A case of hepatic fascioliasis misdiagnosed as metastatic carcinoma was reported. The patient was a 22-year-old woman who had had rectal adenocarcinoma (Duke stage C2), and had been treated by Mile'operation 8 months ago. A computed tomogram(CT) demonstrated multiple low density nodules in the liver suggesting a metastatic tumor. A partial liver lobectomy was performed. The resected liver showed multiple necrotic nodules, which appeared to be abscesses containing eggs of the Fasciola species. Parasitic infection should be considered as one of the possible etiologies of hepatic nodules which mimic metastatic carcinoma either clinically or radiologically.
Female ; Humans ; Adenocarcinoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Apocrine carcinoma is a rare type of mammary cancer, which shows partial or total apocrine differentiation in either ductal or lobular carcinoma. The malignant transformation of apocrine epithelium of the breast was first described by Krompecher in 1916. It is well known that their relationship to true apocrine glands of the skin is only a morphological similarity, and this histological difference does not affect the prognosis. The authors experienced two cases of apocrine carcinoma of the breast which involved infiltrating ductal carcinoma of a 64-year old woman and intraductal carcinoma of a 69-year old woman respectively. Electron microscopic examination and brief review of literature was done.
Female ; Humans

The transverse sacral fracture is rare; however, if it accompanies neurological injury or instability, difficult surgical treatment may be necessary. We performed surgical decompression and laminoplasty in a patient with neurological deficits and anterior displacement of S2 on S1. The patient showed a successful clinical outcome by neurological improvement.
Decompression ; Decompression, Surgical ; Humans ; Sacrum

Local cutaneous reactions have been reported at injection sites of interferon therapy, but these are usually erythema or rarely induration. Skin necrosis at the injection site is rare. We describe here a patient with multiple sclerosis who presented with cutaneous necrosis at the injection sites of interferon-β. Biopsy of the necrotic lesion showed dermal vessel thrombosis and complete ischemic coagulative necrosis of epidermis and dermis.
Biopsy ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Erythema ; Humans ; Interferon-beta* ; Interferons ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Necrosis* ; Skin* ; Thrombosis

BACKGROUND: Parent's alcohol drinking not only influences their health but also their children. This research was designed to assess the family function of children who were affected by parent's alcohol drinking. METHODS: Questionnaire survey was performed on 208 high school students (129 males and 79 females) in Daejeon from March to April, 2005. We defined the students whose CAST (Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) score was 6 or more as children of alcoholics (COA) group. Then, we evaluated the family function by family APGAR score between the COA group and the control group. RESULTS: Among the total, 36 (27.9%) male and 27 (34.1%) female students were in COA group. There was a significant (P<0.01) negative correlation between the CAST score and the family APGAR score in all students. In boys, there was no significant correlation between the CAST score and the family APGAR score, but in girls, there was significant negative correlation (P<0.01). Mean family APGAR score of the COA group was significantly (P<0.05) lower than that of the control group in all students. In boys, there was no significant difference, but in girls, the COA group's family APGAR score was significantly lower than the control group's score (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The high school students, especially girl students, who were affected by parent's alcohol drinking showed a lower family APGAR score. Therefore, family physicians need to evaluate the family function when encountering students similar to COA group.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholics* ; Apgar Score ; Child* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; Physicians, Family ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Thymus Hyperplasia*

Isolate fracture of lunate is very rare. The authors reported a neglected fracture of lunate which was founded incidentally after the dorsal wall fracture of triquetrum. Pain reduction and improvement of range of motion was achieved after excising the dorsal fragment of lunate.
Range of Motion, Articular

This study reviews a case of sacral fracture with delayed onset neurological deficit that showed good results after decompressive surgery. The delayed neurological deficit appeared at 4 weeks after injury and it was treated with anterior decompression through transperitoneal approach. A 23-year-old woman was injured in a car accident and had bilateral pubic rami fractures and fractures of the sacral ala on the right side. She was treated with external fixation devices for approximately four weeks, but complained of pain and numbness. The dorsiflexion and plantalflexion of the right ankle was weakened and graded as grade 2. Preoperative pelvic and sacral radiographs, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and electromyelography, and nerve conduction study were performed to identify the region of neurological deficit, and we decided to implement neurological decompression. By transperitoneal approach, we performed bone curratage and decompression around the region of sacral alar slope and S1 foramen. The pain and numbness of the right foot cleared up. Dorsiflexion and plantalflexion of the right ankle improved to grade 5. Anterior decompression by transperitoneal approach proved to bring satisfactory results in a patient, who presented delayed neurological deficit after sacral fracture.
Animals ; Ankle ; Decompression ; External Fixators ; Female ; Foot ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neural Conduction ; Succinates

PURPOSE: A tension-free hernioplasty, using mesh prosthetics, has revealed encouraging results in adult inguinal hernia repairs, and is increasingly being performed in Korea. However, there are few reports in Korea analyzing the clinical results of the mesh method. Therefore, this article compares the results of our mesh method with those of the non-mesh method in adult inguinal hernia repairs. METHODS: Between January 2000 and October 2002, 252 herniorrhaphies were performed. With these cases, a retrospective clinical analysis was performed on 52 tension-free herniorrhaphy cases and 48 conventional herniorrhaphy cases. The clinical features analyzed included: age, sex, location, type of operation, operating times, use of postoperative analgesics, length of hospital stays, recurrence rates and complications. RESULTS: The average number of analgesics used was significantly smaller in the mesh than the non-mesh group (P<0.05, 3.7 vs. 6.3, respectively). However, the average operating time was longer in the mesh than the non-mesh group (P<0.05, 70.4 min vs. 58.8 min, respectively). There was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay between the two groups (P>0.05, 4.1 days vs. 4.7 days, respectively). The recurrence rate in the non-mesh method was 6.3% (3/48), but there were no recurrences in the mesh group. Postoperative complications occurred in the non-mesh method group (1 case of a hematoma, and 2 of wound infection), but there were no complications in the mesh group. CONCLUSION: A tension-free herniorrhaphy, with mesh, is a useful technique because it is a pain-relieving operation, with a tendency for lower recurrences and complications than the non-mesh method. Therefore, it is suggest that a tension- free herniorrhaphy, with mesh, may also be a cost effective technique under the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) system for patients and hospitals.
Adult* ; Analgesics ; Diagnosis ; Hematoma ; Hernia, Inguinal* ; Herniorrhaphy* ; Humans ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Wounds and Injuries

The surgical methods of injured peripheral nerve were limited to end-to-end neurorrhaphy, nerve graft, neurotization, etc. Recently, Several studies were executed about end-to-side neurorrhaphy in peripheral nerve injury. The purpose of this study is to investigate the axonal regeneration of end-to-side neurorrhaphy in rats, as alternative surgical method for peripheral nerve injury comparing with the state of normal, denervated, and end-to-end neurorrhaphy. Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups; group I as normal control group, group II as denervated control group, group III as end-to-end neurorrhaphy group, group IV as end-to-side neurorrhaphy group. At postoperative 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 week, nerve regeneration was assessed through electrophysiologic and histological studies. The results obtained were as follows: 1. In electrophysiologic test, the mean amplitude was higher in normal control group(group I) than either in end-to-end neurorrhaphy group(group III) or in end- to- side neurorrhaphy group(group IV)(p < 0.05). But there is no significant difference between group III and group IV. 2. The mean number of regenerating myelinated nerve fibers was higher in group I than either in group III or in group IV(p < 0.05). But there is no significant difference between group III and group IV, except at postoperative 16 week. 3. The mean number of motor end-plates at postoperative 24 week was 20.5 in group III and 18.2 in group IV, but there is no significant difference between group III and group IV. In conclusion, end-to-side neurorrhaphy through an epineural window could induce distal nerve regeneration by collateral sprouting of main peripheral nerve and positively reflected in functional improvement of the target muscle.
Animals ; Axons ; Female ; Humans ; Motor Endplate ; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated ; Nerve Regeneration* ; Nerve Transfer ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Peripheral Nerves ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Regeneration ; Transplants