BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The observation about the movements of laryngopharyngeal or surrounding structures is very important to understand the physiology of phonation or swallowing and to diagnose the disease. Many investigating methods were used but most of them were ineffective because those were invasive or indirect methods. Ultrasonographical examination of larynx can be applied, but the shortcomings of mechanics limits the usage of ultrasonographical study of larynx. Recently, the revolution of computer and videosystem made ultrasonographical study to be applied to the larynx. In this study, authors wanted to find out the availability of the ultrasonographical study of larynx. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 3.5 and 7.5 MHz probes were applied to anterior neck and the ultrasonographical findings were observed according to the various phonation types. RESULTS: In the axial plane, the movements of bilateral vocal folds were observed. Unilateral movement of vocal cord alone was seen in the case of unilateral vocal cord paralysis. In the parasagittal plane, the movements of whole laryngopharyngeal structures were observed simultaneously. A specific tongue shape was seen on each vowel phonation. On phonation with high pitch, hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage were elevated. And thyroid cartilage was elevated and laid upon the hyoid bone moving medially. On phonation with high pitch extremely, the hyoid bone went down. On phonation loudly, echogenicity of surrounding muscles was increased. CONCLUSION: Authors think that the ultrasonographical study can be applied to the physiologic study of phonation as well as diagnostic tools or therapeutic tools.
Deglutition ; Hyoid Bone ; Larynx* ; Mechanics ; Muscles ; Neck ; Phonation ; Physiology ; Thyroid Cartilage ; Tongue ; Ultrasonography ; Vocal Cord Paralysis ; Vocal Cords

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increased industrialization and the changing environment have caused complex olfactory problems in the modern population, and the need for an objective evaluation of such problems has thus come to our attention. In this study, we used the human Q-EEG (Bio-Logic, Brain Atlas III) equipment to evaluate olfactory fuction, and tried to lay out a basis for an objective test of olfactory function in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty normosmic adults and ten anosmic patients were studied by the human Q-EEG equipment. EEG changes were analyzed by a nonparametric test (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.05). A mixture of S-D alcohol, benzophenol, BHT (benzyl hydroxy toluene), water, and fragrance were used as an odorant. The odorant was applied to the one third anterior of the inferior turbinate using a small piece of filter paper soaked in the odorant. RESULTS: During odorant stimulation, the Q-EEG analyzer showed that the delta band (0-3.5 Hz) decreased in the whole brain region, while the alpha band (8-11.5 Hz) increased in the bilateral temporal region in the normosmic patients. There was no Q-EEG changes in the anosmic patients. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that human Q-EEG analysis may provide the basis for the development of an objective test of olfactory function in humans.
Adult ; Brain ; Butylated Hydroxytoluene ; Electroencephalography ; Humans* ; Odors ; Turbinates ; Water ; Industrial Development

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fistulographic features of malfunctioning axillary loop-configured arteriovenous grafts and the efficacy of percutaneous interventions in failed axillary loop-configured arteriovenous grafts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients with axillary loop-configured arteriovenous grafts were referred for evaluation of graft patency or upper arm swelling. Fistulography and percutaneous intervention, including thrombolysis, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement, were performed. Statistical analysis of the procedure success rate and the primary and secondary patency rates was done. RESULTS: Four patients had graft related and subclavian venous stenosis, two patients had graft related stenosis and another four patients had subclavian venous stenosis only. Sixteen sessions of interventional procedures were performed in eight patients (average: 2 sessions / patient) until the end of follow-up. An interventional procedure was not done in two patients with central venous stenosis. The overall procedure success rate was 69% (11 of 16 sessions). The post-intervention primary and secondary patency rates were 50% and 63% at three months, 38% and 63% at six months and 25% and 63% at one year, respectively. CONCLUSION: Dysfunctional axillary loop-configured arteriovenous grafts almost always had subclavian venous and graft-related stenosis. Interventional treatments are helpful to overcome this and these treatments are expected to play a major role in restoring and maintaining the axillary loop-configured arteriovenous loop grafts.
Adult ; Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon/*methods ; Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical/*methods ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation/*methods ; Chronic Disease ; Constriction, Pathologic/therapy/ultrasonography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graft Occlusion, Vascular/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/*complications/therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Renal Dialysis ; Subclavian Vein/ultrasonography ; Survival Analysis ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Patency

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates cell adhesion through binding to extracelluar matrix molecules such as hyaluronan. Multiple isoforms of CD44 are generated by alternative splicing of 10 separate exons (v1-v10). Some of them have been noted as markers for tumor metastasis and prognosis in several studies. We investigated whether CD44s, v3 and v6 may be a useful markers in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Paraffin embedded tissue sections, which was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck from 41 patients were stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal Ab of CD44s, v3 and v6. The results were compared with the primary tumor status, lymph node metastasis, histopathologic differentiation and survival. RESULTS: Various levels of immunoreactivities of the CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were detected dominantly in cancer cell membrane. The positive rate of CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were 59%, 66%, 71%, respectively. The decreased expression of CD44s and CD44v6 was significantly correlated to lymph node metastasis but was not affected by T-stage, histopathologic differentiation and survival. CD44v3 had no correlation with the T-stage, N-stage, pathologic differentiation nor survival. CONCLUSION: The expression of CD44s and CD44v6 in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma may be a biologic marker for lymph node metastasis.
Alternative Splicing ; Biomarkers ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Membrane ; Exons ; Glycoproteins ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head* ; Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid ; Lymph Nodes ; Neck* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis ; Protein Isoforms

This multicenter study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis and identify the risk factors for infectious complications after prostate surgery in Korean patients. A total of 424 patients who underwent surgery of the prostate were reviewed. All patients underwent urinalysis and urine culture preoperatively and postoperatively. Efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis and risk factors for infectious complications were investigated. Infectious complications were observed in 34.9% of all patients. Factors independently associated with infectious complications were diabetes mellitus (adjusted OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.09-3.65, P=0.025) and operation time (adjusted OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.13, P=0.004). Clinicians should be aware of the high risk of infectious complications in patients with diabetes and those who undergo a prolonged operation time. Neither the type nor duration of prophylactic antibiotics resulted in differences in infectious complications.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology/therapeutic use ; Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/drug effects ; Enterococcus/drug effects/isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli/isolation & purification ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae/drug effects/isolation & purification ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Postoperative Complications/microbiology/prevention & control ; Prospective Studies ; Prostatic Neoplasms/complications/*surgery ; Quinolones/pharmacology ; Risk Factors ; Time Factors ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Urinalysis ; Urinary Tract Infections/microbiology

BACKGROUND: To investigate the best surrogate marker for insulin resistance in the non-diabetic middle-aged population in Korea. METHODS: This study was performed from February to April 2003-2005 in adults over 40 years of age living in Chungju City, South Korea, selected by stratified random cluster sampling. We analyzed the data from a total 6,149 non-diabetic subjects that completed a survey consisting of anthropometric measurement and blood chemistry. We defined the highest quartile of the homeostasis model for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) as the insulin resistant group in our study population. We also analyzed the correlation of various anthropometric (body mass index, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, waist to height ratio) and biochemical parameters (total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio, non-HDL cholesterol level, triglycerides to HDL cholesterol ratio and level of triglycerides) with insulin resistance using simple and multiple regression analysis for detecting the insulin resistance group. RESULTS: By simple regression analysis, among the anthropometric parameters including the body mass index, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, waist to height ratio, and the biochemical parameters, including the total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio, non-HDL cholesterol level, triglyceride to HDL cholesterol ratio and triglycerides level, the body mass index was the best surrogate marker for insulin resistance (95% CI 1.215-1.262). The cut-off value of the body mass index was 24.6 kg/m2 (male; 24.7, female; 24.6 kg/m2), with a sensitivity of 62.6% and specificity of 66.9%. Multiple logistic regression analysis for insulin resistance also gave the same results. Furthermore, the cut-off value of the body mass index for the metabolic syndrome as defined by NCEP-ATP III was also 24.1 kg/m2 (male; 24.0, female; 24.2 kg/m2). CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggest that the body mass index was the best surrogate marker for insulin resistance of a non-diabetic population and its cut-off value was approximately 24 kg/m2.
Adult ; Biomarkers* ; Body Mass Index ; Chemistry ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Chungcheongbuk-do* ; Female ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Middle Aged* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference ; Waist-Hip Ratio

This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of an experimental bleaching strip (Medison dental whitening strip, Samsung medical Co., Anyang, Korea) containing 2.9% hydrogen peroxide. Twenty-three volunteers used the bleaching strips for one and a half hour daily for 2 weeks. As control group, the same strips in which hydrogen peroxide was not included were used by 24 volunteers with the same protocol. The shade change (DeltaE*, color difference) of twelve anterior teeth was measured using Shade Vision (X-Rite Inc., S.W. Grandville, MI, USA), Chroma Meter (Minolta Co., Ltd. Osaka, Japan) and Vitapan classical shade guide (Vita Zahnfabrik, Germany). The shade change of overall teeth in the experimental group was significantly greater than that in the control group (p < 0.05) and was easily perceivable. The change resulted from the increase of lightness (CIE L* value) and the decrease of redness (CIE a* value) and yellowness (CIE b* value). The shade change of individual tooth was greatest in canine, and smallest in central incisor. The safety of the bleaching strip was also confirmed.
Gyeonggi-do ; Hydrogen Peroxide* ; Hydrogen* ; Incisor ; Tooth ; Volunteers