BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Surgery is considered the primary treatment for intracordal cyst. However, patients who had undergone surgery are still subject to recurrence and continued voice changes. Intracordal cysts naturally disappear in some patient population. Cyst does not always recur in patients who had received partial surgical removal, too. Contradicting results raises a question whether complete surgical removal of intracordal cyst is necessary and demonstrate need for better treatment. Herein, the author proposes novel surgical method technique intralaryngeal needle technique (INT), a technique using surgical needle for not only injection but also for aspiration and excision of cyst. This study aims to examine the potential of intralaryngeal needle technique in treating intracordal cysts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surgical procedures were done on in-patients diagnosed with intracordal cyst. 23 patients received follow-up screening after the surgery for one year. Patients' subjective satisfaction levels, acoustic measures, aerodynamic measures, laryngeal stroboscopic results were compared before and after the treatment. RESULTS: Overall patients were satisfied with novel surgical excision method. In terms of aerodynamic measures, maximum phonation time, mean air flow rate improved after the surgery. In terms of acoustic measures, Jitter, Shimmer, NHR, and voice pitch changes after the treatment showed statistically significant differences. Laryngeal stroboscopy results showed significant decreases in cyst sizes. Post-surgery patients had improved mucosal waves and amplitudes values. CONCLUSION: The results show the validity of intralaryngeal needle technique in reducing intracordal cyst size by excision, aspiration, and injection. The author believes this novel technique can be used as an alternative surgical method for intracordal cysts.
Acoustics ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Needles* ; Phonation ; Recurrence ; Stroboscopy ; Voice

An irritable larynx syndrome is characterized by a sudden episodic dyspnea and dysphonia that is difficult to diagnose, and patients are often treated unnecessarily and/or too much. A correct diagnosis can be made by monitoring the larynx closing in the reversed direction during inhalation and posterior chink with videolaryngoscopy and by measuring a decrease in air flow volume during inhalation with a lung function test. Patients can be effectively treated with thorough differential diagnosis. Medications targeting precipitating factors, physical therapy sessions to improve abnormal larynx movement, counseling to reduce patients'anxiety rising from dyspnea, and etc. can effectively alleviate symptoms.
Behavior Therapy ; Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dysphonia ; Dyspnea* ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Larynx* ; Precipitating Factors ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Vocal Cord Dysfunction

A clinical and histologic survey was done on 71 cases of basal cel carcinoma(BCC) filed at Department of Clinical Fathology, Kang Nam, Han Kang, and Kang Dong Sacred Heart Hospital during past 13 year s from 1979 to 1991. The results were summerized as follows: 1. Of all malignant skin tumors BCC accounted for 31.6%. The frequency of BCC in the total number of outpatients visiting the Department of Dermatology was 0.06%. 2. The ratio of men to women with HCC was 1:1.03. 83.8% of the pat.ients with BCC were older than the age of l0 years with the mean age of 56.9 years. 3. 83.8% of the BCC appared in the face, especially on the nose(25.4%), eyelid(20.3%). 4. On the basis of classification of Lever et al, the solid type(66.7% ) was the most com mon histologic pattern, followed by the adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification of Farmer et al, the nodulocystic type(35.1% ) was the most common histologic pattern followed by infiltrative(31.6%), adenoid(8.8%), pigmented(8.8%), and etc. By the classification on Sexton et al, in the order of decreasing frequency, liistologic subtypes were the nodular(43.9%), mixed (22.8%), infiltrative(19.3%), supeficial(3.5%), morpheic(3.5%), and micronodular(3.5%).
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Classification ; Dermatology ; Female ; Heart ; Humans ; Male ; Outpatients ; Skin

PURPOSE: We reviewed the clinical features and the treatment results of sensory heterotropia with the purpose of finding etiologic causes, factors influencing the the direction of deviation, and characterisitics of sensory deviations subsequent to cataract. METHODS: The charts of 134 patients diagnosed as sensory heterotropia in Chonbuk national university hospital between 1994 and 2001 were reviwed retrospectively. Visual acuity, the deviation in primary gaze, refractive error, the onset of vision loss and its etiology were analyzed. RESULTS: The major causative factor was cataract (29.1%) and anisometropic amblyopia (23.1%). When onset of visual impairment occurred between birth and the age of 5 years, 20 (33%) developed esotropia, and 41 (67%) developed exotrpia. In older children and adults, 9 (12%) developed esotropia, and 64 (88%) developed exotropia. A significant difference was noted between the age of onset and the type of horizontal strabismus (x2= 8.18, P<0.005). The difference between the refractive error in the sound eye and the type of deviation was statistically significant (x2=7.52, P<0.01). We found no correlation between the duration of visual impairment and the amount of deviation (P>0.05). While all of bilateral congenital cataract patients (4) had esotropia, unilateral congenital cataract patients showed exotropia to be predominated (4 of 5 eyes). The majority (17 of 21) of the sensory deviations subsequent to senile, traumatic cataract, uncorrected traumatic aphakia were converted from tropia to phoria, and showed the reduced angle of deviation after cataract operation or secondary IOL implantation. CONCLUSIONS: The age of onset of visual loss and the refractive error in the sound eye are thought to be the major factors influencing the direction of the deviation.
Adult ; Age of Onset ; Amblyopia ; Aphakia ; Cataract ; Child ; Esotropia ; Exotropia ; Humans ; Jeollabuk-do ; Parturition ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies ; Strabismus ; Vision Disorders ; Visual Acuity

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vocal nodules are the most common voice disorder due to vocal misuses. Vocal nodules are primarily treated with voice therapy and are rarely removed through laryngomicrosurgery. Although the rate of recovery for individual patients may vary, 60-70% of them are fully treated. Because vocal nodules have many possible causes, 30-40% of patients remain untreated. Also, vocal nodules recurrence after the surgical treatment is sometimes observed. The author claims that incomplete contact between vocal cords during phonation is a major cause of the vocal nodules. Most vocal nodules do occur from incomplete contact between vocal cords during phonation, and various voice therapies are designed to improve habitual misuses of the vocal cords. However, vocal nodules tend to remain unhealed unless patients change their habitual misuses of the vocal cords. The cricothyroid muscle tension is known to hinder the contact between vocal cords. The author injected a restricted amount of botulinium toxin to the cricothyroid muscle to reduce the muscle tension and observed changes in vocal cords' movement. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: In this study, the author injected botulinium toxin to the cricothyroid muscle of 21 patients. For 2-4 weeks, we observed patients' responses to the treatment, by measuring changes in subglottal pressure, mean air flow rate, maximum phonation time, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ration of patients and subjective evaluation of voice changes. In addition, the author conducted stroboscopy to evaluate the usefulness of the treatment. RESULTS: The improvement was in the subjective evaluation of voice changes and stroboscopic findings. CONCLUSION: The observation demonstrated a great improvement in vocal nodules after the injection of botulinium toxin into the cricothyroid muscle.
Humans ; Laryngeal Muscles ; Muscle Tonus ; Phonation ; Recurrence ; Stroboscopy ; Vocal Cords ; Voice ; Voice Disorders

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Ear Canal*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although globus pharyngeus is a common disorder, the treatment is by and large unsatisfactory because of unreliable diagnosis. When we examine the larynx in patients with this disease, it is easy to observe variations in the structure of larynx, including the posterior laryngitis. Physicians regard these findings as normal variations, however, the hyperkinetic movement of supraglottis will show symptoms of globus pharyngeus. This study examined the outcomes of a voice therapy which induced laryngeal relaxation of the signs and symptoms of globus haryngeus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: While the control group was treated with antireflux therapy, the experimental group was treated with antireflux therapy as well as with voice therapy for laryngeal relaxation. The outcome showed resolution of the symptoms. RESULTS: The symptoms responded more greatly to the combined treatment than to the control group. Granularity in the vocal process and the hyperkinetic movement of supraglottis responded to the combined treatment. CONCLUSION: This study showed that voice therapy is one of the effective treatments for globus pharyngeus.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hyperkinesis ; Laryngitis ; Larynx ; Relaxation ; Voice*

Condyloma acuminatum, a benign disease caused by a filtrable virus, occurs predominantly in the perianal andgenital areas. The lesions are noninvasive but are subject to recurrence. In rare instances, a more aggresive formof this disease, known as "giant condlyloma acuminatum" or "Buschke-Lownestein tumor", occures. In this form,infiltration of the lesion into surrounding structures takes place. This tumor has been reported to occurprincipally in the genitourinary tract. The authors experienced a cases of giant condyloma acuminatum originatingfrom rectum in 67 years old male patient which recurred 3 months after electrofulguration.
Buschke-Lowenstein Tumor ; Humans ; Male ; Rectum ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty is well established and relatively successful operation in the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). But, there have been no reports about snoring sound of patients who had been performed LAUP. This study was performed to evaluate the results of LAUP analysing preoperative snoring sounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were 38 patients who were diagnosed as OSA by polysomnography and had been performed LAUP between Mar, 1998 and July, 2002. Preoperative and postoperative snoring sounds were recorded during sleep and we performed an acoustic analysis using spectrogram (SPG), which was classified. And postoperative subjective satisfaction of bed time partner was compared in each type and the degree of satisfaction was measured by VAS (visual analogue scale) score. According to previous study, types of spectrogram of snoring sounds were classified as palatal, tongue base and mixed. RESULTS: In postoperative analysis, snoring loudness was most decreased in palatal type, and snoring pitch was only increased in tongue base type. The average satisfaction of bed time partner was highest at palatal type and lowest at tongue base type. CONCLUSION: Preoperative analysis of snoring sounds can aid the prediction of the loudness and pitch of snoring sounds and the subjective satisfaction of patients after LAUP.
Acoustics ; Humans ; Laser Therapy ; Palate ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Snoring* ; Sound Spectrography ; Tongue

PURPOSE: After intubation, it is recommended that, to sustain airway patency, about 10ml of air be infused to seal the airway and to prevent complications. At this step, sustaining a proper pressure level (18~24 mmHg) is most important because excessive pressure can cause diverse complications. We carried out a series of investigations to find a way to sustain a constant pressure level. METHODS: We gathered the cases of intubated patients for 6 randomly selected days during 2003 at HanGang Sacred Heart Hospital. Included were cases from emergency room, the intensive care unit, and the operating rooms; 30 cases were enrolled for this investigation. We used a cuff pressure control REF 701 (Tracoe(r), Mainz, Germany) to trace the cuff pressure. First, we measured the amount of air that was infused into the cuff and the cuff pressure. Then, we measured the amount of air after a proper level of cuff pressure had been achieved. RESULTS: We have found that out of the 30 cases investigated the recommended pressure level was maintained in 4 cases. The average cuff pressure was 40.9 mmHg with 10.2 cc of air and 69.0 mmHg, the largest value, was reported in one case. However, when recommended pressure level was maintained (18 mmHg), the average amount of air was reduced to 7.9 cc. CONCLUSION: The results reveal that it may not be possible to sustain the recommended pressure level by "infusing about 10 ml of air,"and that may cause complications.
Emergency Service, Hospital ; Heart ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation ; Operating Rooms