Recently many studies have shown the usefulness of computed tomogram in diagnosing abdominal mass when clinical and conventional radiologic examinations fail to reveal the nature of abdominal mass or the cause of abdominal distension. To evaluate the usefulness of CT in diagnosing neuroblastoma, we retrospectively analyzed computed tomographic findings of 16 neuroblastoma patients, who pathologically proved in Yeungnam University Hospital from 1986 to 1995. The age range of the patients studied were from 8months to 18years. The most frequent sith of origin was adrenal gland and the next was retroperitioneum. The presenting symptoms were palpable mass, abdominal distension, and abdominal pain.- The viewpoints of this analysis were tumoral calcifications, midline cross, shape, margin, internal structure, contrast enhancement patterns, major vessel involvement, and lymph node involvement. ':haracteristic CT findings were 'as follows: Fine dense curvillinear calcification within the tumor(56%), midline cross(50%), lobulation(75%), well-circumscribed margin(56%), cystic degeneration(56%), heterogeneous contrast enhancement(690/o), encasement of major vessels such as aorta, IVC and celiac trunk(50%), and paraaortic lymphadenopathy(87%). We conclude that these CT findings were very common and could be helpful in diagnosting and differentiation neuroblastoma in infant and children.
Adrenal Glands ; Aorta ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Lymph Nodes ; Neuroblastoma* ; Retrospective Studies

Primary carcinoma of the bile duct is uncommon but not rare and its prognosis is poor even though long-termsurvival had been reported. The authors presented 62 cases of bile duct cancer, which were confirmed at YUMC fromJan. 1971 to Dec. 1981. The results were as follows; 1. The most prevalent age group was 6th decade and a male-tofemale ratio was 1.9:1. 2. Jaundice was the most common clinical manifestations(84%), and followed by right
Bile Duct Neoplasms ; Bile Ducts ; Bile ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Common Bile Duct ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Prognosis ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.
Bone Marrow* ; Microwaves* ; Plastics*

BACKGROUND: Pacing-induced atrial electrical remodeling (AER) is characterized by shortening of atrial effective refractory period (A-ERP) and its altered rate adaptation. In paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), periods of AF occur with interveneing normal sinus rhythm (NSR) when atria recover from the preceding AER. Previous episodes of AF may precondition the atrial myocardium and cause different time course of AER in subsequent episodes of AF. But the influence of the preceding AER on the subsequent AER has not been described. METHODS: Four mongrel dogs were anesthetized with enflurane. After thoracotomy, silicon band with 3 pairs of electrodes was sutured to the lateral wall of the left atrium. Atrial pacing was performed after 2 wks of recovery and autonomic blockade. Pacing protocol consisted of rapid atrial pacing (RAP) at 500 bpm (for 60 min) and recovery in NSR (for 60 min) which was repeated three times. A-ERP was measured every 10 min. The same pacing protocol was repeated after pretreatment with verapamil (0.1 mg/kg/hr). RESULTS: 1) With 60 min of RAP, A-ERP decreased significantly (126+/-6 ms vs. 105+/-7 ms, p<0.005). 2) After cessation of pacing, A-ERP returned to 98% of baseline value in 15 minutes. Recovery from AER occurred faster than AER (78 vs 21 ms/h). 3) After pretreatment with verapamil, RAP decreased A-ERP from 127+/-5 ms to 116+/-5 ms. AER, the reduction in A-ERP, was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with verapamil (deltaERp=17+/-7 vs. 9+/-0.2 %, p<0.05). 4) When RAPs were repeated, AER showed a tendency of acceleration, but it was not statistically significant (deltaERp=22 ms, 24 ms, 28 ms at the end of 60 min pacing for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd pacing). CONCLUSION: RAP induced AER in conscious dog atria and it was reduced by pretreatment with calcium channel blocking agent, verapamil. Upon repeated atrial stimulations, AER did not accelerate or decelerate when the atria recovered from the preceding AER.
Acceleration ; Animals ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Atrial Remodeling* ; Calcium ; Calcium Channels ; Dogs* ; Electrodes ; Enflurane ; Heart Atria ; Myocardium ; Silicones ; Thoracotomy ; Verapamil

