STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: In spite of the progress in techniques and materials in complete denture prosthodontics, patients still complain of discomfort after the insertion of complete dentures. For the last several decades many prosthodontists tried to find factors influencing patient complete denture satisfaction, however the reported results became a controversy. PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to verify the factors influencing patient satisfaction with complete dentures using multiple regression analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 33 patients who visited the department of prosthodontics, dental hospital of Yonsei University, 4 to 6 weeks after the complete denture delivery, were asked to complete the questionnaires on complete denture satisfaction, social variables and psychological variables. The Prosthodontists who treated the patients with complete dentures were also asked to complete the questionnaires on evaluation of patients' oral condition and technical quality of dentures. The factors influencing patients' satisfaction with their complete dentures were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the patients' sociodemographic variables, the variables of relationship with children, economic status, housing condition, other people's opinions of dentures and gender were the influential factors on patients' satisfaction with complete dentures. Patients showing the symptoms of depression, one of the psychological variables, were dissatisfied with their complete dentures. In spite of the good oral condition, patients were dissatisfied with complete dentures, whereas the technical quality of dentures did not influence patients' complete denture satisfaction. CONCLUSION: According to the results above, patients' sociodemographic and psychological variables rather than clinical variables including oral condition and technical quality of dentures were the influential factors on complete denture satisfaction. The results of this study may not only enable prosthodontists to predict the success and failure of complete denture treatment, but also help both prosthodontists and patients be informed of the essentials of increasing satisfaction with complete dentures.
Child ; Denture, Complete* ; Dentures ; Depression ; Housing ; Humans ; Patient Satisfaction* ; Prosthodontics ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Over the past three decades, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have been rapidly increasing in the African, South American, and Asian countries, including Korea. However, in Korea, the public awareness of IBD remains low, and diagnostic delay is not uncommon due to the physicians' lack of clinical experience. It is essential to understand the trends and regional differences in the epidemiology of IBD for proper diagnosis and treatment.Current Concepts: Although lower than those of the West, the prevalence and incidence of IBD in Korea rank among the highest in Asia and are steadily increasing. In the past 10 years, the prevalence of IBD has almost doubled, while its incidence has decreased gradually. As compared to Western IBD patients, Korean patients have higher proportion of proctitis in ulcerative colitis, male predominance, more ileocolonic involvement, and higher incidence of perianal fistula in Crohn disease. There is no single gold standard for the diagnosis of IBD. Thus, diagnosis can be made by clinical evaluation, including a detailed history taking, physical examination, and a combination of endoscopic, radiologic, laboratory, and histologic findings.Discussion and Conclusion: Population-based studies have revealed the current trends and characteristics of the epidemiology of IBD in Korea. Continued education and development of diagnostic tools will help clinicians to diagnose IBD accurately and differentiate it from other diseases such as intestinal tuberculosis.

Objective: To investigate the effect of latanoprost in IOP after laser iridectomy or filtering surgery Methodology: Patients of chronic angle closure glaucoma post laser iridectomy or filtering surgery were given latanoprost 0.005 percent eye drop in the evening for 2-6 weeks after a washout period ranging from 5 days - 28 days. IOP was measured at 9:00 a. m., 1:00 p.m. and 5: 00 p.m. per patient using a calibrated goldmann applanation tonometer Results: 29 patients were enrolled in study. There was a significant reduction in IOP among these patients Conclusion: Latanoprost 0.005 percent provides a significant reduction in IOP among patients with residual angle closure after laser iridectomy or filtering surgery. (Author)
Human ; Male ; Female ; LATANOPROST ; INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE/DRUG EFFECTS ; GLAUCOMA, ANGLE-CLOSURE ; GLAUCOMA, ANGLE-CLOSURE/DRUG THERAPY ; HUMANS ; MALE ; FEMALE ;

Uncomplicated urinary tract infection (cystitis) is the most common bacterial infection among women visiting primary care clinics, and approximately 50% experience recurrence. Recurrent cystitis represents a substantial burden on the patients’ quality of life, healthcare costs, and antibiotics overuse.Current Concepts: Symptoms remain the cornerstone of cystitis diagnosis, and urine culture is necessary if recurrent cystitis is suspected. Antibiotics (typically nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin) are the first-line treatment. Based on the resistance data, cephalosporins and amoxicillin-clavulanate are the second-line treatment recommendations. Fluoroquinolones are not the first-line options because of safety concerns and rising resistance rates. In considering patients with recurrent cystitis, it is important to assess the patient’s risk factors. Postmenopausal women may present differently and require different diagnostic and treatment approaches from that of younger women. Non-antimicrobial approaches to prevent recurrent cystitis are preferred due to tolerability, safety, antimicrobial resistance concerns, and patient choice. Oral immunostimulant is effective for any age, and vaginal estrogen therapy is additionally recommended in postmenopausal women. Self-start and post-coital antibiotic therapy and non-antimicrobial prophylaxis may be combined. Low-dose continuous antibiotic therapy may be considered for women in whom other regimens fail.Discussion and Conclusion: To improve the quality of life and medical care of women, closing the gap between the physicians’ perceptions and patients’ needs is necessary. Furthermore, various preventive therapies for recurrent cystitis should be fully utilized.

Over the past three decades, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have been rapidly increasing in the African, South American, and Asian countries, including Korea. However, in Korea, the public awareness of IBD remains low, and diagnostic delay is not uncommon due to the physicians' lack of clinical experience. It is essential to understand the trends and regional differences in the epidemiology of IBD for proper diagnosis and treatment.Current Concepts: Although lower than those of the West, the prevalence and incidence of IBD in Korea rank among the highest in Asia and are steadily increasing. In the past 10 years, the prevalence of IBD has almost doubled, while its incidence has decreased gradually. As compared to Western IBD patients, Korean patients have higher proportion of proctitis in ulcerative colitis, male predominance, more ileocolonic involvement, and higher incidence of perianal fistula in Crohn disease. There is no single gold standard for the diagnosis of IBD. Thus, diagnosis can be made by clinical evaluation, including a detailed history taking, physical examination, and a combination of endoscopic, radiologic, laboratory, and histologic findings.Discussion and Conclusion: Population-based studies have revealed the current trends and characteristics of the epidemiology of IBD in Korea. Continued education and development of diagnostic tools will help clinicians to diagnose IBD accurately and differentiate it from other diseases such as intestinal tuberculosis.

PURPOSE: To report a case of superior oblique muscle tenotomy in a patient with suspected bilateral inferior oblique muscle overaction. The patient showed secondary superior oblique muscle overaction and inferior oblique muscle underaction after inferior oblique muscle myectomy. CASE SUMMARY: The patient showed V-pattern exotropia with suspected bilateral inferior oblique muscle overaction. After bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession with bilateral inferior oblique muscle myectomy, the patient showed secondary esotropia and inferior oblique underaction. After the surgery, progressive secondary superior oblique muscle overaction continued and finally, a superior oblique muscle tenotomy was performed. After the superior oblique muscle tenotomy, the superior oblique muscle overaction was corrected but the inferior oblique muscle underaction continued. CONCLUSIONS: After an inferior oblique muscle myectomy, secondary superior oblique muscle overaction can develop. Thus, caution should be taken in diagnosing inferior oblique muscle overaction in patients who show minimally inferior oblique muscle overaction as well as the surgical methods chosen.
Esotropia ; Exotropia ; Humans ; Muscles ; Tenotomy

