Bond strength of luting cements to dentin is a critical consideration for success of complete cast crowns. This study was performed to evaluate the relationship between surface characteristics of teeth prepared for complete cast crowns and retention of cemented restorations. Eighty artificial crowns were cast for standardized complete crown tooth preparations accomplished with the use of a special device on recently extracted human teeth. Coarse diamond(#102R, Shofu) and superfine finishing diamond(#SF102R, Shofu) burs of similar shape were used. Crowns in each group were randomly subdivided into four subgroups of 10 for luting cements selected for this study: zinc phosphate cement (FLECK'S), polycarboxylate cement (Poly-F), reinforced glass ionomer cement (Fuji PLUS), and adhesive resin cement (Panavia 21). Retention was evaluated by measuring the tensile load required to dislodge the artificial crown from tooth preparations with an Instron testing machine, and analysed by one-way ANOVA and Student's t-test. The obtained results were as follows ; 1. When tooth preparation was done with coarse diamond bur, retentive force was diminished in order of Panavia 21, Fuji PLUS, FLECK'S, and Poly-F. Retentive forces showed the significant difference between Fuji PLUS group and FLECK'S group(p<0.001). 2. When tooth preparation was done with superfine diamond bur, retentive force was diminished in order of Fuji PLUS, Panavia 21, FLECK'S and Poly-F. Retentive forces showed the significant difference between Panavia 21 group and FLECK'S group(p<0.001). 3. Retentive force in coarse tooth surfaces was significantly higher than that in superfine tooth surface with all luting cements(p<0.001), and cement residues were almost retained with in the cast crown in all groups.
Adhesives ; Crowns* ; Dental Instruments ; Dentin ; Glass Ionomer Cements ; Humans ; Polycarboxylate Cement ; Resin Cements ; Tooth Preparation ; Tooth* ; Zinc Phosphate Cement

Kainate is known as a neurotoxin acting on the glutamate receptors in the central nervous system (CNS). Glutamate acts an excitatory neurotransmitter at physiological concentration but has a neurotoxic effect in excess amount. BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) has been reported to have a protective effect against the cellular toxicity and to plays an important role in neuronal survival and differentiation in peripheral nervous system. However, the functional mechanism of BDNF in CNS is unclear. This study was performed to examine the protective effect of BDNF in kainate-induced neurotoxicity and to observe the relation between BDNF mRNA expression and increasing pathways of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Cultured hippocampal neurons were prepared from 17-18 day embryonic rats and used at the 7th day after neuronal culture. The amounts of BDNF mRNA were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction after the treatment of several glutamate receptor agonists: glutamate, kainate, -amino-3-hydroxyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid, N-methyl-D-aspartate. Kainate showed the most prominent effect in an increase of BDNF mRNA expression among the glutamate receptor agonists. The maximal increase of BDNF mRNA expression was obtained in 50 M kainate at 3 hr after the treatment. Adding BDNF to kainate containing cultured hippocampal neurons diminished the increasing level of lactic dehydrogenase according to the single treatment of kainate. In the experiment to evaluate the Ca2+ influx pathways related in BDNF mRNA expression, nifedipine (10 M), a voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel blocker, decreased the both kainate (50 M) and KCl (50 mM) induced BDNF mRNA expressions by 18.4% and 35.0%, respectively. Ryanodine (10 M), a blocker of intracellular release from Ca2+ storage, however, did not show any effect in the both kainate- and KCl-treated neurons.These results suggest that BDNF has a protecting effect against the kainate-induced neurotoxicity in cultured rat hippocampal neurons, and its expression is more related with the Ca2+ influx through the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels than the release from intracellular Ca2+ storage.
Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor* ; Calcium* ; Central Nervous System ; Glutamic Acid ; Kainic Acid ; N-Methylaspartate ; Neurons ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Nifedipine ; Oxidoreductases ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rats ; Receptors, Glutamate ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger* ; Ryanodine

PURPOSE: The well-known prognostic factors for breast cancer, such as axillary lymph node status, do not always account for the exact outcome. The developinent of other accurate prognostic factors would help in assessing high risk for the disease recurrence and death. Recently, there are reports that peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion is a good prognostic factor to solid tumors in animal studies and clinical trials. This study was performed to estimate the significance of peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion (PLVI) as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. Also, PLVI was compared with established clinicopathological prognostic factors and hormone receptors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of patient was selected from the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Hallym University, which consists of 43 out of 96 patients who received curative operation from 1985 to 1993. Peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion by tumor cells on H&E stain was considered PLVI positive. We classified 43 breast-cancer patients into 32 with negative PLVI and ll with positive PLVL. We estimated the correlation between the PLVI and other established prognostic factors. We also calculated survivals based on PLVI. RESULTS: The 4-year disease-free survival rate was 61.8+/-8.7%, and the 4-year overall survival rate was 73.0+/-8.0%. The receptor status of estrogen and of progesterone had significant impacts on survival (ER: p=0.0001, PR: p=0.0001). Also, metastasis status of lymph node had significant impacts on overall survival (p=0.0148). We found a significant correlation between PLVI and tumor size (p=0.004), estrogen receptor (p=0.002), progesterone receptor (p=0.006), but could not find any significant corelation between PLVI and menopausal status, histologic grade, nuclear grade, lymph node metastasis. PLVI status was corelated with disease free survival rate (p=0.01) and overall survival rate (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: The determination of PLVI in breast cancer tissue may be useful as a prognostic factor, but it is necessary to investigate the PLVI in a large number of patients before this conclusion can be stated with certainty.
Animals ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Estrogens ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Vessels ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Progesterone ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVE: Because of the limited penetration into the central nervous system after systemic administration of numerous therapeutic compounds, intratumoral chemotherapy for brain tumors has also been used. However, the efficacy of intratumoral drug administration is restricted by the poor diffusion of drug through tumor and brain interstitium. In order to enhance the diffusion of chemotherapeutic agent and increase the cytotoxicity with minimal dose, the authors report the results of convection-enhanced delivery(CED) of chemotherapeutic agent to the malignant brain tumor as a method of enhancing cerebral drug delivery. METHODS: Authors used "CADD-Micro(R) ambulatory infusion pump" from Deltec, which can be programmed for continuous infusion. Intratumoral injection of chemotherapeutic drug using the pump was applied to eight patients with glioma and one patient with lymphoma. Surgery was done and tumor was removed as much as possible. The tip of catheter was placed in the center of tumor cavity. Adriamycin (0.16~0.32mg) was put in the reservoir which was connected to the proximal catheter and fixed in the pump device. Twenty-four hours after surgery, Adriamycin was infused. RESULTS: There was no adverse reaction of CED technique. Compared with current delivery techniques, the improvement of survival rate has been observed(5 patients: alive, 3 patients: dead, 1 patient: lost(alive to 5 mo.)). CONCLUSION: CED can be useful method for distributing therapeutic molecules in the interstitial space of tumor and can be utilized for chemotherapeutic agents, immunotoxins, and gene etc..
Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Catheters ; Central Nervous System ; Diffusion ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Glioma ; Humans ; Immunotoxins ; Lymphoma ; Survival Rate

We report a non-obese patient suffering from spastic gait and right leg paresis caused by thoracic spinal cord compression secondary to spinal epidural lipomatosis. Although spinal epidural lipomatosis is most often associated with the administration of exogenous steroid or endogenous Cushing syndrome, obesity also has been reported as a possible cause. However, idiopathic(non-glucocorticoid induced) spinal epidural lipomatosis in non-obese healthy man is an extremely rare disease and dose not have any good explanation for the abnormal fat deposition in spinal epidural space. We recently experienced a patient with idiopathic thoracic epidural lipomatosis in whom MRI and histopathology established the specific diagnosis. With a case report, brief review of the disease including clinical feature, diagnostic procedure and therapeutic considerations is described.
Cushing Syndrome ; Diagnosis ; Epidural Space ; Gait Disorders, Neurologic ; Humans ; Leg ; Lipomatosis* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Obesity ; Paresis ; Rare Diseases ; Spinal Cord Compression

Bromate salt is very toxic oxidant. The clinical manifestations of bromate intoxications are vomiting, diarrhea, depression of central nervous system, oliguric or non-oliguric renal failure, hemolytic anemia and deafness. Most of the toxic manifestations are reversible with the exception of renal failure and deafness. Since bromate is a small hydrophilic molecule, its removal by dialysis, especially hemodialysis, can reasonably be expected. Since the serious complications such as deafness, acute renal failure usually occur concurrently within 4-16 hours after ingestion, dialysis should therefore be considered in every patient presenting within a few hours of a significant amount of bromate. Recently, we encountered a 40-year-old female, past hairdresser, who was admitted to Asan Kangnung Hospital due to frequent diarrhea, vomiting and anuria after ingestion of sodium bromate. The patient required regular hemodialysis therapy and has not any evidence of complication such as hearing loss, blindness and irreversible renal failure. The clinician must assess the potential for preventing irreversible ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity and weigh the importance of early intervention against the possible risks of aggressive treatment in bromate intoxication.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Adult ; Anemia, Hemolytic ; Anuria ; Blindness ; Central Nervous System ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Deafness ; Depression ; Dialysis ; Diarrhea ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Eating ; Female ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Renal Dialysis ; Renal Insufficiency ; Sodium ; Vomiting

