OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the bond strength of polycarbonate brackets can be increased through surface treatment. METHODS: One hundred polycarbonate brackets (Alice) were bonded to bovine incisors with light-cured adhesive. The bracket bases were treated with one of three methods; sandblasting, plastic conditioner application, and combined treatment with sandblasting and plastic conditioner. The brackets without any surface treatment served as the control. The shear bond strength was tested with a universal testing machine, and failure pattern was assessed with the adhesive remnant index. RESULTS: The shear bond strength in all experimental groups was higher than that of the control group (p < 0.001). The group treated with plastic conditioner after sandblasting showed statistically higher shear bond strength than the sandblasting only group (p < 0.05). The group treated with plastic conditioner after sandblasting showed higher shear bond strength than plastic conditioner only group, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The above results suggest that the surface treatments of polycarbonate bracket is mandatory to improve bond strength, and the most effective method is an application of plastic conditioner after sandblasting.
Adhesives ; Incisor ; Plastics

The incidence of left ventricular pseudoaneurysm is not known, but it appears to be quite rare. We experienced a case of apical pseudoaneurysm of left ventricle in a 73-year-old female who presented with progressive orthopnea. On the 2nd hospital day, cardiac tamponade developed. A small pseudoaneurysm of left ventricle with narrow neck associated with massive pericardial effusion was demonstrated by transthoracic echocardiography. Emergency coronary angiogram showed normal. Emergency operation was performed on the suspicion of rupture of the pseudoaneurysm. Microscopic examination of the wall of the aneurysm revealed fibrous tissue adhered to the granulomatous inflammatory pericardium.
Aged ; Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, False ; Cardiac Tamponade ; Echocardiography ; Emergencies ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neck ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pericarditis, Tuberculous ; Pericardium ; Rupture

PURPOSE: Our aim was to evaluate the usefulness of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MR imaging for detection of acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) compared with unenhanced CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared FLAIR MR images with unenhanced CT scans in 28 patients with acute SAH. Findings of SAH on CT and MR images were graded as 0 (absence), 1 (suspicious), 2 (definite) in the cerebral sulci, sylvian fissure, basal cistern, and cisterns of the posterior fossa. We also compared FLAIR MR images of 28 patients with those of 35 normal subjects, and then the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of FLAIR MR image for detection of acute SAH were calculated. RESULTS: FLAIR MR image was superior to CT in detecting SAH in the posterior fossa (1.41+/-.74 vs 0.78+/-.80; p<0.05) and cortical sulci(1.11+/-.80 vs 0.70+/-.83; p<0.05). There was no significant difference between FLAIR MR image and CT in detecting SAH in the basal cistern and sylvian fissure. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of FLAIR MR image for detection of SAH were 100% in all. CONCLUSION: FLAIR MR image is useful in detecting acute SAH, especially in patients with small amount of SAH or SAH in the posterior fossa.
Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Primary lung cancer is unusual in children; the squamous cell variant is extremely rare. Lung cancer is classified by histologic types into small-cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung caner, carcinoid, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, and adenoid cystic carcinoma. Furthermore, non-small cell lung cancer is subclassified into adenocarcinoma, large-cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. The incidence of lung cancer is influenced by smoking, especially in squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. The present treatments for these tumors are chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical resection depending on their histologic types or stages, but yield very poor survival rates. In this article, we report a case of basaloid squamous cell lung carcinoma in an 11-year-old boy who had symptoms of both leg weakness and back pain radiating to both legs. We confirmed the primary lung carcinoma cells by percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy. The metastatic carcinoma cells were identified at the bone marrow and lumbar spine. We treated with a combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, he expired 4 months after the onset of disease.
Adenocarcinoma ; Back Pain ; Biopsy, Needle ; Bone Marrow ; Carcinoid Tumor ; Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic ; Carcinoma, Large Cell ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Child* ; Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leg ; Lung Neoplasms ; Lung* ; Male* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spine ; Survival Rate