Accessory hamstring muscle is rare in incidence. In the popliteal region, it often simulates soft tissue tumor since it may be manifest as popliteal swelling. We experienced a case of accessory hamstring muscle which simulated popliteal tumor on physical examination.
Incidence ; Physical Examination

Supracondylar fracture of the Humerus is the most common fracture of the elbow in children and frequently there are accompanying complications. A total of 78 children with supracondylar fracture of the humerus were treated at the Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, Busan, Korea, during a recent 5 year period. Of these, 33 patients were treated by lateral skeletal traction through olecranon pin and 14 of these were followed up for more than 6 months. 1. The average age was 7.2 years and the male and female ratio was 2.4:1. The left humerus was involved in 49 patients (62.5%). 2. Of all fractures, 94.4% were the extension type and 5.6% were the flexion type. 3. Satisfactory results wire obtained in 31 of 33 cases who were treated by lateral skeletal traction. Among these, 14 cases were followed up for more than 6 months. Final results were analyzed according to Mitchells classification; excellent results were obtained in 11 cases (78.6%), good results in 3 cases (21.4%) and there were no unsatisfactory results. 4. In 11 cases in which immediate closed reduction or Dunlops traction followed by closed reduction was unsuccessful, satisfactory results were obtained in 10 of 1 1 cases by using lateral skeletal traction. Therefore, we think that it is possible to treat most of the manual reduction failure patients by lateral skeletal traction. 5. There were two treatment failures using lateral skeletal traction. In one case, the brachialis muscle was buttonholed by the proximal fragment, and in the other case, the patient was treated 8 days after injury and marked hematoma formation between the fracture fragment was noted. 6. During treatment by lateral skeletal traction, infection developed through the pin tract in 2 cases. These were treated by the administration of antibiotics and there were no complications such as osteomyelitis nor did this effect the final results. 7. Incomplete radial nerve palsy developed in 3 cases. However, in all cases recovery was spontaneous with 4 weeks. 8. The average hospital stay for patients treated by lateral skeletal traction was 14.2 days. Prologed hospitalization is ane of the chief disadvantages of lateral skeletal traction. However, if we can minimized the number of hospital days by early cast immobiiization when the fracture is stable, lateral skeletal traction will prove to be a good method which can be expected to yield unlformly satisfactory results which are not surpassed by any other method of treatment. Since this method has been instituted at this hospital, very few patients have undergone open reduction because of fracture malalignment.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Busan ; Child ; Classification ; Elbow ; Female ; Hematoma ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Humerus ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Methods ; Olecranon Process ; Osteomyelitis ; Paralysis ; Protestantism ; Radial Nerve ; Traction ; Treatment Failure

Since rupture of the Achilles tendon was first reported by Pare in 1575, various caues and diagnostic and therapeutic methods have been described by many workers. Almost all these workers agree that with early diagnosis and early treatment the prognosis is good. But the incidence of misdiagnosis by the physician as well as the patient's own neglect of his condition is disconcertedly high one. Nevertheless, negiected rupture of the Achilles tendon may lead to good results by proper selection of tbe operative method. In this report 16 cases of neglected ruptures of the Achilles tendon, in which treatment had been delayed more than 3 weeks were reviewed. A follow-up study of more than 6 months was made on 14 of these cases treated during the 5 year period from February 1973 to August 1977. The results are summarized as follows: 1. The causes responsible for the neglected ruptures were misdiagnosis by the physician in 62.5% and the patient's own neglect of his condition in 25% of the cases. The patient, in many cases, failed to seek medical treatment because of the rapid disappearance of pain, the absence of an open wound, ability of mild ankle plantar flexion, and the ability to walk. 2. Neglected rupture of the Achilles tendon occured most commonly in man of 4th decade. 3. Left side injuries were more common than right side injuries with a ratio of 9:7. 4. Ruptures by indirect injury were more common than by direct injury with a ratio of 9:7, and were most common during recreation and sports activities. 5. The most frequent site of rupture was 2 to 6 cm above the insertion of the tendon with 81% of the cases. 6. The end-to-end suture with pull-out wire method and Lindholm's operative method gave good (Excellent or Satisfactory) results in neglected rupture of the tendon as well. 7. Even in cases of neglected Achilles tendon rupture, normal function can be regained in approximately 6 months post-operatively if proper method of treatment is selected.
Achilles Tendon ; Ankle ; Clinical Study ; Diagnostic Errors ; Early Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Methods ; Prognosis ; Recreation ; Rupture ; Sports ; Sutures ; Tendons ; Wounds and Injuries

