PURPOSE: This study was performed to find the relation between glaucoma and the quality of life (QOL). METHODS: The questionnaire survey and ophthalmologic examination was made in 105 glaucoma patients under treatment at ophthalmology clinic of a university hospital and 120 normal persons who had undergone an routine health check-up from June 1st, 2000 and June 30th, 2001. The questionnaire was composed of general characteristics, health-related behavior and the short form-36 health survey for QOL. Using the t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson's correlation analysis and analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA), we examined the relationship between glaucoma and QOL. RESULTS: 1. By t-test or ANOVA various domains of QOL showed statistically significant difference by sex, age, coverage of medical insurance, family history of glaucoma, past history of systemic diseases, educational level, marital status, smoking and drinking status. Visual acuity showed significant positive correlation with QOL and horizontal and vertical cup-to-disk (C/D) ratio showed significant negative correlation with QOL. 2. By ANCOVA to find the association of glaucoma with QOL controlling other related characteristics of subjects, QOL of the glaucoma group showed lower than that of the normal group, but the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: QOL of glaucoma patients was lower than that of normal persons without glaucoma considering sex, age, health insurance system, family history of glaucoma, past history of systemic disease, educational level, marital status, smoking status, drinking status and visual acuity, so further study will be necessary to observe the change of QOL according to progression of glaucoma and treatment status.
Drinking ; Glaucoma* ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Marital Status ; Ophthalmology ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Visual Acuity

No abstract available.
Osteotomy*

The vaccinations of susceptible children and postpubertal females are the major means to prevent congenital rubella syndrome(CRS). Another means for reducing the CRS is therapeutic abortion or fetal monitoring for women who are infected in the first four months of pregnancy. We couldnt estimate the incidence of CRS in Korea, because there was no surveillance system for rubella and CRS. Nationwide vaccination program for 15months infant had been started early 1980s. So, most women at childbearing age during study period were not received rubella vaccination. We set forth CRS management system for pregnant women in two rural county of Kyonggi province, Korea. In this system, the presence of rubella IgG and IgM antibodies for early pregnant women were examined with MEIA(Microparticle Enzyme Immunoassay) method by IMx automated analyzer Abbott. The infected pregnant women followed up in order to confirm their children CRS. This study was carried out from Mar.1993 to Jun.1994, and pregnant women examined were 874 persons. The results were summarized as follows. The overall positive rate of rubella IgG antibody was 94.5%(826/874). The positive rate was significantly increase as the age increased, and reached 100% in pregnant women who were over 35 years old. This results suggest that a meaningful number of women are infected during childbearing years. The geometric mean titer of IgG of sero-positive subjects was significantly declined as the age increased. On the question about history of URI symptoms and rash in pregnancy, 20.7% of respondents checked on URI symptoms with rash, 13.5% only URI symptoms without rash, and 65.8% no symptoms. However there was no demonstrable association between the rubella like infection history in pregnancy and the rubella IgG and IgM antibody status. Rubella infection rate in pregnant women was 0.9%(95% CI 0.4-1.8%). Two of these 8 infected pregnancies were terminated by therapeutic abortion. One of them was not followed. Five babies had no gross anomalies at birth. In Dec.1996, three of five babies were normal appeared infants. Two of them were not followed. Throughout this study results, we confirmed the need of CRS management system for pregnant women, in Korea.
Abortion, Therapeutic ; Adult ; Antibodies ; Child ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fetal Monitoring ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Incidence ; Infant ; Korea ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women* ; Rubella* ; Seroepidemiologic Studies* ; Vaccination

No abstract available.
Hemorrhoidectomy* ; Hemorrhoids* ; Ligation* ; Rubber*

PURPOSE: We reviewed the treatment outcomes and prognostic factors for patients with anal canal carcinoma who were treated with curative intent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) at Severance Hospital from 2005 to 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data for 38 eligible patients treated during this period were reviewed. All patients were treated with curative intent using radiotherapy (RT) with (n = 35) or without concomitant chemotherapy (n = 3). Among 35 patients who received CRT, most of the chemotherapeutic regimens were either 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus mitomycin C (23 patients) or 5-FU plus cisplatin (10 patients). Recurrence-free survival (RFS), colostomy-free survival (CFS), overall survival (OS), and locoregional control (LRC) rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and survival between subgroups were compared using the log-rank test. Cox's proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up period of 44 months (range, 11 to 96 months), 3-year RFS, CFS, OS, and LRC were 80%, 79%, 85%, and 92%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, tumor size >4 cm was an independent predicting factor for poorer RFS (hazard ratio [HR], 6.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42 to 28.5; p = 0.006) and CFS (HR, 6.25; 95% CI, 1.39-28.0; p = 0.017), while the presence of external iliac lymph node metastasis was an independent prognosticator for poorer OS (HR, 9.32; 95% CI, 1.24 to 70.3; p = 0.030). No treatment-related colostomies or deaths occurred during or after treatment. CONCLUSION: Curative intent CRT resulted in excellent outcomes that were comparable to outcomes in previous randomized trials. No severe treatment-related toxicities were observed.
Anal Canal ; Anus Neoplasms ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Cisplatin ; Colostomy ; Fluorouracil ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Mitomycin ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Proportional Hazards Models

Purpose: This study evaluated the short-term safety of resident-performed intravitreal injections. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 503 patients (503 eyes) treated for the first time in our hospital from January 2018 to October 2020 via intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, or triamcinolone acetonide injections by residents or retina specialists. In terms of short-term ophthalmic complications, patients were followed-up 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after injection. Results: A total of 503 eyes of 503 patients were included. Intravitreal injections were given to 211 and 292 eyes by residents (the resident group) and retina specialists (the retina specialist group), respectively. There were no between-group differences in baseline characteristics except in terms of the indications for injection. Intraocular pressure elevation >5 mmHg occurred in two eyes (0.95%) in the resident group and five (1.71%) in the retina specialist group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Subconjunctival hemorrhage occurred in 29 eyes (13.74%) of the resident group and 32 eyes (10.96%) of the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not statistically significant. No case of noninfectious endophthalmitis occurred in the resident group but two (0.68%) cases occurred in the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not significant. There were two (0.95%) cases of infectious endophthalmitis in the resident group and one (0.34%) case in the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not significant. No corneal erosion, traumatic lens damage, vitreous hemorrhage, or retinal tearing or detachment were noted in either group. Conclusions Resident-performed intravitreal injections appear to be safe.

Juvenile Paget's disease (JPD) is a rare skeletal disorder that's characterized by bone demineralization and elevated levels of serum alkaline phosphatase. JPD involves the paranasal sinuses in extremely rare cases. We report here on a 25-month-old Asian male who was diagnosed of JPD associated with aplasia of the paranasal sinuses, but not the ethmoid sinuses. The patient was successfully treated by surgery and we undertook no medical intervention. This appears to be the first reported case of JPD associated with bilateral paranasal sinus aplasia.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Ethmoid Sinus ; Humans ; Male ; Osteitis Deformans ; Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Preschool Child

BACKGROUND: Approximately 90%~99% of ultraviolet A (UVA) ray reaches the Earth's surface. The deeply penetrating UVA rays induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which results in oxidative stress such as photoproducts, senescence, and cell death. Thus, UVA is considered a primary factor that promotes skin aging. OBJECTIVE: Researchers investigated whether pretreatment with ferulic acid protects human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) against UVA-induced cell damages. METHODS: HDF proliferation was analyzed using the water-soluble tetrazolium salt assay. Cell cycle distribution and intracellular ROS levels were assessed by flow cytometric analysis. Senescence was evaluated using a senescence-associated β-galactosidase assay, while Gadd45α promoter activity was analyzed through a luciferase assay. The expression levels of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), catalase (CAT), xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A and C, matrix metalloproteinase 1 and 3, as well as p21 and p16 were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle arrest were detected in cells that were irradiated with UVA only. Pretreatment with ferulic acid significantly increased the proliferation and cell cycle progression in HDFs. Moreover, ferulic acid pretreatment produced antioxidant effects such as reduced DCF intensity, and affected SOD1 and CAT mRNA expression. These effects were also demonstrated in the analysis of cell senescence, promoter activity, expression of senescent markers, and DNA repair. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that ferulic acid exerts protective effects on UVA-induced cell damages via anti-oxidant and stress-inducible cellular mechanisms in HDFs.
Aging ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; Catalase ; Cats ; Cell Aging ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cell Death ; Complement System Proteins ; DNA Repair ; Fibroblasts* ; Humans* ; Luciferases ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Skin Aging ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Ultraviolet Rays ; Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Actinomycosis is an uncommon disease caused by actinomycoses, which is a normal flora in the human mucosal membrane. It is difficult to diagnose pre- and intra-operatively and requires long-term use of antibiotics even after surgery. Especially, abdominal actinomycosis is frequently misdiagnosed as a tumor, diverticulitis, chronic inflammatory disease, or other infectious disease preoperatively. Thus, we report the case of a 21-yr-old male patient who was thought to have acute appendicitis and who underwent a cecal wedge resection, including the appendix, with the assistance of laparoscopy for appendiceal actinomycosis.
Actinomycosis ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendicitis ; Appendix ; Communicable Diseases ; Diverticulitis ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Male ; Membranes

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There have been heated controversies over the choice of the canal wall down mastoidectomy and canal wall up mastoidectomy, which are operational methods used to eliminate the lesion of chronic otitis media including cholesteatoma. Combining the advantages of both methods, we devised a new operational method in 1994. This study reports the surgical results of the epitympanoplasty employing the mastoid obliteration technique after a follow-up 38 months in 283 cases. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A retrospective review was made of 283 cases (273 patients) on which this technique was performed by the first author between Dec. of 1994 to Mar. of 2004. The follow-up period varied from 8 to 104 months, with the average period of 38 months. We analyzed postoperative complications including cavity problems, the recurrent cholesteatoma, residual cholesteatoma cases in the mastoid cavity, residual cholesteatoma in the tympanic cavity and postoperative otorrhea and hearing results. RESULTS: The overall incidence of postoperative complications was 21.9%. The results of postoperative complications in the above listed order were 0%, 0%, 1.0%, 4.3% and 5.7%, respectively. Air-bone gap (ABG) closure was 4.73 dB HL and the statistical analysis revealed that the postoperative ABG was significantly lower than the preoperative ABG (p=0.0023). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that this procedure prevents the cavity problem, helps reduce recurrence and effectively manages the residual cholesteatoma. Also, this procedure achieves good audiologic results.
Cholesteatoma ; Ear, Middle ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Hearing ; Hot Temperature ; Incidence ; Methods ; Otitis Media ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies