No abstract available.
Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome*

A Case of Goldenhar's Syndrome. The authors experienced a case of Goldenhar's syndrome which is characterized by epibulbar dermoid, preauricular appendage and pretragal blind fistula. The patient was a 7-month old korean boy who had epibulbar dermoid, preauricular appendages, and hemifacial microsomia. We reviewed the available literatures regarding this syndrome.
Dermoid Cyst ; Fistula ; Goldenhar Syndrome ; Humans ; Infant ; Male

Peliosis hepatis is characterized by the presence in the liver of blood-filled cavities, which may or may not be lined with sinusoidal cells. The individual cysts or cavities usually do not exceed several centimeters in diameter. The cysts are typically continuous with adjacent, more normal sinusoids, and they sometimes can be seen in continuity with hepatic venous tributaries. The lesion is usually diagnosed by gross or microscopic examination. When suspected, it can be diagnosed by percutaneous liver biopsy. In the past, peliosis hepatis is primarily associated with wasting diseases, such as tuberculosis, malignancy, and chronic suppurative infection. However, recently peliosis hepatis is seen most commonly in association with the administration of anabolic steroids or HIV infection. We report a case of peliosis hepatis that is diagnosed by peritoneoscopic live biopsy and not associated with known disease.
Biopsy* ; HIV Infections ; Laparoscopy ; Liver* ; Peliosis Hepatis* ; Steroids ; Tuberculosis ; Wasting Syndrome

Primary gallbladder cancer is a highly malignant tumor and is characterized by early metastasis and rapid progression of disease. Since the majority of patients have unresectable disease, laparotomy, instead of providing relief of symptoms, often adds to the morbidity and needs to be avoided in patients with advanced disease. Clinical features, peritoneoscopic findings, and comparison of peritoneoscopy with radiologic studies were reviewed in 29 patients, who underwent peritoneoscopy, with primary gallbladder cancer at Severaace Hospital, College of Medicine, Yonsei University between Aug. 1982 and Mar. 1994. (continue...)
Gallbladder Neoplasms* ; Gallbladder* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy* ; Laparotomy ; Neoplasm Metastasis

No abstract available.
Hemangiosarcoma*

Asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers with normal liver function tests are, in general regarded as having no liver pathology. Most of the histologic findings in asymptomatic chronic carriers have been reported from areas with low incidence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, such as North America and Western Europe. It is well known that there are many differences in HBV infection between low and high endemic areas, but there have been few reports on the histologic findings of asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers from endemic areas. The present study was undertaken in Korea which is one of the endemic areas for HBV infection and was designed to assess the prevalence of chronic liver disease by peritoneoscopic liver biopsy among asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers and to make a basis for the follow-up of asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers according to the results obtained. One hundred and ten asymptomatic HBsAg-positive carriers with normal liver function tests and no hepatomegaly were included in the study. Final diagnosis by peritoneoscopic liver biopsy revealed that of the 110 asymptomatic carriers only 27 (24.5%) had a histologically normal liver, while 51 (46.4%) had chronic liver diseases, and the remaining 32 (29.1%) had nonspecific histologic abnormalities (nonspecific reactive changes in 18 cases, cholestasis in 6 cases, and fatty change in 8 cases). Of the 51 patients with chronic liver diseases, 3 had liver cirrhosis, 4 chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis, 11 chronic active hepatitis and 33 chronic persistent hepatitis. The frequency of liver cirrhosis and chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis was significantly high in the over 30 years of age group (12.1%) than in the under 30 years of age group (0%; p = 0.011 by Fisher's exact test). In conclusion, 46.4% of the Korean asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers with normal liver function tests and no hepatomegaly had chronic liver disease. This finding contrasted with reports from low incidence areas of HBV infection. Our results suggest that in endemic areas, a liver biopsy should be considered to assess the status of liver disease in asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers even if liver function tests are normal and hepatomegaly is absent, and the result can be used as a basis for the follow-up of each asymptomatic chronic HBsAg carriers.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Carrier State/*pathology ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Hepatitis B/*pathology/physiopathology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/*analysis ; Human ; Laparoscopy ; Liver/*pathology/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Age

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We studied to evaluate the virological and biochemical responses to lamivudine and to detect YMDD mutants in patients who received long-erm lamivudine therapy. METHODS: We conducted a one-ear trial of lamivudine in 45 Korean patients with chronic liver disease due to hepatitis B virus. The patients were treated with a single oral average dose of 100 mg of lamivudine every day for 12 months. RESULTS: The suppression of serum HBV DNA was sustained in 77.8% of the patients and the normalization of serum ALT in 80%. The proportions of patients with HBeAg seroconversion were 25%. YMDD mutants were detected in 4 of 8 patients who showed sustained HBV DNA and serum ALT response (n=31) and in 3 of 8 patients who showed HBV DNA or serum ALT breakthrough (n=9). The response to lamivudine therapy in HBeAg-egative patients was excellent. CONCLUSION: Lamivudine therapy resulted in a significant virological and biochemical improvements and were well tolerated. But, YMDD mutants were detected during lamivudine therapy.
DNA ; Hepatitis B e Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus* ; Hepatitis B* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Lamivudine* ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver*

Endoscopic injection therapy using various different agents(ethanol, polidocanol, epinephrine with and without hypertonic saline, etc.) is considered as the least expensive and effective technique to obtain hemostasis in peptic ulcer bleeding, however most of these agents induce tissue necrosis or degeneration. Theoretically the injection of fibrin glue in peptic ulcer bleeding may be safer than that of other agents, however, to date, there have been no data from randomized clinical trials on the comparison of the efficacies between these agents. To compare the hemostatic efficacy between FG[Beriplast P, Behring, Germany] and HSE[3% saline and epinephrine(1: 10,000)], we conducted a prospective, randomized, clinical trial among one hundred twenty-seven patients with peptic ulcer bleeding from March, 1992 to December, 1993 and in whom a visible vessel or active bleeding was identified.
Epinephrine* ; Fibrin Tissue Adhesive* ; Fibrin* ; Hemorrhage* ; Hemostasis ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Peptic Ulcer* ; Prospective Studies*

In this transcultural comparison, we examined areas of stress, coping strategies and psychosomatic symptoms resulting from such strategies in Chinese, Korean-Chinese and Korean high school students. A total of 1,042 second-year high school students participated in this study: 213 Chinese from Yanbien, China: 368 Korean-Chinese from Yanbien, China ; and 466 Koreans from Seoul, Korea. We administered the Stress Questionnaire Form for High school Students(Won and Lee 995), the Ways of Coping-Revised(Lazarus and Folkman 1984) and the Physical Symptom Scale of Stress(Allen and Hyde 1980) to investigate areas of stress, coping strategies and psychosomatic symptoms, respectively. The findings were understood and interpreted from focus group discussions. Although there were no differences in total stress scores among the three groups, there were significant differences in areas of stress. Chinese students manifested the highest stress scores in peer relation, family problem, heterosexual problem, the future-employment, and religious problem. Koreans scored the highest in academic performance, school life, extracurricular activity, psychological-personality problem, value system, and the future-employment. The Korean-Chinese students scored the highest in extracurricular activity, family-economic problem. In terms of collectivism versus individualism, Chinese students' stress was related more toward the collective situation, whereas the Korean students faced increased stress regarding the individual situation. In coping strategies, the Chinese were characterized by active coping, Koreans by passive coping and the Korean-Chinese by a mixture of the two. Koreans had the highest scores in psychosomatic symptoms, suggesting unfavorable coping strategies. The Korean-Chinese students seemed to lie intermediate between Koreans and Chinese in all three study areas, implying their cultural pluralism.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; China ; Cross-Cultural Comparison* ; Cultural Diversity ; Ethnopsychology ; Family Relations ; Focus Groups ; Heterosexuality ; Humans ; Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Oxidative stress is known to play a role in the pathogenesis of a certain liver diseases such as alcoholic liver disease, metal storage disease, and ischemia/reperfusion injury. Recently oxidative stress(lipid peroxidation) has also been implicated in hepatic fibrosis, which is now regarded as a common response to chronic liver injury regardless of its nature. Development of fibrosis and cirrhosis are the major complications of chronic hepatitits B. So we aimed to detect lipid peroxidation in chronic hepatitis B and to investigate its potential role in the pathophysiology of the disease. METHODS: The subjects were histologically-proven 56 patients, including fatty liver(FL, n=8), healthy HBsAg carrier(n=6), chronic persistent hepatitis(CPH, n=8), mild chronic active hepatitis(CAH-m, n=10), severe CAH(CAH-s, n=16), and liver cirrhosis(LC, n=8). All patients were serologically HBsAg-positive except those with FL. Lipid peroxidation was detected in serum and liver specimen with TBARS(thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances) assay. Western blot and immunohistochemical stain of liver specimen were also performed, using polyclonal antibody against malondialdehyde (MDA). RESULTS: 1. There were no significant differences in serum TBARS levels among groups(p= 0.24). 2. The mean tissue TBARS level(nmol/g) was significantly higher in CAH-s group(175.4+ 41.5) than in other groups(FL 54.0+ 6.4, Carrier 51.1+ 15.9, CPH 63.9+ 2.9, CAH-m 68.9+ 7.9, LC 22.6+ 5.1) (p<0.05). 3. Tissue TBARS levels correlated with serum ALT levels(r=0.5934, p<0.05). 4. Western blot showed MDA bands only in CAH-s group. 5. Immunohistochemistry showed a strong MDA stain around portal and periportal area in CAH-s group, but weak or no stain in other groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that lipid peroxidation can be detected in situ and commonly occurs in severe chronic hepatitis B. Oxidative stress may be related to active necroinflammatory change of the liver and contribute to the progression of the disease in chronic hepatitis B.
Blotting, Western ; Fibrosis ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lipid Peroxidation* ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; Liver* ; Malondialdehyde ; Oxidative Stress ; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances