No abstract available.
Gestational Sac* ; Ultrasonography*

No abstract available.
Colon* ; Polyps*

Apocrine sweat gland carcinoma is a very unusual malignant skin adnexal tumor and mostly occurs in areas where apocrine elands are abundant namely. axilla. upper arm. scalp. eyelid. vulva and external auditory meatus. The scrotal location is not yet reported. We report a case of apocrine sweat gland carcinoma of scrotum in a man aged 85, which was managed by local excision. The histologic finding is that of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Evidence of decapitation secretion typical or apocrine glands. is present in some areas.
Adenocarcinoma ; Apocrine Glands ; Arm ; Axilla ; Decapitation ; Eyelids ; Scalp ; Scrotum* ; Skin ; Sweat Glands* ; Sweat* ; Vulva

We report a case of primary cardiac angiosarcoma in a 35 year-old woman. She presented with dyspnea, facial edema and neck vein distension during 1 month. The oval round large mass(8x4 cm) filling the right atrium infiltrated into the entire thickness of the lateral wall and extended to the vena cava and ventricle. The interatrial septum and pericardium seemed to be intact. Despite the surgical excision and adjuvant chemo-and radiotherapy, the patient died 8 months later due to tumor recurrence. The histologic findings of tumor varied from benign looking capillary proliferation mimicking granulation tissue to sarcoma composed of spindle cells. But anastomosing vascular channels lined by anaplastic polygonal cells and intracytoplasmic lumen containing red blood cells were characteristic findings. These tumor cells showed positive reaction to endothelial cell antigen and factor VIII-related antigen. The intercellular junctional complex and vascular channels formed by cytoplasmic process of tumor cells were identified by the ultrastructural study.
Female ; Humans

Microcystic meningioma is a rare variant of meningiomas. This unusual variant was originally described by Masson, who labeled it "humid". The computed tomographic scan or magnetic resonance images of these tumors resemble those of a glial or metastatic tumor with cystic or necrotic changes. There is no definitive method for differentiating cystic meningiomas from these more common tumors. But immunohistochemically, they share a similar pattern of positive staining for epithelial membrane antigen and vimentin with other meningiomas. Our case was a 34-year-old woman with a tumor mass on the right frontal area. She was admitted to hospital because of generalized tonic seizure. Grossly all of the tumor could be removed, and histopathologically this tumor was revealed to be a microcystic meningioma.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Meningioma* ; Mucin-1 ; Seizures ; Vimentin

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to analyse sleep habits and sleep disorders in the elderly population ased 65-84 years. METHODS: Epidemiological survey was performed at home by means of semistructured interviews in the city of Pusan, Korea. Subjects were randomly selected. The questionnaire consisted of 128 items including demographic findings, sleep habits, sleep disorders, somatic illnesses, and psychological distresses. RESULTS: (1) The mean retiring time was 10.28 h (SD1.30 h) and the mean wake-up time was 5.24 h (SD 1.33 h). The mean duration of sleep was 5.63 h (SD 1.80 h ). The subjects reported they woke up an average of 2.05 (SD 1.59) times per night. All of the above results were not related to age or gender. However, the mean frequency of difficulty in initiating/maintaining sleep was 2.2 times for men and 3.2 times for women (p<0.05). (2) The prevalence of insomnia was 57.7% and was not related to age or gender. Difficulty in initiating sleep was the most commonly reported insomnia complaint(52.4%). Early morning awakening was reported by 50.0% of patients and difficulty in maintaining sleep was reported by 45.1% of them. Worrying in bed and physical pain were strong contributing factor to insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study showed several characteristics of sleep habits in the elderly. Sleep disorder in old age is not inevitable or trivial. Since sleep disturbance in older adults is common and distressing, it has implications for general health and well-being. Active concern and therapeutic intervention for the sleep habits and sleep disorders in the elderly are needed.
Adult ; Aged* ; Busan* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sleep Wake Disorders* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

OBJECTIVE: The authors present a retrospective analysis of the long-term recurrence rate for the 79 craniopharyngima patients surgically treated between Jan 1989 and Dec 1999. METHODS:Tumor recurrence rates were analysed with respect to age of patients, symptom duration, tumor size, localization of tumor, morphology of tumor, the extent of surgical resection, pathologic diagnosis and the other treatment modalities. RESULTS: For 79 patients, with a mean follow-up period of 5 years, the overall recurrence rate was 29%. Factors associated with decreased risk of recurrence was gross total tumor resection(p=0.01). Subtotal resection was associated with increased risk of tumor recurrence. The adjuvant radiation therapy was revealed efficient not in decreasing recurrence rate but in the delay of tumor recurrence time(p=0.05). There were no differences in recurrence rates for other factors. CONCLUSION: A rigorous evaluation of recurrence for craniopharyngima must consider the extent of resection, as judged by postoperative imaging. Adjuvant radiation therapy or Gamma knife surgery could be the effective treatment modalities.
Craniopharyngioma* ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Recurrence* ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Sleep-related breathing disorders(SRBD) and periodic leg movements disorder(PLMD) are both common, and are considered as separate sleep disorders. However, both disorders show high comorbidity. SRBD and PLMD can result in excessive daytime sleepiness and insomnia due to frequent sleep fragmentation So, it is very important to consider the presence of PLMD, when we are dealing with the diagnosis and management of SRBD. The objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of PLMD in patients with SRBD, and 13 describe any differences between patients with and without PLMD. METHOD: The authors reviewed the sleep recordings of 106 Patients with a final diagnosis of SRBD(obstruclive sleep apnea or upper airway resistance syndrome), who underwent full nocturnal polysomnography, including the monitoring of the anterior tibialis electromyogram. All sleep records were recorded and scored using the standard criteria. The data was analyzed by the student t-test. RESULTS: 106 patients(M=76, F=30) were included in the analysis. Data revealed a mean age of 49.5 +/- 13.6 years, a respiratory disturbance index(RDI) of 22.3 +/- 25.4/hour sleep, a lowest oxygen saturation of 84.9 +/- 11.3%, a mammal esophageal pressure of -41.0 +/- 19.1cm H2O, and PLM index(PLMI) index(PLMI) 13.1 +/- 22.4 movements/ hour sleep. Forty four percent(47 of 106 patients) had a PLMI of greater than 5 on this study. The mean age of the patients with PLMD was significantly higher than that of the patients without PLMD(p < 0.005). Fe-male patients with SRBD accompanied more PLMD(p < 0.05). The apnea index of the patients with PLMD was significantly lower than that of the patients without PLMD(p < 0.01). The percentage of stage 1 sleep in the patients with PLMD was significantly lower than that of the patients without PLMD(p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of PLMD in the patients with SRBD was high at 44.3%. The patients with PLMD were older and had more high RDI in comparison to the patients without PLMD, which was consistent with previous findings. The authors recommend that more careful consideration of PLMD is required when diagnosing and treating SRBD.
Airway Resistance ; Apnea ; Comorbidity* ; Diagnosis ; Extremities* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leg ; Mammals ; Oxygen ; Polysomnography ; Prevalence ; Respiration* ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; Sleep Deprivation ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

OBJECTIVES: Quality of life in patients with psychotic disorders and their caregivers has a important role on the treatment and relapse prevention of the patients. This study was intended to investigate the effects of patient's sociodemographic, clinical and psychological(self-esteem, social support and external control) characteristics, and caregivers' sociodemographic and psychological characteristics on quality of life in patients and caregivers. METHODS: The subjects were composed of 48 out-patients (schizophrenic disorder, mood disorders and other psychotic disorders) and 48 caregivers. Patients' clinical characteristics, patients' and their caregivers' sociodemographic, psychological characteristics(self-esteem, social support and external control) and quality of life were investigated. First of all, patients' self-esteem, social support, external control and quality of life were compared with caregivers'. After the correlations among each characteristics in patients and caregivers were calculated, the multiple regression analyses were conducted, where the predictable variables were those that had already shown significant correlations with quality of life. RESULTS: Patients' self-esteem and quality of life were significantly lower than their caregivers'. In patients, high socioeconomic status and self-esteem were correlated with high perception on the social support and quality of life. Also, the satisfaction to the medication was positively correlated with perception on the social support, quality of life and more external control. In addition, high compliance on medication and high perception on the social support were correlated with high quality of life. In caregivers, patients' onset age was positively correlated with caregivers' quality of life. Also, more caregivers' stress was correlated with their lower self-esteem, and higher caregivers' self-esteem was correlated with higher perception on the social support and quality of life. Furthermore, higher caregivers' perception on the social support was correlated with higher quality of life. The characteristics that predicted patients' quality of life significantly were self-esteem and perception on the social support, and the characteristics that predicted caregivers' quality of life significantly were caregivers' perception on the social support and patients' onset age. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that for improving the quality of life of patients and their caregivers, it was important not only to alleviate and treat the patient's symptom, but also to increase self-esteem and provide social support.
Age of Onset ; Caregivers* ; Compliance ; Humans ; Mood Disorders ; Outpatients ; Psychotic Disorders* ; Quality of Life* ; Recurrence ; Social Class

Sixty diabetic cystopathy patients (symptomatic DCP, 4.9%) among 1236 patients of diabetes mellitus (DM) from May, 1995 to June, 1996 were analyzed to ascertain the usefulness of urodynamic study in the diagnosis of DCP. The mean age was 58 (24--80) years and mean duration of DM was 9 (1~30) years. 36 (60%) patients had diabetic neuropathy, 31 (52%) had diabetic retinopathy and 4 (7%) had diabetic nephropathy. DM was managed by insulin pump (DIABECARETM, 52%) and subcutaneous insulin injection (42%). In residual urine and voiding diaries, residual urine volume more than 40ml was 83%, voiding interval less than 2 or more than 5 hours was 67% and voiding amount less than 200ml or more than 400ml was 48%. According to urodynamic findings, patients were classified as detrusor areflexia (63%), impaired detrusor contractility (18%), detrusor instability (15%) and normal detrusor contraction (3%). There were no significant differences of age, semm-HbA1C, treatment method and duration of diabetes mellitus among above groups. Mean duration of DM in irritative symptom group (32%), combined symptom group (23%) and obstructive symptom group (45%) were 2 years, 8 years and 15 years respectively (p<0.001). The shape of the cystometrographic curve was not influenced by the rate of bladder filling (40ml/min versus 100ml/min). In conclusion, because DCP is marked by insidious onset and progression with minimal symptoms, DCP can be early diagnosed using urodynamic study especially in patients with voiding symptoms and 1ong.DM duration.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Diabetic Neuropathies ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Insulin ; Urinary Bladder ; Urodynamics*