Compromises between the Frequencies of the Colloquial Phonemes and Those of a New Monosyllabic Words List in Korean / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Several investigators have developed word lists for Korean speech audiometry. Many variations of the lists were identified in previous survey. A committee was organized to develop standard word lists for Korean speech audiometry. In this study, we propose new monosyllabic and bisyllabic word lists, whose performances can be compared with those of previous word lists, verified in clinical situations, and revised in future with proper reasons. We also report why some compromises have been made in the words number and the phoneme frequencies of the new monosyllabic word lists. There was no compromise in those of the new bisyllabic word list. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The target frequencies of new lists were determined by the previous references. In the Korean dictionary, 410 familiar monosyllabic words were available for the lists. These words were arranged in a matrix of initial consonants and vowels to meet the phonetic balance condition. RESULTS: Two monosyllabic word lists were developed with abovementioned compromises for the lack of monosyllabic words with final consonants. One bisyllabic word list could be made without compromise. CONCLUSION: The arrangement method in this report has some advantages in diversifying syllable distribution and satisfying the phonetic balance condition. The new monosyllabic and bisyllabic word lists have been designated with identification codes 'KsoM-07' and 'KsoB-07', respectively.

Effect of Systemic Steroid on the Expression of TGF-beta and IL-10 in Nasal Polyps / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Etiology and pathogenesis of nasal polyps are still not fully understood. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) are important cytokines for nasal polyp formation and immunomodulation. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of systemic steroid, which is the most potent medications used for the treatment of nasal polyposis, on the expression of TGF-beta and IL-10 in nasal polyps. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: According to the status of steroid treatment, the polyps (n=22) removed during an endoscopic sinus surgery were divided into treatment or control groups. For treatment group, 30 mg of prednisolone per day was administered preoperatively for seven days. Eosinophil infiltration, expression and concentration of TGF-beta1 and IL-10 in nasal polyps were analyzed. RESULTS: Although there was no statistical significance, the infiltration of eosinophils decreased in the treatment group. In the immunohistochemical study, the expression of TGF-beta1 decreased in the epithelial layer of the treatment group compared with that of the control group (p=0.043). Expression of IL-10 increased in the stromal layer of the treatment group compared with that of the control group (p=0.008). TGF-beta1 concentration measured by ELISA showed no differences between each group. IL-10 concentration increased in the treatment group (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that systemic steroid may exert a beneficial effect on nasal polyp treatment by at least following two mechanisms : the suppression of epithelial differentiation and proliferation, and squamous metaplasia through the down regulation of TGF-beta, and the down regulation of inflammatory responses by increasing IL-10.

Effect of Palatine Tonsil and Adenoid Tissue on Gastric Infection of Helicobacter Pylori / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the major pathogenetic factors in the development of various gastric diseases, its mode of transmission is not yet fully understood. Because palatine tonsils and adenoids are composed of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, which is also observed in H. pylori-related gastritis, these tissues may be considered to be an extragastric reservoir for H. pylori infection. In the present study, we investigated whether H. pylori colonization in adenoid and tonsillar tissue was associated with gastric infection. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: This study included 38 patients aged 6 to 35 who had undergone adenotonsillectomy or tonsillectomy. Urea breath test (UBT) was performed on each patient prior to surgery. Tonsil and adenoid tissue samples were placed in Campylobacter-like organism (CLO) test kit immediately after their removal. And Giemsa stain was used for histologic localization of H. pylori. RESULTS: Eleven (28.9%) of the 38 patients were H. pylori-positive on UBT, eight (21.1%) were positive on CLO test, and seven (18.4%) were positive on histologic study. In either CLO test or histologic study, 12 patients were H. pylori-positive. H. pylori-positive rate on UBT was higher significantly in group with H. pylori-positive tonsil tissues than in group with H. pylori-negative ones. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that palatine tonsils may either be an extragastric reservoir for H. pylori, or a transmission route for H. pylori infection. Thus, H. pylori colonization in adenoid and tonsil tissue may be associated with H. pylori-related gastric diseases.

Two Cases of Tragal Cartilage Graft in Rhinoplasty

Ear cartilage is an important source of graft in rhinoplasty. The majority of ear cartilage grafts are harvested from the concha of the ear. However, in some restricted cases, the tragal cartilage can be a more favorable graft source than conchal cartilage. In this report, two cases of tragal cartilage graft rhinoplasty were selected. We used the tragal cartilage for batten graft in one case, and for the shield graft in the other case. Tragal cartilage harvesting technique was fast, simple, and did not require a special dressing. The functional and aesthetic results were relatively good. There was negligible scar formation in the donor site.