Liver function tests before treatment showed abnormalities of liver function tests during treatment, while 15(68. 2%) of 22 patients who had abnormal liver function tests before treatment showed abnormalities during treatment. In 12 of the 25 patients who showed abnormalities of liver function tests during treatment with allopurinol, allopurinol was stopped and all patients showed improvement of liver function tests. In remaining 13 patients, 10 patients were improved and other 2 patients showed only mild abnormalities of liver function tests despite of continuing allopurinol and 1 patient was lost during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Abnormalities of liver function tests were common during treatment with allopurinol. Most patiensts who had mild abnormalities of liver functions tests during treatment with allopurinol were improved regardless of continuing allopurinol.
Allopurinol* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gout* ; Humans ; Liver Function Tests* ; Liver*

No abstract available.
Glioblastoma*

No abstract available.
Smoking* ; Tobacco Products*

No abstract available.
Lung

BACKGROUND: Pain is one of the most troublesome problems caused by malignancy. We evaluated the change in pain status according to observance of NCCN guidelines in lung cancer patients. METHODS: Lung cancer patients complaining of pain at admission were examined. The pain was assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS) for 20 days and moderate-to-severe pain was defined as more than VAS level 3. The guideline observance was classified as high (more than 80%), medium (50~79%) and low (less than 50%). RESULTS: Among the total 91 lung cancer patients with pain, 34 patients (37%) had moderate-to-severe pain. Their average VAS score at admission was 5.6. It decreased to 2.9 after a 20-day period of pain management. The time to reach a VAS less than 3 was 3 days in a high guideline observance group, while it took 6 days in a low observance group. In addition, the pain in the high observance group was controlled to less than 3 VAS level in 86% of patients, whereas only 25% of patients in the low observance group succeeded. CONCLUSION: Pain was more effectively controlled when the dose of drugs was modified according to NCCN guidelines in lung cancer patients indicating the importance of guideline observance in pain management.
Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Pain Management

Lung cancer frequently metastasizes to distant organs. However, solitary metastasis to the pancreas, with lung cancer as the source, is very rare. Most metastatic cases of the pancreas tend to be discovered in patients with widely disseminated malignant disease. In addition, patients with pancreatic metastases are often asymptomatic, the metastatic lesions are found incidentally, and are misdiagnosed as primary pancreatic tumors. We described the case of a 63-year-old man who presented with abdominal pain and a pancreatic nodule. The patient underwent resection of primary lung cancer followed by pylorus preserving pancreatoduodenectomy. The pancreatic nodule was confirmed as a solitary metastasis from lung cancer.
Abdominal Pain ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Pylorus

BACKGROUND: Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to direct stimuli, such as methacholine (MCh), is observed not only in asthma but other diseases. AHR to indirect stimuli is suggested to be more specific for asthma. The purpose of this study was to determine whether asthmatic airway inflammation is more closely related to AHR to hypertonic saline (HS), an indirect stimulus, than to MCh. METHODS: Sixty-four consecutive adult patients with suspected asthma (45 asthma and 19 non-asthma) performed a combined bronchial challenge and sputum induction with 4.5% saline, and MCh challenge on the next day. RESULTS: Both HS-PD15 and MCh-PC20 were significantly lower in asthma patients than in non-asthma patients. However, the sensitivity/ specificity for asthma was 48.9%/100%, respectively, in the HS test and 82.2%/ 84.2%, respectively, in the MCh test. There was a significant relationship between HS-PD15 and MCh-PC20 and only 52.9% of patients with MCh-PC20 < or= 4 mg/mL showed HS-AHR, but 4 patients with HS-AHR showed MCh-PC20 > 4 mg/mL. There were significant correlations between both HS-PD15 and MCh-PC20 and FEV1, or sputum eosinophils, but FEV1 was more closely related to MCh-PC20 (r=0.478, p < 0.01) than to HS-PD15 (r=0.278, p < 0.05), and sputum eosinophils were more closely related to HS-PD15 (r=-0.324, p < 0.01) than to MCh-PC20 (r=-0.317, p < 0.05). Moreover, the IL-5 level (r=-0.285, p < 0.05) and IFN-gamma/IL-5 ratio (r=0.293, p < 0.05) in sputum were significantly related to HS-PD15, but not to MCh-PC20. CONCLUSION: HS-AHR may reflect allergic asthmatic airway inflammation more closely than MCh-AHR.
Asthma/*physiopathology ; Bronchial Hyperreactivity/*physiopathology ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Bronchoconstrictor Agents/*diagnostic use ; Comparative Study ; Female ; Human ; Male ; Methacholine Chloride/*diagnostic use ; Saline Solution, Hypertonic/*diagnostic use ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Cerebral venous angomas are a rare form of intracranial vascular malformation and first reported by Wolf in 1967. The characteristic angiographic appearance of venous malformation is a local network of small veins that converged centrally into a single large drainage vein. The CT findings are linear or curvilinear enhancement after administration of contrast media. The authors present a case of venous angiomatosis of the both hemisphere combined with dural arteriovenous malformations demonstrated by the carotid angiography and bran CT, with clinical presentation of status epilepcus and following left hemiplegia due to cerebral infarction.
Angiography ; Angiomatosis* ; Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Contrast Media ; Drainage ; Hemiplegia ; Vascular Malformations ; Veins ; Wolves

CD8+ T cells are activated by TCRs that recognize specific cognate Ags, while NK-cell activation is regulated by a balance between signals from germline-encoded activating and inhibitory NK receptors. Through these different processes of Ag recognition, CD8+ T cells and NK cells play distinct roles as adaptive and innate immune cells, respectively. However, some human CD8+ T cells have been found to express activating or inhibitory NK receptors. CD8+ T-cell populations expressing NK receptors straddle the innate-adaptive boundary with their innate-like features. Recent breakthrough technical advances in multi-omics analysis have enabled elucidation of the unique immunologic characteristics of these populations. However, studies have not yet fully clarified the heterogeneity and immunological characteristics of each CD8+ T-cell population expressing NK receptors. Here we aimed to review the current knowledge of various CD8+ T-cell populations expressing NK receptors, and to pave the way for delineating the landscape and identifying the various roles of these T-cell populations.

Although pulmonary metastasis of thyroid cancer is not uncommon, it mostly occurs as multiple discrete nodules on the lung parenchyma. Because thyroid cancer presenting with an isolated large lung mass is extremely rare and the diagnosis is frequently based on small pieces of tissue obtained by a fine needle, the wrong diagnosis such as lung cancer is prone to be made. A 60-year-old man was admitted for evaluation of a lung mass detected on chest radiography. Cytological examination of the bronchial washing specimens suggested adenocarcinoma. Surgery for early lung cancer was performed considering that no other abnormalities were found during the work-up that included 18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computer tomography (18FDG-PET/CT). Unexpectedly, the diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer with lung metastasis was made, which prompted us to evaluate the thyroid gland and then remove the primary cancer by subsequent operation. Although it is uncommon, physician should be aware of this possibility, which could help to avoid the wrong diagnosis. Here we report on a typical case of solitary pulmonary metastasis of thyroid cancer and we summarize the previously reported cases with a review of the relevant literature.
Adenocarcinoma ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Thorax ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms