Few studies have assessed the neural mechanisms of the effects of emotion on cognition in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients. In this functional MRI (fMRI), we investigated the effects of emotional interference on working memory (WM) maintenance in GAD patients. Fifteen patients with GAD participated in this study. Event-related fMRI data were obtained while the participants performed a WM task (face recognition) with neutral and anxiety-provoking distracters. The GAD patients showed impaired performance in WM task during emotional distracters and showed greater activation on brain regions such as DLPFC, VLPFC, amygdala, hippocampus which are responsible for the active maintenance of goal relevant information in WM and emotional processing. Although our results are not conclusive, our finding cautiously suggests the cognitive-affective interaction in GAD patients which shown interfering effect of emotional distracters on WM maintenance.
Amygdala ; Anxiety Disorders* ; Anxiety* ; Brain* ; Cognition ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Memory, Short-Term*

We report a case of an intraparenchymal schwannoma of the left parietal lobe. A 51-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of intermittent headaches. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance images revealed a 1.3 cm sized intra-axial homogeneous enhancing mass in the left parietal lobe. The lesion was pathologically confirmed to be a schwannoma.
Brain Neoplasms ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Middle Aged ; Neurilemmoma ; Parietal Lobe

BACKGROUND: The survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has recently been improved by the advancement in the early detection of HCC. Among the various treatment modalities, the surgical resection has been considered as the most effective for small HCC, and the clinical course of patients with small HCC who underwent curative resection is known to be dependent on the etiology of HCC. Since the differences in the etiology of HCC depend on the different geographical area, it is necessary to verify the clinical outcomes and their affecting factors in patients with small HCC after curative resection in Korea, one of the hepatitis- B-virus(HBU)-endemic areas. METHODS: A total of 89 patients with small HCC (or=50 years old), Child's classification and vascular invasion were factors affecting the rate of recurrence. CONCLUSION: These results verify that the clinical outcomes of patients with small HCC after curative resection in Korea are similar to those of patients with different etiology of HCC in other geographic areas. To improve the prognosis of patients with small HCC after curative resection, strict preoperative evaluation of the presence of vascular invasion and postoperative preservation of liver function are necessary as well as the close postoperative follow-up for the early detection of recurrence.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Classification ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Survival Rate

To evaluate the refractive error and glasses wering state, we performed screening eye examination on elementary school children living in rural area. Among 1254 shcool children(male : 542, female : 712), 352(28.1%) children were emmetropia and 902(71.9%) children ametropia. Three hundred ninety two(72.3%) of 542 male students and 510(71.6%) of 712 female students were not emmetropia. There was no statistical significance in sexual difference of refractive errors. As refractive errors, 38.3%(481) were myopia, 27.8%(348) hyperopia, and 5.8%(73( mixed astigmatism respectively. In diopteric distribution of refractive errors, refractive error under +/-2.0D was 72.0%(650/902). Among children with refractive errors, 333(36.9%) children did not require glasses, but rest of childfen needed glasses. Three hundred nine(34.3%) children did not wear glasses inspite of refractive errors, 33(3.7%) children were wearing incorrect glasses and 2 children were wearing glasses unnecessarily. In children, early eye examination is essential for their eye health. Therefore attention to early eye examination and correct glasses wearing seem to be very important especially for child living in rural area.
Astigmatism ; Child* ; Emmetropia ; Eyeglasses ; Female ; Glass ; Humans ; Hyperopia ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Myopia ; Refractive Errors

It is known that in animals with increased intracranial pressure the cerebral perfusion is curtailed, but whether it is caused by deranged responsiveness of the cerebral vessel is not known. Thus, it was attempted in this study to find out the changes of cerebrovascular response to Kallikrein in the rabbits with increased ICP(20mmHg) under urethane-anesthesia. 1) intracarotid arterial kallikrein elicited increases in cerebral blood flow and decreases in blood pressure and arterial resistance. 2) Cerebral blood flow was significantly decreased in rabbits with increased ICP in comparison with the control rabbits. 3) Intraarterial kallikrein caused dose-depent increases of cerebral blood flow in both groups, but responses were significantly reduced in ICP-elevated group. 4) Kallikrein produced dose-dependent hypotensive effect in both groups with no significant difference between both groups. 5) Cerebrovascular resistance was greater in rabbits with elevated ICP(20 mmHg), but kallikrein induced decreases of cerebrovascular resistance in both groups to the same degree, 6) Above results suggested that increased ICP reduces the cerebral blood flow by increasing cerebrovascular resistance, but it does not modify the reponsiveness of cerebral vessel to kallikrein.
Animals ; Blood Pressure ; Intracranial Pressure ; Kallikreins* ; Perfusion ; Rabbits*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine, using in vivo and in vitro 1H MRS (MR spectroscopy), the characteristic biochemical metabolites related with breast cancer, and to assess the clinical usefulness and limitations of this modality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For in vivo 1H MRS, nine patients with breast cancer and two normal volunteers were examined on a 1.5 T MR imager equipped with facilities for spectroscopy. In order to localize the breast lesion, axial and sagittal T1-weighted images and fat-suppressed T2-weighted images were obtained just prior to MRS; MR spectra were acquired at TR=3000 msec and TE=144 msec. For in vitro 1H MRS, breast tumor and adja-cent normal tissue were extracted from 13 patients with breast cancer, and in two of these, both in vivo and in vitro 1H MRS were performed. All in vitro 1H MRS specimens were immediately immersed in liquid nitrogen, and then in a preparation of perchloric acid. For quantitative analysis of the MR spectra of cancerous and normal breast tissue, the paired t-test was used (p < 0.05). RESULTS: At1H MRS in vivo, choline and two lipids were identified at 3.21 ppm, and 1.33 ppm and 0.9 ppm, re-spectively. The distinction between cancerous and normal breast tissue was based on the higher level of choline (3.21 ppm) present in the former. At 1H MRS in vitro, on the other hand, mean and standard deviation (% standard deviation) for the various metabolites in cancerous and normal breast tissue were as follows: choline, 30.195 +/- 2.448(8.108) and 22.648 +/- 1.938(8.556); trimethylamine, 3.425 +/- 0.335(9.769) and 0.640 +/- 0.066(10.325); sarcosine, 3.425 +/- 0.335(9.769) and 0.640 +/- 0.099(15.394); lactate, 16.388 +/- 1.134(6.922) and 9.715 +/- 0.385(3.965); inositol, 1.970 +/- 0.282(14.334) and 3.859 +/- 0.502(13.020); and taurine, 6.614 +/- 0.556(8.412) and 10.748 +/- 1.206(11.222). High levels of choline (p=0.026), trimethylamine (p=0.001), sarco-sine (p=0.009), and lactate (p=0.009), and lower levels of inositol (p=0.006) and taurine (p=0.008) were char-acteristic findings in cancerous as compared with normal breast tissue, with significantly different results. CONCLUSION: 1H MRS both in vitro and in vivo showed that increased choline levels were present in cancerous breast tissue, but that normal tissue does not contain choline. The presence of choline could therefore be used as a marker for malignancy in breast lesions. Information provided by in vitro 1H MRS, together with the development of in vivo 1H MRS with high field strength and high resolution, may be very useful for the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Choline ; Diagnosis ; Hand ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans* ; Inositol ; Lactic Acid ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy* ; Nitrogen ; Sarcosine ; Spectrum Analysis ; Taurine

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a benig nepithelial tumor of the liver. The etiology of FNH is unknown, but recent evidence suggests that FNH may represent a localized, hyperplastic response to a pre-existing vascular malformat ion. There is a high probability of as sociat edlesions , most commonly hepatic hemangiomas, meningioma, as trocytoma, and arterial dysplasia in various organs . In the present report we describe a FNH with aberrant lymphatics in a 24-year-old woman. In operation field, lymphatics were located on the site of falciform ligament. Histologically, aberrant lymphatics were composed of well vas cularized complex lymphatic channels and the mass were typical FNH. In this case, the role of aberrant lymphatics in the development of FNH was unclear . But as the FNH frequently as sociated with ot her anomalies , we think the aberrant lymphatic as such anomaly that have not been reported.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Female ; Focal Nodular Hyperplasia ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Liver ; Meningioma ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: To investigate the perfusion characteristics of VX2 carcinoma and liver parenchyma in an animal model, and to evaluate the usefulness of perfusion CT in assessing the angiogenesis of hepatic VX2 carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten rabbits (control, 5; VX2 carcinoma, 5) weighing 2.5 to 3.5 (average, 3.1) Kg were involved in this study. Between 7 and 14 days after implanting VX2 carcinoma, ultrasonography and CT were performed for the purpose of detecting this. Using the cine mode and involving four simultaneous sections, four perfusion CT images were obtained every second for 60 seconds. One radiologist measured the size of the region of interest (ROI) at each liver location, and using the time-density curves for each tumor and normal liver, semi-quantitative perfusion parameters -namely blood volume, mean transit time (MTT), blood flow, and time-to-peak enhancement-were determined. The microvascular densities (MVD) of VX2 tumors and normal liver were correlated with the perfusion CT findings. RESULTS: In the control group, there were no significant differences in perfusion parameters between the left and right hepatic lobes. In the VX2 carcinoma group, there were significant differences between the lobe containing the tumor and adjacent hepatic lobes with respect to blood volume (34.80 vs. 27.2 ml/100 g), MTT (14.1 vs. 19.4 sec), blood flow (119.7 vs. 84.3 ml/100 g/min), and time-to-peak (32.4 vs. 36.9 sec) (p<0.05). The blood volume (27.2 ml/100g) of the hepatic lobe with the VX2 tumor was higher than that of normal liver (22.8 ml/100 g) (p< 0.05), but blood flow (84.3 vs. 66.8 ml/100 g/min), MTT (19.4 vs. 21.3 sec) and time-to-peak (36.9 vs. 38.7 sec) values were not different. The MVD of VX2 tumors was higher than that of normal liver (p<0.05), and significantly higher than that of adjacent and contralateral liver (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: At perfusion CT, blood volume and blood flow of VX2 carcinomas increased more than those of normal liver, as were both mean transit time and time-to-peak. It was confirmed histopathologically that the angiogenesis of VX2 carcinoma was higher than that of normal liver. In conclusion, perfusion CT may be a practically useful diagnostic tool capable of reflecting the neoplastic angiogenesis of the liver.
Blood Volume ; Liver ; Models, Animal ; Perfusion* ; Rabbits ; Ultrasonography

Tolvaptan, a non-peptide arginine vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist, is a newly developed drug to reduce kidney volume and preserve kidney function in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients. We aimed to evaluate the descriptive characteristics of patients according to the use of tolvaptan. Also, we tried to find the efficacy of tolvaptan on kidney volume and kidney function. We included patients with ADPKD who visited a tertiary hospital in South Korea during Sep. 2018 and Apr. 2022. The data was acquired from the Electric Medical Records system. A total of 64 patients were included in the study, and there were 33 (51.6%) patients taking tolvaptan during follow-up periods. During 17.8 ± 13.1 months of follow-up periods, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) changes were 89.4% compared to the baseline eGFR. Although the latest eGFR was lower in patients with tolvaptan (55.9 ± 24.7 mL/min/1.73 m2) than without tolvaptan (68.4 ± 35.1 mL/min/1.73 m2), there was no statistical significance (p = 0.108). We found that the mean change of height-adjusted total kidney volume (HtTKV) was -2.7% based on the baseline HtTKV in patients taking tolvaptan for more than 1-year. Although there was no statistical significance, the mean change of HtTKV was the highest in patients with 1E of Mayo classification (-4.3%). To anticipate the solid data on the efficacy of tolvaptan in the Asian population, more aggressive efforts are needed to search for suitable patients accompanied by appropriate monitoring over a more extended period.

PURPOSE: To evalute the usefulness of contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging for the evaluationof spinal lipoma, compared with clinical symptoms and surgical findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients withlipomyelomeningocele, confirmed by surgery, were included in this study. In all cases, conventional spin echoT1-and T2-weighted MR imaging, and contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging was performed to evaluateclinical symptoms, the position of the conus medullaris, the prescence of cord tethering, and associatedanomalies, and to compare the relative usefulness of the techniques. RESULTS: All ten patients were sufferingfrom lipomyelomeningocele without filum terminale fibrolipoma or intradural lipoma. All cases were associated withcord tethering. As associated anomalies, there were seven cases of syringomyelia without hydrocephalus oranorectal anomaly. To evaluate the position of the spinal conus and the prescence of cord tethering, conventionalT1-weighted imaging was more useful than the contrast-enhanced fat saturation equivalent. CONCLUSION: In patientswith early-stage spinal lipona, MRI is useful for evaluation of the causes and position of cord tethering andassociated anomalies Our results suggest that contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted images do not provideadditional information concerning spinal lipoma, and that for the diagnosis of this condition, conventional T1 and T2-weighted images are more useful than those obtained by contrast-enhanced fat saturation T1-weighted imaging.
Cauda Equina ; Conus Snail ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Lipoma* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Spinal Cord ; Syringomyelia