PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the role of positron emission tomography using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) in the diagnosis of recurrence or the assessment of therapeutic response in cervical and ovarian cancer patients through making a comparison between FDG-PET, abdominal computed tomography (CT) and serum tumor marker. Materials and METHODS: We included 103 cases (67 patients) performed FDG-PET and abdominal CT. There were 42 cervical cancers and 61 ovarian cancers. We retrospectively reviewed the interpretations of PET and CT images as well as the level of tumor marker. We calculated their sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for these three modalities. And then we analyzed the differences between these three modalities. RESULTS: Tumor recurrences were diagnosed in 37 cases (11 cervical cancers and 26 ovarian cancers). For PET, CT and tumor marker, in cervical cancer group, sensitivity was 100% (11/11), 54.5% (6/11) and 81.1% (9/11), respectively. And specificity was 93.6% (29/31), 93.6% (29/31) and 100% (31/31). In ovarian cancer group, sensitivity was 96.2% (25/26), 84.6% (22/26) and 80.8% (21/26), and specificity was 94.3% (33/35), 94.3% (33/35), 94.3% (33/35). PET was highly sensitive to detect the intraperitoneal and extraperitoneal metastasis with the help of the CT images to localize the lesions. However, CT had limitations in differentiation of the recurrent tumor from benign fibrotic tissue, identification of viable tumors at the interface of tissues, and detecting extraperitoneal lesions. CONCLUSION: FDG-PET can be an essential modality to detect the recurrent or residual tumors in gynecologic cancer patients because of its great field of the application and high sensitivity.
Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: The kidney plays an important role in excretion and catabolization of hormones in body. The possible role of hyperprolactinemia in the sexual abnormalities of patients with end stage renal disease was reported. So, we evaulated the prolactin levels in patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis and the response to bromocriptine. METHODS: Basal serum levels of prolactin were measured in 11 patients undergoing long term hemodialysis by enzyme immunoassay. Blood samples were drawn just before dialysis and at the end of same dialysis session. We also examined 11 male normal person as controls. We evaluated the sexaul activity and serum prolactin level after administration of bromocriptine to the patients with hyperprolactinemia for 6 weeks. RESULTS: The average age of 11 male patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis was 40.2 years. The patients has been received hemodialysis for 38.5 months at time of the study. Prolactin levels in patients undergoing hemodialysis before hemodialysis were 2045.1 mIU/L, after hemodialysis 2341.2 mIU/L, and normal male persons 212.8 mIU/L. Serum prolactin levels were decreased progressively for 2 week after oral administration of bromocriptine. Thereafter, prolactin were maintained within normal value until from 4th weeks to 8th weeks. Sexual activity in end stage renal disease patients with hyperprolactinemia was markedly improved after 6th weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The serum prolactin levels in patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis were higher than that of the controls. The high serum prolactin level may be related with decreased sexual function. In patients with decreased sexual function, treatment with dopamine agonist can decreased serum prolactin levels and can improve symptoms such as decreased libido and impotence.
Administration, Oral ; Bromocriptine ; Dialysis ; Dopamine Agonists ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Kidney ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Libido ; Male ; Prolactin* ; Reference Values ; Renal Dialysis* ; Sexual Behavior

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a cholestatic liver disease characterized by fibroobliterative inflammation of the entire biliary tree. It is a slowly progressive disease with an undulating course, resulting in biliary cirrhosis. The gold standard for establishing the diagnosis is cholangiographic demonstration of typical diffuse biliary stricturing and beading. We exprienced a case of primary sclerosing cholangitis by Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) demonstration. ERCP findings revealed multiple luminal narrowing, stricture and beaded dilatation of the intrahepatic duct. We report a case of primary sclerosing cholangitis localizing at intrahepatic bile duct, which is confused with cholangiocarcinoma.
Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic* ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiocarcinoma ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Inflammation ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Diseases ; Phenobarbital

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to review an implementation of u-Severance information system with focus on electronic hospital records (EHR) and to suggest future improvements. METHODS: Clinical Data Repository (CDR) of u-Severance involved implementing electronic medical records (EMR) as the basis of EHR and the management of individual health records. EHR were implemented with service enhancements extending to the clinical decision support system (CDSS) and expanding the knowledge base for research with a repository for clinical data and medical care information. RESULTS: The EMR system of Yonsei University Health Systems (YUHS) consists of HP integrity superdome servers using MS SQL as a database management system and MS Windows as its operating system. CONCLUSIONS: YUHS is a high-performing medical institution with regards to efficient management and customer satisfaction; however, after 5 years of implementation of u-Severance system, several limitations with regards to expandability and security have been identified.
Database Management Systems ; Electronic Health Records ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Hospital Records ; Information Systems ; Knowledge Bases