Furlow palatoplasty has been favored by many plastic surgeons as the primary treatment for the velopharyngeal insufficiency associated with submucous cleft palate. The purpose of this article is to introduce an efficacy of Furlow palatoplasty and speech therapy performed on patients who were diagnosed belatedly as having submucous cleft palates. From 2002 to 2004, four submucous cleft palate patients over 5 years of age with velopharyngeal insufficiency received Furlow palatoplasty. The patients were evaluated through the preoperative perceptual speech assessment, nasometry, and videonasopharyngoscopy. Postoperatively, two patients achieved competent velopharyngeal function in running speech. One of the remaining two could achieve competent velopharyngeal function with visual biofeedback speech therapy and the other could not use her new velopharyngeal function in running speech because of her age. Speech therapy can correct the articulation errors and thus improve the velopharyngeal function to a certain extent by eliminating some compensatory articulations that might have an adverse influence on velopharyngeal function. This study shows that Furlow palatoplasty can successfully correct the velopharyngeal insufficiency in submucous cleft palate patients and speech therapy has a role in reinforcing surgical result. But age is still a restrictive factor even though surgery was well done.
Biofeedback, Psychology ; Cleft Palate* ; Humans ; Running ; Speech Therapy* ; Velopharyngeal Insufficiency

PURPOSE: In 2008, the Korean Oncology Nursing Society (KONS) published standards for the safe use of chemotherapy in clinical settings, including extravastion management. Although the medical environment has rapidly changed, KONS standards have not been revised since then. In 2017, the KONS planned to revise the practice guidelines on oral chemotherapy METHODS: A clinical expert group developed recommended guidelines, using officially accepted standards based on all relevant publications. The draft was discussed and accepted in a consensus conference. The final recommendations were reviewed and approved by the KONS Boards of Directors. RESULTS: There were 4 chapters and 50 recommendations in the final version of the guidelines. Recommendations include those associated with general practice, patient consent and education, order assessment and administration, and side effects and complication management. CONCLUSION: The revised KONS guidelines on oral chemotherapy will contribute to the improvement of staff and patient safety related to oral chemotherapy. KONS guidelines revisions should be carried out at regular intervals.
Consensus ; Drug Therapy* ; Education ; General Practice ; Humans ; Oncology Nursing* ; Patient Safety ; Personal Protective Equipment ; Safety Management

Background: Innovative Alzheimer’s disease drugs received approval in the United States in 2021 and 2023. This study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of these novel treatments, elucidate their mechanisms of action, and compare their impact on cognitive function improvement with approved drugs. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of pivotal clinical studies related to Alzheimer’s disease treatments in PubMed/Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases from January 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2022. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Results: A total of 14 studies were included in this systematic review. When compared to the placebo, the new drugs did not exhibit a statistically significant effect on MMSE (MiniMental State Examination) (mean difference= −0.04, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: −0.31, 0.23, N=3662, I2 =0%). However, they demonstrated a significant impact on ADAS-cog (Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale) (standardized mean difference= −0.15, 95% CIs: −0.2, −0.1, N=6710, I2 =17%). When compared to the approved drugs, the new drugs showed a statistically significantly lower effect on MMSE (test for subgroup difference Chi2 =23.13, N = 5870, p<0.00001) but showed only a trend of decreased efficacy on ADAS-cog (Chi2 =1.16, N = 8670, p=0.28). Conclusion New drugs yielded diverse clinical endpoint results compared to the placebo, and in comparison to existing approved drugs, they exhibited lower efficacy in improving cognitive function. The safety profile of these new drugs, as reported in clinical trials, was generally well-tolerated.