Though the incidence of paragonimiasis has been remarkably decreased since 1970, it is still not a rare disease in Korea. Major problems in the diagnosis of pulmonary paragonimiasis on chest radiography are its differentiation from pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer. Chest radiographic findings have been described in detail, but little have been reported on CT findings. We reviewed CT findings of 10 patients with pulmonary paragonimiasis. The characteristic CT findings were similar to those on chest radiography, such as air-space consolidation (70%), nodular mass (50%), pleural effusion (40%), cystic lesion (30%), small low density within the mass (30%), linear density (20%), pneumothorax(20%), and burrow track (20%). CT depicted the cystic lesions and the burrow tracks more clearly and showed the small worm-retaining cysts within the mass that were not detectable on chest radiography. In conclusion, all of these CT findings are useful in the diagnosis of pulmonary paragonimiasis especially when differentiation from tuberculosis or lung canceris difficult on chest radiography.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Paragonimiasis* ; Pleural Effusion ; Radiography ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Rare Diseases ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

We report a case of multiple myeloma that presented as a fluctuating sixth cranial nerve palsy in the absence of widespread signs of systemic disease. A 63-year-old woman presented with horizontal diplopia of two weeks duration that subjectively changed over time. Ocular examination showed a fluctuating sixth nerve palsy. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain showed multiple, enhancing, soft tissue, mass-like lesions involving the left cavernous sinus and the apex of both petrous bones. Based on bone marrow biopsy and hematologic findings, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma may be included in the differential diagnosis of a fluctuating sixth nerve palsy, and although ophthalmic signs are rare and generally occur late in the course of multiple myeloma, they can still be its first signs.
Abducens Nerve Diseases/diagnosis/*etiology ; Brain/pathology/radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diplopia/etiology ; Esotropia/etiology/physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*complications/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Cutaneous metastasis from the ovarian cancer has been found to be exceedingly rare. We report a case of a metastatic ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, which clinically manifested as the epidermal cyst-like skin nodule on the right upper quadrant of abdomen.
Abdomen ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Skin

Eruptive collagenoma is an acquired connective tissue nevus composed predominantly of collagen. We present a case of eruptive collagenoma in a 13-years-old female who had asymptomatic multiple 3 to 9 mm sized flesh colored scattered papules on both limbs. In addition, the differential diagnosis and other types of cutaneous collagenomas are briefly discussed.
Collagen ; Connective Tissue ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Nevus

A 37-year-old female presented with a conjunctival mass discovered 3 years prior. An excisional biopsy revealed a patternless proliferation of round and spindle-shaped cells with an eosinophilic fibrillary cytoplasm and vesicular nuclei with occasional inclusions. Psammoma bodies were arranged around the dilated irregularly-shaped vessels. Differential diagnoses included conjunctival solitary fibrous tumor (SFT), nevus, glomangioma, ectopic meningioma, and mesectodermal leiomyoma. The tumor cells were immunoreactive for CD34, CD99, bcl-2 and vimentin, and were negative for smooth muscle actin, desmin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, S-100 protein, epithelial membrane antigen, and human melanoma black-45. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells had rough endoplasmic reticulum, free ribosomes, and scattered mitochondria without basal lamina or cellular junctions, which are features of fibroblasts. A diagnosis of SFT was rendered based on the light microscopic, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopic findings. We report here on the second case of a SFT arising in the conjunctiva, which clinically and histologically mimics conjunctival nevus, glomangioma, ectopic meningioma, and a hybrid neurogenic-myogenic tumor such as mesectodermal leiomyoma.
Actins ; Adult ; Antigens, CD34 ; Basement Membrane ; Biopsy ; Chimera ; Conjunctiva ; Cytoplasm ; Desmin ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Electrons ; Endoplasmic Reticulum, Rough ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Fibroblasts ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; Glomus Tumor ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; Light ; Melanoma ; Meningioma ; Mitochondria ; Mucin-1 ; Muscle, Smooth ; Nevus ; Ribosomes ; S100 Proteins ; Solitary Fibrous Tumors ; Vimentin

Eccrine poroma is a benign tumor, which is thought to originate from the epidermal eccrine sweat duct unit. It occurs primarily on the hairless acral surface. However, there have been some cases occurring in atypical area like scalp and face. In general, eccrine poroma lacks melanin pigment clinically and melanocytes on microscopic examination. However, in either black or yellow skin, melanin granules and melanocytes can occasionally be found dispersed within the tumor. We report a case of pigmented eccrine poroma occurring on the scalp. The lesion was located on an unusual occurring site as well as contained melanocyte and melanin.
Melanins ; Melanocytes ; Poroma ; Scalp ; Skin ; Sweat

