Four Cases of Pseudosarcomatous Carcinoma of the Larynx / 대한이비인후과학회지

Pseudosarcomatous carcinoma is a kind of squamous cell carcinoma having biphasic pattern, with both squamous and spindle cell components. Pseudosarcomatous carcinoma of head and neck mucosa is a very rare high-grade malignancy that may cause diagnostic and therapeutic controversies. The tools used for diagnosing pseudosarcomatous carcinoma are histopathological analysis and immunohistochemical analysis. We experienced four cases, a 60-year-old male patient with pseudosarcomatous carcinoma located at the left false vocal fold, a 68-year-old female patient with the same carcinoma located at both false vocal folds, 73-year-old male patient with the same carcinoma at the epiglottis, and a 69-year-old male patient with the same carcinoma at the left true vocal fold. We report these four cases with a brief review of literatures.

Effect of Geranium Essential Oil on Food Intake via Olfactory Stimulus / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recently, obesity has become one of the major health problems in our society. To overcome this problem, keeping a balance between food intake and energy expenditure is very important. Many natural substances including essential oils have been suggested for their potential effect on reducing weight. This study was performed to evaluate whether aroma inhalation of essential oil has a role in appetite regulation and works on the central nervous system through the olfactory stimulus. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Food intake was measured after 30 minutes of treatment with essential oil in overnight fasted Sprague-Dawley rats. In the control group, saline was used instead of essential oil. Changes in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA expression levels in the hypothalamus were measured following 30 minutes of treatment with geranium essential oil using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Of the seven essential oils, geranium significantly decreased the amount of food intake compared to the control group. Geranium essential oil significantly increased POMC mRNA expression in the hypothalamus, but did not change the NPY mRNA expression. The increased POMC mRNA expression was reversed by treatment with xylocaine, which blocks the olfactory perception. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that geranium essential oil has anorexic effect through the activation of POMC neurons in the hypothalamus via olfactory stimulus.

Evaluating the Quality and Contents of Paranasal Sinusitis-Related Information on the Web-Sites in Western Physician and Eastern Physician

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A large amount of information related to paranasal sinusitis is available on the internet; however, little is known about the quality and content of such information. We assessed paranasal sinusitis-related information on web sites of western and eastern physicians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the search engine of Naver and Daum, a total of 159 web sites (108 by western physicians, 51 by eastern physicians) were identified by the keyword search "paranasal sinusitis" and were classified using the categories of location and field of contents. These web sites were evaluated for several aspects, and an informational value score was assigned to each. RESULTS: Regarding the location, Seoul (38), Gyeonggi (28), Busan (10) accounted for 70% of sites by western physicians, compared with 76% for the eastern physicians [Seoul (27), Gyeonggi (9), Busan (3)]. With respect to content, main content and Q/A were excellent in sites by eastern physicians whereas clinical schedule was excellent in those by western physicians. The mean informational value of the web sites was 5.17 for western physicians and 2.19 for eastern physicians (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Web sites on paranasal sinusitis concentrated very firmly on metropolitan areas. Web sites by western physicians provided better paranasal sinusitis-related information than those by eastern physicians.

The Study of Preliminary Epidemiology for Burn Prevention

Burn injury is a common problem in our usual life, but many people don't still realize the physical, psychological and social effects of the burn patients. The purpose of this study is to find out what are the characteristics of burn patients and what are the risk factors for burns in order to prepare the specific prevention strategies in the future. In this study, data on 279 burn patients treated between October 2001 and December 2001 were analyzed. The typical burn victims of inpatients were young adults. They were mostly workers in production Dept. of the factory and residents of small and medium city. They were burn injured at work place just after the lunch break or before dawn, and due to flames with 30 - 70% burned body surface. They were working with their colleagues at that time. In case of outpatients, the typical burn victims were infants or toddlers. They were mostly middle or higher socioeconomic status in urban area, Seoul. They were burn injured in the kitchen during the dining time. They were burn injured due to scalds with less than 10% burned body surface and they were with their parents at that time. Epidemiological studies on burn patients should be performed continuously to prevent burn causes. For the burn prevention, it is necessary for implementing prevention strategies according to different subjects and need media campaigns for increasing public awareness on burn injuries.

Surgical treatment of facial paralysis by using static ancillary procedures

There is no method of single surgical treatment for facial paralysis, because of its variable condition and variable patient's demand. We usually have been performed the free vascularized gracilis muscle transfer to achieve facial reanimation in cases of the complete facial paralysis. However. most of the patients who visit outpatient room are incomplete facial paralysis. In these cases, we performed the several auxiliary operations for the correction of a drooping eyebrow, paralyzed eyelids, paralysis of the lower lip, and for similar paralytic deformities. To correct a drooping eyebrow, we performed simple eyebrow lifting and upper blepharoplasty. Gold plate implantations and Kuhnt-Szymanowski's method were performed for the lagophthalmos and ectropions individually. To correct a paralyzed lower lip, tensor fascia lata graft was performed with the face lifting. The authors also discuss their operative methods and results of various surgical methods for treating facial paralysis.