OBJECTIVES: Several studies have shown that performance related musculoskeletal disorders present a significant and common health problem for instrument players. This study was conducted to investigate the symptom prevalence rate of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders and risk factors on symphony orchestra players. METHODS: The symptom prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders and related factors including demographic factors, occupational factors, psychosocial factors, practice and performance-related behaviors of on 156 symphony orchestra players in Taegu city were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Instrument players have performed for 14. 6 years in average and worked 4. 9 for years in average as a member of symphony orchestra. The subjects consisted of 106 string players, 48 wind players, and 8 percussion players. The symptom prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders according to the NIOSH surveillance criteria was 79. 6 % and operational criteria by authors was 45. 9 %. The prevalence rate of viola players was higher than violin players, and the prevalence rate of the bass players was higher than that of the cello players. In univariate analysis, job insecurity, irregular performance, stress from family problems, and performance related psychosomatic strains had a significant association with the prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders. In multiple logistic regression, job insecurity, irregular performance, and stress from family problems were significant variables affecting the prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders of instrument players. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggest that symphony orchestra players are high risk group of musculoskeletal disorders. Irregular performance schedule and psychosocial stress including job insecurity, and psychosomatic strain were important risk factors of players musculoskeletal disorders. An exercise program such as stretching before and after performance, regular performance schedule and reduction of psychosocial stress might be helpful for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders of instrument players.
Appointments and Schedules ; Bass ; Daegu ; Demography ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Percussion ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Viola ; Wind

PURPOSE: Our purpose in this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of bronchial and nonbronchial systemic arteries for the control of hemoptysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy patients with massive or recurrent hemoptysis underwent percutaneous transcatheter embolotherapy between 1991 and 1993. Retrospectively we reviewed 77 cases of bronchial artery embotization and 32 cases of nonbronchial systemic artery embolization in the 70 patients. RESULTS: Immdiate control of hemoptysis was achieved in 33 of 39 patients with massive hemoptysis(84.6%) and 20 of 24 patients with recurrent hemopt ysis(83.3%). In 32 cases, nonbronchial systemic arteries contributed significantly to areas of pathologic pulmonary tissue and frequently were the major arterial supply. CONCLUSION: Bronchial artery embolization is an effective and life saving procedure in non-surgical candidates. Recognition and occlusion of nonbronchial systemic arteries that feed to hypervascular pulmonary lesions is essential for successful percutaneous embolotherapy of hemoptysis.
Arteries ; Bronchial Arteries ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Hemoptysis* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies

Pulmonary artery sling is an uncommon and potentially lethal vascular anomaly that can produce airway obstruction. Despite the availibility of a corrective operation, the mortality rate remains very high due to the high incidence of associated obstructive anomalies of the tracheobronchial tree. We experienced a 70-day-old male infant who was admitted to our unit because of sudden dyspnea, cyanosis, coarse expiratory wheezing and inspiratory stridor. At first, he was treated with bronchodilator and steroid under the impression of infantile asthma, but the symptoms went on without interval change. We performed magnetic resonance imaging study followed esophagography and two dimensional echocardiography. Finally he was diagnosed as a vascular sling. We report this with a brief review and related literatures.
Airway Obstruction ; Asthma ; Cyanosis ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mortality ; Pulmonary Artery ; Respiratory Sounds

No abstract available.
Hydrothorax*

OBJECTIVES: A cross sectional study was carried out in the welders exposed to manganese and control group. The aim of this study was to assess the adverse effects of manganese on central nervous system of welders. METHODS: The study group consisted of 49 welders and the reference group, 49 workers matched with welders for age and educational level in automobile manufacturing company. Concentration of manganese in welding hume, in blood, and cumulative exposure index(CEI) were determined for each subject. For each group, computerized neurobehavioral test including Simple Reaction Time, Digit Symbol, Digit Span, and Finger Tapping Speed of Swedish Performance Evaluation System were applied. RESULTS: Exposure level of manganese in welders were very low(mean CEI 0.069). Welders exposed to manganese had slower response speed, slower motor steadiness, and shorter memory span than control group. But these differences were not statistically significant. The performance of Finger Tapping Speed tended to lower as environmental and biological exposure index got higher. Other neurobehavioral tests were found to have a little association with the exposure indices. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference of neurobehavioral performance between welders and control group. This study indicates that Finger Tapping Speed measuring motor steadiness might be a one of useful tests for early detection of adverse effects of welding on central nervous system.
Automobiles ; Central Nervous System ; Fingers ; Manganese* ; Memory ; Reaction Time ; Welding

It is ordinarily accepted that the synthetic testosterone administration is the choice of treatment for the primary testicular dysfunction. But recently not a few medical scientists reported that the long-standing testosterone replacement is not without side effects. For that reason, we tried to investigate a possibility of in vivo transplantation of Leydig cells as a new biologic androgen substitution therapy. The Leydig cells procured from 6 week-old male Sprague-Dawley rat were auto- transplanted and the level of testosterone secretion and histostructural changes were observed.The results obtained are summarized as follows :1. For the selection of transplantation sites, compared to subcutaneous or scrotal counterparts, renal subcapsular and intraperitoneal transplant showed higher levels of testosterone and the number of transplanted cells was correlated with the level of measured testosterone. 2. Furthermore, if the Leydig cells were transplanted intraperitoneally after the uptake on synthetic collagen, testosterone levels were higher than the ones simply transplanted, resulting in 2.7 times higher at 3 months. 3. The activity of 125-I-hCG decreased 20 to 40% at each month after transplantation compared to the normal levels, but no statistical significance was noted among different periods. 4. Histologic examination revealed neovascularized capillaries and well demarcated uptake of sheet-like group of eosinophilic Leydig cells were observed at 4 weeks. But the evidence of destructive changes such as a focal inflammation with central dystropic ossification was noted after S month. On electron microscopy, the marked indentation of nucleus and presence of lipochrome pigment were seen and the number and size of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria were reduced. In conclusion, testosterone output could be increased to the physiologic range by increasing the number of transplant cells or collagen uptake utilizing, etc. However the decrease of testosterone production after 3 months is believed to be a result of focal inflammation and degeneration which in turn caused the decrease in number of secreting Leydig cells and reduced activity of hCG receptors. Further effort is necessary on delaying or preventing the structural and functional decrement of Leydig cells.
Animals ; Capillaries ; Cell Transplantation* ; Collagen ; Endoplasmic Reticulum, Smooth ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Leydig Cells ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron ; Mitochondria ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, LH ; Testosterone ; Transplantation ; Transplants*

One hundred and two patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia were treated by transurethral radio-frequency thermotherapy (TURT) device (Thermex-II, Direx, Israel) with 47.5 degrees C in single session for 2 hours and 30 minutes from November 1992 to October 1993. Among them, 83 patients, who were followed up for more than 3 months were included in this study. Twenty-seven (32.5%) patients had a history of acute retention. Pretreated values of the mean Madsen-Iversen symptom score, maximum urine flow rate, postvoiding residual urine volume, prostate volume and prostate specific antigen (PSA) were 15.4, 6.5 ml/sec, 61.3ml, 43.2ml and 0.77 ng/ml respectively. Madsen-Iversen symptom score, maximum urine flow rate were measured at 2 weeks, 1, 3 and 6 months after TURT. The residual urine volume, prostate volume and PSA level were measured at 3 and 6 months after TURT. During the follow up, the symptom score started to decrease significantly at 1 month (9.9, p< 0.01) after TURT, and gradually decreased up to 6.9 at 3 months. The maximum flow rate showed initial significant improvement at 2 weeks (8.1 ml/sec., p< 0.01), but no significant interval change was observed thereafter. The residual volume decreased significantly at 3 months (41.3 ml, p< 0.01) and no decrement was noted until 6 months. Neither the prostate volume nor PSA value changed significantly at 3 or 6 months after TURT. The improvement, which was defined as a change of 50% or more in at least one of subjective or objective symptoms showed in 63.9% (53/83) at 3 months and 57.1% (32/56) at 6 months. Both subjective and objective improvements at 3 and 6 months after treatment showed in 24.1% and 19.6%, respectively.
Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Human ; *Hyperthermia, Induced/methods ; Male ; Middle Age ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/*therapy ; Radio Waves/therapeutic use

To investigate the possibility of in vivo transplantation of Leydig cells as a new biologic androgen replacement therapy, the Leydig cells procured from 6 week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were autotransplanted, and the level of testosterone secretion and histostructural changes were observed. The renal subcapsular and intraperitoneal transplant showed higher levels of testosterone compared to subcutaneous or scrotal counterparts, and the number of transplanted cells was correlated with the level of measured testosterone. Furthermore, if the Leydig cells were transplanted intraperitoneally after the uptake on synthetic collagen, testosterone levels were higher than the ones simply transplanted without synthetic collagen uptake, resulting in 27 fold increase at 3 months. The activity of 125I-hCG decreased 20 to 40% at each month after transplantation compared to the normal levels, but no statistical significance was noted among different periods. The histologic examination revealed neovascularized capillaries and well demarcated sheet-like group of eosinophilic Leydig cells were observed at 4 weeks. But the evidence of destructive changes such as a focal inflammation with central dystropic ossification could be noted after 3 month. On electron microscopy, the marked indentation of nucleus and presence of lipochrome pigment were seen, and the number and size of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria were reduced after 3 month. In conclusion, testosterone output could be increased to the physiologic range by increasing the number of transplant cells or utilizing collagen uptake but further effort is necessary on delaying or preventing the structural and functional decrement of Leydig cells.
Animal ; Cell Count ; Leydig Cells/cytology/metabolism/*transplantation ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, LH/metabolism ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Testosterone/*biosynthesis ; Transplantation, Autologous

A total of 15 adult male (2 cases of normal, 3 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia, 3 cases of Prostatic cancer, 4 cases of obstructive azoospermia and 3 cases of hemospermia) were evaluated of their prostates and seminal tracts with magnetic resonance(MR) imaging using an endorecta1 surface coi1. On T1W1, the prostatic capsule, periprostatic venous plexus and neurovascular bundle were clearly defined. The zonal anatomy and internal structure of the prostate were clearly visualized on T2W1. The invasion of cancer into the prostatic capsule or the neurovascular bundle could be defined. More of these anatomical depiction, we found some other possible pathophysiologic process such as inhomogeneous signal intensity of seminal plasma in hemospermia and wolffian remnants in vasal agenesis Our results show the value of MR imaging with endorectal surface coil in the evaluation of morphology and pathologic process of the prostate and seminal tract.
Adult ; Azoospermia ; Fluconazole ; Hemospermia ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Male ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Semen

PURPOSE: A growing body of evidence indicates that zoledronic acid (ZA) can improve the clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer and low estrogen levels. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the survival benefit of ZA administration in postmenopausal Korean women with breast cancer who were also receiving aromatase inhibitors. METHODS: Between January 2004 and December 2010, 235 postmenopausal breast cancer patients undergoing aromatase inhibitor therapy were investigated. All patients were postmenopausal, as confirmed by laboratory tests. Of these patients, 77 received adjuvant upfront ZA for at least 1 year in addition to conventional adjuvant treatment. The remaining 158 patients never received ZA and were treated according to the St. Gallen guidelines. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics for ZA treatment were not different between the two groups. The median follow-up time was 62 months, and the patients who received ZA in addition to aromatase inhibitors showed a better recurrence-free survival compared to those who received aromatase inhibitors alone (p=0.035). On multivariate analysis, the patients who received ZA showed a better recurrence-free survival independent of the tumor size, nodal status, progesterone receptor, and histological grade. For this model, Harrell c index was 0.743. The hazard ratio of ZA use for recurrence-free survival was 0.12 (95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.99). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that upfront use of ZA as part of adjuvant treatment can offer a survival benefit to postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving aromatase inhibitor treatment.
Aromatase ; Aromatase Inhibitors* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Estrogens ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Postmenopause ; Receptors, Progesterone