No abstract available.
Humans ; Tibial Nerve*

There is a great variety of abdominal calcifictions of varying etiology. Among them, calcification in gastriccarcinoma is rare. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous report of calcifying mucinousadenocarcinoma of the stomach in Korea. In the present communication, we report two cases of this rare tumor. Thefirst case was 27 years old female who had anorexia and palpable mass in the epigastrium. By palpation, a firmnon-tender large mass ws felt in the epigastrium. A plain abdominal film showed numerous pnuctate calcificationsin the left upper quadrant. Film from an upper G-I series demonstrated findings of advanced gastric carcinoma withmultiple punctate calcifications involving the antrum and body. Gastroscopic biopsy proved the lesion to bemucinous adenocarcioma(signet ring cell type). The second case was 38 years old female who compained of nausea,vomiting and weight loss. On physical examination, she appeared normal. Routine laboratory tests were withinnormal limits. A plain abdominal film revealed stippled calcifications in the left upper quadrant medial to thesplenic shadow. The film from an upper G-I series showed a mass in the fundus and upper body of stomach withmultiple stippled calcifications along the lesser curvature. Subtotal gastrectomy was perfomred and the pathologicfindings was calcifying mucinous adenocarcinoma(signet ring cell type).
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Anorexia ; Biopsy ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Mucins ; Palpation ; Physical Examination ; Stomach ; Weight Loss

No abstract available.
Humans ; Stroke*

No abstract available.
Hand* ; Humans

OBJECTIVES: The biomechanical assessment of spasticity has been developed recently, but not standardized yet for the test procedures and parameters of measurement. This study was designed for the development of standardized method of the biomechanical assessment of spasticity using the isokinetic dynamometer. METHOD: The plantar flexor muscles of both ankles were stretched from 40o plantar flexion to 20o dorsiflexion using the isokinetic dynamometer at the angular velocities of 15o, 30o, 60o, 90o, 120o, 180o, and 300o per second. Three parameters, peak eccentric torque(PET), torque threshold angle(TTA), and angle at peak torque(PTA) were analysed. RESULTS: PET increased and TTA decreased significantly in the involved side. The side to side difference of PET and TTA increased in the patient group with more spasticity. The side to side difference of PET increased, but the side to side difference of TTA decreased with the increase in the angular velocity. CONCLUSIONS: The isokinetic dynamometer is useful in the assessment of the spasticity of ankle plantar flexor of hemiplegic patients. PET and TTA are useful parameters. The faster angular velocities seemed to be more appropriate for the analysis of torque values and the slower angular velocities seemed to be more appropriate for the analysis of thresholds.
Ankle ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Muscle Spasticity* ; Muscles ; Torque

Animal experiment was carried out to measure the physiologic changes of thoracic or thoracolumbar spine that occurred as a result of electrical stimulation, and to evaluate the usefulness of electrical stimulation as a possible treatment for scoliosis. Unilateral electrical stimulations were applied to the back muscle of immature rabbits.They were subgrouped into medial, intermediate, and lateral muscle stimulated groups in order to observe the effects of various electrode placements. The radiograms were taken every other week to observe the changes of the spinal curvatures for the period of 12 weeks. The histological studies of the muscles, which were obtained from the stimulated(right) and the nonstimulated(left) sides at the same level, also were carried out to determine the response of the muscles to the electrical stimulation. The results were as follows. l. A significant scoliotic curvature was observed two weeks after electrical stimulation, and those curvatures did not change more for the next six weeks in spite of prolonged stimulation. 2. Scoliotic curvature induced by electrical stimulation for eight weeks remained unchanged for another four weeks after stopping stimulation. 3. There were no statistical differences in the induced scoliotic curvature among the three groups stimulated at different sites of the medial, intermediate, and lateral regions respectively. 4. A prolonged unilateral electrical stimulation could induce the scoliosis, and may be used as a method for treatment of scoliosis.
Animal Experimentation ; Back Muscles ; Electric Stimulation ; Electrodes ; Methods ; Muscles ; Scoliosis ; Spinal Curvatures ; Spine

