A muscular calf is esthetically unappealing in Asian women. Treatment by liposuction alone has poroven to be difficult due to a small amount of fat. We established a new method of transecting half of the gastrocnemius tendon in order to improve the contour of the calf. Thirty-five patients were operated on during the past 3 years. The medial or lateral half of the gastrocnemius tendon was cut using an endoscopic-guided 3M AGEE blade through a 1cm-sized incision. The portion of the muscle above the site of the transection was elevated from the underlying soleus muscles. We checked the calf circumference and evaluated the clinical results at 6 months postoperatively. An average 10% reduction in calf circumfernce was measured, showing a significant esthetic improvement. There were no significant changes in gait analysis or in the Cybex test. There were no specific complications related to the procedure. Through our clinical experience in 35 cases, we were able to prove that tenotomy is a effective, simple and easy method without severe morbidity.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Gait ; Humans ; Lipectomy ; Muscles ; Tendons ; Tenotomy*

No abstract available.
Lipectomy*

No abstract available.
Osteoporosis* ; Spondylolisthesis*

The p53 protein was discovered in 1979 as cellular 53-kD nuclear phosphoprotein bound to the large transforming antigen of SV40 virus. P21WAF1/CIP1, which has been described as the critical downstream mediator of p53, is known to suppress DNA replication and arrest the G1 cell cycle by quaternary complex with cyclin D, cyclin-dependent kinase(CDK) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA). In these days, some studies shows that the p21 can be induced by independent pathways. There are various reports about the expression of p21 (67%.82.4%) in oral squamous cell carcinoma. But these studies are mostly done in malignant tumor not in benign tumor. So we decided to study the expression of p21 in ameloblastoma and the relationship between p53 and p21 as a downstream mediator of p53 in ameloblastoma. We investigated the expression of p21 and p53 with the method of immunohistochemistry. We selected 30 cases of ameloblastoma tissue blocks (acanthomatous type: 5 cases, follicular type: 8 cases, plexiform type: 17 cases) imbedded in paraffin. We used 30 cases of normal gingival tissues and 30 cases of squamous cell carcinoma tissues (SCC) respectively and compared their results with those of ameloblastoma. We made slides with the streptavidin-biotin methods and used monoclonal antibody DO-7 (Novocastra, Newcastle, United Kingdom) as p53 antibody and monoclonal antibody M7202 (DAKO, California, U.S.A.) as p21 antibody. We used Pearson's correlation coefficient to analyse the relationship. The results were as follows: 1. p21 was expressed in ameloblastoma about 30% and this is lower than that of normal gingiva and SCC. 2. In normal gingiva and ameloblastoma, p21 expression was correlated with p53 expression. 3. In SCC, p21 were expressed about 83.3% and this is more than that of p53. But there was no correlation between p21 and p53 expression. We confirmed p21 expression and relation with p53 in ameloblastoma. But, to confirm the function of p21, more studies about p21 expression in malignant ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carcinoma are needed.
Ameloblastoma* ; Ameloblasts ; California ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cell Cycle ; Cyclin D ; DNA Replication ; Gingiva ; Immunohistochemistry ; Paraffin ; Simian virus 40

Scars on anterior chest after operative correction of funnel chest have been the challenging problem despite introduction of refined techiniques by numerous authors. From December 1996 to September 1998, the authors have performed prefabricated silicone implant insertion in eight female patients presenting funnel chest, using transaxillary approaches instead of substernal or inframammary incisions. In two of eight patients, augmentation mammaplasty was performed simultaneously. Except one case of seroma occurred in early stages, all eight cases of pectus excavatum were satisfactorily reconstructed by this technique. All eight patients expressed their satisfaction with the results during the follow-up visits made between 3 months and 3 years. In conclusion, endoscopic transaxillary approach for the scarless anterior chest can be useful technique in aesthetic correction of the funnel chest.
Cicatrix ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Funnel Chest* ; Humans ; Mammaplasty ; Seroma ; Silicones* ; Thorax

No abstract available.
Congenital Hypothyroidism*

No abstract available.
beta-Endorphin* ; Exercise* ; Pain Threshold* ; Plasma*

PURPOSE: PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor gene located on the chromosome 10q23. PTEN plays a role in inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. We determined the PTEN expression to evaluate the role of PTEN in aggressiveness and invasiveness of bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PTEN expression was evaluated immunohistochemically in 73 patients with bladder cancer according to grade, stage and lymph node involvement. Cases were considered positive when granular cytoplasmic staining was seen in tumor cells and negative when the tumor tissue was not stained. RESULTS: PTEN was expressed in 50 (68.5%) of 73 patients. In superficial bladder cancer (n=40), 37 patients (92.5%) were positive. Thirteen patients (39.4%) were positive in T2 or higher bladder cancer (n=33). In low grade bladder cancer (n=47), 40 patients (85.1%) were positive. Ten patients (38.5%) were positive in high grade bladder cancer (n=26). PTEN expressions were positive in 1 (11.1%) of 9 lymph node-positive and 12 (50%) of 24 lymph node-negative bladder cancers. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate that loss of PTEN expression has a correlation with aggressiveness and invasiveness in bladder cancer. Therefore, our results suggest that loss of PTEN protein may be a useful marker of poor prognosis in bladder cancer.
Apoptosis ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Prognosis ; PTEN Phosphohydrolase ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms* ; Urinary Bladder*

We introduce a new silicone implanting method to correct facial depression caused by trauma or congenital anomaly. It resulted in good facial aesthetics in patients with facial depression. From August 1997 to January 1999, 5 patient (3 males and 2 females), in ages from 19 to 34 years, underwent silicone implantation for facial depression using our method. Three males were injured by traffic accident and had facial depression with or without bone defect. Two females had congenital forhead depression and requested aesthetic contouring. An impression of the face was taken with alginate backed with quick setting plaster. When set, a further stone plaster model was taken from the alginate-plaster, which was removed after fixation. Wax was then carved into the patient's stone model to fill the depression. Another stone cover was taken to cover this was-stone model. Then wax was melted away and medical implant grade room temperature vulcanized silicone adhesive was squeezed into the empty space. After cured, this precisely-shaped silicone imlant was inserted into the patient. We did not experience major complicaion such as infection, implant extrusion during 4 to 18 months' follow-up periods. All patients were satisfied with the results. The clinical result of this technique would be useful for accurate and excellent aesthetic implantation.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adhesives ; Depression* ; Esthetics ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Silicones*

The use of a tissue expander and implant is the simplest option for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Use of a round dome-shaped prosthesis and the commonly used one-stage technique with a Becker type prosthesis, however, often produces an undesirable upper pole fullness. To overcome this and to achieve improved aesthetic results, we started using an anatomically-shaped expander and implant, as described by Maxwell, as a two-stage breast reconstruction. We reviewed the results of our 21 reconstructed breasts in 22 patients who were deemed suitable for reconstruction using this technique since January 1995. The most commonly used expander was 350cc (range 350-550cc) and an average of 4.2 inflations were required before replacing the expander with a permanent implant. All the expanders were placed in submuscular pockets and implant volume. The longest follow-up was 36 months. Few complications developed and most patients were satisfied with the results. We found that the anatomically-shaped expander and implant produced better aesthetic results compared to a done-shaped prosthesis.
Breast* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mammaplasty* ; Mastectomy ; Prostheses and Implants ; Tissue Expansion Devices