A hand-arm vibration syndrome, local vibration illness, occurs in some workers who use hand held vibration tools. It consists of white fingers, diffusely distributed finger neuropathy, pain in the hand and arm, and a small excess risk of osteoarthritis. This study is aimed to identify effective methods to confirm local vibration illness among various health exams, which are mentioned in worker's special health exam regulation. In addition, this study is aimed to quantitatively assess the daily vibration exposure level as a major determinant of vibration illness. The subjects, 46 vibration workers, were selected according to the results of the first special health exam about vibration hazards at shipbuilding industry in 1997. They all had experiences of work related blanching of fingers. Fifteen controls, who had no vibration exposure at all, were also recruited to compare their test results with the results of vibration workers. We adopted 1 subjective and 6 objective tests to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility for confirming local vibration illness. These tests were history taking of subjective symptoms according to the Stockholm classification, checking blood pressure of finger, checking grasp power, checking finger skin temperature, nail-bed pressing test, vibration perceptional threshold test, and skin prick test for pain perception. Among these, checking skin temperature, nail-bed pressing test, and vibration perception test included cold water provocations. We also estimated some vibration exposure levels of hand held vibration tools by using previously published data from one automobile company. In conclusion, history taking of subjective symptoms according to the Stockholm classification, nail-bed pressing test, and vibration perceptional threshold test were discovered to be effective to diagnose local vibration illness. Furthermore, vibration perceptional threshold on right fingers showed a dose-response relationship to daily vibration exposure levels. The parameter beta was 0.0005(+/-0.0002), and statistically significant by REM (random effects model).
Arm ; Automobiles ; Blood Pressure ; Classification ; Fingers ; Hand ; Hand Strength ; Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome ; Osteoarthritis ; Pain Perception ; Skin ; Skin Temperature ; Vibration* ; Water

Objectives: . Endoscopic tympanoplasty (ET) provides minimally invasive transcanal access to the middle ear and improves middle ear visibility for the treatment of tympanic membrane (TM) perforations. However, the literature on surgical outcomes for large TM perforations is lacking and limited to small series. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical benefits of ET for large TM perforations. Methods: . This retrospective cohort study was conducted at nine tertiary referral hospitals in South Korea, where 252 patients who underwent ET as primary surgery from September 2019 to August 2021 were included. The outcome measures included the graft success rate and pre- and postoperative audiometric data. Results: . In 239 patients, the graft success rate of ET for large or subtotal perforations was 86.2% (206 patients), while the graft failure rate was 13.8% (33 patients). The graft failure rate was directly correlated with surgical techniques, including overlay and medial or lateral underlay tympanoplasty (P=0.027). Lateral underlay tympanoplasty showed the most favorable results. Sex, laterality, etiology, site and size of perforation, operation time, and graft materials did not vary significantly between the graft success and failure groups (P>0.05). The mean air-bone gap (ABG) improved significantly in both groups (graft success group: 10.0±0.6 dB and graft failure group: 7.7±0.3 dB; P<0.001). However, the ABG improvement did not significantly differ between the groups. Analysis of covariance revealed that the postoperative 500-Hz bone conduction threshold improved after successful ET (adjusted coefficient, –11.351; 95% confidence interval, –21.491 to –1.212; P=0.028). Conclusion . This study involved the largest population to date of large TM perforations treated by ET. The study findings suggest that ET is feasible and effective in treating large TM perforations.

This study evaluated the quality characteristics of jelly prepared with different levels (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) of wild carrot (WC, Daucus carota L.) juice as a care food for the elderly. The lightness, redness, yellowness, and delta (Δ) values of the jelly (Control, WCJ5, WCJ10, WCJ15, WCJ20, and WCJ25) decreased with increasing amounts of wild carrot juice added. The mechanical properties, such as hardness, springiness, chewiness, and gumminess, of the jelly were decreased with increasing amounts of wild carrot juice added. The total polyphenol and total flavonoid contents of the jelly increased with increasing amounts of wild carrot juice added. The DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50) also increased with increasing amounts of wild carrot juice added. The α-glucosidase inhibitory effects of wild carrot (WC) and WCJ25 were 71% and 54.4%, respectively, compared to the positive control (acarbose). The lipase inhibitory effects of WC and WCJ25 were 44.2% and 14.4%, respectively, compared to the positive control group (orlistat). On the other hand, the sensory evaluation score was the best at WCJ20, which contained 20% wild carrot juice. In conclusion, WCJ20 or WCJ25 is expected to be a care food for the elderly with respect to texture as well as the antioxidant and enzymatic activity (α-glucosidase inhibitory and lipase inhibitory activities).
Aged ; Daucus carota* ; Hand ; Hardness ; Humans ; Lipase

BACKGROUND: Recently a report was published about the cross-inhibitory effect of post ganglionic neuron between upper extremities. We tried to find the existence of the same effect in all extremities by comparing the changes of skin temperature (ST) of all extremities during and after sympathicotomy for palmar hyperhidrosis. METHODS: Twenty patients with palmar hyperhydrosis underwent bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathicomy. Right side T3 sympathicotomy was performed first, then left side T3 sympathicotomy was done. The ST of both hands and feet were compared with the ST before the surgery at 2, 4, 6, 10 minutes after first (right) sympathicotomy, 10 minutes after second (left) sympathicotomy and 4 hours after both sympathicotomy in the post anesthetic care unit (PACU) of our one-day surgery center. RESULTS: At 10 minutes after completion of first (right) sympathicotomy, ipsilateral increase of the ST (right hand, 2.73 +/- 2.01oC) and contralateral decrease of the ST (left hand, - 0.65 +/- 0.88oC) were observed (P < 0.05). After the second (left) sympathicotomy was done, the ST of both feet decreased (right, - 1.24 +/- 0.81oC and left, - 1.31+/- 0.77oC, P < 0.05) and the ST of both hands increased (right, 3.34 +/- 2.40oC and left, 2.11+/- 1.91oC, P < 0.05). There were increases of the ST in both hands (right, 4.93 +/- 2.51oC and left, 4.63 +/- 2.19oC) and decreases of the ST in both feet (right, - 3.38 +/- 1.85oC and left, - 3.09 +/- 2.03oC, P < 0.05) in the PACU. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a cross-inhibitory effect by the post ganglionic neurons innervating the blood vessels of the all extremities. Sympathicotomy causes the relief of the cross-inhibitory effect and result in vasoconstriction and a decrease of ST of contralateral hand and both feet.
Blood Vessels ; Extremities ; Foot* ; Ganglion Cysts ; Hand* ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis* ; Neurons ; Skin Temperature ; Upper Extremity ; Vasoconstriction

BACKGROUND: Recently a report was published about the cross-inhibitory effect of post ganglionic neuron between upper extremities. We tried to find the existence of the same effect in all extremities by comparing the changes of skin temperature (ST) of all extremities during and after sympathicotomy for palmar hyperhidrosis. METHODS: Twenty patients with palmar hyperhydrosis underwent bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathicomy. Right side T3 sympathicotomy was performed first, then left side T3 sympathicotomy was done. The ST of both hands and feet were compared with the ST before the surgery at 2, 4, 6, 10 minutes after first (right) sympathicotomy, 10 minutes after second (left) sympathicotomy and 4 hours after both sympathicotomy in the post anesthetic care unit (PACU) of our one-day surgery center. RESULTS: At 10 minutes after completion of first (right) sympathicotomy, ipsilateral increase of the ST (right hand, 2.73 +/- 2.01oC) and contralateral decrease of the ST (left hand, - 0.65 +/- 0.88oC) were observed (P < 0.05). After the second (left) sympathicotomy was done, the ST of both feet decreased (right, - 1.24 +/- 0.81oC and left, - 1.31+/- 0.77oC, P < 0.05) and the ST of both hands increased (right, 3.34 +/- 2.40oC and left, 2.11+/- 1.91oC, P < 0.05). There were increases of the ST in both hands (right, 4.93 +/- 2.51oC and left, 4.63 +/- 2.19oC) and decreases of the ST in both feet (right, - 3.38 +/- 1.85oC and left, - 3.09 +/- 2.03oC, P < 0.05) in the PACU. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a cross-inhibitory effect by the post ganglionic neurons innervating the blood vessels of the all extremities. Sympathicotomy causes the relief of the cross-inhibitory effect and result in vasoconstriction and a decrease of ST of contralateral hand and both feet.
Blood Vessels ; Extremities ; Foot* ; Ganglion Cysts ; Hand* ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis* ; Neurons ; Skin Temperature ; Upper Extremity ; Vasoconstriction

Objectives: . This study was conducted to evaluate the user satisfaction, efficacy, and safety of round window (RW) vibroplasty using the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) in patients with persistent mixed hearing loss after mastoidectomy. Methods: . The study included 27 patients (mean age, 58.7 years; age range, 28–76 years; 11 men and 16 women) with mixed hearing loss after mastoidectomy from 15 tertiary referral centers in Korea. The VSB was implanted at the RW. The Korean translation of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) questionnaire and the Korean version of the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (K-IOI-HA) questionnaire were used to evaluate user satisfaction as the primary outcome. The secondary outcome measures were audiological test results and complication rates. Results: . The mean scores for ease of communication (61.3% to 29.7% to 30.2%), reverberation (62.1% to 43.1% to 37.4%), and background noise (63.3% to 37.7% to 34.3%) subscales of the APHAB questionnaire significantly decreased after VSB surgery. The mean K-IOI-HA scores at 3 and 6 months after surgery were significantly higher than the mean preoperative score (18.6 to 27.2 to 28.1). The postoperative VSB-aided thresholds were significantly lower than the preoperative unaided and hearing aid (HA)-aided thresholds. There was no significant difference between preoperative unaided, preoperative HA-aided, and postoperative VSB-aided maximum phonetically balanced word-recognition scores. None of the 27 patients experienced a change in postoperative bone conduction pure tone average. One patient developed temporary facial palsy and two developed surgical wound infections. Conclusion . RW vibroplasty resulted in improved satisfaction and audiological test results in patients with mixed hearing loss after mastoidectomy, and the complication rate was tolerable.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficiency of the electronic foot function index (eFFI) through a prospective, random based, multi-institutional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 227 patients ranging in age from 20 to 79 years, visited for surgery in different 15 institutes, and agreed to volunteer. The patients were assigned randomly into a paper-based evaluated group (n=113) and tablet-based evaluated group (n=114). The evaluation was done on the day of hospital admission and the method was changed on the second day of surgery and re-evaluated. PADAS 2.0 (https://www.proscore.kr) was used as an electronic evaluation program. RESULTS: There were no differences in age and sex in both groups. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) evaluation revealed an eFFI ICC of 0.924, showing that both results were similar. The evaluation time was shorter in the tablet-based group than the paper-based group (paper vs tablet, 3.7±3.8 vs 2.3±1.3 minutes). Thirty-nine patients (17.2%) preferred to use paper and 131 patients (57.7%) preferred the tablet. Fifty-seven patients (25.1%) found both ways to be acceptable. CONCLUSION: eFFI through tablet devices appears to be more constant than the paper-based program. In addition, it required a shorter amount of time and the patients tended to prefer the tablet-based program. Overall, tablet and cloud system can be beneficial to a clinical study.
Academies and Institutes ; Ankle ; Clinical Study ; Foot ; Humans ; Methods ; Prospective Studies ; Volunteers

Foreign bodies in the stomach and duodenum are usually accidentally swallowed by children, mentally ill patients, alcoholics, or persons with dentures. Swallowed foreign bodies are usually asymptomatic, and moved down the alimentary tract to be passed spontaneously without discomfort. There had been reported many kinds of foreign bodies, for example, metal fragments, fish bones and so on. A metal thread, which looks like a fishing hook in gastrointestinal tract as a foreign body, has never been reported in humans. A 62-year-old male patient was admitted due to abdominal discomfort for five days after eating raw fish. We performed gastroduodenoscopy and could find a thread penetrating to the anterior wall of duodenal bulb. It was removed by biopsy forcep. Herein, we report a case of a metal thread in duodenal bulb, which looked like a fishing hook.
Alcoholics ; Biopsy ; Child ; Dentures ; Duodenum ; Eating* ; Foreign Bodies ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Male ; Mentally Ill Persons ; Middle Aged ; Stomach ; Surgical Instruments

PURPOSE: To investigate the care patterns for radiation therapy and to determine inter-hospital differences for patients with laryngeal carcinoma in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 237 cases of laryngeal carcinoma (glottis, 144; supraglottis, 93) assembled from 23 hospitals, who underwent irradiation in the year of 1998 and 1999, were retrospectively analyzed to investigate inter-hospital differences with respect to radiotherapy treatment. We grouped the 23 hospitals based on the number of new patients annually irradiated in 1998; and designated them as group A (> or =900 patients), group B (> or =400 patients and <900 patients), and group C (<400 patients). RESULTS: The median age of the 237 patients was 62 years (range, 25 to 88 years), of which 216 were male and 21 were female. The clinical stages were distributed as follows: for glottis cancer, I; 61.8%, II; 21.5%, III; 4.2%, IVa; 11.1%, IVb; 1.4%, and in supraglottic cancer, I; 4.3%, II; 19.4%, III; 28.0%, IVa; 43.0%, IVb; 5.4%, respectively. Some differences were observed among the 3 groups with respect to the dose calculation method, radiation energy, field arrangement, and use of an immobilization device. No significant difference among 3 hospital groups was observed with respect to treatment modality, irradiation volume, and median total dose delivered to the primary site. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that radiotherapy process and patterns of care are relatively uniform in laryngeal cancer patients in Korean hospitals, and we hope this nationwide data can be used as a basis for the standardization of radiotherapy for the treatment of laryngeal cancer.
Female ; Glottis ; Humans ; Immobilization ; Korea ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; Male ; Retrospective Studies