PURPOSE: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), also known as osteonectin or basement-membrane-40 (BM-40), is a member of a family of matricellular proteins, whose functions are to modulate cell-matrix interactions, growth and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. In this study, the expression of SPARC was evaluated and its correlations with clinicopathological parameters were investigated. METHODS: The researchers analyzed the expression patterns of SPARC by using immunohistochemistry in 332 cases of colorectal cancer of tissue microarray. The clinicopathological characteristics were defined by using the TNM criteria of the Union for International Cancer Control. Clinicopathological factors such as age, sex, histologic type of the tumor, pathologic tumor stage, TNM stage, and lymphovascular invasion were evaluated according to the SPARC expression. RESULTS: The hazard ratios expressing SPARC in tumor cells, in the stroma, and in both tumor cells and the stroma were 2.10 (P = 0.036), 3.27 (P = 0.003) and 2.12 (P = 0.038), respectively. Patient survival was decreased in patient expressing SPARC in the stroma, and this result showed statistical significance (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that SPARC expression in a tumor and in the stroma correlates with disease progression and may be used as a prognostic marker for colorectal cancer.
Colorectal Neoplasms ; Cysteine ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Osteonectin ; Prognosis ; Proteins

PURPOSE: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), also known as osteonectin or basement-membrane-40 (BM-40), is a member of a family of matricellular proteins, whose functions are to modulate cell-matrix interactions, growth and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. In this study, the expression of SPARC was evaluated and its correlations with clinicopathological parameters were investigated. METHODS: The researchers analyzed the expression patterns of SPARC by using immunohistochemistry in 332 cases of colorectal cancer of tissue microarray. The clinicopathological characteristics were defined by using the TNM criteria of the Union for International Cancer Control. Clinicopathological factors such as age, sex, histologic type of the tumor, pathologic tumor stage, TNM stage, and lymphovascular invasion were evaluated according to the SPARC expression. RESULTS: The hazard ratios expressing SPARC in tumor cells, in the stroma, and in both tumor cells and the stroma were 2.10 (P = 0.036), 3.27 (P = 0.003) and 2.12 (P = 0.038), respectively. Patient survival was decreased in patient expressing SPARC in the stroma, and this result showed statistical significance (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that SPARC expression in a tumor and in the stroma correlates with disease progression and may be used as a prognostic marker for colorectal cancer.
Colorectal Neoplasms ; Cysteine ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Osteonectin ; Prognosis ; Proteins

BACKGROUND: Although several hospital-based stroke studies were published, there has not been any reliable data representing the clinical characteristics of stroke in Korea. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients with ischemic stroke registered in the Korean Stroke Registry (KSR), which is the largest prospective hospital-based nation-wide stroke registry in Korea. METHODS: The KSR provided standardized protocols for collecting data, which includes the data of demographics, subtypes of stroke, risk factors, and neurological outcome at discharge. The brain imaging studies, including CT or MRI, were performed in all cases. RESULTS: KSR registered 10,811 patients of acute ischemic stroke between Nov. 2002 and Jun. 2004. The large-artery atherosclerosis was the most common subtype (37.3%), followed by small vessel occlusion (30.8%). Hypertension (65.4%) was the most common risk factor, followed by smoking (34.5%) and diabetes (28.3%). Although most of the hypertensive and diabetic patients had been diagnosed before the stroke, less than 45.4% and 32.5% of them were under regular control. The steno-occlusive lesion of extracranial carotid artery was only 29.3% and the ratio of intra- to extracranial artery disease was more than 2 in KSR. Only 20.5% of patients were admitted within 3 hours after stroke onset and 2.1% were treated with intravenous thrombolysis. In-hospital case-fatality was 5.2%, which is relatively comparable to those of previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: The KSR provided informative data in understanding the clinical characteristics of ischemic stroke in Korea. Further analysis of KSR will facilitate clinical trials and development of guidelines for the management of stroke patients.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Demography ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroimaging ; Prospective Studies* ; Registries ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stroke*

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is often diagnosed in patients with pneumonia who respond poorly to antibiotics. BOOP is often idiopathic, and the etiology of the remaining cases has been attributed to a wide range of agents or medical conditions. When a patient develops the clinical symptoms characteristic of BOOP, the medical team must endeavor to determine the etiology of this disease because it can be treated with glucocorticoid and avoidance of the causative agent. In particular, if BOOP is diagnosed during or after chemotherapy for a malignancy, the possible culprit agent can be the anti cancer drugs but other drugs used for supportive care must be also be considered. We report a case of BOOP that arose after CHOP chemotherapy and a filgrastim injection in a patient with a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; B-Lymphocytes* ; Bronchiolitis Obliterans* ; Bronchiolitis* ; Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia* ; Drug Therapy* ; Humans ; Lymphoma, B-Cell* ; Pneumonia ; Filgrastim

Neuromyelitis optica is a rare demyelinating disorder of unknown etiology in which unilateral or bilateral optic neuritis and transverse myelitis occur within few days or weeks time interval.It is a disorder that occurs more commonly in children than in adult. The authors experienced a case of neuromyelitis optica in a 10-year-old male who developed acute visual loss of both eyes, pain and sensory loss of both legs, paraplegia, and urinary difficulty. We confirmed this case by neurologic feature, magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid findings, and visual evoked potential.His symptoms improved with systemic corticosteroid therapy. Therefore, we report our case with a review of related literature.
Adult ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Child ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Humans ; Leg ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Myelitis, Transverse ; Neuromyelitis Optica* ; Optic Neuritis ; Paraplegia

There have been many theories for pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. However,no one theory can explain all of the pathogenesis. That means many factors contribute to the pathogenesis of the diabetic retinopathy. Many studies have shown the retinal changes in long-term hyperglycemia, yet relatively few in short-term hyperglycemia. To study the changes of the retinal capillary and retinal pigment epithelium in diabetic retinopathy, we measured the thickness of the basement membrane of the retinal capil-lary endothelial cells in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. An morphological alterations of the retinal pigment epithelium were also examined on the 2 month-old diabetic rats. The measurement was made using 0.1 mm calibrated ruler overlaying the electron micrograph with a transparent plastic sheet on which 20 radiating lines were etched exactly 18 .apart. The SPSS and Instat program were used for statistical evaluation of the data. Comparing with the control, the increase of the thickness of the endothelial basement membrane at the 2 month-old diabetic rats was statistically significant (p<0.05). Cytoplasmic alterations such as vacuolization of capillary endothelium, changes in mitochondria and increasement of capillary endothelialcytoplasm were more prominent in diabetic rats than in control rats. Basal infoldings of retinal pigment epithelium appeared to be more frequent and deeper in diabetic rats than in control rats.
Animals ; Basement Membrane ; Capillaries ; Cytoplasm ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium, Vascular ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Infant ; Mitochondria ; Plastics ; Rats* ; Retina* ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium ; Retinaldehyde

Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a very rare malignant neoplasm which originates from the soft tissue. The common site is lower extremity and it is especially rare to occur primarily in the orbit. It is characterized that tumor shows organoid arrangement of lobules separated by numerous delicate vascular septa and individual tumor cell contained PAS positive crystalline granules in the cytoplasm. Moreover, because of hypervascular tumor, it is easy to misdiagnosed as a cavernous hemangioma which commonly occurs in the orbit. We experienced a 29-year-old male who had suffered from unilateral proptosis.Before operation, ultrasonography, MRI and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were performed and we suspected that the retro-orbital mass was a cavernous hemangioma. Using Kr onlein method,lateral orbitotomy was performed and large well encapsulated tumor mass (2.5 x2.5 x2.0 cm)was excised. On histopathological examination the tumor was confirmed as an alveolar soft part sarcoma. Therefore, we report this interesting case with review of the literature.
Adult ; Crystallins ; Cytoplasm ; Hemangioma* ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Orbit* ; Organoids ; Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft Part* ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Ultrasonography

Congenital toxoplasmosis is caused by vertical transmission of Toxoplasma gondii from the mother during pregnancy. The road clinical spectrum of congenital toxoplasmosis ranges from stillbirth or death shortly after birth to survival with either cerebral damage or mild or subclinical disease, consisting usually of ocular involvement. Recently we experienced a neonate with congenital toxoplasmosis. The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was confirmed on the basis of clinical findings such as chorioretinitis, CT findings of multiple cerebral calcifications calcifications, hydrocephalus, and positive serologic test for toxoplasma IgM anti body. Therefore, we report our case with a review of related literature.
Chorioretinitis ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Immunoglobulin M ; Infant, Newborn* ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Serologic Tests ; Stillbirth ; Toxoplasma ; Toxoplasmosis, Congenital*

Orbital abscess is an inflammatory disease of the orbit which usually aries in children or adults. However, it also arises in infants and an appropriate treatment is needed because it often accompanies more severe symptoms, complications, and permanent sequales. Systemic administration of antibiotics and surgical therapy can be enployed as means of treatment. When one uses surgical therapy in addition to using systemic antibiotics, one can obtain good results with rapid improvement of symptoms and prevention of complications. Surgical aspiration and antibiotic treatment showed good results in an infant who was admitted due to proptosis, chemosis, eyelid edema, and drythema.
Abscess* ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child ; Edema ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Orbit*

Orbital abscess is an inflammatory disease of the orbit which usually aries in children or adults. However, it also arises in infants and an appropriate treatment is needed because it often accompanies more severe symptoms, complications, and permanent sequales. Systemic administration of antibiotics and surgical therapy can be enployed as means of treatment. When one uses surgical therapy in addition to using systemic antibiotics, one can obtain good results with rapid improvement of symptoms and prevention of complications. Surgical aspiration and antibiotic treatment showed good results in an infant who was admitted due to proptosis, chemosis, eyelid edema, and drythema.
Abscess* ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child ; Edema ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn* ; Orbit*