No abstract available.
Adolescent* ; Ecthyma* ; Humans ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The pulmonary cytology has reached a high level of accuracy. By the examination of the sputum and/or bronchial brushings, it is now possible to make a diagnosis in 70% to 90% of patients with cancer. Primary melanoma of the lung is very rare and there have been reported about 20 cases in the world literature. We present a case of primary malignant melanoma of the lung in a 61-year-old male diagnosed by cytologic examination of sputum, bronchial brushing and aspirated pleural fluid. Histologic examination of bronchoscopic biopsy and examination of the skin and other primary sites confirmed the diagnosis.
Male ; Humans ; Biopsy

The term 'primary melanocytic neoplasm' covers a wide disease spectrum, from well differentiated meningeal melanocytoma to malignant melanoma, its most aggressive malignant counterpart. Previous reports have shown that due to the paramagnetic effect of melanin, melanocytic neoplasms show high signal intensity on T1-weighted images and very low signal intensity on T2-weighted images, with relatively homogeneous contrast enhancement. The differentiation of leptomeningeal malignant melanoma from benign melanocytoma is important because of their different prognosis but on the basis of imaging findings alone is difficult. Ultrastructural immunohistochemical analysis is a possible alternative. We report the imaging findings of rare primary malignant melanoma, revealed by noncontrast-enhanced CT as a high-density mass, and demonstrating high signal intensity on T1-weighted images, and very low signal intensity on T2WI, with relatively good contrast enhancement.
Melanins ; Melanoma* ; Prognosis

Accurate estimation of the exposure-response relationship between ambient urban particulate matters (PM) and public health is important for regulatory perspective of ambient urban particulate matters (PM). Ambient PM contains various transition metals and organic compounds. PM10 (aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microgram) is known to induce diverse diseases such as chronic cough, bronchitis, chest illness, etc. However, recent evaluation of PM2.5 (aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microgram) against health outcomes has suggested that the fine particles may be more closely associated with adverse respiratory health effects than particles of larger size. This study was performed to evaluate PM2.5-induced oxidative stress in rat lung epithelial cell in order to provide basic data for the risk assessment of PM2.5. PM2.5 showed higher cytotoxicity than PM10. Also, PM 2.5 induced more malondialdehyde (MDA) formation than PM10. In Hoechst 33258 dye staining and DNA fragmentation assay, apopotic changes were clearly detected in PM2.5 treated cells in compared to PM10. Expression of catalase mRNA was increased by PM2.5 rather than PM10. PM2.5 induced higher Mth1 mRNA than PM10. In pBR322 DNA treated with PM2.5, production of single strand breakage of DNA was higher than that of PM10. In Western blot analysis, PM2.5 induced more Nrf-2 protein, associated with diverse transcriptional and anti-oxidative stress enzymes, compared to PM10. Our data suggest that PM2.5 rather than PM10 may be responsible for PM-induced toxicity. Additional efforts are needed to establish the environmental standard of PM2.5.
Air Pollutants/chemistry/*toxicity ; Animals ; Apoptosis/physiology ; Benzimidazoles/metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Cell Survival/physiology ; DNA Fragmentation/physiology ; DNA Repair Enzymes/genetics/metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism ; Epithelial Cells/drug effects/enzymology/pathology ; Formazans/metabolism ; GA-Binding Protein Transcription Factor ; Lipid Peroxides/metabolism ; Lung Diseases/*chemically induced/enzymology/pathology ; Oxidative Stress/*physiology ; RNA, Messenger/chemistry/genetics ; Rats ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tetrazolium Salts/metabolism ; Transcription Factors/metabolism

Retrorectal tumors are particularly rare among the adult population, occurring in 1 of 40,000 hospital admissions. Clinical diagnosis is difficult and is often delayed because of vague symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features of retrorectal tumors. Between January 1999 and March 2005, 10 patients were diagnosed with retrorectal tumors at the Department of Surgery, Yonsei University Medical Center, and their medical records were reviewed. We analyzed chief complaints, imaging studies, surgical approaches and pathologic examinations. Out of 10 patients, 8 were female and 2 were male. The mean age was 42.8 years. Four patients had no symptoms. Perianal and abdominal pain were the most common presentations. CT and MRI were the most frequently performed imaging studies. Surgery was performed in 9 patients. Postoperative pathologic diagnosis was possible in 9 patients. An epidermal cyst was the most common tumor (4 patients); others included a mature teratoma, an adenocarcinoma from a tail gut cyst, a duplication cyst, a neurogenic tumor, and a smooth muscle cell tumor. Imaging techniques like CT scans, MRI and TRUS are helpful to determine the size and the extent of a tumor and its relationship to the surrounding anatomical structures for the operative approach. A surgical resection is the standard of treatment and demonstrates good results and a good prognosis.
Abdominal Pain ; Academic Medical Centers ; Adenocarcinoma ; Adult ; Epidermal Cyst ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Medical Records ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Prognosis ; Teratoma

