OBJECTIVE: To compare the degree of change of current perception threshold (CPT) results with the degree of nerve conduction study (NCS) change and evaluate the effectiveness of the CPT in following up patients who went through operation for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHOD: Twenty hands with CTS were examined with CPT and NCS, before, 2 weeks after and 2 months after operation. In the CPT, the threshold of the median nerve was measured, in the NCS, amplitude and latency of the median nerve was measured. Subjects were divided into 3 groups according to the severity by NCS results and into 2 groups according to the subjective perception of improvement. RESULTS: The subjects mean age was 51.4. Changes of NCS results in amplitude and latency showed no statistical relevance. CPT study result changes demonstrated to be statistically significant. Improvement of CPT results seen in the period of 2 weeks and 2 months and the initial first 2 weeks showed no difference. Change of CPT results showed correlation not in accordance with the severity of the NCS study, but with the symptomatic improvement of the patients. CONCLUSION: CPT can be an effective tool in evaluating the improvement of symptoms and may be used as a follow up tool in patients with CTS.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Hand ; Humans ; Median Nerve ; Neural Conduction

OBJECTIVE: We tried to make real time observation of the ulnar nerve with elbows in an extended and flexed state at 100 degrees. METHOD: We examined 58 elbows of 29 healthy volunteers. The participants were symptomless and showed normal conduction across the elbow. The transducer was applied between the line connecting medial epicondyle and olecranon. We measured the distances between the center of nerve, medial epicondyle, olecranon, skin, and investigated the flattening ratio with elbows extended. Afterwards, we repeated the measurement with the elbows flexed at 100 degrees. We classified the position of the nerves into three groups according to the flexed position. We used the Okamoto classification. RESULTS: The distance between nerve and skin, between nerve and medial epicondyle was 0.57+/-0.11 cm, 0.83+/-0.15 cm, with the elbow extended. But with the elbow flexed, the distance decreased to a value of 0.45+/-0.11 cm, 0.64+/-0.25 cm, respectively. The flattening ratio was 0.52+/-0.13 at extension, and 0.31+/-0.11 at flexion. Subluxation and dislocation of the ulnar nerve were seen in 20.7% and 5.2% respectively. With the elbow flexed, the ulnar nerve moved anteromedially and superficially in the dislocated group. CONCLUSION: With the elbow flexed, the ulnar nerve moves superficially and medially, and the flattening ratio is greater when the elbow is extended.
Classification ; Dislocations ; Elbow Joint* ; Elbow* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Olecranon Process ; Skin ; Transducers ; Ulnar Nerve* ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the degree of injury and patterns of recovery according to the severity and degree of ischemia-reperfusion. METHOD: Fifty-three rats were divided into 2 groups by degree of ischemia using ultrasonography. Each group was subdivided into 1 and 3-hours ischemia groups. Baseline recordings were performed, and ligation of the femoral vessels were done. Reperfusion process was done. Nerve conduction study (NCS), Sciatic Function Index (SFI) and histologic study were used. RESULTS: NCS parameters of the less than 3 hours incomplete insult group showed normal value. More than 1 hour of complete insult induced peripheral nerve injury. On first day and week, amplitude of NCS was small in 3-hour group. Muscle fiber diameter was less in 3-hour group. Although NCS parameters did not reach normal values on 4th week, 3-hour group showed smaller amplitudes. SFI returned to normal level at 4th week. Reperfusion injury was observed by electromyography. CONCLUSION: Less than 3 hours of partial ischemia/ reperfusion did not result in any form of injury whereas more than 1 hour of complete insult resulted in peripheral nerve injury with greater injury seen in 3 hour insult group. Neurological recovery was not achieved at 4 th week, and the more severe the ischemia, the poorer was the recovery.
Animals ; Electromyography ; Ischemia ; Ligation ; Neural Conduction ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Rats* ; Reference Values ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: Study was designed preliminarily to observe the accordance of caregivers strain and depression with other factors such as sex of the patient, caregiver, lesion side, Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score and Beck's Depression Index (BDI). METHOD: We composed a questionnaire with BDI, and the Sense of Competence Questionnaire (SCQ) in order to evaluate the amount of stress and depression of caregivers. Evaluation of the patient was done by interviewing them along with reviewing their medical records and obtaining scores such as the MMSE, Functional Inependence Index (FIM) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). RESULTS: BDI of the caregivers showed a negative correlation with the patients' age. Lesion side nor age, nor the prevalence of hemiplegia of patients did not show statistical relevance with the strain that the caregiver felt. The first subscale of SCQ showed a positive correlation with the caregiving time that the caregiver gave. In accordance to the sex of the caregiver, females showed to spend more time with the patient, showed to be more unsatisfied with the patient but showed a tendency of lesser SCQ score. CONCLUSION: Depression, strain and burden that the caregivers went through showed to have slight correlation with the patient and caregiver factors.
Caregivers* ; Depression* ; Female ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Mental Competency ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Sialic acid residues are constant constituents of the glycoproteins of the airways in all species. Sialoglycoproteins are the main acidic glycoprotein and their functions are to mediate cell adherence, to control the viscoelasticity of mucus and to serve as receptor sites for the binding of exogenous macromolecules. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the distribution of sialoglycoproteins as a terminal sugar and in the composition of the penultimate sugar according to aging in the murine nasal respiratory and olfactory mucosa. Nasal cavities of mice (BALB/c) were fixed by intracardiac perfusion with 2.0% glutaraldehyde and embedded in Epon 812. First, the serial sections were stained with Maackia amurensis agglutinin (MAA) and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA). Then, the adjacent sections were stained with DBA and PNA before and after neuraminidase digestion in all experimental groups. Apical cell surfaces of olfactory mucosa and cilia on a few ciliated cells in the mucosa of the septum and nasal floor were labelled with MAA, but cell surfaces of respiratory mucosa, Bowman's glands and goblet cells were not labelled with MAA, irrespective of aging. Apical cell surfaces of both olfactory and respiratory mucosa and Bowman's glands were stained with SNA, however, goblet cells were not labelled with SNA. After neuraminidase digestion to remove terminal sialic acid residues of sialoglycoproteins, only cell surfaces of respiratory mucosa were labelled with PNA, but goblet cells, cell surfaces of olfactory mucosa and Bowman's glands were not labelled with PNA. Cell surfaces and Bowman's glands of olfactory mucosa were labelled with DBA after neuraminidase digestion, but cell surfaces of respiratory mucosa and goblet cells were not labelled with DBA. Our results indicate that there were different carbohydrate structures of sialoglycoconjugates in olfactory and respiratory mucosa, and it was not influenced by aging.
Aging/metabolism* ; Animal ; Carbohydrates/analysis* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Nasal Mucosa/chemistry* ; Olfactory Mucosa/chemistry* ; Sialoglycoproteins/analysis*

Although secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) is a very important substance in the defence mechanism of respiratory and nasal mucosa, research on its expression in the olfactory mucosa and differences according to development is limited. Therefore, we planned to uncover the sites of sIgA expression in the olfactory mucosa as well as changes in its expression depending on the developmental progress of mice. Our results showed the expression of sIgA in the mucus layer, the Bowman's gland, some of the blood cells and secretory ducts of the olfactory mucosa, and these findings were relatively consistent from gestational day 15 through to the adult stage. The different findings between the gestational day 15 specimens and others include a positive reaction in the Bowman's gland for gestational day 15 specimens. Therefore, we would like to predict with caution that the Immunologic regulation of mice should be completed at least after the 15th gestational day.
Adult ; Animals ; Blood Cells ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A, Secretory* ; Mice* ; Mucus ; Nasal Mucosa ; Olfactory Mucosa*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sinusitis is one of the most commonly reported diseases in the world. A network of inflammatory mediators is known to be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic sinusitis and nasal mucus secretion may also be under the control of an inflammatory mediator network. To date, 12 human mucin genes have been identified; however, the regulation of MUC8 has not yet been found out. In this study, we described the regulation of the MUC8 mRNA expression by inflammatory mediators and investigated its cellular location. MATERIALS AND METHOD: MUC8 mRNA and MUC5AC mRNA were detected in culture using passage-2 normal human nasal epithelial (NHNE) cells after the treatment with a mixture of following inflammatory mediators; TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, LPS, IL-4, PAF. The translocation of MUC8 mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm was investigated by treating the inflammatory mediators with in situ hybridization. RESULTS: We found that a mixture of inflammatory mediators increased the MUC8 mRNA expression but decreased the MUC5AC mRNA expression in cultured normal human nasal epithelial cells. Among the inflammatory mediators, Interleukin-4 was responsible for the decrease in the MUC5AC mRNA expression and the MUC5AC mucin secretion. We also found that MUC8 mRNA resides in the nucleus of goblet cells and is transported into the cytoplasm following the treatment with inflammatory mediators. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that MUC8 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of mucus hypersecretion in chronic sinusitis.
Cytokines* ; Cytoplasm ; Epithelial Cells* ; Goblet Cells ; Humans* ; In Situ Hybridization ; Interleukin-4 ; Mucins ; Mucus ; RNA, Messenger ; Sinusitis ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Airway hypersecretion is a frequent feature of several respiratory tract diseases including rhinitis, sinusitis, and otitis media. Efforts are being made in several laboratories to elucidate mechanisms involved in the regulation of secretion. There are several factors which modulate expression of the secretory phenotype, such as retinoic acid (RA), triiodothyronine, steroid, and extracellular matrix. We have been interested in elucidating the role of retinoids in regulating differentiation of mucin and non-mucin secretions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retinoic acid was removed from the culture media of normal human tracheobronchial epithelial cells grown in the air-liquid interface cultures. The effects on cell phenotype and mucin, lysozyme (LZ), and the secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) secretion and gene expression were examined. RESULTS: Removal of RA from the media induced squamous differentiation and caused a drastic decrease in mucin secretion and a decrease in expression of the mucin genes, MUC2 and MUC5AC. Lysozyme and SLPI secretions were increased in RA-depleted cultures. Paradoxically, LZ mRNA was decreased, while the SLPI mRNA levels were increased. A most intriguing finding was the paradoxical response of LZ to RA-depletion. The reason for this apparant incongruity between mRNA and protein levels is currently under investigation. CONCLUSION: Our studies show that RA is an important factor for mucous differentiation.
Culture Media ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium* ; Extracellular Matrix ; Gene Expression* ; Humans* ; Mucins* ; Muramidase ; Otitis Media ; Phenotype ; Respiratory Tract Diseases ; Retinoids ; Rhinitis ; RNA, Messenger ; Secretory Leukocyte Peptidase Inhibitor ; Sinusitis ; Tretinoin* ; Triiodothyronine

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to evaluate the accessibility of the arthritis-related web sites and the quality of the information contained in the sites. METHOD: To assess the status of arthritis-related information on the internet sites in Korea, we searched for Korean words which meant and were related with `arthritis' using the 10 most famous Korean internet search engines. Identified internet site were assessed regarding the quality of content, authorship, design, and functionality. RESULTS: The number of identified web sites ranged from 24 to 214. The average search yielded around 83 web sites listing for `arthritis'. The number of web sites listed for `arthritis' was as many as that for `hypertension', `diabetes', `cancer' or `hepatitis and hepatoma'. The frequency of appearance in a search did not correlate well with the quality of associated web sites. CONCLUSION: The quality of arthritis-related web sites in Korea varied. It is essential to develop a high quality information supplying web sites and to set up an evaluation tool for qualifying the medical information on internet.
Arthritis ; Authorship ; Internet* ; Korea* ; Search Engine