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of supraglottic swallowing maneuver on swallowing kinematics using kinematic analysis of a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). METHOD: Twenty healthy volunteers (10 in a young group ( < 40 years) and 10 in an elderly group (≥60 years)), participated in this study. After structured instruction by a skilled physician, the subjects swallowed 5 ml of diluted barium in the neutral position without any swallowing maneuvers, as well as with supraglottic swallow maneuver under digital videofluoroscopy, three times each. Kinematic analysis was conducted by digitization of video files for movements of hyolaryngeal structures, including the hyoid bone, larynx, arytenoid, and epiglottis. We measured the maximum displacements and velocities of the hyolaryngeal structures during swallowing. RESULT: The most remarkable change in supraglottic swallow was the maximum vertical displacement (mm) of the hyoid bone during swallowing in both groups (11.5±3.34–19.7±6.88 in the young group, P=0.009; 13.4±2.13–22.8±5.35 in the elderly group, P < 0.001). For velocity variables, patterns of change differed between the young and elderly groups. In the young group, the maximum vertical velocities of the larynx and arytenoid were decreased (P < 0.05), but in the elderly group, the maximum 2D velocity of hyoid bone, maximum horizontal and 2D velocity of the larynx and maximum horizontal velocity of the arytenoid were increased (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in changes between the young and elderly groups. CONCLUSION: This study showed that supraglottic swallow could affect hyolaryngeal movements, particularly vertical hyoid movement, during swallowing. Beneficial kinematic changes in supraglottic swallow were more pronounced in the elderly group. Therefore, supraglottic swallow may contribute to swallowing improvement by enhancing hyolaryngeal movements during swallowing, in addition to laryngeal closure.
Aged ; Barium ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Deglutition ; Epiglottis ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hyoid Bone ; Larynx ; Methods

No abstract available.
Brain ; Brain Injuries ; Spinal Cord ; Wallerian Degeneration

OBJECTIVE: To investigate compliance with a viscosity-modified diet among Korean dysphagic patients and to determine which factors are associated with compliance. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who had been recommended to use thickeners in the previous videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). Among 68 patients, 6 were excluded because tube feeding was required due to deterioration in their medical condition. Finally, 62 patients were included in the study. Patient compliance was assessed using their medical records by checking whether he or she had maintained thickener use until the next VFSS. To determine which factors affect compliance, the relationship between thickener use and patient characteristics, such as sex, age, inpatient/outpatient status, severity of dysphagia, aspiration symptoms, follow-up interval of VFSS, and current swallowing therapy status were assessed. For noncompliers, reasons for not using thickeners were investigated by telephone interview. RESULTS: Among 62 patients, 35 (56.5%) were compliers, and 27 (43.5%) were noncompliers. Eighteen (90%) of 20 inpatients had followed previous recommendations; however, only 17 (40.5%) of 42 outpatients had been using thickeners. Of patient characteristics, only admission status was significantly correlated with compliance. When asked about the reason why they had not used thickeners, noncompliers complained about dissatisfaction with texture and taste, greater difficulty in swallowing, and inconvenience of preparing meals. CONCLUSION: Among Korean dysphagic patients, compliance with a viscosity-modified liquid diet was only about 50%. Betterments of texture and taste along with patient education might be necessary to improve compliance with thickener use.
Compliance* ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diet* ; Enteral Nutrition ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Medical Records ; Outpatients ; Patient Compliance ; Patient Education as Topic ; Retrospective Studies ; Telephone

The hypervariable short tandem repeat (STR) locus D12S391 was investigated in a Korean population. A total of 14 alleles were detected by size under denaturing conditions in 517 unrelated individuals. To confirm all of the alleles detected in a Korean population, a total of 34 fragments were sequenced. Prior to allele designation, we constructed the allelic ladders containing 11 alleles sequenced in this study. Allele 18 is the most common with a frequency of 0.281 in Koreans, and one variant allele 19.3 which have been confirmed by sequencing, was detected. The observed heterozygosity, the power of discrimination (PD), and the mean exclusion chance (MEC) for the locus D12S391 is 0.781, 0.946 and 0.652, respectively. No deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed in a Korean population (p=0.557). In the 424 meioses in 105 Korean families confirmed using other 17 STR loci, no mutation was detected in locus D12S391. The STR locus D12S391system is useful both for the analysis identification and parternity.
Alleles ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Gene Frequency ; Genetics, Population* ; Humans ; Meiosis ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Sequence Analysis