No abstract available.
Dust* ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin*

Hand and wrist tuberculosis in adults are relatively rare disease. The purpose of treatment is to minimize the limitation of motion and to relieve the pain and swelling of involved joints. The treatments consist of curettage of bone, synovectomy and arthrodesis, which were combined with chemotherapeutic agents for tuberculosis. In the period from June 1989 to Oct. 1993, we performed operative treatment in twelve cases of hand and wrist tuberculosis(hand in 3, wrist in 9). We performed curettage and synovectomy in eight cases and arthrodesis in four. The length of follow up was over one year in all cases. Patients were evaluated by clinical examination, radiography and the Robins criteria for clinical results. The results were analysed, as follows, l. Eight patients who had tenosynovitis with moderate joint destruction were treated by curettage and synovectomy, and seven patients(87.5%) of them were evaluated "good" by Robins criteria. 2. Arthrodesis was performed in four patients who had severe joint destruction, and demonstrates "good" results in 75% of cases. 3. One patient who was treated by synovectomy, complaint intermittent pain after three years postoperatively, but no active lesion was visible on the bone scanning. 4. One patient who was performed wrist arthrodesis feels discomfort during lift up heavy products due to insufficient grip power. In conclusion, the synovectomy and curettage in early diagnosed and not so much advanced hand wrist tuberculsis is more preferable, but arthrodesis is inevitable in advanced cases with profound degree of bony destruction and nonviable cartilage in operative findings, for painless and powerful joint.
Adult ; Arthrodesis ; Cartilage ; Curettage ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hand Strength ; Hand ; Humans ; Joints ; Radiography ; Rare Diseases ; Songbirds ; Tenosynovitis ; Tuberculosis ; Wrist

POSCO Health Care Center has collected health and environmental data using computerized system since 1987. One of the important roles of Industrial Health Care Center is to provide a comprehensive occupational health care, including therapeutic medical care, periodic medical examination and industrial hygiene control for the prevention of work-related illness. To strengthen the functions of an occupational health surveillance system since May, 1992, and it is scheduled to be completed by March, 1994. The modified POSCO Computerized Occupational Health Surveillance System (PCOHESS) contains three major area: health care, environmental monitoring, and personal information. The linkage among three area, lacking in the previous system, was emphasized in PCOHESS. The area of health care assists the management of preplacement examination data as well as the diseased and disabled data, and it will facilitate the preplacement for new employees and will enable an efficient care for the diseased and disabled. Environmental and personal sampling data, and personal information data, such as age, education and jobcode etc, that are linked to each employees, can assist the health care professionals to decide the type and time of medical examination and to periodically supply proper protectors. Data collected from the time of one's employment until his/her retirement can be used for the epidemiologic surveillance which will enable to evaluate the employee's health status related to his/her work environments, and to indentify the places that are necessary to be improved.
Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Employment ; Environmental Monitoring ; Epidemiological Monitoring ; Gyeongsangbuk-do* ; Humans ; Iron* ; Occupational Health* ; Retirement ; Steel*

No abstract available.
Dermatomyositis* ; Respiratory Muscles*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Epithelium* ; Guinea Pigs* ; Guinea* ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Rats*

PURPOSE: To determine the upper limit of peripheral nerve lengthening without loss of function, the recovery time of peripheral nerve palsy due to nerve lengthening and their histological changes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve adult New Zealand rabbits weighing about 2.5 kg were assigned to the following groups. Group 1 (n=6) was subjected to slow tissue expansion with 30% of nerve lengthening while group 2 (n=6) was rapid expansion with 40% lengthening of nerve. The expanders were refilled every 2 times during the 2nd and 4th weeks making a total four times of expansion. The rabbits were assessed in terms of affected leg paralysis, neural length gain, EMG with nerve conduction velocity and histological changes. RESULTS: In group 1 (n=6), paralysis on affected leg was found in one rabbit and was recovered spontaneously on the 4th weeks after expander removal. In Group 2 (n=6), paralysis was found in four rabbits, and three of them were recovered on 4, 5 and 9 weeks after removal of the expander. EMG study showed increase in distal latency of 2.50+/- 0.20 m/sec, and decrease in nerve conduction velocity of 62.49+/- 5.30 m/sec compared to normal side with 1.89+/- 0.14 m/sec and 75.39+/- 7.82 m/sec. The mean neural length gain was 6 mm (30% of 20 mm of initial pre-experimental nerve length) in group 1 and 8 mm (40% of 20 mm) in group 2. Light microscopic examination revealed the loss of segmental myelination, decrease of myelination, and vacuolation. Electron microscopic examination showed that the normal ring shaped contour of axon was changed to convoluted shape.
Adult ; Axons ; Humans ; Leg ; Myelin Sheath ; Nerve Expansion ; Neural Conduction ; Paralysis ; Peripheral Nerves ; Rabbits ; Sciatic Nerve* ; Tissue Expansion*

BACKGROUND: The purpose decortication is to eliminate the infection focus and to improve the decreased lung function due to chronic empyema. However, lung function is not improved in all cases. It would be clinically useful it we could predict preoperatively whether lung function would improve after decortication. The purpose of this study is to find useful indices for predicting the possible improvement of lung function after decortication. METHOD: The medical records of 37 tuberculous empyema patients who underwent pleural decortication were analyzed retrospectively from 1990 to 1996. The measurements of preoperative and postoperative forced vital capacity(FVC) were used for evaluating the effects of decortication. RESULTS: The sex ratio was 29 : 8 (male to female), and the median age was 34 years. The time interval between the formation of empyema and operation was 1 month to 30 years. Postoperative pulmonary function test was performed 5.4±2.6 months later. FVC(forced vital capacity) was significantly increased from 2.77±0.67(L) to 2.95± 0.81(L). Interestingly, postoperative pulmonary function was significantly improved in patients who were less than 40 years old, within 4 months after diagnosis of tuberculous empyema, in the group with FVC of less than 60% of the predicted value and in the absence of calcification. CONCLUSION: The improvement of lung function after decortication was expected in patients younger than 40 years old, within 4 months after diagnosis of tuberculous empyema, in the group having less than 60% of the predicted FVC, without calcification.
Diagnosis ; Empyema ; Empyema, Tuberculous* ; Humans ; Lung ; Medical Records ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio

PURPOSE: Hepatic resection is generally considered as the most satisfactory treatment for patients having intrahepatic stones. Yet for cases of right-sided intrahepatic stones, role of hepatic resection is still ambiguous because of the higher operative risks that are entailed when performing surgery at that location. This report presents the results of hepatic resection for the treatment of right-sided intrahepatic stones. METHODS: Seventy-one patients with right-sided intrahepatic stones were operated on during a period of 14 years. The operative procedures executed in the patients were 40 hepatic resections and 31 biliary lithotomies. We analyzed the operative findings and the results of treatment were then compared between the two treatment groups. RESULTS: The intrahepatic bile duct changes associated with stones were cholangitis (n=16), biliary stricture (n=31), biliary dilatation (n=13), and liver atrophy (n=11). Biliary dilatation and liver atrophy were more frequently observed in patients with hepatic resection (p< 0.05). Operative complications occurred in 6.5% of patients after biliary lithotomy and in 25.0% of patients after hepatic resection. There was no operative mortality in both groups. Retained stones were found in 51.6% of patients after biliary lithotomy. There were no retained stones in patients undergoing hepatic resection. After biliary lithotomy, the rate of retained stones was higher for patients having associated bile duct strictures and dilatations (cholangitis; 18.2%, stricture; 64.7%, dilatation; 100%, p< 0.05). Recurrent stones were found to have developed in 10 patients (14.2%), yet the rates for the recurrent stones were not different in both groups. CONCLUSION: Hepatic resection is an effective and safe treatment for right-sided intrahepatic stones. For intrahepatic stones associated with definite bile duct strictures, hepatic resection is the most suitable procedure for the complete removal of stones.
Atrophy ; Bile Ducts ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic ; Cholangitis ; Cholelithiasis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Liver ; Mortality ; Surgical Procedures, Operative

No abstract available.
Mucous Membrane* ; Pigmentation*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Epithelium* ; Guinea Pigs* ; Guinea* ; Muscle, Smooth*