The end of this month is the 30th birthday of Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society. Since the first issue of Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society published in October, 1972, it has been developed in its quality as well as the quantity. More than 4000 articles have been published and tremendous contribution for the development of Korean Neurosurgical Society was made by the journal. The authors review the history of Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society including the problems in this situation and suggest the way to make the journal as an internationally famous one.
Korea ; Neurosurgery

This study was conducted to investigate whether administration of IH901, a ginseng intestinal metabolite, ameliorates exercise-induced oxidative stress while preserving antioxidant defense capability in rat skeletal muscles and lung. Eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats per group were randomly assigned to the resting control, exercise control, resting with IH901 (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) consumption (R/IH901), or exercise with IH901 (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) consumption (E/IH901) group. The trained groups ran 35 min 2 days/week for 8 weeks. To analyze the IH901-training interaction, serum biochemical analysis, lipid peroxidation, citrate synthase, protein oxidation, antioxidant and superoxide dismutase in skeletal muscles and lung tissue were measured. Compared to the exercise control group, animals that consumed IH901 had significantly increased exercise endurance times (p < 0.05) and decreased plasma creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels (p < 0.05), while those in the E/IH901 groups had increased citrate synthase and anti-oxidant enzymes and decreased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation (p < 0.05). In conclusion, IH901 consumption in aging rats after eccentric exercise has beneficial effects on anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities through down-regulation of pro-inflammatory mediators, lipid peroxidation, and protein oxidation and up-regulation of anti-oxidant enzymes.
Aging ; Animals ; Antioxidants/administration & dosage/*pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Lung/*drug effects/metabolism ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal/*drug effects/metabolism ; Oxidative Stress/*drug effects ; Panax/chemistry ; Physical Conditioning, Animal ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sapogenins/administration & dosage/blood/*metabolism/*pharmacology ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms

Primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma represents a rare entity. Up to date, only seven cases have been reported in Korea. This paper reports a case of a 51-year-old male patient whose stomach cancer was diagnosed during general routine check-up. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a large ulcero-fungating mass on the body of the stomach. Histological examination of biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma. An extended total gastrectomy including splenectomy and segmental resection of the large bowel was conducted. Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin was followed. The patient has been following up the out patient's clinic after discharge.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Splenectomy ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach* ; Capecitabine

Primary gastric squamous cell carcinoma represents a rare entity. Up to date, only seven cases have been reported in Korea. This paper reports a case of a 51-year-old male patient whose stomach cancer was diagnosed during general routine check-up. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a large ulcero-fungating mass on the body of the stomach. Histological examination of biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma. An extended total gastrectomy including splenectomy and segmental resection of the large bowel was conducted. Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin was followed. The patient has been following up the out patient's clinic after discharge.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Splenectomy ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach* ; Capecitabine

BACKGROUND: In Korea, the number of patients enrolled in liver transplantation registry exceeds the supply of cadaveric donor. This donor shortage leads to living donor liver transplantation(LDLT). Due to wide prevalence of hepatitis B in Korea, many healthy donors for LDLT shows hepatitis B surface antigen-negative[HBsAg(-)] and core antibody-positive [HBcAb(+)]. However, the risk of using graft livers from HBsAg(-) and HBcAb(+) donors has not been clearly defined. The aim of this study is to identify the safety of using HBcAb(+) donor and the effectiveness of passive immunoprophylaxis with hepatitis B immunoglobulin(HBIG) in non-hepatitis B virus induced cirrhotic recipients. METHODS: From December 1994 to July 1998, 59 patients underwent living donor liver transplantation at the Asan Medical Center. Among them, 35 cases were non-hepatitis B virus induced cirrhotic recipients. Of these 35 recipients, 14 patients received liver graft from HBsAg(-) and HBcAb(+) donors and prophylactic passive immunoprophylaxis with HBIG. RESULTS: Eleven cases remained HBsAg(-) with HBIG immunoprophylaxis. Three of 14 recipients who were HBsAg(-) converted to HBsAg(+) serologically after receiving HBcAb(+) donor liver. All of these 3 cases did not receive HBIG therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Passive immunoprophylaxis with HBIG may prevent non-hepatitis B induced cirrhotic recipients from converting to HBsAg(+) status by using HBcAb(+) donor. Our experience suggests that HBcAb(+) donors can be accepted as potential donors in living donor liver transplantation.
Cadaver ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Herpesvirus 1, Cercopithecine ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors* ; Prevalence ; Tissue Donors* ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an awesome malignancy; survival time is usually less than 1 year once symptoms and signs appear, irrespective of treatment. Screening tools are now available that make it possible to detect a preclinical HCC, which is usually small and surgically resectable. We studied the prognosis after hepatic resections of HCCs smaller than 5 cm and tried to clarify which effective treatments correlated with high survival rates by comparing the outcomes of major hepatic resections with those of limited hepatic resections. METHODS: Of the 105 cases treated from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 1998, at Asan Medical Center, all proved surgically to be small HCCs and pathologically to be HCC types. There were two categories of patients: those receiving a major hepatic resection (n=48) and those receiving a limited hepatic resection (n=57). RESULTS: The median age was 53 (range, 33-69), and the male:female ratio was 42:6 in the major resection group. The median tumor size was 3.4 cm, and the median resection margin was 2.6 cm. Major resections were done in 48 cases, including right lobectomies (32 cases), left lobectomies (9 cases), central bisegmentectomies (3 cases), extended left lobectomies (3 cases) and extended right lobectomy (1 case). The median age was 52 (range, 30-76), and the male:female ratio was 46:11 in the limited resection group. The median tumor size was 3.2 cm, and the median resection margin was 1.2 cm. Limited resections were done in 57 cases, including left lateral segmentectomies (12 cases), right posterior segmentectomies (10 cases), #6 subsegmentectomies (7 cases), left medial segmentectomies (7 cases), right anterior segmentectomies (6 cases), nonanatomical partial hepatectomies (5 cases), #5 #6 subsegmentec-tomies (2 cases), #8 subsegmentectomies (2 cases), caudate lobectomies (2 cases), #5 subsegmentectomies (2 cases), #5 subsegmentectomy caudate lobectomy(1 case), and #2 subsegmentectomy (1 case). The cumulative 5-year survival rate of the two groups was 69%. The cumulative 5-year disease-free survival rate of the major resection group was better than that of the limited resection group (80% vs 53%, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Problems, including the relatively high recurrence rate after a limited hepatic resection, remain to be solved. It is necessary to perform adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence in patients receiving a limited hepatic resection. We advocate a major hepatic resection for primary small hepatocellular carcinomas in order to prevent recurrence. Preoperative portal vein embolization can be a good modality in patients who will undergo major hepatic resections.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Disease-Free Survival ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Portal Vein ; Prognosis* ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMTX) disease is a clinically heterogeneous hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy. The X-linked inheritance showed an absence of male-to-male transmission and a more severe disease phenotype in affected males compared to that in affected female. A missense mutation, Cys168Arg, was found in connexin 32 gene (Cx32/GJB1) from a patient with CMTX neuropathy. The familial history of this patient also suggested that the disease is X-linked CMT. Thus, we report a CMTX family having the novel Cys168Arg mutation in the Cx32 gene.
Female ; Genes, X-Linked ; Hereditary Sensory and Motor Neuropathy ; Humans ; Male ; Mutation, Missense* ; Phenotype

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the capacity to differentiate into hepatocytes, The purpose of this study is to investigate the MSCs' differentiation process and therapeutic potentials by comparing isolated MSCs with HGF-treated MSCs in rat's model with thiacetamide (TAA)-induced cirrhosis. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, weighing 100-150 g were used in this study. To induce liver fibrosis, recipient rats were taken with 0.04% thioacetamide (TAA) in the drinking water (400 mg TAA/L) for 8 weeks. The rats underlying liver cirrhosis were divided into 3 groups according to the transplanted materials, compared to normal saline as control (I) and isolated MSCs (II) HGF-treated MSCs. RESULTS: Severe hepatic fibrosis and hepatocyte destruction were detected in the control group. Less hepatic cirrhosis and collagen formation, more hepatocyte regeneration and glycogen storage were detected in isolated MSCs compared to HGF-treated MSCs group, Distribution of red autofluorescence is mainly localized near the sinusoids in isolated MSCs, scattered away the sinusoids in HGF-treated MSCs group. MSCs transdifferentiated into CK-19 postive Oval cells and then to albulmin-producing hepatocytes, HGF treated MSCs differentiated into hepatocyte without the intermediate oval cells phase. HGF treated MSCs became the CK18-positive, MSCs became CD 90-positive. CONCLUSIONS: Significant hepatocyte differentiation occurred in not HGF-treated MSCs but isolated MSCs group unexpectedly. These results suggest that the beneficial effect of MSCs on in rat's model with TAA-induced cirrhosis may occur during early differentiation course of MSCs. Mature hepatocyte itself has a little effect on the accelerated differentiation and functional capacity of hepatic lineage cell-line.
Animals ; Collagen ; Drinking Water ; Fibrosis ; Glycogen ; Hepatocytes ; Humans ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Rats ; Regeneration ; Thioacetamide ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: Central bisegmentectomy (CBS) of the liver is a resection of the medial and anterior segments for preserving more liver parenchyma and reaching the goal of a curative resection simultaneously. PURPOSE: In this paper, we describe the indications and the techniques for this surgical procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the case histories of 14 patietns who had undergone a CBS, including 9 with a hepatocellular carcinoma, 4 with hilar bile-duct cancer, 1 with metastatic colon cancer, and 1 with gallbladder cancer. Eight patients had undergone a CBS with an operating time of only 353 minutes; 5 cases had undergone a CBS and a caudate lobectomy plus bile-duct resection, requiring an operating time of 762 minutes. A hepaticojejunostomy to right posterior hepatic duct was added to one CBS case because of intrahepatic ductal variation. The surgical technique for the CBS only procedure was as follows: demarcation of the dissection line with a selective block of the glissonian cord, division of the medial and the lateral segments along the falciform ligament to expose the left hepatic vein, and division of the anterior and the posterior segments along the right hepatic vein. In the combined bile-duct-resection cases, complete dissection of the hepatoduodenal ligament and biliary reconstruction were added. RESULTS: The extent of liver resection, as estimated by CT volumetry, was about 42%, and the mean value of the real weights of the specimens was 474 gm. The preoperative hepatic function showed a 9.3% indocyanine-green retention rate at 15 minutes, and 5 out of 9 hepatocellular carcinoma cases revealed concomitant liver cirrhosis. For CBS and additional procedures, the curative resection rate reached 93%, and the survival rate was favorable. There were no operative mortalities or hepatic failures. CONCLUSIONS: For selected cases of centrally located liver tumors or hilar bile-duct cancer with limited hepatic reserve, CBS may provide a safe, curative resection.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Gallbladder Neoplasms ; Hepatic Duct, Common ; Hepatic Veins ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver* ; Mortality ; Survival Rate ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: Angiogenesis plays an important role in the growth, progression, and metastasis of tumors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) overexpression has been associated with advanced stage and poor survival in several cancers. We investigated the present case-control study to determine whether there is an association between the VEGF 936C>T polymorphism and stomach cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The association of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the VEGF gene with stomach cancer development was evaluated in a case-control study of 154 Korean stomach cancer patients. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. RESULTS: Our results revealed significant association of T allele-bearing genotypes with increased risk for stomach cancer development. Genotype frequencies of the VEGF 936C>T polymorphisms were significantly different between patient and control groups (CT, AOR: 2.007, 95% CI: 1.277-3.156, TT, AOR: 4.790, 95% CI: 1.174-19.539, CT+TT, AOR: 2.147, 95% CI: 1.382-3.337). When stratified by gender and age, genotype frequencies were significantly different for stomach cancer in women and in patients younger than 55 years (in women, CT, OR: 3.049, 95% CI: 1.568-5.930, CT+TT, OR: 3.132, 95% CI: 1.638-5.990; in < 55 years, CT, OR: 3.306, 95% CI: 1.413-7.732, CT+TT, OR: 3.967, 95% CI: 1.729-9.104). In addition, this association partially remained in cases with intestinal and diffuse-type stomach cancer. CONCLUSION: Our present study suggests that the VEGF 936C>T polymorphism is a susceptibility factor for stomach cancer, at least in Korean. These observations, however, require further confirmation by a larger multi-ethnic study.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Polymorphism, Genetic ; Sex Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms/*genetics ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/*genetics