title: Assessment of Factors Associated with the Safety Depth of GV15 Yamen: Factors Associated with the Safety Depth of GV15.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Yamen is the fifteenth acupoint of the Governor Vessel Meridian (GV15). It is anatomically close to the medulla oblongata, so finding the safety depth of the acupoint is very important. However, few studies on the safety depth of GV15 have been done.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study tried to measure the safety depth of GV15 by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and to analyze the factors affecting the safety depth through multiple regression analyses. This study was carried out for patients who had a brain MRI scan while visiting Jeonju Wonkwang Hospital, Korea. The shortest distance between the glabella and the occipital protuberance (DGO), the horizontal distance between the glabella and the back of the head (DGB) and the dangerous depth (DD) were measured from the sagittal views of the MRI images. The DD is the horizontal distance from the skin's surface at GV15 to the spinal dura mater.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The model suggested that the safety depth (SD) was significantly associated with gender (β= 0.474, P< 0.0001), DGO (β= 0.272, P= 0.027), and BMI (β= 0.249, P= 0.005) and the combination of three variables can explain the SD, with R(2)= 0.571 (Table3). A longer SD was associated with males and with greater BMI and DGO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that gender, BMI and DGO may be important factors when the SD of GV15 is considered clinically through a multiple regression analysis of GV15.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University Jeonju Korean Medicine Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University Jeonju Korean Medicine Hospital, Jeonju, Korea ; Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Joo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jong-Cheon
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Young-Mi
keywords: Yamen; dangerous depth; governor vessel meridian 15; magnetic resonance imaging; safety depth