BACKGROUND: Standard polysomnography is generally used in the diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome. However, this technique is laborious, costly and inconvenient as a screening test or a test for epidemiological study. A simple screening test for sleep apnea, administered at home, would provide physicians with a convenient and less costly means of evaluating possible sleep apnea. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of portable sleep monitoring devices. The validity of measurements made by the portable sleep monitoring devices was assessed by comparing respiratory parameters obtained using the portable sleep monitoring devices with those obtained using standard polysomnography. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Eighteen patients were collected and divided into two groups. Direct comparison was made between data obtained by the portable monitoring devices(MESAM IV in group 1 and Edentec in group 2) and data simultaneously obtained by standard polysomnographic techniques. RESULTS: In group 1, oxygen desaturation index(ODI) and heart variation index(HVI) in MESAM IV were significantly correlated with apnea index(AI) and respiratory disturbance index(RDI) in standard polysomnography. In group 2, AI and RDI in Edentec were significantly correlated with those in standard polysomnography. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that portable monitoring devices(MESAM IV and Edentec) may be useful in screening test of sleep apnea syndrome.
Apnea ; Diagnosis ; Heart ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Oxygen ; Polysomnography* ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes*

Diffuse axonal injury(AI) s a severe form of traumatic brain injury and it is associated with immediate coma lasting from six hours to prolonged coma. Object of this study was to review various clinical parameters which might have been related to outcome of patients with DAI and, thus, to provide some valuable guidelines in management. A series of 41 patients of DAI treated in our institution between October 1992 to September 1997 are included in this study. Clinical factors such as age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale(CS), duration of coma, presence of hypotension at admission, hypoxemia, signs of hypothalamic injury, abnormal eyeball movement, abnormal light reflex, abnormal electrocardiography, cerebral infarct, and seizure are reviewed and analyzed in conjunction with outcome. Among all clinical factors evaluated for the statistical significances only initial GCS, hypoxemia, abnormal light reflex, signs of hypothalamic injury, abnormal motor response(decortication or decerebration) at admission revealed to have significant correlation with outcome. Factors such as age, hypotension, abnormal ECG, cerebral infarct, seizure were not statistically significant in our study. Other findings, such as causes of deaths(old age associated with either expanding hemorrhage or hemorrhage in posterior fossa) in 2 of 9 patientswith initial GCS greater than 13 and highest mortality rate for patients with combined hypoxemia and hypotension, should also be stressed. These findings suggest that when such clinical settings are evident physicians should be borne in mind that these will play unfavorable role to patients in terms of outcome and prognosis. Thus, careful and prompt attention should be given to these patients, especially treating elderly patients, even though they may have good initial GCSs.
Aged ; Anoxia ; Axons ; Brain Injuries ; Coma ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Diffuse Axonal Injury* ; Dyskinesias ; Electrocardiography ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Reflex ; Reflex, Abnormal ; Seizures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As the anterior ethmoid canal (AEC) provides a good surgical landmark and its injury may result in serious complications, the anatomical relationship of the AEC to the anterior skull base (ASB) should be evaluated preoperatively. Despite some studies on the ASB, studies analyzing this anatomical relationship and the types of the fovea ethmoidalis (FE) on computed tomography (CT) are rare. The aim of this study is to better understand this anatomical relationship by determining the frequency of each type of the FE and distances between anatomical structures on the CT scans with our new classification. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Four hundred sides of the FE were analyzed from the preoperative coronal CT scans of 200 chronic sinusitis patients (100 males and 100 females, aged 20 to 59 years). The FE was classified into 4 types (I: non-separated type, II: partially separated type, III: completely separated type, IV: unidentifiable type) and 2 subtypes (A: developed medial cranial wall, B: undeveloped medial cranial wall). Heights of the medial cranial wall (a), the AEC (b), and the ethmoid roof (c) were measured on the CT image. RESULTS: Frequencies of the types I-IV were 48.0% (IA: 25.2%, IB: 22.8%), 19.3% (IIA: 4.3%, IIB: 15.0%), 29.5% (IIIA: 29.5%, IIIB: 0%), and 3.2%, respectively. The medial cranial wall of type IIIA was significantly longer than those of the other types, and the AEC of type IIIA was in a significantly lower position than those of the other types. CONCLUSION: On the CT scans, we found the AEC in 96.8% and type IIIA in nearly 30% of all types of the FE. Sinus surgery should be performed only after preoperative evaluation of these anatomical relationship on the CT scans under close scrutiny. For the type IIIA, surgery should be performed with utmost care due to high risk of injury to the AEC and the medial cranial wall.
Classification ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Sinusitis ; Skull Base* ; Skull* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Effective bowel preparation is essential for accurate diagnosis of colon disease. We investigated efficacy and safety of 2 L polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution with 90 mL sodium phosphate (NaP) solution compared with 4 L PEG method. METHODS: Between August 2009 and April 2010, 526 patients were enrolled who visited Seoul National University Bundang Hospital for colonoscopy. We allocated 249 patients to PEG 4 L group and 277 patients to PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL group. Detailed questionnaires were performed to investigate compliance, satisfaction and preference of each method. Bowel preparation quality and segmental quality were evaluated. Success was defined as cecal intubation time less than 20 minutes without any help of supervisors. RESULTS: Both groups revealed almost the same baseline characteristics except the experience of operation. PEG 4 L group's compliance was lower than PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL group. Success rate and cecal intubation time was not different between two groups. Overall bowel preparation quality of PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL group was better than PEG 4 L group. Segmental bowel preparation quality of PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL group was also better than PEG 4 L group in all segments, especially right side colon. Occurrence of hyperphosphatemia was higher in PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL group than PEG 4 L group. However, significant adverse event was not reported. CONCLUSIONS: PEG 2 L with NaP 90 mL method seems to be more effective bowel preparation than PEG 4 L method.
Administration, Oral ; Adult ; Aged ; Colonic Diseases/diagnosis ; Colonoscopy/*methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Compliance ; Phosphates/*administration & dosage ; Polyethylene Glycols/*administration & dosage ; Questionnaires ; Solutions ; Therapeutic Irrigation