Roux-en-Y reconstruction is an occasional occurrence of Roux-Y stasis syndrome, characterized by chronic abdominal pain, persistent nausea, and intermittent vomiting. Construction of the Roux limb requires transection of the jejunum, which disturbs normal propagation of pacesetter potential and evokes development of ectopic pacemakers in the Roux limb. Ectopic pacemakers in the Roux limb generate pacesetter potentials, which with their associated orally propagating contractions, result in slower transit through the Roux limb.To prevent the Roux stasis syndrome, a new operation has been designed that is similar to the standard Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy construction but theoretically without inherent motor pathophysiology. The authors designed a new unbalanced " Uncut Roux-en-Y" procedure to avoid postoperative blind loop syndrome and performed the procedures with staple occlusion of the afferent loop in 11 patients who required gastric resection and reconstruction, during a period of 6 months from April 1995 to September 1995. Results were summarized as follows. 1) 9 of the 11 patients( 81%) had excellent results with stable or increased weight and no stasis syndrome. 2) 2 patients(19%) had poor results with alkaline reflux gastritis or esophagitis. Both had documented staple line dehiscence. One of them was operated on and converted to a standard Roux operation, but died. The other one continued to loose weight but maintained a normal dietary pattern. 3) Unbalanced Roux technique worked well without harmful complications. 4) Reinforcing serosal sutures on the staple line could prevent a possible jejunal leakage in the case of staple line dehiscence and might prevent dehiscence of staple lines.
Abdominal Pain ; Blind Loop Syndrome ; Esophagitis ; Extremities ; Gastric Bypass* ; Gastritis ; Humans ; Jejunum ; Nausea ; Sutures ; Vomiting

STUDY DESIGN: A case report. OBJECTIVES: To report a rare case of epidermoid cyst in the spinal canal. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Epidermoid cyst in the spinal canal is rare. Idiopathic epidermoid cyst in the spinal canal not associated with a trauma or infection is even rarer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A 73 year-old female presented with a 1 year history of progressive paresthesia and motor weakness of both lower extremeties. MRI showed a cystic mass on the 7th thoracic canal. We performed total laminectomy at the T6-T8 level. The cystic mass was excised after durotomy using a posterior approach. RESULTS: We confirmed the presence of an epidermoid cyst for histopathology. CONCLUSION: Idiopathic epidermoid cyst in the spine is very rare and requires accurate differential diagnosis. Preoperative MRI scans are necessary to differentiatie epidermoid cysts from other intradural masses. Confirmative diagnosis can be done by histopatholoty.
Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Epidermal Cyst* ; Female ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Paresthesia ; Spinal Canal ; Spine

STUDY DESIGN: A case report. OBJECTIVES: To report a rare case of remote cerebellar hemorrhage (RCH) as a complication of spinal surgery. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Remote cerebellar hemorrhage is rare but lethal as a complication of spinal surgery. Interestingly, dural tears and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage are reported in all published cases of RCH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 67-year-old man had posterior lumbar decompression and posterolateral fusion for spinal stenosis at L4/5/S1. Intraoperatively, the dura was torn and there was a loss of CSF. The dural tear was sutured immediately in a water-tight manner. After surgery, the patient complained of headache and dizziness. On postoperative day 44, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed meningeal enhancement suggesting meningitis. On postoperative day 54, brain computed tomography (CT) showed cerebellar edema and hemorrhage, and external ventricular derivation was performed. RESULTS: The patient died. CONCLUSIONS: Special attention should be paid to prevent dural damage during spinal surgery or minimize CSF leakage in the case of dural damage and tears during spinal surgery, and CT and MRI should be promptly performed for symptomatic patients.
Aged ; Brain ; Cerebrospinal Fluid* ; Decompression ; Dizziness ; Edema ; Headache ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Meningitis* ; Spinal Stenosis ; Tears

Diversities of Korean species belonging to the genus Volvariella have been studied through forty five dried specimens collected throughout the Korean peninsula for 28 years, from 1972 to 2000, and preserved in NIAST's herbarium. We have found one unrecorded species of the genus Volvariella in Korea: V. villosavolva (Lloyd) Sing, Stirp Taylori Korean common names were designated. Ten species of the genus Volvariella including the recorded Korean species of Volvariella have been identified and the keys to the species were constructed.
Korea* ; Volvariella*

BACKGROUND: Sleep is an essential restorative physiologic phenomenon. Impaired sleep results in significant negative effect to the health. Symptoms like sleep initiation difficulty, frequent awakening, severe snoring have related to poor sleep quality. We studied frequency and compared the characteristics of common sleep disorders at family practice. METHODS: We surveyed patients over 18 years of age and their guardians who visited 16 familial practices for 6 days. We investigated sleep characteristics, frequency of sleep disorder and associated factors by questionnaires and analyzed by frequency analysis, Spearman's correlation coefficient, multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: We enrolled 1,117 participants. Older participants were more likely to report early sleep onset and off time, short sleep duration. Mean number of awakening during a typical night is 1.69. Female complained difficulties in initiation and maintenance of sleep more than male. A total of 32.5% had these insomnia symptoms and related to hypertension, stroke, stress, arthralgia, depression, urological disorder. 31.1% had excessive daytime sleepiness, related to stress, arthralgia, depression. Loud snoring and gasp for breath showed positive correlation between male, high BMI. Disrupted sleep over 3 times was related to old age, female, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, stress, arthralgia, depression. Restless leg syndrome were high in elderly, high BMI, stress, arthralgia and depression. CONCLUSION: About one in three who visit in primary medical practice have sleep disorder symptoms like insomnia, daytime fatigue, snoring. 3% of them have gasp for breath, 8% have restless leg syndrome.
Aged ; Arthralgia ; Depression ; Family Practice ; Fatigue ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Leg ; Male ; Prevalence ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Snoring ; Stroke

A renin- or angiotensin-II responsive aldosterone producing tumor is a rare cause of primary hyperaldosteronism. This tumor can be identified by tests that show that the aldosterone producing adrenal tumor is not fully autonomous. In other words partially it is responsible for the stimulation of aldosterone secretion that results aldosterone levels in an increase in serum in response to the upright posture and spironolactone treatment. Furthermore, the urinary 18-hydroxycortisol level is within the normal range. Because of different responses to surgical removal, the differential diagnosis of the causes of primary aldosteronism can't be overemphasized even for rare causes of primary aldosteronism such as unilateral nodular hyperplasia or a renin-responsible aldosterone producing tumor. We should consider renin or angiotensin-II responsive adrenal adenoma in the differential diagnosis of primary aldosteronism when biochemical data shows atypical results. Here we present the first case in Korea of a renin-responsive aldosterone producing adrenal adenoma which was fully accessible and was successfully treated by surgical removal. Also, sampling for aldosterone secretion just above the insertion site in the left renal vein before surgery showed a suspiciously abberant left adrenal vein drainage into the IVC, This was very helpful information during adrenal vein ligation in laparoscopic adrenalectomy.
Adenoma ; Adrenalectomy* ; Aldosterone ; Cushing Syndrome* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drainage ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperaldosteronism ; Hyperplasia ; Korea ; Ligation ; Posture ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third* ; Pregnant Women* ; Reference Values ; Renal Veins ; Renin ; Spironolactone ; Veins

Lateral neck node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in thyroid carcinoma. We developed a scoring system for use in prediction of lateral neck node metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer. In this study, 161 consecutive patients were included in the training data set. This scoring system, named the Yonsei Estimated Value (YEV) for lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer, was developed on the basis of results from multivariate logistic regression analysis of preoperative clinical and radiologic data. Sixty eight consecutive patients were included for testing of the validity of the scoring system. The equation for prediction of lateral neck node metastasis was follows: YEV (Yonsei Estimated Value) = 1/(1+X) X = Exp (5.333-[0.902 x sex]+[0.036 x age]-[1.020 x tumor size]-[0.177 x lymph node size]-[0.032 x lymph node density]) When the YEV was 0.3 or more, the probability of lateral neck node metastasis was 79.0%, with sensitivity of 76.3%, specificity of 69.8%, positive predictive value of 56.7%, and negative predictive value of 85.1% in the training set. When fine needle aspiration biopsy for suspicious lateral neck nodes is not possible, or the results are inadequate, our scoring system for prediction of lateral neck node metastasis can be helpful in optimization of the surgical extent for each patient.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Algorithms ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/*diagnosis/secondary ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymphatic Metastasis/*diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Predictive Value of Tests ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Though leptin, the adipocytes-derived hormone, plays an important role in obesity, it can act as a growth factor for several cancers including gastrointestinal malignancies. Based on this background, we investigated whether leptin expression correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics or disease outcome in patients with colon cancer. We immunohistochemically analyzed the expression of leptin in a "colon adenoma-carcinoma sequence" in the normal colon mucosa, an adenomatous polyp and adenocarcinoma tissue, from a surgical resection for each patient. METHODS: We collected samples from 24 patients with a colorectal adenocarcinoma that was removed in either a total colectomy or hemicolectomy, and who presented with an adenomoatous polyp and an adenocarcinoma in the same surgical specimen. Leptin expression was assessed using immunohistochemical methods and was evaluated by grading the staining intensity as 0, +1, +2, +3. RESULTS: Whereas leptin expression was observed in 4.2% (1/24) of the normal colon mucosa, adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinomas showed 33.3% (8/24) and 50.0% (12/24) expression of leptin, respectively (p<0.05), suggesting that leptin expression in the adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinomas was higher than in the normal colon mucosa (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in leptin expression between the adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinomas, statistically. There was no relationship between leptin expression and patients age, sex, BMI (body mass index), cancer stage, and lymph node metastasis. However, the tumor size in the positive leptin expression group was larger than in the negative leptin expression group (5.6+/-2.2 cm vs 3.9+/-1.4 cm; p<0.05) CONCLUSIONS: Since leptin expression in adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinomas was higher than in the normal colon mucosa and leptin expression significantly correlated with the tumor size, leptin might play a role in the development of an adenomatous polyp and an adenocarcinoma in the colon. However, leptin does not contribute to the progression of colon adenoma, and further evaluation studies will be required.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Adenoma ; Adenomatous Polyps* ; Colectomy ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Humans ; Leptin* ; Lymph Nodes ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Obesity ; Polyps

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of postoperative radiation therapy after curative resection of sigmoid colon cancer MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1988 to 1993, a total of 93 patients with curative resectable sigmoid colon cancer of modified Astler-Coller (MAC) stage B2, B3, C2, C3 was divided into two groups on the basis of those who received radiation treatment and those who did not. Forty-three patients who treated by surgery alone were classified as postop RT ( group. The remaining 50 patients who underwent postoperative radiotherapy were classified as postop RT (+) group. In all patients in postop RT (+) group, radiation therapy was delivered using 4 or 10 MV linear accelerators to treat the tumor bed with approximately 5cm margin to a total dose 50.4-61Gy (median 54Gy) in 1.8Gy per fraction. Thirty-two patients were treated with 5- Fluorouracil based adjuvant chemotherapy at least 3 cycles, but these was no significant difference between two groups. Treatment failure pattern, 5-year local failure-free survival rates (LFFS), and 5-year disease-free survival rates (DFS) were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Five year LFFS and DFS were 85.1%, 68.5%, respectively. In postop RT (-) group, LFFS was 76.2%, compared with 91.7% in postop RT (+) group. Improved LFFS and DFS were seen for patients with stage C3 sigmoid colon carcinoma with postoperative radiation therapy compared with postop RT (-) group (P=0.01, P=0.06 respectively). In stage B3, LFFS washigher in postop RT (+) group than that in postop RT (-) group, although it was not significant. Especially, local control was higher in stage T4 in postop RT (+) group than that in postop RT (-) group. CONCLUSION: This study showed significantly improved LFFS and DFS in MAC Stage C3 and improved tendency of LFFS and DFS in MAC Stage B3 disease. Large scale prospective study is required to verify the role of adjuvant radiation therapy in resectable sigmoid colon cancer.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colon, Sigmoid* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Particle Accelerators ; Radiotherapy* ; Sigmoid Neoplasms ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Failure

PURPOSE: Anaplastic thyroid cancer is known to have a poor prognosis due to its aggressive and rapid metastasis with median survival of less than 6 months. Multimodal treatment involving surgery and chemoradiotherapy has been used to improve the survival of patients. Here, we retrospectively review of treatment outcome of 13 consecutive patients who were treated at a single center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 13 anaplastic thyroid cancer patients who received multidisciplinary treatment between 2006 and 2010. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze progression-free survival and overall survival of patients. RESULTS: The median patient age at diagnosis was 69 years, and six patients had stage IVc diseases. Eight patients received primary surgery followed by radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Five patients received weekly doxorubicin-based definitive CCRT, but only one patient's condition remained stable, while the rest experienced rapid disease progression. The median progression-free survival was 2.8 months (95% CI, 1.2-4.4 months), and the median overall survival was 3.8 months (95% CI, 3.0-4.6 months). CONCLUSION: Patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer showed poor prognosis despite multimodality treatment. Therefore, identification of novel therapeutic targets is warranted to take an effective mode of treatment.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Doxorubicin/therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*drug therapy/mortality ; Treatment Outcome