No abstract available.
Angiofibroma ; Carbon ; Carbon Dioxide ; Lasers, Gas

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the functional abilities of the low bulb obturators with those of high bulb obturators in terms of patients' evaluation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 11 maxillectomy patients who underwent postoperative prosthodontic rehabilitations. Two obturators of the same design except for different bulb heights, were fabricated for each of the maxillectomy patient. After two months of alternate use, the functions of the obturators were measured by investigating the patients' subjective evaluations in terms of convenience, speech, nasality, leakage, and mastication and identifying their preferred prostheses. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used as a statistical method (P < .05). RESULTS: There were no significant differences in patient evaluations of low and high bulb obturators (P >.05). And patients' preferences varied. CONCLUSION: In extreme situation such as in mouth opening limitation, the use of low bulb obturators can be recommended and result in comparable speech function to that of obturators with high lateral walls.
Humans ; Mastication ; Mouth ; Prostheses and Implants ; Prosthodontics

BACKGROUND: The role of platelet in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome and cerebral thrombosis is well known and the platelet inhibitors are used widely for primary and sccondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Aspirin is the least expensive and most widely used antiplatelet agent and its effect is associated with its ability to inhibit plateletthromboxane A2 synthesis. The effectiveness of aspirin is dependent on its ability to block the formation of thromboxane A2. Ticlopidine is another popular antiplatelet agent used today in the era of stent implantation for treating coronary artery obstructive disease(CAOD) with aspirin. The mechanism of action of ticlopidine is clearly different from that of aspirin. It is concluded recently that ticlopidine is an inhibitor of ADP binding to platelets. The inhibition of ADP binding to platelets by ticlopidine is very nicely correlated with its does and the inhibition of platelet aggregation. Therefore, in this study, antiplatelet effect of low dose enteric-coated aspirin in place of aspirin and combined therapy with low does enteric-coated aspirin plus ticlopidine were evaluated in the normal subjects. METHOD: IN twenty normal subjects, platelet aggregation tests with adenosine diphosphate(ADP) and collagen were performed baseline, after I week adminisrtation of enteric-coated aspirin, and in randomly selected ten among twenty normal subjects, I week administration of enteric-coated aspirin and ticlopidine. The maximal aggregation rate was calculated by measuring the maximal change of the light transmittance after addition of aggregating agents. RESULT: Low does enteric-coated aspirin inhibited platelet aggregation in response to collagen significantly. Less than 25% of antiaggregation effect was noted in about 50% of subjects with low dose enteric-coated aspirin when platelet aggregation was induced by ADP. Ticlopidine in combination with low does enteric-coated aspirin potentiated the inhibitory effect significantly on platelet aggregation in response to ADP. CONCLUSION: Effect of low dose enteric-coated aspirin alone on platelet aggregation in response to ADP stimulation was weak and showed variablity, comparing to collagen stimulation. The combined treatment of ticlopidine plus aspirin was synergistically inhibited platelet aggregation responding to ADP stimulation. Therefore to achieve the synergistic inhibition of platelet aggregation to ADP and collagen stimulation, combination theraphy might be a effective regimen.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; Adenosine ; Adenosine Diphosphate ; Aspirin* ; Blood Platelets* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Collagen ; Coronary Vessels ; Intracranial Thrombosis ; Platelet Aggregation ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; Stents ; Thromboxane A2 ; Ticlopidine*

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic vascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. C-reactive protein (CRP) appears to be clinically useful in prediction of coronary heart disease. Elevated pulse pressure has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among apparently healthy adults. Therefore, we evaluated the association between a persistent elevation of C-reactive protein level, pulse pressure and the presence of ischemic heart disease in patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). METHODS: A total of 71 CAPD patients (42 males, 29 females) who underwent thallium SPECT and followed up more than 6 months were included. We collected the data about age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, pulse pressure and body mass index. Blood levels of albumin, total cholesterol, fibrinogen, lipoprotein (a) and C-reactive protein were measured. RESULTS: The values of C-reactive protein, pulse pressure, smoking and fibrinogen were significantly higher in thallium SPECT positive group (p<0.05). A 0.01 mg/dL increase in C-reactive protein was associated with a 1.014 increase in the odds of having an elevated risk of coronary artery disease (95% confidence interval 1.008-1.019) and a 1 mmHg increase in pulse pressure was associated with a 1.017 increase in the odds of having an elevated risk of coronary artery disease (95% confidence interval 1.011-1.023). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, C-reactive protein and pulse pressure were independent risk factors for ischemic heart disease. Log CRP level was positively correlated with pulse pressure level (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The baseline level of CRP and pulse pressure independently predicts the risk of coronary heart disease in CAPD patients. For patients who have a persistent elevation of CRP and pulse pressure without an apparent cause, we recommend a workup for ischemic heart disease.
Adult ; Blood Pressure* ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Disease ; Dialysis ; Fibrinogen ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mortality ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thallium ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Vascular Diseases

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage renal disease have farther excess rate of coronary artery disease (CAD) than nonuremic population. There is a possibility that atherosclerosis may aggravate renal insufficiency, but it is not certain. Pulse pressure was also significantly increased in patients with chronic renal disease (CRD), and had been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study is to identify the association of atherosclerotic CAD and pulse pressure with renal disease progression in patients with mild CRD METHODS: The patients with mild CRD who had been followed up more than 3 years in Asan medical center, Seoul, Korea, were included. We evaluated their CAD via coronary angiography, and followed up their serum creatinine levels and other parameters assumed to be associated with progression of CRD. All clinical and laboratory parameters were analyzed by multivariate logistic method. And we examined the association between pulse pressure and progression of CRD with related factors via multivariate logistic analysis. RESULTS: Total 87 patients (54 were men and 33 were women) were included in this study. 45 patients had coronary heart disease and 42 had not. Comparison of CRD progression between the patients who had CAD (n=45) and those who had not (n=42) showed a significant difference (76% vs 52%, p< 0.05). Mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, presence of diabetic nephropathy, 24hour urine protein, total cholesterol were the parameters associated with the progression of CRD. Among of them, proteinuria and mean arterial pressure were independent risk factors for renal disease progression. There was a significant association between CAD and pulse pressure. CONCLUSION: Atherosclerotic CAD and increased pulse pressure were associated with renal disease progression in the patients with mild renal insufficiency.
Arterial Pressure ; Atherosclerosis ; Blood Pressure* ; Cholesterol ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease* ; Coronary Disease ; Coronary Vessels* ; Creatinine ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Korea ; Male ; Proteinuria ; Renal Insufficiency ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Risk Factors ; Seoul

Since a decade ago, apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphism has been focussed as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. ApoE plays a central role as a receptor ligand for the uptake of lipoproteins from the circulation. There was an agreement on apoE polymorphism being one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) by its effects on lipid profiles. However, the effects of apoE have not been noted in all populations and conflicting results in the risk of CAD have been noted. Recently, in situ expression of apoE on the atherosclerotic plaque has been studied. We, therefore, investigated the effects of apoE genotype on patients with acute coronary syndrome, including unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction, in non-diabetic patients. While we could not find significant risk effects of apoE on coronary artery disease and lipid profiles on simple comparison with the normal control group, we could find significantly decreased frequencies of apo epsilon 3 allele in patients with acute coronary syndrome compared with stable angina patients (77.8% vs 88.8%). We suggest that the apoE genotype could be associated with acute coronary events in CAD and further study with in situ biochemical methods will be needed on the effects of apoE polymorphism on plaque stability.
Apolipoproteins E/genetics* ; Coronary Disease/genetics* ; Genotype ; Human ; Polymorphism (Genetics)/genetics* ; Syndrome

PURPOSE: All-ceramic crowns are subject to fracture during function. To minimize this common clinical complication, zirconium oxide has been used as the framework for all-ceramic crowns. The aim of this study was to compare the fracture strengths of two computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) zirconia crown systems: Lava and Digident. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty Lava CAD/CAM zirconia crowns and twenty Digident CAD/CAM zirconia crowns were fabricated. A metal die was also duplicated from the original prepared tooth for fracture testing. A universal testing machine was used to determine the fracture strength of the crowns. RESULTS: The mean fracture strengths were as follows: 54.9 +/- 15.6 N for the Lava CAD/CAM zirconia crowns and 87.0 +/- 16.0 N for the Digident CAD/CAM zirconia crowns. The difference between the mean fracture strengths of the Lava and Digident crowns was statistically significant (P<.001). Lava CAD/CAM zirconia crowns showed a complete fracture of both the veneering porcelain and the core whereas the Digident CAD/CAM zirconia crowns showed fracture only of the veneering porcelain. CONCLUSION: The fracture strengths of CAD/CAM zirconia crowns differ depending on the compatibility of the core material and the veneering porcelain.
Ceramics ; Collodion ; Crowns ; Dental Porcelain ; Tooth ; Zirconium

