BACKGROUND: Malignant skin cancers in Korea have been increasing as in other countries, but the previous epidemiological studies have been only attempted by a single hospital unit in a limited period of time. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate and compare the frequencies, age, sex distribution, and anatomical location of the frequent skin cancers collected from several hospitals over a 10 year period between 1984-5 and 1994-5. METHODS: 258 cases of skin cancer from 4 different places in Seoul were collected for the study. Histopathological records from pathology departments and medical records were reviewed to obtain information about the frequencies. RESULTS: Overall there were 141 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)1 basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and malignant melanoma (MM) in the mid-eighties and 117 in the mid-nineties. SCC was the most common skin cancer in both periods but the frequencies and the SCC/BCC ratio dropped at the later period. The ratio of males to females was getting smaller at 1.4:1 in the mid-eighties and 1.1:1 in the mid-nineties. BCC was concentrated on the face and SCC was rather evenly distributed over the body surface. The predilection site of malignant melanoma (MM) was quite different between the two periods. The lower extremities was the main site in the mid-nineties and the head and neck in the mid-eighties. CONCLUSION: Although there was no statistical significance, the BCC/SCC ratio was increased and the male/female ratio decreased at the later period.
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epithelial Cells* ; Female ; Head ; Hospital Units ; Humans ; Korea* ; Lower Extremity ; Male ; Medical Records ; Melanoma* ; Neck ; Pathology ; Seoul ; Sex Distribution ; Skin Neoplasms

Intraductal papillary mucinous tumor (IPMT) of the pancreas is a recently understood unique clinicopathologic disease entity comprising approximately 1% of all exocrine pancreatic tumors and 11% of cystic neoplasms of pancreas. It has been reported worldwide, mostly in Japan. It is generally characterized by recurrent pancreatitis, mucin oozing from the papilla of Vater, and dilated pancreatic duct with intraductal filling defects. Microscopically, the mucin-producing columnar epithelium forms papillary proliferation into the dilated pancreatic duct and this feature differentiates IPMT of the pancreas from the more common mucinous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas which usually do not communicate with the pancreatic duct. On the other hand, mucin-hypersecreting bile duct tumors have been rarely reported in the English literature. We herein present the first case of mucin-hypersecreting bile duct tumor combied with IPMT of the pancreas with a review of the related literature.
Bile Ducts ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic* ; Epithelium ; Hand ; Japan ; Mucins* ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatitis

Odontogenic carcinosarcoma is an extremely rare malignant odontogenic tumor with only a few reported cases. It is characterized by a true mixed tumor showing malignant cytology of both epithelial and mesenchymal components. It has been assumed to arise from pre-existing lesions such as ameloblastoma, ameloblastic fibroma, and ameloblastic fibrosarcoma. To date, the reported cases have exhibited considerably aggressive clinical behavior. The case of an odontogenic carcinosarcoma in the mandible of a 61-year-old male is described herein. The tumor destroyed the cortex of the mandible and invaded the adjacent tissues. Treatment was performed by surgical resection and reconstruction. The purposes of this article are to introduce odontogenic carcinosarcoma through this case study, to distinguish it from related diseases and to discuss features of the tumor in the existing literature.
Ameloblastoma ; Ameloblasts ; Carcinosarcoma* ; Fibroma ; Fibrosarcoma ; Humans ; Male ; Mandible* ; Middle Aged ; Odontogenic Tumors

Lemierre's syndrome is very rare and is characterized by previous oropharyngeal infections, such as pharyngitis or peritonsillar abscess, leading to high fever, internal jugular venous thrombosis, and metastatic infections to multiple internal organs. Prompt and accurate diagnosis followed by early treatment with antibiotics is very important because its mortality is high if treatment is delayed. We report on the case of a 23-year-old female who was transferred to our hospital with a left peritonsillar abscess combined with left jugular venous thrombosis, complaining of a sore throat and left submandibular swelling, and diagnosed as Lemierre's syndrome. Finally, she was treated successfully without anticoagulants.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anticoagulants ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Lemierre Syndrome* ; Mortality ; Peritonsillar Abscess* ; Pharyngitis ; Venous Thrombosis ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation and ratio between the calcaneal length and width for predicting the width of calcaneus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 190 feet (190 patients) were included based on computed tomography scans. The length of calcaneus (CL) was measured on the line connecting the center of a circle tangent to the cortical margin in the anterior and posterior parts of the calcaneus in a sagittal plane (W1, W2). The width of the calcaneus was defined as the horizontal line of each part (W1, W2, W3) on the same axial plane. The relationship between the measurement was determined through a correlation analysis. The reliability was assessed based on intraclass correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The CL and widths of calcaneus (W1, W2, W3) had a good positive correlation (r=0.848 [W1/CL], r=0.738 [W2/CL], r=0.769 [W3/CL]; p<0.001). The mean CL and widths ratios were 0.33 (W1/CL), 0.37 (W2/CL), and 0.37 (W3/CL). Using these ratios to estimate the widths by multiplying each ratio by the measured calcaneal length, we found a difference between the estimated calcaneal widths and the actual measured calcaneal widths values was 0.25 mm, 0.43 mm, and 0.16 mm. All measurements showed good-to-excellent inter- and intraobserver reliability. CONCLUSION: This study analyzed the correlation and ratio between the length and width of the calcaneus. The results will help orthopedic surgeons fixate screws in a stable manner to prevent iatrogenic injuries to the medial neurovascular structures of the calcaneus.
Calcaneus ; Foot ; Orthopedics ; Surgeons