The incidence and death rate of hepathocellular carcinoma (HCC) both rank third in Korea (death rate 21.3 per 100,000 in 2000) and HCC is a major health issue in Korea. HCC causes substantial morbidity and mortality and the results of treatments for advanced HCC are still disappinting. Considering the high incidence, death rate, and poor prognosis of HCC, it is necessary to establish a national screening program by evaluating the validity. The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver (KASL) and National Cancer Center (NCC) cooperatively developed and recently released HCC screening/surveillance recommendation. The target population is patients with chronic hepatits B and C and cirrhosis of any cause, over 30 years of age in male and 40 years of age in female. The surveillance tests consist of serum alpha-fetoprotein and abdominal ultrasonography at least every 6 months. Korean national program for the early detection of cancer will start the HCC screening/surveillance program in the low economic classes from 2003, based on KASL-NCC recommendations. The efficacy of this HCC survaillance program would be worthy of attention.
alpha-Fetoproteins ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Early Diagnosis* ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Liver ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Ultrasonography

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: Dysfunctional uterine bleeding(DUB) is defined as abnormal bleeding from the uterine endometrium unrelated to anatomic lesions of the uterus, and its incidence is 10-15% among gynecologic diseases. We conducted this study for understanding correlation between clinical aspecets and pathological findings of DUB. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 599 women with DUB who underwent endometrial biopsy with special regard to the relation between pathologic findings and presenting symtoms or complaints from Jan. 1988 to Dec. 1997. RESULTS: Age distribution of DUB was mainly 5th decade, mean age was 44.1years, among various bleeding patterns, intermenstrual bleeding was the most common pattern(31.6%) and the next was menorrhagia(25.0%). Histologic findings of endometrium were proliferative phase, 327 cases(54.6%), hyperplasia, 139 cases(23.2%), secretory phase, 74 cases(12.4%) in order of frequency, and there was no difference in distribution of histologic findings among various bleeding patterns. CONCLUSION: Compared to other previoius studies, our study showed more incidence of endometrial hyperplasia, especially at age group of 40 or more. So patients aged more than this age with abnormal uterine bleeding must undergo emdometrial biopsy for pathologic diagnosis. Patients who are diagnosed endometrial hyperplasia must be carefully followed up because there are possibilities of progression to endometrial carcinoma.
Age Distribution ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Endometrial Hyperplasia ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Endometrium ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Incidence ; Metrorrhagia* ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Uterus

There are many difficult problems and various methods in the treatment of difficult fractures of the femur. Form May 1991 to August 1994, 9 cases of difficult fractures of the femur were treated with Ilizarov external fixator. We obtained good result for all cases as follow : 1. There were 1 case of severely segmental and comminuted fracture with bone loss, 3 cases of infected nonunion after internal fixation(2 cases combined with bone loss), 2 cases of non-union after internal fixation and 3 cases of severely segmental and comminuted fractures. The traffic accident injury was in 6 cases and the falling down injury was in 3 cases. 2. The bone union was obtained in all cases and the duration of Ilizarov external fixator application was minimum 7.7 months up to 19 months with an average of 1.3 months and full weight bearing was possible in all cases after removal of the Ilizarov external fixator. 3. We experienced 9 complication; there were 6 cases of pin tract infection which were controlled by antibiotic injection at that site and there were three cases of limitation of motion of knee. So we conclude that the Ilizarov external fixation technique is one of the effective methods for the treatment of difficult fracture of the femur(ex. segmental, comminuted fracture, bone defect, osteomyelitis and nonunion) in spite of having experienced only few cases.
Accidental Falls ; Accidents, Traffic ; External Fixators ; Femur ; Fractures, Comminuted ; Knee ; Osteomyelitis ; Weight-Bearing

Aneurysm of the internal carotid artery is a rare disease and is known to be associated with congenital arterial anomalies such as neurofibromatosis type I (NF-I). NF-I is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disorder characterized by a variety of manifestations that involve the central and peripheral nervous systems, skin, vascular system, and skeleton. In particular, the involvement of vascular abnormalities in NF-I is well known. Any vessel may be affected by this condition, although the renal artery is most frequently involved. The vascular abnormality can be occlusive or an aneurysmal degenerative change. Therefore, symptomatic presentations might assume an indolent pathophysiologic course such as hypertension, or manifest as a catastrophic event such as arterial rupture that could result in sudden death. We report a rare autopsy case of an aneurysmal rupture of the internal carotid artery in a woman with suspected NF-I, who collapsed in her home.
Aneurysm ; Autopsy ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Death, Sudden ; Female ; Glycosaminoglycans ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Neurocutaneous Syndromes ; Neurofibromatoses ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Rare Diseases ; Renal Artery ; Rupture ; Skeleton ; Skin

No abstract available.
Vincristine*

No abstract available.
Transplants*

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*epidemiology/mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea/epidemiology ; Liver Neoplasms/*epidemiology/mortality ; Male ; Survival Rate

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly malignant, generally fatal neoplasm arising from hepatocytes. HCC accounts for over 80% of all primary liver cancers which ranks fourth among the organ-specific causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC is particularly prevalent in Korea where the age standardized incidence rate is 46.5 per 100,000 population. Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) or presence of liver cirrhosis are important risk factors for HCC development globally. Infection with HBV is the most important risk for HCC in Asia except Japan. The high incidence rate of HCC in Korea is thought to be related to the high carrier rate (5-6%) of HBV, which is currently being fought via a nationwide vaccination program. Although progress has been made in the management of HCC including chemoembolization and local ablation therapy, there has been little overall reduction in HCC mortality during the past 20 years. Recently, five year survival rate of primary liver cancer is 9.6% in Korea. Such poor prognosis of HCC results from the late detection of cancer, an aggressive tumor biology and underlying chronic liver diseases. Only a limited proportion of patients are candidates for potentially curative forms of treatment. Therefore efforts should be directed toward an effective surveillance program. The early detection of HCC is the important approach in reducing HCC mortality in the short term. Because almost eighty percent of HCC is diagnosed in late stage, we launched a nationwide surveillance program to screen high risk groups (HBV or HCV carriers or liver cirrhosis, over 40 years old) and formulated the Korean practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC with special emphasis on advanced stage of HCC.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*epidemiology ; English Abstract ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea/epidemiology ; Liver Neoplasms/*epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

Ovaries lie near the distal ureter where extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) of calculi is performed. The question whether ESWL may induce morphological changes in ovary should be investigated in animal experiments. After applying shock waves to ovary of Sprague Dawley female rat, the histopathologic changes within the tissue of ovary were observed immediately after shock waves and after recovery. For animal subjects, 25 healthy rats weighing about 250 grams each were used. Five rats were designated as control, and remaining 20 received shock waves at 20 kV for 1,000 times using Pendulum-ESWL (Lithoring), a third generation lithotriptor. The 20 rats were divided into 4 groups before shock waves, and each group was sacrificed after 1, 7, 14, and 28 days, respectively, in order to compare the observed histopathologic changes. Edema, congestion and hemorrhage were observed in ovary after 1 and 7 days of shock waves, but the edema and congestion were significantly reduced on the 14th day and completely disappeared on the 28th day. There was no ovarian follicular changes or fibrosis on the whole. It is thought that the extracorporeal shock waves have no specific effects on the tissues of ovary, but further studies ate needed to determine its long term effects.
Animal Experimentation ; Animals ; Calculi ; Edema ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Lithotripsy ; Ovary* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley* ; Shock* ; Ureter