PURPOSE: To evaluate the pattern of colonic diverticulosis according to age and sex, and recent trend. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed 120 cases of colonic diverticulosis in 1,020 patients who had undergone a double contrast barium enema examination between January 1st, 1993, and December 31st, 1995, and analyzed the frequency, size, multiplicity and anatomical site, according to age and sex. Diverticulum size was classified into one of three groups : less than 5mm, 5-10mm, over 10mm in diameter. RESULTS: The overall incidence of colonic diverticulosis was 120 cases among 1,020 patients(11.8%) with an incidence 5.3 times higher in males than in females. Peak incidence was in the fifth decade, with 19 cases (15.8%) among males, and after the sixth decade, with four cases(3.3%) among females. Mean age was 57.7 years. Diverticulum size of 5-10mm in diameter was predominant 2% of cases) ; average diameter was 5-6mm. The incidence of colonic diverticulosis was 5.1 times more frequent in the right colon(101 cases) than in the left (20 cases). CONCLUSION: The overal overall incidence of colonic diverticulosis has continually increased; in addition it has also recently increased slightly in left-sided colon. This is thought to be due to various factors, both congenital and acquired, including longer life with good health care, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, stress and the tendency of eating patterns to more closely resemble those of the west.
Barium* ; Colon* ; Constipation ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diverticulosis, Colonic* ; Diverticulum ; Eating ; Enema* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

Malignant epithelial neoplasm usually occurs in postmenopausal women, with less than 10% of cases occurring in women under the age of 20. In patients below this age, the majority of ovarian tumors are of germ cell origin and malignant ovarian epithelial tumors are uncommon. We report US & CT imaging in a case of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma in a 17-year-old nullipara who complained of amenorrhea for 45 days and a palpable mass.
Adolescent* ; Amenorrhea ; Carcinoma ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Female* ; Germ Cells ; Humans ; Mucins*

PURPOSE: Gastric variceal bleeding in cirrhotic patient is an emergent, life threatening disease of which the adequate treatment is still in dispute. The periesophagogastric devascularization (PD) would be the alternative operative procedure. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and long-term results of PD for the gastric fundal variceal bleeding. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made of fifty-two patients with gastric variceal bleeding who underwent PD with or without fundectomy from August 1994 to March 2006. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, operative morbidity, mortality and long-term follow up results. RESULTS: The operative morbidity was 34.9% and overall mortality was 17.3%. The Child-Pugh classification at operation, the number of previous varix bleeding episode, the success of preoperative intervention, splenectomy, esophageal transection, and ongoing bleeding at operation had a significant effect on postoperative mortality. Most common cause of postoperative death was hepatic failure. Child-Pugh classification and esophageal transection were significant risk factor for postoperative mortality comparing before and after year 2001. During the mean follow-up period of 33.58+/-27.08 months, there was no recurrent bleeding from gastric varices. The cumulative 5-year survival rate was 64.1%. 0f 14 patients deceased, 6 patients died of hepatocellular carcinoma. Not only there was no death caused by recurrent variceal bleeding, but there was no recurrent gastric variceal bleeding. Hepatic functional reserve and concomitant hepatocellular carcinoma were the most important prognostic factors in the long term survival by multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION: We concluded that PD reached both low postoperative mortality and recurrent bleeding rate with good long-term survival. So it could be one of the most effective treatment for the gastric fundal variceal bleeding.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Classification ; Dissent and Disputes ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Failure ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Splenectomy ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; Survival Rate ; Varicose Veins

