• Journal of Chitin and Chitosan
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2018

Recently, the number of cardiovascular disease-related deaths worldwide has increased. Therefore, the importance of percutaneous cardiovascular intervention and drug-eluting stents (DES) has been highlighted. Despite the great clinical success of DES, the re-endothelialization at the site of stent implantation is retarded owing to the anti-proliferative effect from the coated drug, resulting in late thrombosis or very late restenosis. In order to solve this problem, studies have been actively carried out to excavate new drugs that promote rapid re-endothelialization. In this study, we introduced hydrophilic drug, tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDCA), that improves the proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells and promotes apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells. In addition, we utilized shellac, which is a natural resin from lac bug to coat TUDCA on the surface of the metal. When using conventional coating method including biodegradable polymers and organic solvents, phase separation between polymer and drug occurred in the coating layer that caused incomplete incorporation of drug into the polymer layer. However, when using shellac as a coating polymer, no phase separation was observed and drug was fully covered with the polymer matrix. In addition, by adjusting the composition of coating solution and modifying the hydrophilicity of the metal surface using oxygen plasma, the surface roughness decreased due to the increased affinity between coating solution and metal surface. This result provides a method of depositing a hydrophilic drug layer on the stent.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.10-15
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• 2004

Purpose: In the treatment of aortic aneurysm, endovascular stent-graft application has become an established method of treatment. To observe the outcomes of the procedure as the size change of aneurysm in relation with endoleak, a retrospective analysis was done for the consecutive cases who undertook the procedure. Materials & Method: Stent-graft was applied to the aortic aneurysm in 33 patients. The location of the aneurysm was thoracic in 11 patients and abdominal in 22 patients. CT angiographic was done for the follow-up evaluation to analyze the aneurysm size and the presence of endoleak. Results: Technical success rate was 97% (32/33). The primary success rate without endoleak was 84% (28/33). The secondary success was 90% (30/33). During the follow-up period of 3 months to 7years and 6months in 26 patients, a secondary endoleak developed in 5 cases. Post-implantation syndrome developed in 17 cases (51%). Among the 14 cases with follow-up imaging data for size, endoleak was negative in 10 cases. The aneurysm decreased in 5 cases, stable in size in 4 cases and enlarged in one case (10%).Among the 4 cases with endoleak positive, the aneurysm enlarged in two cases (50%). Conclusion: In the stent-graft application for aortic aneurysm, there is high chance of decrease of aneurysm size in those cases with endoleak negative. However, the aneurysm may increase and eventually rupture in the cases with en do leak positive. Close observation with CT angiography is necessary for the evaluation for the presence of endoleak and size change.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.139-141
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• 2015

The aetiology, incidence and management of type II endoleaks in standard infrarenal endovascular aortic aneurysm repair is well described. Far less data is available for thoracic stent grafting. We present a rare and interesting case of a type II endoleak post thoracic aortic stenting and highlight the aberrant anatomy that can cause this phenomenon in such cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.100-103
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• 2010

We report her on a rare case of a renal stent that migrated into the right ventricle in a patient with nutcracker syndrome. A 29-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital and she was suffering from flank pain. The computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrated that the left renal vein was compressed between the abdominal aorta and the superior mesenteric artery (nutcracker syndrome). A self expandable stent was placed across the left renal vein for treating her nutcracker syndrome. The next day after the procedure, the follow up chest radiograph showed that the displaced stent had migrated into the right ventricle. After percutanous endovascular stent removal had failed, the stent was ultimately removed by performing cardiac surgery. At the $6^{th}$ postoperative month, there have been no abdominal or cardiac symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.335-341
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• 2023

In this study, four algorithms (Standard, Bone, Dual volume, and Stent Follow up) were applied to the image of the aneurysm in cerebral angiography to reconstruct the image in 3D, and quantitatively evaluate Noise, SNR, and CNR based on the reconstructed image to find out the optimal algorithm. As an analysis method, Image J program, which can analyze images and calculate area and pixel values, was used for images reconstructed with four algorithms. In order to obtain Noise, SNR, and CNR, the region of interest (ROI) is measured by designating the point where the abnormal artery (aneurysm) is located and the surrounding normal artery in the image are measured, and the mean value and SD value are obtained. Background noise was set to two surrounding normal artery to increase reliability. The values of SNR and CNR were calculated based on the given formula. As a result, the noise was the lowest in the stent follow-up algorithm, and the SNR and CNR were the highest. Therefore, the stent follow-up algorithm is judged to be the most appropriate algorithm. The data of this study are expected to be useful as basic data for 3D image evaluation of the vascular and aneurysm in cerebral angiography, and it is believed that appropriate algorithm changes will serve as an opportunity to further improve image quality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2012

Micro-computed tomography (microCT) is an important tool for preclinical vascular imaging, with micron-level resolution. This non-destructive means of imaging allows for rapid collection of 2D and 3D reconstructions to visualize specimens prior to destructive analysis such as pathological analysis. Objectives. The aim of this study was to suggest a method for ex vivo, postmortem examination of stented arterial segments with microCT. And ex vivo evaluation of stents such as bare metal or drug eluting stents on in-stent restenosis (ISR) in rabbit model was performed. The bare metal stent (BMS) and drug eluting stent (DES, paclitaxel) were implanted in the left or right iliac arteries alternatively in eight New Zealand white rabbits. After 4 weeks of post-implantation, the part of iliac arteries surrounding the stent were removed carefully and processed for microCT. Prior to microCT analysis, a contrast medium was loaded to lumen of stents. All samples were subjected to an X-ray source operating at 50 kV and 200 ${\mu}A$ by using a 3D isotropic resolution. The region of interest was traced and measured by CTAN analytical software. Objects being exposed to radiation had different Hounsfield unit each other with values of approximately 1.2 at stent area, 0.12 ~ 0.17 at a contrast medium and 0 ~ 0.06 at outer area of stent. Based on above, further analyses were performed. As a result, the difference of lengths and volumes between expanded stents, which may relate to injury score in pathological analysis, was not different significantly. Moreover, ISR area of BMS was 1.6 times higher than that of DES, indicating that paclitaxel has inhibitory effect on cell proliferation and prevent infiltration of restenosis into lumen of stent. And ISR area of BMS was higher ($1.52{\pm}0.48mm^2$) than that of DES ($0.94{\pm}0.42mm^2$), indicating that paclitaxel has inhibitory effect on cell proliferation and prevent infiltration of restenosis into lumen of stent. Though it was not statistically significant, it showed that the extent of neointema of mid-region of stents was relatively higher than that of anterior and posterior region in parts of BMS as showing cross-sectional 2-D image. suggest that microCT can be utilized as an accessorial tool for pathological analysis.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2006

Coronary artery disease is a loading cause of morbidity and mortality across the world. Percutaneous coronary intervention has become the major technique of revascularization. However, restenosis remains a major limitation of this procedure. Recently the need for repeat intervention due to restenosis, the most vexing long-term failure of percutaneous coronary intervention, has been significantly reduced owing to the introduction of two major advances, intracoronary brachytherapy and the drug-eluting stents. Intracoronary brachytherapy has been employed in recent years to prevent restenosis lesions with effective results, principally in in-stent restenosis. Restenosis is generally considered as au excessive form of normal wound healing divided up in precesses: elastic recoil, neointimal hyperplasia, and negative vascular remodeling. Restenosis has previously been regarded as a proliferative process in which neointimal thickening, mediated by a cascade of inflammatory mediators and other factors, is the key factor. Ionizing radiation has been shown to decrease the proliferative response to injury in animal models of restenosis. Subsequently, several randomized, double blind trials have demonstrated that intracoronary brachytherapy can reduce the rates of both angiographic restenosis and clinical event rates in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for in stent restenosis. Some problems, such as late thrombosis and edge restenosis, have been identified as limiting factors of this technique. Brachytherapy is a promising method of preventing and treating coronary artery restenosis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.349-360
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• 2018

