PURPOSE: Current evidence indicates that ultrasonography of the breast is an important adjunct to mammography and clinical examination in the diagnosis of palpable breast abnormalities. An assessment of the value of office-based ultrasonography of a palpable breast mass performed by a breast surgeon was the aim of this work. METHODS: A 7.5 MHz linear probe was used to perform office-based ultrasonography in 109 consecutive female patients having a palpable solid breast mass between August 1998 and December 1999. Breast masses diagnosed histologically as fibroadenomas or breast cancer were included in this study. The clinical impression from the physical examination (PE), the result of officed-based ultrasonography done by a surgeon (OUSG), and comprehensive judgement engaging both PE and OUSG (PEUSG) were recorded in each patient's hospital record as benign or malignant at the first visit. The diagnostic values of PE, OUSG, PEUSG, mammography (MMG), and ultrasonography done by a radiologist (USG) were compared. RESULTS: Of 109 masses, a fibroadenoma was diagnosed in 73 patients while a carcinoma was established in 36 patients. The sensitivity, the specificity, the accuracy rate, and the kappa coefficient were 91.7%, 89.0%, 89.9%, and 0.780 for PE; 100%, 90.4%, 93.6%, and 0.862 for OUSG; 97.2%, 97.3%, 97.2%, and 0.938 for PEUSG; 90.4%, 89.4%, 90%, and 0.630 for MMG; and 88.9%, 90.9%, 90% and 0.798 for USG. The diagnostic accuracy of PEUSG was significantly higher than those of PE and MG (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that office-based ultrasonography of the breast performed by a surgeon is a useful adjunct to clinical evaluation of the breast mass and permits timely and cost-effective patient care.
Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Fibroadenoma ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Mammography ; Patient Care ; Physical Examination ; Prospective Studies* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography*

The purpose of this study is to compared and analyze the shade changes(deltaE)about In-Ceram(R),IPS-Empress(R),OPC(R) by using of the spectrophotometer arising from initial status and before and after cementation of the resin cement mounted on the metal core. We used a couple of statistics such as 'One-Way ANOVA'and Multiple Range Test. We could be able to verify significantly what is being discussed here up to 95%. The results drawn from our research are as follows: 1. At the time of our experiments regarding the initial shapes of all-ceramic and mounting status of all-ceramic on the metal crown(deltaE1), and a comparison of mounting of all ceramic on the metal crown with all-ceramic cemented on the metal core(deltaE2), at the time of shade change of initial shapes and after we cemented on the metal core. (1) no significant difference among all-ceramics was found. (2) no particular difference was found regarding the In-Ceram(R) (3) a significant difference between the deltaE1 and deltaE2 regarding the IPSS-Empress(R) was found (P<0.05). (4) a significant difference between the deltaE1 and deltaE2 regarding the OPC? was found (P<0.05). 2. When we compared the shade changes (deltaE) resulted from before and after the cementation on each of the parts involved of some all-ceramic . we could be able to find shape change increase from incisal third, middle third, and cervical third in that order in In-Cream(R)(spinell), IPS Empress(R) and OPC(R) all. In addition , we could be able to find a siginificant difference between cervical third and incisal third, middle third. (P<0.05) From what we have just seen, we might conclude that there is a significant shade change difference before and after the cementation with respect to IPS-Empress(R)and OPC(R). In addition, we could also be able to find more shade change difference at the cervical third rather than incisal third and middle third depending on the parts involved.
Cementation ; Ceramics* ; Crowns* ; Resin Cements

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Humans

Myelopathy or dysfunction of the spinal cord, can be caused by degenerative processes of the cervical vertebrae. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy can be divided into five distinct syndromes on the basis of clinical presentation by Ferguson. Absolute indication for surgery is the progression of neurologic deficit. Decompression may be achieved using an anterior, posterior, or a combined approach, but each patient has unique clinical conditions that require individualized treatment. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the operative results by the clinical manifestation. In evaluating the results, the evaluation system established by the Japanese Orthopedic Association was employed. The average preoperative score in the 14 patient was 8.7 points and the average postoperative score was 12.7 points. The better results have been obtained for those who were managed with decompression within 1 year after onset of symptoms and those who had lateral type. In conclusion, the prognosis for the recovery of the spinal cord function is related with the onset of clinical symptoms and degree of neurological deterioration, so early detection and operative decompression for cervical spondylotic myelopathy may be the best method for the prevention of those unwanted and potentially devastating neurological deteriorations.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Decompression ; Female ; Humans ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Orthopedics ; Prognosis ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Diseases*

No abstract available.
Muscular Dystrophy, Oculopharyngeal*

OBJECTIVE: This study was to examine the effects of DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism on the smoking in Koreans. Also this study examined molecular heterosis and gender difference in the genetic effect of cigarette smoking. METHODS: DRD2 TaqI A RFLP genotyping was carried out with DNA extracted from blood samples of 187 healthy individuals including 94 smokers and 93 non-smokers, RESULTS: Among the total subjects, the smokers were not significantly different from the non-smokers in respect to the frequency and prevalence of A1 allele, the genotype distribution, or the frequency of heterozygotes. Separating the subjects by gender, however, in male subjects smokers showed a significantly higher frequency (p=0.049) and prevalence of A1 allele (p=0.016) than non-smokers. Also, genotype distribution (p=0.055) and frequency of heterozygotes (p=0.058) of smokers showed some different distributions, but there were no significant statistical difference. In contrast, female subjects showed significant difference between smokers and non-smokers in the comparison of frequency of heterozygotes (p=0.018), but not in the comparison of the frequency (p=0.582) and prevalence (p=0.082) of A1 allele and genotype distribution (p=0.060). CONCLUSION: No significant difference between smokers and non-smokers in the genotype distributions of the total sample could be explained by the reciprocal effects of gender difference in the genetic effect of DRD2 A1 allele of the smoking. Our findings support gender difference and molecular heterosis at the DRD2 gene effects of smoking.
Alleles ; DNA ; Dopamine* ; Female ; Genotype ; Heterozygote ; Humans ; Hybrid Vigor ; Male ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Prevalence ; Receptors, Dopamine D2* ; Smoke ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products*

Streptococcus suis causes meningitis and sepsis in pigs, but human infection has increased over the past few years in those who are exposed to pigs or raw pork. Most cases have occurred in Southeast Asia, but only two cases have been reported in South Korea, presenting with arthritis and meningitis. Here, we report a rare case of S. suis infection, a 60-year-old sailor, who visited the emergency room presenting septicemia, pneumonia with empyema and meningitis, showed full recovery; however, neurologic sequale of severe cognitive dysfunction was present after the usage of antibiotics and percutaneous drainage. S. suis was isolated from blood and pleural fluid and the strain was susceptible to penicillin and vancomycin. Increased awareness of S. suis infection and prevention are warranted.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Arthritis ; Asia, Southeastern ; Drainage ; Emergencies ; Empyema ; Humans ; Korea ; Meningitis ; Middle Aged ; Military Personnel ; Penicillins ; Pneumonia ; Republic of Korea ; Sepsis ; Sprains and Strains ; Streptococcus ; Streptococcus suis ; Swine ; Vancomycin

Recently as the esthetic concerns about dental prosthesis have been increased, the nonmetallic post and core systems have been introduced clinically to improve the color and the low optical transmittance of conventional casting metal post and core systems. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the optical transmittance and the shade changes of all-ceramic crowns with two nonmetallic post and core systems. The experimental groups were classified as follows: Total 27 specimens(9 samples in each group) were evaluated. Group I: Natural teeth as a control group. Group II: CosmoPost and Empress(R) core (Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein). Group III: LIGHT-POST(TM) and LIGHT-CORE(TM)(Bisco, U.S.A.). In all groups, all-ceramic crowns were fabricated with the same shade of IPS Empress(R)II(Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein) after abutment preparation, and then two kinds of spectrophotometers, UV 3101 PC(Shimadzu,Japan) and CM 503i(Minolta Co., Ltd., Japan), were used to measure the optical transmittance and the color value. The following results were obtained: 1. The optical transmittance of each group without all-ceramic crowns, was siginificantly decreased in order of Group III, I and II(p<0.05). 2. The optical transmittance of each group with all-ceramic crowns cemented, were siginificantly decreased in order of Group I, II and III(p<0.05). 3. In comparison with the shade of all-ceramic crowns, there were no significant differences between groups regardless of the cementation. 4. In comparison with the shade changes in each group after the cementation of all-ceramic crowns, there were no significant differences between groups. From the above results, it is thought that the selection among materials used in this study doesn't influence greatly the esthetic restoration, because the differences of optical transmittance were so small that those were clinically insignificant.
Cementation ; Crowns* ; Dental Prosthesis ; Tooth

No abstract available.
Catheters*