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS: It is common to find cerebral infarction without a history of stroke on neuroimaging. This study was to determine the frequency, MRI characteristics of these lesions, and the risk factors related with silent brain infarcts in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. METHOD: Sixty seven patients with acute ischemic stroke, who hospitalized in our hospital from April 1992 to May 1994, were reviewed. Brain MRI was performed in all patients. We evaluated frequency, site, size, and anatomic location of silent infarcts and compared the risk factors of the patients with silent infarcts with that of the ones without silent infarcts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of silent infarct was 58.2% ( (39/67). The predilection sites were in the right hemisphere and subcortical area (basal ganglia, thalamus), and their sizes were less than 1 cm mostly. The significant risk factor of silent infarcts was hypertension(P<0.01), and the other risk factors, such as age, sex, DM, and EKG abnormality, were not remarkable.
Brain* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Electrocardiography ; Ganglia ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Neuroimaging ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate whether verbal and spatial working memory functions were impaired not only in patients with schizophrenia but also in people at ultra-high risk for first-episode psychosis. METHODS: Twenty-five patients (M 13, F 12) with schizophrenia (SPR), 21 people at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR)(M 10, F 11) and 19 normal controls (NC)(M 10, F 9) were recruited. The working memory was assessed by using the verbal and spatial n-back test. The working memory load increased incrementally from the 0-back to the 3-back condition. RESULTS: SPR performed significantly lower than NC and UHR in terms of hit rates of verbal and spatial n-back test. UHR subjects conducted significantly lower than NC and higher in trend-level than SPR in terms of hit rates of verbal and spatial n-back test. These differences were derived from the high working memory load (2-back and 3-back), not from the low working memory load (0-back and 1-back). There was no significant difference between the verbal and spatial n-back test across the three groups. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that verbal and spatial working memory dysfunction may be general rather than differential in terms of stimuli modality, and this working memory deficit may be an important trait factor in schizophrenia.
Humans ; Memory, Short-Term ; Psychotic Disorders ; Schizophrenia

PURPOSE: The schwannoma is a benign peripheral nerve tumor arising from the Schwann cell of the nerve sheath. Only 2-8% of schwannomas arise in the hand and wrist. Misdiagnosis is frequent such as ganglion and neurofibroma. This article documents and clarifies the clinical features of schwannomas arising in the hand and wrist, and emphasizes importance of differential diagnosis and meticulous surgical extirpation under magnification. METHODS: The author reviewed clinical features of 15 patients with pathologic final diagnosis of schwannoma developed in hand and wrist during the last 12 years from 1998 through 2009. The review included the sex, age of onset, duration, preoperative diagnosis, location, involved nerve, preoperative symptoms and. Postoperative sequelae after surgical extirpation of the lesion with magnification, or without magnification of the surgical fields. RESULTS: The chief complaints were slow growing firm mass in all patients, and followed by pain in 40%, and paresthesia in 40% respectively. The lesions were developed solitarily in 14 patients(93%). The postoperative pathologic diagnosis and preoperative diagnosis were coincided with only in 6 patients(40%). Other preoperative diagnosis were soft tissue tumor in 4 patient(26.6%), and ganglion in 3 patients(20%), and neurofibroma in 2 patients(13%). In all patients who were undergone surgical excision under the fields of magnification, all symptoms were subsided without any sequelae. Meanwhile muscle weakness, paresthesia, hypoesthesia and/or accidental nerve resection developed after surgical excision with naked eye. CONCLUSION: Schwannoma in hand most commonly appears as a slow growing solitary mass with pain or paresthesia. The chance of preoperative misdiagnosis was 60% in this series. To provide good prognosis and less sequelae, careful and elaborate diagnostic efforts and meticulous surgical excision under the magnification are necessary in management of schwannoma.
Age of Onset ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diagnostic Errors ; Eye ; Ganglion Cysts ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Muscle Weakness ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibroma ; Paresthesia ; Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms ; Prognosis ; Wrist

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the frequency doubling technology (FDT) screening algorithm and parapapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in the eyes of glaucoma suspects and patients with open angle glaucoma. FDT C20-1 screening program and a scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) system (GDx-NFA) was used to assess 53 glaucomatous eyes, 53 glaucoma suspects and 36 normal control eyes. In glaucomatous eyes, there were correlations between the FDT the screening algorithm and RNFL retardation values in several polarimetric indices, most significantly "inferior thickness" (r = -0.321, P = 0.029). In the eyes of glaucoma suspects, however, we observed no correlation between the FDT results and RNFL retardation values (r = 0.080, P > 0.05, "inferior thickness"). In glaucomatous eyes, the abnormal scores obtained with FDT screening program correlated negatively with RNFL retardation values, as measured by SLP. Despite poor correlation between the FDT abnormal score and RNFL retardation value in glaucoma suspects, detection of abnormality using the FDT screening protocol may aid in the assessment of early glaucomatous structural damage.
Comparative Study ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Lasers/diagnostic use ; Microscopy, Confocal ; Middle Aged ; Nerve Fibers/*pathology ; Ocular Hypertension/diagnosis/physiopathology ; Optic Nerve/*pathology ; Perimetry/*methods ; Retinal Ganglion Cells/*pathology

Software modules for interactive display, manipulation and retrieval of medical images have been designed for a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). The target of these modules is not for a high-end diagnostic workstation for radiologists, but for a PC-based low cost clinical workstation for a referring physician. This software is constructed based on a concept of an object-oriented language which is designed to be modular and expandable. It consists of several functional modules: (a) a communication module for image retrieval, (b) a standard module for the interpretation of the DICOM images, (c) a user interface module for the non-computer oriented clinicians and (d) a tool module for viewing and manipulating images as well as editing the annotation.
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/instrumentation* ; Radiology Information Systems* ; Software*

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome(HPS) is a systemic disease that is caused by a newly discorved and characterized virus of the Hantavirus genus, which is most frequently referred to as the sin nombre virus. The clinical syndrome resembles other hantavirus syndromes worldwide, except that it is characterized by a brief prodromal illness followed by rapidly progressive, noncardiogenic edema, and that it is more deadly than any previously recognized hantavirus infection. The clinical manifestations of HPS are characterized by four clinical phases prodrome, pulmonary edema and shock, diuresis, and convalescence. Mortality is greatest in the first 24 hours of the pulmonary edema and shock phase of the illness. These phases are strikingly similar to the clinical phases of Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS) induced by Hantaan virus, except that HPS has not been associated with renal failure and Disseminated intravascular coagulation(DIC). We here report a case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome developed in a 58 year-old man. He had a flu-like illness followed by the rapid onset of respiratory failure due to noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. HPS was diagnosed by clinical manifestations, identification of high titer antibody to Hantaan virus antigen and histologic finding of transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) specimen. The patient was treated with mechanical ventilation and initial corticosteroid pulse therapy resulting in successful outcome.
Biopsy ; Convalescence ; Diuresis ; Edema ; Fever ; Hantaan virus ; Hantavirus Infections ; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome* ; Hantavirus* ; Humans ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Mortality ; Pulmonary Edema ; Renal Insufficiency ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Shock ; Sin Nombre virus

PURPOSE: To predict pulmonary arterial hypertension by comparing the extent of honeycombing lesion with the diameter of main pulmonary artery (MPA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 21 patients (20 men, one woman) who showed honeycombing lesion on HRCT, and also analysized a control group of 30 (29men, one woman) who had no cardiopulmonary symptom and no abnormality on chest CT. On Chest HRCT, we scanned at four levels [1)aortic arch, 2) bifurcation of bronchus, 3) mid-portion of left ventricle, 4) dome of right diaphragm], and two radiologists then evaluated the proportion of honeycombing lesion within the entire lung field. According to the extent of this, we divided the patients into five groups [<20% (I), 20-39% (II), 40-59% (III), 60-79% (IV), > or = 80% (V)], and then divided Group I into two subgroups [<10 % (I|1), 10-19% (I-2)]. Using contrast-enhanced routine CT, the main pulmonary artery (MPA) was measured at its the widest diameter perpendicular to the long axisat the level of its bifurcation. RESULT: In group I (n=11) MPA was 28.4+/-2.6mm ; in group II (n=6), it was31.7+/-2.0mm ; in group III (n=2), 33.5mm ; in group IV (n=1), 33mm ; and in group V (n = 1), 39mm. In subgroup I-1MPA was 26.1+/-1.9mm, and in subgroup I-2, it was 29.8+/-1.6mm. In the control group, MPA was 25.1+/- 2.0mm. CONCLUSION: The extent of honeycombing lesion is closely related to the change in diameter of the MPA. Honeycombing lesion extending over more than 10% of the lung field may lead to pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Bronchi ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Lung ; Pulmonary Artery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed