No abstract available.
Electroencephalography* ; Humans ; Neurologic Manifestations* ; Seizures*

Reliable and valid evaluation of hand strength is of paramount importance in determining the effectiveness of various normative data area needed to interpret evaluation data, to set realistic treatment goals and to assess a patient's ability to return to employment. The primary purpose of this study was to establish normal value of grip and pinch strength for men women in normal Korean adult. A Jamar dynamometer(Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer. PC 5030, USA) was used to measure grip strength and Jamar pinch gauge(Hydraulic Pinch Gauge, PC 5030HPG, USA)was used to measure tip, key and palmar pinch. Two hundreds forty eight male and two hundreds thiry one female adults, aged 20 to 74 years were tested for using standardized positioning with their shoulder adducted and neutrally rotated, elbow flexed at 90。 and the forearm and wrist in neutral position. Right and left hand data were stratified into age groups for both sexes. This stratification provides a means of comparing the scores of individuals to that of normal subjects of the same aged and sex. The following results were obtained; 1. The average grip strength of the dominant hand was highest(43.9±7.3kg)in 3rd decade male group. 2. The average tip pinch strength of the dominant hand was highest in 4th decade(7.3±3.5kg)and 5th decade (7.3±2.4kg) male group. 3. The average key pinch strength of the dominant hand was highest in 5th decade(8.3±2.3 kg)male group. 4. The average palmar pinch strength of the dominant hand was highest in 4th decade(9.6±3.3 kg)male group. 5. A high correlation was seen between grip strength and age, but a low correlation between pinch strength and age. 6. The average grip strength of dominant hand was 5.6% higher than that of nondominant hand in men, and 6.5% higher in women. 7. In pinch strength, palmer pinch strength was highest among the three groups of pinch strength, then key pinch and tip pinch strength in order. 8. The mean scores of the dominant hand were larger than that of the nondominant hand on all hand strength.
Adult ; Clinical Study ; Elbow ; Employment ; Female ; Forearm ; Hand ; Hand Strength ; Humans ; Male ; Pinch Strength ; Reference Values ; Shoulder ; Wrist

Successful repair of lacerated tendons must restore continuity of the tendon and should yield a strong tenorrhaphy. Mechanical strength of repair should be adequate to early postoperative motion and mobility, The optimal repair technique must be able to withstand the rigors of early motion and also must not interfere with tendon healing. The relative strength of three suture methods of lacerated tendon were measured by mechanical disruption in effort to determine the strength of suture technique. Fifty-four Calcaneal tendons of 27 the New Zealand white rabbit were transected at mid portion and repaired with the three suture technique: group 1, Kessler suture, group 2, Pennington’s modified-Kessler suture and group 3, augmented- Becker suture technique. Each group was composed of 18 calcaneal tendons. Nine rabbits were sacrified immediately after suture, nine in postoperative 2 weeks and nine in postoperative 4 weeks Six calcaneal tendons in each three experimental group were obtained immediately after suture, at postoperative 2 and 4 weeks respectively. Tensile strength, maximum strength and modulus of elasticity of all experimental specimens were measured with Instron-UTM-4-100(Toyo-Baldiwin, Japan). The results were evaluated statistically to compare the strength of the three suture technique at three different periods. The tensile strength was predominantly strongest in augmented-Becker method among three suture technique at immediate suture, postoperative 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. The augmented Becker repair was strongest in maximum stress among Kessler and modified Kessler repair at immediate operation, postoperative 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. The augmented Becker repair was highest in modulus of elasticity than Kessler method and modified-Kessler method at immediate operation, postoperative 2 weeks and postoperative 4 weeks respectively. Tensile strength, maximum stress and modulus of elasticity were gradually increased from immediate operation to postoperative 4 weeks, but there were not statistically significance between experimental three suture methods at postoperative 4 weeks.
Elastic Modulus ; Methods ; New Zealand ; Rabbits ; Suture Techniques ; Sutures ; Tendons ; Tensile Strength

Peritrochanteric fractures are common in the elderly, and the mortaliy and morbidity rates after conservative treatment of the fractures are usually high. In these fractures the internal fixation now allows the patient more rapid functional gain. It has been known that for stabilization of fracture the sliding hip screw is superior to other fixation devices. To investigate the biomechanical difference between two different materials of dynamic hip screw, eight intertrochateric and eight subtrochanteric femur fractures were artificially induced in human cadavers. Two femurs were used as the control. In eight cadaver intertrochanteric fractures (Group I), four of them were treated with stainless steel compression hip screw and four were treated with titanium compression hip screw. Eight cadaver subtrochanteric fractures (Group II) were divided by two groups as equal number. One group was treated with stainless steel compression hip screw and the other was treated with titanium compression hip screw with plate. Each femur was secured in a fixation device of the Instron and loaded in a vertical compression. Collapse or fixation failure during vertical compression were observed and recorded continuously in slow speed with deformation rate of 3mm/min. Biomechanical analysis of maximal loading force in the control and experimental two groups were performed. The results were as follows; 1. The mean maximal loading force was 625 kp in control group. 2. The mean maximal loading force in each 4 intertrochanteric fractures fixed with stainless steel DHS (dynamic hip screw) and plate was 92.59 kp, and with titanium DHS and plate was 71.57 kp. There was no statistical significance between stainless steel DHS and plate fixation and titanium DHS and plate fixation. (p>0.05) 3. The mean maximal loading force in each 4 subtrochanteric fractures fixed with stainless DHS and plate was 140.12 kp, and with titanium DHS with plate was 169.4 kp. There was no statistical significance between stainless steel DHS and plate fixation and titanium DHS and plate fixation. (p>0.05) 4. The breakage of metal implant was not occurred at the maximal loading force 600 kp in both group. There was no difference of fixability and stability according to the metal quality, as the results of the experiment of compression loading force to the stainless steel DHS and titanium DHS fixation on intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures in cadaverous femurs.
Aged ; Cadaver ; Femur* ; Hip Fractures ; Hip* ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Stainless Steel* ; Titanium*

Metastatic infections were rare complications of Klebsiella p neumoniae liver abscess and bacteremia. However, over the past 15 years, they have become prevalent infectious complications in diabetic patients in Taiwan. A 72-year old man was admitted to Kyung-Hee University Hospital with fever, chill, dysuria, and frequency. On rectal examination the prostate gland was tender. Abdominal sonogram showed liver abscess. On hospital day 3, orbital pain, eyelid edema, conjunctival chemosis, hypopyon, and absence of light perception were noted in the right eye. K. pneumoniae was isolated from blood culture. The antimicrobial susceptibility test showed susceptibility to all antibiotics, except ampicillin. He was treated with ceftriaxone and astromicin intravenously for 3 weeks and follow up-transrectal sonogram revealed formation of prostatic abcess. We report a case of K. p neumoniae liver abscess complicated with bacteremia, endophthalmitis, and prostatic abscess.
Abscess* ; Aged ; Ampicillin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacteremia* ; Ceftriaxone ; Dysuria ; Edema ; Endophthalmitis* ; Eyelids ; Fever ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Liver Abscess* ; Liver* ; Orbit ; Pneumonia ; Prostate ; Taiwan

No abstract available.
Seizures* ; Sparganosis*

PURPOSE: To compare the clinical results of BRTO in the gastric varices with those of TIPS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2004 to March 2006, eight patients who had been followed up for more than 1 month after BRTO were enrolled in this study. This study compared the clinical efficacy of BRTO with that of TIPS in 13 patients who had undergone TIPS from January 2000 to March 2006. The change in laboratory parameters before and after each procedure and the incidence of rebleeding, encephalopathy, asictes and varices were analyzed after each procedure. Results:In the BRTO group, the level of albumin increased, and the levels of ammonia and the Child-Pugh score decreased. The TIPS group showed no improvement in the liver function. In the BRTO group, the gastric varices were eradicated in 7 patients. Gastric variceal rebleeding and encephalopathy did not occur. However, the esophageal varices worsened in 6 patients. In the TIPS group, rebleeding (n=4), encephalopathy (n=7) and a worsening of the gastric (n=5) or esophageal varices (n=2) occurred. CONCLUSION: BRTO improves the metabolic activity of the liver and has a lower incidence of encephalopathy. Hence, BRTO is a good alternative to TIPS in the gastric varices accompanied by a gastrorenal shunt although a treatment for a worsening of the esophageal varices may be needed after BRTO.
Ammonia ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Portasystemic Shunt, Surgical* ; Varicose Veins

Apocrine gland carcinoma is a rare form of sweat gland neoplasm with a distinctive cytologic appearance. Their occurrence has been reported mainly in the axilla and breast area. The authors describe a 51-year-old man with an apocrine gland carcinoma in the right axilla area. Physical exam revealed a 2.0 X 2.5 cm sized strawberry-like mass and histologic sections showed multiple cribriform pattern tumor nodules throughout the dermis. The periodic acid-Schiffs(PAS) diastase stain revealed positively staining granules in the cytoplasm of the neoplastic cells and stains for lysozyme and GCDFP-15(Gross Cystic Disease Fluid Protein-15) were also positive.
Amylases ; Apocrine Glands* ; Axilla ; Breast ; Coloring Agents ; Cytoplasm ; Dermis ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muramidase ; Sweat Gland Neoplasms

Squamous cell carcinoma infrequently occurs at the soft palate. Although various methods can be used for reconstruction of soft palate defects that occur after resecting squamous cell carcinoma, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory results from the perspective of the functional restoration of the soft palate. A combination of bilateral palatal mucomuscular flap for the oral side and superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap for the nasal side were performed on two patients who were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate in order to reconstruct the soft palate defects after surgical resection. After surgery, the patients were followed-up for a mean period of 11 months. The flaps were well maintained in both patients. The donor site defects were epithelialized and completely recovered. Additionally, no recurrence of the primary sites was shown. Slight hyponasality was observed in the voice assessments that were conducted 6 months after surgery. No food regurgitation or aspiration was observed in the swallowing tests. We used a combination of bilateral palatal mucomuscular flap and superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap to reconstruct the soft palate defects that occurred after resecting the squamous cell carcinomas. We reduced the donor site complications and achieved functionally satisfactory outcomes.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Deglutition ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Humans ; Palate, Soft ; Recurrence ; Surgical Flaps ; Tissue Donors ; Voice

PURPOSE: To present outcomes of transurethral removal (TUR) of intravesical or intraurethral mesh after midurethral slings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review of 23 consecutive women: 20 with intravesical mesh and 3 with intraurethral mesh. RESULTS: To remove the mesh, transurethral resection with an electrode loop (TUR-E) was used in 16 women and transurethral resection with a holmium laser (TUR-H) was used in 7. The median follow-up was 2.1 months. Twenty-six percent of the women (6/23) had a mesh remnant: 6.2% (1/16) of the women treated with TUR-E and 71.4% (5/7) of the women treated with TUR-H. Of the 5 women treated with TUR-H, 3 underwent concomitant transvaginal removal. On the follow-up cystoscopic exam, a mesh remnant was observed in 3 women (1 treated with TUR-E and 2 treated with TUR-H). Vesico-vaginal fistulas were found in 2 women during and after TUR-E, respectively. Stress urinary incontinence recurred in 1 woman. CONCLUSIONS: TUR-E has a high success rate but carries a risk of bladder perforation. Complete resection using TUR-H depends on the location of the mesh and the range of motion of the instrument.
Electrodes ; Female ; Fistula ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lasers, Solid-State ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Retrospective Studies ; Suburethral Slings ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Incontinence