The patient was a 7 months old Korean girl, who was admitted to Department of Ophthalmology of the Seoul National University Hospital, with 6 months history of the left eyelid swelling and exophthalmos. Visual acuity and ocular movement were unaffected. Orbit CT revealed 1.5x.5 cm sized well circumscribed intraconal mass in the left retrobulbar space with pressure erosion of adjacent bone. At surgery, the mass was pinkish gray and firm, and was adherent to adjacent tissue. The whole mass could not be removed, and a local excision was done.

Masson's hemangioma is a rare benign vascualr condition with a papillary intravascular endothelial proliferation which may appear either as aprimary form or as a secondary form in a pre-existing vascular process.CT and angiographic features of 2 cases with Masson's hemangioma were presented. Both of them were locatedextra-axially in the posterior fossa. CT findings were not specific in both cases: One showed homogeneously enhancing mass, simulating meningioma. And the other demonstrated a multiolocular rim enhancing mass. However, the angiographic features were rather characteristic; Both cases showed persistent vascular poolings of contrast mediawhich were supplied form the meningeal vessels. Angiographic differential diagnosis of similar lesions in theposterior fossa is discussed.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Hemangioma ; Meningioma

We report a case of epidermolysis bullosa simplex occurred in a 12-year-old girl, who presented with intractable bullous lesions of the hands and feet after minor traumas ever since her early neonatal period. The bullous lesions were noted on the 2nd and 4th webs of the fingers and dorsum of the hands as well as on the skin of the ankle. The lesions were healed without scar formation. Family history was not contributary and seasonal pattern was not noted. Histologic sections revealed intraepidermal bullae just above the well preserved basement membrane. Electron microscopic findings revealed cytolysis of basal cells with preservation of the basement membrane, indicating the epidermal type of epidermolysis bullosa simplex.
Infant, Newborn ; Humans

A case of intramural sparganosis of jejunum presenting as intestinal obstruction is described. Resected intestine from a 48 year old man with acute abdomen revealed a degenerated sparganum in the submucosa with typical tissue reaction and extensive edema. The tissue reaction was basically granulomatous, consisting of layers of inner palisading histiocytes and outer mononuclear cell infiltration. Many calcospherules were prominent within the degenerated worm. Eosinophil infiltration was scanty.
Granuloma/pathology ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction/*etiology ; Jejunal Diseases/etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sparganosis/*diagnosis

Parasitic disease is still important subject in the field of infectious diseases in Korea considering it's number and morbidity. Recently there was conspicuous reduction of parasitic disease in terms of soil-transmitted nematodiasis, but parasitism affecting organs other than intestinal tract is still a considerable problem. This survey covers the parasitic diseases cross-sectioned at a pathology laboratory of a referral hospital, trying to elucidate the significance of its relative frequency and also to describe some histopathological changes made by different parasites. Entire pathological materials of parasitic diseases, that were referred, examined and confirmed at the Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital from 1968 to 1987, were used for the study. There was a total of 594 cases of tissue parasitic diseases. This number accounted for 0.33 per cent of total accessions of surgical pathology. There occurred average 30 cases of tissue parasitic disease each year at this Hospital. Protozoal diseases were constituted of 15 cases of amebiasis, 7 cases of leishmaniasis (imported) and 5 cases of Pneumocystis carinii infections. Among helminthic infections cysticercosis was the most common (425 cases), and was followed by paragonimiasis (35 cases), sparganosis (31 cases), clonorchiasis (32 cases) and ascariasis (16 cases). In addition there were 4 cases of anisakiasis, 2 cases of fascioliasis, 2 cases of echinococcosis (imported) and a case of strongyloidiasis and a case of metagonimiasis respectively. It is emphasized that imported parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and hydatid disease become steadily found nowadays. Schistosomiasis is another possible imported disease, but not found in this series. And certain cestodiasis particularly cysticercosis and sparganosis should be the subjects of epidemiologic re-evaluation in view of steady occurrence of their morbidity.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Helminthiasis/epidemiology ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology/ethnology ; Male ; Parasitic Diseases/*epidemiology/parasitology/pathology ; Protozoan Infections/epidemiology ; Saudi Arabia ; Travel

