All-ceramic restorations have become an attractive alternative to porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. In-Ceram, and more recently IPS Empress 2 were introduced as a new all-ceramic system for single crowns and 3-unit fixed partial dentures. But their strength and marginal fit are still an important issue. This study evaluated the fracture resistance and marginal fit of three systems of 3 unit all-ceramic bridge fabricated on prepared maxillary anterior resin teeth in vitro. The 3 all-ceramic bridge systems were: (1) a glass-infiltrated, sintered alumina system (In-Ceram) fabricated conventionally, (2) the same system with copy-milled alumina cores (copy-milled In-Ceram), (3) a heat pressed, lithium disilicate reinforced glass-ceramic system (IPS Empress 2). Ten bridges of each system with standardized design of framework were fabricated. All specimens of each system were compressed at 55degree at the palatal surface of pontic until catastrophic fracture occurred. Another seven bridges of each system were fabricated with standard method. All of the bridge-die complexes were embedded in epoxy resin and sectioned buccolingually and mesiodistally. The absolute marginal discrepancy was measured with stereomicroscope at x50 power. The following results were obtained: 1. There was no significant difference in the fracture strength among the 3 systems studied. 2. The Weibull modulus of copy-milled In-Ceram was higher than that of In-Ceram and IPS Empress 2 bridges. 3. Copy-milled In-Ceram (112micrometer) exhibited significantly greater marginal discrepancy than In-Ceram (97micrometer), and IPS Empress 2 (94micrometer at P=0.05. 4. The lingual surfaces of the ceramic crowns showed smaller marginal discrepancies than mesial and distal points. There was no significant difference between teeth (incisor, canine) at P=0.05. 5. All-ceramic bridges of three systems appeared to exhibit sufficient initial strength and acceptable marginal fit values to allow clinical application.
Aluminum Oxide ; Ceramics ; Crowns ; Denture, Partial, Fixed ; Hot Temperature ; Lithium ; Tooth

No abstract available.
Humans ; Interferon-alpha* ; Interferons* ; Melanoma* ; Ulcer*

BACKGROUND: External ventricular drainage (EVD) is an important procedure for draining excessive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and monitoring intracranial pressure. Generally, EVD is performed in the operating room (OR) under aseptic conditions. However, in emergency circumstances, the operation may be performed in the intensive care unit (ICU) to save neuro-critical time and to avoid the unnecessary transfer of patients. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the risk of EVD-induced CNS infections and their outcomes according to the operating place (ICU versus OR). In addition, we compared mortalities as well as hospital and ICU days between the CNS infection and non-CNS infection groups. METHODS: We reviewed medical records, laboratory data and radiographic images of patients who had received EVD operations between January, 2013 and March, 2015. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients (45 men and 30 women, mean age: 58.7 +/- 15.6 years) were enrolled in this study. An average of 1.4 catheters were used for each patient and the mean period of the indwelling catheter was 7.5 +/- 5.0 days. Twenty-six patients were included in the ICU group, and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 3 (11.5%) patients. For the OR group, forty-nine patients were included and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 7 (14.3%) patients. The EVD-induced CNS infection of the ICU group did not increase above that of the OR group. The ICU days and mortality rate were higher in the CNS infection group compared to the non-CNS infection group. The period of the indwelling EVD catheter and the number of inserted EVD catheters were both higher in the CNS infection group. CONCLUSIONS: If the aseptic protocols and barrier precautions are strictly kept, EVD in the ICU does not have a higher risk of CNS infections compared to the OR. In addition, EVD in the ICU can decrease the hospital and ICU days by saving neuro-critical time and avoiding the unnecessary transfer of patients. Therefore, when neurosurgeons decide upon the operating place for EVD, they should consider the benefits of ICU operation and be cautious of EVD-induced CNS infection.
Catheter-Related Infections ; Catheters ; Catheters, Indwelling ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Drainage* ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units* ; Critical Care* ; Intracranial Pressure ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Operating Rooms* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ventriculostomy

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Aneurysm* ; Renal Artery*

No abstract available.
Kidney* ; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive*

BACKGROUND: It is necessary for most effective treatment of neoplasms to detect it in early stage. For the purpose we use many screening tests currently, however, the tumor marker have many limitations as a screening test for neoplasm. Nevertheless most of Health screening centers are using CEA as a screening test for neoplasm. So, we began this study for the assessment of validity of CEA as a screening test for neoplasm. METHODS: The subjects were 4265 persons who visited Health screening center of Kyung hee Medical Center from July 1995 to June 1996. The number of elevated CEA among the subjects was 156. We evaluated the frequencies of factors known as etiologies of increased CEA. We followed up whether neoplasms were developed in normal CEA group. Through the random sampling of normal CEA group, 391 subjects were obtained for statistical analysis by SPSS/PC+. Immunoradiometric assay kit, of Eiken company was used for gauging CEA level and normal level was less than 2.4ng/ml according to manual of manufacturer. RESULTS: There was no significant difference of CEA according to sex, age. The factors that significantly affect CEA were neoplasms, chronic lung disease, liver cirrhosis. In t,his study, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, fibrocystic disease, chronic renal failure, alcohol drinking, hepatitis, peptic ulcer disease known as etiologies of elevated CEA in other studies did not show statistical significance. 9 cases of neoplasms were developed in both elevated CEA and normal CEA group during follow up. In former, 4 cases of 9 neoplasms were early stage. In latter, all cases were stage IV and inoperable. Specificity and sensitivity of CEA were each 96.5%, 50.0%. Positive & negative predictive value of CEA were each 5.8%, 99.8%. CONCLUSIONS: CEA was increased in various benign conditions and even if any neoplasm exists, CEA was not elevated in most of all in early stage. It showed high false positive rate and low sensitivity. Thus, this study showed that it was not valid to use CEA as a screening test for early detection of neoplasms.
Alcohol Drinking ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Immunoradiometric Assay ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Lung Diseases ; Mass Screening* ; Peptic Ulcer ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Smoke ; Smoking

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome*

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study was to assess the growth status and to evaluate the factors affecting the development of metabolic syndrome in children born with small for gestational age (SGA) at term gestation. METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 73 (36 boys, 37 girls) children born with SGA at term gestation who were visited for short stature and metabolic problems at Seoul National University Children' Hospital between 1994 and 2003. We assessed several clinical parameters as follows:birth weight, height standard deviation score (SDS), weight SDS, weight for height, bone age (BA), chronologic age (CA), predicted adult height (PAH) and midparental height (MPH). We evaluated the factors affecting height SDS according to pubertal status. We also evaluated the factors affecting development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia or obesity. RESULTS:Pubertal children had greater height SDS, weight SDS and difference between BA and CA than prepubertal children, respectively (P<0.05). Height SDS positively correlated with difference between BA and CA (r=0.43, P<0.01), but BA advancement (BA>CA) was not observed in prepubertal children. BA advancement was observed in all pubertal children except one. The children who had greater weight SDS than height SDS had significantly lower height SDS and delayed BA, respectively (P<0.05). The children who had metabolic problems had higher weight SDS (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that rapid skeletal maturation may develope during transition from prepuberty to puberty and catch-up growth may contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome in children born with SGA, but further study will be required.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Dyslipidemias ; Gestational Age* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Obesity ; Pregnancy* ; Puberty ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul