No abstract available.
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult*

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Rheumatic Diseases*

OBJECTIVE: Excessive external rotation of the hemiplegic foot is a common problem of hemiplegic gait. There has been a few report on etiological investigation and corrective measurement of an excessive external rotation of hemiplegic foot. Thus we present a newly designed Torque heel to correct the external rotation of hemiplegic foot. METHOD: Ten hemiparetic patients with an excessive external rotation of affected foot participated in this study. All of the participants were able to walk at least 10 meters with metal a ankle foot orthosis (AFO) using a single cane. Each of these patients was placed on four tries of walk: (1) on a bare foot; (2) with an AFO; (3) with an AFO and a quarter inch of lateral wedge; and (4) with an AFO and the Torque heel . Gait patterns were analysed by the Vicon 370, three dimensional motion analyser. RESULTS: The speed and stride length increased in all tries except for the bare foot walk. Those who walked with the assistive devices showed no difference in the speed and stride length. All the participants showed an increased in external rotation of pelvis and ankle. Those who walked with an AFO and Torque heel presented a decrease in the external rotation of foot and pelvis. The hip and ankle motions of the hemiplegic limbs were not affected with the AFO and Torque heel . A significant degree of correction in pelvic rotation with an AFO and Torque heel was noted. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that an AFO with Torque heel is beneficial to the correction of external rotation of a hemiplegic foot. And the excessive external rotation of hemiplegic foot may be due possibly to the external rotation of pelvis.
Ankle ; Canes ; Extremities ; Foot Orthoses ; Foot* ; Gait Disorders, Neurologic ; Gait* ; Heel* ; Hip ; Humans ; Pelvis ; Self-Help Devices ; Torque*

New surgical techniques utilizing computer-aided engineering have been recently developed to improve the quality of surgery and reduce the risk to patients. This paper reports the surgical cases using rapid prototyping assisted orthopeadic fracture surgery (RPAOFS). RPAOFS utilizes the symmetric characteristics of the human body, and the potential for RE and RP in which the physical shape is manufactured repidly from the CT data. The physical shape before the injury was manufactured from the RP using the mirror transformed CAD data of the uninjured extents. Subsequently, pre-operative planning, such as the selection of the proper implant, preforming of the implant, selection of the fixation positions, and surgery are performed utilizing the physical shape. RPAOFS was applied to two cases such as a distal tibia communited fracture and a proximal tibia plateau fracture. The surgical results showed that RPAOFS is an effective surgical tools.
Human Body ; Humans ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted ; Tibia

No abstract available.
Arthritis* ; Immunoblastic Lymphadenopathy*

OBJECTIVE: We performed this study to evaluate whether the vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli on microscopic evaluation of a saline wet preparations would be associated with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in Korean women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of 556 women between 16 and 78yrs of age from May 2001 to May 2003. Wet-mount microscopic examination of vaginal discharge was done on all patients. Positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes was defined as more than 10 white blood cells per high-power field on microscopic examination, and few lactobacilli was defined as less than 30 per high-power field on microscopic examination. The diagnosis of PID was relied on the minimal criteria delineated by the Centers for Disease Contral and Prevention, elevated CRP or ESR and positive anaerobic cultures. RESULTS: On univariate analysis, positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli were associated with PID, but age (less than 25) and marital status were not. On multivariate analysis using multiple logistic regression, odds ratios of positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli for PID were 5.995 (95%CI: 3.056-11.761) and 24.39 (95%CI: 10.989-55.556) respectively. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes or few bacilli for predicting PID were 90.6% and 94.42% respectively. CONCLUSION: Positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli were strongly associated with PID. Positive vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli have a high sensitivity and negative predictive value for predicting PID. Therefore the existence of vaginal polymorphonuclear leukocytes and few lactobacilli are thought hereafter to be useful marker to diagnose PID.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Lactobacillus ; Leukocytes* ; Logistic Models ; Marital Status ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neutrophils ; Odds Ratio ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease* ; Vaginal Discharge*

PURPOSE: To identify prognostic factors for disease progression and survival of patients with extracranial oligometastatic breast cancer (EOMBC), and to investigate the role of radiation therapy (RT) for metastatic lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 50 patients who had been diagnosed with EOMBC following standard treatment for primary breast cancer initially, and received RT for metastatic lesions, with or without other systemic therapy between January 2004 and December 2008. EOMBC was defined as breast cancer with five or less metastases involving any organs except the brain. All patients had bone metastasis (BM) and seven patients had pulmonary, hepatic, or lymph node metastasis. Median RT dose applied to metastatic lesions was 30 Gy (range, 20 to 60 Gy). RESULTS: The 5-year tumor local control (LC) and 3-year distant progression-free survival (DPFS) rate were 66.1% and 36.8%, respectively. High RT dose (> or =50 Gy10) was significantly associated with improved LC. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 49%. Positive hormone receptor status, pathologic nodal stage of primary cancer, solitary BM, and whole-lesion RT (WLRT), defined as RT whose field encompassed entire extent of disease, were associated with better survival. On analysis for subgroup of solitary BM, high RT dose was significantly associated with improved LC and DPFS, shorter metastasis-to-RT interval (< or =1 month) with improved DPFS, and WLRT with improved DPFS and OS, respectively. CONCLUSION: High-dose RT in solitary BM status and WLRT have the potential to improve the progression-free survival and OS of patients with EOMBC.
Brain ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Disease Progression ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Antibodies, Antiphospholipid* ; Rheumatic Diseases*

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate both the psychosocial and physical effects of muscle strengthening exercise on farmers, and in so doing evaluate their effect on musculoskeletal disorders in farmers. METHODS: 28 subjects participated in our muscle strengthening exercise program. Mean age of subjects was 63+/-13 years. The exercise program was performed 3 times a week during the 8 week studys period. Before and after training various measurements were made: self esteem scale (SES), psychosocial wellbeing index short form (PWI-SF), static and dynamic balance ability, grip strength, arm curl, time up and go (TUG), functional reach, and oswestry disability index. RESULTS: The muscle strengthening exercise program increased the self-esteem, grip strength and static and dynamic balance of subjects, while psychosocial stress and low back pain levels were decreased significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The muscle strengthening exercise improved psychosocial and physical status of test subjects. Thus, exercise may be an effective strategy for enhancing the psychosocial and physical health of farmers.
Agriculture ; Arm ; Hand Strength ; Low Back Pain ; Muscles ; Self Concept

PURPOSE: This study compared in-hospital mortality within 30 days of admission, lengths of stay, and inpatient charges among patients with heart failure admitted to public and private hospitals in South Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained health insurance claims data for all heart failure inpatients nationwide between November 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. These data were then matched with hospital-level data, and multi-level regression models were examined. A total of 8406 patients from 253 hospitals, including 31 public hospitals, were analyzed. RESULTS: The in-hospital mortality rate within 30 days of admission was 0.92% greater and the mean length of stay was 1.94 days longer at public hospitals than at private hospitals (mortality: 5.18% and 4.26%, respectively; LOS: 12.08 and 10.14 days, respectively). The inpatient charges were 11.4% lower per case and 24.5% lower per day at public hospitals than at private hospitals. After adjusting for patient- and hospital-level confounders, public hospitals had a 1.62-fold higher in-hospital mortality rate, a 16.5% longer length of stay, and an 11.7% higher inpatient charge per case than private hospitals, although the charges of private hospitals were greater in univariate analysis. CONCLUSION: We recommend that government agencies and policy makers continue to monitor quality of care, lengths of stay in the hospital, and expenditures according to type of hospital ownership to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce spending.
Aged ; Female ; Heart Failure/economics/*mortality/therapy ; Hospital Charges/*statistics & numerical data ; Hospital Mortality ; Hospitalization/economics ; Hospitals, Private/*economics ; Hospitals, Public/*economics ; Humans ; Inpatients/*statistics & numerical data ; Length of Stay/economics/*statistics & numerical data ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)/economics ; Patient Discharge/economics/statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Survival Analysis ; Time Factors