• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.483-488
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• 2006

Velopharyngeal function refers to the combined activity of the soft palate and pharynx in closing and opening the velopharyngeal port to the required degree. In normal speech, various muscles of palate & pharynx function as sphincter and occlude the oropharynx from the nasopharynx during the production of oral consonant sounds. Inadequate velopharyngeal function caused by neurologic disorder - cerebral apoplexy, regressive diseases - disseminated sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, congenital deformity - cleft palate, cerebral palsy and etc. may result in abnormal speech characterized by hypernasality, nasal emission and decreased intelligibility of speech due to weak consonant production. In our study, we constructed speech aids prosthesis - Speech bulb in the incomplete cleft palate VPI patient with hypernasality and assessed velopharyngeal function with nasometer which can evaluate the speech characteristics objectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.188-192
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• 2022

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is a phenomenon that can occur due to anatomical or neurological causes of the soft palate. VPI can make the patient difficult to articulate through hypernasality and nasal emission. There has been needed the customized treatment, as VPI can occur for many causes. We present the case of 21-year-old male who took palate plastic surgery 20 years ago for congenital submucosal cleft palate. As he had poor contraction of both lateral side of velopharynx, he was diagnosed with coronal type VPI. Through sphincter pharyngoplasty, he can obtain improvement of articulation accuracy. We would like to share this challenged case.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2015

Objectives The purpose of this study is to find the cephalometric variables which are significantly correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in suspected Korean obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. Methods We examined lateral cephalogram and attended-full night laboratory polysomnography of the 40 participants who complained of OSA symptoms. The correlation analysis was conducted to find the cephalometric variables which are significantly correlated with the AHI. Results The correlation analysis showed that the higher AHI was associated with the longer distance between hyoid and mandibular plane (p = 0.023), the longer distance between C3 and hyoid (p = 0.014), the longer tongue length (p = 0.003), the larger inferior tongue area (p = 0.008), the larger anterior displacement of the hyoid bone (p = 0.024), the longer distance between posterior nasal spine and the tip of the soft palate (p = 0.021), and the larger cross-sectional area of soft palate (p = 0.001) of cephalogram in erect position. The higher AHI was correlated with the longer distance between hyoid and mandibular plane (p = 0.008), the longer tongue length (p = 0.037), the larger inferior tongue area (p = 0.013), the thicker uvula (p = 0.004), the longer distance between retrognathion and hyoid (p = 0.025), and larger cross-sectional area of soft palate (p = 0.001) of cephalogram in supine position. Conclusions The present preliminary results showed the candidate measurements of cephalogram which are significantly correlated with the AHI in suspected OSA.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.26 no.1 s.54
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• pp.43-52
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate the upper airway structure between the snorers and asymptomatic control subjects depending on the positional change. Lateral cephalograms in the upright and supine position were taken in 25 female snorers and 20 female asymptomatic control subjects. The length and the area of the soft palate, tongue and airway were measured and evaluated statistically. The results obtained were as follows : 1. The snorers showed longer and higher tongue, narrower and longer airway, inferiorly positioned hyoid bone, longer and broader soft palate and narrower hypopharynx than the control subjects both in the upright and supine position. In addition, the snorers showed broader tongue area and narrower oropharynx area than the control subjects in supine position. 2. Depending on the positional change from upright to supine position, the controls and the snorers showed decreased airway length and superior positioned the hyoid bone. In addition, the snorers showed decreased tongue length and height, airway length and thickness and oropharynx area, but increased tongue area and soft palate area.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.22 no.3 s.38
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• pp.657-673
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• 1992

