OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in dentofacial morphology of non-orthodontically treated female patients with TMJ disk displacement. METHODS: The sample consisted of 25 Korean female patients with bilateral TMJ disk displacement who visited the Department of Orthodontics, Seoul National University Dental Hospital from 1996 to 2006. Disk displacements were diagnosed using the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of both TMJs. Baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2) lateral cephalograms were analyzed. The mean age of samples at T1 was 18.1 +/- 3.5 years (range 14.2 - 25.8 years) and at T2, 21.1 +/- 3.5 years (range 16.2 - 28.0 years). The mean observation period was 3.0 +/- 1.9 years. Descriptive statistics for each variable were calculated at baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2) stages, and during the observation period (T2-T1). RESULTS: Skeletal changes were found in 64% of the non-orthodontically treated female patients with TMJ disk displacement during the observation period. The L1 to Mandibular plane distance (mm) increased significantly by 0.8 mm (p < 0.01). But there were no significant differences in the other dental relationship variables (overjet, overbite, U1 to palatal plane) during the observation period. Most patients with skeletal changes showed a backward rotation of the mandible. The ratio of the rotation was a decrease of SNB by 0.43degrees for every 1degrees increase of FMA (Spearman rho = -0.660, p < 0.01). A few patients showed a distal shift of the mandible without rotation or significant changes in the vertical dimension. CONCLUSIONS: During observation periods without orthodontic treatment, non-growing patients with TMJ disk displacement showed dentoskeletal changes, mainly backward rotation of the mandible.
Displacement (Psychology) ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mandible ; Orthodontics ; Overbite ; Temporomandibular Joint ; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

No abstract available.
Krukenberg Tumor*

BACKGROUND: In recent studies, tacrolimus ointment has been shown to be effective for the treatment of atopic dermatitis with an excellent safety profile. OBJECTIVE: This study was done to assess the efficacy and side-effects of tacrolimus ointment for the facial atopic dermatitis(AD) in Korean. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Open-label, non-comparative study with 2 months' follow-up was done to assess the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus ointment (Protopic0ointment 0.1%, Fujisawa, Japan) in moderate to severe facial AD. Patients were instructed to apply it two times daily for 8 weeks. Facial lesions were evaluated at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks of treatment with in-tensity score by investigator. RESULTS: In comparing of intensity scores and each clinical score at baseline with those of 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, a significant decrease was noticed at all follow-up periods. Burning sense(54.5%) and pruritus(18.2%) were detected. CONCLUSION: Tacrolimus ointment is effective in treatment of severe facial AD and has tolerable mild adverse effects at the site of application in Korean.
Burns ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Research Personnel ; Tacrolimus*

Service diversification is recognized as an important strategy against turbulent environmental change. This study is designed to find out the trend of service diversification in Korean health care organizations and also to identify factors associated with the degree of service diversification. Data were collected from 69 hospitals out of 71 hospitals with over 300 beds. Important findings are summarized below. 1. Types of diversification are closely related to hospital size. Large hospitals have a tendency to provide sophisticated service requiring specialized skills and equipment, while small hospital have concentrated their efforts on health screening programs. 2. The more competitive and bigger hospitals are, the greater number of services that provide. Also, hospitals operating rational management information systems provide more services. Contrary to the expectation, hospitals with a low performance during last 3 years showed more service diversification. 3. A trend of more diversification was observed in hospitals whose chief executive officer used a prospector strategy. 4. A multiple regression analysis revealed that bed size, competitive environment, degree of rational management, and the growth pattern were significantly associated with teh service diversification.
Delivery of Health Care ; Health Facility Size ; Hospital Bed Capacity ; Management Information Systems ; Mass Screening

The status of DNA synthesis and the effect of UV radiation on the DNA synthesis were studied in mouse skin by microautoradiography. Mice exposed to 100mJ/cm of UVB were injected intradermally with tritiated thymidine, 5 minutes, 2, 6 and 24 hours after irradiation and biopsies were processed for light microscopic autoradiography, A total of 25 ICR female albino haired mice were used as subjects. We compared heavily labeled cells(>10 grains/nucleus) and sparsely labeled cells (3-10 grains/nucleus) in UVL irradiated skin with nonirradiated control skin. 1. Within 5 minutes after UVL exposure an apparent depression in the number of heavily labeled cells occurred. This reduction was statistically significant and remained so for at least six hours post,irradiation. By 24 hours after UVL exposure, the reduction was recovered to nearly control level. 2. By five minutes after UVL exposure, sparsely labeled cells were observed in basal cell layer and differentiated cell layer. The nurriber of sparsely labeled cells appeared highest at five minutes after UVL exposure and then tended to fall to nearly control level at 24 hours. This aberrant type of TdR H incorporation is thought to represent unscheduled DNA synthesis to repair pyrimidine dimers formed in UVL injured DNA molecules,
Animals ; Autoradiography* ; Biopsy ; Depression ; DNA* ; Female ; Hair ; Humans ; Mice* ; Pyrimidine Dimers ; Skin* ; Thymidine ; Ultraviolet Rays

Ovarian carcinoma is a serious disease in women. Some reports revealed all-trans-retinoic acid (tRA) inhibited the proliferation of ovarian carcinoma cell lines and induced apoptosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anticancer and apoptotic effects of tRA and the expression of the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) alpha, beta, gamma, p53, bcl-2, and c-myc genes on the ovarian carcinoma cell lines, NIH OVCAR3 and SKOV3. In both cell lines, the proliferation of tumor cells was inhibited and characteristic morphologic patterns of apoptosis were shown after treatment of tRA. The number of apoptotic cells and the percentage of apoptosis were increased after treatment of tRA. The gel electrophoresis revealed the DNA ladder pattern in the NIH OVCAR3. Gene expressions were observed using northern blotting. There was no RARalpha expression in both cell lines. In NIH OVCAR3, there was no changes in the expression of RARbeta and bcl-2 gene. The RARgamma gene expression of tRA treated group was slightly increased, but p53 gene expression was decreased, and c-myc gene was not expressed. In SKOV3, the expressions of RARbeta, gamma, and p53 genes were increased and that of bcl-2 was decreased in the tRA treated group. There was no change in c-myc gene expression. These results suggest tRA has anticancer and apoptotic effect on both ovarian carcinoma cell lines. RARbeta, RARgamma, bcl-2, and p53 gene expressions were correlated with these effects of tRA on SKOV3 but not on NIH OVCAR3.
Apoptosis* ; Blotting, Northern ; Cell Line* ; DNA ; Electrophoresis ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Genes, bcl-2 ; Genes, myc ; Genes, p53 ; Humans* ; Receptors, Retinoic Acid ; Tretinoin*

Recent advances in cell culture and tissue engineering permit the successful treatment of deep articular defects with autologous chondrocyte transplantation. While chondrocyte culturing from articular cartilage is commonplace, in vitro growth of chondrocytes from temporomandibular joint fibrocartilage has not been defined. Likewise, the concept of autologous chondrocyte transplantation has not been applied to the temporomandibular joint. Since fibrocartilage differs structurally and functionally from articular cartilage, an effective culturing method for this tissue is essential as well. The ultimate goal of this project is to enable the use of autologous temporomandibular joint chondrocyte transplantation for the regeneration of damaged or missing components of the joint. The aim of this pilot study is to develop an effective cell culturing technique for chondrocytes harvested from the temporomandibular joint disc of dogs. Cartilage of the temporomandibular joint disc of drug-free mongrel dogs was dissected, dissociated, and centrifuged for chondrocyte collection. Blood specimen was collected from the same animal to produce the autologous serum. Chondrocytes were then dispersed in 24-well plates and incubated in one of four media, DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium), Ham's F-12, DMEM/F-12, or Iscove's MDM(modified Dulbecco's medium). Each medium was also mixed with either 10% fetal bovine serum or 10% autologous serum. Temporomandibular joint disc chondrocytic proliferation was tested in all the culture media with sera on the fifth day. The initial plating count was held constant throughout at 1 x 10(4) cells/well and eight samples were evaluated in each culture. The results demonstrated that fetal bovine serum worked much better than autologous serum in all evaluated media and that DMEM/F-12 mixed with 10% fetal bovine serum was the most optimal culture condition for expansion of temporomandibular joint disc chondrocytes.
Animals ; Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Chondrocytes ; Culture Media ; Dogs ; Fibrocartilage ; Joints ; Pilot Projects ; Regeneration ; Temporomandibular Joint Disc* ; Temporomandibular Joint* ; Tissue Engineering

PURPOSE: To compare standard laparoscopy-assisted Billroth I gastrectomies including standard lymph node dissection (LABIG) with hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery with the HandPort system (HALS) for the removal of early gastric cancers (EGC). METHODS: A prospective study was performed on 26 patients of EGC at Ewha Womans University Mok-Dong Hospital from July 1999 to August 2001. Seventeen patients (Group L) received LABIG using conventional laparoscopy-assisted methods and 9 patients received LABIG using HALS (Group H). We used staplers for the anastomosis, and a standard D2 lymph node dissection was done with ultrasonic shears or electrocautery. RESULTS: In group L, pathologic reports revealed 14 EGC (stage IA 14 cases), and 3 pm cancers (stage IB 1 case, II 2 cases). In group H, there were 9 early gastric cancers (stage IA 8 cases, IB 1 case). Significant differences (P<0.05) were present between group L and H in regards to the number of harvested lymph nodes (30.8 vs 18.9), estimated blood loss (462.1 vs 286.7 ml) and postoperative transfusion amounts (0.59 vs 0 unit). There were no differences in the mean operating time, distance from the lesion to the resection margin, postoperative leukocyte count, frequencies for pain control, wound size, time to diet, weight loss, serum protein, and postoperative hospital stay. Complications were present in 1 case in group L (enterocutaneous fistula) and 1 case in group H (gastric atony). There was one conversion to open surgery in group H. CONCLUSION: LABIG including standard lymph node dissections with both standard laparoscopic surgery and HALS were performed with equal outcome. The choice of surgical method depends on the characteristics of the lesion and the patient's physical factors.
Conversion to Open Surgery ; Diet, Reducing ; Electrocoagulation ; Female ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastroenterostomy* ; Hand-Assisted Laparoscopy* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Leukocyte Count ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Prospective Studies* ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Ultrasonics ; Wounds and Injuries

Microvascular anastomosis has become an essential technique in reconstructive surgery. A lot of techniques have been developed to improve patency rate and reduce operation time. But interrupted suture technique is still most widely used because of limited indication and inconvenience of other methods. A comparative study was undertaken to evaluate new microvasular anastomosis technique using fibrin glue. In this report 40 femoral arteries of Sprague-Dawley rats were anastomosed by utilizing four stay sutures which were placed 90 degrees apart and the intervals covered with fibrin glue, and by conventional eight suture method served as control. The patency rate(immediate postoperative, postoperative two weeks), time needed for vascular anastomosis, and microscopic evaluation were compared to those of conventional microvascular suture technique. Postoperative patency rate was 100% and 85% by fibrin glue technique compared to 100% and 90% by conventional technique at immediate postoperative and postoperative two weeks. Less time consumed with fibrin glue technique by 16 minutes compared to conventional technique by 21 minutes. Microscopically reendothelization was complete with smooth and less injured inner lining and also less inflammatory response by fibrin glue technique compared to conventional technique.
Femoral Artery ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Suture Techniques ; Sutures

No abstract available.
Chlamydia trachomatis* ; Chlamydia* ; Doxycycline* ; Enoxacin* ; Erythromycin* ; Pipemidic Acid*