BACKGROUND: Perceptual evaluation is fundamental to assessment of vocal quality but is it one of the most cotroversial subjects in voice evaluation. The main reason of this problems is the versality of the subjective feeling of listner in the perception of abnormal voice quality. In contrast with perceptual evaluation, the laryngostroboscopical examination is objective method of vocal function analysis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the most important vibratory pattern abnormalities that may lead to different grades in the perceptual evaluation of breathiness quality. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We analysed the perceived breathiness and laryngeal video-stroboscopic evaluation in 33 male and 49 female voice disordered subjects ranging in age from 25 to 69 years. RESULTS: A strong relationship between perceived breathiness grade and stroboscpic rating parameters was found in the asymmetry of phase, asymmetry of the arytenoid region, supraglottic compensation and glottic chink size. CONCLUSION: The result suggest that the static size and dynamic shape variation of incomplete glottal closure is the most important determining factors of perceptual evaluation of breathiness.
Compensation and Redress ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Voice ; Voice Quality

PURPOSE: A low birth weight (LBW) rate is associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality. Many different factors are related to birth weight and LBW. This study examined the effects of various factors on birth weight. METHODS: The study was conducted from January 1997 to August 1997 through direct interview with mother and medical history. Sample were drawn from 1,248 pairs of mothers and infants. The variables assessed included birth weight, gender, gestation age, birth order, maternal age, education, frequency of antenatal care, maternal complication and illness, parental smoking habit, alcohol and caffeine intake. The obtained data were coded and inputted into a computer using a SAS statistic package and estimated by multiple regression and logistic regression. RESULTS: The rate of LBW was 7.9% and premature rate was 3.4%. The variables affecting birth weight were maternal smoking habits, maternal complication and illness, gestation age, caffeine intake and gender. After adjusting for extraneous factors through multiple regression, we found that shortened gestation age, female infant, maternal complication and illness significantly played an important role in the decrease of birth weight. After logistic regression in the group of LBW infants, it was shown that the variables associated with LBW were maternal complication and illness, shortened gestation age, old age over 35 years, inadequate prenatal care, and female infant. CONCLUSION: Birth weight and LBW were more related to gestation age, gender, maternal complication and illness than maternal smoking habit, alcohol and caffeine intake.
Birth Order ; Birth Weight* ; Caffeine ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Mortality ; Mothers ; Parents ; Parturition* ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Care ; Smoke ; Smoking

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma, Papillary* ; Thyroid Gland*

Cerebral paragonimiasis, occurring as an extrapulmonary infestation, is one of the important intracranial lesions in Korea. In this paper we report a case of cerebral paragonimiasis which showed very similar C-T findings to pyogenic brain abscess and was verified by pathologic research. Though we don't have much experiences in the diagnosis of the cereal paragonimiasis with C-T Scan, we found out some differences between pyogenic abscess and that due to cerebral paragonimiasis in several aspects.
Abscess ; Brain Abscess* ; Brain* ; Edible Grain ; Diagnosis ; Korea ; Paragonimiasis*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of mirror therapy containing functional tasks on upper extremity function and activities of daily living in patients with subacute stroke. METHODS: The subjects were randomly divided into two groups: the mirror therapy group (30 patients) and the sham therapy group (30 patients). The mirror therapy group underwent a mirror therapy program together with conventional therapy for 20 minutes per day on 5 days per week for 4 weeks. The control group received a sham conventional therapy program under the same schedule as the mirror therapy group. The Fugl-Meyer Motor Function Assessment (FMA), Brunnstrom motor recovery stage, and Modified Barthel Index (MBI) were evaluated 4 weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: The upper extremity function on the affected side and ability to perform daily life activities after the intervention were significantly improved in both groups. After 4 weeks of intervention, improvements in the FMA (p=0.027) and MBI (p=0.041) were significantly greater in the mirror therapy group than the sham therapy group. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that the mirror therapy containing functional task was effective in terms of improving the upper extremity functions and activities of daily living in patients with subacute stroke.
Activities of Daily Living ; Appointments and Schedules ; Humans ; Stroke ; Upper Extremity

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of balance board training combined with tactile stimulation on the affected leg of hemiplegic patients in improving the ability of balance control. METHOD: Thirty hemiplegic patients participated. In the study group, two pieces of adhesive tapes were attached on the skin of affected lower leg. And then, they performed balance training on a balance board. The training was performed for 4 weeks. The control group received conventional gait training program for the same period. Subjects in both groups were tested for their balance control abilities using Balance Master before and after the training period. RESULTS: In the study group, there were statistically significant improvements in the abilities of the weight bearing, body sway control, and rhythmic weight shift (p<0.05) after balance board training. After the training, there were statistically significant differences in the abilities of weight bearing and rhythmic weight shift (p<0.05) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The training with balance board combined with tactile stimulation to the affected leg and foot was proved to be effective for the treatment of balance control abilities in hemiplegic patients.
Adhesives ; Education ; Foot ; Gait ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Leg* ; Rehabilitation ; Skin ; Weight-Bearing