Today, the exact causal relationship between prolapsed intervertebral disk and sciatica remains unclear. Murphy has proposed that inflammation rather than mechanical pressure is the basis of back pain and sciatica, and that causal irritant is likely to be a chemical product of disk degeneration. The administration of steroids into the epidural space reduces the inflammatory process of the neural structure is well known. We have studied the effect of injection of methylprednisolone acetate (Depomedrol) comparing with the effect of operative treatment. One hundred and eleven cases suffuring from diskogenic low back pain had been treated at Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital during 2.5 years period from May 1979 to Nov. 1981. The results were as follows: 1. Sixteen patients (14%) stated that they had no relief from the injection, 24(22%) were moderately improved, 52(47%) were markedly improved and 19(17%) were completely relieved of symptoms. 2. The candidates for laminectomy which were confirmed by myelogram had complete improvement in 12%, marked improvement in 39%, moderate improvement in 21%, no relief in 28%.
Back Pain ; Epidural Space ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intervertebral Disc ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration ; Laminectomy ; Low Back Pain ; Methylprednisolone ; Protestantism ; Sciatica ; Steroids

INTRODUCTION: It has been proposed that narcolepsy and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) have overlapped symptom profile and pathophysiology. This study was aimed at measuring and comparing changes in EEG frequency band of REM sleep in narcolepsy and RBD, applying EEG spectral analysis method. METHODS: Nine patients diagnosed as narcolepsy and the same number of RBD patients were studied. Spectral analysis of the REM sleep EEG was performed in each patient on 9 epochs selected evenly from the first, second, and third REM periods. Then, we compared frequency band percentages of REM sleep EEG in narcolepsy and RBD. RESULTS: Narcolepsy patients had significantly higher delta frequency ratio than RBD ones (p=0.00). In alpha and beta2 frequency bands, RBD patients showed higher percentage than narcolepsy ones. Slow wave sleep was more prevalent in narcolepsy patients. But, no difference of REM sleep percentage was found between the two groups (p=0.93). CONCLUSION: Higher delta frequency ratio in REM sleep of narcolepsy patients than RBD ones reflects that sleep-promoting mechanism is more dominant in narcolepsy than in RBD.
Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Narcolepsy ; REM Sleep Behavior Disorder ; Sleep, REM

INTRODUCTION: Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) is used as a way of studying nonlinearity of EEG. In this study, DFA is applied on sleep EEG of normal subjects to look into its nonlinearity in terms of EEG channels and sleep stages. METHOD: Twelve healthy young subjects (age: 23.8+/-2.5 years old, male:female=7:5) have undergone nocturnal polysomnography (nPSG). EEG from nPSG was classified in terms of its channels and sleep stages and was analyzed by DFA. Scaling exponents (SEs) yielded by DFA were compared using linear mixed model analysis. RESULTS: Scaling exponents (SEs) of sleep EEG were distributed around 1 showing long term temporal correlation and self-similarity. SE of C3 channel was bigger than that of O1 channel. As sleep stage progressed from stage 1 to slow wave sleep, SE increased accordingly. SE of stage REM sleep did not show significant difference when compared with that of stage 1 sleep. CONCLUSION: SEs of Normal sleep EEG showed nonlinear characteristic with scale-free fluctuation, long-range temporal correlation, self-similarity and self-organized criticality. SE from DFA differentiated sleep stages and EEG channels. It can be a useful tool in the research with sleep EEG.
Electroencephalography* ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Stages ; Sleep, REM

INTRODUCTION: Excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy are key features of narcolepsy. Modafinil is psychostimulant used in the treatment of narcolepsy. In this study, we evaluated effects of modafinil on nocturnal sleep structure and sleep latency in multiple sleep latency test and clinical features. METHODS: Twelve narcoleptic patients (7 male, age: 22.9 +/- 2.6 yrs) were participated in the study. All of them had done nocturnal polysomnography (nPSG), multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), clinical symptoms scales and have repeated same procedure after taking 200 mg of modafinil. We have done linear mixed model analysis to describe effects of group, medication and nap time on these measures. RESULTS: Modafinil did not affect clinical scales except PSQI which had been reduced after medication. In this study, Modafinil reduced total sleep time, sleep efficiency and increased wake after sleep onset and percent of arousal during sleep in nocturnal polysomnography and prolonged mean sleep latency in multiple sleep latency tests in both group. DISCUSSION: Modafinil has stimulant effect of central nervous system but its effect on night sleep is less than other psychostimulants such as methylphenidate. We ascertained that modafinil affected total sleep time, sleep efficiency and percent of wake during sleep but did not effect on sleep structure. Modafinil was effective in the management of day time sleepiness. Modafinil can enhance alertness of control group without day time sleepiness.
Arousal ; Cataplexy ; Central Nervous System ; Humans ; Male ; Methylphenidate ; Narcolepsy* ; Polysomnography ; Weights and Measures

