Oncology Professor Lee Jae-cheol won the Bronze Prize at the 15th Boryung Doctor Essay and Literature Contest hosted by Boryung Pharmaceutical. He won the prize for his essay titled “Friend” inspired by an elderly patient who had been receiving cancer treatment in a calm and composed way.

Kim Jong-hyeok, the Director of the Planning and Coordination Office, received Presidential Commendation at an award ceremony held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the national health insurance service and award ceremony to honor those who contributed to the expansion of health insurance coverage. Director Kim was given this recognition for ▲ advising various committees of the Health Insurance Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and proactively operating the consultative body comprised of directors of planning and coordination from general hospitals to facilitate the execution of the policy to expand the health insurance coverage and ▲ for introducing a pilot program in two wards for the first time for a large hospital through the integrated nursing and caregiving services and greatly contributing to the improvement of top three non-covered services and alleviation of financial burden on the general public arising from caregiving services.

Cardiology Professor Song Jae-kwan received the Hamchoon Medicine Award for his paper on “The Difference Between Clinical Patterns and Long-Term Prognosis According to Disease in Acute Aortic Syndrome” at the 2019 Hamchoon Year-End Celebration.

The experience center built for Dr. Answer, an AI-based precision medicine solution, the development of which was overseen by Asan Medical Center finally opened its doors. Dr. Answer is a service aimed at facilitating individualized disease prediction, diagnosis and treatment by linking and analyzing a wide variety of medical data.

 

At the opening ceremony, there were presentations on ▲ the status of the development and substantiation plans for Dr. Answer, ▲ measures for reviewing AI-based medical devices for approval, and ▲ field applications of the Dr. Answer software programs. There was also a demonstration of analyzing patients’ medical records based on software algorithms for early diagnosis of dementia, automatic diagnosis of coronary artery calcification, and analysis of genetic mutations causing hearing loss.

 

At the experience center, visitors can obtain information on the Dr. Answer project and take a look at the AI software programs that have been developed. The hands-on experience programs for the general public will be launched in January.

Professors Kim Tae-won, Hong Yong-sang and Kim Sun-young from the Department of Oncology conducted a study in which the intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy for rectal cancer patients was adjusted according to the extent to which cancer decreased in size after radiation and surgery and reported that it helped lower the risk of recurrence and increased the survival rate.

 

The research team analyzed the 6-year progress of 321 patients with Stage 2 or 3 rectal cancer six years after applying adjuvant chemotherapy different intensities according to the postoperative stage. The results showed that the group treated with two types of anticancer drugs had a 37% lower risk of recurrence of rectal cancer than the group that was treated with only one anticancer agent, and the 6-year survival rate was 11.4% higher. The adjuvant chemotherapy administered concomitantly with rectal cancer chemotherapy and shown to be effective in this study has been cited in the US National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network (NCCN) guidelines. In addition, it is being used at an increasing rate in the clinical setting as it is now covered by national health insurance.

 

This study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which is arguably the leading journal in the field of clinical oncology.

A team formed by Moon Dae-hyuk, Oh Seung-jun and Chae Sun-young from the Department of Nuclear Medicine has developed an 18F-FES PET diagnostic imaging technique to test for breast cancer using female hormone receptors. It involves injecting the 18F-FES reagent and examining the female hormone receptors based on a PET scan.

 

From November 2013 to November 2016, the research team compared the biopsy results and the results of the new imaging method on 85 patients diagnosed with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer at Asan Medical Center. Patients who tested positive on the 18F-FES PET test were also tested positive in the biopsy results, which confirmed the effectiveness of 18F-FES PET. The new diagnostic method takes less than 15 minutes to complete and causes no pain unlike biopsy. Recently, a Phase 3 clinical trial was completed, and item approval was obtained from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

 

The findings of this study have been published in the Lancet Oncology, a leading international journal in the field of oncology.

A team headed by professors Kim Kyu-pyo and Yoo Chang-hoon from the Department of Oncology analyzed the mutant genes in 124 cholangiocarcinoma patients (44 patients with cholangiocarcinoma outside the liver, 55 patients with cholangiocarcinoma in the liver, and 25 biliary tract caner patients) based on exome sequencing, which involves examining genetic information by analyzing the sequence of specific parts of the DNA collectively called exome. The results showed genetic mutations in 104 patients (83.8%), and it was found that 58 patients (54.8%) were eligible for the clinical trial on a new drug for targeted therapy for cholangiocarcinoma.

 

This means that once the clinical trial on the new drug for targeted therapy is finished, it will be possible to try the developed treatment on at least half of cholangiocarcinoma patients within a few years. Based on this, it is expected that research on the new drug for targeted therapy for cholangiocarcinoma will be carried out in full swing in the future.

 

This study has been published in the world-famous European Journal of Cancer.

A Comparison of Two LDL Cholesterol Targets after Ischemic Stroke, a cholesterol study in which Kim Jong-seong, Professor of Neurology, participated was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a leading journal with an impact factor (IF) of 72.258.

 

All patients were randomly assigned into two LDL-cholesterol target groups: “below 70 mg/dL” and “90-110 mg/dL.” An analysis of the cardiovascular risks such as occurrence of an ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or any other symptoms requiring urgent coronary reperfusion, or death resulting from a cardiovascular disease showed that the below 70mg/dL group was at a 22% lower risk than the 90-110 mg/dL group.

 

However, the subordinate analysis according to race did not show any statistical significance for Koreans. One of the possible reasons for this has been explained as the fact that the number of patients who participated in the study was relatively small and the follow-up observation period was short.

Infectious Diseases Professor Kim Yang-soo was awarded the Seongnyu Medal at the Infectious Disease Control Conference in recognition of his contributions to the public-private cooperation activities to prevent and contain new and variant infectious diseases.

In recognition of his efforts to improving the treatment effect for cardiac arrest patients, Emergency Medicine Professor Kim Won-young was given the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation at the 8th Acute Cardiac Arrest Symposium hosted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Professor Kang Duk-hyuk of Cardiology has published a research paper written in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), one of the world’s leading medical journals, as the first author and corresponding author. NEJM is a highly influential journal with an impact factor (IF) of 72.258.

 

NEJM published Professor Kang’s team’s paper on Early Surgery or Conservative Care for Asymptomatic Aortic Stenosis. This became the second paper of Dr. Kang to be published in NEJM, following Early Surgery versus Conventional Treatment for Infective Endocarditis in 2012.

 

In addition to being published in NEJM, this study was chosen as a world-class clinical study at the American Heart Association Scientific Session held in Philadelphia, USA and garnered the attention of medical professionals and scholars from around the world.

A team headed by Professor Ko Beom-seok of the Department of Breast Surgery tracked 944 patients (962 cases) whose frozen section examination on the tissue around the areola among those who underwent breast reconstruction after a conservative mastectomy at our hospital. The results of tracking them for 85 months, on average, showed that cancer recurred in or around the nipple and areola in 39 cases (4.1%) and the 5-year recurrence rate was 3.5%.

 

In 18 (3.1%) of the patients with cancer recurring around the areola, the distance between the location where cancer first developed and the areola was more than 1cm, and in 21 patients (5.8%), it was less than 1cm, so it turned out that there was no statistically significant difference. After breast cancer surgery, 89.3% of the patients in whom cancer recurred around the areola did not experience metastasis for 10 years, and the 10-year survival rate was 100%, indicating that the results of the treatment were good even in case of recurrence.

 

The findings of this study were published in JAMA Surgery.

A team formed by Professor Baek Jung-hwan of the Department of Radiology analyzed the status of 29 patients who had received radiofrequency (RF) therapy for recurrent thyroid cancer five to nine and a half years ago. The results showed that the tumor size had decreased by 99.5%, on average, and 42 of 46 observed tumors had disappeared.

 

In this study, 90% of all tumors were found to have been completely removed by a single radiofrequency treatment. Because it is non-invasive compared to surgery, it led to faster recovery and reduced risk of complications.

 

Although radiofrequency therapy has already been known to be effective against recurrent thyroid cancer, this study became the first to prove its excellence in relation to the outcome after 5 years. Of particular note, all patients in the study was found to have remained healthy without any complications for a long time, which confirmed the long-term safety of radiofrequency therapy.

 

The results of this long-term follow-up monitoring study were published in the European Radiology, the most recognized scientific journal in the European radiology community.

Neurosurgery Professor Jeon Sang-ryong has been elected as a standing director of the Neurotrauma Committee by the International Neurotrauma Society. As a standing director, Professor Jeon will be invited to academic seminars concerning neurotrauma to speak and maintain the position for life.

Rehabilitation Medicine Professor Choi Kyoung-ho has been elected as the Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee for the Conference of the of Asia Dysphagia Society scheduled to be held in 2012. The Asia Dysphagia Society is an organization comprised of experts in dysphagia from allover Asia including Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China that will be launched in 2021, and its first conference is set to be held in Korea.

A team headed by Chair Professor Park Seung-jung and Professor Park Duk-woo of the Department of Cardiology carried out a randomized study on a total of 800 patients, of whom 400 had taken conventional antithrombotic agents and 400 had taken a new antithrombotic drug for a year after suffering acute myocardial infarction.

The results showed that bleeding-related complications occurred in 11.7% of the patients who had taken the new drug and in 5.3% of those who had taken existing treatments during the course of a year, indicating that the risk of hemorrhaging was double for the new drug. As such, this large-scale clinical study revealed that the use of the new antithrombotic drug in doses that are in line with the international standard results in bleeding-related complications for Korean patients at double the risk of conventional antithrombotic agents. Moreover, the occurrence of life-threatening bleeding events such as cerebral hemorrhage occurred in 7.5% of the patients taking the new drug, and this was 4.1% higher compared to the existing therapeutic drugs.

The findings of this study were personally presented by Professor Park Duk-woo at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Conference in San Francisco, USA, and the paper was published in Circulation, a leading journal in the field of cardiology.

Cardiology Professor Lee Seung-ah received the Young Researcher Award at the 63rd Fall Conference of the Korean Society of Cardiology Society for her paper on “The Effect of Sarcopenia Assessed Based on CT Scan on the Prognosis of Elderly Patients Who Received Aortic Valve Surgery.”

Infectious Diseases Professor Woo Jun-hee has been elected as the new President of the Korean Association of Internal Medicine at the 70th Korean Association of Internal Medicine Fall Conference. His term in office will last until October 2020.

OB/GYN Professor Won Hye-sung has been elected as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the World Congress on Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology set to be held in Seoul in 2021. Professor Won, in recognition of her contributions to the advancement of the use of ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology with her relentless research, has been tasked with the responsibility to lead the organizing committee of the congress.

The first clinical trial on a robot designed to assist in cardiovascular intervention procedures developed by the team led by Professor Kim Young-hak of the Department of Cardiology for a project initiated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare was successfully carried out. The team reported that the robot was applied in treating two coronary artery disease patients and the induction wire was accurately moved to the procedure site by the surgeon by remote control.

 

The robot developed to assist in cardiovascular procedure by our hospital is capable of precisely maneuvering the catheter and reducing the variations in the success rate across surgeons by displaying the moving distance and direction of the catheter in real time. Furthermore, radiation exposure can be greatly reduced, as the surgeon can sit on the master device away from the patient and remotely operate the treatment tool on the patient.

There are currently no effective treatments for serious cases of arthritis affecting the jaw. Anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed only to mitigate inflammation, which causes irrevocable damage to cartilages. While artificial joint replacement is a possibility, it is rarely performed as it is a highly complex procedure.

 

A team led by Professor Lee Bu-kyu of the Department of Dentistry conducted a 4-week observational study on a total of fifty jaw joints of twenty-five rabbits in which arthritis of the jaws was induced. The rabbits were divided into a group administered human umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells, a group that was not administered any treatment, and a group that was administered dexamethasone, a steroid used as an anti-inflammatory agent.

 

The results showed that the dexamethasone-treated group had cartilage tissue that was worn on the surface, whereas the tissue surface of the group injected with human umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells was clean, indicating the stem cells had a cartilage regeneration effect. Also, micro computed tomography showed that the human umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells injection group had jaw joints that were not significantly different from a normal jaw joint, while lesions still remained in the other groups.

 

The findings of this study have been published in Scientific Report, a sister journal of Nature.

Professor Jang Se-jin’s team from the Department of Pathology has established an organoid (organ-like) culture technology for culturing lung cancer cells of patients that retain their individual characteristics and proven that this technology was very useful as a cancer model in preclinical trials for validating drug efficacy in the development of anticancer drugs.

 

A cancer organoid is a cancer model allowing manifestation of the patient’s tissue characteristics in vitro, and it is a cancer tissue analog obtained by collecting a small amount of cancer tissue from the patient and culturing it in a three-dimensional structure similar to an in vivo substrate. The cultured lung cancer tissues from patients can be stored for a long time in a live state, and it is possible to perform test treatments on them in vitro as the patient’s cancer avatar, so to speak,  with various anti-cancer drugs in order to select the optimal anti-cancer drugs for the patient.

 

This study has been published in Nature Communications, a sister journal of the world-renowned scientific journal, Nature.

A patient who had come all the way from Chile to receive a two-to-one living doctor liver transplantation at our hospital has conveyed his thanks to the transplantation team.

 

The patient in question was diagnosed with cirrhosis and liver cancer at the end of last year. The portal vein had become completely obstructed due to a thrombus, and liver cancer had already invaded the biliary tract. The only way for the patient to regain his health was through a two-to-one living donor liver transplant. An Ecuador-born liver transplant surgeon in Chile, who had undergone two liver transplant training sessions at our hospital, recommended Asan Medical Center to the patient, explaining that AMC accounts for more than 95% of all two-to-one living donor liver transplantations performed worldwide and has performed more than 500 such procedures.

 

The AMC staff successfully completed the difficult operation, and thanks to the scrupulous care provided during the recovery process, the patient was able to return home in just six months.

For the 7th year in a row, Asan Medical Center ranked No. 1 among the general hospitals in the Customer Satisfaction Survey of the Korea Industry conducted by the Korea Management Association Consultants (KMAC). The overall satisfaction score of our hospital this year was 79.1 points, with the highest ratings recorded in the following categories: ▲ trust in the medical staff, ▲ level of interest and service from the medical staff, and ▲ guidance on hospital facilities. AMC also recorded the highest score in the willingness to revisit the hospital.

 

An official of the KMAC said, “The results of this survey showed that the respondents’ willingness to revisit Asan Medical Center was much higher than other hospitals, which showed that those who have experienced the services at AMC were satisfied and gave their trust. It appears that the patient-centered policy that AMC has been pursuing since its opening has captivated the hearts of its users.”

A recent study on applying a customized surgical guide model for breast cancer made with a 3D printer to actual surgery has recently been published. Customized surgical guide model for breast cancer, which has been developed by our hospital staff and applied since late 2015, is created with a 3D printer based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The shape of the 3D model varies from patient to patient, and during surgery, it is placed on the patient's breast to accurately locate the surgical site.

 

The 3D surgical guide model was applied to 5 patients who had received advanced chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer by a multidisciplinary medical team of doctors from the departments of including Breast Surgery, Convergence Medicine, Radiology, Oncology and Pathology among others. As a result, clean removal of the cancer was confirmed by the frozen section pathology lab. The average distance from the tumor to the site of resection was 1.2 cm, on average, and no recurrence or adverse effects were reported during the 45-month follow-up monitoring process.

 

This study has been published in an international journal called Scientific Report.

A team led by Professor Jeon Sang-beom of the Department of Neurology carried out a study comparing the average hospitalization period, satisfaction with the medical services, mortality, cost borne by patients and other factors for 995 patients who had been hospitalized when the Neurological Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was still an open-type unit and 1,204 patients who were hospitalized after its transition into a closed type unit in March 2013.

 

The results showed that following the change, the average hospitalization period decreased by 1 day, while the level of satisfaction with the medical services among patients and their legal representatives (caregivers) climbed 15%. The total death rate over the three years declined by 2.3%, and the medical cost borne by individual patients also dropped. What is particularly notable is that the effectiveness of treatment was improved, which in turn resulted in shorter stays in the hospital, and this led to a 21% increase in the total number of patients admitted to the ICU. This implies that critical emergency patients coming to our hospital will likely receive proper treatment and care in a timely manner.

 

This study was published in an international journal titled the Journal of the Korean Neurological Association.

OB/GYN Professor Lee Pil-rynag was elected as the Chairman of the Board of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the 105th Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology Winter Conference. He will serve for two years starting on September 22.

Cardiology Professor Kim Jae-joong was awarded the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation at the 2nd Life Sharing Week Commemorative Ceremony hosted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention affiliated with the Minister of Health and Welfare.  Professor Kim was given this honor in recognition of his contributions to improving public health by promoting organ donation.

Professor Song Woo-jung of the Department of Allergy participated in the revision of the European Respiratory Society (ERS)’s Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Cough. This is significant considering that the guidelines will be applied to the treatment of chronic cough in Europe and around the world.

 

The guidelines have undergone extensive changes compared to the 2004 guidelines in that chronic cough is viewed and approached as an independent medical condition on its own, rather than as a symptom of other diseases. The key content of the guidelines include ▲ the definition and epidemiology of chronic cough, ▲ clinical manifestation of chronic cough, ▲ cough evaluation and diagnostic test tools in the treatment room, ▲ empirical therapy for chronic cough, ▲ drugs to control coughs and non-drug therapy methods and so on.

 

The newly revised ERS Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Cough have been published in the European Respiratory Journal.

A team led by Professor Sung Kyung-rim of the Department of Ophthalmology recently reported a finding that an analysis of the optic nerves and microvascular condition in the eye can lead to a more accurate diagnosis of glaucoma in an international journal published by the Korean Ophthalmology Society.

 

In the study, Professor Sung’s team compared the diagnostic results of performing either optical coherence tomography (OCT) or optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) or both on 244 patients.

 

It was found that normal findings from OCT alone were associated with an 86.7% chance that the patient did not have glaucoma and abnormal findings were associated with 67.5% chance that the patient did have glaucoma. Also, when OCTA was performed alone, sensitivity was 74.3% and specificity was 87%. However, performing OCT and OCTA in combination, the chance that the normal findings were accurate increased to 90.3% and it increased to 92.4% for abnormal findings.

Family Medicine Professor Sun Woo-sung has been elected as the 16th Chairman of the Board of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine. He will serve for two years starting in December 2021.

Radiation Oncology Professor Cho Byoung-chul was elected as the 15th President of the Korean Society of Medical Physics at the General Assembly. His term in office will last for two years starting in January 2020.

Oncology Professor Jeong Jae-ho was honored with the Merit Award from the European Society for Medical Oncology for his study titled “A randomized Phase II study of letrozole plus ovarian suppression versus letrozole plus everolimus for tamoxifen and hormone receptor positive premenopausal women with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.”

Radiology Professor Choi Sang-hyun received the KSR-Research Impact Award at the Conference of the Korean Society of Radiology. Professor Choi was given this award for his outstanding influence, assessed based on the impact factor of the papers he has published in domestic and foreign journals in the past 3 years.

Asan Medical Center (AMC) was selected as the supervising research institute for the Korea-British research project at the Multi-Omics-based Precision Medicine Technology Development Project Contest hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT. AMC will also undertake research projects have concerning cancer and intractable diseases.

 

A multi-institutional study will be conducted based on an asthma cohort led by Professor Kim Tae-bum of the Department of Allergy, with the aim of discovering multi-omics markers for prediction of treatment responsiveness to neo-biological agents, as therapeutic agents for severe asthma. Other objectives include ▲ developing algorithms for applying precision medicine in treating asthma, ▲ re-creating new drugs, ▲ producing patents, and ▲ obtaining the New Health Technology certifications.

 

Researchers from AMC will also be involved in the research projects on cancer and intractable diseases.

Medical professionals from Asan Medical Center volunteering at the Luang Prabang Provincial Hospital in Laos helped treat 12 emergency patients among the Chinese tourists who were involved in a bus accident.

 

While returning home after work at around 9 p.m., the medical volunteers heard the news of a group tour bus falling off a bridge, and they immediately headed back to the hospital to provide emergency medical support. The medical staff treated 11 emergency patients suffering from contusion, laceration and bruising among other injuries and performed surgery on one of the patients suffering from intra-abdominal bleeding.

 

A total of 27 medical volunteers dispatched to Laos carried out treated a total of 2,240 patients: ▲ 150 cardiology cases, ▲ 324 respiratory cases, ▲ 311 pediatric cases, ▲ 287 general surgery cases, ▲ 286 otorhinolaryngology cases, ▲ 524 ophthalmology cases, ▲ 358 pain clinic cases. In addition, they ran ▲ 238 blood tests, ▲ 43 urine tests, ▲ 24 electrocardiograms, ▲ 110 ultrasound exams, and ▲ 140 X-ray scans.

Endocrinology Professor Kim Won-bae received the Nagata-Fujifilm Prize at the 13th Congress of the Asia and Oceania Thyroid Association for his contributions to the advancement of thyroidology. He gave a lecture on the topic of "Clinical Needs Not Yet Met in Thyroid Cancer” and received a great response from the attendees.

A contribution by Emergency Medicine Professor Kim Won-young has been published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). NEJM is a world-class journal with the highest impact factor (IM) in the field of medicine.

 

Dr. Kim presented his opinions in regard to the paper titled Coronary Angiography after Cardiac Arrest without ST-Segment Elevation by Professor Lemkes from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, pointing out the need to screen patients who need the procedure before proceeding with coronary angiography in the event that ST-segment elevation does not occur in the early electrocardiogram of patient in whom spontaneous circulation occurred after a cardiac arrest.

Gastroenterology Professor Lee Sang-soo was recently chosen as an academic member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, a leading authority in the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy. Out of more than 15,000 members, some 300 are fellows, and Lee became the second Korean member to be listed as a fellow.

 

Professor Lee is recognized by the academic circles to have presented a new treatment guideline for endoscopic ultrasound by becoming the world’s first to achieve excellent therapeutic results by using endoscopic ultrasound on acute cholecystitis.

Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Professor Im Ho-joon received the Academic Prize from the Korean Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation in recognition of his contributions to the research and academic advancement of blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) at the Congress of Asia Pacific Blood and. Marrow Transplantation Group and the International Congress of BMT.

A team headed by professors Won Hye-sung and Lee Mi-young at the Fetal Treatment Center recorded 200 cases of in-utero endoscopic treatment for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. This is an especially meaningful record, as the rate of twin pregnancies has been on the rise as of late.

 

Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is a complication occurring in around 10 to 15% of identical twin pregnancies. It refers to an intrauterine blood transfusion from one twin (donor) to another (recipient) via the blood vessels shared between them in the placenta. This results in poor growth and oligohydramnios in the donor and polyhydramnios and heart failure in the recipient. Without proper treatment, the likelihood that both twins will die, and this is why it is known as the deadliest complication in twin pregnancies.

 

Endoscopic fetoscopy performed in these cases involves inserting a fetoscope into the mother’s uterus and blocking the blood flow between the two fetuses by performing laser ablation on the placental vessels. Then, excess amniotic fluid is removed from the fetus displaying symptoms of polyhydramnios to improve the condition of both fetuses.

A symposium was held to commemorate the 100th lung transplant performed at Asan Medical Center. At the symposium, presentations were given on ▲ care for lung transplant recipients, ▲ post-lung transport rehabilitation, ▲ donor selection and management, ▲ pre- and post-op infection control, and ▲ the most general indications for pediatric lung transplants. Experts on lung transplantation were invited to the event as speakers to share the current situations concerning lung transplants in East Asia and discuss the possible direction of advancement.

 

110 lung transplants have been carried out at our hospital thus far, and it is noteworthy that the number of lung transplant cases has surged in recent years.

 

With the first-ever living donor lung transplant carried out successfully in Korea in October 2017, a resolution was reached on amending the Enforcement Decree of the Internal Organs, etc. Transplant Act. 

The Upper Gastrointestinal Team of the Gastroenterology Department at Asan Medical Center introduced therapeutic endoscopy for removal of stomach tumors, especially stomach cancer, in 1995 and recently recorded its 20,000th case of such treatment.

Around 50% of the cases concerned treatment of stomach cancer in its early stages, which translates to more than 10,000 early-stage stomach cancer patients. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), a common type of endoscopic procedure carried out for this purpose, involves separating the cancerous lesion from the tissue below for excision, without having to remove the stomach, partially or completely. It does not require general anesthesia, meaning that it can be applied to elderly patients and patients with a serious disease. Patients can be discharged in just three to four days after the procedure, so it is considered a relatively more convenient and less worrisome for patients compared to an open resection.

After adopting therapeutic endoscopy for stomach tumor in 1995, the Upper Gastrointestinal Team performed 21 procedures in the same year, ▲ 543 procedures in 2005, ▲ 1,241 procedures in 2010, ▲ 1,707 procedures in 2015, and ▲ 1,845 procedures in 2018, thereby building the largest database of therapeutic endoscopy for stomach tumor in Korea and the entire world.

Gastroenterology Professor Choi Jong-gi was honored with the title of “Scholar of the Future” by LG Chem in recognition of his outstanding research achievements attested by multiple publications in SCI journals.

Asan Medical Center ranked No. 1 among domestic hospitals in a survey conducted on the world’s top 100 hospitals in the year 2019 by Newsweek, an American weekly news magazine. This is a meaningful achievement in that it attests to the fact that our hospital, which has been chosen as the most respected hospital in Korea for 13 years in a row in recognition of its excellence, is now globally acknowledged as the best hospital in Korea.

 

The most important aspect taken into consideration during evaluation were expert opinions, followed by medical performance indicators such as quality of treatment, sanitation, patient safety and ratio of patients to medical personnel that accounted for 30% of the total score, while patient experience, which was scored based on the satisfaction level of inpatients and their willingness to recommend the hospital to others, accounted for 15%.

 

Our hospital scored 93.1 points and was ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Korea. Ranking 17th in the world, Asan Medical Center was ranked higher than the No. 1 hospitals in the U.K., France, Switzerland, Canada and Australia among others. While we should steer clear of making simple comparisons, this is a meaningful result considering that it is we are on par with internationally renowned hospitals located in medically advanced nations.

Dr. Answer, Korea’s first precision medicine solution developed based on artificial intelligence (AI) with Asan Medical Center spearheading the project, has officially started being applied in clinical settings.

 

Dr. Answer is a service aimed at facilitating individualized disease prediction, diagnosis and treatment by linking and analyzing a wide variety of medical data. The clinical trial protocol concerning the software for diagnosing cerebral aneurysm lesion was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of Korea in January 2019, and the dementia diagnosis software, among the Dr. Answer software products, was certified as Medical Imaging Analysis Device Software Class II by the MFDS in June.

 

There are eight Dr. Answer software programs that are being applied clinically, and they concern cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, dementia and rare genetic diseases affecting children. Of these, a total of 6 software programs will be used clinically at our hospital, and they are software for ▲ coronary artery calcification score assessment, ▲ brain hemorrhage diagnosis, ▲ cerebral aneurysm diagnosis, ▲ prediction of recurrence of cardiovascular disease, ▲ analysis of genetic mutations causing a developmental disorder, and ▲ analysis of genetic mutations causing hearing loss.

A premature baby with low birthweight (900g) was returned to his parents’ arms after recovering from congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The baby was found to weigh 1,530g in 40 days after birth and was able to receive surgical treatment from Prof. Namkoong Jung-man of Pediatric Surgery to close the hole in the diaphragm.
According to a report from the American Pediatric Society (APS), the smallest premature baby who survived a case of congenital diaphragmatic hernia weighed 960g, and the patient treated at AMC weighed 900g, which was 60g less, and survived the difficult surgery.

Professor Jeon, Ju-hong of Dentistry received the Ministry of Health and Welfare Commendation on the Oral Health Day in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of public oral health and his dedication to the improvement of oral health programs.

Professor Kim, Jeong-seok of Gastroenterology was awarded at an international conference for his presentation titled “Efficacy and Safety of Vedolizumab Induction Therapy in Korean Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease After Failure of Anti-TNF Treatment: Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study.”

Professor Park Sook-ryun of the Department of Oncology will be taking part in the national project called the Establishment of AI New Drug Development Platform, which will be jointly supervised by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. With the aim of establishing a smart drug monitoring system based on an open-type artificial intelligence system, the project will be carried out over the course of three years until 2021, with KRW 3,875 million (approx. USD 3.2 million) in research funding.

The Asan Academy Symposium was held under the theme of “Human-Centered Education in Super-Connected Society.” At the symposium organized to discuss the matters related to human-centered education in an advanced information society, there were around 1,000 attendees including medical professionals, hospital administrators and experts from various other fields from all over the world who came to share their expertise and opinions and check the current status of the related education system.

The Asan Foundation held a symposium under the theme of “The Era of Low Fertility and Population Aging and Korean-Style Social Welfare.”
The symposium kicked off with a keynote speech on the topic of low fertility and population aging as well as a sustainable welfare model for Korea. The main program was divided into two parts: 1) The Housing Policy for the Era of Low Fertility and Population Aging and the Community Welfare and 2) Psychological Issues Concerning Low Fertility and the Role of Society.
The Asan Foundation, which is celebrating the 42nd anniversary of its establishment this year, has been holding a symposium annually since 1979.

Professor Kim, Ji-wan of Orthopedic Surgery won the Excellent Presentation Award for his presentation titled “Surgical Method for Acetabular Fracture” at the A0 Trauma Asia-Pacific International Conference hosted by Arbeitsgemeinshaft fur Osteosynthesefragen (AO).

The paper (primary author: Prof. Byong Duk Ye of Division of Gastroenterology) presenting the findings of a clinical study carried out to verify the safety and efficacy of Remsima (TNF-α blocker), the world’s first antibody biosimilar medicine, has been published in the Lancet, a world-renowned general medical journal.
The significance of this study is that it became the first to present highly reliable basis for the extrapolation of indications on biosimilars.

The Asan Medical Center has been chosen for the project to develop a medical data integration platform supervised by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The project is titled “Sophistication of the Bio Health Data Integration Platform Based on the Common Data Model and Development of Validation Technology,” and AMC will receive a total of KRW 3 billion (USD 2.5 million) to carry out the project until 2022. The principal researcher for the project has been designated as Professor Oh Ji-seon of the Department of Biomedical Informatics.

Professor Yoon, Sang Min from the Department of Radiation Oncology received an award for recording the most citations in the academic journal of the Korean Society for Radiation Oncology (KOSPRO) at its Spring Conference. He also received the Excellent Presentation Award for his presentation titled “Randomized Clinical Study for Comparison of Combined Therapy of Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization and Radiation Therapy with Sorafenib Treatment in Hepatocellular Carcinoma invading Major Blood Vessels of the Liver” at the Spring Conference.

Professor Kyung-Hyun Do from the Department of Radiology has been chosen as a drug critic by UIhak Sinmun (Medical Newspaper). To commemorate the anniversary of their establishment each year, the newspaper selects “drug critics” among opinion leaders who have shared information from the fields of medicine or pharmacy with excellent expertise and communication skills.

Professor Park, Sook-ryun of the Department of Oncology received the Academic Research Funding Award for the research project titled “Phase 2, Open-label Randomized Clinical Trial on the Comparison of the Safety and Efficacy of Direct-Acting Oral Anticoagulant and Subcutaneous Dalteparin as Therapeutic Agents for Thromboembolism in Patients with Progressive Upper Gastrointestinal Tract, Liver, Biliary, and Pancreatic Malignancies” at the Spring Conference of the Korean Society of Medical Oncology.

