Cranocsynostosis is the term that designates premature fusion of one or more sutures in either the cranial vault or cranial base. Especially scaphocephaly, brachycephaly and trigonocephaly are included in simple symmetric craniosynostosis. In simple symmetric craniosynostosis, the functional deformity is rare, but deformity in external appearance is always a serious problem. The purpose of forehead reshaping in simple symmetric craniosynostosis is recovery of normal cerebral growth and improvement of cranial cosmetic problem by restoration of normal calvarial anatomic structure. Various surgical methods have Bbeen developed in an effort to correct craniosynostosis. Cranial vault remodeling with or without supraorbital band advancement is a widely accpeted method of correcting simple symmetric craniosynostosis. However, the standardized surgical method has not yet been estabilished in reshaping the forehead during cranial vault remodeling of simple symmetric craniosynostosis. The authors developed a new osteotomy method, the bull's osteotomy, which is a limited osteotomy for cranial vault remodeling. It produces posterior tilting of a prominant forehead as well as increased biparietotemporal distance for effective forehead reshaping. We applied this techriaue in 8 scaphocephaly and 2 brachycephaly patients under 5 years of age who have not yet reached bony consolidation. All patinets obtained satisfactory results with properly corrected deformity and no relapse was observed during the follow-up period. This new osteotomy method is simple and effective and a consistant surgical outcome is expected. particularly the contour of the forehead on the frontotemporal area is corrected to have a smooth and natural curvature. Based on our experience using bull's osteotomy, we offer this new surgical technique for managing simple symmetric cranoisynostosis patients.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Craniosynostoses* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Forehead* ; Humans ; Osteotomy* ; Recurrence ; Skull Base ; Sutures

No abstract available.
Nose* ; Osteotomy*

Lateral osteotomy has been chosen as a part of rhinoplasty for modification of the nasal bony vault, alteration of the base width of the lateral walls, establishment of a new profile line of the nasal dorsum and lateral profile line, and closure of the open roof. Various methods of lateral osteotomy may be employed, however Orientals have characteristically broad and flat noses Compared to caucasians and for an esthetically satisfactory result, it is important to correct both in rhinoplasty. In this study, the authors performed their devised method of lateral osteotomy in 12 patients for the correction of broad, flat nasal dorsum and deviated noses. The operations could be broadly categorized into two groups: 1) short lateral osteotomy in which the lateral osteotomy line was incomplete and short, extending to the infraorbital rim; and 2) green-stick transverse osteotomy which was induced by in-siturotation fracture by osteotomy and, if considered necessary, augmentation rhinoplasty and nasal tip plasty were also performed simultaneously. Our nasal osteotomy has limited mobilization, where as the previous method has total mobilization, and it has the advantages of repositioning the broad and deviated nose in a preferable direction and shape, as well as the capability of narrowing the preferable area selectively. Especially if there is a necessity to correct both broad and flat noses such as in Orientals, our osteotomy methods have a synergistic effect in esthetic outcome when performed with augmentation rhinoplasty with a silastic implant. There were no complications such as relapse or air-way obstruction during the 4.5-month follow-up period. However, a long-term follow-up period is needed to evaluate the complications considering the physiologic aspect of the nose.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Nose ; Osteotomy* ; Recurrence ; Rhinoplasty*

No abstract available.

A total of 542 children under 10 years of age, admitted to the Seoul National University Children's Hospital, was examined for antibody titers of Toxoplasma gondii using indirect latex agglutination (ILA) test. Among them, 7.7% showed positive titers higher than 1:32, without significant difference between males (7.3%) and females (8.5%). The seropositive rate increased with age although the statistical significance was negligible (0.05 < P < 0.1). By residential areas, the prevalence appeared higher among children from southern provinces (Kyongsang-do and Cholla do) than those from other areas, but the statistical significance was also very low (0.05 < P < 0.1). When the seropositive cases were analyzed by coincidental diseases, the prevalence was significantly higher in patients with congenital diseases than in patients with non-congenital diseases (P < 0.05). The results showed that the seropositive rate of toxoplasmosis in children examined was not high compared with other endemic countries. Some correlations are suggested between toxoplasmosis and congenital anomalies in Korea.
Animal ; Antibodies, Protozoan/blood* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Human ; Infant ; Korea/epidemiology ; Latex Fixation Tests ; Male ; Prevalence ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Toxoplasma/immunology* ; Toxoplasmosis/epidemiology*

No abstract available.
Sepsis*

PURPOSE: To see if a similar relationship exists between the decreased number of circulating neutrophils and the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants, we tried to test the hypothesis that claims that preterm infants, who develop BPD, have decreased number of circulating neutrophils than those who do not develop BPD. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 167 preterm infants from August 1995 to July 1997, who were admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Seoul National University Children's Hospital. RESULTS: BPD was diagnosed in 16% (27/167) of preterm infants. We compared the clinical characteristics of the study population according to the presence or absence of BPD. Compared to non-BPD group, the BPD group had a lower gestational age (29.4 +/- 2.7weeks versus 32.7 +/- 1.7 weeks), lower birth weight (1,240 +/- 486g versus 1,780 +/- 420g), lower incidence of prenatal steroid use (2/27 versus 41/140), decreased number of circulating neutrophils (3,622 +/- 4,866/microliter versus 7,586 +/- 4,545/microliter) at 1 day of life. After adjusting for the variables of the above risk factors, neutropenia (<2,500/microliter) in the peripheral blood increased the odds ratio of developing BPD (OR : 46.3, 95% CI : 17.3-117.2). CONCLUSION: Early postnatal neutropenia might be an important risk factor for the development of BPD and lung injury responsible for the development of BPD might begin at the early postnatal period.
Birth Weight ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia* ; Cohort Studies ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Lung Injury ; Neutropenia* ; Neutrophils ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seoul

PURPOSE: To see if a similar relationship exists between the decreased number of circulating neutrophils and the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants, we tried to test the hypothesis that claims that preterm infants, who develop BPD, have decreased number of circulating neutrophils than those who do not develop BPD. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 167 preterm infants from August 1995 to July 1997, who were admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Seoul National University Children's Hospital. RESULTS: BPD was diagnosed in 16% (27/167) of preterm infants. We compared the clinical characteristics of the study population according to the presence or absence of BPD. Compared to non-BPD group, the BPD group had a lower gestational age (29.4 +/- 2.7weeks versus 32.7 +/- 1.7 weeks), lower birth weight (1,240 +/- 486g versus 1,780 +/- 420g), lower incidence of prenatal steroid use (2/27 versus 41/140), decreased number of circulating neutrophils (3,622 +/- 4,866/microliter versus 7,586 +/- 4,545/microliter) at 1 day of life. After adjusting for the variables of the above risk factors, neutropenia (<2,500/microliter) in the peripheral blood increased the odds ratio of developing BPD (OR : 46.3, 95% CI : 17.3-117.2). CONCLUSION: Early postnatal neutropenia might be an important risk factor for the development of BPD and lung injury responsible for the development of BPD might begin at the early postnatal period.
Birth Weight ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia* ; Cohort Studies ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Lung Injury ; Neutropenia* ; Neutrophils ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seoul

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to review the perinatal clinical characteristics of extremely low birth weight(ELBW) infants and determine their risk factors of their deaths. METHODS: The medical records of 96 infants weighing less than 1,000g, who were born at Seoul National University Hospital and admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) were analyzed retrospectively on the basis of clinical characteristics, obstetrical problems, postnatal complications and outcome. RESULTS: The annual birth rate of ELBW infants was 0.11% to 0.90% of total live births and the mean annual birth rate was 0.56% at Seoul National University Hospital. Preeclampsia was the most common obstetrical problem(34.4%), followed by incompetent internal os of cervix(IIOC) (13.5%), multiple pregnancy(13.5%) and in vitro fertilization(IVF)(13.5%). Respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) was the most common postnatal complication(78.1%), followed by sepsis(60.4%) and apnea(39.6%). Comparing the ELBW infants weighing less than 750g with those weighing more than 751g, sepsis was more frequent in the latter group(p<0.05), whereas high grade intraventricular hemorrhage(grade Ill) was more frequent in the former group(p<0.05). Otherwise there was no statistically significant difference concerning the frequency of perinatal complications between two groups. Comparing the ELBW infants born before the year 1991, when surfactant treatment started to be used routinely at our NICU, with those born after the year 1991, apnea and sepsis could be observed more frequent in the latter group(p<0.05). Otherwise there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of perinatal complications between two groups, The survival rate of ELBW infants was 0.0% in 1986, 50.0% in 1991 and 40.0% in 1995. The risk factors of neonatal deaths of ELBW infants included birth weight, gestational period, mode of delivery, IIOC, RDS, apnea, pneumonia, pneumothorax, acute renal failure(ARF) and infections(except pneumonia), but analyzing these risk factors by multivariate logistic regression analysis, the resultant significant independent risk factors consisted only of birth weight, RDS and pneumonia(p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in survival rate between ELBW infants born before and after the year 1991, but there was a tendency toward increasing survival rates in the latter group. CONCLUSION: Recently, the survival rate of ELBW infants is improving steadily, but is still lower than that of western countries and postnatal morbidity remains high. Therefore, there is an urgent need to give more efforts to the neonatal intensive care of ELBW inFants in order to increase survival rates and reduce postnatal morbidity. But it is more important to reduce preterm birth by the treatment of preventable obstetrical risk factors.
Apnea ; Birth Rate ; Birth Weight ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Live Birth ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Parturition ; Pneumonia ; Pneumothorax ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Premature Birth ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Sepsis ; Statistics as Topic* ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: Surfactant replacement therapy significantly decreases neonatal complications and mortality in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), but clinical responses to the treatment is not consistent. An analysis of the perinatal factors influencing the clinical response to the therapy is important for early detection of high risk and prognosis. The purpose of this study is to analyze the clinical responses to the therapy and to assess the perinatal factors influencing the clinical response. METHODS: From April 1992 to Dec. 1995, 80 infants were enrolled in this study. Medical records were reviewed, and the clinical response to the therapy was defined by a change in the ventilatory index (VI). The perinatal factors were compared according to the clinical response. RESULTS: "Good" response was found in 58 infants (72.5%), "poor" in 14 infants (17.5%), and eight infants (10%) had a "relapse". The factor affecting the response to the therapy in the comparison among the three groups was pretreatment VI, reflecting the severity of the underlying disease. In the comparison between the initial response group and initial non-responders, pretreatment FiO2, pretreatment arterial pH, a/APO2, and VI were significantly different. With control of compounding variables, only pretreatment VI was a significant independent risk factor of the "poor" response. CONCLUSION: The clinical response to surfactant replacement therapy is only influenced by the severity of RDS. According to the results, we speculate that the dosage of surfactant in high pretreatment VI is needed to be increased, and further studies are required to determine the adequate dosage of surfactant in high risk infants.
Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors