Four consecutive patients underwent composite resection of tonsillar cancer and reconstruction with a microvascular radial forearm free flap. Three patients had postoperative assessments of speech at six to nine months respectively. One patient could not attend for the postoperative assessment. The speech assessment was examined by same speech therapist. All the patients had an good postoperative speech assessment. Compared to conventional local or regional myocutaneous flaps, the thin forearm free flaps offers better postoperative articulatory recovery.
Forearm* ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Humans ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Tonsillar Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Allopurinol* ; Alprostadil* ; Skin*

The dorsal augmentation is the most common rhinoplastic procedure performed by cosmetic surgeons. To date, however, there are few published cases of rhinoplasty with Gore-Tex in Korea. The present work reports the results of retrospective analysis on photographic reviews and interviews obtained from patients, who have undergone rhinoplastic surgery with Gore-Tex for the past two years in my clinic. A total of 146 patients (23 males and 123 females) with age of 15 to 62 years were monitored for 2 to 24 months after surgery from May 2001 to April 2003. Clinical data was compiled through the in- depth comparison of preoperative and postoperative chart assessment. Both the degree of satisfaction and complaints about foreign body sensations were evaluated based on interviews with patients and measured quantitatively by Leichert scale. The results show that a 75 out of 164 patients were satisfied with surgery outcomes and average points were 3.24(scoring 1 to 5 according to the satisfaction rate). About foreign body sensation, 15 out of 137 patients complained of significant foreign body sensation and average points were 2.12(scoring 1 to 5 according to severity of foreign body sensation). Clinically, the Gore- Tex implant in the cases reported in this study were found to have stability and tissue tolerance.
Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Polytetrafluoroethylene* ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinoplasty* ; Sensation

Microsurgical techniques have developed numerous territories suitable for free tissue transfer. However, there are so many flaps in plastic and reconstructive surgical field, so no one dare to say which flap is the best. The radiovolar area of the forearm constitutes a versatile source for composite tissue free flap reconstruction for many areas of the body. The skin is thin and relatively hairless, and the vascular pedicle is long and large caliber The flap can be harvested conjunction with tendons and bone. The skin can be reliably reinnervated. We have used 32 radial forearm free flaps to reconstruct defect in various areas of the body resulting from tumor ablation, postburn scar contracture and penile amputation injury. We had two flap failures, one developed necrosis from venous thrombus formation, the other from the infection due to sepsis. Thirty of the 32 flaps survived completely. Overall survival rate was 94%. The donor sites have been relatively inconspicuous.
Amputation ; Cicatrix ; Contracture ; Forearm* ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Plastics ; Sepsis ; Skin ; Survival Rate ; Tendons ; Thrombosis ; Tissue Donors

Mature cystic teratoma represents 10~20% of all ovarian neoplasms in women during the second and third decades of life. Malignant transformation rarely takes place in this tumor, and is observed in approximately 1~2% of all cases. The most common malignancy developing in mature cystic teratoma is squamous cell carcinoma. The prognosis for patients with malignant transformation of mature cystic teratoma is poor and because of the rarity of malignant degeneration, the surgical and postoperative management is not established. A case of a stage IIIb squamous cell carcinoma which developed in a mature cystic teratoma in a 47-year-old female who was disease free after tumor debulking surgery and subsequent treatment of five cycles of bleomycin (30 mg iv injection Day 1), ifosfamide (1 g/m(2) iv injection Days 1-5), and cisplatin (50 mg/m(2) iv injection Day 1) is presented and issues regarding the diagnosis and management of this rare complication are discussed.
Bleomycin ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cisplatin ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; Middle Aged ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Prognosis ; Teratoma*

Mature cystic teratoma represents 10~20% of all ovarian neoplasms in women during the second and third decades of life. Malignant transformation rarely takes place in this tumor, and is observed in approximately 1~2% of all cases. The most common malignancy developing in mature cystic teratoma is squamous cell carcinoma. The prognosis for patients with malignant transformation of mature cystic teratoma is poor and because of the rarity of malignant degeneration, the surgical and postoperative management is not established. A case of a stage IIIb squamous cell carcinoma which developed in a mature cystic teratoma in a 47-year-old female who was disease free after tumor debulking surgery and subsequent treatment of five cycles of bleomycin (30 mg iv injection Day 1), ifosfamide (1 g/m(2) iv injection Days 1-5), and cisplatin (50 mg/m(2) iv injection Day 1) is presented and issues regarding the diagnosis and management of this rare complication are discussed.
Bleomycin ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cisplatin ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; Middle Aged ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Prognosis ; Teratoma*

