The serous papillary cystadenoma of low malignant potential in the paratesticular tissue is a tumor characterized by its resemblance to ovarian serous papillary tumor of low malignant potential. Several possible origins have been proposed but it is thought to originate from the Mullerian-type epithelium just like ovarian serous tumor of low grade malignancy. Because of the rarity of this tumor, the natural history and treatment have not been established. Herein we report on a serous papillary cystadenoma arising in the paratesticular tissue of a 12 year old . To our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the Korean literature. The size of this cystic tumor in this patient was 0.9x0.9x0.8 cm and had a sponge-like cut surface. The papillary structure was lined by both ciliated and nonciliated secretory cells, the same cellular structure as the salpinx. Areas with just a few mitoses and stratification of epithelial cells were noted, but invasion into the paratesticular tissue was absent, suggesting borderline malignancy. He is doing well after 5 months follow up. Prognosis of this scrotal tumor is thought to be better than the ovarian tumor of similar histology due to a better possibility of early detection.

A case of calcifying synovial sarcoma, occuring in the deep muscle fascia of the left thigh is reported. The presence of extensive calcification in synovial sarcoma is a favorable sign for prognosis. The patient was a 31-year-old female. The tumor mass had been present for 3 years, accompanying local tenderness. X-ray revealed a soft tissue tumor with central calcification, which was located between the adductor magnus and brevis of the left thigh. The tumor size was 7 x 5.5 cm. There was no connection with the knee joint or the femur. Grossly, the tumor was a relatively well circumscribed hard tumor with massive calcification. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of predominantly spindle cells with accompanying hyalinization, numerous spherical concretions and ossification. The epithelial component was not clearly noted. Mitotic figures were rarely noted in the densely cellular area. Immunohistochemical staining for EMA, S-100, vimentin, and carcinoembryonic antigen was negative while vimentin and cytokeratin were weakly and focally positive. EM study revealed multiple desmosome-like calcification intercellular junctions with a slit-like lumen and an incomplete basal lamina, which suggest that tumor show these cells were undergoing epithelia] differentiation. Above evidence suggest that this tumor is a synovial sarcoma associated with a large area of calcification, a so called calcifying synovial sarcoma. No recurrence was noted in one and half years of follow up.
Female ; Humans

Thymic cyst is relatively rare tumor which usually occurs in the neck or mediastinum. Cervical thymic cyst is usually situated laterally and deep to the anterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, simulating a branchial cyst. Thymic cyst of the mediastinum is usually detected incidentally and differential diagnoses include cystic degeneration of thymoma, and cystic teratoma. Two case of a cervical and a mediastinal thymic cysts were reported. The one was a cervical thymic cyst developed slowly growing mass in a 53-year-old male a for 10 years. The cyst was unilocular and measures 5.4x2.9x2.8 cm with columnar or squamous cell linings. The other is a mediastinal thymic cyst developed in a 37-year-old female with chest discomfort for 7 months. The cyst was uniocular and measures 2.8x2.2x2.0 cm. The epithelial lining of the cyst was largely desquamated and covered by macrophages with cholesterol granuloma. Involutional thymic stissue in their walls were noted in both cysts. In both cases presence of thymic tissue in the wall of the cyst thought to be the most important diagnostic feature.
Female ; Male ; Humans ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Cysts

Primary chondrosarcoma of the lung is an extremely rare tumor, and classified into two types, tracheobronchial & lung variety. The tracheobronchial variety is usually localized and lacked lymph nodal or distant spread with good prognosis. The lung variety tends to be more invasive associated with mediastinal lymph node involvement and thoracic metastasis. Authors experienced a case of primary chondrosarcoma, lung variety, of the lung involving left lower lobe with thoracic metastasis, not yet reported in Korean literatures. The patient was 55-year-old Korean female and chief complaints were cough, dyspnea & chest pain. Pathologically, it was confused with the metastatic adenocarcinoma in the first pleural fluid cytology. But bronchoscopic biopsy revealed typical morphology of chondrosarcoma with concentric growth encircling the bronchial tree and partial destruction of the bronchiols, suggesting its primary origin. Later pleural biopsy and aspiration materials during ches tube insertion revealed also metastatic chondrosarcoma. Radiologic studies were also campatible findings to chondrosarcoma. After admision, the patient underwent progressively downhill course & expired at 31st hospital day.
Female ; Humans ; Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Primary tubal carcinoma is a rare carcinoma of the female genital tract, comparising with only 0.3% to 1% of female genital tract malignancies. Its histologic appearance and clinical behavior resemble that of primary ovarian carcinoma, thus the evaluation and treatment are also essentially the same. Presenting symptoms are variable, so pre-operative diagnosis is rare. A postmenopausal women presented with pelvic mass and vaginal discharge. It was initially diagnosed as ovarian tumor but primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube was confirmed postoperatively on the basis of the pathologic examination of resected specimen. So, we reported a case with a brief review of the concerned literature.
Diagnosis ; Fallopian Tubes* ; Female ; Humans ; Vaginal Discharge

