BACKGROUND: Several types of three-dimensional (3D)-printed tracheal scaffolds have been reported. Nonetheless, most of these studies concentrated only on application of the final product to an in vivo animal study and could not show the effects of various 3D printing methods, materials, or parameters for creation of an optimal 3D-printed tracheal scaffold. The purpose of this study was to characterize polycaprolactone (PCL) tracheal scaffolds 3D-printed by the 4-axis fused deposition modeling (FDM) method and determine the differences in the scaffold depending on the additive manufacturing method. METHODS: The standard 3D trachea model for FDM was applied to a 4-axis FDM scaffold and conventional FDM scaffold. The scaffold morphology, mechanical properties, porosity, and cytotoxicity were evaluated. Scaffolds were implanted into a 7 × 10-mm artificial tracheal defect in rabbits. Four and 8 weeks after the operation, the reconstructed sites were evaluated by bronchoscopic, radiological, and histological analyses. RESULTS: The 4-axis FDM provided greater dimensional accuracy and was significantly closer to CAD software-based designs with a predefined pore size and pore interconnectivity as compared to the conventional scaffold. The 4-axis tracheal scaffold showed superior mechanical properties. CONCLUSION: We suggest that the 4-axis FDM process is more suitable for the development of an accurate and mechanically superior trachea scaffold.
Animals ; Methods ; Porosity ; Printing, Three-Dimensional* ; Rabbits ; Trachea*

We investigated the utility of the duck-feet collagen extraction patching procedure in the traumatic tympanic membrane (TM) perforation via a comparison with spontaneous healing or paper patch. Fifty-six ears of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, each weighing in the range of 250 to 300 g, were used for the animal studies. Sixteen rats had one-side ear in the control group and the opposite-side ear in the treated groups. The remaining twelve rats had a one-side ear with the duck-feet collagen patch and the opposite-side ear with a paper patch. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression cells were calculated among the 200 basal cells, and the expression percentage was identified as the labeling index. The healing of the perforation in the duck-feet collagen patch group was confirmed to be more rapid compared to the healing of the other groups. PCNA staining was observed in the migrating portion of PCNA enhanced cell to collagen scaffold in Post operative day (POD) 7 of collagen patch group. Thus, the adhesive effect of the duck-feet collagen patch to perforated margin was better than that of the paper patch. After completing the healing process, the collagen patch shrank and detached from the tympanic membrane (POD 14). In this study, we confirmed that the use of a duck-feet collagen patch had the advantage of early healing, inducing natural TM contour, and disappearing ability after the patch effect is complete.
Adhesives ; Adult ; Animals ; Collagen* ; Ducks* ; Ear ; Ear, Middle ; Fibroins ; Foot* ; Humans ; Male ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation* ; Tympanic Membrane*

Hydrocolloid dressings have been developed for many types of wound healing. In particular, dressing is a critical component in the successful recover of burn injuries, which causes a great number of people to not only suffer from physical but also psychological and economic anguish each year. Additionally, silk fibroin is the safest material for tissue engineering due to biocompatibility. In this study, we fabricated hydrocolloid dressings incorporating silk fibroin nanoparticles to enhance the efficacy of hydrocolloid dressing and then use this silk fibroin nanoparticle hydrocolloid dressing (SFNHD) in animal models to treat burn wounds. The structures and properties of SFNHD were characterized using tensile strength and Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. The results indicated the structural stability and the cellular biocompatibility of the hydrocolloid dressing suggesting that SFNHD can be applied to the treatment of wounds. To demonstrate the capacity of a silk fibroin hydrocolloid dressing to treat burn wounds, we compared SFNHD to gauze and Neoderm®, a commercially available dressing. This study clearly demonstrated accelerated wound healing with greater wound structural integrity and minimal wound size after treatment with SFNHD. These observations indicate that SFNHD may be an improvement upon current standard dressings such as Gauze and Neoderm® for burn wounds.
Bandages ; Bandages, Hydrocolloid* ; Burns ; Cell Count ; Colloids* ; Fibroins* ; Models, Animal ; Nanoparticles* ; Silk* ; Stress, Psychological ; Tensile Strength ; Tissue Engineering ; Wound Healing* ; Wounds and Injuries*

Maxillary fractures are common traumas in facial lesions, frequently involving the thin bony anterior wall. Minimally invasive operations have been tried in these maxillofacial areas; for example, the Foley balloon inflation technique guided by nasal endoscopy in orbital blow-out fractures have been recently reported with a high success rate. However, in maxillary anterior wall fractures, these minimally invasive surgical procedures have seldom been reported. This report presents the case of a 24-year-old man with an anterior maxillary wall fracture. The fracture was treated with a minimally invasive method that uses an endoscopic approach to the maxillary antrum with a Foley catheter ballooning, which was monitored by real-time ultrasonography. This report presents the imaging studies and a description of the endoscopic procedure.
Catheters* ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Inflation, Economic ; Maxillary Fractures* ; Maxillary Sinus ; Orbit ; Orbital Fractures ; Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive ; Ultrasonography* ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) findings in patients with persistent obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Patients were included in this study if they had a postoperative DISE evaluation as well as pre- and postoperative polysomnography. DISE findings included the obstructive sites (velum, oropharyngeal lateral walls, tongue base, and epiglottis), and the obstructive patterns of velopharynx (anteroposterior, lateral, and concentric). RESULTS: A total of 77 patients were included in this study. Poor-responder patients to UPPP (n=50) and well-responder patients to UPPP (n=27) were similar with regard to age, gender, body mass index, preoperative AHI, and minimal O2 saturation. In our analysis of DISE findings on poor-responder, velopharynx was the most common obstruction site (100%), followed by oropharynx (88%), tongue base (70%), and epiglottis (44%). Results showed that most patients (n=49) had multiple obstructive sites. No significant differences according to position dependency and REM dependency were found in obstructive sites. However, severe OSA patients had tongue base obstruction more frequently than the moderate OSA patients did. The obstructive pattern of velopharynx usually showed concentric configuration (70%, 35 of 50). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the preoperative DISE may be a useful method for determination of the personalized surgery to OSA patients because of its more precise information to upper airway obstruction.
Airway Obstruction ; Body Mass Index ; Endoscopy* ; Epiglottis ; Humans ; Oropharynx ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* ; Tongue

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Zygomatic arch fracture should be treated early, because failure of prompt treatment of these injuries November result in significant morbidity, including malar asymmetry, enopthalmos, and sensory deficits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiologic and histological changes of healing process on zygomatic arch fracture with malunion in animal model. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Ten rats with malunion after zygomatic arch fracture were used in this study. Using micro computerized tomography, we evaluated the defect of fracture site with serial weeks (1, 2, 4, and 8). We also analyzed the histological findings at same period. RESULTS: The 2-D images were able to assess a difference in recovery process of a bone fracture, but it was too small to be recognized. However, we could find to the definite changes of healing process by using the 3-D reconstructed image according to time sequence. Additionally, fracture sites were healed by primary bone healing process in the zygomatic arch fracture malunion state. CONCLUSION: The 3-D image is more useful to evaluate for fracture healing state. Moreover, the proper evaluation and adequate management is necessary even after eight weeks, because healing of fracture was not completed.
Animals ; Fracture Healing ; Fractures, Bone ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Models, Animal* ; Rats* ; Zygoma* ; Zygomatic Fractures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Zygomatic arch fracture should be treated early, because failure of prompt treatment of these injuries November result in significant morbidity, including malar asymmetry, enopthalmos, and sensory deficits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiologic and histological changes of healing process on zygomatic arch fracture with malunion in animal model. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Ten rats with malunion after zygomatic arch fracture were used in this study. Using micro computerized tomography, we evaluated the defect of fracture site with serial weeks (1, 2, 4, and 8). We also analyzed the histological findings at same period. RESULTS: The 2-D images were able to assess a difference in recovery process of a bone fracture, but it was too small to be recognized. However, we could find to the definite changes of healing process by using the 3-D reconstructed image according to time sequence. Additionally, fracture sites were healed by primary bone healing process in the zygomatic arch fracture malunion state. CONCLUSION: The 3-D image is more useful to evaluate for fracture healing state. Moreover, the proper evaluation and adequate management is necessary even after eight weeks, because healing of fracture was not completed.
Animals ; Fracture Healing ; Fractures, Bone ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Models, Animal* ; Rats* ; Zygoma* ; Zygomatic Fractures

