573
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• 2018

Objective : Thoracic pedicles have special and specific properties. In particular, upper thoracic pedicles are positioned in craniocaudal plane. Therefore, manipulation of thoracic pedicle screws on the left side is difficult for right-handed surgeons. We recommend a new position to insert thoracic pedicle screw that will be much comfortable for spine surgeons. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 33 patients who underwent upper thoracic pedicle screw instrumentation. In 15 patients, a total of 110 thoracic pedicle screws were inserted to the upper thoracic spine (T1-6) with classical position (anesthesiologist and monitor were placed near to patient's head. Surgeons were standing classically near to patient's body while patients were lying in prone position). In 18 patients, a total of 88 thoracic pedicle screws were inserted to the upper thoracic spine with the new standing position-surgeons stand by the head of the patient and the anesthesia monitor laterally and under patient's belt level. All the operations performed by the same senior spine surgeons with the help of C-arm. Postoperative computed tomography scans were obtained to assess the screw placement. The screw malposition and pedicle wall violations were divided and evaluated separately. Cortical penetration were measured and graded at either : 1-2 mm penetration, 2-4 mm penetration and >4 mm penetration. Results : Total 198 screws were inserted with two different standing positions. Of 198 screws 110 were in the classical positioning group and 88 were in the new positioning group. Incorrect screw placement was found in 33 screws (16.6%). The difference between total screw malposition by both standing positions were found to be statistically significant (p=0.011). The difference between total pedicle wall violations by both standing positions were found to be statistically significant (p=0.003). Conclusion : Right-handedness is a problem during the upper thoracic pedicle screw placement on the left side. Changing the surgeon's position standing near to patient's head could provide a much comfortable position to orient the craniocaudal plane of the thoracic pedicles.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2006

In order to analyze clinical characteristics like sex- and age-based onset frequency and onset region from vertebral disease cases, this study investigated total 1,291 cases of vertebral disease that were diagnosed via magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) from January to December 2004 at B University Hospital in metropolitan area. For higher diagnostic accuracy in cases of spinal disorder diagnosed, this study analyzed findings from data reading conducted by veteran specialists in diagnostic radiology. But this study excluded uncertain lesion cases, the cases requiring differential diagnosis from other disorders and so on from subjects under analysis. This study employed superconductive 1.5 Tesla SIGNA MR/i for MRI test and basically received resulting images via FSE(fast spin echo). In particular, this study obtained T1 and T2 myelogram with regard to regional characteristics(such as cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebra) and imaging characteristics for sagittal and transverse section. As a result, this study came to the following conclusions : 1. In terms of general characteristics of subjects under analysis, male group comprised 53.5% and female 46.5% out of total 1,291 subjects. 2. The regional onset frequency of spinal disorders was converged primarily on lumbar vertebra(65.5%), which was followed by cervical vertebrae(27.3%) and thoracic vertebrae(7.0%) respectively. 3. Top 10 cases with high onset frequency of spinal disorders can be listed as follows : 1) posterior bulging disc 65.8% 2) narrowing of neural foramen 23.8% 3) herniated intervertebral disc (HIVD) 22.4% 4) spinal stenosis 16.7% 5) osteochondrosis 6.4% 6) compression fracture 6.4% 7) facet joint arthropathy 6.2% 8) spondylolisthesis 6.0% 9) spinal cord tumor 3.5% 10) inter body fusion 2.6%

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.295-300
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• 1988

Chordoma is a malignant tumor arising from the primitive notochord involving the axial skeleton. It usually occurs at sacrococcygeal and besisphenoidal area but only rarely does at other vertebral areas, especially at the thoracic vertebrae. It has a slow growth rate and is locally aggressive with an extremely high rate of local recurrence. Either surgery or radiation alone often fails to cure the disease and the local failure is the main cause of treatment failure and death. Overall 5 year survival rate is less than $10\%$. Useful palliation or occasional cure can be obtained by the combination of surgery and radiotherapy. After incomplete resection, the tumor requires radiation dose of 7,000 cGy or more over 6-7 weeks for local control. Tumor regression is slow in response to irradiation and continuation of the regression for several months after completion of RT is not unusual. We report a case of chordoma of the thoracic vertebra, the site of extreme rarity, which showed good local control after partial resection and radiation therapy. He is well and alive without any evidence of recurrence after 13 months of treatment with near complete tumor regression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2393-2398
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the geometric accuracy of thoracic anatomic landmarks as target surrogates of intrapulmonary tumors for manual rigid registration during image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). Methods: Kilovolt cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images acquired during IGRT for 29 lung cancer patients with 33 tumors, including 16 central and 17 peripheral lesions, were analyzed. We selected the "vertebrae", "carina", and "large bronchi" as the candidate surrogates for central targets, and the "vertebrae", "carina", and "ribs" as the candidate surrogates for peripheral lesions. Three to six pairs of small identifiable markers were noted in the tumors for the planning CT and Day 1 CBCT. The accuracy of the candidate surrogates was evaluated by comparing the distances of the corresponding markers after manual rigid matching based on the "tumor" and a particular surrogate. Differences between the surrogates were assessed using 1-way analysis of variance and post hoc least-significant-difference tests. Results: For central targets, the residual errors increased in the following ascending order: "tumor", "bronchi", "carina", and "vertebrae"; there was a significant difference between "tumor" and "vertebrae" (p = 0.010). For peripheral diseases, the residual errors increased in the following ascending order: "tumor", "rib", "vertebrae", and "carina"; There was a significant difference between "tumor" and "carina" (p = 0.005). Conclusions: The "bronchi" and "carina" are the optimal surrogates for central lung targets, while "rib" and "vertebrae" are the optimal surrogates for peripheral lung targets for manual matching of online and planned tumors.