The cliniopathological analysis was done on the 104 cases of malignant melanoma diagnosed at the Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) from 1984 to 1993. The basic clinical data and the pathological items were based on the New Mexico Melanoma Registry Worksheet. The results were as follows. The male to female ratio was 1 : 0.79. Primary cutaneous melanoma was more common in the male (M : F=1 : 0.56) but primary extracutaneous melanoma with slight female dominancy (M : F=1 : 1.25). The peak age was the 6th decade in both cutaneous and extracutaneous malignant melanoma. In 66% (35 cases) of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma, the primary site was located in the acral area (including cases of acral lentiginous and nodular type), of which 63% (41% of total cutaneous melanoma) was acral lentiginous type. Major components of tumor cells were epithelioid. Clark's level of tumor was III or more at the time of the first visit in the majority of the cases (85%). The incidence rate of extracutaneous melanoma was 34.6% (36 cases) among the primary melanoma, and the eyeball (17.3%) was the most prevalent organ. All these features suggest that the racial difference between the Korean and the Caucasian is evident and also that etiologic role of sun damage is not quite marked in the Korean. We also suggest that an early detection program is very important to cure this malignant tumor.
Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Melanoma* ; New Mexico ; Seoul ; Solar System

A case of postirradiation extraskeletal osteosarcoma with aggressive fibromatosis of the overlying soft tissue of radiation field is reported in a 57 year old house wife who was treated with operation and radiation therapy for cervix carcinoma of the uterus 23 years ago. The overlying aggressive fibromatosis showed characteristic radiation angiitis and atrophic vascular changes such as hyaline degeneration and obliteration of the capillaries which were highly campatible with radiation changes. She also had multiple osteogenic sarcoma in pelvic cavity, occurring in the mesentery bed. As for the histogenesis in this case, we thought the possiblity that fibroblasts went through a process of differentiation into osteoblasts that were responsible for bone formation in the process of malignant change of the aggressive fibromatosis.

No abstract available.
Cell Line* ; Cytokines* ; Humans* ; Neuroblastoma*

Two Korean men who had worked in Saudi Arabia complained of skin ulcers in the right wrist for 5 months or in the face and left forearm for 4 months each. Ulcers accompanying crust was observed in both cases. The characteristic cellular destruction and amastigote in the cytoplasm of histiocyte supported the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Those are 17th and 18th imported cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Korea(summarized from text).
parasitology-protozoa ; case report ; Leishmania donovani ; leishmaniasis ; Saudi Arabia

This study outlines the current status of the autopsy practice and the medical records for autopsies at the Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital. Total number of autopsy cases from 1954 to 1995 was 3,131. Adults aged over 17 were 371 cases and children were 2,515 cases. The demographic data in 245 cases was not available. The number of adult autopsies and its proportion among total number of autopsies during 10-year periods decreased from 144 cases (40%) during the 10-year-period from 1956 to 52 cases (3%) during the 10-year-period from 1986. The number of children cases during the same period groups increased slightly from 210 cases (58%) to 393 cases (25%). But the number of fetal cases increased rapidly from 7 cases (2%) to 1,146 cases (72%). Among fetal autopsies the proportion of fetuses died earlier than 24 weeks of gestation increased and this figure exceeds that of fetuses that died later than 24 weeks of gestation from 1992. Forty percent of the cases were submitted from the clinical departments of the Seoul National University Hospital but the remainders were referred from 73 hospitals. Final autopsy diagnoses were analysed according to the Korean Standard Classification of Disease (KCD)-3 coding system and by searching key words for all cases. Common diagnoses as coded among cases from 1990 were P9, P0, P2, Q2 and Q0. Common diseases by key words for adult cases were liver disease, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Common diseases for children cases were pneumonia, hyaline membrane disease, meningitis and tuberculosis. Through this study we could show the importance of autopsy services for fetuses. We could also establish a regular registration system for autopsies at general hospitals.
Adult ; Autopsy* ; Child ; Classification ; Clinical Coding ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiology ; Fetus ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hyaline Membrane Disease ; Infant, Newborn ; Liver Diseases ; Medical Records ; Meningitis ; Pathology ; Pneumonia ; Pregnancy ; Seoul* ; Tuberculosis