No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Hyperaldosteronism*

BACKGROUND/AIM: Serial measurement of serum carcinoembryonic antigen was assessed to define its significance and to determine the adequacy in detecting recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Six hundred forty-five patients with colorectal cancer underwent curative resection were included. The median follow-up period was 49 months (range, 24~94 months). Serum CEA was analyzed in accordance with location, histologic differentiation, stage of the tumor, recurrence and survival. RESULTS: The incidence of elevated preoperative serum CEA (> 6 ng/ml) was correlated with tumor stage (stage I vs. II, P=0.01; stage II vs. III, P=0.0001). Fifty five patients among 87 patients with recurrence (63.2%) had concomitant elevation of serum CEA, whereas 32 of 558 patients (5.7%) without recurrence showed a false-positive result. Measurement of serum CEA was more sensitive in patients with elevated preoperative serum CEA and liver metastases than in patients without elevated preoperative serum CEA and local recurrence (P=0.0397). The leading time of serum CEA between the first elevated serum CEA and the identification of recurrence was 3.5 months (range, 1~12 month). Tumor stage and preoperative serum CEA level were found to be significant prognostic variables by multivariate analysis. The overall 5-year survival rate in the normal preoperative serum CEA and the elevated group were 76% and 64% respectively (P=0.00019). CONCLUSION: Serum CEA seemed to be closely correlated with survival and to be an useful tool to detect recurrence after curative resection for colorectal cancer. The appropriate measurement of serum CEA might be suggested in stage II and III postoperatively: every three month for two years, every 6 month for succeeding 2 years, and annually thereafter. Monitoring of serum CEA in stage I could be individualized by preoperative serum CEA and clinical course.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Breast* ; Hamartoma*

No abstract available.
Histamine* ; Pruritus*

Enlow's counterpart analysis explains the complex with anatomic and developmental characteristics where craniofacial aspect of individuals has been developed. The analysis does not compare individual measurement with the normal value from the average of majority but analyzes by comparison of values that each individual has. This study was to clarify the Korean craniofacial skeletal pattern using Enlow's counterpart analysis considering the fact that the craniofacial skeletal pattern has racial and regional variations. This research will be helpful in the future for growth research and research of the orthognathic For this study, the samples were consisted of 100 Korean adult subjects(50 males and 50 females) who had normal occlusion and pleasing face. Measurement points and lines were established using Enlow's counterpart analysis and they were statistically evaluated. The results indicated that: 1. The average angle between PCF and PMV was 38.54 degrees in males and 38.43 degrees in females, and the average Wits' appraisal was -2.51 in males and -2.3 in females. The ramus alignment(R4) was 1.89 in males and 2.36 in females. 2. It shows that females have a longer ramus than the PCF compared to the males, because there was a significant difference in Ramus/PCF horizontal dimensions (Skeletal A3-B3) between female and male subjects 3. It shows that males have a longer mandibular corpus than the maxilla compared to the females, because there was a significant difference in Maxillary/Mandibular arches(Skeletal A4-B4) between male and female subjects 4. In cranial floor+maxilla/ramus+corpus at A and B points(A1-B1), which represents difference in total horizontal length between the maxilla and mandible, there was no significant difference between males and females. In conclusions, compared to Caucasian, Korean have more depressed midface, prognathic mandible, and ramus that rotates inferioposterior. Also, we observe that Korean women have larger ramus posterior cranial base, as compared with Korean men. Consequently, the total length of maxilla and mandible does not show any difference, because man's mandible is longer than maxilla in comparison with woman's one.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Reference Values ; Skull Base