Nasopalatine duct cyst is a common cystic lesion of nonodontogenic origin of the maxilla. Diagnosis was made on the basis of physical examination and radiological findings. Generally, the treatment of choice for nasopalatine duct cyst is the enucleation of the cystic tissue. Recently, we performed marsupialization via trans-nasal approach in two cases. Both patients exhibited no evidence of recurrence and showed good results. Thus, we report two cases of nasopalatine duct cysts with a literature review.
Humans ; Maxilla ; Physical Examination ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Concerns about the quality of indoor air have increased recently. However, there has not been any significant research conducted concerning the patterns of histologic and organic changes induced in humans by indoor air pollution. The aim of the study is to investigate the organic changes of nasal mucosa and nasal symptoms due to exposed concentrations of indoor air pollution. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We studied fourteen people from four families, all of whom had plans to move into new apartments. We measured the quantities of indoor air pollution before their move, one week after moving in, and then one month after the move. Other clinical tests such as an acoustic rhinometry, olfactory tests and nasal smears were performed. RESULTS: Mean concentrations of Total Volatile Organic Chemicals (TVOCs) and aldehydes showed an increase after moving into the new apartments. Post-move acoustic rhinometry, Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center (CCCRC) test and endoscopic findings showed a decrease in nasal function and patency. Additionally, in nasal smears, eosinophils with bilobulated nuclei were observed, and eosinophil count showed a pattern of increase. CONCLUSION: High concentrations of indoor air pollutants could induce organic changes of the nasal cavities and cause the recession of olfactory function. Due to indoor air pollutants, hypersensitivity of nasal mucosa was induced, and histological changes of nasal mucosa as well as hematological changes were observed. These indicate that indoor air pollution impinges on the nasal mucosa and cause nasal symptoms.
Air Pollutants ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; Aldehydes ; Connecticut ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasal Mucosa ; Organic Chemicals ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; Rhinometry, Acoustic ; Sick Building Syndrome

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence and clinical features of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Korea. METHODS: Web-based (www.armd-nova.or.kr) registration was conducted for AMD patients aged 50 or more who were newly diagnosed by retinal specialists in Korea from August 20, 2005 to August 20, 2006. Patient data including ophthalmologic examination, fundus photography, fluorescein angiogram and/or indocyanin green angiogram (ICG), past medical history, behavioral habit, combined systemic diseases were up-loaded. RESULTS: Among finally enrolled 1,141 newly diagnosed AMD patients, 690 patients (60.5%) were male and 451 patients (39.5%) were female. The average age of AMD patients was 69.7+/-8.0. Early AMD was observed in 190 patients and 951 patients had late AMD. Classic choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) was observed in 18.6% of exudative AMD patients and 63.4 % had occult CNVM. Subfoveal CNVM was observed in 80.4% of the patients with CNVM. Among the 580 exudative AMD eyes that performed indocyanin green angiography (ICG), 184 eyes (31.7%) had polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and 36 eyes (6.2%) showed retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). Age, male gender, smoking, diabetes and hypertension significantly increased the risk of the AMD among Koreans. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the low rate of participation by retinal specialists, definite incidence of AMD was not obtainable. However, the estimated 1-year AMD incidence in the Pusan area of Korea is at least 0.4%. In contrast to Western people, 31.7% of exudative AMD cases were revealed to be PCV and 6.2% were revealed to be RAP. This discrepancy between ethnic groups should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment modality selection of Korean AMD patients.
Aged ; Angiography ; Choroid ; Ethnic Groups ; Eye ; Female ; Fluorescein ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Korea ; Macular Degeneration ; Male ; Membranes ; Photography ; Retinaldehyde ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Specialization