Argon laser trabeculoplasty(ALT) is commonly used in the treatment of uncontrolled open angle glaucoma. The authors retrospectively reviewed the efficacy of ALT in 52 patients(57 eyes) with primary open angle glaucoma. The mean follow-up was 28 months(range 2-48 months). The decrease in intraocular pressure 10P) was 10.1 +/- 3.5 mmHg at 1 month, 8.2 +/- 2.8 mmHg at 1 year, 6.2 +/- 5.1 mmHg at 2 years and 51% at 3 years. Failure was most common in the first 6 months after treatment(29%) and thereafter failure occurred at a rate of 5% to 15% per year. The sex and age of patients had no significant effect on success rate. The success rate was high in the patients with baseline IOP of 26 to 30 mmHg. A mild iritis in all cases, transient rise in IOP, peripheral anterior synechia and microscopic hyphema were noted as early complications of ALT.
Argon* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle* ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Intraocular Pressure ; Iritis ; Retrospective Studies ; Trabeculectomy*

The author analyzed 514 patients with ocular injuries among 2676 inpatients who were admitted to Chosun University Hospital from January 1986 to December 1991. The results were as follows: 1. The incidence of ocular injuries was 19.2% of all inpatients. 2. The incidence was more common in male (82.6%) and in the order of 3rd decade (26.7%), 4th decade (20.7%) and teenage (16.4%). 3. The ocular injuries were more common in the spring (31.9%), and in March. 4. The most common cause of ocular injuries was industrial accident (25.5%), followed by individual accident, traffic accident and violence. Trauma inflicated while staging demonstration was 6.6%. 5. The most common ocular injury was traumatic hyphema (21.0%), followed by corneal laceration, canalicular disruption, and lid laceration. 6. The most common surgical procedure was corneoscleral suture (34.6%), followed by primary lid suture and canalicular reconstruction. 7. The final visual acuity was improved to 0.5 or more in 41.4%. 8. The most common complication of ocular injuries after treatment was corneal opacity (41.2%), followed by vitreous opacity and traumatic cataract.
Accidents, Occupational ; Accidents, Traffic ; Cataract ; Corneal Opacity ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Incidence ; Inpatients* ; Lacerations ; Male ; Sutures ; Violence ; Visual Acuity

Recently there has been decreasing trend of high tibial osteotomy in management of the gonarthrotic patients partly due to recurrence of the symptom and, more importantly, due to the relative success of the total knee joint replacement procedure. But there is still room for the high tibial osteotomy, although it may be 'outdated' procedure, in that younger active patients do well postopera- tively for an enough period of time and that even the older have some gain of pain-relief in early postoperative period. The purpose of this study is to detect the affecting factors of the result of the operation. We reviewed 25 valgus high tibial osteotomies in 23 patients who had medial gonarthrosis and could be followed-up more than 1 year among 32 cases between August 1989 and January 1994. The mean length of follow-up was 30 months(ranged twelve to fifty four months). The results were compared according to modified grading of the HSS score. All cases showed the increase of the score from preop. average 65.2 points to postop. 87.8 points, mainly by the decrease of pain and the increase of functional activity. The severity of degenerative change on the radiographs and the degree of varus seemed to be related with the early clinical results of the operation, but the age was not a major affecting factor. These results could be debatable due to some differences from the others', and long term follow-up would be needed.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Knee ; Osteoarthritis ; Osteotomy ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence

PURPOSE: To compare the clinical outcomes of glistening-free intraocular lens (IOL) and conventional 1-piece aspheric IOL in implanted in-the-bag. METHODS: After phacoemulsification performed by a single surgeon, 2 different IOLs were implanted: enVista MX60 (glistening-free 1-piece aspheric IOL) in 38 eyes (group A) and AcrySof IQ (conventional 1-piece aspheric IOL) in 46 eyes (group B). Glare symptom score (0-5) obtained by questionnaires, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Functional Acuity Contrast Test (FACT), posterior capsular opacity (PCO), glistening formation and spherical equivalent error were compared and analyzed preoperatively and 6 months and 12 months postoperatively. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement of BCVA and contrast sensitivity postoperatively was observed in all groups. There was statistically significant increase of glistening in group B compared with group A. However, there was no significant difference of FACT scores of spatial frequency in A, B, C, D and E columns and glare symptom score (0-10) obtained by questionnaires 12 months after surgery. Spherical equivalent errors were -0.38 +/- 0.27 D and -0.36 +/- 0.28 D for groups A and B, respectively. PCO occurred in 2 eyes in group A and 4 eyes in group B. CONCLUSIONS: EnVista MX60 IOL showed less glistening formation than AcrySof IQ IOL, however, there was no significant difference in terms of vision quality such as BCVA, FACT and glare symptom score at 12 months postoperatively.
Cataract* ; Contrast Sensitivity ; Glare ; Lenses, Intraocular* ; Phacoemulsification ; Visual Acuity

With the aim of gaining more insight into the catecholaminergic system in the nervous system of the rat, we have studied the precise distribution pattern of the tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive[TH-IR] fibers and soma in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion. In the dorsal root ganglion[DRG], TH-IR fibers were observed to run along the vessel wall, spirally and not found in the neural tissue itself. A few TH-IR fibers were found in the spinal nerve, not in the ventral root. Many TH-IR neurons were distributed in the L3, 4, 5, and 6 DRG but none of them were found in the other DRG segments. In the spinal cord, TH-IR fibers have shown sparse distribution all over spinal cord but relatively dense distribution in the ventral horn, intermediolateral column, lamina I of the dorsal horn of the cervical, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal segment. TH-IR neurons were found in the intermediolateral column, dorsal gray commissure, dorsal horn of the C1 and C2 segments and S1-4 segments. TH-IR neurons in the cervical segments were polygonal and spindle shaped with well developed processes. In contrast to this, TH-IR neurons in the sacral segments were oval or spindle shaped with no processes. In conclusion, neurons in the DRG were not influenced by catecholaminergic nervous input. Intrinsic catecholaminergic nervous systems were found in both of spinal cord and DRG.
Animals ; Carisoprodol ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Ganglia, Spinal* ; Horns ; Immunohistochemistry ; Nervous System ; Neurons ; Rats* ; Spinal Cord* ; Spinal Nerve Roots* ; Spinal Nerves ; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase ; Tyrosine*

BACKGROUND: Spinal stenosis and herniated intervertebral discs are the principal causes of lumbosacral radiculopathy. This study was conducted to compare the therapeutic value and duration of pain relief of fluoroscopic guided transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs) in patients with refractory radicular leg pain. METHODS: Between August 2006 and March 2007, 87 patients (H group: patients with herniated intervertebral disc, S group: patients with spinal stenosis) who met the inclusion criteria were treated with fluoroscopic guided TFESIs. Prior to treatment, the VAS and ODI scores were determine to evaluate the degree of pain and level of disability. The degree of pain relief was then assessed 1 month after treatment with the TFESIs and graded as excellent (no residual pain), good (improvement of pain symptoms by more than 50%), fair (improvement of pain symptoms by less than 50%) and Poor (no improvement of pain). In addition, the duration of pain relief was evaluated by regular outpatient visits for 6 months, and by telephone interviews after 6 months. RESULTS: The H and S group both had excellet results at 1 month after treatment with TFESIs showing improvements of 44.1% and 20.8% respectively. However this difference was not significant between groups. In addition, a duration of pain relief greater than 6 months was achieved in 32.4% of the patients in the H group and 37.7% of those in the S group. CONCLUSIONS: TFESIs had a similar degree of therapeutic effectiveness and duration of pain relief in patients with spinal stenosis and herniated intervertebral discs.
Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Interviews as Topic ; Leg ; Outpatients ; Radiculopathy ; Spinal Stenosis

BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting is one of the main problems after mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty. There is a growing interest in the use of nonpharmacologic and nonintravenous approaches to the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of stimulating the P6 acupoint and of the use of metoclopramide intranasal spray on the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting after mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty. METHODS: We studied 60 patients who received mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty for chronic ottitis media. No antiemetic agent or device was provided in the C group (n = 20). Acupressure on the P6 acupoint was applied after surgery in the P6 group (n = 20). In the M group (n = 20), metoclopramide was sprayed intranasally before extubation. Severity values of postoperative nausea and vomiting were assessed using 5 scales at different postoperative times. RESULTS: The severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting was significantly lower in the P6 group than in the C and M groups. There was no difference in the severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting between the C and M groups. At a postoperative 8 and 16 hr, there was a statiscally significant decrease of the severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting in the P6 group. CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure on the P6 acupoint reduced the incidence and severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting after mastoidectiomy and tympanoplasty. This result suggests that acupressure at P6 may be a useful new nonpharmacologic approach to the reduction or prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting after mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty.
Acupressure ; Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Incidence ; Metoclopramide ; Nausea ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting* ; Tympanoplasty* ; Vomiting ; Weights and Measures

No abstract available.
Bacillus anthracis* ; Bacillus* ; Classification*

Purpose: Insulin is known to induce relaxation in various vasculatures by increasing the release of nitric oxide or the expression of nitric oxide synthase. However, its action mechanisms on the corpus cavernosum remain to be uncovered. This study aimed to investigate the relaxative responses and the mechanism of normal cavernous smooth muscles to insulin. Methods and Materials: Rabbit corpus cavernous tissues were prepared in 2x2x8 mm sized strip for isotonic tension recording. The dose-dependent relaxation responses of norepinephrine (10(-4)M)-precontracted strips to insulin (10(-6)M)were measured. The relaxation responses of NE (10(-4)M)-precontracted strips to insulin (10(-6)M) were measured under low to high glucose concentrations (0, 0.1, 1 and 11mM) in physiological solution. The relaxation responses of the NE-precontracted strips to insulin (10(-6)M) were also observed after endothelial denudation, 30-minute preincubation with L-NAME (5mM) or 30-minute preincubation with indomethacin (10(-4)M). Results: The cavernosal strips were relaxed by insulin in a dose-dependent manner. The insulin-induced relaxation was dose-dependently increased by glucose. The endothelial denudation or indomethacin pretreatment almost abolished the insulin-induced relaxation, but L-NAME rarely affected the relaxation. Conclusions: Insulin induces an endothelium-dependent relaxation of rabbit cavernous smooth muscles, which is mostly NO-independent, but seems to be related with prostaglandins or their metabolites.
Glucose ; Indomethacin ; Insulin ; Muscle, Smooth* ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester ; Nitric Oxide ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; Norepinephrine ; Prostaglandins ; Relaxation*

Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, has been taxonomically classified into Bacillus subgroup I with B. cereus, B. mycoides, and B. thuringiensis based on their phenetic and genetic charateristics. Especially, DNA studies indicated that these species were closely related hence these species has been proposed as a single species with four subspecies. There has been controversy about taxonomy of B. anthracis isolates because none of the simple and rapid identification methods are available for closely related taxa so far. In this study, we have used VNTR analysis for reidentification of 7 strains of B. anthracis and 9 strains of closely related species. In the PCR analysis, All of the B. anthracis had a variable region of DNA sequence exception with Youngdungpo. One polymorphisms were found by the presence of four copies with the 12-bp tandem repeat sequences except Kunja. Of the closely related species, the equal size of (VNTR)' was amplified from Bacillus spp. Kyungjoo 3 and B. cereus. The sequences of Kyungjoo 3 was identical with B. anthracis. Whereas the tandem repeat sequences was not found in B. anthracis Kunja and B. cereus. Therefore, B. anthracis Kunja was finally reidentified as a B. cereus. As a results, the analysis of VNTR could be used for rapid identification for B. anthraicis from B. anthracis closely related taxa and molecular epidemiological studies of anthrax.
Anthrax ; Bacillus anthracis* ; Bacillus* ; Base Sequence ; Classification ; DNA ; Evolution, Molecular* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Korea* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tandem Repeat Sequences*