Malignant melanoma of the lacrimal sac is extremely rare. To our knowledge, there have been 17 cases of malignant melanoma of the lacrimal sacreported in the literature and no case has been reported in Korea. The authors have experienced a 56 year-old male patient complaining of epiphora and mass in the medial canthal and neck areas for two month duration in the left eye. Excisional biopsy showed typical malignant melanoma which was treated with radiation therapy. Metastasis occurred in spinal cord during follow-up period. Although malignant melanoma of lacrimal sac is very rare, it should be considered in differential diagnosis of a growing tumor in the lacrimal sac.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases ; Male ; Melanoma* ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Spinal Cord

No abstract available.
Hypersensitivity* ; Meperidine* ; Skin*

Antiestrogen tamoxifen (TMX) is thought to elicit its therapeutic effect by competing with endogenous estrogens for the estrogen receptor. Several more recent studies asserted that the antitumor effect of TMX is not due solely to the inhibition of estrogen receptor-mediated action, but due partly to its capacity to inhibit angiogenesis and impair neovascularization. Despite extensive research and clinical experience with this drug, its exact mode of action in inducing tumor regression is still not clear. The present study is aimed toward the investigation of the effects of TMX on dimethylbenzanthracene- induced rat mammary carcinomas with respect to the tumor response to the drugs, histological changes, cell proliferative acitivity and angiogenesis inhibition, and if TMX has antiangiogenic action, to compare it with that of pentosan polysulfate (PPS), an already known antiangiogenic substance. Female Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 50 days, were divided into normal control, test control (tumor induction by dimethylbenzanthracene), TMX (TMX administration after tumor induction), and PPS (PPS administration after tumor induction) groups. Tumor response to the drug administration was classified according to changes of tumor volume as follows; complete response (CR), partial response (PR), no response (NR), and progressive disease (PD). The response rate of rat mammary carcinomas to the drug administration was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the TMX and PPS groups as compared with the test control group. There was, however, no statistical significance between the TMX and PPS groups. Necrosis was considerably frequent in tumors of the TMX and PPS groups. Hyaline change of the stroma was strikingly more common and marked in the TMX group and it was associated with atrophy of epithelial cells of the tumor glands. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)- labeling index of the tumors was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the tumors with NR and PD of the TMX group when compared with those with PR of the same group, which suggested a higher cell proliferative activity in these response groups. In the PPS group, however, there was no significant difference in PCNA index according to response. Microvessel density of the tumors was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the PPS group as compared with the test control and TMX groups and it was not related with response. The TMX group, however, did not show any significant difference in microvessel density when compared with the test control group. Microvessel density was significantly higher (p<0.05) in tumors with PD than those with PR in all 3 groups, which suggested a positive relation of increase in tumor size and angiogenesis. Based on these results it is thought that TMX and PPS inhibit growth of chemically-induced rat mammary carcinomas. It seems that the antitumor action of PPS is related with its antiangiogenic capability, but that of TMX does not have a relationship with angiogenenesis inhibition.
Female ; Humans ; Rats ; Animals ; Breast Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Cytomegalovirus ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; Humans

No abstract available.
Female ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic*

Congenital arteriovenous(AV) communications of retinal circulation are rare developmental anomalies, exsisting alone or in association with ipsilateral vascular anomalies of the mid brain, cranial sinuses and skin. These are usually unilateral. We report a case of bilateral congenital arteriovenous communication. The right eye showed group III arteriovenous communication of retina with vitreous hemorrhage. The left eye showed group II arteriovenous communication combined with group I.
Brain ; Cranial Sinuses ; Retina ; Retinaldehyde ; Skin ; Vitreous Hemorrhage

The authors studied retrospectively on the surgical results of modified Fasanella-Servat operation for blepharoptosis. The 58 patients underwent modified Fasanella-Servat operation for blepharoptosis and were followed for at least 6 months. We obtained 74.1% primary success rate in the 58 cases of blepharoptosis. The undercorrection, the most common complication, could be correctable by any other ptosis procedures such as levator resction. However, severe complications such as overcorrection and eyelid contour abnormalities were very rare. We also obtained good surgical results even in groups of moderate degree of ptosis and fair levator function which had not been indicated for Fasanella-Servat operation in general.
Blepharoptosis ; Eyelids ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies

Orbital lymphangioma is a benign vascular hamartoma that may be found in the conjunctiva, eyelids, orbit, or elsewhere in the head and neck region. Deep lymphangiomatous lesions are classically characterized by acute onset of a fulminant proptosis resulting from spontaneous hemorrhage within the orbit. Complete surgical excision is often difficult because of the infiltrative nature of the tumor. Moreover, because of the hemorrhagic and friable nature of the tumor, conventional surgical techniques are frequently complicated by bleeding. We treated a case of pathologically-proven orbital lymphangioma with the ultrapulse CO2 laser. The ultrapulse CO2 laser permits a precise form of treatment with the ultimate form of hemostasis[tissue vaporization], resulting in minimal trauma, edema, and scarring, and thus offers a safe alternative to surgical excision of this lesion. The ultrapulse CO2 laser is an best ideal instrument for subtotal excision of this lesion because of its hemostatic cutting-vaporizing actions.
Cicatrix ; Conjunctiva ; Edema ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids ; Hamartoma ; Head ; Hemorrhage ; Lasers, Gas* ; Lymphangioma* ; Neck ; Orbit* ; Volatilization*

Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is the second most common form of retinal vascular diseases next to diabetic retinopathy. Several risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperopia have been shown to be associated with BRVO. The pathogenesis of branch retinal vein occlusion has not been well understood. This study was conducted prospectively on 21 patients with BRVO and normal 21 patients as controls to assess the relationship of the axial length with the development of BRVO. Mean axial lengths of the affected and the fellow eyes in the branch retinal vein occlusion group were 22.69 +/-0.72 mmand 22.89 +/-0.67mm, respectively. The difference between mean axial lengths of the affected and the fellow eyes was not statistically significant (p=0.17). The mean axial length of control eyes was 23.22 +/-1.29 mm. The affected eyes in the BRVO group were 0.53 mmshorter than eyes in control group on the average, and the difference was statistically significant(p=0.04). This study suggests that shorter axial length could be a local risk factor in the pathogenesis of branch retinal vein occlusion.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Humans ; Hyperopia ; Hypertension ; Prospective Studies ; Retinal Vein Occlusion* ; Retinal Vein* ; Retinaldehyde* ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Diseases

In glaucoma patients, optic nerve head analysis is very useful in early detection and progression during follow-up. Among optic nerve head analysis methods, the confocal laser tomographic scanner(Heidelberg Retina Tomograph: HRT) is actively studied for accurate and highly reproducible analysis.We analyzed the optic nerve head of 62 normal eyes(male 40 eyes, female 22 eyes) in third decade of Korean with HRT, and calculated the mean value of each parameters in HRT and evaluated the difference between men and women. We also studied the distribution fo the value of each parameter in normal third decade of Korean. In addition, for the parameters of Rim/Disc area ratio, we calculated the mean value in 6 divisions of optic nerve head.The mean value of Disc area was 2.039mm3, Cup area 0.593mm3, rim area 1.716mm3 and Cup/Disc area ratio 0.237. Rim volume, Maximal cup depth, Height variation contour, Mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, and Retinal nerve fiber layer cross sectional area were statistically different between men and women. For Rim/Disc area ratio, the maximal value was noted in nasal inferior(0.873) region, and the minimal value was in temporal(0.579) region. There was no statistically difference between men and women in Rim/Disc area ratio.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma ; Humans ; Male ; Nerve Fibers ; Optic Disk* ; Optic Nerve* ; Retina ; Retinaldehyde