We have noticed that several sentences in a review article by Drs. Jung and Roh published in J Clin Neurol [Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in cerebrovascular disease, J Clin Neurol 2008;4(4):139-147] are identical from those in an article by Dr. Rouhl et al. published in Stroke [Endothelial progenitor cell research in stroke: a potential shift in pathophysiological and therapeutical concepts, Stroke 2008;39(7):2158-2165]. The text of the Jung and Roh article neither mentions nor cites the article by Rouhl and colleagues. A review of this case by the editorial committee of Journal of Clinical Neurology concluded that Drs. Jung and Roh plagiarized the paper by Rouhl and colleagues. Drs. Jung and Roh have acknowledged the plagiarism in the original manuscript and given clear credit for the work of Dr. Rouhl and colleagues in a letter published in this issue as an "Apology". I regret that this has happened and that this plagiarism was not identified prior to publication.
Neurology ; Plagiarism ; Publications ; Stem Cells ; Stroke

Soft denture liners or conditioners may be valuable therapeutic materials. The life of these liners is short and varies, but it can be extended by the use of a mono-poly(polymethyl methacrylate coating material). This study determined whether coating three temporary soft denture liners with mono-poly affected the resiliency of soft liners, and evaluated the ability of mono-poly to prevent water absorption and alcohol loss from the underlying soft liners. 20x12mm cylindrical specimens of Coe-Soft, Soft-Liner, Coe-Comfort soft lining materials were made and divided into two groups of mono-poly uncoated(control) and mono-poly coated specimens. Specimens were immersed in water and compressed on an instron universal testing machine and weighted at initial, 24 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. resiliency was determined by measuring the energy absorbed by the soft liners when stressed to a specific yield point. Mono-poly coating significantly increased the resiliency of the Soft-Liner, but had no effect on the other soft liners. Among the 3 soft liners, Soft-Liner showed the hightest resiliency and modulus of elasticity. The weight loss in Soft-Liner was the least among the 3 liners, and the weight loss in Coe-Soft was decreased by monopoly coating.
Absorption ; Denture Liners* ; Dentures* ; Elastic Modulus ; Water ; Weight Loss

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: While patient-centered outcomes are usually not reported, these may represent major aspects of the implant success for the patient. Use of a well-designed patient survey form can be an invaluable asset to the implant practitioners. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate patient satisfaction after implant therapy by means of a questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS: South Korean patients (n = 100), who visited the dental examination center of Soon Chun Hyang university hospital, were asked to fill out the satisfaction questionnaire regarding aspects of cost, comfort, esthetics, chewing, gingival health, food impaction, phonetic aspect, screw loosening, and general satisfaction. Responses to statements were given on the Likert response scale. Four experimental groups of patients were distinguished with various location (A1, A2, A3), year (B1, B2, B3), number of implant replacements (C1, C2, C3), and treatment cost (D1, D2, D3). The reliability of the response scales was measured by calculation of its internal consistency, expressed as Cronbach's alpha. The scales were distinguished by means of factor analysis method. Possible differences in scale scores among the groups were assessed by One-way ANOVA (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: Patients responded to most of the statements with high satisfaction. But the mean scale score of statement about cost was low. After the verification of internal consistency and factor analysis, five components, e.g. general satisfaction, comfort, chewing efficiency, esthetics, and phonetic aspect were grouped together. These components could be explained with common meaning and the first factor was named as 'general satisfaction' . Differences in patient satisfaction on the scale with esthetics were present between patients who have been wearing the implant prosthesis less than three years and those more than seven years (B1 < B3). CONCLUSION: The patients were generally satisfied with the outcome of implant treatment. But the patients' major complaint was high cost and while the statistically significant difference was not shown, the satisfaction scale about food impaction and esthetics was low. So the continuing efforts to make improvements about these problems are needed for the implant practitioners.
Dental Implants ; Esthetics ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Mastication ; Patient Satisfaction ; Prostheses and Implants ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in stroke therapies require patients to be treated very early after the onset of symptoms. To reduce the delay in time upon stroke and arriving at the hospital, we assessed the time delay, stroke recognition, and awareness before and after a public education program designed to increase recognition and awareness. METHODS: Prospective standardized and structured interviews were performed in 155 patients with ischemic stroke who were admitted to the Severance hospital before and after the public education program. The educational program included local newspaper articles, distribution of pamphlets, and lectures to 119 emergency care teams. Time delay, variable factors, stroke recognition, and stroke awareness of patients were then assessed (75 pre-education and 80 post-education groups). RESULTS: 52% of the pre-education group and 52.5% of the post-education group arrived at the hospital within 24 hours. Those who arrived within 3 hours were only 21.3% and 15% respectively. A direct visit to the hospital and a cardioembolic infarction appeared to be associated with a shorter time delay. About half of the patients recognized their symptoms as a stroke before a diagnosis was made by a doctor. Most of them had known that a stroke should be treated urgently. However, the stroke recognition and awareness was not associated with an early arrival, which suggests that their knowledge was not solid. The efforts to inform the public using local newspaper articles and pamphlets geared towards the local residents for the limited time period was not effective in shortening arrival times. CONCLUSIONS: Many of the stroke patients did not arrive within the therapeutic time window. Our findings suggest that extensive and multi-directional campaigns should be performed to reduce the time delay. Our findings also suggest that educational aims should include the need for the rapid treatment of stroke and a therapeutic time window as well as stroke recognition.
Cerebral Infarction ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Emergency Medical Services ; Humans ; Infarction ; Lectures ; Periodicals ; Pamphlets ; Prospective Studies ; Stroke*

PURPOSE: The benefits of thrombolytic treatment are time-dependent. We developed a smartphone application that aids stroke patient self-screening and hospital selection, and may also decrease hospital arrival time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The application was developed for iPhone and Android smartphones. Map data for the application were adopted from the open map. For hospital registration, a web page (http://stroke119.org) was developed using PHP and MySQL. RESULTS: The Stroke 119 application includes a stroke screening tool and real-time information on nearby hospitals that provide thrombolytic treatment. It also provides information on stroke symptoms, thrombolytic treatment, and prescribed actions when stroke is suspected. The stroke screening tool was adopted from the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale and is displayed in a cartoon format. If the user taps a cartoon image that represents abnormal findings, a pop-up window shows that the user may be having a stroke, informs the user what to do, and directs the user to call emergency services. Information on nearby hospitals is provided in map and list views, incorporating proximity to the user's location using a Global Positioning System (a built-in function of smartphones). Users can search for a hospital according to specialty and treatment levels. We also developed a web page for hospitals to register in the system. Neurology training hospitals and hospitals that provide acute stroke care in Korea were invited to register. Seventy-seven hospitals had completed registration. CONCLUSION: This application may be useful for reducing hospital arrival times for thrombolytic candidates.
*Cellular Phone ; Geographic Information Systems ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Republic of Korea ; Stroke/*diagnosis

Diphenylbydantoin-induced movement disorders have been rarely reported. They include choreoathetosis, orofacial dyskinesia, asterixis, dystonia, and ballismus. A patient with epllepsy, who showed orofacial dyskinesia with toxic cerebellar syrnptoms after longterm use of diphenylhydantoin is presented. The involuntary movement rapidily disappeared with a reduction of diphenylhydantoin dose.
Dyskinesias ; Dystonia ; Humans ; Movement Disorders* ; Phenytoin

To get a better insight into the clinical differentiation between vertigo of cerebrovascular origin and of aural origin, we investigated radiologically proven stroke patients who presented with vertigo as an initial clinical manifestation. Of 154 stroke patients, 30 patients with vertigo (20%) had the relevant lesion, demonstrated with the initial computerized tomographic scan (13 patients) or the follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study (17 patients) of the brain. Every lesion was in the vertebrobasilar arterial territory; 19 in the cerebellum, 8 in the pons, and 3 in the medulla oblongata. Although 12 of the 30 patients (40%) presented with vertigo in isolation at the onset of stroke, eight patients (27%) developed additional neurologic abnormalities from four hours to seven days later. Patients with isolated vertigo (13%) had the small lesion exclusively in the cerebellum of the PICA medial branch territory. The most frequent accompanying neurological sign was swaying in the cerebellar and medullary lesion, and dysarthria in the pontine lesion. The direction of nystagmus or swaying did not match the lesion side in some patients. Our findings suggest that cerebellar stroke may commonly manifest isolated vertigo or vertigo with swaying mimicking labyrinthine disorder, particularly at the onset of the disease. MRI study and tests for truncal ataxia and lateropulsion may be crucial for the detection of vertigo of cerebrovascular origin.
Adult ; Cerebrovascular Disorders/complications/*radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Human ; Male ; Nervous System Diseases/etiology ; Nystagmus, Pathologic/etiology ; Prospective Studies ; Sensation Disorders/*diagnosis ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vertigo/complications/*radiography

We used the fluorophotometry to investigate the corneal epithelial barrier function after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). Twenty-five eyes of 21 subjects (13 women, 8 men) underwent PRK to correct rnyopia. Corneal epithelial healing time was measured and corneal epithelial permeability to sodiurn fluorescein was evaluated by fluorophotoinetry at I, 2, and 3 weeks after surgery. The corneal epithelial permeability increased significantly 1 week after surgery and returned to preoperative level 2 weeks after surgery. The permeability differences according to epithelial healing days and corrected diopters were not statistically significant(p>0. 05). These results suggest that PRK delays complete reconstruction of corneal epithelial barrier function. The corneal epithelium regained its functional barrier 2 weeks after PRK in patients, so, at least, during the first 2 weeks, care should be taken to miniinize further epithelial trauma from topical inedication or surgical manipulation.
Epithelium, Corneal ; Female ; Fluorescein ; Fluorophotometry ; Humans ; Lasers, Excimer* ; Permeability ; Photorefractive Keratectomy*

Amidarone hydrochloride, benzofuran derivatives, particularly effective for the treatment of arrythmias by prolong the duration of the action potential in all cardiac-conducting tissues. We studied the 25 patients with typical amiodarone keratopathy, retrospectively. In 25 patients, ten patients developed grade 1, eleven patients developed grade 2, and four patients developed grade 3 keratopathy. They complained of decreased best corrected visual acuity(1 patient), halos(1 patient), hypothyroidism(3 patients), pulmonary toxicity(2 patients), thpatic dysfunction(5 patients) and sleep dusturbance(3 patients). Therefore ophthalmologists should be alert for the complications of amiodarone and regular careful slit-lamp examination will be helpful in minimizing amidarone toxicity.
Action Potentials ; Amiodarone* ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies

Young adult stroke is not rare disease and have diverse causes. We studied 135 young adults aged 15 - 45 years who had been admitted to Severance Hospital with a diagnosis of cerebral infarction from January 1990 to June 1995. The results are as follows. 1. The diverse causes of earshot infarction in young adults have been found in most patients(88.2%). The major causes of cerebral infarction in young adults were atherosclerosis(32.6%) and cardioembolism(32.6%). The causes were significantly different between younger(15 - 30 years old) and older(31 - 45 years old) patients. 2. The major risk factors of atherosclerotic cerebral infarction were hypertension(29 patients), smoking(14 patients), and hyperlipidemia(11 patients). 3. The major causes of cardioembolism were valvular heart disease(21 patients) and prosthetic valve(I0 patients). The mitral valve prolapse was discovered only in one patient. 4. Fourteen patients had non-atherosclerotic vasculopathies. The moyamoya disease was the most common cause of them. 5. The other causes of cerebral infarction were found in 17 patients and the major causes were alcohol intoxication and postoperative thromboembolism. 6. The cerebral infarction occurred mostly in the carotid artery territory(95 patients) and the distribution of the involved vascular territory was not different between younger and older age groups. 7. The clinical outcomes were good in most patients (86, 7%). From the above results, we demonstrated that young adults with cerebral infarction had various causes and showed favorable clinical outcomes. We also found that the causes of cerebral infarction varied between younger and older groups. Our findings suggest that careful and thorough case-by-ease evaluation may be mandatory to clarify the causes of cerebral infarction in young adults.
Carotid Arteries ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Diagnosis ; Heart ; Humans ; Infarction ; Mitral Valve Prolapse ; Moyamoya Disease ; Rare Diseases ; Risk Factors ; Stroke ; Thromboembolism ; Young Adult*