PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between spirituality and a fighting spirit among the patients with cancer. METHODS: The participants were 223 patients diagnosed stomach, colorectal or breast cancer, and who were in chemotherapy or follow up care. The study design was cross-sectional at the time of the data collection. The degree of spirituality was measured by the Korean version of WHOQOL Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs (SRPB) Pilot Test Module, and fighting spirit was measured by the scores of Mental Adjustment to Cancer(MAC) scale. RESULTS: The score of love appeared to be higher in the patients with follow up care than the patients with treatment(p<0.05) and the score of believing was much higher in patients with recurrence than the patients without (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant correlation among hope, believing, love, forgiveness and acceptance, and fighting spirit. In the multiple regression analysis, hope and believing explained much variance of the fighting spirit. CONCLUSION: These finding showed that the more hopeful and believing patients with cancer had higher scores of fighting spirit, which was known to be one of the most active coping style in adjusting to cancer.
Breast Neoplasms ; Data Collection ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Forgiveness ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea* ; Love ; Recurrence ; Spirituality* ; Stomach

PURPOSE: This study was a retrospective analysis with survey study which analyze influence of depression of patients with cancer on metastasis. METHODS: The subjects of this research were 223 patients who underwent chemotherapy or are in follow-up management with stomach, colon, or breast cancer. The questionnaires were collected in 2002 and medical documents were reviewed 400 days after the first data collection. Subjects were divided according to the depression level into over-average group and under average group. RESULTS: In survival analysis, metastasis occurred in 49 of 211 in 223 subjects for whom follow-up review was done after 400 days. The depression and anxiety level were higher in the group with metastasis than the other with no metastasis. As a result, it showed that the lower depression they have, the lesser the metastasis occurred. CONCLUSION: This research showed that patients who have higher level of depression, experienced higher risk for cancer metastasis. Nurses who take care of cancer patients are responsible for giving patients with positivity with intention to subside their depression.
Anxiety ; Breast Neoplasms ; Colon ; Data Collection ; Depression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intention ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach ; Survival Analysis

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the effects of depression on the survival of patients with cancer over a 10 year period. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted to examine survival of 218 patients with stomach, colorectal and breast cancer, who had been treated for cancer from 2002 to 2011. Depression was assessed by using the Symptom Check List-90 Revision in 2002, and hope, fighting spirit and other potential confounders were also measured to control for their effects on the association between depression and the survival time. Data on survival were collected from the Statistics Korea and also from medical record in 2011. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression model were used to examine if depression affected survival. RESULTS: The total number of death was 106, and the non-survivors scored higher on depression than survivors. Depression was found to be one of the influencing factors on survival from cancer. CONCLUSION: Depression was significantly associated with the increased risk of death in cancer patients. Further research is needed to identify in details which type of emotional interventions can extend the survival time of cancer patients in depression.
Emotional Adjustment ; Breast Neoplasms ; Depression* ; Hope ; Humans ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach ; Survivors

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the associations between depression, anxiety, hostility and fighting spirit among patients with stomach, colorectal or breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 223 patients, diagnosed as with stomach, colorectal or breast cancer, undergoing chemotherapy or follow up care, were the subjects of the study. The study design was cross-sectional at the time of the survey. The degrees of depression, anxiety and hostility of the patients were assessed by the SCL-90-R scores, and the fighting spirit was measured by the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale score. RESULTS: The scores of anxiety and hostility of the patients at younger age were higher than those at older age (p<0.01). The patients with metastasis were more depressed than those without it (p<0.01). There was a negative association between depression and fighting spirit (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The study showed the more depressed cancer patients had lower fighting spirit score, which was known to be one of the most active psychosocial contributors in adjusting to cancer and survival.
Anxiety* ; Breast Neoplasms ; Depression* ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hostility* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Stomach

Malignant melanoma rarely develops in the paranasal sinuses, and generally has a poor prognosis. However, mucosal melanoma can masquerade both clinically and histopathologically as a benign lesion, rendering accurate early diagnosis difficult. On the other hand, angiofibroma, a benign tumor, is more easily diagnosed than a mucosal melanoma, because the former exhibits specific histopathological features. No cases of concurrent angiofibroma and mucosal melanoma have been reported to date. We describe such a case below.
Angiofibroma* ; Early Diagnosis ; Hand ; Melanoma* ; Nasal Cavity ; Nose* ; Paranasal Sinuses ; Prognosis

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has emerged as an effective therapy for a variety of thoracic aortic pathologies. However, various types of endoleak remain a major concern, and its treatment is often challenging. We report a case of type I endoleak occurring 19 months after zone II hybrid TEVAR. The endoleak was successfully repaired by the frozen elephant trunk technique, without removal of a previous stent graft, combined with ascending aorta and total arch replacement.
Aneurysm ; Aorta ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Elephants* ; Endoleak* ; Pathology

BACKGROUND: The inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) is very effective for preventing pulmonary embolism in patients who cannot undergo anticoagulation therapy. However, if a filter is placed in the body permanently, it may lead to other complications. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed of 159 patients who underwent retrievable Cook Celect IVCF implantation between January 2007 and April 2015 at a single center. Baseline characteristics, indications, and complications caused by the filter were investigated. RESULTS: The most common underlying disease of patients receiving the filter was cancer (24.3%). Venous thrombolysis or thrombectomy was the most common indication for IVCF insertion in this study (47.2%). The most common complication was inferior vena cava penetration, the risk of which increased the longer the filter remained in the body (p=0.032, Exp(B)=1.004). CONCLUSION: If the patient is able to retry anticoagulation therapy and the filter is no longer needed, the filter should be removed, even if a long time has elapsed since implantation. If the filter cannot be removed, it is recommended that follow-up computed tomography be performed regularly to monitor the progress of venous thromboembolisms as well as any filter-related complications.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombectomy ; Thromboembolism ; Vena Cava Filters* ; Vena Cava, Inferior* ; Venous Thrombosis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of mesenchymal stem cell proliferation on recombinant human transforming growth factor-beta (rhTGF-β2) / poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) treated titanium discs by electrospray. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anodized titanium surface coated with PLGA was used for a control group to compare anodized titanium surface coated with 125 ng/ml and 500 ng/ml rhTGF-β2 as test groups. Atomic force microscope (AFM) test was utilized to determine the difference in coating surface roughness, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was taken to visualize even distribution of coating particles on titanium discs. The mesenchymal stem cell proliferation was tested by using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay on 1st, 4th, 7th days. RESULTS: According to AFM results, there was no statistically significant difference in titanium discs treated with PLGA and with rhTGF-β2/PLGA (P>.05). MTT assay test results showed that there was statistically significant difference in mesenchymal stem cell proliferation on test groups compared to control groups at 7th day, and cell viability on discs coated with rhTGF-β2 was significantly higher than control groups (P<.05). CONCLUSION: Titanium surface coated with rhTGF-β2/PLGA shows statistically significant higher cell proliferation and the titanium surface coated with the higher concentration of rhTGF-β2 presents faster cell growth activity.
Cell Proliferation ; Cell Survival ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Titanium*

This study reports the first two clinical cases of spirometrosis caused by Spirometra sp. in cats in Korea. In these two cases, the cats vomited, and long proglottids of tapeworm were recovered. The sick cats presented with anorexia and lethargy. However, they unexpectedly showed no diarrhea, which is the main symptom of spirometrosis. Based on a fecal floatation test as well as morphological and molecular analyses, the parasite was diagnosed as Spirometra sp. The 2 cases were treated with praziquantel. This study suggests regular monitoring of health and deworming in companion animals, even when animals are well cared for, with regular preventive medication. Additionally, spirometrosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis in cases of gastrointestinal symptoms in Spirometra endemic areas.

This study reports the first two clinical cases of spirometrosis caused by Spirometra sp. in cats in Korea. In these two cases, the cats vomited, and long proglottids of tapeworm were recovered. The sick cats presented with anorexia and lethargy. However, they unexpectedly showed no diarrhea, which is the main symptom of spirometrosis. Based on a fecal floatation test as well as morphological and molecular analyses, the parasite was diagnosed as Spirometra sp. The 2 cases were treated with praziquantel. This study suggests regular monitoring of health and deworming in companion animals, even when animals are well cared for, with regular preventive medication. Additionally, spirometrosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis in cases of gastrointestinal symptoms in Spirometra endemic areas.