Orthodontic treatment of cleft patients is difficult as the growth is different from that of normal ones. So it is very important to know the characteristic features of the craniofacial morphology and growth pattern in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients. The materials for this study consisted of 55 normal males and 50 unilateral cleft lip and palate ones who received cheiloplasty and palatoplasty previously. The cleft subjects were divided into 4 groups according to their ages kto find out the growth pattern of hard and soft tissue, and to compare the features with those of normal ones. Each cephalogram analysed by McNamara method and others. The obtained results were as follows 1. In the unilateral cleft lip and palate subjects, forward growth of the maxilla was smaller than that of normal ones from 9 years old. So the maxilla was retruded. The maxillary incisors were severely retruded in all age groups. 2. The mandibular overall length and its anteroposterior position did not show any significant differences between two groups. But the height of ramus was very short and the mandible had vertical growth tendency to compensate for undergrowth of the maxilla in cleft subjects after 12 years of age. 3. Horizontal growth of the soft tissue in middle face was smaller than that of any other facial region from 9 years old. The vertical growth rate of upper lip was decreased as growing old. 4. In cleft subjects, the upper and lower facial component angle and the facial convexity angle were large. So their facial profile changed to straight or concave as growing old.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.151-159
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• 1994

Authors experienced a case of intermediate grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma in 29-year-old female. The origin of this tumor might be mucus secreting cells of palatal mucous gland. The characteristic features were as follows: 1. In clinical examination, exopytic mass was observed in left hard palate and similar to pleomorphic adenoma. 2. In radiographic findings, destructive changes of left hard palate, nasal septum, nasal inferior turbinate and floor of maxillary sinus and soft tissue mass were observed. 3. Histopathologically, mucus-secreting cells, epidermoid cells and intermediate cells were observed and diagnosed as intermediate grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.92-96
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• 2001

Velopharyngeal function refers to the combined activity of the soft palate and pharynx in closing and opening the velopharyngeal port to the required degree. In normal speech, various muscles of palate & pharynx function as sphincter and occlude the oropharynx from the nasopharynx during the production of oral consonant sounds. Inadequate velopharyngeal function caused by neurologic disorder - cerebral apoplexy, regressive diseases - disseminated sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, congenital deformity - cleft palate, cerebral palsy and etc. may result in abnormal speech characterized by hypernasality, nasal emission and decreased intelligibility of speech due to weak consonant production. In our study, we constructed speech aids prosthesis - Palatal lift in acquired idiophathic VPI patient and assessed velopharyngeal function with various diagnostic instruments which can evaluate the speech characteristics objectively.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.276-279
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• 2021

A 65-year-old woman presented with a solid mass on the right temporal area. The mass had grown for over 2 years without any initiating event of trauma or inflammation. Before excision, the patient went through a computed tomography scan, revealing a calcified mass without bony connection. Under general anesthesia, an excisional biopsy was performed. Microscopic examination confirmed a diagnosis of soft tissue osteoma. Soft tissue osteoma is rare, especially in the head and neck region. Osteomas in the temporal region have not been reported yet. Due to its rarity, osteoma might be misdiagnosed as another soft tissue or bone origin tumor. Its treatment of choice is simple excision. In this review, we present an unusual clinical form of soft tissue osteoma.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.161-163
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• 2021

The soft tissue triangle is an easily recognizable subunit of the nose. Therefore, deformities in this region resulting from trauma or complications after cosmetic surgery can have serious cosmetic impacts. Various reconstruction choices exist for deformities such as depression of the soft triangle but choosing the most appropriate treatment in each case remains a challenge. In the case described herein, a patient underwent augmentation rhinoplasty with a silastic implant and experienced implant exposure in the soft triangle area. After implant removal, the patient complained of depression in this area. The authors effectively solved this problem through a de-epithelialized composite tissue graft. In this report, we present this case and review similar cases of reconstruction of the soft triangle.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2013

Cleft lip and palate is congenital deformity in oral and maxillofacial area. Normal soft palate has velopharyngeal closure action by connecting oral cavity and nasal cavity at rest and moving upward at swallowing and specific pronunciation. Cleft palate patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency have difficulty in mastication, swallowing and pronunciation because velopharyngeal closure is incomplete. At this time, a prosthetic device used to cover palate defects is called a palatal obturator. A palatal obturator separates oral cavity and nasal cavity and recovers pronunciation, mastication, swallowing and esthetic function. The purpose of this case study is to report the results because it reaches a satisfactory result in functional and esthetic aspects through functional impression procedures using modeling compound and tissue conditioner for restoration of a cleft palate patient with velopharyngeal insufficiency.