The purpose of this study were to assess iron status and obesity in 82 middle aged women living in Kangnung area. Anthropometric measurements were taken for body weight, height, percentage of body fat and circumferences of waist and hip. Venous blood samples were drawn from subjects for measurement of hemoglobin(Hb), hematocrit(Hct), serum iron(Fe), total iron binding capacity(TIBC), transferrin saturation(TS) and serum ferritin. Dietary intakes of iron(heme iron and nonheme iron), the amounts of MPF(meat, poultry and fish) and ascorbic acid were assessed by modified 24-hr recall method. The results obtained are summarized as follows : Postmenopausal women had more body fat than premenopausal women. That is, postmenopausal women tend to be obeser than premenopausal women. There was no difference in Hb, Hct, Fe, TIBC and TS between pre- and postmenopausal women. But the serum ferritin concentration of postmenopausal women(83.7+/-2.1ng/ml) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than premenopausal women(56.4+/-1.0ng/ml). Prevalences of iron deficiency (20%, 20.0% and 17.1% respectively) of postmenopausal women. The mean daily intakes of total iron in pre- and postmenopausal women were 17.5+/-.3mg and 15.6+/-.9mg, respectively. Bioavailabilities of dietary iron were 6.5% and 4.5% in pre- and post-groups. These results indicate that individual dietary guidelines should be used to educate middle-aged women different in status of menopause. For example, premenopausal women should increase nutritional iron status and postmenopausal women should try to prevent obesity.
Adipose Tissue ; Ascorbic Acid ; Biological Availability ; Body Weight ; Female ; Ferritins ; Hip ; Humans ; Iron* ; Iron, Dietary ; Menopause ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Policy ; Obesity ; Postmenopause* ; Poultry ; Prevalence ; Transferrin

BACKGROUND: Lichen nitidus is a rare condition of unknown cause, characterized by minute, flesh-colored, shiny papules occurring on the abdomen, chest, extremities, and genitalia. There have been few studies worldwide about the clinical and histopathologic manifestations of lichen nitidus. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were aimed to evaluate the clinical and pathologic presentations of lichen nitidus. METHODS: The medical records and histopathological slides of 31 patients with lichen nitidus diagnosed at Korea University Medical Center from April 1983 to March 2002 were reviewed. RESULTS: Onset age of skin lesions ranged from 1 year to 34 years and 17 cases(63%) were developed in the patients younger than 9 years old. The ratio of male to female was 2.1: 1 and the mean duration of the eruption was 2.8years. Twenty four cases(77%) had multifocal lesions, four cases(13%) had generalized lesions, and three cases(10%) had unifocal lesions. The predilection sites were trunk(27.8%), upper extremities(24.1%), lower extremities(19%), face and neck(13.9%), penis(10.1%), and hands(5.1%) in decreasing order. Mild pruritus was noted in 8 cases(26%), and Koebner phenomenon in 9 cases(29%). Atopic dermatitis was noted in 3 cases(10%), lichen planus in 1 case, urticaria in 1 case, and verruca plana in 1 case. None had a positive family history. The papules were closely grouped but remained discrete except in areas exhibiting the Koebner phenomenon. The color of papules was skin-colored(74%), reddish-brown(13%), and mixed(13%). The frequent histopathologic findings were liquefaction degeneration of the basal layer(100%), edema of the dermis within the areas of the infiltrate(100%), clawlike rete ridges(96.8%), epidermal atrophy(87.1%), perivascular inflammatory cell infiltrate(87.1%), and absent or thinned granular layer(77.4%). We divided lichen nitidus into three stages, early stage, developed stage and late stage, according to the predominant cell types of the inflammatory infiltrates in the dermal papilla. There was a tendency of increasing number of infiltrated dermal papillae as the lesion progressed to late stage. It was interpreted as the lesions tend to be grouped clinically. CONCLUSION: In our study, we were able to obtain the clinical and histopathological features of lichen nitidus which help to understand lichen nitidus.
Abdomen ; Academic Medical Centers ; Age of Onset ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermis ; Edema ; Extremities ; Female ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Korea ; Lichen Nitidus* ; Lichen Planus ; Lichens* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Pruritus ; Skin ; Thorax ; Urticaria ; Warts

Verrucous carcinoma is a low grade, well differentiated, unusual variant of squamous cell carcinoma. It has been described to represent an intermediate lesion between condyloma acuminata and squamous cell carcinoma. Since malignant transformation of verrucous carcinoma has been reported to occur in 30-50% of cases, the first line treatment for verrucous carcinoma is surgery, preferably Mohs surgery. Herein, we describe a case of recurrent verrucous carcinoma on the right buttock of a man with a history of radical excision and radiotherapy of a previous perianal verrucous carcinoma. The patient was successfully treated with 5% imiquimod cream, an immune response modifier with potential antiviral and antitumor effects. Imiquimod may be an effective treatment for verrucous carcinoma and presents an alternative therapy to surgical excision.
Buttocks ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Carcinoma, Verrucous* ; Humans ; Mohs Surgery ; Radiotherapy

Sclerosing panniculitis refers to indurated erythema with hyperpigmented scleroderma-like hardening on the medial lower third of the legs. It has been called indurated cellulitis, chronic cellulitis, hypodermitis sclerodermiformis or lipodermatosclerosis. It has been suggested that sclerosing panniculitis is associated with venous insufficiency. The treatment of sclerosing panniculitis is very difficult. Stanozolol is valuable in treating intractable sclerosing panniculitis, giving relief of pain, reducing induration, inflammation, tenderness and pigmentation by its fibrinolytic activity. We report a case of sclerosing panniculitis, clinically improved by stanozolol.

Diffuse plane xanthoma is a group of plane xanthomas that appear as yellow-brown flat patches or slightly elevated plaques with a wide-spread distribution. Cutaneous xanthomas may occur either hyperlipoproteinemic or normolipoproteinemic states. Diffuse plane xanthoma with normolipoproteinemia is often associated with multiple myeloma, other reticulo-endothelial malignancies and monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance(MGUS). We report a case of diffuse plane xanthoma associated with monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance(MGUS) and normolipoproteinemia.
Multiple Myeloma ; Paraproteinemias* ; Xanthomatosis*