BACKGROUND: Several kinds of stents have shown their safety and efficacy to treat acute or subacute closure after balloon angioplasty as well as to reduce restenosis rate. However, one of the limitations of stents is difficult to deploy especially in tortuos vessels, lesions at a bend, and distal to previously deployed stents. The Micro stent II, which was one of the most recently developed stents, ia a rapid-exchage balloon expandable stainless steel stent with a zigzag design connected with a continuous single weld in each 3mm segments. It scores over excellent trackability and optimum radio-opacity. Therefore, it is easy to operate and feasible in tortuous, distal lesions and variety of lesion lengths. We report our experiences with Micro-II stent implanatation in the first 76 patients at Tonsei cardiovascular center to assess its safety and efficacy in patients with complex coronary anatomy and clinical results in the first months. METHODS: Between January 1996 and July 1996, eighty-six Micro-II stent were implanted in the coronary arteries of 76 patients(male 65.8%, age 59+/-10 year). Forty-five patients had unstable angina, the others had stable angina(17pts), acute myocardial infarction(14pts). RESULTS: 1) Indication of stenting was de novo 51(59.3%), suboptimal result 25(29.1%), restenosis 1(1.2%) and 9(10.4%) of lesions were stented in bail out situation. 2) Single stent were implanted in 76(88.4%)lesions, overlapping stent in 10(11.6%)lesions. Among overlapping stents, the second stent with Micro-II stent and with another kind of stent were 4.6%, 7.0%, respectively. 3) Procedure related complication including a subacute closure was occurred in 1(1.2%) patient who had distal dissection and 45% residual stenosis. In 12(14%) lesions, preistent dissection has been noticed after stent impantation. 4) Angiographic success(defined as a residual stenosis of <30% without major dissection) was achieved in 82 of 86 attempts(95.3%). The procedual success rate(defined as a residual stenosis of <30% without occurrence of major clinical events within 4 weeks after procesure) was 96.1%(73/76 patients). Angiographic success and procedural success rate in calcified lesion were 100% and 100%, respectively. Angiographic success and procedural success rate in more than 45` angulated lesion were 97% and 100%, respectively. 5) The mean minimal luminal diameter of the target lesions was increased from 0.42+/-0.40mm before stent implantation to 2.93+/-0.50mm(p<0.001). The percentage of diameter stenosis was reduced from 86.49+/-13.04% to 1.40+/-7.11%(p<0.001) after stent implantation. CONCLUSION: Coronary stenting with AVE Micro-II stent can be safety performed and is particularly beneficial in tortuous and calcified arteries. There was a high tendency for peristent dissection which need to special consideration to avoid. Follow-up data is needed to assess mid and term patency. Coronary artery disease . AVE Micro-II stent . Immediate results.
Angina, Unstable ; Angioplasty, Balloon ; Arteries ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Phenobarbital ; Stainless Steel ; Stents*

Leiomyosarcoma(LMS) is a malignant tumor from smooth muscle origin that arises most commonly in the gastrointestinal tract and uterus, but rarely in the oral and maxillofacial area which lacks smooth muscles. 63 cases of oral LMS have been reported, especially LMS that occurred in the mandibular gingiva is only 2 cases. Major symptom of oral LMS is painful or painless swelling. Besides it, oral LMS has no specific characteristics. So it is difficult to diagnose the case as LMS of the oral cavity. Certain cases report that LMS of the oral cavity was misdiagnosed as periodontitis and the patients were treated with unnecessary procedures. Conventional treatment of LMS is the radical surgical excision. LMS that is infiltrative and very malignant has poor prognosis despite of well-circumscribed boundary. LMS of the oral cavity is often recurred, has high rate of distant metastasis and 5-year-survival rate is as low as 23%. This article reports LMS of the mandibular gingiva that treated with surgical intervention, had local recurrence and metastasis to the lymph node after 16-month's follow-up examination.
Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Gingiva* ; Humans ; Leiomyosarcoma* ; Lymph Nodes ; Mouth ; Muscle, Smooth ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Periodontitis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Unnecessary Procedures ; Uterus

The recent introduction of chemotherapy in the treatment of the gynecologic malignancies has gained wide acceptance along with preoperative and postoperative adjuvant therapy and with preradiation and concurrent chemoradiaton therapy. But, the side effects of chemotherapy including bleeding and infection due to bone marrow suppression have resulted in increased morbidity and mortality of the patients and delayed treatment and a reduction in the chemotherapeutic agents used. In spite of the development of antibiotics and the supportive care of infection, sustained leukopenia in the patients during chemotherapy accounts for the high mortality rate due to sepsis. The early detection of the leukopenia during chemotherapy may enable clinicians to overcome infection problems by timely use of prophylactic broad spectrum antibiotics and G-CSF or GM-CSF. The author investigated the grade, duration, time of onset and other clinical features of the leukopenia and the effects of the age (> or =60 years vs <60 years), the number of the cycle of chemotherapy (> or =3 cycles vs < 3 cycles), fever and performance scale on the leukopenia. 79 cases (32 patients) of the leukopenia during chemotherapy of various gynecologic malignancies at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hanyang University between January, 1996 and December, 1998 entered to this study. The results were as follows; 1. Leukopenia occurred at 14.2+/-6.1 day from the first day of chemotherapy, 2. The duration of leukopenia was 2.5+/-1.6 days 3. No significant difference was found between eldely patients ( > or =60 years, n=13) and younger patients ( <60 years, n=66) about the severity, duration and time of onset of leukopenia. 4. No significant difference was found between the patients with more than 3 cycles of chemotherapy (n=40) and less than 3 cycles (n=39) about the severity, duration and time of onset of leukopenia. 5. Febrile leukopenic cases (n=6) had significantly lower granulocyte count, longer leukopenic period and earlier onset of leukopenia than afebrile (n=73). 6. It is thought that performance status scale does not affect the grade of leukopenia, onset of leukopenia and the leukopenic period.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bone Marrow ; Drug Therapy* ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Granulocytes ; Gynecology ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Leukopenia* ; Mortality ; Obstetrics ; Sepsis

Head ; Lipoma ; Neck Muscles ; Neck ; Recurrence ; Shoulder ; Subcutaneous Tissue

Pacemaker Runaway is a rare, but potentially lethal complication after pacemaker implantation. Pacemaker runaway was one of the common manifestations of malfunctioning pacemaker at the time of fixed rate pacemaker, but has been less common after the demand type pacemaker had replaced the fixed rate model. The early recognition of runaway pacemaker is very important because runaway pacemaker can cause bradyarrhythmia, ventricular tachycardia-fibrillation and asystole resulting in syncope or death. We report a clinical experience of runaway pacemaker in 68 year-old woman, who received permanent pacemaker implantation(fixed rate 72/min, VVI, Micropulse 22U, Edwards system) due to sick sinus syndrome eight years ago. She complained of sudden chest tightness and dyspnea 10 days prior to admission. On physical examination, increased jugular venous pressure, rapid heart beats, basal rales on both lung fields and three finger-breath tender hepatomegaly. Electrocardiogram showed a rapid pacemaker rhythm of 140 beats per minute. So, the malfunctioning pacemaker was removed and replaced with a new programmable demand type pacemaker(VVI, OPTIMA-MP, Telectronics) in the same pocket under the diagnosis of pacemaker runaway. Her subject symptoms were relieved and electrocardiogram showed a regular pacemaker rhythm of 71 BPM. She was discharged ten days after pacemaker replacement.
Aged ; Bradycardia ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Heart ; Heart Arrest ; Hepatomegaly ; Homeless Youth* ; Humans ; Lung ; Physical Examination ; Respiratory Sounds ; Sick Sinus Syndrome ; Syncope ; Thorax ; Venous Pressure

To evaluate the incidence and clinical course of AV conduction disturbances associated with acute myocardial infarction(MI) and coronary angiographic characteristics in acute inferior MI with AV blocks. We reviewed the medical records and serial ECG's in 89 patients with acute MI treated in CCU of Chonnam National University Hospital from january, 1987 through August, 1990. The subjects were 44 anterior MI's, 43 inferior MI's, and 2 anterior and inferior MI's. AV conduction disturbances were observed in 25.8% of all the patients with acute MI's, 48.8% of 43 inferior MI's and 4.5% of 44 anterior MI's. High degree AV block was observed in 20.0% of all the subjects, 39.3% of inferior MI patients, and none of anterior MI patients. The most severe AV blocks observed in each patients were 7(30.4%) first-degree, 5(21.7%) second-degree, and 11(47.8%) third-degree AV block. The initial AV conduction disturbances developed within 6 hours after onset of symptoms in 9(47.4%) and after 24-hours in 9(47.4%). Seven(30.4%) of 23 patients with AV block showed a transient progression in the degree of AV block, 5(29.4%) of 17 patients with first-or second-degree AV block progressed to third-degree AV block thereby constituting 45.5% of 11 third-degree AV blocks. Nine patients with early AV block less tended to progress in the degree of AV block than the patients with late AV block (1/9 vs 4.9). In early AV block the duration of high-degree AV block was shorter than late AV block(2.5 days vs 6.1 days). The duration of third-degree AV block was less than 2-hurs in 36.4~24 hours in 27.3%, and more than 24 hours in 36.4%. All third-degree AV blocks(90.9%) but one with the longest duration of 13 days returned to 1 : 1 AV conduction within 7 days. There was no significant difference in coronary angiographic findings including the incidence of stenotic lesion in proximal LAD and first septal perforator, number of involved vessel(s), and severity of RCA lesion between the patients with AV block and the patients without AV block in inferior MI.
Atrioventricular Block ; Humans ; Incidence ; Jeollanam-do ; Medical Records ; Myocardial Infarction*