Background and Objectives: The head and neck multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach plays a crucial role in bringing together the ideas of various medical professionals. This study aimed to evaluate the early characteristics of the MDT approach for head and neck cancer and analyzed patients’ satisfaction.Subjects and Method We analyzed 450 head and neck cancer patients who received MDT care from August 2014 to June 2022. Patient satisfaction with MDT care was evaluated by selfadministered questionnaires consisting of 9 questions. Results: Of 450, 298 (66.2%) were male and 152 (33.8%) were female. The mean age was 60.8±14.7 year. The most common primary site was the larynx (17.3%), followed by the oral cavity and oropharynx. A total of 726 cases of the MDT approach were performed in 266 MDT sessions, and the mean number of patients per MDT session was 2.74. The number of medical professionals participating in MDT ranged from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 9, with a mean of 5.11. The mean running time of MDT meetings per case was 19.51 minutes. The time of the 2nd MDT was significantly shorter than that of the 1st or 3rd MDT. The mean score was close to very satisfactory in each of the 9 patient satisfaction questions. Conclusion We believe that the MDT approach is feasible and recommend its introduction for the treatment of head and neck cancer as most patients have shown very high satisfaction. Further studies on the role and efficacy of MDT care for head and neck cancer are necessary.

The Korean Bronchoesophagological Society appointed a task force to develop a clinical practice guideline for tracheostomy. The task force conducted a systematic search of the Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, and KoreaMed databases to identify relevant articles, using search terms selected according to key questions. Evidence-based recommendations for practice were ranked according to the American College of Physicians grading system. An external expert review and a Delphi questionnaire were conducted to reach a consensus regarding the recommendations. Accordingly, the committee developed 18 evidence-based recommendations, which are grouped into seven categories. These recommendations are intended to assist clinicians in performing tracheostomy and in the management of tracheostomized patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to evaluate the long-term effect of adenotonsillectomy on childhood growth by examining preoperative growth status and presenting symptoms. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: One hundred and four patients who underwent adenotonsillectomy from January to December 2009 were enrolled in this study. Clinical data were collected from medical record reviews and through the administered questionnaire. We investigated symptoms and growth changes during 5 years following the surgery. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 6.0±1.94 years (range, 3–10), with the male to female ratio of 62:42. Pre-operative symptoms were significantly improved after the surgery. The mean pre-operative height and weight percentiles were 53.6±27.4 and 59.6±29.2 at initial evaluation, and 67.1±26.4 and 59.6±28.6 at 5 years post adenotonsillectomy (p < 0.001, p=0.989), respectively. An increase in height percentile was more prominent in patients whose pre-operative height percentile was less than 50 compared to those with a percentile of 50 or more (p < 0.001). Weight percentile was significantly increased in those with the pre-operative weight percentile of less than 50 and decreased in patients with a percentile of 50 or more. CONCLUSION: Adenotonsillectomy has a positive effect on height growth in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy, especially in patients whose height percentile is less than 50. Weight gain also can be expected in preoperative low-weight children.
Adenoidectomy ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Male ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Tonsillectomy ; Weight Gain

Korean Society of Thyroid-Head and Neck Surgery appointed a Task Force to develop clinical practice guidelines for the surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer. This Task Force conducted a systematic search of the EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and KoreaMed databases to identify relevant articles, using search terms selected according to the key questions. Evidence-based recommendations were then created on the basis of these articles. An external expert review and Delphi questionnaire were applied to reach consensus regarding the recommendations. The resulting guidelines focus on the surgical treatment of laryngeal cancer with the assumption that surgery is the selected treatment modality after a multidisciplinary discussion in any context. These guidelines do not, therefore, address non-surgical treatment such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy. The committee developed 62 evidence-based recommendations in 32 categories intended to assist clinicians during management of patients with laryngeal cancer and patients with laryngeal cancer, and counselors and health policy-makers.
Advisory Committees ; Consensus ; Counseling ; Drug Therapy ; Glottis ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms* ; Neck*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is an uncommon disease that is usually found in the advanced stage becuase its anatomical location makes early detection difficult. Radiation therapy or concurrent chemoradiation therapy is mainstay for treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We evaluated clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and assessed prognostic factors related to survival. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 87 patients who were treated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma from 1994 to 2013. Clinical characteristics, pathologic type, stage, treatment modality, recurrence and survival were investigated. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 66.7 (12-232) months. Recurrence rates were not significantly different between the radiation therapy group and combined chemoradiation groups in the early stage (27.3% vs. 21.6%, p=0.644) and the advanced stage (21.4% vs. 31.3%, p=0.496). Five-year overall survival and disease free survival rate was 74.0% and 58.9%, respectively. Five-year overall survival rate of the combined chemoradiation therapy group was significantly lower than that of the radiation therapy group (64.4% vs. 94.1%, p=0.001). Distant metastasis was significantly correlated with survival in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: In this study, the five-year overall survival rate was better in the radiation therapy group than in the combined chemoradiation group. This might be related to the fact that advanced stage disease was more common in the combined chemoradiation group. Further studies with larger study samples and longer follow-up are necessary to verify these results and determine optimal modalities for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVES: The extracapsular spread (ECS) of metastatic lymph nodes is associated with aggressive tumor behavior, and is regarded as a major risk factor for local recurrence in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. However, the significance of ECS of metastatic lymph nodes has not been well established in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to examine this question. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 335 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma who underwent total thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection from April 2001 to December 2009. We analyzed various clinical characteristics, pathologic factors, and the size, number, and ECS of foci in metastatic lymph nodes. RESULTS: On pathologic review, 201 of the patients (56.6%) had lymph node metastasis. This was significantly related to age and tumor size. ECS was noted in 64 of these 201 patients (31.8%), and was significantly related to male gender, tumor size, presence of extrathyroidal extension, metastatic lymph node size, and focus size. Recurrence occurred in 13 patients (3.9%), and the presence of ECS was significantly related to recurrence. CONCLUSION: ECS of metastatic lymph nodes is an important prognostic factor for loco-regional recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Head ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes* ; Male ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyroidectomy

PURPOSE: A recent study demonstrated that exertional desaturation is a predictor of rapid decline in lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, the study was limited by its method used to detect exertional desaturation. The main purpose of this study was to explore whether exertional desaturation assessed using nadir oxygen saturation (SpO2) during the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) can predict rapid lung function decline in patients with COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 57 patients with moderate to very severe COPD who underwent the 6MWT. Exertional desaturation was defined as a nadir SpO2 of <90% during the 6MWT. Rapid decline was defined as an annual rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) > or =50 mL. Patients were divided into rapid decliner (n=26) and non-rapid decliner (n=31) groups. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference in exertional desaturation was observed between rapid decliners and non-rapid decliners (17 vs. 8, p=0.003). No differences were found between the groups for age, smoking status, BODE index, and FEV1. Multivariate analysis showed that exertional desaturation was a significant independent predictor of rapid decline in patients with COPD (relative risk, 6.8; 95% CI, 1.8 to 25.4; p=0.004). CONCLUSION: This study supports that exertional desaturation is a predictor of rapid lung function decline in male patients with COPD.
Aged ; Anoxia/diagnosis/etiology ; Exercise/*physiology ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume/physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*physiopathology ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies

Obesity, an intractable metabolic disease, currently has no medical treatment without side effects, so studies have been actively carried out to find natural compounds that have anti-obesity activity with minimum side effects. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of water extracts of seven Capsicum annuum L. varieties being Putgochu (Pca), Oyee gochu (Oca), Kwari putgochu (Kca), Green pepper (Gca), Yellow paprika (Yca), Red paprika (Rca) and Cheongyang gochu (Cca), were examined through the evaluation of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mRNA expression level in 3T3-L1 cells (mouse pre-adipocytes). After capsaicin elimination by chloroform defatting, freeze-dried powder of Cca was treated to 3T3-L1 cells and anti-obesity effects were examined by determining the LPL mRNA level using the RT-PCR method. Of the primary fractions, only proven fractions underwent secondary and tertiary refractionating to determine anti-obesity effects. From seven different Capsicum annuum L., there was a significant decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level of 50.9% in Cca treatment compared to the control group. A significant decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level was shown in primary fractions (Fr) 5 (36.2% decrease) and 6 (30.5% decrease) of the Cca water extracts. Due to the impurities checked by UPLC chromatography, Fr 5 and 6 were refractionated to determine the LPL mRNA expression level. Treatment of Fr 6-6 (35.8% decrease) and Fr 5-6 (35.3% decrease) showed a significant decrease in the LPL mRNA expression level. When analyzed using UPLC, major compounds of Fr 6-6 and Fr 5-6 were very similar. Subsequently, we refractionated Fr 6-6 and Fr 5-6 to isolate the major peak for structure elucidation. Treatment of Fr 5-6-1 (26.6% decrease) and Fr 6-6-1 (29.7% decrease) showed a significant decrease in the LPL mRNA expression level. Consequently, the fractions may have a possibility to ameliorate obesity through the decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level.
3T3-L1 Cells ; Capsaicin ; Capsicum ; Chloroform ; Chromatography ; Lipoprotein Lipase ; Lipoproteins ; Metabolic Diseases ; Obesity ; RNA, Messenger ; Water

The funding acknowledgment in this article was omitted as published.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Most secondary hyperparathyroidism is caused by chronic kidney disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of subtotal parathyroidectomy in the surgical treatment of renal hyperparathyroidism. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We studied twelve patients with renal hyperparathyroidism who underwent parathyroidectomy from Dec. 2002 to Mar. 2007. We measured the amount of serum, intact parathyroid hormone, calcium, ionized calcium, inorganic phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: Subtotal parathyroidectomy was performed in nine patients, and three enlarged parathyroid glands were removed from three patients. Hyperparathyroidism was observed in four patients (33.3%), normal parathyroid function in six patients (50.0%) and hypoparathyroidism in two patients (16.7%) at 5 years after surgery. All of three patients who had removed three enlarged parathyroid glands showed persistent hyperparathyroidism. Serum ionized calcium was normal in 10 patients and two patients showed hypocalcemia after operation. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, we conclude that subtotal parathyroidectomy may be effective in the surgical treatment of renal hyperparathyroidism. However, further studies are necessary to determine the optimal amount of remnant parathyroid tissue in subtotal parathyroidectomy to maintain normal parathyroid function postoperatively.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Calcium ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism ; Hyperparathyroidism, Secondary ; Hypocalcemia ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Parathyroid Glands ; Parathyroid Hormone ; Parathyroidectomy ; Phosphorus ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic