In selected cases of central serous chorioretinopathy the pigment epithelial defect can be sealed with laser photocoagulation. The authors analyzed the effectiveness of laser photocoagulation on visual improvement and duration of the disease in laser treated group, as compared to untreated group, which represented na tural course of the disease. A verage healing time was 5.2 weeks in treated group and 13.9 weeks in untreated group, which revealed statistically significant difference between two groups(p<0.01). No difference was noted in visual outcome between two groups. The initial visual acuity was influenced by the type of dye leaking, the distance of leaking point from center of fovea and the size of sensory retinal detachment in fluorescein angiography. But the final visual acuity was only ihfluenced by the size of sensory retinal detachment. The number and location of leaking point did not influence the initial and final visual acuity in both treated and untreated group.
Argon* ; Central Serous Chorioretinopathy* ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Light Coagulation* ; Retinal Detachment ; Visual Acuity

This study was conducted on 60 metastatic brain parenchymal tumor patients admitted at this hospital between January of 1987 and July of 1993. The mean age of the patients was 54, the youngest 26 and the oldest, 78. The ratio of male v.s. female was 1:2,3,50 were single metastatic and 10 were multiple. The following are the results of the analyses of the factors affecting the prognosis of metastatic brain parenchymal tumor patients: The group operated on showed a significantly prolonged life-span as compared with the group without operation, which was also phenomenal among the single metastatic patients. Among the primary tumors, breast cancer had the longest median survival period, 20 months, and the shortest survival period was one month with the gasrointestinal tumor. As for clinical grade and survival span, those above the karnofsky scale of 80 survived a median of six months, and those below 50 survived for 2 months. The group with favorable clinical conditions before operation resulted in a significantly long life span, Especially in the group with 80 or above of the Karnofsky scale, the operated group showed a far more excellent prognosis as compared to the non operated group. The median survival time was 20 months in the group with more than 12months as an interval between diagnoses of primary tumor and metastasis, wherease it was 3 months for the group with an interval of less than6 months. Thus, the longer the interval, the better the prognosis, This fact was statistically significant Among the patients with an interval of 12 months or more, the operated group also showed better prognosis than the nonoperated group. The mean six months survival rate was 33.3%, the one-year rate was 23.3%, the two-year rate was 10.0% in all cases. The longest survival time was 36 months. The whole body metastasis was the most common cause of death accounting for 64.2%.
Brain* ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cause of Death ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Karnofsky Performance Status ; Male ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate

The surgical approach to spinal tumors varies not only with the level and location of the tumor, but also with the type and extent of the tumor. Some of the dumbbell neurofibroma(neurilemmoma) can be removed through simple laminectomy, but usually are approached through two separate incisions by two stages. In this report, posterior and anterolateral approaches in a single stage to dumbbell neurofibroma(neurilemmoma) of the spinal region are described. This approach provides full exposure of intra- and paraspinal portions of the tumor, thus permitting safe dissection and total removal. Six patients who underwent this procedure are described to illustrate its application.
Humans ; Laminectomy ; Neurofibroma ; Spine*

In Korea, the incidence of prostate cancer in 2002 was sixth among the malignancies diagnosed in men, but it was the most rapidly increasing cancer. As many prostate cancers are indistinguishable from normal prostate tissue as determined on an ultrasound examination, the randomized systematic transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy is the gold standard for the detection of prostate cancer. Indications for a TRUS guided prostate biopsy including an elevated level of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and an abnormal digital rectal exam, as well as patient preparation and procedure techniques including anesthesia are reviewed in this report. This report also considers controversies about a prostate biopsy such as the ideal number of biopsy cores, usefulness of PSA derivatives, effective methods for local anesthesia, and the use of patient preparation questionnaires covering topics such as the paucity of anticoagulants and the use of antibiotics and enemas.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Local ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anticoagulants ; Biopsy* ; Enema ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Male ; Prostate* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Ultrasonography*

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. PURPOSE: To explore the impact of chronic low back pain (CLBP) on individuals' quality of life; to understand current treatment practices and level of satisfaction with treatment in patients with CLBP. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Assessing subjective, patient-reported outcomes such as quality of life is essential to health care research. METHODS: Influences of the CLBP were analyzed via a questionnaire, which contained the character of CLBP, effect of pain management, Korean version Oswestry Disability Index (K-ODI) and Korean version of 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12v2). RESULTS: Of 3,121 subjects who responded, 67.3% had moderate to severe pain; 43.5% presented prolonged CLBP of more than two years; and 32.4% had suffered from sleep disturbance due to pain. 22.8% of the patients were not satisfied with current pain management. The mean K-ODI score was 37.63; and it was positively correlated with the mean pain intensity (r=0.6, p<0.001). The SF-12v2 result was negatively correlated with mean pain intensity (PCS: r=-0.5, p<0.001; MCS: r=-0.4, p<0.001) and also negatively correlated with the K-ODI score (PCS: r=-0.75, p<0.001; MCS: r=-0.5, p<0.001). The conformity between patients and doctors in pain assessment was fair (kappa=0.2463). CONCLUSIONS: CLBP negatively affects quality of life. Of total 22.8% of the patients were not satisfied with current pain management. Such needs to be taken more seriously by doctors for improvement of satisfaction and quality of life in patients with CLBP.
Back Pain* ; Cross-Sectional Studies* ; Health Services Research ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Pain Management ; Pain Measurement ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to develop support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN) models for the pre-operative prediction of advanced prostate cancer by using the parameters acquired from transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies, and to compare the accuracies between the two models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundred thirty-two consecutive patients who underwent prostate biopsies and prostatectomies for prostate cancer were divided into the training and test groups (n = 300 versus n = 232). From the data in the training group, two clinical decision support systems (CDSSs-[SVM and ANN]) were constructed with input (age, prostate specific antigen level, digital rectal examination, and five biopsy parameters) and output data (the probability for advanced prostate cancer [> pT3a]). From the data of the test group, the accuracy of output data was evaluated. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) were calculated to summarize the overall performances, and a comparison of the ROC curves was performed (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The AUC of SVM and ANN is 0.805 and 0.719, respectively (p = 0.020), in the pre-operative prediction of advanced prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: The performance of SVM is superior to ANN in the pre-operative prediction of advanced prostate cancer.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Biopsy, Needle ; *Decision Support Systems, Clinical ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Neural Networks (Computer) ; Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood ; Prostatectomy ; Prostatic Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; *Support Vector Machines

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the usefulness of the resistive index (RI) on spectral Doppler ultrasonography (US) in the detection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). METHODS: Seventeen ESRD patients with kidneys in which renal masses were suspected in routine US were subjected. They underwent computed tomography scans and additional Doppler US for the characterization of the detected lesions. All underwent radical nephrectomy with the suspicion of RCC. Fourteen patients finally were included. RI measurements were conducted in the region of the suspected renal mass and the background renal parenchyma. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to assess the reproducibility of the RI measurement. A paired t-test was used to compare the RI values between the renal mass and the background renal parenchyma (P<0.05). RESULTS: The RI values measured at the RCCs were significantly lower than those measured at the background renal parenchyma (0.41-0.65 vs. 0.75-0.89; P<0.001). The intrareader reproducibility proved to be excellent and good for the renal masses and the parenchyma, respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: RI on spectral Doppler US is useful in detecting RCC in patients with ESRD. The RI values measured at the RCCs were significantly lower than those measured at the background renal parenchyma.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Nephrectomy ; Ultrasonography, Doppler* ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to assess the usefulness of ultrasounddetermined testicular volume in the evaluation of the infertile men with azoospermia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A computerized search from October 2005 to June 2010 generated a list of 45 infertile men with azoospermia (mean age, 34 years; age range, 26-44 years) who underwent both scrotal ultrasound and testis biopsy. Ultrasounddetermined testicular volumes were compared between infertile men with obstructive azoospermia and those with non-obstructive azoospermia. RESULTS: Testicular volume for obstructive azoospermia ranged from 6.4 ml to 26.9 ml, with a median volume of 14.0 ml. This volume was significantly larger than that of those with non-obstructive azoospermia, which ranged from 1.0 ml to 12.8 ml, with a median volume of 6.1 ml (p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve for distinguishing non-obstructive azoospermia from obstructive azoospermia using testicular volume was 0.91. A cutoff value of less than or equal to 11.4 ml could distinguish non-obstructive azoospermia from obstructive azoospermia, with a sensitivity of 94.1% (95% CI; 71.3-99.9%) and a specificity of 73.3% (95% CI; 54.1-87.7%). CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-determined testicular volume can be helpful in the differentiation of obstructive azoospermia from non-obstructive azoospermia.
Azoospermia ; Biopsy ; Humans ; Male ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Testis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the performance of a newly-designed ultrasound (US)-guided puncture device. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A newly-designed US-guided puncture device was composed of a guide segment and an attachable segment. The guide segment allowed the needle to be placed in the plane of US view with a maximal degree of freedom, and the attachable segment was designed to attach to most convex US probes. Six operators punctured 144 targets in phantoms using either the new device (n = 72) or free-hand technique (n = 72). The number of required needle passages and the necessary procedure times were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The number of required needle passages and the necessary procedure time were significantly reduced in five operators when the newly-designed US-guided puncture device was used (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A newly-designed US-guided puncture device, which allows for a maximal degree of freedom in needle placement and can attach to most convex US probes, showed good performance in our study.
Freedom ; Needles ; Punctures

PURPOSE: To assess the analgesic efficacy of intrarectal lidocaine gel instillation prior to periprostatic nerve block during transrectal, ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies. MATERIALS and METHODS: Between March 2004 and October 2004, 203 consecutive patients for prostate biopsies were randomized into two groups. In 90 patients of group A, 10ml of 2% lidocaine gel was instilled intrarectally 10 minutes prior to periprostatic neurovascular bundle block, while 113 patients of group B received only periprostatic neurovascular bundle block without lidocaine gel instillation. Pain was assessed with the visual analogue pain scale, during periprostatic neurovascular bundle block (VAS 1), during the biopsy procedures (VAS 2) and 20 minutes after the procedure (VAS 3). The difference in VAS scores between patients in the two groups was evaluated with the unpaired t-test, with p < 0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: Patients in group A experienced statistically less pain during transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy (VAS 2, 2.994 versus 3.903, p < 0.01). However, no significant difference in VAS values could be demonstrated during periprostatic neurovascular bundle block (VAS 1, 4.761 versus 5.133, p > 0.05) or at after 20 minutes after the procedure (VAS 3, 0.9778 versus 1.257, p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Intrarectal instillation of lidocaine gel leads to significant additional analgesic efficacy during the biopsy procedure. It is a simple, safe and rapid technique that should be considered in all patients undergoing TRUS guided prostate biopsy.
Analgesics ; Biopsy* ; Humans ; Lidocaine* ; Nerve Block ; Pain Measurement ; Prospective Studies* ; Prostate* ; Ultrasonography*