There has been no adequate diagnostic method for the diagnosis of intrascrotal lesions until recent days. Butafter the development of radionuclide testicular scan, early and relatively accurate diagnosis of the testicularlesions are possible. So the authors analyzed the 32 cases of patients who were examined by testicular scan andconfirmed by follow up study or operation, and the results are as follows; 1. These 32 cases consists of 13 casesod epididymitis, 7 cases of testicular torsion, 4 of cryptorchism, 2 of testicular tumor and etc. The over alldiagnostic accuracy is about 69%. 2. In epididymitis, the diagnostic accuracy is 85%(11/13) and the findings ofscan are increased perfusion in radionuclide angiogram and hot activity noted mainly in peripheral portion of thetesticle in static image. 3. In cases o testicular torsion, diagnostic accuracy is 86%(6/7). Acute torsion showsnormal perfusion in angiogram and round cold area instatic image. But in missed torsion, perfusion is increasedand round cold area wit surrounding hyperemia is noted in static image. Radionuclide testicular scan seems to benoninvasive, inexpensive, easily available and simple to perform with low gonadal radiation dose. So it can bevery useful as the first study in patients with acute testicular symptoms.
Cryptorchidism ; Diagnosis ; Epididymitis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gonads ; Humans ; Hyperemia ; Male ; Methods ; Perfusion ; Spermatic Cord Torsion

It is well known that halogenated anesthetics have been mainly used for inhalation anesthesia these days. However many controversies still exist concerning hepatic cellular damage after halothane anesthesia. Although several articles have been issued concerning the effects of halogenated anesthetics for hepatitis B surface antigen positive patients, a study of frequent research and strict case collections is meaningful. The authors observed the effects of enflurane anesthesia on 15 HBsAg positive patients who had not recognized themselves whether they had hepatitis symptoms or were carriers. During the period of study, all groups(enflurane study group and enflurane and halothane control groups) did not experience any difficulty with the anesthesia, blood transfusion, and jaundice, etc. The comparative data of liver function tests did not show great differences during the convalescent period. According to this and other recent studies, we can positively conclude that halogenated anesthetics, especially enflurane, may favorably be used to administer HBsAg positive patients, unless any undesirable problems related to anesthesia exist.
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, Inhalation ; Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Blood Transfusion ; Enflurane* ; Halothane ; Hepatitis ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens* ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Liver Function Tests

We describe two cases of post-radiation sarcoma after breast cancer treatment. The first patient was a 61-year-old woman who underwent partial mastectomy of the right breast and adjuvant whole breast irradiation 7 years previously. Subsequently, a rapidly growing mass from the anterior arc of the right fifth rib was incidentally detected on an abdomino-pelvic computed tomography scan. The second patient was a 70-year-old woman who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and a partial mastectomy of the left breast 9 years ago. Adjuvant irradiation was delivered to the whole breast and supraclavicular region. Subsequently, an approximate 8 cm mass developed in the left axillary area. Both patients received wide excision of the tumor with negative resection margins. The pathological diagnoses were osteosarcoma and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, respectively. Although post-radiation sarcomas are rare complications with a poor prognosis, enhanced awareness and early detection by clinicians are essential to improve outcomes via curative surgical resection.
Aged ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced ; Osteosarcoma ; Prognosis ; Ribs ; Sarcoma

PURPOSE: To evaluate the response and survival rate after three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) of patients with a solitary sternal relapse of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients between May 1996 and June 2005 were evaluated with the salvage 3D-CRT treatment of a solitary sternal relapse of breast cancer. The treatment fields included the gross tumor volume with 2 cm margins. The total radiation dose was 35.0~61.5 Gy (biologic effective dose of 43.7 ~76.9 Gy(10) using an alpha/beta ratio of 10 Gy), with a daily dose of 1.8~3.0 Gy. The tumor response was evaluated by the change in maximum tumor size via follow up CT scans 1~3 months after the completion of treatment. RESULTS: An objective tumor response was achieved in all patients, with a complete response in 5 patients and a partial response in 12 patients. The 5-year overall survival rate was 51.9% (median survival time: 27 months), and the most important factor affecting overall survival was the disease-free interval (interval from primary surgery of breast cancer to the development of sternal metastasis): The 5-year overall survival rate was 61.8% for patients with a disease-free interval > or =12 months and 0.0% for patients with disease-free interval <12 months (p=0.03). CONCLUSION: The response to 3D-CRT was good in patients with solitary sternal relapse of breast cancer. Particularly, patients with long disease-free interval from primary surgery survived significantly longer than patients with short disease-free interval from primary surgery.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden

Classification ; Consensus ; Diagnosis ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Hematology ; Lymphoid Tissue

Since the epidural catheterization has been widely used for the purpose of anesthesia, diagnosis and pain control, there are various undesirable complications and hazards through the technical procedure or catheterization itself. Authors have experienced several hazards of location of the epidural catheter tip which were detected by epidurography performed the 1st. or 2nd. postoperative day with 50% Angiograffin. Hazards were as follows; 1) Single air bubble in the epidural space. 2) Inappropriate placement of the catheter tip. 3) Kinking of catheter in the epidural space. 4) Intravascular placement of the catheter.
Anesthesia ; Catheterization* ; Catheters* ; Diagnosis ; Epidural Space

PURPOSE: We wished to evaluate the prevalence and clinical features of axillary web syndrome (AWS) after sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) during the conservative treatment of early breast cancer. METHODS: From March to November 2003, a total of 110 consecutive patients with clinical T1-T2 breast cancer underwent breast conserving surgery, with ALND being performed in 98 patients or SNB being performed in 12 patients. The diagnostic criterion for AWS was the presence of palpable and visible cords of tissue in the axilla upon maximal shoulder abduction. The extent of AWS was evaluated by inspection and by palpation of the axilla and the arm. RESULTS: Ten of 110 patients (9%) developed AWS. The AWS typically presented in the first several weeks after surgery and it resolved within 1 month of onset for all the patients. AWS was encountered for 3 patients (25%) among the patients who had SNB and for 7 patients (8%) among the ALND group, which is not statistically significant. Typically, the syndrome was self-limiting, and it resolved without any specific treatment. CONCLUSION: AWS is a significant cause of morbidity in the early postoperative period for 9% of the patients after axillary surgery. A more limited axillary surgery might help reduce the incidence and severity of the AWS.
Arm ; Axilla ; Biopsy* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymph Node Excision* ; Lymph Nodes* ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Palpation ; Postoperative Period ; Prevalence ; Shoulder

Clinical manifestations of hypothyroidism are very various and these degree are related to the severity and duration of the disease. Pericardial effusions, one of the manifestations of hypothy-roidism, were relatively common in the past. However, recently they may not be so frequent representative of hypothyroid subjects. The higher frequency of Hashimotos thyroiditis in Turners syndrome, especially those with an X-isochromosome, compared with the general population is well known. The pathophysiological process of autoimmunity is thought to be linked with the presence of an abnormal X-chromosome. Recently we experienced a case of X-isochromosome Turners syndrome with hypothyroidism and pericardial effusion and report it with reviews of the literatures.
Autoimmunity ; Hypothyroidism* ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis ; Turner Syndrome*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of colorectal mucinous carcinomas. METHODS: 1, 809 patients who underwent curative resection, between January 1989 and December 1999, for colorectal carcinomas, were enrolled in this study. Of these, 128 patients had more than 50% mucin secreting acini that could be classified as the mucinous type. These mucinous carcinoma patients were compared with 1, 681 non-mucinous carcinoma patients, in order to evaluate differences in their clinicopathological characteristics, recurrence pattern and prognosis. RESULTS: The incidence of mucinous carcinomas was 7.1%. The mean age of the mucinous carcinoma patients was younger than the non-mucinous carcinoma patients (P=0.001). The mucinous carcinomas occurred in the right colon more frequently than non-mucinous carcinoma, and the size of the tumor was larger (P<0.001). There were no significant differences in the loco-regional and systemic recurrence rates, but the systemic recurrence pattern of the mucinous carcinomas was different from those of the non-mucinous carcinomas. With a mucinous carcinoma, the most common site for systemic recurrence was the peritoneal metastasis, whereas in a non-mucinous carcinoma, was the liver. There was no significant difference in the 5-year survival rate between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In a mucinous carcinoma, the most common pattern of treatment failure was a peritoneal recurrence. The hepatic recurrence rate of the mucinous carcinomas was less than that of the non-mucinous carcinoma. Therefore, more aggressive diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, under the consideration of peritoneal recurrence in mucinous carcinomas, will be required.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Colon ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver ; Mucins* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Failure

BACKGROUND: With the emergence of antimicrobial resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae, a more accurate and automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing method is essential. We evaluated the BD Phoenix Automated Microbiology System (Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Systems, USA) SMIC/ID-2 panel for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of S. pneumoniae. METHODS: A total of 113 clinical strains of S. pneumoniae (88 penicillin susceptible strains, 8 intermediate strains, and 17 resistant strains by 2008 CLSI criteria) were tested. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for penicillin, cefotaxime, clindamycin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, and vancomycin were determined by Etest (AB Biodisk, Sweden) and Phoenix System. The results obtained by Phoenix system were compared to those obtained by Etest. RESULTS: The overall essential agreement of MICs (within one dilution of MICs) defined by the Phoenix and Etest was 92.3%. Neither very major errors nor major errors were produced, and minor errors were 6.5%. Minor errors were frequently observed in susceptibility testings for penicillin (22.1%), cefotaxime (12.4%), and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (11.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The Phoenix SMIC/ID-2 panel provided a simple and rapid susceptibility testing for S. pneumoniae, and the results were in a good agreement with those of Etest. The Phoenix system appears to be an effective automated system in clinical microbiology laboratories.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology ; Bacterial Typing Techniques/instrumentation/methods ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests/*methods ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Streptococcus pneumoniae/*drug effects/growth & development/isolation & purification