The surgical management of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysm continues to be controversial. To provide current data about surgical outcome of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysm, we retrospectively reviewed 494 consecutive intracranial aneurysm patients who underwent surgery between January 1990 and May 1995. Among these 494, 16 patients with unruptured aneurysms were evaluated; those with unruptured aneurysm associated with ruptured aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation were excluded. Mode of presentation, location and size of aneurysm, surgical method and complications, and surgical result were analyzed. Evaluation revealed four patients with asymptomatic and 12 with symptomatic unruptured aneurysm. Of these 12, seven presented with mass effect, four with headache, and one with cerebral infarction. The aneurysms were located in the internal carotid artery(n=8), the middle cerebral artery(n=3), the vertebral artery(n=3), the anterior communicating artery(n=2), and the basilar artery(n=2). They ranged in size from smaller than 10mm to larger than 25mm(<10mm: 10 cases, 10-25mm: 5 cases, >25mm: 1 case). An excellent or good outcome was achieved in 12 patients, including four with asymptomatic intracranial aneurysm. In three patients there were complications or sequelae and one died due to premature rupture of the aneurysm. We concluded that in patients harboring an unruptured intracranial aneurysm, aggressive early detection and surgical treatment may improve the outcome by preventing the devastating effects of subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Aneurysm* ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; Arteriovenous Malformations ; Cerebral Infarction ; Headache ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Natural History ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

PURPOSE: To determine the findings of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of acute and chronic benign compression fracture, metastatic compression fracture, and spondylitis, and to differentiate between them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-nine cases with vertebral compression fractures (17 metastatic, 16 acute osteo-porotic, 11 old osteoporotic, 5 acute traumatic) and seven with spondylitis (4 tuberculous, 3 pyogenic) underwent MR imaging. All cases were classified as belonging to one of four groups: A: acute osteoporotic and traumatic, B: metastatic, C: old osteoporotic, or D: spondylitic. For MR imaging, a 1.5-T scanner (Magnetom Vision, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) was used, and the diffusion-weighted imaging sequence was based on reversed fast imaging with steady-state precession (PSIF) and a relatively low b value of about 150 sec/mm 2. Signal intensity characteristics were evaluated in terms of the contrast ratio (CR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of bone marrow. RESULTS: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging showed that signal intensity in group A was hypointense to adjacent normal vertebral bodies, but in group B, hyperintensity was noted. In group C, signal intensity was variable, while in group D, hyperintensity was again noted. Diffusion-weighted imaging revealed that in group A, bone marrow CR had a negative value, while in groups B and D, this value was positive (p < .01). The SNR of group D was lower than that of group B, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > .01). CONCLUSION: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging revealed that the signal intensity of metastatic compression fracture and spondylitis was hyperintense to adjacent normal vertebral bodies, that of acute benign compression fracture was hypointense, and that of chronic benign compression fracture was variable. This modality is therefore useful for differentiating between metastatic compression fracture, spondylitis and acute benign compression fracture.
Bone Marrow* ; Fractures, Compression* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; Spine* ; Spondylitis*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic effect of neurologic music therapy (NMT) and speech language therapy (SLT) through improvement of the aphasia quotient (AQ) in post-stroke aphasic patients. METHODS: Twenty-one post-stroke, nonfluent aphasia patients who had ischemic/hemorrhagic stroke on radiologic evaluation were divided into the NMT and SLT groups. They received NMT and SLT for 1 month. Language function was assessed by Korean version-Western Aphasia Battery before and after therapy. NMT consisted of therapeutic singing and melodic intonation therapy, and SLT consisted of language-oriented therapy. RESULTS: Significant improvements were revealed in AQ, repetition, and naming after therapy in the NMT group and improvements in repetition in the SLT group of chronic stroke patients (p<0.05). There were significant improvements in language ability in the NMT group of subacute stroke patients. However, there was no significant improvement in the SLT group of subacute stroke patients. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the two therapies are effective treatments in the chronic stage of stroke and NMT is effective in subacute post-stroke aphasic patients.
Aphasia ; Aphasia, Broca ; Humans ; Language ; Language Therapy ; Music ; Music Therapy ; Singing ; Speech Therapy ; Stroke

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effect of ‘Blocking Kirschner Wire (K-Wire) Technique’, which has been developed to reduce protrusion of the lateral wall, in maintaining the level of reduction through clinical and radiological outcomes. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two patients with displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures who used the blocking K-wire to maintain reduction (group A) and 44 patients that did not use blocking K-wire and were paired in 1:2 ratio with those Group A patients (group B), between January 2015 and December 2017 were enrolled in the study. All surgical procedures were performed via the extended sinus tarsi approach, and internal fixation using cannulated screws, Steinmann pins and K-wires was performed. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot scale and postoperative recovery of exercise ability were compared for postoperative clinical outcomes.The radiological results were compared the Böhler angle, Gissane angle, calcaneal height and width, step off of posterior calcaneal joint, and the degree of protrusion of the lateral wall. Moreover, postoperative complications in both groups were compared. Results: There were no significant differences in the clinical outcomes of the two groups (p=0.924, p=0.961). The amount of Böhler angle, Gissane angle, calcaneal height and width, and step off of posterior calcaneal joint from the radiological results was not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.170, p=0.441, p=0.230, p=0.266, and p=0.400). However, the degree of protrusion of the lateral wall was 1.78 mm and 4.95 mm in group A and group B, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was significant (p=0.017). Although sural nerve entrapment and painful exostosis were more frequent in group B, they were occurred in a non-significant manner (p=0.293, p=0.655). Conclusion Most of the clinical and radiological results as well as the complications were not significantly different between the two groups. However, the degree of protrusion of the calcaneus lateral wall in group A was promising. The ‘Blocking K-Wires Technique’ established by the authors may be an effective surgical option for maintaining the reduction of the lateral wall protrusion in displaced intraarticular calcaneal fractures.