The incidence of tibial fracture is increasing due to increasing tendency of traffic and industrial accidents. In general, the tibial fracture is treated with closed method but it is difficult because of its anatomical cbaracteristics. We have been treated tibial fractures with total contact short leg cast which supports the 7 points such as tibial condyle, tuberosity, margo anterior, medial malleolus, fibular head, lateral malleolus and heel rigidly and molding it as trangiular shape like the tibia using both palms and fingers The advantages of this cast sre to prevent rotation, to promote osteogenesis with early weight bearing and to prevent ankylosis of knee joint. In fact, the sverage healing time was 14weeks Rotation, nonunion, angulation ove cast sore, nerve injury were not noticed and the shortening was 4. 1mm in closed fractures, 5. 3mm in open fractures.
Accidents, Occupational ; Ankylosis ; Fingers ; Fractures, Closed ; Fractures, Open ; Fungi ; Head ; Heel ; Incidence ; Knee Joint ; Leg ; Methods ; Osteogenesis ; Tibia ; Tibial Fractures ; Weight-Bearing

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to study the possible differences in clinical and polysomnographic findings, depending on the presence or absence of subjective complaints of abnormal sleep behavior, in patients with RWA on polysomnography. METHOD: We reviewed patient records and polysomnographic data of patients referred to the Sleep Laboratory at Seoul National University Hospital from June 1996 through October 2002. We defined the manifest RBD group (n=32) as patients having both complaints of abnormal sleep behavior and RWA on polysomnography. The latent RBD group (n=20) consisted of patients who exhibited RWA on polysomnography but did not complain of abnormal sleep behavior. The clinical characteristics and polysomnographic findings between the two groups were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-two subjects had RWA, as detected by polysomnography (42 males and 10 females, mean age of 55.1+/-19.1 years). Subjects in the manifest RBD group were significantly older than those in the latent RBD group (61.59+/-13.5 vs. 44.70+/-2.76 years, independent t-test, p<0.01). More subjects in the manifest RBD group exhibited abnormal REM behavior on polysomnography than did subjects in the latent RBD group (81.3 vs. 50.0%, Fisher's exact test, p<0.05). No significant differences between the groups were found in the prevalence of brain disorders and primary sleep disorders, gender proportion, and sleep architecture. CONCLUSION: No difference in sleep architecture was found between the manifest and the latent RBD groups. Only age and the presence of abnormal sleep behavior on polysomnography differentiated the two groups. We suggest that RWA on polysomnography without complaints of abnormal sleep behavior may be early manifestation of manifest RBD. Attention to RWA on polysomnography is necessary to help prevent full-blown RBD from developing.
Brain Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Disorders* ; Polysomnography ; Prevalence ; REM Sleep Behavior Disorder ; Seoul ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Sleep, REM*

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence rate of OSA in subjects whose main sleep complaint is insomnia and to find differential factors of OSA in these insomniac subjects. METHOD: We reviewed the medical records and polysomnographic findings of patients referred to the Sleep Laboratory at Seoul National University Hospital from January 1996 to December 2002. Four-hundred and seventy subjects complained of insomnia as their main sleep problem (235 males and 235 females, mean age 53.6+/-12.4 years). First, we investigated the prevalence rate of OSA in these insomniac patients. Second, we compared the clinical and demographic characteristics of the OSA-associated group with those of the non-associated group. Third, we examined whether the degree or presence of differential factors within the OSA group correlate with severity of OSA, as determined by the respiratory disturbance index (RDI). RESULTS: Among 470 insomniac subjects, 125 subjects (26.6%) were diagnosed as OSA by nocturnal polysomnography. OSA-associated subjects were significantly older (58.4+/-12.3 years vs. 51.8+/-11.2 years, p<0.01), and had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) (23.4+/-3.3 kg/m2 vs. 22.5+/-3.1 kg/m2, p=0.44) than non-associated subjects. The OSA-associated group had more subjects with male gender (64.0 % vs. 44.9 %, p<0.01), hypertension (20.0 % vs. 9.3 %, p<0.01) or snoring (96.0 % vs. 63.5 %, p<0.01). Within the OSA-associated group, age had a significant positive correlation with RDI (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: We found that a considerable portion of patients complaining of insomnia as their main sleep problem were diagnosed as OSA. Snoring, old age, male gender, obesity, and comorbid hypertension were found to be differential factors of OSA in insomniac patients. We suggest that diagnostic efforts including nocturnal polysomnography are needed for insomniac patients with any of the above risk factors of OSA.
Body Mass Index ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Medical Records ; Obesity ; Polysomnography ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Seoul ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* ; Snoring