The authors report 3 cases of primary intramedullary glioblastoma multiforme which is relatively rare among spinal cord tumors. They were located at the thoracolumbar, cervical and conus medullaris region respectively. Clinical, radiographic and pathological material are presented and the literature is discussed.
Conus Snail ; Glioblastoma* ; Prognosis ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms

Reticulum cell sarcoma occurs rarely in central nervous system. It occupies 1-2.5% of all brain tumors. The prognosis is known to be very poor: 3 weeks of mean survival time in case of no treatment, 2 months of mean survival time in case of only surgery, 9 months-3 years of mean survival time in case of both surgery and radiation. We have experienced a case of reticulum cell sarcoma in brain and obtained a good result after surgery and radiation. We report our case with a brief review of the articles.
Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Central Nervous System ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Prognosis ; Reticulum* ; Survival Rate

Reticulum cell sarcoma occurs rarely in central nervous system. It occupies 1-2.5% of all brain tumors. The prognosis is known to be very poor: 3 weeks of mean survival time in case of no treatment, 2 months of mean survival time in case of only surgery, 9 months-3 years of mean survival time in case of both surgery and radiation. We have experienced a case of reticulum cell sarcoma in brain and obtained a good result after surgery and radiation. We report our case with a brief review of the articles.
Brain ; Brain Neoplasms ; Central Nervous System ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Prognosis ; Reticulum* ; Survival Rate

The clinical and pathologic features, including prognostic factors and survival data, were analyzed for 23 patients with intracranial ependymoma treated surgically at the Seoul National University Hospital during the years 1979 to 1990. The age at diagnosis ranged from 2 months to 55 years(mean : 14.9 years). The male to female ratio was 10:13. Fifteen patients(65%) were under the age of 15. The tumors of twenty one patients(91%) were located infratentorially. The adjusted overall 5-year-survival rate of infratentorial ependymomas was 77% excluding 4 cases of surgical mortaltiy(Kaplan-Meier method). The period of follow-up ranged from 2 to 70 months. No correlation was possible between 5-year-survival rate and extent of tumor, age group(below and above 6 years), extent of removal, or pathologic grading. Clinical or pathological evidence of spinal metastasis was not found.
Diagnosis ; Ependymoma* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Seoul

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA quantitation and detection assay is necessary when monitoring the disease progression or therapeutic effect of viral hepatitis. The TaqMan PCR system (TPS) that was recently developed for HBV DNA quantitation was known for not only capable and exact quantitation but also capable sensitive detection. Therefore, we evaluated the clinical utility of the TPS by comparing it with hybrid capture system (HCS) and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). METHODS: The dilution test was performed to evaluate reproducibility and the dynamic range of TPS and HCS. Further, the sensitivity of the diluted sera were also compared with TPS, HCS, and nested PCR. The sera of HBsAg positive patients (n=119) were tested to compare the sensitivity of the three methods and the quantity of HBV DNA by TPS and HCS. RESULTS: The TPS showed lower coefficients of variations (TPS, 6.5- 60.4%; HCS, 11.9-61.4%) and a wider dynamic range than HCS in the dilution test. The sensitivity was high in order of nested PCR, TPS and HCS (cover 10(6), 5 X 10(5), and 10(2) of diluted concentration) in the dilution test. But the sensitivity was high in order of TPS, nested PCR, and HCS (89, 68%, and 56%) in the 119 sera of HBsAg positive patients. The TPS and HCS revealed a significant correlation (R=0.90, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The TPS and nested PCR showed higher sensitivity than HCS, and TPS showed better sensitivity than nested PCR in clinical specimens. Also, the TPS showed more quantitation potential than HCS. Thus, it appears useful in accurately defining the viral replication state and antiviral therapeutic effects among persons with HBV infection.
Disease Progression ; DNA ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction*