BACKGROUND: The growth of elderly population increased the need for oral health care. Elderly patients with poor teeth alignment needs more attention with orthodontic treatment METHODS: Elderly patients visiting department of orthodontics, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital between 2000-2004 were treated with fixed appliances in one or both dental arches. Treatment plans were different from than that of younger patients and included uncommon and strategic removals of teeth and prosthesis. RESULTS: There was decrease in orthodontic treatment forces with increasing age, and the observation made from this study was favorable in the patients' as well as in the orthodontist's, point of view. It was possible to move the remaining teeth considerably, and the retention was made with various fixed appliances. CONCLUSIONS: Orthodontic treatment is not limited by patient age. However, it is wise not to extend treatment goals too far beyond the patients' objective needs
Aged* ; Dental Arch ; Heart ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Orthodontics ; Prostheses and Implants ; Tooth

No abstract available.
Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Ulcer*

In this study, we are to produce the single chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies against surface protein of hepatitis B virus (HBV) using antibody phage display technique. Balb/c mice were immunized with preS1 and cDNAs of heavy and light chains of splenic B cells from immunized mice were prepared using RT-PCR. Two cDNAs were linked with (64S) linker DNA under recombination PCR to produce single chain Fv DNA. After digestion of scFv DNA with Sp 1 and Not 1, the digested DNA was ligated into pCANTAB 5E and electroporated into E. coli XL1-Blue to prepare scFv-library. The size of library was 1 * 10' pfu/ml. Phage antibodies (phabs) against preS1 were rescued with M13K07 helper phages, and preS1-binders were selected through 3 times of panning using 96 well microtitre plates. Phage antibody clones were assayed directly for the ability to bind preS1 by ELISA. And then 7 phage antibody clones had high ELISA signals against preS1. Phabs from preS1-specific pMsc-17 had the strongest ELISA signal to preS1. Phabs from pMsc-17 were used for Western blot to preS1 and the results revealed that it was specific to preS1. To prepare the soluble scFv antibody, phabs from pMsc-17 were transfected into non-suppressor E. coli HB2151, and grown under 1 mM IPTG. Soluble scFv antibody was mainly accumulated in the periplasmic space, but small amount of antibody was secreted into culture media.
Animals ; Antibodies ; B-Lymphocytes ; Bacteriophages* ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Surface Display Techniques ; Clone Cells ; Culture Media ; Digestion ; DNA ; DNA, Complementary ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Isopropyl Thiogalactoside ; Mice* ; Periplasm ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombination, Genetic ; Single-Chain Antibodies*

Human monoclonal antibodies have considerable potential in the prophylaxis and treatment of viral disease. By cloning human Ig gene segments from the B cells of volunteer into pComb3 phagemid vector, antibody library was created of filamentous phage particles displaying Fab fragments on their surface after being rescued with M13KO7 helper phages. The size of library was 7x10' pfu. Phage antibodies (phabs) were panned against biotinylated preS1 using streptavidine coated Dynabead. The soluble Fab antibodies were prepared from phagemid colonies and assayed directly for the ability to bind preS1 by ELISA. And then 3DW and SGW specific to preS1 which have both heavy and light chain to form Fab fragment, were selected. The soluble Fab antibody from 3DW was expressed highly at the concentration of 0.1 - 1.0 mM of IPTG, and 5 hours postinduction. The soluble antibodies from 3DW and SGW showed their relative affinities of 2x10' M ', and Sx10 M ', respectively, and the specificities to preS1 on ELISA. Our results suggest that antibody phage display library is very useful method to generate the human monoclonal antibody and that the human Fab monoclonal antibodies specific to preS1 selected in this study open the way to treat hepatitis B as a component of passive irnmunotherapeutics.
Antibodies ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; B-Lymphocytes ; Bacteriophages* ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Genes, Immunoglobulin ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans* ; Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments ; Isopropyl Thiogalactoside ; Streptavidin ; Virus Diseases ; Volunteers

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms*

The incidence of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) is increasing with the increase in the elderly population. Kümmell’s disease following OVCF occurrence is not a rare complication and is frequently associated with severe pain or neurologic deficit with progressive kyphotic deformity. Kümmell’s disease initially meant post-traumatic delayed vertebral collapse, but now it is also termed nonunion, osteonecrosis, or intravertebral vacuum cleft, all of which suggest the disruption of the healing process.Current Concepts: The major pathogenesis of Kümmell’s disease is a vascular compromise caused by mechanical stress or intravascular pathology. The key radiologic sign to diagnose Kümmell’s disease is the presence of intravertebral vacuum cleft, observed using simple X-ray, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging is the most useful diagnostic tool showing gas or fluid signals. The risk factors for the progression of Kümmell’s disease after OVCF include middle-column injury, confined low signal intensity on T2-weighted image, posterior wall combined fracture, kyphotic angle >10°, and a height loss >15%. Its treatment can be broadly classified as conservative treatment, bone cement injection, and surgical treatment. The appropriate treatment method is selected based on the pain intensity, neurological symptoms, and the severity of the kyphotic deformity.Discussion and Conclusion: Kümmell’s disease usually develops along with osteoporosis. Therefore, the treatment should be focused on relief from symptoms associated with Kümmell’s disease and osteoporosis. It is recommended that an anabolic agent should be administered after the diagnosis of Kümmell’s disease, regardless of the treatment modality.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to present our clinical results after surgical treatment in tarsal tunnel syndrome due to space occupying lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed surgical decompression for tarsal tunnel syndrome in 20 patients from July 2004 to February 2007. Out of them, thirteen cases were due to space occupying lesions around the tarsal tunnel. The average age at operation was 51.3 years old and the duration from symptom onset to surgery was 16.5 months. The operation included removal of space occupying lesions and tarsal tunnel decompression. The clinical parameters were pain visual analogue scale (VAS), AOFAS scale, and subjective satisfaction. RESULTS: The ganglion cysts were the most frequent causes (ten cases) and synovial chondromatosis in 1 case, neurofibroma in 1 case, talocalcaneal coalition in 1 case. The average follow-up duration was 14.5 months. The AOFAS scale showed significant improvement from 77.8 to 92.7. The average VAS decreased from 6.4 to 2.2. Seven out of thirteen patients were satisfied with the results. The excellent results were shown in six patients, the good results in one patient, the fair result in three patients and the unsatisfactory results in three patients. CONCLUSION: Favorable results could be obtained in patients with known etiology. But not all cases with surgical decompression of space occupying lesions showed satisfactory results. We assume that the clinical results were related to the multiple factors, not only well performed surgery but also age, size lesions and duration of symptoms, ect.
Chondromatosis, Synovial ; Decompression* ; Decompression, Surgical ; Follow-Up Studies ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans ; Neurofibroma ; Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome

PURPOSE: Numerous trials have been conducted to develop new treatment regimens for superficial and invasive bladder cancer, because there is an urgent need to identify novel agents to prevent the recurrence and progression of these cancers. We evaluated the prognostic and biological significance of mTOR pathway-related markers in patients with bladder cancer who had undergone transurethral resection of their bladder tumors and radical cystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrieved 208 bladder cancer specimens collected from patients between 1989 and 2007 and constructed a tissue microarray comprising 208 tumor samples and 25 benign urothelium samples. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for mTOR, phosphorylated (phos) S6, and phos4E-BP1. The pattern, percentage, and intensity of staining for all three markers were evaluated. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis of the patient cohort was 67 years (range: 29-87 years), and the median follow-up was 72 months (range: 1-257 months). The expression of phos4E-BP1 was higher in the bladder cancer cohort than in the benign cohort, whereas phosS6 expression was lower in the bladder cancer cohort than in the benign cohort. The expression of phosS6 was significantly higher in high-grade bladder cancer (p<0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between the H-scores of mTOR and phos4E-BP1 (coefficient of correlation, r=0.37, p<0.01) as well as between the H-scores of mTOR and phosS6 (r=0.17, p<0.05). In the multivariate analysis, strong phosS6 expression predicted shorter progression (p<0.01; hazard ratio [HR], 2.516) and disease-specific survival (p<0.01; HR, 2.396) but not overall survival (p=0.112), whereas strong phos4E-BP1 expression was a predictor of disease-specific survival (p<0.05; HR, 2.105). Moreover, strong phosS6 expression predicted shorter recurrence-free (p<0.05) and progression-free (p<0.05) survival in the superficial bladder cancer cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that mTOR pathway activation, as assessed by phos4E-BP1 phosphorylation, is related to bladder cancer tumorigenesis and that S6 protein phosphorylation is associated with a high level of disease recurrence and progression and poor cancer-specific survival.
Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Phosphorylation ; Recurrence ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Urothelium

A 19-year-old previously healthy man presented with headache, vomiting and fever at a regional hospital. He was diagnosed as neurocysticercosis due to a small ring enhancing lesion in MRI, and received albendazole and dexamethasone. However, follow-up MRI revealed multiple nodular enhancing granulomas. After referral to our hospital, Candida species grew in the CSF culture. Candida species must be kept in mind as a cause of meningitis even in a healthy adult without predisposing factors for candidal infection.
Adult ; Albendazole ; Candida ; Dexamethasone ; Fever ; Follow-Up Studies ; Granuloma ; Headache ; Humans ; Meningitis ; Meningoencephalitis ; Neurocysticercosis ; Referral and Consultation ; Vomiting ; Young Adult

We introduce a simple rehabilitation program after the miniplate fixation of high-condylar fracture of mandible. Intermaxillary fixation with arch bar is used. The length of the fixation period is about 14 days after surgery. At the end of this period, the bracket is applied to maxillary incisor, the occlusion becomes stable and reproducible and then aggressive jaw opening excercise begins. From postoperative day 15 to 21, elastics are applied 24 hours a day. They are placed lightly during the daytime to assist guiding protrusion of the mandible. The patient is instructed to protrude the mandible and to open the mouth simultaneously. From postoperative day 22 to 28, the exercise is modified to lateral movement. After the bracket is removed on postoperative day 29, the patient excercised the chin laterally without any guiding elastic fixation for approximately 1 week. This regimen can be widely used in ostectomy-osteosynthesis cases.
Chin ; Fracture Fixation ; Humans ; Incisor ; Jaw ; Mandible ; Mandibular Condyle ; Mouth ; Rehabilitation*