A team formed by Prof. Chung Cheol-hyun of Thoracic Surgery, Prof. Lee Eun-ho and Clinical Instructor Nam Jae-sik of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, and Prof. Jeon Sang-beom examined the prevalence of brain aneurysm and the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage within a month after surgery based on pre-operative brain MRI scans of 4,864 patients who had received heart surgery at AMC. The results showed that while brain aneurysm was found in around 7% of the heart surgery patients, subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting from ruptured aneurysm within one month after the operation occurred only in 0.29% of the patients. This is comparable to the probability of rupture occurring naturally in low-risk brain aneurysm patients.
Their paper has recently been published in Brain, a world-renowned journal in the field of neurology, and it was featured on the cover.

Professor Yoo, Bin from the Department of Rheumatology was appointed as the 27th President of the Korean College of Rheumatology at its Spring Conference and General Assembly. Prof. Yoo has previously served as the General Affairs Director, Auditor, Academic Director and Education and Training Director of the Korean College of Rheumatology. At AMC, he has served as the Director for Performance Improvement and the Chief of Internal Medicine. He will serve a year in office starting on May 20.

Professors Shin, Won-Jung and Song, In-Kyung from the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine were honored with the Excellent Abstract Award for their paper titled “Changes in Brain Waves of Children Receiving Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease” at the 27th Conference of the Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists.
Meanwhile, Choi, Byung-moon, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, was given an award for his paper on “Assessment of Memory Formation Using Dissociation Procedure in Patients Under General Anesthesia b Varying the Depth of Sleep” at the Spring Conference of the Korean Society of Anesthetic Pharmacology.

Professors Im Ho-joon, Kyung-Nam koh and Kim Hye-ry from Pediatric Hematology and Oncology performed hematopoietic stem cell transplantations in which the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is only half-matched on pediatric patients with serious cases of aplastic anemia. They recorded a success rate of around 93%, indicating that its effectiveness was equivalent to that of fully matched donor transplants.
Based on an analysis of 67 pediatric patients with severe cases of aplastic anemia who had received a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at AMC, it was found that 35 patients who received transplantation from a fully matched sibling or an unrelated donor had a 5-year survival rate of 92.9% and 95.2%, respectively, while 32 patients who received transplantation from a half-matched parent or sibling had a 5-year survival rate of 93.0%.
Their paper has been published in the world-renowned journal, Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

A team headed by Professor Namkug Kim from the Department of Convergence Medicine and Professor Go Heoun-jeong from the Department of Pathology presented the findings of their study on using an artificial intelligence (AI) system for a fast and accurate assessment of ejection after a kidney transplant.
The research team created 200 dyed slides of kidney tissues obtained from patients who had had kidney transplantations at AMC and had the AI system learn the slides. They also verified the effectiveness of the AI system by using 180 additional kidney tissue slides.Based on a comparison with the assessments made by a medical pathologist, the AI system was found to be able to make a diagnosis within 13 minutes with 90% accuracy. 
Their paper has been published in Scientific Report, an international academic journal with an impact factor of 4.122.

The Cardiovascular Summit-TCTAP, launched at the Asan Medical Center in 1995, was held for the 24th time this year. Attracting around 4,000 experts in cardiology and related medical fields from some 50 countries each year, the Cardiovascular Summit-TCTAP has emerged as one of the leading international medical conferences in the Asia-Pacific region. This year, more than 4,000 specialists from 40 different countries attended the event to share their knowledge and experience concerning cardiovascular interventions.
A lecture was also held for the general public, with cardiologists Kim Jae-joong, Song Jae-kwan and Han Ki-hoon and thoracic surgeon Chung Cheol-hyun giving lectures under the theme of “Healthy Heart, Healthy Life.” The professors provided the audience with useful information on what they can do every day in order to keep their hearts healthy.

According to the recent national cancer registration statistics reported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, around 220,000 new cancer patients are registered in Korea each year, while the latest annual report from the AMC Cancer Institute shows that the number of patients registered at AMC was 29,222 in 2016, 30,063 in 2017, and 31,435 in 2018. Based on these statistics, it can be said that one out of every seven cancer patients in Korea is seeking treatment at AMC.
The total number of patients receiving treatment at AMC in 2018 was 963,856, with a total of 882,630 outpatients and 81,226 patients. This was an increase from 906,985 patients in 2016 and 917,679 patients in 2017. AMC also recorded 19,748 cases of cancer surgery, 179,253 cases of chemotherapy, and 106,181 cases of radiation therapy in 2018.
As for the multidisciplinary treatment services, a total of 31 sessions are in operation, with four additional sessions: Inherited Colorectal Cancer Clinic, Urological Cancer, Thoracic Sarcomas, and Hereditary Tumor. Last year alone, there were 4,628 cases in which a multidisciplinary approach was taken. Also, the next-generation sequencing (NGS) was carried out 1,810 times, which was more than double the number of cases (819) in 2017.

The University of Ulsan College of Medicine has been found to have the highest research competitiveness in the country. The Medical Library found that the faculty of the University of Ulsan College of Medicine has published 46 papers in scientific journals with an impact factor (IF) of 15 or greater in the past 3 years, which is the greatest number among all medical faculties across the county.
The impact factor is an index that provides information on the relative importance of an academic journal, as it is calculated based on the average number of citations to the articles published in the journal in recent years.

Professors Sung Wook Hwang and Kim, Jeong-seok of Gastroenterology were honored with awards at the international conference of the Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases. Professor Hwang was given the Excellent Poster Award (“A Study of the Prevention of Enteritis from High Dietary Fiber by Regulation of Microbiome and Fat Metabolism”), while Professor Kim received the Excellent Researcher Award (“Efficacy and Safety of Vedolizumab in Korean Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease After Failure of Anti-TNF Treatment”).

Professor Park, Jeong-yeol from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was honored with the Sinpunghowol Academic Award for the presentation of his paper titled “A Comparison of Laparotomy and Radical Abdominal Hysterectomy with Minimal Intraperitoneal Tumor Exposure in Early Cervical Cancer” at the 34th Conference of the Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology.

Professors Jung, Hwoon-yong and Kim, Do-hoon from the Department of Gastroenterology won an academic award for their presentation titled “10-Year Treatment Experience in Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection for Superficial Esophageal Cancer” at the Spring Conference of the Korean Association of Internal Medicine.

Professor Ho-Young Song from the Department of Radiology was chosen as an honorary member at the Japan Radiology Congress. in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of patient care as well as his creative research. Professor Song was chosen as an honorary member by the European Society of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America in 2009, the Chinese Society of Interventional Radiology in 2010, and the British Society of Interventional Radiology in 2017.

Professor Ji Eun Park of the Department of Radiology was honored with an academic award at the Academic Conference of the Korean Society for Neuro-Oncology for her paper titled, “A Study of Diffusion and Perfusion Weighted Imaging Radiomics for Improved Diagnosis of False Progression of Glioblastomas.”

The AMC Health Screening and Promotion Center has been named Korea’s No. 1 brand in the category of health screening and promotion centers in the Korea Brand Power Index (K-BPI) for second year in a row. K-BPI is a brand management model developed by the Korea Management Association Consulting (KMAC) in 1998 for the purpose of measuring brand value based on brand awareness and loyalty among other factors.
A representative of KMAC stated, “The AMC Health Screening and Promotion Center received an overwhelmingly high score in brand loyalty compared with other hospitals. We believe it is the result of gaining customer trust by providing tailored services.”

Kazakhstan’s first-ever 2:1 living-donor liver transplantation was performed by the Liver Transplantation Team from the Asan Medical Center in Seoul. The patient suffering from cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B received a part of the liver from his nephew.
The transplantation proceeded at the request from Kazakhstani medical professionals who attended the international symposium held in commemoration of completing 5,000 living-donor liver transplantations at AMC last year.
AMC has been achieving continuous medical advancement since receiving assistance from medical institutions and professionals from advanced nations in the 1960s, and based on its experience, it is carrying out the Asan in Asia Project, through which it seeks to help Asian countries with poor healthcare environments to gain self-reliance in healthcare by sharing its healthcare technologies and know-how.

The team led by Professor Kang Duk-hyun from the Division of Cardiology announced that prescribing a new drug for patients suffering from mitral regurgitation in association with chronic heart failure for a year has led to the enlarged heart to become reduced in size, thereby resulting in improved valve operation and reduced regurgitation.
Their study, which presents notable findings for treating valve-related complications from heart failure for which there had previously been no effective treatment, has been published in the latest edition of Circulation, one of the most prestigious scientific journals on cardiology. The paper has been garnering worldwide attention as the editor of the journal recommended that the new drug mentioned in the paper be used as a standard drug to treat chronic heart failure.

Honored with awards at the 12th Asan Award in Medicine were ▲ Kim, V. Narry, the Chair Professor of Seoul National University Department of Biological Sciences (Basic Medicine Award), ▲ Kim, Jong Sung, Professor of Neurological Sciences at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine (Clinical Medicine Award), and ▲ Han, Buhm, Professor of Medical Sciences at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Lee, Eun Ji, Professor of Ophthalmology at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (Young Doctor Award).
The Asan Foundation increased the Asan Medical Development Fund created in 2011 for the purpose of further advancing medical sciences in Korea to around KRW 40 billion (approx. USD 33 million) in 2017 in order to recognize excellent medical scientists through the Asan Award in Medicine and support the research activities of the award winners.

Professors Kyung-Nam koh and Kim, Hye-ry of Pediatric Hematology were honored with awards at the 2019 International Symposium of the Korean Society of Hematology.
Prof. Koh was given the Excellent Poster Award (“An Analysis of Genetic Alterations in Patients with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and Their Clinical Significance”), while Prof. Kim won the Excellent Presentation Award (“An Analysis of NUDT15 and TPMT Genotype Distribution in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Koreans and Clinical Impact”).

Professor Jun Hyuk Hong of the Department of Urology was appointed as the President of the Korean Prostate Society at the 28th Regular Conference and General Assembly held at the Maria Hall of the Catholic University of Korea Songeui Campus. Professor Hong has previously served as the PR Director, General Affairs Director, Education Director, Academic Director and Vice President of the Korean Prostate Society. At AMC, he is the Director of the Prostate Center, Director of the Robotic Surgery Center, and Director for Physician Education and Training. His presidency will last for two years starting on March 9.

Professor Lee, Hyun-jo from the Department of Neurology was honored with an award for the presentation titled “The Utility of Quantitative Pupil Response Assessment in Patients with Decreased Level of Consciousness in the Hospital” at the 23rd Spring Conference hosted by the Korean Society of Clinical Neurophysiology. 

Professor Kim, Jong Sung from the Department of Neurology received an award at the 12th Asan Award in Medicine. He was recognized for his accomplishments in relation to the classification of characteristics of cerebrovascular diseases in Korean stroke patients and impairments of emotional regulation occurring after a stroke as well as the development of effective treatment methods.

Professor Lim Young-suk of the Department of Gastroenterology has been publishing the findings of his clinical studies aimed at preventing the progression of chronic hepatitis B to cirrhosis to cancer. In recognition of his contributions to the related advances in the academic community, Prof. Lim was recently honored with an award at the 20th Hamchoon Internal Medicine Academic Awards from the Seoul National University College of Medicine Alumni.

The Asan Medical Center was honored with the Prime Minister’s Commendation at Medical Korea in recognition of its contribution to further boosting Korea’s reputation for delivering world-class healthcare services. 
AMC is world-renowned for its excellence in performing high-risk operations for cancer, organ transplantation, heart disease and more. The number of patients coming from abroad has been on the rise, recording ▲ 14,586 in 2017 and ▲ 17,999 in 2018. Around 450 medical professionals from some 60 countries around the world visit AMC each year to receive transfers of advanced health technologies.

The Head and Neck Reconstruction Surgery Team of the Department of Plastic Surgery has completed 1,000 cases of reconstructive microsurgery (free flap) for head and neck cancer in collaboration of the Head and Neck Cancer Team.
The Head and Neck Reconstruction Surgery Team began performing reconstructive microsurgery for head and neck cancer in 1996 and has been conducting around 100 related operations annually in recent years, with a success rate of around 98%.

A patient who had been hospitalized at Stanford University Medical Center for liver cirrhosis received a living-donor liver transplantation at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul and recovered after two months of treatment. The medical staff at Stanford recommended the patient to receive a living-donor liver transplant at AMC, as Korean hospitals are far more advanced than their American counterparts in this particular field, and they even directly e-mailed Professor Song Gi-won of the Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery on behalf of the patient.
The patient was admitted to AMC where he received 62% of his wife’s liver. He received post-operative care for two months and returned to the United States after recovering. He will be receiving anti-cancer therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome at Stanford, with plans to undergo bone marrow transplantation after one year of observation.

Professor Mi Young Kim and Clinical Instructor Koo Hyun-jung from the Department of Radiology and Professor Choi Chang-min from the Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine advise that the thoracic X-ray exam carried out once every two years for people aged 40 and above may lower lung cancer mortality for women.
The team headed by Prof. Kim ran an analysis of the national health examination data, based on which they discovered that of the 63,228 lung cancer patients, 38,494 (57%) had received a chest X-ray. Of those who received the X-ray, 38% were given an early diagnosis of lung cancer, as opposed to only 26% of the patients who did not receive the X-ray. It was also found that a chest X-ray lowered the 3-year and 5-year lung cancer mortality rates for women by 10%.

The Asan Medical Center has been chosen as the Most Respected Hospital in Korea for 13 years in a row. The honorable title is awarded to the hospital receiving top reviews from patients and caretakers as well as medical professionals for its excellent medical achievements and contributions to society. The reason this award is especially meaningful is that it attests to the fact that the AMC is recognized as the No. 1 hospital in Korea by the medical and administrative staff members of its competitors.
As a hospital that handles around 65,000 challenging surgical and treatment cases each year, the AMC has been giving hope to countless patients including those who are critically ill. Its staff boasts extensive surgical experience, having performed surgery for 30,000 cases of breast cancer, 30,000 cases of colon cancer, 10,000 cases of stomach cancer, 10,000 cases of cerebral aneurysm, 6,200 cases of liver transplantation, and 5,600 cases of kidney transplantation. The outcomes of surgery have also been positive, with one-year survival rate for liver and kidney transplantations recorded at 97% and 95%, respectively. As such, the AMC is widely being recognized for its high-quality medical care and services.

The AMC Children’s Hospital is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its establishment this year. Last year, it received ▲ 205,072 outpatients, ▲ 9,529 inpatients, and ▲ 36,763 emergency patients, which means it treated about 837 outpatients, 252 inpatients, and 101 emergency patients a day, on average. As for surgery, there were ▲ 4,093 surgical cases in total, which works out to about 341 cases a month, on average.
The AMC Children’s Hospital provides age-specific treatment and care to newborns and children under the age of 18 with growth and development problems. It is comprised of 6 specialized centers, 21 departments, special labs and more, and there are a total of 259 beds including 58 beds in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 25 beds in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Last year, ▲ intensive treatment was provided for an extremely premature baby weighing 302g, and the ▲ Neonatal Extracorporeal Circulation Team, ▲ Pediatric Nutrition Support Team and Pediatric Interdisciplinary Advisory Council were in operation.

Professor Yoon, Sang Min of Radiation Oncology received the Best Academic Paper Award at the 13th Academic Conference of the Korean Liver Cancer Association for his paper titled “Efficacy and Safety of Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus External Beam Radiotherapy vs Sorafenib in Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Macroscopic Vascular Invasion: A Randomized Clinical Trial.”

Professor Lee Seung-joo of Neurosurgery gave a presentation under the title, “Endothelium-Specific Sox17 Deletion Ameliorates ALK1-mediated Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation,” at the International Stroke Conference co-hosted by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association and was awarded an award as a representative of Korea. Professor Lee was also given an award at the 1st Rising Doctor Daewoong Academic Awards in recognition of his contributions to brain aneurysm research.

Dr. Kim Jun-hwan from the Department of Internal Medicine was honored with the Ministry of Health and Welfare Commendation in recognition of his contribution to the betterment of public health and medical care as well as the welfare and working environment of medical professionals through the establishment of a hospital admission medical specialist system.

Professor Park Chan-jeong from the Department of Laboratory Medicine has been elected as the 54^th President of the Korean Society of Hematology. Since 1999, Professor Park has served on the Korean Society of Hematology as a member of the Academic Committee and the Editing Committee, the chairperson of the Academic Resources Management Committee and the Textbook Compilation Committee, as well as a director without portfolio and an auditor. Her term in office will last a year from January 1.

Professor Sang Hyoung Park of Gastroenterology has been appointed as an associate editor for Crohn's & Colitis 360, a peer-reviewed journal that will newly be launched by the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. Starting this January, Professor Park will review papers submitted to the journal, select papers for publication, nominate judges, etc.

A team comprised of Prof. Yun Tae-jin from the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Prof. Dong Hyun Yang from the Department of Radiology, and Prof. Namkug Kim from the Department of Convergence Medicine used a 3D-printed heart model in the same size and structure as an actual heart in a surgical simulation for a congenital heart disease. This new approach was found to enhance the accuracy of surgical planning and help patients and their caretakers gain a better understanding of the surgery in advance.
This technology involving the use of 3D printing has become the first of its kind to be chosen as a new health technology by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea in recognition of its safety and efficacy.

A team led by Prof. Kim Yong-hee of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery has performed more than 500 cases of robotic surgery for lung and esophageal diseases. They have recorded more than 530 robot-assisted surgical cases in total since their first case in 2008. The annual number of cases has been on the rise, with 79 cases in 2016, 102 cases in 2017, and 106 cases in 2018.
Professor Kim, in particular, has led a total of 500 robot-assisted operations including ▲ 365 procedures for esophageal cancer, ▲ 45 procedures for mediastinal tumor and ▲ 90 procedures for lung, esophageal and other chest diseases. This is a record-breaking number of cases of robotic thoracic surgery for an individual surgeon in Korea.

In 2018, a total of 3,193,336 patients visited Asan Medical Center in Seoul, which was a 3.5% increase from 2017. The hospital has been serving an increasing number of patients each year with ▲ 2,888,690 patients in 2015, ▲ 3,054,905 patients in 2016, and ▲ 3,086,516 patients in 2017. Last year alone, there were ▲ 3,047,946 outpatients and ▲ 145,390 inpatients, and 65,599 surgical cases.
The number of foreign patients who received treatment at Asan Medical Center in 2018 reached an all-time high at 17,999, a 23.4% increase from 14,586 patients recorded in 2017. The largest number of patients was from the ▲ United States, followed by ▲ China, ▲ United Arab Emirates, ▲ Mongolia, ▲ Kazakhstan, ▲ Russia, and ▲ Japan.

A recent YouTube video in Arabic regarding medical care and treatment at Asan Medical Center in Seoul has led to a rise in inquiries from potential patients in the Middle East wishing to receive medical consultation.
The video that was posted is an interview conducted by a news broadcaster in Kuwait with a patient who had received treatment at AMC last year. It was uploaded on not only YouTube, but also Instagram, Twitter and other major social media platforms last December, and it has been viewed more than 50,000 times ever since.