No abstract available.

Purpose: We investigated the effect of preoperative administration of analgesics and sedatives on pain levels during silicone tube intubation conducted under local anesthesia in patients with acquired nasolacrimal duct stenosis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records from 121 patients at the ophthalmology department of our hospital from July 2016 to May 2022. In total, 71 patients were administered acetaminophen and diazepam orally, while the remaining 50 were not. Postoperative pain (measured using the visual analogue scale [VAS] score [0 = no pain, 10 = severe pain] immediately after operation), operative duration, and improvement in epiphora symptoms were compared between the two groups. Results: The premedication group had significantly lower VAS scores than the non-premedication group (5.23 ± 2.75 vs. 6.34 ± 2.33, p = 0.02). It also had a notably shorter (p < 0.01) operation duration and higher subjective improvement rate of epiphora symptoms. However, premedication did not influence the tube retention period post-surgery (p = 0.86). Conclusions The administration of analgesics and sedatives prior to silicone tube intubation effectively mitigates operative pain and reduces operation duration. Furthermore, it may help improve postoperative epiphora symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, we assessed the effects of the National Health Insurance Coverage Denture Project for the Elderly on the improvement of oral health-related quality of life (QOL) and satisfaction. METHODS: Individuals aged > or =75 years (n=121) participated in the project at dental clinics or public health centers in Busan City, South Korea. Baseline and post-intervention follow-up surveys (personal interview) were conducted between October 2013 and April 2014. RESULTS: Significant improvements were demonstrated in all seven Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) subscales at follow-up. Functional limitation showed the most improvement (2.81 points) followed by physical functionality, physical pain, psychological discomfort, social isolation, mental function, and social function. In addition, participants with no income who were required to pay for their expenses, reported higher satisfaction. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the rate of improvement on the OHIP-14 ten score increased in cases where participants who had to pay for their expenses (odds ratio [OR], 2.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16, 7.66) but decreased for patients who received partial dentures (OR, 0.34; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.89), patients who expressed previous satisfaction with denture costs (OR, 0.37; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.97), and patients who had previous denture experience (OR, 0.43; 95% CI: 0.16, 1.12). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the short period (2 years), the National Health Insurance Coverage Denture Project for the Elderly was able to demonstrate significant improvements in oral health-related QOL. Therefore, the establishment and integration of this project is recommended to maintain and improve the QOL for the rapidly aging population.
Aged* ; Aging ; Busan ; Dental Clinics ; Denture, Partial ; Dentures* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; National Health Programs* ; Oral Health ; Public Health ; Quality of Life* ; Social Isolation

This study was conducted to investigate the potential embryo-fetal toxicity and toxicokinetics of the antimalarial agent artesunate (ARTS) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Pregnant rats were administered ARTS daily from gestational day 6~15 via oral gavage, at test doses of 0, 2, 4, or 8 mg/kg (22 females per group). The fetuses were examined for external, visceral, and skeletal abnormalities on gestational day 20. With regard to the dams, there were no deaths, treatment-related clinical signs, changes in body weight, or food intake in any of the treatment groups. There were no treatment-related gross findings at necropsy in any treatment group. In the 8 mg/kg group, there was a decrease in gravid uterine weight and in the weight of female fetuses. There was also an increase in fetal deaths (primarily late resorptions) and an increase in post-implantation losses (37%) at 8 mg/kg. An increase in the incidence of visceral and skeletal variations at 4 and 8 mg/kg was observed. These defects included minor changes in the appearance of the kidney and thymus, as well as absent ribs or thoracic vertebrae. Toxicokinetics were assessed in a parallel study, using 4 mated females per group. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis, the concentration of ARTS and its metabolite dihydroartemisinin (DHA) were quantified in plasma from rats on gestational days 5, 6, 10, and 15. Amniotic fluid was assayed for ARTS and DHA on gestational day 15. There was evidence of rapid conversion of ARTS to the metabolite DHA in maternal plasma, since ARTS could not be consistently detected in plasma at the three doses tested. ARTS and DHA were not detected in amniotic fluid at gestational day 15, indicating limited placental transfer of the two agents. The embryo-fetal no-observable-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of the test item was considered to be 8 mg/kg/day for dams, and 2 mg/kg/day for embryo-fetal development.
Amniotic Fluid ; Animals ; Artemisinins ; Body Weight ; Eating ; Female ; Fetal Death ; Fetus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Plasma ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Ribs ; Spectrum Analysis ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; Thymus Gland

OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated the personality characteristics of mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). METHODS: Fifty mothers (average age of 38.1+/-4.2 years) of children with ADHD not having comorbidity (37 boys, 13 girls; average age of 8.5+/-1.9 years) and 59 mothers (average age of 38.1+/-2.7 years) of comparison children (37 boys, 13 girls; average age of 8.1+/-1.5 years) completed the Korean version of the MMPI. Only mothers whose psychiatric health was verified by the Structured Clinical Interview for axis-I DSM-IV disorders (SCID-IV) were included in current study. RESULTS: After controlling for maternal age, maternal education level, children's gender, age, and total and verbal intelligence quotient (IQ), the MMPI scores of the mothers of children with ADHD were significantly higher on the depression (D), hysteria (Hy) and psychasthenia (Pt) scales than those of the mothers of children in the comparison group. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that even psychologically healthy mothers of children with ADHD alone might be depressed, histrionic and anxious.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* ; Child* ; Comorbidity ; Depression ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Hysteria ; Intelligence ; Maternal Age ; MMPI* ; Mothers* ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: Unlike males, inguinal hernia surgery in females is an uncommon surgical procedure. The efficacy of laparoscopic surgery for female hernia must be proven. This study compared the clinical characteristics of male and female hernia as well as the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery with that of open surgery in female hernia. METHODS: From March 2007 to February 2011, one surgeon (C.S.) at the authors' institution operated on 965 patients (male/female=884/81) who were each more than 19 years old. The female patients were divided into the laparoscopic (n=67, TEP/TAPP=66/1) and open surgery groups (n=14). RESULTS: The mean age of the female patients was lower than that of the male patients. The incidence of bilateral and direct hernia was higher in the male patients but the incidence of femoral hernia was higher in the female patients (0.6 vs. 8.6%, p<0.001). Among the 81 female patients, the mean age of the patients with femoral hernia was higher than that of the patients with other types of hernia (56.4+/-12.5/43.0+/-15.1, p<0.026). The operation times and pain scores of the two groups 7 days after surgery were comparable. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed a higher incidence of femoral hernia in the female patients than male patients. Patients with a femoral hernia were older than those with other types of hernia. Therefore, laparoscopic surgery must be considered for elderly female patients who have a high incidence of femoral hernia.
Aged ; Female ; Hernia ; Hernia, Femoral ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Male

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to compare the results of a transanal repair with those of a transvaginal levatorplasty and to determine the long-term clinical outcomes according to the change in the depth of the rectocele after the procedure. METHODS: Of 50 women who underwent a rectocele repair from March 2005 to February 2007, 26 women (group A) received a transanal repair, and 24 (group B) received a transvaginal repair with or without levatorplasty. At 12 months after the procedures, 45 (group A/B, 22/23 women) among the 50 women completed physiologic studies, including anal manometry and defecography, and clinical-outcome measurements. The variations of the clinical outcomes with changes in the depth of the rectocele were also evaluated in 42 women (group A/B, 20/22) at the median follow-up of 50 months. RESULTS: On the defecographic findings, the postoperative depth of the rectocele decreased significantly in both groups (group A vs. B, 1.91 +/- 0.20 vs. 2.25 +/- 0.46, P = 0.040). At 12 months after surgery, 17 women in each group (group A/B, 77/75%) reported improvement of their symptoms. However, only 11 and 13 women (group A/B, 55/59%) of groups A and B, respectively, maintained their improvement at the median follow-up of 50 months. Better results were reported in patients with a greater change in the depth of their rectocele (> or =4 cm) after the procedure (P = 0.001) CONCLUSION: In both procedures, clinical outcomes might become progressively worse as the length of the follow-up is increased.
Defecography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Manometry ; Rectocele

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the displacement patterns shown by finite element analysis when the maxillary anterior segment was retracted from different orthodontic miniscrew positions and different lengths of lever arms in lingual continuous and segmented arch techniques. METHODS: A three dimensional model was produced, the translation of teeth in both models was measured and individual displacement was calculated. RESULTS: When traction was carried out from miniscrews in the palatal slope, lingual tipping of crowns and extrusion of the maxillary anterior segment were found in both continuous and segmented arches as the lever arms were made shorter. With miniscrews in the midpalatal suture area, the displacement patterns were similar to the palatal slope, but bodily movement of the upper incisors was observed in both continuous and segmented arches with the lever arm at 20 mm. When lever arms were longer, there was less extrusion of the incisors and more buccal displacement of the canines. Such displacement was shown less in the continuous arch than the segmented arch. The second premolar showed crown mesial tipping and intrusion, and the molars showed distal tipping in the continuous arch. The posterior segment was displaced three dimensionally in the segmented arch, but the amount of displacement was less than the continuous arch. CONCLUSIONS: It is recommended that lever arms of 20 mm in length be used for bodily movement of the anterior segment. Use of continuous or segmented arches affect the displacement patterns and induce differences in the amount of displacement.
Arm ; Bicuspid ; Crowns ; Displacement (Psychology) ; Finite Element Analysis ; Incisor ; Molar ; Sutures ; Tooth ; Traction

BACKGROUND: To examine the recovery rate of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from respiratory specimens and the clinical course of NTM pulmonary disease at a 700-bed secondary hospital. METHODS: This study analyzed the results of 843 acid-fast bacilli (AFB) culture-positive respiratory specimens from 650 subjects collected between May 2003 and April 2008. In addition, the clinical course of NTM pulmonary disease, diagnosed using criteria established by the American Thoracic Society, was examined. RESULTS: There were 67 (7.9%) NTM isolates recovered from 52 (8.0%) subjects. Among the 535 AFB smear-positive specimens, 34 (6.3%) NTM isolates were recovered. There were 33 (10.7%) NTM isolates were recovered from 308 AFB smear-negative specimens. Of 52 subjects with isolated NTM, M. intracellulare was the most common species at 73.1% (n=33), followed by M. kansassi (n=7), M. abscessus (n=2), M. fortuitum (n=2), and M. avium (n=1). Sixteen (30.8%) patients had NTM pulmonary disease and the most common causative organism was M. intracellulare (n=14, 87.5%). Of these, 6 cases attained negative conversion in culture, 4 cases failed to attain negative conversion because of poor cooperation or expiration from complicated underlying lung disease, and 5 cases were transferred to a higher-grade hospital. CONCLUSION: The recovery rate of NTM from respiratory specimens was relatively low and the most common species was M. intracellulare. Patients with NTM pulmonary disease showed variable clinical outcomes.
Humans ; Lung Diseases ; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

This study was performed to investigate the effect of dietary intakes and nutritional status for fatty liver male patients with fatty livers. General characteristics, nutritional knowledge, and dietary intakes were obtained from fatty liver male patients aged 20-60yr living in Seoul and Kyunggi province by individual interview and blood samples. The Results were as follows : the mean age of the subjects was 39yrs. Old and over half the subjects were overweight. Although nutritional knowledge, recognition, and accuracy scores were good, these did not affect the subject's health. The average alcohol intake of subjects was 79.8g/day and the drinking duration was 5-40yrs(averge : 17yrs). The subjects drank alcohol over 4tiles/week and preferred Soju. Most side dishes taken with alcohol drinking by the subjects were foods from animal sources. Half of the subjects also drank alcohol the next day for breakfast as a hangover-chaser. The reasons for drinking were due to social relationships and by habit. Vitamin D and folate were lower than the RDA for Koreans, and other nutrient amounts were higher than the RDA. The amounts of aspartate aminotransferase(AST), Alanine amino-transferase(ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase(gamma-GTP), Triglyceride(TG) for the subjects were higher. In conclusion, fatty liver patients drank excessively and frequently. It seems that heavy alcohol drinking is more prone to overweight or obese people and contributes to fatty livers. Therefore, the subjects need to be taken effectively educated about alcohol-induced liver damage and the importance of a balanced diet for on healthy liver.
Alanine ; Alcohol Drinking ; Animals ; Aspartic Acid ; Breakfast ; Diet ; Drinking ; Fatty Liver* ; Folic Acid ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Liver ; Male ; Nutritional Status* ; Overweight ; Seoul ; Vitamin D