• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.57 no.6
• /
• pp.535-542
• /
• 2004

Background : Despite the clinical clues of bronchial asthma, some chronic coughers fail to be diagnosed due to negative test results. This study was aimed at evaluating the diagnostic performance of routine objective tests and identifying a cost-effective approach for asthmatics with a chronic cough. Methods : Patients with a chronic cough of more than 3 weeks duration, and showing normal chest radiograph and spirometry were enrolled. On the first visit, objective tests, composed of serum total IgE, peripheral blood eosinophil count, spontaneous sputum eosinophil count, methacholine bronchial provocation test (MBPT) and paranasal sinus radiograph, were performed, with the simultaneous administration of oral prednisolone (0.5mg/kg) for one week. The final diagnoses were made on the basis of the test results, and the patients grouped according to their steroid responsiveness. The role of the etiologic diagnosis tests was evaluated, and the medical costs of the final management plan simulated with respect to three assumed models. Results : Sixty chronic coughers were finally analyzed. The final diagnoses were as follows: bronchial asthma 21.7%, eosinophilic bronchitis 6.7%, paranasal sinusitis 18.3%, presumptive allergy 8.3% and non-diagnostic case 45.0%. Ninety percent were steroid responder. With the bronchial asthma cases, the positive rate of MBPT was 38.5%, with sputum eosinophil count in 84.6%, serum total IgE in 38.5%, and a peripheral blood eosinophil count rate of 30.8%. When the test results and steroid responsiveness data were applied to the 3 models, the chest radiograph, spirometry, sputum eosinophil count and paranasal sinus radiograph test results, and simultaneous short term steroid treatment seemed to have acceptable diagnostic performances, which could be used as a further guide to cost-effective planning. Conclusion : Objective tests, composed of chest radiograph, spirometry, paranasal sinus radiograph and sputum eosinophil count, with simultaneous short term steroid treatment, are suggested as cost-effective approaches for asthmatics with a chronic cough.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2013

Purpose: Primary bone tumors of hindfoot are uncommon compared with other locations, and there have been few large-group studies. This study was designed to analyze the characteristics and the clinical results of the primary bone tumors of hindfoot. Materials and Methods: Forty five cases in 44 patients who have been diagnosed from 1989 to 2011 were reviewed. The minimum follow-up period was 1 year. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and images. Results: Twenty six cases were male and 18 cases were female. Mean follow-up period was 33.1 months and mean age was 25.1 years. Forty four cases were benign and 1 case was malignant. Thirty six cases occurred in calcaneus and 9 cases were in talus. The most common benign bone tumor was simple bone cyst (20 cases), followed by intraosseous lipoma (12 cases), and chondroblastoma (4 cases). In calcaneus, there were 18 cases of simple bone cyst, and 12 cases of intrasosseous lipoma. In talus, there were 3 cases of chondroblastoma, 2 cases of simple bone cyst, and 2 cases of intraossesous ganglion. Many patients with hindfoot bone tumors presented with pain, but some were found accidentally. Patients received surgical procedures, such as curettage and bone graft, open reduction and internal fixation, tumor resection, and below knee amputation. Conclusion: Primary bone tumors of hindfoot are rare and can be misdiagnosed as ankle sprain or contusion. Although most are benign, malignant tumors cannot be ruled out, so early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is important.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.897-916
• /
• 2014

There is a considerable community between Eight Constitution Medicine and disease ecology in that they examine the relationship between humans and environment in terms of genetic, environmental and cultural factors, in addition to the factor of germs. In this respect, the purpose of this research aims to investigate the community between Eight Constitution Medicine, a branch of Eastern Medicine and disease ecology in geography. The research method is to analyse the clinical results from 647 patients and the data from a field survey on the Yeonggwang-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province. The results are summarized as the following: First, geographical distribution of patients varies depending on the type of physical constitution; it is also divided into two types, an oceanic type and an inland type. Second, it is highly probable that there is a significant relation between a vulnerable disease in association with a type of physical constitution and patient's native place; there are diseases that are not associated with all the patients who have the same constitution; they might be incurred by the eating or life habits in association with the characteristics of geographical environment. Third, the case study of Yeonggwang-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province, with a focus on the mutual relationship among the three factors. shows that patients, who share in common the eating or life habits that coincide with their own personal types of constitution, maintain a good health condition; if not, they tend to be exposed to a various kinds of disease. Because the study on the community between Eight Constitution Medicine and disease ecology is now at the early stage, diverse types of approaches should be tried to be applied in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.179-187
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of heat applied to disintegrate cement on the removal torque value and fracture strength of titanium abutment and abutment screw. Materials and methods: Implants, titanium abutments and abutment screws were prepared for each 20 piece. Implant abutments and screws were classified as the control group in which no heat was applied and the experimental group was heated in a vacuum furnace to $450^{\circ}C$ for 8 minutes and cooled in air. The abutments and screws were connected to the implants with 30 Ncm tightening torque at interval 10 minutes and the removal torque value was measured 15 minutes later. And the fracture strength of abutment screw was measured using universal testing machine. Results: The mean removal torque value was $27.84{\pm}1.07Ncm$ in the control group and $26.55{\pm}1.56Ncm$ in the experimental group and showed statistically significant difference (P < .05). The mean fracture strength was $731.47{\pm}39.46N$ in the control group and $768.58{\pm}46.73N$ in the experimental group and showed statistically no significant difference (P > .05). Conclusion: The heat applied for cement disintegration significantly reduced the removal torque value of the abutment screw and did not significantly affect fracture strength of the abutment screw. Therefore, in the case of applying heat to disintegrate cement it is necessary to separate the abutment screw or pay attention to the reuse of the heated screw. However further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical reuse of the heated screw.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.49-54
• /
• 2000

Background: Echocardiography is rapidly establishing itself as the primary diagnostic technique for investigation of children with heart diseases, and referrals are increasing to the pediatric cardiology clinic for investigation. However, because there is a lack of analyzed data on the patients referred to the pediatric cardiology clinics, we have proceeded to compare and analyze their characteristics to provide basic data base. Methods: From Oct. 1, 1998 to Jul. 10, 1999, total 443 cases referred to the pediatric cardiology clinic of Yeungnam University Hospital were studied retrospectively by medical records, chest X-ray, EKG and echocardiography, etc. Results: The results were as follows. 1. The proportion of male was 61.0%(261 cases) and that of female was 39.0%(67 cases). The ratio of male to female was 1.6:1. The proportion infants less than 1 year-old was 62.6% (26R cases) of all patients. 2. Cardiac murmur was present in 248 cases(57.9%), which was the most common case of referral ed to the pediatric cardiology clinic. The impression at referral was more congenital heart disease(70.6%) than acquired heart disease(17.8%) and arrhythmia01.6%). 3. The final diagnosis was as follows : congenital heart disease was present in 212 cases(49.5%), acquired heart disease, 59 cases(13.9%); arrhythmia. 13 cases(3.0%); normal heart. 144 cases(33.6%). Conclusion: Among the patients referred to pediatric cardiology clinic, 33.6%(144 cases) had normal hearts and why these patients were referred may be possibly due to more dependence on echocardiography than on auscultation instruction. Therefore, clinical and auscultatory skill should be emphasized to minimize dependence on expensive echocardiography for evaluation of pediatric heart disease.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.22-27
• /
• 2009

Purpose: To identify the damage of the articular cartilage and analyze the clinical results of the partial medial meniscectomy. Materials and Methods: From January 2001 to December 2004, forty-eight patients in the degenerative arthritis and medial meniscal tear of knee who undertook arthroscopic partial meniscectomy and were able to keep pace with the times follow-up for more than 3 years were enrolled in this study. Six cases were men and 42 were women, and the mean age was 55.7 years (40~78 years). The patients were classified into two groups according to the Outerbridge grade. Grade I and II were classified into group 1 and grade III and IV into group 2. Group 1 included 30 cases and group 2 included 18 cases. The result were analyzed according to the Tapper & Hoover classification and Lysholm knee scoring scale. And we measured the distance of medial joint space in standing anteroposterior (AP) view of both sides at the pre-operative and the last follow-up. Results: According to the Tapper & Hoover classification, 28 cases were excellent, 7 cases good, 8 cases fair, and 5 cases poor. Among group 1, 25 cases were excellent, 2 cases good, 2 cases fair, 1 case poor. However, among group 2, 3 cases were excellent, 5 cases good, 6 cases fair, 4 cases poor. Average Lysholm knee score was improved from 62.4 preoperatively to 94 postoperatively in group 1, and from 58 preoperatively to 77.9 postoperatively in group 2. The joint space narrowing showed no statistically significant difference in both knees standing AP view. Conclusion: The arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for a patient with the degenerative articular cartilage was an effective treatment. However, we could not satisfy the results, in cases of Outerbridge grade III and IV. In grade III and IV, the partial meniscectomy was not aggravated the cartilage damage.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
• /
• v.33 no.4 s.99
• /
• pp.279-291
• /
• 2003