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to estimate the degree of difficulty in total mesorectal excisions (TMEs) for rectal cancer by using statistical methods after analysis of factors affecting the resection time and incomplete resection. METHODS: A total of 63 patients who underwent a total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer were evaluated. MRI pelvimetry data {(transverse diameter (TD), obstetric conjugate (OC), interspinous distance (ID), sacrum length (SL), sacrum depth (SD)}, tumor size (TS), T stage, and body mass index (BMI) were prospectively analyzed. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the operating time prediction equation by using these variables, and the differences in the mean operating time hased on gross evaluations of each specimen were analyzed. RESULTS: A stepwise multiple regression with the operating time as a dependent variable led to the following equation: Operation time (min)=35.726-2.162xTD (cm)-2.324 x OC (cm) + 2.671 x SL (cm) + 1.274 x TS (cm), with r2=0.533 and SEE=5.438. The mean operating time according to a gross evaluation of the TME specimen was 20.0 +/- 7.3 min in complete TME cases (n=42) and 27.9 +/- 7.2 min in incomplete TME cases (n=21) (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MRI pelvimetry data (TD, OC, SL) and tumor size were factors affecting the operation time in TMEs for rectal cancer, and the operating time could be predicted by using the equation of the present study. Also, the mean operating time in incomplete TME cases was longer than that in complete TME cases. Thus, the degree of difficulty of an operation for rectal cancer can be predicted by using these factors.
Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pelvimetry ; Prospective Studies ; Rectal Neoplasms* ; Sacrum

Cutaneous sinus tract of dental origin is a syndrome rather than a disease entity, and is composed of a periapical abscess, sinus tract and granulomatous skin change at the opening of the tract. The presence of an intermittently-draining, granulomatous lesion on the face or neck should alert clinicians to the necessity of a routine dental examination, including radiographic studies. Early correct diagnosis and appropriate dental treatment can prevent unnecessary and ineffective antibiotic therapy or surgical treatment. We report a case of a 68 year-old woman with a cutaneous sinus tract on the right nasolabial fold, secondary to infection of eight maxillary remnant teeth.
Aged ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Nasolabial Fold ; Neck ; Periapical Abscess ; Skin ; Tooth

PURPOSE: Synuclein has been identified as an important neuroprotein for developing pathologic deposits in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease patients. gamma-synuclein is also known as a breast cancer-specific gene 1 thats's not found in normal breast tissues but it has been reported to be overexpressed in breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other tumors. To evaluate the availability of gamma-synuclein expression as a prognostic factor for infiltrative breast cancer, we analyzed its correlation with the clinical parameters and the HER-2/neu gene expression. METHODS: Two hundred fiffty samples of breast cancer tissues embedded in paraffin and that were obtained from the infiltrative breast cancer patients who were operated in our institution from January 1995 to December 2000 were analyzed with employing the tissue microarray technique. The expression of gamma-synuclein was studied with immunohistochemistry and with using gamma-synulcein antibodies. One hundred thirty one cases that showed favorable staining were selected and studied retrospectively. RESULTS: Fiffty five% (71/131) of the patients showed gamma-synuclein overexpression. The histopathological findings that significantly correlated with gamma-synuclein overexpression were the number of metastatic lymph nodes (p<0.01) and the cancer stage (p<0.01). Using the same tissue mircoarray, the HER-2/neu gene expression and gamma-synuclein expression also showed statistically significant correlation (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: gamma-synuclein overexpression showed significant correaltion with lymph node metastasis and cancer stage. It also showed significant relevance with the HER-2/neu gene expression, and that is already known to be a prognostic factor for breast cancer. Therefore gamma-synuclein may be a useful prognostic factor for infiltrative breast cancer and further studies on the its correlation with survival, local recurrence, and distant metastasis should be conducted
Antibodies ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; gamma-Synuclein* ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Paraffin ; Parkinson Disease ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Synucleins

Scrub typhus is an acute, febrile illness caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi infection and it is one of the main causes of acute febrile illness in the Asian-Pacific region. The incidence of scrub typhus has been significantly increased in Korea during last 10 years. Although early diagnosis and proper antibiotic treatment are important to prevent severe complications, the clinical discrimination of scrub typhus from other undifferentiated fevers, such as leptospirosis or dengue fever, is often very difficult. In addition, an effective vaccine has not yet been developed. As a novel diagnostic and vaccine target for scrub typhus, we described surface cell antigen (sca) family genes encoding autotransporter proteins found in the genome of O. tsutsugamushi. The molecular characteristics and recent findings on the bacterial genes were introduced in this letter.
Dengue ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Early Diagnosis ; Fever ; Genes, Bacterial ; Genome ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Leptospirosis ; Orientia tsutsugamushi ; Proteins ; Scrub Typhus

The vitelline duct is the primitive connection between the yolk sac and embryonic midgut, and undergoes involution between the seventh and ninth weeks of fetal development. A patent omphalomesenteric duct is a form of umbilical remnant with a communication between the umbilicus and intestine that requires surgical resection. Completely patent omphalomesenteric duct is very rare. We here report a case of intestinal obstruction with small bowel strangulation caused by patent omphalomesenteric duct in a 33-year-old man.
Adult ; Fetal Development ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Intestines ; Umbilicus ; Vitelline Duct* ; Yolk Sac