PURPOSE: The study investigated clinical features of patients who underwent thyroid surgery, with and without Hashimoto's thyroiditis. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 150 patients who underwent thyroid surgery at the Department of Surgery, Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital, between January 2007 and December 2008. Patients were divided into two groups according to occurrence or non-occurrence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and analyzed them for age, sex, day of hospitalization, duration of drain keeping, operation time, and post-operative complications, including recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries, hypoparathyroidism, hypocalcemia, and adjacent structure injury. There were 24 lobectomies and 126 total thyroidectomies. RESULTS: Operation time was longer for patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. There was little difference between the two groups with respect to day of hospitalization, duration of draining, or post-operative complications. Of the total thyroidectomy cases without Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 36 patients (37.5%) had transient hypocalcemia and four (4.2%) had permanent hypocalcemia. Of the cases with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 13 patients (38.2%) had transient hypocalcemia and three (8.8%) had permanent hypocalcemia. Patients undergoing thyroid surgery with Hashimoto's thyroiditis had longer operation times due to increased angiogenesis and fibrosis. No difference was shown for other clinical features or post-operative complications. CONCLUSION: The data strongly indicate that meticulous hemostasis and careful surgical technique, along with an understanding of anatomic variation and surgical experience, leads to a low late of complications following thyroid surgery, even for patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Anatomic Variation ; Fibrosis ; Hemostasis ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypocalcemia ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Medical Records ; Postoperative Complications ; Protestantism ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injuries ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroidectomy* ; Thyroiditis*

No abstract available.

The clincopathologic features of microcystic adnexal carcinoma are presented. Microcystic adnexal carcinoma is a recently described, very rare neoplasm characterized by a locally aggressive growth pattern, and as far as we know, only two reports on the microcystic adnexal carcinoma have been published in the Korean literature. Recently we experienced two cases of microcystic adnexal carcimoma occurred in a 32-year-old male and 27-year-old female patient. They had 2.5 x 2.0 x 2.0 cm and 1.2 x 0.9 x 0.9 cm sized, slowly growing mass in the glabella and below the lower lip, respectively. The immunohistochemical staining for CEA antigen stains the glandular structures but not pilar structures. So we thinked that this tumor would be originated from primitive adnexal cells differentiating into both pilar and eccrine structures.
Female ; Male ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Strategically improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) should be discussed among overweight middle-aged women who are vulnerable to low HRQOL. We examined firstly if overweight middle-aged women would have significantly lower levels of HRQOL and health-promoting behaviors than normal-weight middle-aged women, and to examine secondly if health-promoting behaviors would be significantly associated with generic and obesity-specific HRQOLs within the overweight middle-aged women. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, comparative study. Participants were 119 women aged 30–49 years who were recruited from a community in Seoul, South Korea; 63 women for the overweight group who were recruited from a baseline sample of the Community-Based Heart and Weight Management Trial, while 56 for the normal-weight group who were recruited separetely. Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II), World Health Organization Quality of Life-brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) of a generic HRQOL measure, and Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite (IWQOL-Lite) of an obesity-specific HRQOL measure were used. RESULTS: Compared to the normal-weight group, the overweight group showed significantly lower scores of total WHOQOL-BREF as well as some HPLP II subscales including stress management (P=0.029). Among the HPLP II subscales, stress management was significantly and positively associated with total WHOQOL-BREF (β=1.58, P=0.003) and self-esteem IWQOL-Lite (β=11.58, P=0.034) among the overweight group. CONCLUSIONS Among middle-aged overweight women, low levels of health-promoting behavior for stress management were shown, which should be strategically increased for improving their generic and obesity-specific HRQOLs.

Objective To explore the application value of real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) technique in diagnosing and staging of chronic viral hepatitis B and hepatic fibrosis and to establish Young's modulus reference range for diagnosing and staging of hepatic fibrosis.Methods Forty-eight patients with chronic hepatitis B and fifty-eight healthy adults were enrolled and their Young's modulus values of S5 and S6 segments of liver were measured.Histopathologic examination was performed on 48 patients with chronic hepatitis B.Comparative analysis was conducted between the pathological findings and Young's modulus values,by means of which Young's modulus reference range for diagnosis and staging of hepatic fibrosis was obtained.Results There was significant difference in Young's modulus values of S5 and S6 segments of liver between chronic hepatitis B group and the normal control group (P＜0.05).Young's modulus values of S5 and S6 segments of liver in chronic hepatitis B group were (11.7 ± 2.9) kPa and (12.1 ± 3.2) kPa respectively,which were significantly higher than those in the normal control group,(5.7 ± 1.1) kPa and (5.8 ± 1.3) kPa respectively.Significant differences of Young's modulus values were detected in every staging of hepatic fibrosis (P＜0.05).S5 segment of liver Young's modulus values in S0-S4 stages were (5.8 ± 2.2) kPa,(7.3 ± 1.9) kPa,(10.3 ± 2.8) kPa,(10.3 ± 2.8) kPa,and (25.3 ± 3.6) kPa,respectively.S6 segment of liver Young's modulus values in S0-S4 stages were (5.7 ± 2.3) kPa,(9.2±2.1) kPa,(10.5±2.1) kPa,(14.7±4.5) kPa,and (26.1 ±2.1) kPa,respectively.Young's modulus value of the liver rose with the increase of S stage.Conclusion SWE technique can establish the Young's modulus reference range for hepatic fibrosis stage.Besides,it features high sensitivity,specificity and accuracy.

BACKGROUND: Strategically improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) should be discussed among overweight middle-aged women who are vulnerable to low HRQOL. We examined firstly if overweight middle-aged women would have significantly lower levels of HRQOL and health-promoting behaviors than normal-weight middle-aged women, and to examine secondly if health-promoting behaviors would be significantly associated with generic and obesity-specific HRQOLs within the overweight middle-aged women. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, comparative study. Participants were 119 women aged 30–49 years who were recruited from a community in Seoul, South Korea; 63 women for the overweight group who were recruited from a baseline sample of the Community-Based Heart and Weight Management Trial, while 56 for the normal-weight group who were recruited separetely. Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II), World Health Organization Quality of Life-brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) of a generic HRQOL measure, and Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite (IWQOL-Lite) of an obesity-specific HRQOL measure were used. RESULTS: Compared to the normal-weight group, the overweight group showed significantly lower scores of total WHOQOL-BREF as well as some HPLP II subscales including stress management (P=0.029). Among the HPLP II subscales, stress management was significantly and positively associated with total WHOQOL-BREF (β=1.58, P=0.003) and self-esteem IWQOL-Lite (β=11.58, P=0.034) among the overweight group. CONCLUSIONS: Among middle-aged overweight women, low levels of health-promoting behavior for stress management were shown, which should be strategically increased for improving their generic and obesity-specific HRQOLs.
Female ; Health Promotion ; Heart ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Quality of Life ; Seoul ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia for patients who have had to receive airway reconstruction surgery due to various causes may be the most challenging task in anesthesiology. A 3-year experience, in a consecutive series of 15 patients is herein reviewed. METHODS: We analyzed retrospectively the clinical status, the performed surgery, and the anesthetic management of the patients. RESULTS: The most common cause of airway obstruction was postintubation stenosis of the cervical trachea (6 patients). Tumor (3), trauma (2), tuberculosis (2), radiation (1), and the extrinsic compression (1) of the trachea or the main bronchus were the other causes. The kinds of surgery performed were resection and anastomosis (13 patients), external stent implantation (1), and lymph node excision (1). Airway control was successful during the perioperative period, and surgical death was never encountered. CONCLUSIONS: With careful preoperative evaluation of the status of the airway and close communication between the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, anesthesia during airway reconstruction surgery can be most worthwhile.
Airway Management ; Airway Obstruction ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesiology ; Bronchi ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Perioperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Trachea ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Intestinal ischemia remains a devastating event despite improvements in clinical recognition and in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. The ischemic bowel diseases encompass a wide clinical spectrum from mild, reversible disease to severe, irreversible injury. The clinical picture is characterized initially by poorly localized whether an increased serum lactate level is a recognized danger signal marker for intestinal ischemia in patients who present at the emergency department because of abdominal complaints. METHODS: Patients who came to our emergency department with abdominal pain and the risk factors of intestinal ischemia between Apr. 1999 and Nov. 1999 were included in this study. The data analysis included age, sex, final diagnosis, pathogenesis of bowel ischemia, and serum lactate level. RESULTS: The serum lactate level in the intestinal ischemia group was 28.54+/-22.51mg/dl; in non-ischemia group, it was 15.49+/-22.52mg/dl. This difference between the two groups was significatn(p<0.05). An increased serum lactate level had a sensitivity of 88.2% and specificity of 59.2%, a positive likelihood ratio of 4.92, and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.47 as a marker of bowel ischemia. These results do not represent a very meaningful revision of bowel ischemic provability, but may make a small contribution to management of the disease, depending upon their magnitude and the clinical context in which they are applied. CONCLUSION: In patients with abdominal complaints, an increased serum lactate level is usually a useful aid as a diagnostic marker of bowel ischemia.
Abdominal Pain ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Ischemia* ; Lactic Acid* ; Risk Factors ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Statistics as Topic

No abstract available.
Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic*

No Abstract available.
Infection Control*