Composite graft and local flaps are good modality for the correction of deformatic scars in facial area but there are several limitations in size, shape and graft bed condition. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a good adjunctive therapy for the successful take of the composite graft and local flaps by providing high arterial oxygen pressure and hyperoxic state promoting angiogenesis and collagen synthesis. However, it has some substantial risks of systemic oxygen toxicity to central nervous system, lung and eyes, and needs hyperbaric chamber system and high cost. We designed a modified technique for administrating hyperbaric oxygen topically with the use of simple materials and wall oxygen for the composite graft and local flap wound. 8 patients who had undergone composite graft and local flap on facial scar area were treated with topical hyperbaric therapy for average 6 days. Grafts were relatively large in size and all of the graft bed was scar tissue due to previous operation, trauma and burn injury. All cases showed successful result and there was no complication reported. The potential advantage of this method includes fairly low expense, no need for specialized equipment, simplicity of the application and lack of systemic complication. We conclude that topical hyperbaric oxygen therapy was a simple, cost-effective and safe method for the adjunctive treatment to the composite graft and local flaps.
Burns ; Central Nervous System ; Cicatrix ; Collagen ; Humans ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation* ; Lung ; Oxygen ; Transplants* ; Wounds and Injuries

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify apoptosis-related genes of ovarian cancer cell lines following cisplatin treatment. METHODS: We used IC50 values and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis to compare cell death in 2 ovarian cancer cell lines, namely, SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3, upon treatment with cisplatin. Moreover, the change in transcriptional levels of apoptosis-associated genes was measured with a dendron-modified DNA microarray. RESULTS: The protein levels for the up-regulated genes in each cell line were validated to identify the molecules that may determine the cellular behavior of cisplatin resistance. Eight genes were over-expressed in the 2 cell lines. The cisplatin-induced up-regulation of DAD1 in transcriptional and protein levels contributed to the cisplatin resistance of OVCAR-3, and the up-regulation of FASTK and TNFRSF11A in SKOV-3 resulted in its higher sensitivity to cisplatin than that of OVCAR-3. CONCLUSION: In the present study, we have identified a set of genes responsible for apoptosis following cisplatin treatment in ovarian cancer cell lines. These genes may give information about the understanding of cisplatin-induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer.
Apoptosis ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Cisplatin ; DNA ; Flow Cytometry ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; RNA, Messenger ; Up-Regulation

Heart failure is the most common cause of death of infective endocarditis. The contributing factors of heart failure include valve destruction, myocarditis, coronary artery emboli with myocardial infarction and abscess. Recently, we experienced a thiry nine year-old man who was hospitalized at Inha University Hospital because of fever, chill and dyspnea (NYHA functional class I-II). The grade IV/Vi systolic murmur was heard at the right upper sternal border and the apex and the grade III/VI diastolic murmur was heard at Erb's area. No crackles were heard. Blook cultures grew Streptococcus viridans. Chest X-ray showed mild cardiomegaly without pulmonary congestion sign. Echocardiogram showed aortic valve vegetations, abscess and grade II/IV aortic regurgitation. Aortic valve replacement and abscess removal were performed. Findings included henegg sized abscess which reduced 70% of cross sectional area of left ventricular outflow tract and located between posterior wall of left ventricle and right and left coronary rings.
Abscess ; Aortic Valve ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Cardiomegaly ; Cause of Death ; Coronary Vessels ; Dyspnea ; Endocarditis ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Fever ; Heart Failure ; Heart Murmurs ; Heart Ventricles ; Heart ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocarditis ; Respiratory Sounds ; Systolic Murmurs ; Thorax ; Viridans Streptococci

BACKGROUND: Sleep problems commonly occur in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and are associated with a lower quality of life. The aim of the current study was to translate the English version of the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Sleep (SCOPA-S) into the Korean version of SCOPA-S (K-SCOPA-S), and to evaluate its reliability and validity for use by Korean-speaking patients with PD. METHODS: In total, 136 patients with PD from 27 movement disorder centres of university-affiliated hospitals in Korea were enrolled in this study. They were assessed using SCOPA, Hoehn and Yahr Scale (HYS), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale 2nd version (PDSS-2), Non-motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), Montgomery Asberg Depression Scale (MADS), 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ39), Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension Questionnaire (NOHQ), and Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder Questionnaire (RBDQ). The test-retest reliability was assessed over a time interval of 10–14 days. RESULTS: The internal consistency (Cronbach's α-coefficients) of K-SCOPA-S was 0.88 for nighttime sleep (NS) and 0.75 for daytime sleepiness (DS). Test-retest reliability was 0.88 and 0.85 for the NS and DS, respectively. There was a moderate correlation between the NS sub-score and PDSS-2 total score. The NS and DS sub-scores of K-SCOPA-S were correlated with motor scale such as HYS, and non-motor scales such as UPDRS I, UPDRS II, MADS, NMSS, PDQ39, and NOHQ while the DS sub-score was with RBDQ. CONCLUSION: The K-SCOPA-S exhibited good reliability and validity for the assessment of sleep problems in the Korean patients with PD.
Depression ; Humans ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Korea ; Movement Disorders ; Parkinson Disease ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sleep, REM ; Weights and Measures