BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to assess the range of shoulder motion using an indirect evaluation method without physical examinations of patients based on questionnaires regarding several specific arm postures referenced by patient's own body parts. METHODS: Nine criteria of specific shoulder motion including 4 forward flexion, 2 external rotation, and 3 internal rotation were decided as reference position which can represent a certain shoulder motion. Flexion contains postures such as lifting arm to waist-height, shoulder-height, eye-height, and raising arm above head with arm touching ears. External rotation comprises grasping ears and placing hands on back of the head. Vertebral height in internal rotation is determined by calculating the samples' motions, which are holding on to trouser belts, opposite-elbow, and scapula. These postures are included in questionnaires for patients to evaluate the validity and effectiveness of this indirect method. RESULTS: The range of flexion was 77degrees (60degrees to 100degrees), 96degrees (87degrees to 115degrees), 135degrees (115degrees to 150degrees), and 167degrees (150degrees to 175degrees) when arms go up to waist, shoulder, eye, and high vertically. Range of external rotation was 39.6degrees (30degrees to 50degrees) when grasping ears and 69.2degrees (60degrees to 80degrees) with the hands on the back of the head. Range of internal rotation was L4 when placing trouser belts, T12 for holding opposite elbow, and T9 for reaching scapula. The mismatch rates of flexion, external rotation, and internal rotation were 11.6%, 9.6%, and 7.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The range of shoulder motion using this method is expected to be applied to an established shoulder scoring system which included shoulder motion evaluation item.
Arm ; Ear ; Elbow ; Hand ; Hand Strength ; Head ; Human Body* ; Humans ; Lifting ; Physical Examination ; Posture ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Scapula ; Self-Assessment ; Shoulder Joint ; Shoulder* ; Telephone ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body* ; Lipectomy*

PURPOSE: To describe soft-tissue radiographic and high-resolution CT findings of radiation-induced lung injury of rabbit over time and to correlate them with pathologic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 15 rabbits were irradiated in the right lung with one fraction of 2000 cGy. After 4, 6, 12, 20, 24 weeks, 3 rabbits in each group were sacrificed and soft-tissue radiographs and high-resolution CT of their lung tissue were obtained. Radiological findings were correlated with pathologic findings. RESULTS: On soft- tissue radiogram, radiation pneumonitis shown as consolidation with air-bronchogram occurred in 3 cases after 6 weeks, and in 1 case after 12 weeks of irradiation. In addition, pneumonic consolidation with adjacent pleural contraction was seen in 2 cases after 12 weeks of irradiation. Fibrotic changes indicated by decreased volume occurred after 20 weeks and combined bronchiectatic change and bronchial wall thickening appeared after 20 weeks(N=1), and 24 weeks(N=3). HRCT findings of radiation pneumonitis were homogeneous, increased attenuation after 4 weeks(N=3), 6 and 12 weeks (each N=I), patchy consolidation after 6 and 12 weeks(each N=2), discrete consolidation after 12, 20 and 24 weeks(each N=I) and solid consolidation after 20 and 24 weeks(each N=2). Pathologically radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary congestion were seen after 4 and 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, collagen and reticulin fibers were detected along alveolar wall. Mixed radiation pneumonitis and fibrosis were detected after 12 weeks. 20 weeks after irradiation, fibrosis was well defined in interstitium and in 24 weeks, decreased number of alveoli and thickening of bronchial wall were defined. CONCLUSION: Radiation pneumonitis was provoked 4 weeks after irradiation on rabbit lung and progressed into radiation fibrosis 20 weeks after irradiation on soft-tissue radiographs and high-resolution CT. High-resolution CT is more precise in detecting early radiation pneumonitis and detailed pathologic findings.
Collagen ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Fibrosis ; Lung Injury ; Lung* ; Rabbits ; Radiation Pneumonitis ; Reticulin

No abstract available.
Foot* ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Leg* ; Muscle, Skeletal*

No abstract available.
Osteoarthropathy, Primary Hypertrophic*

OBJECTIVES: It is widely accepted that estrogen has favorable effects on cardiovascular diseases, especially in the postmenopausal women. Endothelin-1(ET-I), released from the vascular endothelium, is a 21-amino acid peptide with strong vasoconstrictor activity. However, the effect of estrogen on the vasoconstriction to ET-1 has not been extensively studied. METHODS: To investigate the effect of estrogen (175beta-estradiol) on the vascular contraction to ET-1, porcine coronary artery(PCA) rings were suspended in organ chambers(37 degrees C, 95% O2/5% CO2) for measurement of isometric tension change. Endothelium was removed mechanically if necessary. In acute experiments, vascular rings were preincubated for 15minutes with 3different concentrations of 170beta-estradiol(10(-6), 10(-5), 10(-4)M) and concentration-contraction curves to cumulative doses of ET-1 were constructed. In the experiments after a longer exposure to 17beta-estradiol, the vessels with endothelium were exposed in the 5% CO2 incubator to 3different concentrations of 17beta-estradiol(10(-9), 10(-8), 10(-7)M) for 44-50 hours, and then concentrationcontraction curves to ET-1 were obtained. RESULTS: Incubation for 15minutes with 170beta-estradiol(10(-4)M) inhibited ET-1-induced contraction in the vessels with endothelium(area under the curve and maximal contraction, p<0.05 compared with control). This effect persisted regardless of the sex and the presence or absence of the endotheliurn. Incubation of the vessels far a longer time with 170beta-estradiol(44-50 hours) resulted in the inhibition of maximal contraction to ET-1(p<0.05) by a lower concentration of 175beta-estradiol(10(-7)M) than in acute experiments in male PCA rings, but an enhanced contraction to ET-1(area under the curve; p<0.05) by 10M of 175beta-estradiol was observed in female PCA rings. CONCLUSION: Short-time incubation with 17Pbeta-estradiol has an inhibitory effect on the contraction to ET-1 in PCA rings. This effect is independent of the presence of the endothelium and the sex of the pigs. A longer incubation with 17beta-estradiol results in a similar inhibitory effect on male(but not female) PCA rings, suggesting that a sex-related difference may exist concerning the effect of 17beta-estradiol on ET-1-induced contraction.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Coronary Vessels* ; Endothelin-1* ; Endothelins ; Endothelium ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Estrogens ; Female ; Humans ; Incubators ; Male ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Swine ; Vasoconstriction

We have performed 190 renal transplantations from August 1990 to June 1996. No cadaveric donor was used and all except one were first grafts. We conducted a clinical analysis, especially concerning the factors affecting acute rejection and graft function at 1 year. The results were as follows : 1) The mean ages of donor and recipient were 35.3 years and 37.4 years respectively. The ratio of male to female was 1.4 : 1 and 1.5 : 1, respectively. 2) One hundred and six cases(55.8%) were living unrelated donors and eighty four cases(44.2%) were living related donors. 3) One hundred and sixty six potential recipients were given 3 donor specific transfusions(DST), started about 5 weeks prior to transplantation with cyclosporin coverage. Six of these patients(3.6%) developed sensitization by DST that precluded the subsequent transplantation and the remaining 160 patients received the kidney from the blood donors. Another 28 recipients were given DST 24 hours prior to operation. 4) Most of initial acute rejection episodes(71 episodes, 95%) appeared within the first month of post-transplantation. 5) We analyzed the possible factors affecting the incidence of acute rejection. Donor age and HLA incompatibility were significant statistically(p<0.05). 6) Multiple regression analysis showed that a number of acute rejection episodes(p<0.001) was the only independent risk factor for the graft function at 1 year. 7) Overall graft and patient survival rate were 97.2% and 98.6% at 1 year, 94.1% and 95.5% at 3 years.
Blood Donors ; Cadaver ; Cyclosporine ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants ; Unrelated Donors

A clinical analysis of 249 patients with maxillo-facial trauma, who underwent general anes- thesia from January 1992 to December 1993 at Lee-Rha General Hospital, were made in order to investigate various case characteristics such as sex ratio, age distribution, types of trauma, fracture sites, associated injuries, underlying medical problems, abnormal laboratory findings, intubation, and preoperative physical condition. It was found that males outnumbered females showing the peak age incidence in 20's and 30's. The high velocity motor vehicle accidents was the most common cause of trauma and the mandible was the most frequent fracture sites. Among 96 associated injury cases, 63 cases were neumsurgical problems. Underlying medical problems or abnormal laboratory findings were present in 28.9% of the patients studied and preoperative physical status 1 or 1E (ASA classification) was most common accounting for 54.8% of the patients studied. Of the patients who received endotracheal intubation, 73.5% were done via a nasotracheal route.
Age Distribution ; Anesthesia ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Male ; Mandible ; Motor Vehicles ; Sex Ratio

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are single-stranded RNA viruses which contain the largest RNA genomes, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), a newly found group 2 CoV, emerged as infectious disease with high mortality rate. In this study, we compared the synonymous codon usage patterns between the nucleocapsid and spike genes of CoVs, and C-type lectin domain (CTLD) genes of human and mouse on the codon basis. Findings indicate that the nucleocapsid genes of CoVs were affected from the synonymous codon usage bias than spike genes, and the CTLDs of human and mouse partially overlapped with the nucleocapsid genes of CoVs. In addition, we observed that CTLDs which showed the similar relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) patterns with CoVs were commonly derived from the human chromosome 12, and mouse chromosome 6 and 12, suggesting that there might be a specific genomic region or chromosomes which show a more similar synonymous codon usage pattern with viral genes. Our findings contribute to developing the codon-optimization method in DNA vaccines, and further study is needed to determine a specific correlation between the codon usage patterns and the chromosomal locations in higher organisms.
Animals ; Codon/*genetics ; Humans ; Lectins, C-Type/*genetics ; Membrane Glycoproteins/*genetics ; Mice ; Nucleocapsid/*genetics ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus/*genetics/pathogenicity ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome/prevention & control ; Species Specificity ; Vaccines, DNA ; Viral Envelope Proteins/*genetics ; Virus Attachment

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of a proposed study “To investigate the effects of applying a vibration stimulation to the paretic and non-paretic sides on balance and gait in stroke patients” before proceeding with the main study. Methods: A total of 30 patients who had suffered a stroke and who met the selection criteria participated in this study. However, only 14 patients completed the study. The study subjects were randomly assigned to vibration stimulation on either both sides (B group) or the paralyzed side (P group). The interventions were applied for six weeks. The patients were assessed using the Berg balance scale (BBS), Timed up and go (TUG), 10-meter walk (10 MW), and 6-minute walk (6 MW) tests. Results: There was a significant difference before and after the application of vibration stimulation in the BBS, TUG, 10MW, and 6 MW tests in the B group (p < 0.05). Similarly, there was also a significant difference observed in the 10 MW and 6 MW tests in the P group (p < 0.05). The difference between the two groups was not significant in the BBS, TUG, 10 MW, and 6 MW tests (p > 0.05). Conclusion This pilot study suggests that it would be feasible to conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effects of applying a vibration stimulation to the paretic and non-paretic sides, on the balance and gait in stroke patients.