The soft palate of carcinoma limited to the uvular region is infrequent among oropharyngeal cancers. The oropharynx regulates swallowing and speech through dynamic motions. Failure to reconstruct after surgical resection of the oropharynx structure can lead to permanent velopharyngeal insufficiency. Therefore, suitable reconstruction is important in establishing proper functional outcomes while maintaining oncological safety.
We present a case of a 66-year-old male who was diagnosed with oropharynx cancer limited in the uvula accompanied by lymph node metastasis. After surgical resection, reconstruction was performed with the united arrangement of bilateral palatal mucomuscular flap and superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap. There was no aspiration or reflux after feeding and epithelialization completely occurred after 1 month postoperatively. We report a successful case that the reconstruction with the local flap described above could preserve proper oropharyngeal function after primary surgery in small-sized oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: Cyclosporine is an effective drug for the treatment of psoriasis. Nonetheless, little is known about the factors associated with its effectiveness. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the factors affecting the treatment efficacy of cyclosporine in patients with psoriasis. Methods: ‘Good treatment response’ and ‘treatment failure’ were each defined as achievement of 75% improvement in the psoriasis area and severity index and failure to achieve 50% improvement in the psoriasis area and severity index, respectively. The factors affecting good treatment response were investigated by comparing the group that achieved psoriasis area and severity index 75 to the not achieved group. Similarly, we also analyzed the factors affecting treatment failure and the time required to achieve psoriasis area and severity index 75. Results: In total, 78 patients (63 males and 15 females) were analyzed. Age of onset, body surface area, accompanying hypertension, accompanying psoriatic arthritis, induction phase mean dose, and cumulative dose showed a relationship with good treatment response. Body surface area, initial dose, and accompanying hypertension were correlated with treatment failure. The mean time taken to achieve psoriasis area and severity index 75 was 6.70±3.17 weeks and it did not correlate with any factor. Conclusion In patients with psoriasis vulgaris, maintaining an adequate mean dose in the induction phase may be necessary for successful treatment with cyclosporine, especially in the patients with early-onset psoriasis, severe psoriasis, or accompanying psoriatic arthritis. In addition, a sufficiently high start dose may be needed to prevent treatment failure, particularly in patients with severe psoriasis vulgaris.

Background: Cyclosporine is an effective drug for the treatment of psoriasis. Nonetheless, little is known about the factors associated with its effectiveness. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the factors affecting the treatment efficacy of cyclosporine in patients with psoriasis. Methods: ‘Good treatment response’ and ‘treatment failure’ were each defined as achievement of 75% improvement in the psoriasis area and severity index and failure to achieve 50% improvement in the psoriasis area and severity index, respectively. The factors affecting good treatment response were investigated by comparing the group that achieved psoriasis area and severity index 75 to the not achieved group. Similarly, we also analyzed the factors affecting treatment failure and the time required to achieve psoriasis area and severity index 75. Results: In total, 78 patients (63 males and 15 females) were analyzed. Age of onset, body surface area, accompanying hypertension, accompanying psoriatic arthritis, induction phase mean dose, and cumulative dose showed a relationship with good treatment response. Body surface area, initial dose, and accompanying hypertension were correlated with treatment failure. The mean time taken to achieve psoriasis area and severity index 75 was 6.70±3.17 weeks and it did not correlate with any factor. Conclusion In patients with psoriasis vulgaris, maintaining an adequate mean dose in the induction phase may be necessary for successful treatment with cyclosporine, especially in the patients with early-onset psoriasis, severe psoriasis, or accompanying psoriatic arthritis. In addition, a sufficiently high start dose may be needed to prevent treatment failure, particularly in patients with severe psoriasis vulgaris.

Cutaneous metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) present as rapidly growing erythematous or purple-round nodules. An 88-year-old male presented with a solitary, deep-seated firm mass on his left forearm that had persisted for 3 years. Ultrasonography revealed an hypervascular mass with rich vessels. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 1.6×1.6×3.3 cm sized, high T2-weighted signal intensity mass at brachioradialis muscle. Histopathologic examination revealed cells with atypical, pleomorphic, oval to spindle-shaped nuclei, and clear cytoplasm with an alveolar pattern within an unencapsulated, lobulated mass. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the tumor cells were positive for PAX8, CD10, epithelial membrane antigen, and vimentin. Ultrasonography of the urinary tract revealed a lesion suspected to be RCC, which was thought to be the primary tumor. As our patient showed peculiar clinical symptoms and the primary tumor was later diagnosed as a metastatic lesion inversely, we report a rare case of metastatic RCC with an intramuscular mass on the forearm.

No abstract available.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets depending on the variety of adhesives and whether saliva exists, by using self-etching primer (SEP). Groups were divided according to the type of adhesive into resin adhesive (Transbond XT) and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (Fuji Ortho LC). One group of resin adhesive used XT primer after etching with 37% phosphoric acid, and the other group used self-etching primer. One group of resin-modified glass ionomer cement only used etching for bonding, and the other group used SEP. Each of the groups were also classified by whether saliva was contaminated or not, and then the shear bond strength was measured. The results showed that when using resin adhesive, the shear bond strength of SEP was lower than the XT primer. In the resin-modified glass ionomer cement groups, the shear bond strength which depends on the priming method, did not have a meaningful difference statistically. When saliva was contaminated, the group which used SEP, regardless of the adhesive variety, had a greater shear bond strength than the normal priming group. From these results, SEP showed a shear bond strength that is possible to be used clinically, regardless of the adhesive variety. It can especially be clinically useful to use SEP to bond brackets even on tooth surfaces contaminated with saliva, because it offers the appropriate bonding strength as well as shorter treatment time and easy application.
Adhesives* ; Glass Ionomer Cements ; Orthodontic Brackets* ; Saliva* ; Tooth

Objectives: . When performing middle ear operations, such as ossiculoplasty or stapes surgery, patients and surgeons expect an improvement in air conduction (AC) hearing, but generally not in bone conduction (BC). However, BC improvement has often been observed after surgery, and the present study investigated this phenomenon. Methods: . We reviewed the preoperative and postoperative surgical outcomes of 583 patients who underwent middle ear surgery. BC improvement was defined as a BC threshold decrease of >15 dB at two or more frequencies. Subjects in group A underwent staged ossiculoplasty after canal wall up mastoidectomy (CWUM), group B underwent staged ossiculoplasty after canal wall down mastoidectomy (CWDM), group C underwent ossiculoplasty only (thus, they had no prior history of CWUM or CWDM), and group D received stapes surgery. We created a hypothetical circuit model to explain this phenomenon. Results: . BC improvement was detected in 12.8% of group A, 9.1% of group B, and 8.5% of group C. The improvement was more pronounced in group D (27.0%). A larger gain in AC hearing was weakly correlated with greater BC improvement (Pearson’s r=0.395 in group A, P<0.001; r=0.375 in group B, P<0.001; r=0.296 in group C, P<0.001; r=0.422 in group D, P=0.009). Notably, patients with otosclerosis even experienced postoperative BC improvements as large as 10.0 dB, from a mean value of 30.3 dB (standard error [SE], 3.2) preoperatively to 20.3 dB (SE, 3.2) postoperatively, at 1,000 Hz, as well as an improvement of 9.2 dB at 2,000 Hz, from 37.8 dB (SE, 2.6) to 28.6 dB (SE, 3.1). Conclusion . BC improvement may be explained by a hypothetical circuit model applying the third window theory. Surgeons should keep in mind the possibility of BC improvement when making a management plan.

This study has focused on genetical patterns of rotavirus positives on diarrhea patients in Incheon. Fecal specimens collected from January 2002 to December 2004 from patients with diarrhea in seven localities in Incheon were screened for group A rotavirus by RT-PCR. To survey the prevalence of group A rotavirus infection and distribution of P (VP4) and G (VP7) genotypes of rotaviruses in Incheon, we performed the nested RT-PCR using rotavirus ELISA positive samples. Among a total of 4,865 samples investigated, 1,100 samples (22.6%) were positive. The predominant genotypes of 293 RT-PCR positive samples were confirmed as G4P[6] (101 samples, 34.5%) followed by G2P[4] (73 samples, 24.9%), G1P[8] (38 samples, 13.0%), G3P[8] (28 samples, 9.6%), G3P[10] (14 samples, 4.8%), G4P[8] (6 samples, 2.0%) and G9P[8] (6 samples, 2.0%). Mixed types and untypable types were 3.8% and 5.1%, respectively. The most prevalent types in 2002, 2003 and 2004 were G4P[6] (71 samples, 40.3%), G4P[6] (22 samples, 40.7%) and G2P[4] (15 samples, 22.2%) respectively. This is the first nationwide genoepidemiological study for determining the prevailing of genotypes of rotaviruses in Incheon. The genetic analysis for investigating sequence variations among group A rotavirus strains in this study would provide the useful information to establish the preventing strategy of human rotaviruses and of developing vaccines which will be used in Korea.
Diarrhea ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Gastroenteritis* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Incheon* ; Korea ; Prevalence* ; Rotavirus Infections ; Rotavirus* ; Vaccines