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

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

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 purpose of this study is to identify risk factors for subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) in Korea. METHODS: The clinical record and environmental data of 250 patients who had admitted our hospital between September 2001 and May 2003 were reviewed retrospectively by the neurosurgical nursing practitioners. RESULTS: In this study, the peak age for presentation with ruptured intracranial aneurysm was around 5th decade which is most active period of his or her life. The peak time of aneurysm rupture was from 6 to 12 A.M.(34.8%) and the onset of SAH occurred the most frequently at work(30.4%). The prevalence of hypertension in SAH patients was 42.8%, That of cigarette smoking in men and in women were 81.7% and 15.8% respectively. Hypertension was significantly corrected with the amount of hemorrhage based on Fisher Grading system(P<0.05). The consumption of smoking and the amount of hemorrhage was closely correlated also(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Hypertension and cigarette smoking may be closely related to aneurysmal SAH. Undoubtedly, they are significantly related to massive, fatal SAH with poor neurologic condition. To prevent reduce aneurysmal SAH, cessation of smoking, anti-hypertensive medication and stress control are most important basic step in promotion of public health.
Aneurysm* ; Causality* ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Korea ; Male ; Nursing ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Rupture* ; Smoke* ; Smoking*

OBJECTIVE: We present a retrospective analysis of clinical characteristics of vertebral artery dissecting aneurysms and efficacy of treatment outcome according to the various treatment modalities. METHODS: From March 2001 to February 2002, seven patients with dissecting aneurysm of vertebral artery were diagnosed by cerebral angiography. Five patients presented with subarchnoid hemorrhage and two patients with mass effect. Five patients were treated endovascularly using Guglielmi detachable coils and a patient with severe brainstem compression underwent direct surgery. Another patient rebled before treatment and subsequently died. RESULTS: We had no endovascular procedure-related complications. Four patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage who underwent endovascular treatment survived with good recovery. One of them rebled after initial treatment and was treated by additional endovascular procedure. Among patients with mass effect, one patient was treated with proximal occlusion of vertebral artery and another underwent complete excision of aneurysm, with anastomosis of the PICA into the dissecting aneurysm proximal portion. We obtained a good treatment results with improvement of myelopathy in both patients, however, the patients who had underwent bypass surgery suffered from transient lower cranial nerve palsy. CONCLUSION: The endovascular treatment for vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm could be the treatment of choice for these lesions to prevent early rebleeding and obtain optimal results. However, the choice for the treatment modality in such lesions should be determined according to the individual lesions considering the status of patients, clinical characteristics, and relation with posterior inferior cerebellar artery.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, Dissecting* ; Arteries ; Brain Stem ; Cerebral Angiography ; Cranial Nerve Diseases ; Endovascular Procedures ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Pica ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Treatment Outcome ; Vertebral Artery*

BACKGROUND: Research is essential for the development of family medicine as a professional field in primary care. Since information is available through the articles in the Journals of Family Medicine which contains subjects such as disease mechanism, pathophysiology, drug or new treatment method, and it is necessary to evaluate the contribution of recent researches in this field. This paper is intended to evaluate the current status of the quality of papers published in the Journal of the Korea Academy of Family Medicine (below JKAFM) and provide statistical data & direction of studies in the future. METHODS: 1218 articles in 185 editions of JKAFM were analyzed among 188 editions published from Nov. 1980 to Dec. 1996. The papers were classified into Case Report, Original Article, Review Article by the type of papers, and then categorized Into descriptive studies, analytic studies, and clinical trials by its methodology. In each category, the papers were stratified by the topic. Also, the analysis was conducted according to the authors, research subjects, sampling methods and the statistical methods, and observed the changes each year through 1980s to 1990s. RESULTS: The portion of original articles has increased from 18.6% in 1980s to 73.9% in 1990s. In terms of research methodology, the portions of analytical studies and clinical trials occupy 28.8% and 2.1% in 1990's respectively, compared with those of 1.8% and 0.6% in 1980's. When the papers were stratified by study topics, topics on family medicine showed the highest of 34.9% of the total. According to the detailed stratification, the principle of family medicine recorded 24.2%. In terms of sampling method, 89% and above was from the clinical data when current data were used, and 69.1% was by questionnaires when the data were newly collected. The most of the study subjects were outpatients of family medicine departments. The portion of papers in which the statistical analysis was not included was 29.9% in 1980s which decreased to 15.7% in 1990s. In terms of the statistical analysis methodology, the Chi-square test was the most frequently used(26.2%), followed by Descriptive(19.6%),1-test(18.2% ) and ANOVA(8.7%) were the next. CONCLUSIONS: The academic performance of family medicine can be most effectively measured by the analysis of the journals on family medicine. According to the analysis, the papers based on clinical activity is increasing in recent years with substantial contribution, which means that the field of family medicine has found its own position in medical science and is developing actively. In terms of study methodology, the portion of analytical study is getting larger, and the various method are being tried. The application of statistical methods is being developed in its quality and quantity. It should be noted that research on family medicine should provide the basis for new knowledge and promote public health by the integrated and intensive efforts.
Humans ; Korea ; Outpatients ; Primary Health Care ; Public Health ; Research Design ; Research Subjects ; Surveys and Questionnaires

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

OBJECTIVE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder which is characterized by a recurrence of entire or partial collapse of the pharyngeal airway during sleep. A given tidal volume must traverse the soft tissue tube structure of the upper airway, so the tendency for airway obstruction is influenced by the geometries of the duct and characteristics of the airflow in respect to fluid dynamics. METHODS: Individualized 3D FEA models were reconstructed from pretreatment computerized tomogram images of three patients with obstructive sleep apnea. 3D computational fluid dynamics analysis was used to observe the effect of airway geometry on the flow velocity, negative pressure and pressure drop in the upper airway at an inspiration flow rate of 170, 200, and 230 ml/s per nostril. RESULTS: In all 3 models, large airflow velocity and negative pressure were observed around the section of minimum area (SMA), the region which narrows around the velopharynx and oropharynx. The bigger the Out-A (outlet area)/ SMA-A (SMA area) ratio, the greater was the change in airflow velocity and negative pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Pressure drop meaning the difference between highest pressure at nostril and lowest pressure at SMA, is a good indicator for upper airway resistance which increased more as the airflow volume was increased.
Airway Obstruction ; Airway Resistance ; Humans ; Hydrodynamics ; Oropharynx ; Recurrence ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; Tidal Volume

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

OBJECTIVE: Autonomic symptoms are commonly observed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and often limit the activities of daily living. The Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) was developed to evaluate and quantify autonomic symptoms in PD. The goal of this study was to translate the original SCOPA-AUT, which was written in English, into Korean and to evaluate its reliability and validity for Korean PD patients. METHODS: For the translation, the following processes were performed: forward translation, backward translation, expert review, pretest of the pre-final version and development of the final Korean version of SCOPA-AUT (K-SCOPA-AUT). In total, 127 patients with PD from 31 movement disorder clinics of university-affiliated hospitals in Korea were enrolled in this study. All patients were assessed using the K-SCOPA-AUT and other motor, non-motor, and quality of life scores. Test-retest reliability for the K-SCOPA-AUT was assessed over a time interval of 10−14 days. RESULTS: The internal consistency and reliability of the K-SCOPA-AUT was 0.727 as measured by the mean Cronbach's α-coefficient. The test-retest correlation reliability was 0.859 by the Guttman split-half coefficient. The total K-SCOPA-AUT score showed a positive correlation with other non-motor symptoms [the Korean version of non-motor symptom scale (K-NMSS)], activities of daily living (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part II) and quality of life [the Korean version of Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life 39 (K-PDQ39)]. CONCLUSION: The K-SCOPA-AUT had good reliability and validity for the assessment of autonomic dysfunction in Korean PD patients. Autonomic symptom severities were associated with many other motor and non-motor impairments and influenced quality of life.
Activities of Daily Living ; Humans ; Korea ; Movement Disorders ; Parkinson Disease ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results