The occurrence of the colonic obstruction secondary to colorectal carcinoma (CRC) has been reported in 7~30% of the CRC patients. It is generally believed that obstructive CRC is associated with a poor prognosis with respect to operative mortality and five-year survival. A series of 1064 cases of the CRC treated surgically at Asan Medical Center from June 1989 to December 1996 has been analyzed to compare clinicopathological findings between obstructive and non-obstructive CRC and to evaluate surgical treatment options in obstructive CRC. Complete obstruction was present in 49 cases (4.6%). There were no differences between obstructive and non-obstructive CRC in tumor location, size, Dukes' stage, and differentiation. In forty-nine obstructive CRC cases, primary resections were performed in 29 cases after peri-operative bowel decompression. In this group, right colon cancer was more prevalent than staged operation group (45% vs. 5%, P<0.05) and hospital stay was significantly short (16 days vs. 38 days, P<0.05). Postoperative complication rate was higher in staged operation group (65% vs. 28%, P=0.01). It may be due to stoma related wound complication. In obstructive left colon cancer, there was a significant difference in complication rate between primary resection and staged operation (P<0.05). Overall 5-year survival rate were 66% and 53% in non-obstructive and obstructive group, respectively. Survival rate according to the Dukes' B and C stages did not show statistical differences, either. Conclusively, primary resection is preferred to the obstructive CRC when supportive care, preoperative bowel decompression, and intraoperative colonic irrigation were performed adequately.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Decompression ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Postoperative Complications ; Preoperative Care ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate ; Wounds and Injuries

Two terpenoids, including one uniquely aromatized one (1), were isolated from CH2Cl2-soluble fraction of MeOH extracts of Curcuma zedoaria. They were identified to be a sesquiterpene ketolactone (1) and orobanone (2), respectively on the basis of their NMR data. The structure of compound 1 was confirmed by X-ray chrystallography and the reported NMR assignments for 1 were revised in this study. Antibiotic activities for compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated using disk diffusion assay. Compound 1 showed potent antibacterial activities against Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus pseudointermedius while compound 2 was active against Bacillus cereus.
Bacillus cereus ; Curcuma* ; Diffusion ; Listeria monocytogenes ; Rhizome* ; Staphylococcus ; Terpenes ; Zingiberaceae

PURPOSE: Unlike males, inguinal hernia surgery in females is an uncommon surgical procedure. The efficacy of laparoscopic surgery for female hernia must be proven. This study compared the clinical characteristics of male and female hernia as well as the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery with that of open surgery in female hernia. METHODS: From March 2007 to February 2011, one surgeon (C.S.) at the authors' institution operated on 965 patients (male/female=884/81) who were each more than 19 years old. The female patients were divided into the laparoscopic (n=67, TEP/TAPP=66/1) and open surgery groups (n=14). RESULTS: The mean age of the female patients was lower than that of the male patients. The incidence of bilateral and direct hernia was higher in the male patients but the incidence of femoral hernia was higher in the female patients (0.6 vs. 8.6%, p<0.001). Among the 81 female patients, the mean age of the patients with femoral hernia was higher than that of the patients with other types of hernia (56.4+/-12.5/43.0+/-15.1, p<0.026). The operation times and pain scores of the two groups 7 days after surgery were comparable. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed a higher incidence of femoral hernia in the female patients than male patients. Patients with a femoral hernia were older than those with other types of hernia. Therefore, laparoscopic surgery must be considered for elderly female patients who have a high incidence of femoral hernia.
Aged ; Female ; Hernia ; Hernia, Femoral ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Male

Over the past three decades, a large number of genetic studies have been aimed at finding genetic variants associated with the risk of asthma, applying various genetic and genomic approaches including linkage analysis, candidate gene polymorphism studies, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, contrary to general expectation, even single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) discovered by GWAS failed to fully explain the heritability of asthma. Thus, application of rare allele polymorphisms in well defined phenotypes and clarification of environmental factors have been suggested to overcome the problem of 'missing' heritability. Such factors include allergens, cigarette smoke, air pollutants, and infectious agents during pre- and post-natal periods. The first and simplest interaction between a gene and the environment is a candidate interaction of both a well known gene and environmental factor in a direct physical or chemical interaction such as between CD14 and endotoxin or between HLA and allergens. Several GWAS have found environmental interactions with occupational asthma, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, tobacco smoke-related airway dysfunction, and farm-related atopic diseases. As one of the mechanisms behind gene-environment interaction is epigenetics, a few studies on DNA CpG methylation have been reported on subphenotypes of asthma, pitching the exciting idea that it may be possible to intervene at the junction between the genome and the environment. Epigenetic studies are starting to include data from clinical samples, which will make them another powerful tool for research on gene-environment interactions in asthma.
Alleles ; Allergens ; Asthma/*genetics ; Endotoxins ; Environment ; *Epigenesis, Genetic ; *Gene-Environment Interaction ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans ; Phenotype ; *Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide