Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction is a rare clinical syndrome which is characterized by intestinal obstruction without occluding lesions in the intestinal lumen and pregnancy is one of the important aggravating factors. Here, we report a case of a woman with intractable intestinal pseudo-obstruction that was precipitated by pregnancy. She could not make any stool passage for more than 4 weeks until a fetal gestational age of 17 weeks was reached. However, the patient could be maintained by repetitive colonoscopic decompressions and finally total colectomy could be performed successfully at a fetal gestational age of 21 weeks.
Colectomy ; Decompression ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Interstitial Cells of Cajal ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction ; Pregnancy

Aspergillous hypophysitis is an unusual cause of sella turcica enlargement, and this malady has a clinical presentation as a pituitary tumor, and especially as a pituitary adenoma. We report here on a case of aspergillous hypophysitis that developed in a 37-year-old healthy woman. She first experienced a blurred vision with amenorrhea and galactorrhea. Three months later, the CT scan revealed an intrasellar mass. The patient underwent a transsphenoidal exploration of the sella turcica for a presumed pituitary tumor. Histologically, the pituitary displayed necrotizing granuloma with the acutely branching fungal hyphae of Aspergillus.
Adult ; Amenorrhea ; Aspergillosis ; Aspergillus ; Female ; Galactorrhea ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Hyphae ; Pituitary Gland ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; Pregnancy ; Sella Turcica ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Development of an invasive squamous cell carcinoma within a branchial cleft cyst (branchiogenic carcinoma) is very rare and this case is the first description of cytologic findings in Korea. A 62-year-old man presented with a 5-month history of an enlarged right neck mass. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the mass showed low cellularity and the background containing proteinaceous debris, inflammatory cells, and histiocytes suggested a cystic nature. Abundant lymphocytes, a few anucleated squames, and rare atypical squamous cells with pyknotic nuclei and abnormal keratinization were also noted. After excision of the mass, histologic findings were consistent with a branchiogenic carcinoma. We recommend to raise the possibility of carcinoma (primary or metastatic) when we observe a few dyskeratotic cells in a cystic mass within the neck area, especially in an old male.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Branchioma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck

Primary clear cell adenocarcinoma of uterine cervix is rare and cytomorphology in the vaginal smear have not been previously described in Korean literatures. The cytologic characteristics of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix include : malignant cells with abundant, finely vacuolated cytoplasm ; hobnail appearance ; and distinctive basement membrane-like hyaline materials within cellular aggregates. A 36-year-old woman presented with vaginal bleeding. Cytologic examination of vaginal smear and histopathologic examination of a radical hysterectomy specimen allowed the diagnosis of hemorrhagic tumor in the uterine cervix as a clear cell adenocarcinoma. Cytologic findings were very characteristic. The tumor cells had abundant, pale, finely vacuolated cytoplasm with indistinct cytoplasmic membrane. The nuclei were round to oval with finely dispersed chromatin. Extracellular basement membrane-like hyaline substance, which stained a light green color in Papanicolaou's preparation, was frequently observed within the cancer cell clusters.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell* ; Adult ; Cell Membrane ; Cervix Uteri* ; Chromatin ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Hysterectomy ; Methyl Green ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Vaginal Smears

Multinucleated giant cells of osteoclast-like appearance can be seen in a type of anaplastic carcinoma of thyroid and only a few case reports for fine needle aspiration cytologic findings are found in the literatures. Recently, we experienced a case of anaplastic carcinoma of thyroid with many osteoclast-like giant cells in a 72-year-old woman. The cytologic features and immunohistochemical results are described with special emphasis on differential diagnosis.
Aged ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Carcinoma* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Giant Cells* ; Humans ; Thyroid Gland*