Publications by authors named "Joong Hyun Ahn"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effectiveness of medical thoracoscopy (MT) in confirming tuberculosis (TB) pleurisy through microbiological testing, highlighting its importance in clinical diagnosis due to the low bacterial presence in such cases.
- A total of 72 patients were reviewed, revealing that sensitivities of AFB culture and TB-PCR increased significantly when using targeted pleural washing fluid and pleural tissues collected during MT compared to pre-MT pleural fluid.
- The results demonstrated a 44.4% increase in the sensitivity for microbiological confirmation of TB pleurisy with MT, emphasizing its crucial role in accurate diagnosis.
Purpose: To develop an MRI-based radiomics model to predict high-risk pathologic features for lung adenocarcinoma: micropapillary and solid pattern (MPsol), spread through air space (STAS), and poorly differentiated patterns.
Materials And Methods: As a prospective study, we screened clinical N0 lung cancer patients who were surgical candidates and had undergone both 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-CT (PET/CT) and chest CT from August 2018 to January 2020. We recruited patients meeting our proposed imaging criteria indicating high-risk, that is, poorer prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma, using CT and FDG PET/CT.
Background: To evaluate the effects of local radiotherapy (RT) on growth, we evaluated the chronological growth profiles and vertebral features of children with high-risk neuroblastoma.
Methods: Thirty-eight children who received local photon or proton beam therapy to the abdomen or retroperitoneum between January 2014 and September 2019 were included. Simple radiography of the thoracolumbar spine was performed before and every year after RT.
Background: We aimed to analyze the impact of concomitant Maze procedure on the clinical and rhythm outcomes, and echocardiographic parameters in tricuspid repair for patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and persistent atrial fibrillation (AF).
Methods: Patients who had severe TR and persistent AF and underwent tricuspid valve (TV) repair were included in the study. Both primary TR and secondary TR were included in the current study.
Article Synopsis
- Delirium is a significant concern in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU), prompting researchers to develop a predictive model for its occurrence among patients.
- The study analyzed data from 2,774 patients, using various machine learning techniques to identify key predictors, including age, heart rate, and albumin levels.
- The resulting prediction model demonstrated strong accuracy, with an AUROC of 0.861, making it a valuable tool for assessing delirium risk in CICU patients.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to understand subclinical TB and its progression to symptomatic TB by analyzing data from patients in South Korea.
- A total of 4,636 pulmonary TB patients were analyzed, finding a 37.1% prevalence of subclinical TB, which is characterized by lower rates of typical TB symptoms and microbiological indicators.
- The research concluded that factors like age, gender, and underlying health conditions significantly influence the development of TB symptoms, highlighting the importance of careful evaluation of these clinical characteristics.
Background: Poor nutrition increases disease severity and mortality in patients with tuberculosis (TB). There are gaps in our understanding of the effects of being underweight or overweight on TB in relation to sex.
Methods: We generated a nationwide TB registry database and assessed the effects of body mass index (BMI) on mortality in patients with pulmonary TB.
Background: The left atrial appendage (LAA) is the predominant site of thrombus formation in atrial fibrillation (AF), which is associated with ischemic stroke. This study comparatively evaluated the complete LAA closure rates between LAA clipping and stapled resections.
Methods: The study included 333 patients who underwent thoracoscopic operation with both preoperative and postoperative computed tomographic scans.
Article Synopsis
- Early detection of pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after total laryngectomy (TL) can prevent severe complications; this study aimed to create prediction models for identifying PCF in the early postoperative phase.
- Researchers analyzed data from 263 patients who underwent TL from 2004 to 2021, focusing on clinical indicators like fever and blood test results on specific postoperative days.
- The study found that PCF occurred in 32.7% of patients, with significant differences in fever and blood test results between those with and without fistulas, leading to improved predictive models (AUC of 0.83) that could help detect PCF early and reduce risks of severe complications.
Background: With the introduction of new anti-tuberculosis drugs, all-oral regimens with shorter treatment durations for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis have been anticipated. We aimed to investigate whether a new all-oral regimen was non-inferior to the conventional regimen including second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs for 20-24 months in the treatment of fluoroquinolone-sensitive multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
Methods: In this multicentre, randomised, open-label phase 2/3 non-inferiority trial, we enrolled men and women aged 19-85 years with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis confirmed by phenotypic or genotypic drug susceptibility tests or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis by genotypic tests at 12 participating hospitals throughout South Korea.
Objectives: This study investigated whether radiomic features extracted from radial-probe endobronchial ultrasound (radial EBUS) images can assist in decision-making for subsequent clinical management in cases with indeterminate pathologic results.
Methods: A total of 494 patients who underwent radial EBUS biopsy for lung nodules between January 2017 and December 2018 were allocated to our training set. For the validation set, 229 patients with radial EBUS biopsy results from January 2019 to April 2020 were used.
Background: The effect of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the long-term outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) remained debatable and various strategies exist for CABG; hence, clarifying the effects of DM on CABG outcomes is difficult. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of DM on clinical and graft-related outcomes after CABG with bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafts.
Methods: From January 2001 to December 2017, 3395 patients who underwent off-pump CABG (OPCAB) with BITA grafts were enrolled.
Objective: To compare digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and MRI as an adjunct to full-field digital mammography (FFDM) for the preoperative evaluation of women with breast cancer based on mammographic density.
Materials And Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 280 patients with breast cancer who had undergone FFDM, DBT, and MRI for preoperative local tumor staging. Three radiologists independently sought the index cancer and additional ipsilateral and contralateral breast cancers using either FFDM alone, DBT plus FFDM, or MRI plus FFDM.
As the burden of tuberculosis (TB) in South Korea decreases while that of malignancy increases with an aging society, the composition of etiology for pleural effusion is changing. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of adenosine deaminase (ADA) for diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) in this circumstance. Medical records of patients who underwent medical thoracoscopy from May 2015 to September 2020 in Incheon St.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Reduced exercise capacity reflects symptom severity and clinical outcomes in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The present study aimed to identify factors that may affect exercise capacity in patients with HCM.
Methods: In 294 patients with HCM and preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, we compared peak oxygen consumption (peak VO) evaluated by cardiopulmonary exercise testing as a representative parameter of exercise tolerance with clinical and laboratory data, including N-terminal pro-hormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), diastolic parameters on echocardiography, and the grade of myocardial fibrosis on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused disruptions to healthcare systems, consequently endangering tuberculosis (TB) control. We investigated delays in TB treatment among notified patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.
Methods: We systemically collected and analyzed data from the Korea TB cohort database from January to May 2020.
Background: Cryoablation is effective for not only ablating the myocardium, but also maintaining the structure of the ablated tissue. However, data comparing nitrous oxide (NO)-based and argon gas-based cryoprobes are limited.
Methods: This study was a follow-up study of a single-center, prospective, randomized controlled trial in which 60 patients were randomly allocated to either the NO group or the argon group.
Conventional methods to determine the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are limited by the unique responses to an ICI. We performed a radiomics approach for all measurable lesions to identify radiomic variables that could distinguish hyperprogressive disease (HPD) on baseline CT scans and classify a dissociated response (DR). One hundred and ninety-six patients with advanced lung cancer, treated with ICI monotherapy, who underwent at least three CT scans, were retrospectively enrolled.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation and persistent atrial fibrillation may not be good candidates for maze procedure due to preoperative atrial remodeling and various comorbidities. We attempted to evaluate the rhythm and clinical outcomes of maze procedure in these patients.
Methods: Patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation and persistent atrial fibrillation who underwent tricuspid valve surgery between January 1994 and December 2017 at a single tertiary center were analyzed.
•Proper risk assessment for COVID-19 should be implemented.•Appropriate infection prevention practices for perioperative management are important.•Hospitals should organize dedicated protocols considering its facilities and human resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In this study, we investigate the effects of low serum TB drug level on treatment outcome among TB patients with slow response in South Korea, where the prevalence of rapid acetylator is relatively high.
Methods: Among the pulmonary TB patients whose treatment outcomes were reported between 2014 and 2018 at Incheon St. Mary hospital, those who underwent TDM because of delayed culture conversion or reversion were included.
Background: Prognostic considerations for non-predominant patterns are necessary because most lung adenocarcinomas (ADCs) have a mixed histologic pattern, and the spectrum of actual prognosis varies widely even among lung ADCs with the same most predominant pattern. We aimed to identify prognostic stratification by second most predominant pattern of lung ADC and to more accurately assess prognostic factors with CT imaging analysis, particularly enhancing non-predominant but high-grade pattern.
Methods: In this prospective study, patients with early-stage lung ADC undergoing curative surgery underwent preoperative dual-energy CT (DECT) and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT.
Aims: This study aimed to investigate differences in baseline and treatment characteristics, and in-hospital mortality according to the aetiologies of cardiogenic shock in patients undergoing veno-arterial-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO).
Methods And Results: The RESCUE registry is a multicentre, observational cohort that includes 1247 patients with cardiogenic shock from 12 centres. A total of 496 patients requiring VA-ECMO were finally selected, and the study population was stratified by cardiogenic shock aetiology [ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM, n = 342) and non-ICM (NICM, n = 154)].
Background: Gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) exhibit various degrees of aggression and malignant potential. However, no systematic preoperative evaluation strategy to predict the malignancy potential of gastric GISTs has yet been developed. This study aimed to develop a reliable and easy-to-use preoperative risk-scoring model for predicting high malignancy potential (HMP) gastric GISTs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hepatic estrogen signaling, which is important in liver injury/recovery, is determined by the level of systemic estrogen and hepatic estrogen receptor. We aimed to evaluate whether females' advantage in the tolerance of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury decreases according to the age of 40 y (systemic estrogen decrease) and macrosteatosis (hepatic estrogen receptor decrease).
Methods: We included 358 living liver donors (128 female and 230 male individuals).