Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT), which is composed of spindle shaped myofibroblasts accompanied by an inflammatory infiltrate, is an uncommon neoplasm. Herein we present a rare case of an IMT of the parotid gland. The patient was a 56-year-old woman with parotid mass, which developed a tingling sensation around the mouth angle when the mass was palpated. Ultrasound and CT scan showed a parotid mass with an ill-defined margin. Preoperative gun biopsy showed spindle shaped cell proliferation without cytological atypia. Surgery revealed that the mass was adhesive to buccal branch of facial nerve without encapsulation. The adhesive part of the facial nerve was excised with mass due to the possibility of malignancy. The final pathological report confirming IMT became available following the surgery. We stress that confirmation of IMT should be included in the differential diagnosis of parotid mass which shows spindle shaped cells in histology.
Adhesives ; Biopsy ; Cell Proliferation ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Facial Nerve ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mouth ; Myofibroblasts ; Parotid Gland ; Parotid Neoplasms ; Sensation

We describe a case of an intrathoracic kidney combined with right congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) that was diagnosed at 32 weeks of gestation. Although it has been well established that a right CDH shows a poorer outcome than a left CDH, our present case showed a good outcome because there was no herniation of other abdominal viscera, except for the right kidney. Our findings in this case indicate that impaction of the intrathoracic kidney may act as a 'shield' against further herniation of other abdominal viscera into the thoracic cavity.
Hernia, Diaphragmatic* ; Kidney* ; Pregnancy ; Thoracic Cavity ; Ultrasonography ; Viscera*

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are rare vascular anomalies of the lung, only a few cases of which have been diagnosed prenatally. The diagnostic clue for prenatal diagnosis was cardiomegaly with a particularly enlarged left atrium. All previous cases of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations diagnosed prenatally have been reported as an isolated anomaly or in association with simple heart defects. We here describe the first case of a pulmonary arteriovenous malformation with a complex heart defect that was diagnosed prenatally at 21.0 weeks of gestation and confirmed by postmortem autopsy.
Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Autopsy ; Cardiomegaly ; Heart Atria ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart* ; Lung ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the results of elective neck dissection versus those of observation in the treatment of early stage oral squamous cell carcinoma and to identify factors related to recurrence and survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 52 patients who underwent elective neck dissection and 27 who did not receive neck dissection. RESULTS: In survival analyses, elective neck dissection showed a benefit in overall recurrence (P=0.027), especially in stage I patients (P=0.024). With regard to survival, the benefit was statistically insignificant (P=0.990). In multivariable analysis, overall recurrence was independently related to poor histologic grade (odds ratio [OR]=9.65, P=0.006), and cancer-specific death was independently related to advanced age (OR=6.3, P=0.022), higher clinical T stage (OR=15.2, P=0.01), and poorly differentiated histologic grade (OR=6.6, P=0.025). CONCLUSION: Though there was lower recurrence in the elective neck dissection group, there were no statistically significant results on survival. The characteristics of the tumor itself, such as clinical T stage and poor histologic grade, may be more important in cancer-specific survival.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Neck Dissection* ; Neck* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Genetic variations of bitter taste receptors (TAS2R) have shown different responses to bitter taste compounds and the frequencies of these variations were different within and between populations. Recently, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TAS2R38 and TAS2R16 genes demonstrated a significant association with smoking and alcohol consumption in several studies. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between bitter taste gene polymorphism and cigarette smoking and alcohol intake in Korean. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: One hundred seventy four healthy normal volunteers were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding demographic information, smoking history, frequency of alcohol intake. Peripheral blood samples were obtained for DNA extraction and genotyping. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified on the TAS2R38 and TAS2R16 genes. RESULTS: Haplotype analyses of the three SNPs inside the TAS2R38 gene allowed identifying of only two haplotypes that were associated with the non-taster phenotype (AVI homozygous) and the taster phenotype (PAV homozygous and PAV/AVI heterozygous). Common SNP within TAS2R16, which results in aminoacid change in the protein (K172N), is not demonstrated in this study. Smokers and frequent drinkers were more prevalent among non-tasters than tasters in male. CONCLUSION: Functional variants in TAS2R38 correlated with cigarette smoking in the Korean male. Our findings suggest that taster status plays a role in governing the development of nicotine dependence.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcohols ; DNA ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Male ; Phenotype ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco Use Disorder