BACKGROUND: Soluble adhesion molecules including soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) are released during an infalmmatory process such as artherosclerosis. Elevated sVCAM-1 also has been reported in diabetic nephropathy. But, the clinical significance of elevated of sVCAM-1 is not certain. We measured serum sVCAM-1 for the purpose to validate the clinical usefulness in diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: In this study, we measured serum sVCAM-1 in 12 normal subjects and 64 type 2 diabetic patients with proteinuria over 300 mg/day [median 24-h urine protein (range): 2.2 (0.3-18.7) g/day]. We evaluated the relationship of serum sVCAM-1 with lipoproteins including total cholesterol, LDL, oxidized LDL (oxLDL), HDL, and lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), with markers of inflammation including high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP), serum albumin and fibrinogen, and with renal parameters including 24-h urine protein, serum creatinine and homocysteine. RESULTS: In patients with diabetic nephropathy, median sVCAM-1 was 561 ng/mL (range 183-1304), which was significantly higher than that of normal subjects (324 ng/mL; 213-760, p< 0.05). In the diabetic nephropathy patients, sVCAM-1 was positively correlated with serum creatinine (r=0.34, p< 0.01), serum Lp(a) (r=0.27, p< 0.05) and 24-h urine protein (r=0.26, p< 0.05). In a multiple linear regression analysis, 24-h urine protein and serum Lp(a) were associated with an increased level of sVCAM-1 (r2=0.22, p=0.003). CONCLUSION: In summary, a positive correlation of sVCAM-1 with 24-h urine protein suggests that high sVCAM-1 may reflect increased production of sVCAM-1 due to more advanced renal injury. A positive association of sVCAM-1 and serum Lp(a) also suggests increased release of sVCAM-1 from associated atherosclerotic lesions in these patients. These results suggest that sVCAM-1 may be closely related with the renal function in patients with overt diabetic nephropathy.
Cholesterol, LDL ; Creatinine ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Fibrinogen ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Linear Models ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Lipoproteins ; Proteinuria ; Serum Albumin ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1*

PURPOSE: The decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) is a major complication after kidney transplantation. This was reported to occur preferentially during the first 6 months. However, the treatment and prevention strategies against a decline of BMD are not yet clear. METHODS: The data on the pre-transplant baseline and post-transplant 1 year BMD were archived and retrieved in 125 renal transplant recipients. The post-transplant changes of the BMD were compared by the baseline status of the BMD and the types of anti-osteoporosis treatment either with a vitamin D agent (alfacalcidiol) (n=18) or alendronate (n=21). Anti-osteoporosis treatment began within 30 days after transplantation, with an oral administration of 0.5 mcg/day vitamin D or 70 mg/week alendronate, and maintained until 1 year after transplantation. RESULTS: Regardless the degree of baseline BMD status, each group (the control, vitamin D, or alendronate group) showed a significant and uniform decrease of BMD during the post-transplant 1 year. The mean change in the spine BMD in the control, vitamin D, and alendronate group was -7.1+/-7.5%, -3.3+/-7.4% and -2.6+/-6.5%, respectively. The femur BMD also changed -5.1+/-7.7%, 1.1+/-5.3% and -1.5+/-8.2%, respectively. The degree of BMD decrease in the treatment groups was significantly lower than that in the control (P=0.014 in spine, P=0.003 in femur). When the severely reduced baseline BMD (T-score of spine or femur < or =-1) subgroups were analysed separately, the treatment groups (-3.7+/-6.5% in vitamin D and -1.1+/-6.4% in alendronate group) showed a significantly less decrease in the spine BMD than the control (-8.2+/-6.2%)(P=0.036). The femur BMD also showed a less decrease in the BMD in the treatment group, but this was not statistically significant (P=0.234). There was no significant difference between the vitamin D and alendronate treatment groups. CONCLUSION: After renal transplantation, early administration of vitamin D or alendronate showed some benefit to reduce the post-transplant decrease of BMD in both spine and femur area.
Administration, Oral ; Alendronate* ; Bone Density* ; Femur ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Spine ; Transplantation ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*

No abstract available.
Occupational Diseases*