Solitary fibrous tumors (SFT) are rare fibroblastic mesenchymal neoplasms which are originally described as neoplasms of the pleura originating from the spindle cells. Although it can originate from extrapleural sites including the head and neck, it is exceedingly rare in the sinonasal tract. There has been no reported cases of SFT involving the paranasal sinuses in Korea; however, there was case of a 34-year-old man who presented with persistent left nasal obstruction and watering of the left eye. Imaging by CT and MRI revealed a large, highly vascular tumor occupying the maxilloethmoidal sinus cavities associated with bony wall destruction, masquerading as maxillary sinus cancer. The tumor mass occupying sinus cavities was removed through endoscopic and Caldwell-Luc approach. Histopathological examination of the tumor was consistent with SFT. We report this case to further insights regarding the diagnosis and management of this rare tumor.

PURPOSE: Homeless patients usually live outside and are therefore frequently exposed to injury and tetanus infection. Thus, after visits to an emergency department (ED) due to injury, homeless patients need to be vaccinated for the prevention of tetanus infection with tetanus immunoglobulin regardless of tetanus antibody titer or previous vaccination history. Because the exact history of previous tetanus vaccination in homeless patients is unclear, the tetanus antibody titer between homeless patients and general patients was assessed. METHODS: Subjects who visited the ED after injury from October 2008 to February 2010 were enrolled. All participants answered questions on age, gender, previous vaccination or prophylaxis history, and military service. The Tetanus Immunoglobulin G ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method was used for the analysis of serum samples. Propensity score-matched analysis was used to control for age, gender, previous vaccination or prophylaxis history, and military service. RESULTS: A total of 1325 samples were analyzed. There was 83 samples from homeless patients and 1242 samples from general patients. After matched analysis using the propensity score, 56 subjects were matched. The geometric mean titer of tetanus antibody was 0.204+/-0.392 IU/mL in homeless patients and 0.105+/-0.143 IU/mL in general patients (p=0.078). The proportion of patients with a safe tetanus antibody titer was 66.1 percent of homeless patients and 23.2 percent of general patients (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Homeless patients had a higher mean titer and a statistically higher proportion had a safe titer compared to general patients.
Emergencies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulins ; Methods ; Military Personnel ; Propensity Score ; Tetanus* ; Vaccination

PURPOSE: Homeless patients usually live outside and are therefore frequently exposed to injury and tetanus infection. Thus, after visits to an emergency department (ED) due to injury, homeless patients need to be vaccinated for the prevention of tetanus infection with tetanus immunoglobulin regardless of tetanus antibody titer or previous vaccination history. Because the exact history of previous tetanus vaccination in homeless patients is unclear, the tetanus antibody titer between homeless patients and general patients was assessed. METHODS: Subjects who visited the ED after injury from October 2008 to February 2010 were enrolled. All participants answered questions on age, gender, previous vaccination or prophylaxis history, and military service. The Tetanus Immunoglobulin G ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method was used for the analysis of serum samples. Propensity score-matched analysis was used to control for age, gender, previous vaccination or prophylaxis history, and military service. RESULTS: A total of 1325 samples were analyzed. There was 83 samples from homeless patients and 1242 samples from general patients. After matched analysis using the propensity score, 56 subjects were matched. The geometric mean titer of tetanus antibody was 0.204+/-0.392 IU/mL in homeless patients and 0.105+/-0.143 IU/mL in general patients (p=0.078). The proportion of patients with a safe tetanus antibody titer was 66.1 percent of homeless patients and 23.2 percent of general patients (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Homeless patients had a higher mean titer and a statistically higher proportion had a safe titer compared to general patients.
Emergencies ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulins ; Methods ; Military Personnel ; Propensity Score ; Tetanus* ; Vaccination

Vitamins are essential micronutrients for maintenance of tissue functions. Vitamin deficiency is one of the most serious and common health problems among both chronic alcoholics and the homeless. However, the vitamin-level statuses of such people have been little studied. We evaluated the actual vitamin statuses of alcoholic homeless patients who visited an emergency department (ED). In this study the blood levels of vitamins B1, B12, B6, and C of 217 alcoholic homeless patients were evaluated retrospectively in a single urban teaching hospital ED. Vitamin C deficiency was observed in 84.3% of the patients. The vitamin B1, B12, and B6 deficiency rates, meanwhile, were 2.3%, 2.3%, and 23.5%, respectively. Comparing the admitted patients with those who were discharged, only the vitamin C level was lower. (P=0.003) In fact, the patients' vitamin C levels were markedly diminished, vitamin C replacement therapy for homeless patients should be considered in EDs.
Adult ; Alcoholic Intoxication/*complications ; Ascorbic Acid/blood/therapeutic use ; Ascorbic Acid Deficiency/*complications/drug therapy/epidemiology ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; *Homeless Persons ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Vitamin B Complex/blood

