OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of caudal epidural injection in relieving pseudoclaudication of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. METHOD: Fifteen patients with a spinal stenosis which was confirmed by the magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) studies, received a caudal epidural steroid injection of triamcinolone acetate 120 mg, in a solution mixed with 2 ml of 1% lidocaine, and 15 ml of normal saline. RESULTS: The visual analogue scales checked at 1 hour prior to injection, 1 hour postinjection, and 1 month postinjection were 8.1+/-0.8, 3.7+/-1.7, and 6.4+/-1.9, respectively. The exercise tolerance on the treadmill with 0o ramp inclination and 1.8 km/h speed was measured at 1 hour prior to injection, 1 hour postinjection, and 1 month postinjection. The time intervals to the first symptom of the pseudoclaudication were 2.3+/-0.8 minutes, 6.5+/-0.7 minutes, and 4.6+/-1.9 minutes, respectively. CONCLUSION: In our study, the caudal epidural injection offered a significant short-term relief for the pseudoclaudication. Also it appeared to be a reasonable therapeutic option among patients with lumbar spinal stenosis after 1 month postinjection.
Architectural Accessibility ; Exercise Tolerance ; Humans ; Injections, Epidural* ; Lidocaine ; Spinal Stenosis* ; Triamcinolone ; Weights and Measures

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical applications of the Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate effervescent tablet as a routine root canal irrigant by performing several in vitro tests such as Cl- content, cytotoxicity, antimicrobial effect as well as its pH level compared to the equivalent concentration of sodium hypochlorite solution. 1. Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate demonstrated lower level of Cl- concentation than each dilution of sodium hypochlorite solution. Both solution has increased level of Cl- as the concentration of each solution increased. There was no significant change of Cl- concentration in sodium hypochlorite as time goes by. However, Cl- concentration in Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate was increased. 2. The antimicrobial effects of both solutions were increased when their concentrations were increased. One day after dilution, antimicrobial effect of Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate was slightly higher than sodium hypochlorite, however, there was no difference in 1 week dilution solution. One month dilution solution of sodium hypochlorite still retain its activity, but antimicrobial effect of Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate was drastically decreased 1 month after dilution. 3. The cytotoxicity of Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate was rather higher than same concentration of sodium hypochlorite solution until 1 week after dilution. Then in 1 month, cytotoxicity of Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate was decreased than that of 1 week dilution solution, especially 4% Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate solution has almost no toxicity. However, 1% and 2% sodium hypochlorite solution has unchanged moderate degree of cytotoxicity after the dilution. Furthermore, 4% sodium hypochlorite solution showed high level of toxicity. 4. The pH level of Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate showed that the solution was weak acid (pH5). On the other hand, sodium hypochlorite was revealed as a strong alkaline solution (pH12). There was no change in pH following the dilution of each solution. As results, Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate solution fully satisfy the basic requirements as a root canal irrigation solution. However, we strongly recommend to use this solution clinically in low concentration and try to apply into the root canal within 1 week after dilution.
Dental Pulp Cavity* ; Hand ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration* ; Sodium Hypochlorite ; Sodium*

To evaluate the effects of reflected glare on eyes, authors assessed the periodic health examination(1991-1996) and self-administered questionnaire data of a semiconductor producing company. The 13 lead frame(LF) department workers have been exposed to high reflected glare in the process for examining the silver plating products. We compared the data of connector(14) and clerical(12) workers as the non-exposed ones. Among LF department workers, 100% felt their visual acuity worsened(connector:81.8%, clerical:85.7%), and 70% had worn the glasses or contact lenses(connector :14.3 %, clerical :40%) since working at the company. Major ophthalmic symptoms of the LF workers are asthenopia, tearing, decreased visual acuity, congestion and glare. Decrease of visual acuity by Hahn's line change of the LF workers is significantly high during a 5-year follow-up(p<0.05 by simple regression) compared with connector, clerical workers.
Asthenopia ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Eyeglasses ; Female* ; Glare ; Glass ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Semiconductors ; Silver* ; Tears ; Visual Acuity*

Purpose: This study investigated the microbiological profile and clinical characteristics of culture positive (CP) contact lens-related bacterial keratitis (CLBK) and compared them to culture negative (CN) cases. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 142 CLBK patients hospitalized between January 1998 and December 2022. The CP and CN groups consisted of 79 eyes (100 isolates) and 63 eyes, respectively. We investigated the microbiological profile in the CP group and compared the epidemiology, predisposing factors, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes between the CP and CN groups. Poor treatment outcomes were defined as a final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≤ 0.5, worsened BCVA after treatment, or the need for surgical intervention. We evaluated the risk factors for poor treatment outcomes in the entire cohort through two-proportional Z-test analysis. Results: In CP group, gram-negative bacteria accounted for 85%, and common isolates were Pseudomonas (27%) and Serratia (26%) species. There were significant differences in mean age (27.0 years vs. 33.8 years, p = 0.009) and a history of therapeutic bandage contact lens wear (13.9% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.031) between the CP and CN groups. However, there were no significant differences in symptom duration, prior use of topical antibiotics, sleeping with wearing CL, epithelial defect size, hypopyon, and poor treatment outcomes. Significant risk factors for poor treatment outcomes in the entire group included deep infiltration (Z = 2.88), epithelial healing time ≥ 7 days (Z = 2.30), initial BCVA < 0.1 (Z = 2.20), over date use of contact lens (Z = 2.10), and epithelial defect size ≥ 5 mm2 (Z = 2.05). Conclusions There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes between the CP and CN groups. Poor initial clinical findings and over date use of contact lens were associated with poor treatment outcomes in both groups. J Korean

Adult ; Animals ; Dogs ; Electric Stimulation ; Humans ; Latency Period (Psychology) ; Osteogenesis ; Osteogenesis, Distraction ; Osteopontin ; Osteotomy

PURPOSE: To investigate whether there are specific surgical or clinical conditions where the use of autogenous bone (AB) is superior to the use of bone substitutes (BSs) for maxillary sinus floor augmentation (MSFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 386 implants after MSFA in 178 patients. The implants were divided into five groups according to the sinus graft material used. Risk factors for implant failure in MSFA, and correlation between residual bone height (RBH) and graft materials in terms of implant survival were investigated. To investigate risk factors for implant failure in MSFA, implant survival according to graft materials, patients' sex/age, surgical site, RBH, healing period prior to prosthetic loading, staged- or simultaneous implantation with MSFA, the crown-to-implant ratio, prosthetic type, implant diameter, and opposite dentition were evaluated.RESULT: The cumulative 2- and 5-year survival rates of implants placed in the grafted sinus (independent of the graft material used) were 98.7% and 97.3%, respectively. None of the investigated variables were identified as significant risk factors for implant failure. There was also no statistical significance in implant survival between graft materials. CONCLUSION There were no specific surgical conditions in which AB was superior to BSs in terms of implant survival after MSFA.

Catamenial hemoptysis is syndrome characterized by bleeding from the bronchial trees and lungs that occurs synchronously with the female menstrual cycle. Etiologic mechanism of pulmonary endometriosis is still controversial, and the diagnosis is usually made on the basis of the clinical history and exclusion of other causes of recurrent hemoptysis. Serial computed tomograms of the chest during and in the interval between menstruations have been proved to be a useful confirmatory test. We experienced a 33-year-old female patient who had been previously diagnosed as pelvic endometriosis pathologically, experienced cyclic hemoptysis during menstruations. The diagnosis of pulmonary endometriosis was made based on her history and changes in the character of the lesions as documented on radiologic studies of the chest. She was treated successfully with GnRH analogue and there is no evidence of recurrence.
Female ; Humans

Tooth development depends on reciprocal interactions between oral epithelium and ectomesenchyme. The ectomesenchyme-derived odontoblasts secrete several collagenous and non-collagenous proteins to form a unique extracellular matrix. OD314 was obtained by subtractive hybridization between odontoblasts and osteoblast/pulp cells, and differentially or predominantly expressed in odontoblasts of rat incisors compared to osteoblasts and pulp cells. However, little is known about the function of OD314 in odontoblast differentiation. In this study, to better understand the function of OD314, we inactivated the OD314 gene in mouse MDPC23 cells using U6 promoter-driven siRNA method. After the characterization of mineralized nodule formation and molecular expression of MDPC23 cell, Inactivation effects of the OD314 were evaluated by RT-PCR and western blot. 1. Mineralized nodule formation was observed after 14 days of culture in MDPC23 cells. 2. The OD314, OC and DSPP mRNA were highly expressed throughout the cultures, while the expression of ON decreased as the MDPC23 cells differentiated. 3. The OD314 protein was weakly expressed at 7 days of culture, but increased gradually as MDPC23 cells reached mineralization stage. 4. The inactivation of OD314 by RNA interference downregulated the expressions of OD314, DSPP, OC, and ON mRNA and OD314 protein in MDPC23 cells. These results suggest that OD314 may play a important role in mineralization process of odontoblast and also regulate odontoblast-related genes such as OC, ON, and DSPP.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line* ; Collagen ; Epithelium ; Extracellular Matrix ; Incisor ; Mice ; Odontoblasts ; Osteoblasts ; Rats ; RNA Interference* ; RNA* ; RNA, Messenger ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Tooth

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify correlations between diffusion tensor imaging(DTI) and motor improvement by quantifying and visualizing the corticospinal tract on DTI to predict motor impairment in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH). METHODS: Fifteen normal subjects and 7 patients with hypertensive ICH were examined and the latter were treated surgically. DTI was performed with a 3.0 T MRI. The region of interest(ROI) from the posterior limbs of both internal capsules was measured on a fractional anisotropy(FA) map, and the ratios of ROIs were calculated. Tractography, 3-dimensional DTI was then constructed. Motor impairment was assessed on admission and 2weeks after stroke by the Motricity Index(MI). The FA ratio, tractography and score on MI were analyzed for correlations. RESULTS: The FA ratio from the initial DTI did not show a linear correlation with motor impairment. However, after 2weeks, patients with high FA ratios showed high degrees of motor recovery, regardless of the initial severity, and patients with low FA ratios showed low recovery rates. Otherwise, a relationship between the amount of hematoma and the degree of motor recovery could not be determined. On tractography, injury of the corticospinal tract could be visualized and estimated 3-dimensionally. CONCLUSION: FA ratio analysis and tractography constructed from DTI may be useful in understanding corticospinal tract injury and in predicting the recovery from motor impairment in patients.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging* ; Diffusion* ; Extremities ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Internal Capsule ; Intracranial Hemorrhage, Hypertensive* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pyramidal Tracts* ; Stroke

PURPOSE: This report describes a case of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) in which the gingival manifestation was crucial in both making an early diagnosis and possibly in deciding the approach to treatment. METHODS: A 57-year-old sailor presented to the Department of Dentistry at Ulsan University Hospital complaining of gingival swelling since approximately 2 months. He had orofacial granulomatous lesions and the specific gingival manifestation of strawberry gingivitis. RESULTS: The diagnosis of GPA was made on the basis of clinical symptoms and signs, and confirmed by the presence of the anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody and a positive biopsy. The patient was admitted to the hospital and subsequently placed on a disease-modifying therapy regimen that included methotrexate and prednisone. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of the gingival manifestation of the disease permitted an early diagnosis and prompt therapy in a disease in which time is a crucial factor. Because of its rapid progression and potentially fatal outcome, an early diagnosis of GPA is important. Therefore, dentists should be aware of the oral signs and symptoms of such systemic diseases.
Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; Biopsy ; Dentistry ; Dentists ; Diagnosis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Fatal Outcome ; Fragaria ; Gingiva ; Gingivitis ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; Middle Aged ; Military Personnel ; Prednisone ; Ulsan