Sensitivity to mercury appears to be not uncommon and perhaps the commonest contact with mercury in the general population is by amalgam dental restorations. Recently, we have experienced 2 cases of mercury dermatitis following amalgam dental restorations which were confirmed by the patch test. We report our cases with the patch test results and review the literatue on previous reports.
Dermatitis* ; Patch Tests

No abstract available.
Arsenic* ; Keratosis*

We report 2 cases who have been diagnosed as lipodystrophia centrifugalis abdominalis juvenilis. The case 1 is l2 year-old girl. She had well-defined depression of skin on both inguinal area, lower portion of chest and both flanks which was noticed at the age of 7. The case 2 is 16 year-old boy with depressed lesions on Rt. inguinal area and abdomen which were noticed at the age of 6. Biopsy specimen showed absence of subcutaneous fat tissue in both cases.
Abdomen ; Adolescent ; Biopsy ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Thorax

The present study was performed to evaluate the comedogenicity of several cosmetic ingredients, vegetable oils, steroid and sulfur. The test materials were applied to one ear canal of rabbits for 6 weekdays for 2 weeks. The results were as follows: l. Among the 14 cosmetic ingredients, no comedogenicity was shown in propylene glycol and petrolatum, mild comedogencity in squalene, acetylated lanolin, polyethylene glycol, cetyl aIcohol and Tween 80. Propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate and oleic acid showed moderate comedogenicity. Severe comedogenicity was observed in myristyl myristate, isopropyl myristate, butyl stearate and myristyl lactate. 2. Moderate to severe comedogenicity was shown in olive oil, sesame oil and corn oil and moderate comedogenicity in sulfur (8%) and betamethasone dipropionate (0.06%) R. Histopathologic grading were paralleled the findings of the naked eye.
Betamethasone ; Corn Oil ; Ear Canal ; Lactic Acid ; Lanolin ; Myristic Acid ; Olea ; Oleic Acid ; Petrolatum ; Plant Oils ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Polysorbates ; Propylene Glycol ; Rabbits ; Sesame Oil ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; Squalene ; Sulfur ; Olive Oil

No abstract available.
Colon* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley* ; Rectum*

OBJECTIVE: Vasospasm of cerebral vessels remains a major source of morbidity and mortality after an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of transluminal balloon angioplasty (TBA) for SAH-induced vasospasm. METHODS: Eleven patients with an angiographically confirmed significant vasospasm (>50% vessel narrowing and clinical deterioration) were studied. A total of 54 vessel segments with significant vasospasm were treated by TBA. Digital subtraction angiography was used to confirm the presence of vasospasm, and TBA was performed to dilate vasospastic arteries. Medical and angiographic reports were reviewed to determine technical efficacy and for procedural complications. RESULTS: TBA using Hyper-Glide or Hyper-Form balloons (MicroTherapeutics, Irvine, CA) was successfully accomplished in 88.9% vasospastic segments (48 of 54), namely, in the distal internal carotid artery (100%, n=7), the middle cerebral artery (100%), including the M1 (n=10), M2 (n=10), and M3 segments (n=4), in the vertebral artery (100%, n=2), basilar artery (100%, n=1), and in the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), including the A1 (66%), A2 (66%), and A3 segments (100%). Vessel diameters significantly increased after TBA. There were no cases of vessel rupture or thromboembolic complications. GCS at one day after TBA showed an improvement in all patients except one. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that TBA using Hyper-Glide or Hyper-Form balloons is a safe and effective treatment for subarachnoid hemorrhage-induced cerebral vasospasm.
Aneurysm ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Angioplasty, Balloon ; Anterior Cerebral Artery ; Arteries ; Basilar Artery ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Endovascular Procedures ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Rupture ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Vasospasm, Intracranial ; Vertebral Artery

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to find and compare the effect of directional (DIR) processing of two different hearing aids via both subjective and objective methods, to determine the association between the results of the subjective and objective evaluations, and to find out individual predictive factors influencing the DIR benefit. METHODS: Twenty-six hearing aid users fitted unilaterally with each two different experimental hearing aid performed modified Korean Hearing in Noise Test (K-HINT) in three DIR conditions; omnidirectional (OMNI) mode, OMNI plus noise reduction feature, fixed DIR mode. In order to determine benefits from DIR benefit within a hearing aid and compare performance of the DIR processing between hearing aids, a subjective questionnaire was administrated on speech quality (SQ) and discomfort in noise (DN) domain. Correlation analysis of factors influencing DIR benefit was accomplished. RESULTS: Benefits from switching OMNI mode to DIR mode within both hearing aids in K-HINT were about 2.8 (standard deviation, 3.5) and 2.1 dB SNR (signal to ratio; SD, 2.5), but significant difference in K-HINT results between OMNI and OMNI plus noise reduction algorithm was not shown. The subjective evaluation resulted in the better SQ and DN scores in DIR mode than those in OMNI mode. However, the difference of scores on both SQ and DN between the two hearing aids with DIR mode was not statistically significant. Any individual factors did not significantly affect subjective and objective DIR benefits. CONCLUSION: DIR benefit was found not only in the objective measurement performed in the laboratory but also in the subjective questionnaires, but the subjective results was failed to have significant correlation with the DIR benefit obtained in the K-HINT. Factors influencing individual variation in perceptual DIR benefit were still hard to explain.
Hearing Aids* ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing* ; Noise ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio ; Speech Intelligibility

Serum specimens from leprosy patients, their contacts and controls were examined for the presence of phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I), a Mycobacterium leprae specific antigen, and antibodies to the antigen using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Of 12 lepromatous patients with less than 2 years of therapy, 11(91.7%) were seropositive to PGL-l, thus indicating that new lepromatous cases can be identified by detecting anti-PGL-l antibodies. In contrast 88(56.4%) of 156 lepromatous patiens treated more than 2 years were positve. Moreover, only 69(40.8%) were seropositve among 169 lepromatous patients in the leprosy resettlement villages. The mean antibody level also declined significantly in proportion to the duration of chemotherapy. This may suggest the possibility of monitoring chemotherapy by detecting anti-PGL-l antibodies. The prevalence of anti-PGL-l antibodies among 200 controls from a high endemic area for leprosy was 5.5% and was significantly higher than that(1.5%) among 200 controls from a low endemic area. Of 103 household contacts in the resettlement villages, 10(9.7%) were seropositive, reflecting the frequent chance of exposure to M. leprae. However, PGL-l was not detected many in any of the sera from controls, contacts, and inactive lepromatous patients having the anti-PGL-l antibodies; on the other hand, 6(50%) of 12 lepromatous patients treated less than 2 years had detectable PGL-l in their sera. The results thus indicate that PGL-l detection may be more suitable for monitoring the effectiveness of chemotherapy and that it may be necessary to examine for the presence of PGL-l in sera from contacts and normal populations for confirming M. leprae infection.
Antibodies, Bacterial/*analysis ; Glycolipids/*blood ; Human ; Leprosy/*blood/diagnosis ; Serologic Tests ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

It has been already demonstrated that the gastric acidity of crying pediatric surgical patients were less acidic than that of non-crying patients by Cote CJ and his collegues. Under the postulation that the changes of the gastric acidity and volume of crying patients might not be the same according to the amount of crying(duration or crying), this study was undertaken. 81 ASA physical status 1-2 children ages 1-14 for 1st elective operation except gastrointesti- nal surgery were selected randomly and divided into 2 groups and subdivided into 2 groups as follows: Group 1 (n=39~7, not cried Group 2 (n=42g cried Group A (n=14R cried in RR and OR Group B (n=28); cried in OR Subgoup B-1 (n= 11~7, cried as soon as arrived in OR Subgroup B-2 (n = 17); cried when attached monitoring and/or started IV All patients were premedicated with glycopyrrolate and hydroxyzine. Gastric samples were obtained through nasogastric tube and measured pH values with TOA PH METER MODEL HM-SES immediately after induction. The results were as follows; 1) Gastric pH In the changes of the mean pH values, there were statistical significances between groups 1 and 2(P<0.01), and between groups A and B(P<0.05), but was no statistical difference between subgroups B-1 and B-2. In comparing group A with subgroups B-1 or B-2, there was no statistcal significance between group A and subgroup B-l, but there was statistical signifi- cance between group A and subgroup B-2(P<0.05). 2) Gastric volume In the changes of the mean gastric volume(ml/kg), there were no statistical differences be- tween groups 1 and 2 and between groups A and B, but there was statistical significance be-tween subgroup B-l and B-2(P<0.05). In comparing group A with subgroups B-1 or B-2, there was no statistacal significance between group A and subgroup B-l, but there was statistically significance between group A and subgroup B-2(P<0.05). 3) Combined risk of pH and volume There were no differences in the proportion of combined risk(both gastric pH C2.5 and Ras- tric volume > or = 0.4 ml/kg) between groups 1 and 2, and between subgroups B-1 and B-2, but there were significant differences between groups A and B, and between group A and subgroup B-2 (p <0.05).
Child ; Crying* ; Gastric Acid* ; Glycopyrrolate ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hydroxyzine ; Pediatrics ; Pneumonia, Aspiration

To assess the academic performance, communication skills,and psychosocial development of prelingual deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) attendingmainstream schools, and to evaluate the impact of auditory speech perception on theirclassroom performance. Subjects and Methods: As participant, 67 children with CI attendingmainstream schools were included. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaireon academic performance in the native language, second language, mathematics, socialstudies, science, art, communication skills, self-esteem, and social relations. Additionally,auditory and speech performances on the last follow-up were reviewed retrospectively. Results:Most implanted children attending mainstream school appeared to have positive selfesteemand confidence, and had little difficulty in conversing in a quiet classroom. Also, halfof the implanted children (38/67) scored above average in general academic achievement.However, academic achievement in the second language (English), social studies, and sciencewere usually poorer than general academic achievement. Furthermore, half of the implantedchildren had difficulty in understanding the class content (30/67) or conversing withpeers in a noisy classroom (32/67). These difficulties were significantly associated with poorspeech perception. Conclusions: Improving the listening environment for implanted childrenattending mainstream schools is necessary. J Audiol Otol 2020;24(2):61-70