INTRODUCTION: Identifying menton (Me) on posteroanterior cephalograms and three-dimensional (3D) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images is difficult, because the midpoint of the symphyseal area is not identifiable after the mandibular symphysis fuses at an early age. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the identification of the genial tubercle (GT) in patients with mandibular asymmetry and to compare it with that of the traditional landmark, Me. METHODS: The samples comprised 20 CBCT images of adults with mandibular asymmetry. Two examiners performed the identifications and measurements. Me and GT were marked, and the anteroposterior, vertical, and transverse distances to the three reference planes were measured on 3D-reconstructed CBCT images. The intra- and inter-examiner reliability of landmark identification of Me and GT were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS: The Me and GT landmarks showed excellent reliability (ICC ≥ 0.993) three-dimensionally. In the transverse evaluation, the ICC values of the GT (range, 0.997–0.999) tended to be slightly higher than those of Me (range, 0.993–0.996). In the Bland-Altman plots for the two separate assessments, Me showed a maximum error of 1.76 mm in the transverse direction, whereas the GT showed a maximum error of 0.96 mm in the 95% limit. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that both Me and GT are clinically reliable and equally useful landmarks for the evaluation of mandibular asymmetry on CBCT images.
Adult ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Diagnosis* ; Humans ; Prospective Studies*

Objective: Recently, many studies have reported that cervical alignment is related to clinical outcomes. However, poor visibility of anatomical structures during X-ray (XR) imaging limits accurate measurements. In supine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the boundary of the anatomical structure is clear, but the correlation to XR images taken in a standing position is problematic. In this study, we evaluated the agreement of sagittal alignment parameters between MR and XR measurements. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 268 patients. Cervical sagittal parameters were measured using XR and MR images, and their relationships were evaluated using Pearson's correlation, paired t-tests, and 2-way random, single score intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCs) (2,1). Using simple linear regression analysis, MR results were converted to the expected value (MR-E). The subsequent comparison of MR-Es with XRs was used to examine whether MR-Es could replace XRs when the measurement difference was less than 2 mm or 2°. Results: The correlation between the MR and XR measurements was high, but ICCs showed low reliability. All parameters were significantly different between XR and MR measurements in paired t-tests. Converting the MR values eliminated the t-test differences between MR-Es and XRs, but did not affect correlations and ICCs. The replacement ratio included the Cobb angle: 20.3%, T1: 27.1%, the sagittal vertical axis: 17.6%, C1–2: 29.7%, and C2: 16.0%. Conclusion These results indicate that supine MR measurements could not replace upright XR measurements.

Objective: : Fixation of the C1–2 segment is challenging because of the complex anatomy in the region and the need for a high degree of accuracy to avoid complications. Preoperative 3D-computed tomography (CT) scans can help reduce the risk of complications in the vertebral artery, spinal cord, and nerve roots. However, the patient may be susceptible to injury if the patient’s anatomy does not match the preoperative CT scans. The intraoperative 3D image-based navigation systems have reduced complications in instrument-assisted techniques due to greater accuracy. This study aimed to compare the radiologic outcomes of C1–2 fusion surgery between intraoperative CT image-guided operation and fluoroscopy-guided operation. Methods: : We retrospectively reviewed the radiologic images of 34 patients who underwent C1–2 fusion spine surgery from January 2009 to November 2018 at our hospital. We assessed 17 cases each of degenerative cervical disease and trauma in a study population of 18 males and 16 females. The mean age was 54.8 years. A total of 139 screws were used and the surgical procedures included 68 screws in the C1 lateral mass, 58 screws in C2 pedicle, nine screws in C2 lamina and C2 pars screws, four lateral mass screws in sub-axial level. Of the 34 patients, 19 patients underwent screw insertion using intraoperative mobile CT. Other patients underwent atlantoaxial fusion with a standard fluoroscopy-guided device. Results: : A total of 139 screws were correctly positioned. We analyzed the positions of 135 screws except for the four screws that performed the lateral mass screws in C3 vertebra. Minor screw penetration was observed in seven cases (5.2%), and major pedicle screw penetration was observed in three cases (2.2%). In one case, the malposition of a C2 pedicle screw was confirmed, which was subsequently corrected. There were no complications regarding vertebral artery injury or onset of new neurologic deficits. The screw malposition rate was lower (5.3%) in patients who underwent intraoperative CT-based navigation than that for fluoroscopy-guided cases (10.2%). And we confirmed that the operation time can be significantly reduced by surgery using intraoperative O-arm device. Conclusion : Spinal navigation using intraoperative cone-beam CT scans is reliable for posterior fixation in unstable C1-2 pathologies and can be reduced the operative time.

The term of giant hydronephrosis in adults, is applied when the collecting system contains more than 1,000 mL of fluid. The commonest cause of asymptomatic giant hydronephrosis in early adult life is congenital ureteropelvic stenosis. Giant hydronephrosis in adults is uncommon and often clinically misdiagnosed, because clinical characteristics are vague and generalized symptom. We presented a giant hydronephrosis associated with ureter stricture on 31 years old male.
Adult* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis* ; Male ; Ureter