PURPOSE: Differential diagnosis of acute abdominal pain of the childbearing age woman is a difficult challenge to the emergency physician. Clinical scoring systems for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and acute appendicitis have already been introduced. We want to validate these scoring systems externally. METHODS: This study was conducted at a single urban teaching hospital emergency department from May 2011 to September 2013. Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected registry for reproductive-aged women was performed. RESULTS: A total of 1432 patients were registered. Among them, 322 patients diagnosed as PID (177 patients) or acute appendicitis (145 patients) were finally analyzed in this study. Among the PID and acute appendicitis scored, lower and higher cut-off points were 3 and 8 for PID risk score, and 6 and 10 for appendicitis risk score. PID risk score of PID patients was 7.0 (+/-1.9), acute appendicitis patients was 4.3 (+/-2.1), and other patients was 4.0 (+/-2.2) (p<0.001). Appendicitis risk score of PID patients was 5.7 (+/-1.9), acute appendicitis patients was 9.0 (+/-2.1), and other patients was 5 (+/-1.6) (p<0.001). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0,832 and 0,950 for diagnosis of PID with PID risk score and acute appendicitis with appendicitis risk score, respectively. CONCLUSION: These scoring systems have appropriate diagnostic power for diagnosis of PID and acute appendicitis.
Abdominal Pain* ; Appendicitis* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Female ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease* ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; ROC Curve

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly aggressive malignant tumor that originates from mesenchymal cell and invades soft tissue. While the head and neck is the common site of the rhabdomyosarcoma, the parapharyngeal space is rarely reported as a primary site of rhabdomyosarcoma. Therefore, we present a case of rhabdomyosarcoma in the parapharyngeal space.
Head ; Neck ; Pharynx ; Rhabdomyosarcoma*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the summating potential (SP)/action potential (AP) ratio of electrocochleography (ECoG) recorded from the position of SP peak. We compared the SP/AP ratios of negative polarity and positive polarity graphs from the same ECoG of each patient by assuming different the position of SP peak. In addition, we attempted to evaluate the utility of two different manners of recording the ECoG graph in the diagnosis of Meniere's disease. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Retrospectively, we analyzed the results of ECoG in 67 patients with unilateral definite Meniere's disease. ECoG was analyzed in two different manners. From the AP peak, the SP peak was determined close when positioned in the negative polarity; on the other hand, SP peak was considered distant when positioned in the positive polarity. The SP/AP ratio was interpreted with reference to the base line value. The ratio of two different ECoG values from each patient of Meniere's disease was calculated. RESULTS: In the abnormal side, the negative polarity ECoG showed significantly greater value of SP/AP ratio (mean: 0.334±0.10) than the positive polarity ECoG (mean: 0.283±0.09) (p<0.001). In the normal side, the negative polarity ECoG, showed significantly greater value of SP/AP ratio (mean: 0.250±0.09) than the positive polarity ECoG (mean: 0.204±0.06), as well as in the abnormal cases (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The standard SP/AP ratio for the diagnosis of Meniere's disease can be variable according to the manner of determining the SP peak.
Action Potentials ; Audiometry, Evoked Response* ; Diagnosis ; Evoked Potentials ; Hand ; Humans ; Meniere Disease ; Methods ; Retrospective Studies

Skull base chordomas are rare, malignant tumors arising from primitive notochord remnants of the axial skeleton and comprise approximately 25–35% of all chordoma cases. Nasal endoscopy in previous case reports has characterized nasopharyngeal chordomas as firm, semi-translucent masses protruding from the posterior nasopharyngeal wall with a pink, “meaty” appearance. However, the nasopharyngeal chordoma in the present case had a soft, cystic appearance, unlike the tumors previously described. Herein, an unusual case of an incidentally discovered nasopharyngeal chordoma is reported in a patient with papillary thyroid cancer; the discovered chordoma had a benign cystic appearance with no abnormal positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) uptake.
Chordoma ; Cranial Fossa, Posterior ; Electrons ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Notochord ; Skeleton ; Skull Base ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Decision Support Techniques* ; Stroke*