No abstract available.
Cushing Syndrome* ; Hyperplasia*

BACKGROUND: Syndecan-1 is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan expressed on plasma cells, especially myeloma cells, and can exist in serum as soluble syndecan-1 after shedding from the cell surface. Soluble syndecan-1 has been suggested to promote myeloma cell growth and to be an independent prognostic factor for multiple myeloma. We aimed to evaluate the effect of soluble syndecan-1 levels at the time of diagnosis and during therapy on therapeutic response and prognosis for patients with multiple myeloma. METHODS: We analyzed soluble syndecan-1 levels in 28 patients with multiple myeloma and 50 normal controls, and compared its levels with Durie-Salmon stage and other markers of myeloma. In addition, we evaluated the therapeutic response and determined the 3-year survival rates of these patients. RESULTS: We observed that the median soluble syndecan-1 level in myeloma patients was higher than that in the normal controls (P <0.0001), and the soluble syndecan-1 levels in 21 (75%) patients were higher than the cut-off level (162 ng/mL). Soluble syndecan-1 levels correlated with disease stage, percentage of plasma cells in the bone marrow, beta2 microglobulin level, serum M-component concentration, and creatinine level. The baseline levels of soluble syndecan-1 at the time of diagnosis in the patients who responded to chemotherapy were lower than those in the non-responders (P=0.04); however, the baseline level was not a significant predictor of therapeutic response. The 3-year overall survival rate of the patients with high soluble syndecan-1 levels at the time of diagnosis and 6 months after chemotherapy was lower than the corresponding survival rates of the patients with low levels of soluble syndecan-1; however, the overall survival rate was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The use of soluble syndecan-1 has limitations in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Soluble syndecan-1 levels correlate with known prognostic factors; however, we could not assess the prognostic value of high levels of soluble syndecan-1 at the time of diagnosis and after chemotherapy.
Bone Marrow ; Creatinine ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans ; Humans ; Multiple Myeloma ; Plasma Cells ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate ; Syndecan-1

Primary lymphoma arising from the uterine cervix has been rarely encountered, and breast involvement is rare because of the relative paucity of lymphoid tissue in the breast. A 32-year-old woman with a primary malignant lymphoma of the uterine cervix and breast involvement is reported. The patient presented with post-coital vaginal bleeding, and punch biopsy of the cervix revealed the diffuse large B cell type of malignant lymphoma. PET-scan was done for staging, and abnormal FDP uptakes were detected in a uterine cervical mass and breast nodule. Ultrasonography-guided needle biopsy was done for the breast mass, and 2 biopsied nodules revealed fibroadenoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The patient (Ann Arbor stage IV) was treated with 6 cycles of combination chemotherapy with CHOP plus rituximab. The patient went into complete remission. Thereafter, 4500cGy pelvic irradiation was done for adjuvant therapy.
Adult ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Needle ; Breast ; Cervix Uteri ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Fibroadenoma ; Formycins ; Humans ; Lymphoid Tissue ; Lymphoma ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Ribonucleotides ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Rituximab

The localized early-stage of Mycosis fungoides (MF) (stage IA-IIA) is usually treated with topical agents, such as nitrogen mustard, steroids, and phototherapy (UVB/PUVA) as first line therapy; response to these initial treatments is usually good. However, hyperkeratotic plantar lesions are clinically rare and have decreased responsiveness to topical agents. For such cases, physicians may consider local radiotherapy. Here, a case of an 18-year-old Korean woman who was treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for hyperkeratotic plantar lesions that were refractory to UVA-1, methotrexate, and topical steroids is reported. Complete remission was attained after radiotherapy. During the one-year follow-up period, there has been no evidence of disease recurrence and no chronic complications have been observed.
Adolescent ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mechlorethamine ; Methotrexate ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Phototherapy ; Radiotherapy, Conformal ; Recurrence ; Steroids

OBJECTIVE: Acute Renal Failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by a sudden decrease in renal function which was previously normal. Despite advances in medical care, prognosis in ARF is variable according to the influence of demographic factors, severity of ARF, nature of disease causing ARF, coexisting disease, treatments applied, and complications. We studied the recent changes of clinical feature of ARF. METHODS: We studied retrospectively 245 patients with ARF who had been hospitalized at Kyung Hee University Hospital between February 1988 and March 1993. RESULTS: 1) Male to female sex ratio was 1.8 : 1, and the incidence was high in above fifth decade (67.8%). 2) Acute renal failure was classified, according to clinical background, into medical group 79.6% (195 cases) and surgical group 20.4% (50 cases), and oliguric group 40.8% (100 cases) and non-oliguric group 59.2% (145 cases). 3) Acute renal failure due to medical causes included ARF by hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (25.6%), drugs and chemicals (17.9%), sepsis (17.4%) and systemic infection (7.7%) etc. ARF due to surgical causes included ARF by multiple trauma (34%), various surgical procedures (30%), surgical sepsis (14%), burn (12%) etc. 4) During admission, the expired patients had more severe biochemical and clinical characteristics including high BUN and serum potassium (p<0.01), lower serum albumin (p<0,01) than those of survivor. 5) Infections as the cause of ARF were 107 cases (43.7%), which included hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome 50 cases, sepsis 31 cases, urinary tract infection 7 cases and respiratory tract infection 6 cases etc. The most common infecting organism was Hantavizus (50.5%). There was a greater number of gram-negative organisms than gram-positive organisms (34.1% vs 9.9%). 6) The overall mortality rate in patients with ARF was 31.4Fo. The presumptive causes of death were underlying disease (59.7%) such as sepsis, acute poisoning, cardiogenic and hypovolemic shock, and respiratory failure (14.3%), hyperkalemia (9.1%), pulmonary edeme (6.5%), and metabolic aidosis (2.6%) in order of frequency. 7) The highest mortality rate was 42.6% in patients above 50 years old. Mortality rate in patients with ARF due to surgical causes (52.0%) was significantly high than that of medical causes (26.2%) (p<0.05). Among the expired patients, oliguric group was 72.7%. In conclusion, there have been major trends in the clinical features of acute renal failure in this study. Especially, significant increase in the number of elderly patients, non-oliguric patients, and medical causes such as hemarrhagic fever with renal syndrome or sepsis were observed. Survival rate significantly decreased with increasing age, in acute renal failure by surgical causes, in oligurie patients, and in the presence of complicating factors such as sepsis or shock.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Aged ; Burns ; Cause of Death ; Demography ; Female ; Fever ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; Humans ; Hyperkalemia ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Multiple Trauma ; Poisoning ; Potassium ; Prognosis ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Serum Albumin ; Sex Ratio ; Shock ; Survival Rate ; Survivors ; Urinary Tract Infections

The B3 phenotype is the most common B subtype in Korea. The B305 allele (425 T>C, M142T) was first reported in 2 Chinese individuals; however, it has not yet been reported in the Koreans, and the impact of the M142T mutation on the expression of the B3 phenotype has also not been studied. To resolve an ABO discrepancy between a group O neonate and her group O father and A(1)B(3) mother, blood samples from these individuals and other family members were referred to our laboratory for ABO gene analysis. The B305 allele was discovered in the neonate (B305/O01), her mother (A102/ B305), and her maternal aunt (B305/O02), while her father was typed as O01/O02. Transient transfection experiments were performed in HeLa cells using the B305 allele synthesized by site-directed mutagenesis; flow cytometric analysis revealed that this transfect expressed 35.5% of the total B antigen produced by the B101 allele transfect. For comparison, Bx01 allele transfects were also created, and they expressed 11.4% of the total B antigen expressed on the surface of B101 transfects. These experiments demonstrate that the M142T (425 T>C) mutation is responsible for the B subtype phenotype produced by the B305 allele.
ABO Blood-Group System/*genetics ; Adult ; Alleles ; *Amino Acid Substitution ; Child ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genotype ; Hela Cells ; Humans ; *Mutation ; Phenotype ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Transfection

BACKGROUND: Various eccrine tumors are rather common diseases in clinicians. However, data on the clinicopathologic features of eccrine tumors in Korea are limited. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics of eccrine tumors in Korea. METHODS: Two hundred and sixty five cases of eccrine tumors, seen from 2002 to 2004 in Korea, were retrospectively analyzed clinically and histopathologically. RESULTS: The most common eccrine tumors identified within Koreans were syringoma (61%), followed by eccrine poroma (13%), eccrine hidrocystoma (9%), and nodular hidradenoma (6%). Moreover, eccrine tumors were usually found to occur in middle-aged woman as multiple asymptomatic skin-colored papules. The most common site of occurrence was the face (45%), followed by the neck (9%), scalp (5%), foot (5%), abdomen (4%), and vulvar (3%). CONCLUSION: The results of this study will be useful and fundamental data on eccrine tumors for clinicians and pathologists.
Abdomen ; Acrospiroma ; Female ; Foot ; Hidrocystoma ; Humans ; Korea ; Neck ; Poroma ; Retrospective Studies ; Scalp ; Syringoma