A retrospective study was undertaken to define the factors that cause the neurogenic symptoms in 18 cases of spondylolytic spondylolisthesis who were operated for leg pain and neurologic deficits of motor functions documented by neurologic examination or electromyographic findings in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Fatima Hospital, Daegu for three years since June, 1986. The cases having other combined pathology to cause neurogenic symptoms were excluded. The causes were predetermined by preoperative x-rays, myelograms, electromyograms, and computerized tomograms and the causes were explored at surgery regarding the preoperative findings. The findings were compared with the avilable findings of 13 cases who were operated for low back pain only without any neurogenic pain in the leg during the same period. The cases were quite older and had narrower disc spaces than the back pain group but there were no significant differences in the degree of slipping and stability of slipped level between the two groups. The foraminal stenosis was found in all of the cases and a central stenosis was combined in a case. The intervertebral foramens were narrowed up-down in most of the cases between the bony prominence of proximal pars interarticularis above and the disc and vertebral body below but three cases had soft tissue mass only at the isthmic defect encroaching the foramen. There were hypertrophy of bone and/or soft tissue at the pars interarticularis in all cases. The nerve roots were mainly compressed up-down below pars interarticularis in the foramen in 8 cases and impinged at the anterior foramen in front of the pars interarticularis in 10 cases. The central stenosis was due to marked bony hypertrophy of pars interarticularis and osteophyte of vertebral body. The causes of neurogenic symptoms in spondylolytic spondylolisthesis were foraminal stenosis due to hypertrophy of bone and/or soft tissue at the pars interarticularis combined with narrowing of disc and seemed to be a process of degenerative changes occurring at the motion segment of slipped level.
Back Pain ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Daegu ; Hypertrophy ; Leg ; Low Back Pain ; Neurologic Examination ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Osteophyte ; Pathology ; Pheniramine ; Retrospective Studies ; Spondylolisthesis

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between changes in employment status and new-onset depressive symptoms through a one-year follow-up of permanent waged workers. Methods: We analyzed the open-source data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Using the 2017 data, we selected 2,314 permanent waged workers aged 19 to 59 years without depressive symptoms as a base group. The final analysis targeted 2,073 workers who were followed up in 2018. In 2018, there were five categories of employment status for workers who were followed up: permanent, precarious, unemployed, self-employed, and economically inactive. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between employment status change and new-onset depressive symptoms. Results: Adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among male workers, workers who went from permanent status to being unemployed (odds ratio: 4.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.19 to 17.06) and from permanent status to being precarious workers (odds ratio: 3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.30 to 7.65) had significantly high levels of new-onset depressive symptoms compared with those who retained their permanent employment status. There were no significant increases in new-onset depressive symptoms of male workers who went from permanent status to being self-employed or economically inactive. On the other hand, no significant differences were found among female workers. Conclusion Our study suggests that the change of employment status to precarious workers or unemployment can cause new-onset depressive symptoms in male permanent waged workers.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between changes in employment status and new-onset depressive symptoms through a one-year follow-up of permanent waged workers. Methods: We analyzed the open-source data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Using the 2017 data, we selected 2,314 permanent waged workers aged 19 to 59 years without depressive symptoms as a base group. The final analysis targeted 2,073 workers who were followed up in 2018. In 2018, there were five categories of employment status for workers who were followed up: permanent, precarious, unemployed, self-employed, and economically inactive. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between employment status change and new-onset depressive symptoms. Results: Adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among male workers, workers who went from permanent status to being unemployed (odds ratio: 4.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.19 to 17.06) and from permanent status to being precarious workers (odds ratio: 3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.30 to 7.65) had significantly high levels of new-onset depressive symptoms compared with those who retained their permanent employment status. There were no significant increases in new-onset depressive symptoms of male workers who went from permanent status to being self-employed or economically inactive. On the other hand, no significant differences were found among female workers. Conclusion Our study suggests that the change of employment status to precarious workers or unemployment can cause new-onset depressive symptoms in male permanent waged workers.

Healing of periodontal tissues require the migration and proliferation of gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells. There is many evidences that the some agents like cytokines and polypeptide growth factors are mediate these cellular events in wound healing. Recently someone is interested in herbal drugs on periodontal tissue healing processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 4 herbal drugs, Carthami Flis, Moutan Radicis Cortex, Scirpi Rhisoma, Seed of Carthamus tinctorius L. on human gingival fibroblasts and periodontal ligament cells. Periodontal ligament cells and gingival fibroblasts were primarily cultured from extracted premolar with non-periodontal diseases. The powder from extracted herbal drugs were prepared with distilled water. Cells were cultured with DMEM at 37degrees C, 5% CO2, 100% humidity incubator, and treated with each herbal drugs with proper concentration for 1, 2, and 3 days. The cell activity was determined by ELISA reader using MTT assay. There was the most significant elevation in 10(-3)g/ml of almost herbal drugs on cellular activities. The result of this study demonstrated that Carthami Flis, Moutan Radicis Cortex, Scirpi Rhisoma, Seed of Carthamus tinctorius L. appears to have beneficial effect on healing process after periodontal treatment.
Bicuspid ; Carthamus tinctorius ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fibroblasts* ; Humans ; Humidity ; Incubators ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Periodontal Ligament* ; Water ; Wound Healing

No abstract available.
Bone Density* ; Female ; Lactation* ; Postpartum Period*

No abstract available.
Cervix Uteri* ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

The Barricor tube (Becton Dickinson [BD], Sunnyvale, CA, USA) was recently developed to mechanically separate plasma by increasing the centrifugation rate. We compared the Barricor tube with existing serum- and plasma-based tubes based on 35 biochemical analytes and preanalytical turnaround time (TAT). Blood samples were collected from 30 healthy volunteers in a Barricor tube, serum separating tube (SST, Vacutainer SST II Tube 8.5 mL, #368972; BD), or plasma separating tube (PST, Vacutainer PST Tube 8.0 mL, #367964; BD) in random order. Next, 27 chemistry analytes, six immunochemistry analytes, and two cardiac markers were compared using Passing-Bablok regression and the Bland-Altman method. Preanalytical TAT was measured for each tube.The Barricor tube exhibited bias exceeding the desirable limit for nine and four analytes compared with the SST and PST, respectively. The Barricor tube lactate dehydrogenase value showed a bias of -10.29% and -9.86% compared with that of the SST and PST, respectively. The preanalytical TAT of Barricor tube was 8.8 minutes, which was the shortest among the three tubes. The clinical performance of the Barricor tube was equivalent to that of the SST and PST for most analytes, with an apparent advantage in preanalytical TAT. When using the Barricor tube, the reference range needs to be changed for some analytes that exceed the desirable bias limit.

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVE: It is usually difficult to perform the neuroendoscopic procedure in patients without hydrocephalus due to difficulties with ventricular cannulation. The purpose of this study was to find out the value of navigation guided neuroendoscopic biopsy in patients with peri- or intraventricular tumors without hydrocephalus. METHODS: Six patients with brain tumors without hydrocephalus underwent navigation-guided neuroendoscopic biopsy. The procedure was indicated for verification of the histological diagnosis of the neoplasm, which was planned to be treated by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy as the first line treatment, or establishment of the pathological diagnosis for further choice of the most appropriate treatment strategy. RESULTS: Under the guidance of navigation, targeted lesion was successfully approached in all patients. Navigational tracking was especially helpful in entering small ventricles and in approaching the third ventricle through narrow foramen Monro. The histopathologic diagnosis was established in all of 6 patients : 2 germinomas, 2 astrocytomas, 1 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor and 1 pineocytoma. The tumor biopsy sites were pineal gland (n = 2), suprasellar area (n = 2), subcallosal area (n = 1) and thalamus (n = 1). There were no operative complications related to the endoscopic procedure. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic biopsy or resection of peri- or intraventricular tumors in patients without hydrocephalus is feasible. Image-guided neuroendoscopic procedure improved the accuracy of the endoscopic approach and minimized brain trauma. The absence of ventriculomegaly in patients with brain tumor may not be served as a contraindication to endoscopic tumor biopsy.
Astrocytoma ; Biopsy ; Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Brain Neoplasms ; Catheterization ; Germinoma ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial ; Neuroendoscopy ; Pineal Gland ; Pinealoma ; Thalamus ; Third Ventricle ; Track and Field

OBJECTIVE: This paper presents data from a retrospective study of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in patients with shunt malfunction and proposes a simple and reasonable post-operative protocol that can detect ETV failure. METHODS: We enrolled 19 consecutive hydrocephalus patients (11 male and 8 female) who were treated with ETV between April 2001 and July 2010 after failure of previously placed shunts. We evaluated for correlations between the success rate of ETV and the following parameters : age at the time of surgery, etiology of hydrocephalus, number of shunt revisions, interval between the initial diagnosis of hydrocephalus or the last shunt placement and ETV, and the indwelling time of external ventricular drainage. RESULTS: At the time of ETV after shunt failure, 14 of the 19 patients were in the pediatric age group and 5 were adults, with ages ranging from 14 months to 42 years (median age, 12 years). The patients had initially been diagnosed with hydrocephalus between the ages of 1 month 24 days and 32 years (median age, 6 years 3 months). The etiology of hydrocephalus was neoplasm in 7 patients; infection in 5; malformation, such as aqueductal stenosis or megacisterna magna in 3; trauma in 1; and unknown in 3. The overall success rate during the median follow-up duration of 1.4 years (9 days to 8.7 years) after secondary ETV was 68.4%. None of the possible contributing factors for successful ETV, including age (p=0.97) and the etiology of hydrocephalus (p=0.79), were statistically correlated with outcomes in our series. CONCLUSION: The use of ETV in patients with shunt malfunction resulted in shunt independence in 68.4% of cases. Age, etiology of hydrocephalus, and other contributing factors were not statistically correlated with ETV success. External ventricular drainage management during the immediate post-ETV period is a good means of detecting ETV failure.
Adult ; Drainage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventriculostomy