No abstract available.
Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

PURPOSE: The anterior vaginal wall sling (AVWS) was introduced to be a simpler and less morbid procedure than the fascial or synthetic slings. However, the long-term outcome of the AVWS has not been fully assessed. In this study, the long-term outcomes of AVWS in female stress urinary incontinence were determined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 54 patients, followed-up postoperatively for at least five years, were surveyed. The surgical outcome was evaluated by pre- and post-operative SEAPI scores, subjective satisfaction and complications. The preoperative clinical parameters were analyzed using a multivariate analysis to determine the factors influencing the success. RESULTS: After a follow-up period of at least 60 months (mean 72.3 months), 63% were cured, 24% showed improvement and 13% had unsuccessful outcomes. The multivariate analysis demonstrated no preoperative factors for the prediction of the outcome of the AVWS. In a subjective satisfaction assessment, 40.8% were extremely satisfied, 40.8% were satisfied, 9.3% felt fair, and 9.3% were dissatisfied. The short-term complications were; UTI (1 case) and operation related transfusion (1 case). The long-term complications were; de novo urge incontinence (3 cases), removal of suture material due to extra-vaginal protrusion (3 cases) and chronic pelvic pain (1 case), but there was no chronic retention. CONCLUSIONS: An AVWS has many benefits, such as low morbidity, easiness of familiarization and can be performed on patients with anatomical incontinence and internal sphincter deficiency. Nevertheless, the complete dry rate of AVWS is 63% for a follow-up of over 5-years. With regard to its long-term durability, this procedure is considered a less effective treatment modality for female stress urinary incontinence.
Female* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pelvic Pain ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Sutures ; Urinary Incontinence* ; Urinary Incontinence, Stress ; Urinary Incontinence, Urge

Tumor angiogenesis has been found to have prognostic significance in many tumor types for predicting an increased risk of metastasis. We assessed tumor vascularity in 28 cases of borderline malignancy and 71 cases of carcinoma of the ovary which had been resected and diagnosed, using the highly specific endothelial cell marker CD34. The numbers of microvessels were counted in 200 magnification in three highly vascularised areas. The numbers of microvessels in carcinomas were higher than that in the borderline malignancy of serous and mucinous tumors. The number of microvessels of mucinous carcinomas was significantly higher than that of serous carcinomas. There were neither significant differences in the number of microvessels according to histological tumor types (p=0.075) nor significant differences in the number of microvessels according to FIGO stages (p=0.072). But in serous carcinomas, the number of microvessels was higher in the FIGO III-IV stage than in the FIGO I-II stage (p=0.017). This study showed higher neovascularization in malignant tumor than borderline malignancy, and in the advanced stage (FIGO III-IV) than less advanced stage (FIGO I-II) of serous carcinomas.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Endothelial Cells ; Female ; Microvessels ; Mucins ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovary

Improving validity and reliability is the important components of clinical laboratory tests. And the quality control of the test should be started with the accurate collection of specimen. Urinalysis is one of the useful and common tests in diseases diagnosis and determining the process of medical treatment. Since urinalysis is requested routinely in hospital setting, the importance of the quality control for urine specimen is often ignored. To improve the validity of urinalysis, a clinical trial was done on the method of collection urine specimen. The result was as follows : 1. The rate of presumtive UTI(urinary tract infection) was decreased in 21.6% with experiment method for collecting urine specimen. 2. The rate of presumtive UTI in female patients was decreased in 43.2% with the experiment method. 3. The rate of negative urine culture was decreased in 6.6% with the experiment method.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Quality Control ; Reproducibility of Results ; Urinalysis*

No abstract available.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Female ; Mammaplasty* ; Mastectomy*

In the past 5 years, the authors have performed microsurgical reconstruction of the lower leg in 37 patients. Among them, modified microsurgical salvage procedures were performed in 11(29.7) cases with vascular compromise, suggested by the preoperative angiogram of the affected lower leg demonstrating no visible, or only one visible major arter. Modified salvage procedures included free flap operations using distally-based arterial inflow(n=2), temporary diversion of the single main artery with secondary vein grafting(n=2), Jungcross-leg fashioned free flaps(n=4), and end-to-side anastomosis of the main artery((n=1). In absence of arterial flow after lower leg trauma, as interpositional vein graft(n=2) was performed to restore blood flow. No vascular problems occurred after the free flap transfer. However, 9 patients experienced different degrees of limping gait, ranging from as mild(n=2), moderate(n=6) to severe(n=1) at the mean follow-up period of 18 months. In reconstruction of a vascular compromised lower leg, modified salvage procedures should be reviewed and selected after exploration of all vessels, both proximal and distal to the zone of the injury. When evaluating what method is the most appropriate, socioeconomic efficiency and patients' individual requirments should be considered.
Arteries ; Follow-Up Studies ; Free Tissue Flaps ; Gait ; Humans ; Leg* ; Veins

The benign teratoma is usually slow growing tumor, but we expirienced a case of primary huge mediastinal benign teratoma that had grown very rapidly, maximally during 3 years. The 14-year-old female patient was admitted to our hospital because of abnormal chest X-ray that showed 10x10cm sized well definded mass with multiple calcificactions. but the mass was not present in chest X-ray perfomed on 3 years prior to admission. Under the diagnosis of teratoma, complete surgical resection was done by the left thoracotomy. The result of pathology was benign teratoma.
Adolescent ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Pathology ; Teratoma* ; Thoracotomy ; Thorax

No abstract available.

This study was conducted by analyzing all 33 articles based on the LISREL, published from January 1991 to March 1999 in Korea. The analyses consisted of the publication date of articles, principal dependent variables, subjects of the research, adequacy of sampling, adequacy of research purposes and results, accordance between theoretical model and hypothetical model, fit measures, theoretical base of model modification, and adequacy of conclusion. The results were as follows : The thesis of 33 articles in total were outnumbered as 25 (75.8%) to 8 (24.2%) research articles. As for a sex classification of the subjects, 45.5% of the research were conducted around a female group of subjects, while 54.5% were done for both sex, The range of the sample size was 105 to 803, and the average was 259 subjects. A single theoretical variable was measured for each measurement variable, any difference between variables was hardly found in 8 articles (24.2%), and 19 articles (57.6%) did not consider any measurement error. To analyze if the representative has been considered while collecting the data, most data were collected by a convenient sampling. Seven articles (21.2%) were seen with a sign of a representative. Questionnaires were used in a majority (31 articles) of the data collecting process. Only 2 articles (6.1%) were measured with a physiologic index simultaneously. 14 articles (42.2%) were centered on theory development, 10 articles on theory synthesis, and 9 articles on theory test. The research purposes and results were consistent in 25 articles (75.5%) and 8 articles (24.2%) were inconsistent. The quality of life and health promotion behavior were the concepts most frequently studied as a dependent variable, and 7 articles centered on them. In applied theories a health promotion model was used on 4 articles (12.1%), while role theory and stress-coping models were in 3 articles respectively. The articles were analyzed to see if the hypothetical model was elaborated and tested by the theoretical model. Twenty-five articles proved to be rationale for the inconsistencies. Also, 56.5% proposed hypotheses were supported among the subject articles, and 30 articles (90.0%) suggested a revised model. Path coefficient (17 articles) and theoretical adequacy (17 articles) were the standards mostly used. In conclusion, the principal factors were obtained from the research are to be considered as the principes of LISREL application. First, a model has to be established on a theoretical base rather than empirical results dependent on the data. The results are also required to be globally interpreted. Secondly, at least 200 samples are necessary to satisfy the need. Third, more than 3 measurement variables are to be adjusted to a single theoretical variable; the measurement errors must be suggested as well. Finally, normal distribution characteristics of the data and the estimation method need to be reported. Based on the research result, the follows are suggested; Systematic criteria on the LISREL application and procedure need to be developed Agreement form is required to report the results of research using the LISREL
Classification ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Korea ; Models, Theoretical ; Nursing Research* ; Nursing* ; Publications ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sample Size

Factor XIII (fibrin stabilizing factor) has roles of stabilizing clot and cross-linking fibrin polymer, so the congenital factor XIII deficient patient has clot unstability and delayed bleeding episodes. We experienced a case of 11 years old girl who had experienced delayed umbilical healing, several episodes of intraabdominal and intracranial hemorrhage. But her coagulation screening studies with prothrombin time, aPTT (activated partial thromboplastin time), bleeding time showed normal value at each episode. These findings suggested typical features of congenital factor XIII deficiency. We used semiquantitative method to diagnose Factor XIII deficiency and quantify Factor XIII. We has treated her successfully with prophylactic fresh frozen plasma through plasmapheresis from two donors.
Bleeding Time ; Child ; Factor XIII Deficiency* ; Factor XIII* ; Female ; Fibrin ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Mass Screening ; Plasma ; Plasmapheresis ; Polymers ; Prothrombin Time ; Reference Values ; Thromboplastin ; Tissue Donors