No abstract available.
Congenital Abnormalities*

No abstract available.
Foot*

The ideal restorative material should mimic the properties of the tissues it replaces. Dental composite resins have been used widely as restorative materials due to its advantages such as excellent esthetics and ease of manipulation. But inadequate wear resistance has been a major factor limiting the use of composite restorative materials. Improved manufacturing techniques have allowed the development of hybrid composites, with a greater percentage volume filler loading, which have improved physical an mechanical properties. However they are lacking the study wear resistance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the wear of human enamel against ceromer by the use of a pin-on-disk type wear testers. Discs of ceromer(Targis : Ivoclar, Vivadent, Amherst. NY) and discs of type III gold alloy as a control were used for test specimens. Intact cusp of premolar and molar were used for enamel specimens. The wear of enamel was determined by weighing the cusp before and after each test, and the weight converted to volumes by average density of enamel. Surface profilometer was used to quantify wear of the ceromer and gold specimens. Vicker's hardness tester was used to evaluate the surface hardness of test specimens. The SEM was used to evaluate the wear surfaces. The results were as follows; 1. Ceromer produced less enamel wear than gold(p<0.05). 2. The wear volume of ceromer was greater than that of gold(p<0.01). 3. The hardess of ceromer was lower than that of gold, but there was no correlation between the hardness and wear of the ceromer and gold. 4. SEM analysis revealed that there were many voids and microcracks in the wear tract of ceromer. in gold group, many minute V-shaped grooves were examined.
Alloys ; Bicuspid ; Composite Resins ; Dental Enamel* ; Esthetics ; Hardness ; Hardness Tests ; Humans* ; Molar

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis plays a critical role in human tumor growth and metastasis. Microvessel count, as a measure of tumor angiogenesis, has been significantly correlated with invasive and metastatic patterns in breast, prostate and cutaneous carcinomas. Materials and METHODS: Fifty patients with curatively resected non-small cell lung cancer were evaluated. Tumor tissues embedded in paraffin block were stained by anti CD 31 (PECAM, platelet endothelial cellular adhesion molecule) using immunohistochemical method to assess microvessel count. Microvessels were counted in the most active areas of neovascularization(microscopy, 200×). RESULTS: 1) Mean microvessel count was 47.1 ± 17.7(per 200×field) in total 50 cases. 2) Mean microvessel count of adenocarcinoma (54.4±19.9) was significantly higher than that of squamous cancer(43.9±16.2)(p<0.05), but there were no relationship between microvessel count and TNM stages. 3) Median survival time, 2-year and 5-year survival rates of the low microvascular group(microvessel count<45, 22cases) were 61 months, 80% and 40%, respectively, and those of the high microvascular group(microvessel count ≥ 45, 28 cases) were 46 months, 75% and 12%, respectively. As results, prognosis of low microvascular group is statistically significantly superior to that of the high microvascular group(p=0.0162, Kaplan-Meier, log-rank). CONCLUSION: Angiogenesis assessed by microvessel count can be used as one of the significant prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Blood Platelets ; Breast ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Humans ; Microvessels ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis ; Prostate ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is an essential component of tumor growth and metastasis, and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most important angiogenic factors. Several solid tumors produce substantial amounts of VEGF, which stimulates proliferation and the migration of ednothelial cells, therby inducing neovasculization by a paracrine mechanism. To evaluate the prognostic roles of angiogenesis and VEGF expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the relationship between VEGF expression in tumor tissues, the clinicopathologic features and the overall survival rate were analysed. METHODS: Sixty-nine resected primary non-small cell lung cancer specimens were evaluated. The pareffinembedded tumor tissues were stained by anti-VEGF polyclonal antibodies using an immunohistochemical method to assess VEGF expression. RESULTS: In Forty-one patients (59%), the VEGF antigen was expressed weakly in their tumor tissue, whereas in twenty-eight patients (41%) the VEGF antigen was expressed strongly. The median survival time of the weak VEGF expression group was 24 months, and that of the strong VEGF expression group was 19 months. The three year-survival rates were 35%, 33%, respectively. The survival difference between both groups was not statistically significnat. CONCLUSION: Although results were not statistically significant, the strong expression group tended to poorer prognosis than weak expression group.
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents ; Antibodies ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

We conducted this cohort analytic study to determine whether women with unexplained elevations of maternal serum hCG at 15-18 weeks' gestation are at increased risk for pregnancy complications and adverse perinatal outcomes. The inclusion criteria were a singleton gestation, a confirmed gestational age, and an hCG level greater than 2.0 multiples of the median (MoM). The exclusion criteria were fetal anomalies, an abnormal karyotype, molar pregnancy, and an MSAFP level greater than 2.5 multiples of the median (MoM). A group of randomly selected women with hCG levels under 2.0 MoM served as controls. Patients with elevated levels of hCG had a significantly higher risk for PIH (17.9% versus 4.5%; P <.05) and preterm delivery (17.9% versus 3.5%; P<, 05) than control. But no significant differences were observed in the incidence of intrauterine growth restriction and low birth weight and in the newborn weight. We suggested that pregnancies with unexplained elevated hCG levels should be regarded as high-risk pregnancies. And these patients require careful monitoring with adequate obstetric management.
Abnormal Karyotype ; Chorionic Gonadotropin* ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans* ; Hydatidiform Mole ; Incidence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, High-Risk

Tuberculosis is a common chronic infectious disease, although the spleen is an uncommon organ to harbor tubercle bacilli. Immunocompromised subjects are primarily prone to miliary tuberculosis and in them the spleen is invaded by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Spleen tuberculosis is manifested commonly as a miliary form. The basic pathology is granulomatous inflammation. The CT finding of splenic tuberculosis are multiple, well-defined, roung or ovoid, low-density masses. Lymphadenopathy in the abdomen and mediastinum and pleural effusion can be found. We report two cases with tuberculosis of the spleen proved by computed tomography and histologic identification. One paitient did not improve following antituberculous medication, so splenectomy was performed. The other patient has been treated with antituberculous medication.
Abdomen ; Communicable Diseases ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mediastinum ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Pathology ; Pleural Effusion ; Spleen* ; Splenectomy ; Tuberculosis* ; Tuberculosis, Miliary ; Tuberculosis, Splenic

No abstract available.
Infertility* ; Laparoscopy*

Traumatic injury to the lower legs has been increasing in Korea and often leads to skin and soft tissue loss, exposing blood vessels, nerves, tendons or bones. Salvaging these legs often requires free flaps. Over the past two decades, the use of free tissue transfer has produced an increasing salvage rate for severely injured lower leg. Between April. 1988 to July, 1997, 47 cases of lower soft tissue defects were reconstructed with free flaps, and retrospective analysis was performed to determine more about the factors associated with free flap failure or immediate vascular complications. We evaluated wound status before operation, operation time after injury, vascular status of recipient site, use of vein graft, use of reverse flow, salvage protocol in compromised anastomosis, survival rate and complications. There were 9 cases of venous thrombosis and 2 cases of arterial insufficiency while 7 out of 9 cases of venous thrombosis were reexplorated. However, 2 cases of partial flap necrosis and 1 case of total necrosis. Two cases of arterial insufficiency were necrotized, so the overall free flap failure rate was 9.6%. The results were analyzed to determine the factors promoting either failure or vascular complication, Many factors which are often blamed for failure (trauma cause, preoperative general condition, preoperative infection status, intraoperative ischemic time) were not significant in this study, but prolonged time after injury correlated with free flap failure, We concluded the adequate debridement and infection control, adequate selection of recipient vessel, accurate vascular anastomosis and most of all, early free flap transfer after injury, will improve the success rate.
Blood Vessels ; Debridement ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Infection Control ; Korea ; Leg* ; Necrosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Survival Rate ; Tendons ; Transplants ; Vascular System Injuries ; Veins ; Venous Thrombosis ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.