PURPOSE: To compare electroretinogram (ERG) waveforms acquired using an ERG-jet electrode and a Burian-Allen electrode. METHODS: ERGs were recorded with an ERG-jet electrode and a Burian-Allen electrode from both eyes of 29 volunteers. Three consecutive recordings were obtained with both electrodes from the left eye of another 6 volunteers. Peak-to-trough amplitudes and peak implicit times were compared between both eyes, and between the 2 types of electrodes. Interpersonal and intrapersonal variation were also compared. RESULTS: The differences in amplitude and implicit time between the right and left eyes were not influenced by the type of electrode. The amplitude of the ERG acquired using the Burian-Allen electrode, however, showed significant differences between both eyes, contrary to the amplitude acquired using the ERG-jet electrode. ERG recordings obtained using the ERG-jet electrode generally showed higher amplitude, shorter implicit time, and less interpersonal and intrapersonal variation than ERG recordings obtained using the Burian-Allen electrode. CONCLUSIONS: In this application, the ERG-jet ERG electrode appeared to be superior to the Burian-Allen electrode in terms of both usefulness and consistency.
Electrodes ; Eye

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to identify the clinicopathological features and treatment outcome of primary small bowel tumors. METHODS: Sixty-five patients, with primary small bowel tumors, treated at the Samsung Medical Center, between November 1994 and February 2002, were retrospectively analyzed. The mean follow-up was 20.8 months, ranging from 2 to 93 months. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 55.5 years, ranging from 26 to 84 years, with 42 men and 23 women. The most common symptom was abdominal pain (58.5%), followed by bleeding and an abdominal mass. The mean duration of the symptoms was 4.6 months, ranging from 2 days to 24 months. Diagnostic studies were performed by an abdominal CT scan, small bowel series, enteroclysis and angiography. The primary sites of the tumors were the jejunum and the ileum in 33 and 32 patients, respectively. Thirteen (20.0%) patients had benign tumors, including 8 (12.3%) benign stromal tumors, 2 lipomas, 2 hamartomatous polyps and 1 cavernous hemangioma. Fifty-two (80.0%) of the patients had malignant tumors, including 26 (40.0%) malignant stromal tumors, 21 (32.3%) lymphomas and 5 (7.7%) adenocarcinomas. Surgery was performed on all patients; a resection and anastomosis in 45 (69.2%), a right hemicolectomy in 10 (15.3%), an ileocecectomy in 5 (7.6%) and a wedge resection in a further 5 (7.6%). Metastasis was found on initial presentation in 21 (40.4%) patients. Combined liver, bladder and colon resections were performed in 7 (10.7%) patients. Four (6.1%) patients died during the perioperative period. The overall 3 year survival rate of the patients with malignant small bowel tumors was 58.6%. CONCLUSION: Performing aggressive surgical manipulation in suspected small bowel tumors, and the use of postoperative adjuvant therapy in lymphomas, will result in better outcomes for patients.
Abdominal Pain ; Adenocarcinoma ; Angiography ; Colon ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Ileum ; Jejunum ; Lipoma ; Liver ; Lymphoma ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Perioperative Period ; Polyps ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE: Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) has gained increasing acceptance as a treatment of choice for early rectal cancer. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of TEM and radical surgery in patients with T1 and T2 rectal cancer. METHODS: From October 1994 to December 2000, 74 patients with T1 and T2 rectal adenocarcinoma treated with TEM were compared with 100 patients with T1N0M0 and T2N0M0 rectal adenocarcinoma treated with radical surgery. Retrospective analysis was made regarding to recurrence and survival rate. Neither group received adjuvant chemo-radiation. There was no significant difference in age, gender, tumor location and follow-up period between two groups, except tumor size. RESULTS: Of 74 patients in TEM group, 52 patients were T1 (70.3%) and 22 patients were T2 (29.7%). Of 100 patients in radical surgery group, 17 patients were T1 (17.0%) and 83 patients were T2 (83.0%). Five-year local recurrence rates were 4.1% for T1, 19.5% for T2 after TEM, 0% for T1 and 9.4% for T2 after radical surgery. There was no statistical difference between T1 rectal cancer (P=0.95), but in T2 rectal cancer, it was higher after TEM than after radical surgery (P=0.04). Five-year disease free survival rates showed no statistical difference between two groups (TEM group: 95.9% for T1, 80.5% for T2, radical surgery group: 94.1% for T1, 83.3%for T2; P=0.35, P=0.12). Five-year survival rate were 100% for T1, 94.7% for T2 after TEM and 92.9% for T1, 96.1% for T2 after radical surgery. There were no significant statistical difference between two groups (P=0.07, P=0.48). CONCLUSIONS: In T1 rectal cancer, there were no difference in recurrence and five-year survival rate between TEM and radical surgery group. In T2 rectal cancer, five-year survival rate showed no statistical difference between two groups, but TEM carried higher risk of local recurrence. Therefore careful selection of the patients is required for TEM and when proper muscle invasion is proven after TEM, further treatment should be considered.
Adenocarcinoma ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Microsurgery* ; Rectal Neoplasms* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of gastric cancer (GC) screening methods in a community-based prospective cohort of the Korean Multi-center Cancer Cohort (KMCC) with over a 10-year follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total 10,909 and 4,773 subjects from the KMCC with information on gastroendoscopy (GE) and upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS) were included in this study. Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for age, sex, Helicobacter pylori infection, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The GE screened subjects had almost half the risk of GC-specific death than that of unscreened subjects (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.94). Among the GC patients, GE screenees had a 2.24-fold higher survival rate than that of the non-screenees (95% CI, 1.61 to 3.11). In particular, GE screenees who underwent two or more screening episodes had a higher survival rate than that of the non-screenees (HR, 13.11; 95% CI, 7.38 to 23.30). The effectiveness of GE screening on reduced GC mortality and increased survival rate of GC patients was better in elderly subjects (≥ 65 years old) (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.95 and HR, 8.84; 95% CI, 3.63 to 21.57, respectively) than that in younger subjects (< 65 years old) (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.34 to 1.29 and HR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.68, respectively). In contrast, UGIS screening had no significant relation to GC mortality and survival. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that a decreased GC-specific mortality and improved survival rate in GC patients can be achieved through GE screening.
Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Cohort Studies* ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastroscopy ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Mass Screening* ; Mortality* ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Prospective Studies* ; Smoking ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate