• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 2000

Background : Pulmonary complications following bonemarrow transplantation (BMT) are common and associated with a high mortality rate. We investigated the yield, safety, and impact of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) for diagnosis of postBMT pneumoniae. Methods : From May 1997 to April 2000, 56 FOBs were performed in 52 post BMT patients for clinical pneumoniae. BMT patients with respiratory symptoms and/or pulmonary infiltrates had a thoracic HRCT(high resolution computed tomography) and bronchoscopic examination including BAL (bronchoalveolar lavage), TBLB (transbronchial lung biopsy), PSB (protected specimen brush). Results : The characteristics of the subjects were as follows : 37 males, 15 females, mean age of 31.3 years(l7-45), 35 sibling donor allogenic BMTs, 15 nonrelated donor allogenic BMTs, and 2 autologous BMTs. Fiftynine percent of FOBs (33 FOBs, 31 patients) were diagnostic. Isolated pathogens included the following : 12 cytomegalovirus (CMV) (21.4 %), 7 pneumocystis carinii (PC) (12.5 %), 11 CMV with PC (19.6 %), 2 Mycobacaterium tuberculosis (3.6%), and 1 streptococcus (1.8%). Most of the radiographic findings were diffuse interstitial lesions. CMV pneumoniae had mainly diffuse interstitial nodular lesion, and PC pneumoniae had diffuse, interstitial ground glass opacity(GGO). When CMV was accompanied by PC, a combined pattern of nodular and GGO was present. Of the 56 cases (23.2%), 13 died of CMV pneumoniae (n=2), PCP (n=2),mixed infection with CMV and PC (n=3), underlying GVHD (n=1), underlying leukemia progression (n=1), or respiratory failure of unknown origin (n=4). There was no major complication by bronchoscopy. Only 3 cases developed minor bleeding and 1 episode temporary hypoxemia. Conclusion : Based on our findings, CMV and PC are the major causes of postBMT pneumoniae. In addition, BAL can be considered a safe and accurate procedure for the evaluation of pulmonary complications after BMT.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.965-975
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• 1996

Background : Exogenous lipoid pneumonia is caused by inhalation or aspiration of animal, vegetable or mineral oil. Most cases are ascribed to aspiration of oil in laxatives or nose drops Petroleum, another pure hydrocarbon used as a base in various medications, is occasionally involved. Especially animal oil produces severe tissue inflammatory reaction, but most patients present with only abnormal chest X-ray and no specific clinical symptoms or signs. Method: Seven patients, 3 males and 4 females, with exogenous lipoid pneumonia, who was hospitalized or referred to pulmonary division at Samsung Medical Center from December 1994 10 July 1996, were included. They hadn a history of laking shark liver oil(so-called "squalene") for varying period of time. We reviewed clinical, radioloic and pathologic findings. Result: Patients look 7 to 30 capsules of "squalene" a day for at least one month to 5 years. Six cases had chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension, or cerebrovascular accident. Respiratory symptoms of mild fever, cough and sputum were present in 3 cases and in 3 cases there was no clinical symptoms and signs but abnormal findings by chest X - ray. The major radiologic findings by simple chest X - ray and computed tomography consisted of consolidation, infiltration involving mainly right middle and both lower lobes, and ground-glass opacity. Five of six bronchoscopic examinations demonstrated both lipid droplets floating on the surface of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and Lipid-laden macrophages in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid or lung tissue. Follow-up chest X -ray showed improvement in 4 cases but no marked interval change in 3 cases after removal of exposure to "squalene". Conclusion: Shark liver oil can induce lipoid pneumonia in adults. In case of high clinical suspicion, confirmation of "squalene" use by careful history taking is required and bronchoscopy is helpful in diagnosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.210-214
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• 2008

Chemical pneumonitis is an occupational lung disease that's caused by the inhalation of chemical substances. Its severity depends on the characteristics of the substances, the exposure time and the susceptibility of the patients. Hydrogen sulfide is not only emitted naturally, but it also frequently found in industrial settings where it is either used as a reactant or it is a by-product of manufacturing or industrial processes. Inhalation of hydrogen sulfide causes various respiratory reactions from cough to acute respiratory failure, depending on the severity. Two pharmaceutical factory workers were admitted after being rescued from a waste water disposal site that contained hydrogen sulfide. In spite that they recovered their consciousness, they had excessive cough and mild dyspnea. The simple chest radiographs and high resolution computed tomography showed diffuse interstitial infiltrates, and hypoxemia was present. They were diagnosed as suffering from chemical pneumonitis caused by hydrogen sulfide. After conservative management that included oxygen therapy, their symptoms, hypoxemia and radiographic abnormalities were improved.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 1996

Using the 2-D and 3-D Hoffman brain phantom, 3-D Jaszczak phantom and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, the effects of data acquisition parameter, attenuation, noise, scatter and reconstruction algorithm on image quantitation as well as image quality were studied. For the data acquisition parameters, the images were acquired by changing the increment angle of rotation and the radius. The less increment angle of rotation resulted in superior image quality. Smaller radius from the center of rotation gave better image quality, since the resolution degraded as increasing the distance from detector to object increased. Using the flood data in Jaszczak phantom, the optimal attenuation coefficients were derived as 0.12cm$\^$-1/ for all collimators. Consequently, the all images were corrected for attenuation using the derived attenuation coefficients. It showed concave line profile without attenuation correction and flat line profile with attenuation correction in flood data obtained with jaszczak phantom. And the attenuation correction improved both image qulity and image quantitation. To study the effects of noise, the images were acquired for 1min, 2min, 5min, 10min, and 20min. The 20min image showed much better noise characteristics than 1min image indicating that increasing the counting time reduces the noise characteristics which follow the Poisson distribution. The images were also acquired using dual-energy windows, one for main photopeak and another one for scatter peak. The images were then compared with and without scatter correction. Scatter correction improved image quality so that the cold sphere and bar pattern in Jaszczak phantom were clearly visualized. Scatter correction was also applied to 3-D Hoffman brain phantom and resulted in better image quality. In conclusion, the SPECT images were significantly affected by the factors of data acquisition parameter, attenuation, noise, scatter, and reconstruction algorithm and these factors must be optimized or corrected to obtain the useful SPECT data in clinical applications.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to evaluate efficacy and feasibility of adaptive radiotherapy according to tumor volume change (TVC) in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Twenty-two lesions previously treated with SBRT were selected. SBRT was usually performed with a total dose of 48 Gy or 60 Gy in four fractions with an interval of three to four days between treatments. For evaluation of TVC, gross tumor volume (GTV) was contoured on each cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image used for image guidance. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) planning was performed in the first CBCT (CBCT1) using a baseline plan. For ART planning (ART), re-optimization was performed at $2^{nd}$, $3^{rd}$, and $4^{th}$ CBCTs (CBCT2, CBCT3, and CBCT4) using the same angle and constraint used for the baseline plan. The ART plan was compared with the non-ART plan, which generated copying of the baseline plan to other CBCTs. Average GTV volume was 10.7 cc. Average TVC was -1.5%, 7.3%, and -25.1% in CBCT2, CBCT3, and CBCT4 and the TVC after CBCT3 was significant (p<0.05). However, the nine lesions were increased GTV in CBCT2. In the ART plan, $V_{20\;Gy}$, $D_{1500\;cc}$, and $D_{1000\;cc}$ of lung were significantly decreased (p<0.05), and $V_{30\;Gy}$ and $V_{32\;Gy}$ of the chest wall were also decreased (p<0.05). While D min of planning target volume (PTV) decreased by 8.3% in the non-ART plan of CBCT2 compared with the baseline plan in lesions with increased tumor size (p=0.021), PTV coverage was not compromised in the ART plan. Based on this result, use of the ART plan may improve target coverage and OAR saving. Thus ART using CBCT should be considered in early stage NSCLC with SBRT.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.237-242
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• 2013

In the intracranial regions, an accurate delineation of the target volume has been difficult with only the CT data due to poor soft tissue contrast of CT images. Therefore, the magnetic resonance images (MRI) for the delineation of the target volumes were widely used. To calculate dose distributions with MRI-based RTP, the electron density (ED) mapping concept from the diagnostic CT images and the pseudo CT concept from the MRI were introduced. In this study, the look up table (LUT) from the fifteen patients' diagnostic brain MRI images was created to verify the feasibility of MRI-based RTP. The dose distributions from the MRI-based calculations were compared to the original CT-based calculation. One MRI set has ED information from LUT (lMRI). Another set was generated with voxel values assigned with a homogeneous density of water (wMRI). A simple plan with a single anterior 6MV one portal was applied to the CT, lMRI, and wMRI. Depending on the patient's target geometry for the 3D conformal plan, 6MV photon beams and from two to five gantry portals were used. The differences of the dose distribution and DVH between the lMRI based and CT-based plan were smaller than the wMRI-based plan. The dose difference of wMRI vs. lMRI was measured as 91 cGy vs. 57 cGy at maximum dose, 74 cGt vs. 42 cGy at mean dose, and 94 cGy vs. 53 at minimum dose. The differences of maximum dose, minimum dose, and mean dose of the wMRI-based plan were lower than the lMRI-based plan, because the air cavity was not calculated in the wMRI-based plan. These results prove the feasibility of the lMRI-based planning for brain tumor radiation therapy.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.232-238
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• 2013

Purpose : We investigated the possible added value of magnetic resonance imaging (MR) in staging of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) compared to computed tomography (CT). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 20 patients (M;F = 14:6; mean age, 53.5 yrs) who diagnosed as MPM by histology and underwent CT and MR at initial evaluation from Jan 1997 to Dec 2012. Two radiologists performed clinical staging by using CT alone or MR alone in consensus. In patients underwent surgery (n = 13), we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of CT and MR in terms of staging compared to surgical staging. In all patients, we compared clinical staging of CT only and CT with MR. Results: The diagnostic accuracy for T staging of CT only was 23.1% (3/13) and that of combined CT and MR was 38.5% (5/13), respectively. Among 13 patients underwent surgery, surgical stage was higher than combined CT and MR stage in 5 patients, but lower in 3 patients. CT only and combined CT and MR agreed in 85.0% (17/ 20). In cases of disagree (15.0%, 3/20), combined CT and MR showed higher stage than CT only. Conclusion: Combined CT and MR increases the diagnostic accuracy in staging of MPM compared to CT only and is important in determining the appropriate treatment in patients being considered for surgery.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1263-1270
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• 1997

Background : Differentiation of malignity and benignity is crucial for management of solitary pulmonary nodule(SPN). Clinical parameters such as patient's age, nodule size, smoking history, doubling time, typical calcification in X-ray and CT findings have been reported as helpful in this purpose. However, in most cases, these parameters are not conclusive. Glucose metabolism is increased in cancer tissues including lung cancer tissues. After uptake of 2-[F-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose(FDG), the glucose analogue, by cancer cell, FDG is trapped in the cell without further metabolism after phosphorylation. Thus, hypermetabolic focus in FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging suggest malignancy. We evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of FDG-PET imaging in distinguishing malignant and benign SPN. Methods : We evaluated 28 patients with SPN from Jan. 1995 to Jan. 1997. CT scan of chest and whole-body FDG-PET imaging were performed in all patients. Histologic diagnosis was confirmed by transthoracic fine needle aspiration and biopsy, bronchoscopic biopsy and open thoracotomy. Results : Of the 28 SPN's, 22 nodules were malignant and 6 nodules were benign. FDG-PET imaging diagnosed all malignant nodules correctly as positive, and diagnosed 4 of 6 benign nodules correctly as negative. One tuberculous granuloma and one aspergilloma showed hypennetabolic focus and were diagnosed falsely positve with FDG-PET imaging. In the diagnosis of SPN with FDG-PET, sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 66.7%, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92% and 100%. Conclusion : FDG-PET imaging is highly useful noninvasive diagnostic tool in distinguishing between malignant SPN and benign SPN.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.625-630
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• 2006

Background: Pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients is the result of a direct effect of tobacco smoke on the intrapulmonary vessels with the abnormal production of the mediators that control vasoconstriction, vasodilatation, and vascular cell proliferation, which ultimately lead to aberrant vascular remodeling and physiology. COPD patients are prone to the developmint of an acute and chronic thromboembolism with an elevation of the plasma procoagulant and fibrinolytic markers However, the roles of the coagulation and fibrinolysis system on the right ventricular dysfunction in COPD patients are not well defined. We examined the alteration of the coagulation and fibrinolysis system in COPD patients according to the right ventricular function measured using cardiac multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Methods: The right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) was measured using cardiac MDCT in 26 patients who were diagnosed with COPD according to the definition of the GOLD guideline. The plasma level of thrombin antithrombin (TAT) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 were measured using an enzyme linked immunoassay. Results: The plasma TAT was markedly elevated in COPD patients ($10.5{\pm}19.8{\mu}g/L$) compared with those of the control ($3.4{\pm}2.5{\mu}g/L$) (p<0.01). However, the plasma PAI-1 in COPD patients ($29.6{\pm}20.7ng/mL$) was similar to that in the controls. The plasma TAT showed a significant inverse relationship with the RVEF measured by the cardiac MDCT in COPD patients (r=-0.645, p<0.01). However, the plasma PAI-1 did not show a relationship with the RVEF (r=0.022, p=0.92). Conclusion: These results suggest that the coagulation system in COPD patients is markedly activated, and that the plasma level of TAT might be a marker of a right ventricular dysfunction in COPD patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.324-332
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the stress distribution of teeth and jaw on load by differentiating property of materials according to each layer of widely used mouthguard. Materials and methods: A Korean adult having normal cranium and mandible was selected to examine. A customized mouthguard was constructed by use of DRUFOMAT plate and DRUFOMAT-TE/-SQ of Dreve Co. according to Signature Mouthguard system. The cranium was scanned by means of computed tomography with 1mm interval. It was modeled with CANTIBio BIONIX/Body Builder program and simulated and interpreted using Alter HyperMesh program. The mouthguard was classified as follows according to the layers. (1) soft guard (Bioplast)(SG) (2) hard guard (Duran)(HG) (3) medium guard (Drufomat)(MG) (4) soft layer + hard layer (SG + HG) (5) hard layer + soft layer (HG + SG) (6) soft layer + hard layer + soft layer (SG + HG + SG) (7) hard layer + soft layer + hard layer (HG + SG + HG) The impact locations on mandible were gnathion, the center of inferior border, and the anterior edge of gonial angle. And the impact directions were oblique ($45^{\circ}$). The impact load was 800 N for 0.1 sec. The stress distribution was measured at maxillary teeth, TMJ and maxilla. The statistics were conducted using Repeated ANOVA and in case of difference, Duncan test was used as post analysis. Results: In teeth and maxilla, the mouthguard contacting soft layer of mandibular teeth presented lowest stress measure and, in contrast, in condyle, the mouthguard contacting hard layer of mandibular teeth presented lowest stress measure. Conclusion: For all impact directions, soft layer + hard layer + soft layer, the mouthguard with three layers which the hard layer is sandwiched between two soft layers, showed relatively even distribution of stress in impact.