Electric current is a highly probable way as a clinical tool for tooth movement. The purposes of this study were to determine the usefulness of exogenous electric currents in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement and to investigate the effects of electric-orthodontic treatment on the remodeling of the periodontal tissue histologically The study was performed with six male cats weighing around 3kg. The electric device wich is providing the direct electric current of $20{\mu}A$ was inserted to the removable appliance. The right and left maxillary canines were assigned as control and experimental sides respectively. The control canine was Provided with orthodontic force (75gm) oかy and the experimental side was given the same amount of force and electricity. The lingual buttons were bonded to the maxillary canines and both sides of canines were retracted with NiTi coil spring. The electric device was adjusted to provide 20uh direct current to the experimental canines S hours a day The amount of the canine movement was measured with electronic caliper every week. After 4 weeks of tooth movement, the animals were sacrificed and the histologic study was performed. The results of this study were as follows. 1. The application of a direct current to the experimental tooth significantly increased the final amount of orthodontic tooth movement. The amount of tooth movement after 28-day was 37% more in the experimental side. 2. The electrically stimulated tooth showed histologic evidence of significant increases in the amount of bones and matrix deposition in the area of tension. 3. In the compression side, the electric-orthodontic treatment stimulated bone resorption more extensively in the experimental canines. 4. After 28 days of electricity exposure and orthodontic force, the experimental side demonstrated significantly more osteoblasts, osteoclasts, capillaries and osteoid tissues, reflectinr an increase in the local tissue's cellular activity. 5. Intermittent electrical stimulation (five hours a day) had effects to enhance orthodontic tooth movement and tissue remodeling. These results suggested that the low-intensity exogenous electric current by the miniature electric device might accelerate orthodontic tooth movement and bone remodeling in vivo and have the possibility to reduce the orthodontic treatment duration.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.399-410
• /
• 2011

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference in frictional resistance among metal, ceramic, self-ligation brackets and coated or non-coated Ni-Ti archwires at various bracket-archwire angulations during the sliding movement of an orthodontic archwire, using an orthodontic sliding simulation device. Methods: Four types of bracket (Micro-arch Perpect Clear2 Clippy-C and Damon3 and 5 types of orthodontic archwire (0.014", 0.016", and 0.016" ${\times}$ 0.022" inch coated Ni-Ti, and 0.016" and 0.016" ${\times}$ 0.022" inch Ni-Ti) were used. Further, the bracket- archwire angles were set at 4 different angulations: $0^{\circ}$, $3^{\circ}$, $6^{\circ}$, and $9^{\circ}$. Results: The frictions from all the experimental groups were found to be significantly increased in order of self-ligation brackets, Micro-arch and Perpect Clear2 ($p$ < 0.001). The presence of a coat had no effect on the friction of the same sized archwires at $0^{\circ}$ and $3^{\circ}$ bracket-archwire angles ($p$ < 0.001). Coated archwires had significantly higher frictions than the same sized non-coated archwires at $6^{\circ}$ and $9^{\circ}$ bracket-archwire angles ($p$ < 0.001). The frictions increased significantly as the bracket-archwire angles were increased ($p$ < 0.001). Conclusions: The use of self-ligation brackets will be beneficial in clinical situations where a low frictional force is required. Further, in cases where crowding is not severe, the use of coated archwires should not cause problems. However, more additional explanation is required considering the fact that the damage of coated archwire and exposure of the metal portion in case of binding and notching and the effects of saliva were not taken into account.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.30 no.9
• /
• pp.1065-1071
• /
• 2001