OBJECTIVES: To investigate acoustic differences between conversational and clear speech of Korean and to evaluate the influence of the gender on the speech clarity using the long-term average speech spectrum (LTASS). METHODS: Each subject's voice was recorded using a sound level meter connected to GoldWave program. Average long-term root mean square (RMS) of one-third octave bands speech spectrum was calculated from 100 to 10,000 Hz after normalizing to 70 dB overall level using the MATLAB program. Twenty ordinary Korean were compared with 20 Korean announcers with equal numbers of men and women in each group. RESULTS: Compared with the LTASS of ordinary men, that of ordinary women was lower at low frequencies, but higher at 630, 800, 1,600, 5,000, and 10,000 Hz. Compared with the LTASS of male announcers, that of female announcers was lower at low frequencies. Compared with the LTASS of ordinary men, that of male announcers was significantly lower at 100, 125, 200, and 250 Hz. Compared with the LTASS of ordinary women, that of female announcers was lower at 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 500, and 10,000 Hz. The LTASS of announcer showed lower levels at 100, 200 Hz and higher at 500, 630, 800, and 1,000 Hz that that of ordinary Koreans. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the drop-off of the LTASS in the low frequency region might make the ratings of women and announcers more clearly than those of men and ordinary persons respectively. This drop-off in the low frequency might result in less upward spread of masking and clearer speech. This study reduced an error resulting from a wide variability of clear speech strategies and intelligibility gains, because this study recruited professional speakers. We hope that our results demonstrate the difference in acoustic characteristics of the speech of ordinary Korean persons.
Acoustics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Masks ; Voice

Primary endometrial squamous cell carcinoma (PESCC) is an extremely rare tumor with unclear pathogenesis. A 54-year-old postmenopausal woman presented with a 6-month history of vaginal bleeding. The patient was provisionally diagnosed with uterine submucosal leiomyoma. This was followed by total hysterectomy with a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy under the laparoscopic guidance. Histopathologically, the tumor was PESCC which was accompanied by a lack of the tumor in the uterine cervix. The tumor showed positive immunoreactivity for p16INK4a. But there was no evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) on in situ hybridization and HPV DNA chip analysis. We also present a review of the relevant literature on Korean women.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cervix Uteri ; Endometrium ; Female ; Genes, p16 ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; In Situ Hybridization ; Leiomyoma ; Middle Aged ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Uterine Hemorrhage

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the electric-acoustic interactions within the inferior colliculus of guinea pigs and to observe how central masking appears in invasive neural recordings of the inferior colliculus (IC). METHODS: A platinum-iridium wire was inserted to scala tympani through cochleostomy with a depth no greater than 1 mm for intracochlear stimulation of electric pulse train. A 5 mm 100 microm, single-shank, thin-film, penetrating recording probe was inserted perpendicularly to the surface of the IC in the coronal plane at an angle of 30-40degrees off the parasagittal plane with a depth of 2.0-2.5 mm. The peripheral and central masking effects were compared using electric pulse trains to the left ear and acoustic noise to the left ear (ipsilateral) and to the right ear (contralateral). Binaural acoustic stimuli were presented with different time delays and compared with combined electric and acoustic stimuli. The averaged evoked potentials and total spike numbers were measured using thin-film electrodes inserted into the central nucleus of the IC. RESULTS: Ipsilateral noise had more obvious effects on the electric response than did contralateral noise. Contralateral noise decreased slightly the response amplitude to the electric pulse train stimuli. Immediately after the onset of acoustic noise, the response pattern changed transiently with shorter response intervals. The effects of contralateral noise were evident at the beginning of the continuous noise. The total spike number decreased when the binaural stimuli reached the IC most simultaneously. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that central masking is quite different from peripheral masking and occurs within the binaural auditory system, and this study showed that the effect of masking could be observed in the IC recording. These effects are more evident and consistent with the psychophysical data from spike number analyses than with the previously reported gross potential data.
Acoustics ; Animals ; Ear ; Electrodes ; Evoked Potentials ; Guinea ; Guinea Pigs ; Inferior Colliculi ; Masks ; Noise ; Scala Tympani