Sinusoidal hemangioma is a rare variant of cavernous hemangioma. Clinically, it develops in adults and predominantly in females, and presents as a solitary painless subcutaneous nodule. Histological finding of the sinusoidal hemangioma shows a well-circumscribed lobular architecture in the subcutaneous tissue. The lobulated mass is composed of dilated sinusoidal thin-walled vascular channels, which have a pseudopapillary pattern and back-to-back arrangement without much intervening stroma. We report a case of sinusoidal hemangioma which can be differentiated from the other vascular tumors and has never been reported in Korea.
Adult ; Female ; Hemangioma* ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Humans ; Korea ; Subcutaneous Tissue

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cutaneous malignant tumors has been continuously increasing worldwide. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze recent trends in the incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in patients from Gwangju City and Chonnam Province. METHODS: We reviewed clinical data and histopathological reports of 82 cases of BCC and 60 cases of SCC in outpatients who had visited the department of dermatology at Chosun University Hospital between 2006 and 2010. RESULTS: The male-female ratio was 0.61:1 in patients with BCC and 0.87:1 in patients with SCC. The most frequent age group was the eighth decade (42% BCC and 67% SCC). Mean patient ages were 65.1 years and 67.8 years, respectively. The most common involved site was the face (90.2% BCC and 78.3% SCC), particularly the cheek. More skin cancers were found on the left than the right side of head and neck area in male automobile drivers only. The most frequent histological BCC subtype was the nodulocystic type (59.7%), followed by the pigmented (12.1%), and adenoid type (9.7%). The most frequent histological pattern of SCC was the well-differentiated type (66.6%). Development of BCC (61.3%) was more frequent than that of SCC in sun-exposed areas. CONCLUSION: Our data were similar to those previously reported. In our study, no difference in demographic variables such as age, gender or residence were found between patients with BCC and SCC. Additionally, no differences were observed in the incidence of BCC or SCC among the other variables. Further cohort studies that include cumulative lifetime sun exposure and a large sample size are needed.
Adenoids ; Automobiles ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Cheek ; Cohort Studies ; Dermatology ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Neck ; Outpatients ; Sample Size ; Skin Neoplasms ; Solar System ; Statistics as Topic

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the biochemical effects of recombinant human thyroid stimulating hormone (rhTSH) as an adjunct to radioiodine (RI) treatment of a differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). We retrospectively reviewed the clinical response rates of DTC patients treated with RI after thyroid hormone withdrawal and compared with those after rhTSH stimulation. METHOD: We included the patients treated with RI for locally recurrent DTC from February 1, 2002 to August 31, 2005 and followed with diagnostic studies at our hospital. Forty totally (or near totally) thyroidectomized adults were included in this study. Nine patients underwent RI treatment after rhTSH stimulation while euthyoid on L-thyroxine (LT4), and 31 patients were treated with RI after thyroid hormone withdrawal. The clinical response was defined as >25% decrease in serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level on LT4 3 months after the RI treatment. RESULTS: In each group, serum Tg levels were significantly decreased 3 months after the RI treatment. And we found that 77.8 and 71.0% of those prepared by rhTSH and LT4 withdrawal, respectively, had clinical responses 3 months after the RI treatment by our criteria and there was no significant difference in response rates between two groups (P=0.238). CONCLUSIONS: Given the biases that exist in retrospective studies, at the current time we cannot recommend the routine use of rhTSH to prepare RI treatment of DTC. However, our study provided preliminary evidence that rhTSH effectively aided RI treatment of DTC at least to an equivalent degree as LT4 withdrawal.
Adult ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Humans* ; Retrospective Studies* ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyrotropin ; Thyrotropin Alfa ; Thyroxine

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the biochemical effects of recombinant human thyroid stimulating hormone (rhTSH) as an adjunct to radioiodine (RI) treatment of a differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). We retrospectively reviewed the clinical response rates of DTC patients treated with RI after thyroid hormone withdrawal and compared with those after rhTSH stimulation. METHOD: We included the patients treated with RI for locally recurrent DTC from February 1, 2002 to August 31, 2005 and followed with diagnostic studies at our hospital. Forty totally (or near totally) thyroidectomized adults were included in this study. Nine patients underwent RI treatment after rhTSH stimulation while euthyoid on L-thyroxine (LT4), and 31 patients were treated with RI after thyroid hormone withdrawal. The clinical response was defined as >25% decrease in serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level on LT4 3 months after the RI treatment. RESULTS: In each group, serum Tg levels were significantly decreased 3 months after the RI treatment. And we found that 77.8 and 71.0% of those prepared by rhTSH and LT4 withdrawal, respectively, had clinical responses 3 months after the RI treatment by our criteria and there was no significant difference in response rates between two groups (P=0.238). CONCLUSIONS: Given the biases that exist in retrospective studies, at the current time we cannot recommend the routine use of rhTSH to prepare RI treatment of DTC. However, our study provided preliminary evidence that rhTSH effectively aided RI treatment of DTC at least to an equivalent degree as LT4 withdrawal.
Adult ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Humans* ; Retrospective Studies* ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Thyrotropin ; Thyrotropin Alfa ; Thyroxine