Object : This study was conducted to evaluate whether short-term intravenous infusion of tranexamic acid (AMCA) was able to improve the management outcome by preventing rebleeding without increasing vasospasm and hydrocephalus associated with the long-term administration of this agent in the patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) who were planned for the early surgery. Methods : During the period from June, 1996 to May, 1998, 137 patients admitted within 3 days of their SAH and planned for early surgical intervention were subject to study population. Of these, 60 patients who had been treated with AMCA were classified as AMCA treated group and 77 patients without AMCA treatment as AMCA untreated group. Initially, prognostic factors for rebleeding, vasospasm, hydrocephalus and outcome following SAH including age, sex, clinical grade, CT grade, site of ruptured aneurysms, admission day after SAH, surgery day after SAH, number of aneurysms and hypertension history, were analyzed and compared between AMCA treated group and untreated group. Secondly, the incidence of rebleeding, symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were compared between the two groups. Also, the management outcome of the patients was compared between the two groups. Results : There were no significant differences in prognostic factors between the two groups. The rebleeding rate was 0% in the AMCA treated group whereas the rate was 7.8% in the untreated group. This difference was statistically significant. The incidences of symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were found not to be significantly different between the two groups. Of the treated group, 31.7% of patients developed hydrocephalus compared to 32.5% of those at the untreated group. Fourteen(23.3%) patients in treated group developed symptomatic vasospasm and 6 of them(10%) suffered stroke whereas incidences of these in untreated group were 25.9% and 11.7%, respectively. The AMCA treated group showed more favorable outcome than that of untreated group. There was no case of death by rebleeding in the AMCA treated group while one of the main causes of death in the untreated group was rebleeding. Conclusion : Short-term high-dose AMCA administration is considered beneficial in improving outcome and diminishing the risk of rebleeding in the patients who suffer from an aneurysmal SAH prior to early surgical intervention.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.334-340
• /
• 2010

It is well known that smoking as well as drinking is a factor of stomatopathy, however there are few investigations about comparison of oral flora between smokers and non-smokers. In this study, we isolated the oral flora of 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers and cultured them on blood agar plates. The isolated pathogenic microorganisms were tested for antibiotic susceptibility and resistance using the Kirby-Bauer antibiotic testing method. Each colony was stained using the Gram staining method and was identified by an automatic identifier, known as the VITEK system. We isolated 41 colonies from smokers' oral cavity, and they were sorted as 63% of Gram-positive cocci, 29% of Gram-negative cocci, 3% of Gram-positive bacilli, and 5% of Gram-negative bacilli by gram staining, whereas 38 colonies were isolated from non-smoters' oral cavity, and their proportions were 55% of Gram-positive cocci, 26% of Gram-negative cocci, 3% of Gram-positive bacilli, and 16% of Gram-negative bacilli. The VITEK system revealed specific distribution of bacteria species that Streptococcus mutans (6/41), Gemella morillorum (6/41), Streptococcus oralis (2/41), Streptococcus pneumoniae (1/41), Staphylococcus aureus (3/41), Streptococcus anginosus (1/41), Streptococcus intermedius (1/41), Streptococcus uberis (1/41), and Streptococcus sanguinis (1/41) in smokers oral cavity whereas Streptococcus sanguinis (8/38), Staphylococcus aureus (1/38), Staphylococcus auricularis (1/38), Streptococcus uberis (1/38), Streptococcus intermedius (1/38), Streptococcus mutans (1/38), and Streptococcus oralis (1/38) in those of non-smokers'. Three cases of Staphylococcus aureus from smokers produced Beta-lactamase and were identified methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However one case of Staphylococcus aureus from non-smoker did not produce Beta-lactamase and was sensitive to methicillin. In conclusion, the distribution of oral flora was different between smokers' and non-smokers' oral cavity, especially Gemella morillorum and MRSA were predominantly found in smoker's oral cavity. These results are useful in the treatment and prevention of patients with stomatopathy caused by smoking.