ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vestibular rehabilitation has been recommended as the treatment of choice for patients with persisting dizziness due to vestibular dysfunction, since surgery is seldom appropriate and the available pharmacological treatments are not curative and can have undesirable side-effects. This study investigated the effects f vestibular rehabilitation therapy on recovery following acute unilateral vestibular loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients were randomly assigned to two groups of either with-treatment or without treatment. The outcome measures included equilibrium scores in dynamic posturography, motion sensitivity quotient (MSQ), and dizziness handicap inventory (DHI). RESULTS: When individual comparison measures were compared, equilibrium score results at the end of the 8-week treatment period revealed improvement of postural control in the group who received vestibular rehabilitation therapy. The DHI and MSQ results revealed less motion sensitivity and dizziness handicap, but not the acquired statistical significance compared with the non-treatment group. CONCLUSION: This results suggest that after acute unilateral vestibular loss, most patients can effectively utilize the central compensation mechanisms to recover from such an injury, but the vestibular rehabilitation therapy could provide a more rapid and complete recovery for these patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Compensation and Redress , Dizziness , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , RehabilitationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: When nasopharyngeal carcinomas recur after radiotherapy, it becomes difficult to select further treatment modality. We reviewed surgical results of irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and investigated the role of salvage surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surgical results of 10 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were investigated. All of them had a recurrent or residual nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiation therapy. The medical records of these patients were reviewed retrospectively and the mean survival time was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The mean survival time of the irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients was 21.8 months. The survival times of early staged irradiation-failed tumor were longer than that of the tumor in the advance stage. Among 3 patients whose recurrent tumor stages were T1, two patients had the negative resection margin and they lived without the disease. However, none of the patients whose recurrent tumor stages were beyond T2(n=7) had the negative resection margin and lived without the disease. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment was an useful treatment modality for improving the survival time of early staged irradiation-failed nasopharyngeal carcinomas.
Subject(s)
Humans , Medical Records , Radiotherapy , Retrospective Studies , Survival RateABSTRACT
Recently, two successive epidemics of cholera were observed in Korea. The first one started in Suhchun-Goon of Choong-Chung-Namdo in August 1969, and the 2nd in Changyoung-Goon of Kyung Sang-Namdo in August 1970. With stool specimens collected from patients in Suhchun, Ko-Chang, Seoul, Inchun, Youngkwang, Chang-hang and Wooljin were epidemic areas in l969, and from patients in Chang-Young, Pusan, Taegu, and Seoul which were epidemic areas in l970, studies were carried out in 1) the isolation and identification of cholera vibrio strains 2) the differentiation of E1 Tor vibrio from classic cholera strains 3) the liberation test of Kappa-type phages and 4) El Tor phage typing. Five strains, which were isolated in the epidemic area of the Philippines in l969 were included for a comparative study. The results are summarized as follows. 1) The epidemic strains of 1969 were identified as Vibrio cholerae, Celebes type El Tor and those of 1970 epidemic as Vibrio cholerae, biotype El Tor, El Tor phage type IV. 2) Korean strains and Philippine strains of 1969 epidemic appeared to be identical in biochemical and serological tests and phage susceptibility tests.