Autophagy has been studied as a therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular diseases. However, insufficient studies have been reported concerning the influence of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) through autophagy regulation. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of VSMCs on the regulation of autophagy under in vitro conditions similar to vascular status of the equipped micro-tubule target agent-eluting stent and increased release of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB). Cell viability and proliferation were measured using MTT and cell counting assays. Immunofluorescence using an $anti-{\alpha}-tubulin$ antibody was performed to determine microtubule dynamic formation. Cell apoptosis was measured by cleavage of caspase-3 using western blot analysis, and by nuclear fragmentation using a fluorescence assay. Autophagy activity was assessed by microtubule-associated protein light chain 3-II (LC-II) using western blot analysis. Levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured using $H_2DCFDA$. The proliferation and viability of VSMCs were inhibited by microtubule regulation. Additionally, microtubule-regulated and PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs increased the cleavage of caspase-3 more than only the microtubule-regulated condition, similar to that of LC3-II, implying autophagy. Inhibitory autophagy of microtubule-regulated and PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs resulted in low viability. However, enhancement of autophagy maintained survival through the reduction of ROS. These results suggest that the apoptosis of conditioned VSMCs is decreased by the blocking generation of ROS via the promotion of autophagy, and proliferation is also inhibited. Thus, promoting autophagy as a therapeutic target for vascular restenosis and atherosclerosis may be a good strategy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.197-211
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• 2023

Purpose To evaluate the circuit patency after nitinol bare-metal stent (BMS) placement according to the type of access and location of the stent in dysfunctional hemodialysis access. Materials and Methods Between January 2017 and December 2019, 159 patients (mean age, 64.1 ± 13.2 years) underwent nitinol BMS placement for dysfunctional access. The location of stents was as follows: 18 brachiocephalic vein, 51 cephalic arch, 40 upper arm vein, 10 juxta-anastomotic vein, 7 arteriovenous (AV) anastomosis, and 33 graft-vein (GV) anastomosis. Circuit patency was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and cox regression model. Results A total of 159 stents were successfully deployed in 103 AV fistula (AVF) and 56 AV graft (AVG). AVG showed lower primary and secondary patency at 12-months compared with AVF (primary patency; 25.0% vs. 44.7%; p = 0.005, secondary patency; 76.8% vs. 92.2%; p = 0.014). Cox regression model demonstrated poorer primary patency at 12 months after stenting in the cephalic arch and GV anastomosis compared with the other sites. Conclusion AVF showed better primary and secondary circuit patency at 12 months following the placement of BMS compared with AVG. Stents in the cephalic arch and GV anastomosis were associated with poorer primary patency at 12 months compared to those in other locations.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.4651-4655
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• 2015

The subclavian artery pseudoaneurysm in blunt trauma is uncommon and rarely occurs secondary to penetrating injury. Subclavian artery injuries represent an uncommon complication of blunt chest trauma, this structure being protected by subclavius muscle, the clavicle, the first rib, and the deep cervical fascia as well as the costo-coracoid ligament, a clavi-coraco-axillary fascia portion. Subclavian artery injury appears early after trauma, and arterial rupture may cause life-threatening hemorrhages, pseudoaneurysm formation and compression of brachial plexus. Most injuries were related to clavicle fracture, gunshot, other penetrating trauma, and complication of central line insertion. The presence of large hematomas and pulsatile palpable mass in supraclavicular region should raise the suspicion of serious vascular injury and these clinical evidences must be carefully worked out by physical examination of the upper limb. Since the first reports of endovascular treatment for traumatic vascular injuries in the 1993, an increasing number of vascular lesions have been treated this way. We report a case of subclavian artery pseudoaneurysm 10 days after blunt chest trauma due to traffic accident, treated by endovascular stent grafting.