No abstract available.
Autopsy* ; Statistics as Topic*

This study was performed to evlauate the usefulness of red ginseng extract as an adjuvant therapeutic agent to improve immune function in immune compromizing gastrointestinal carcinoma patients. We treated 48 patients with two regimens after we undertook the curative resection for gastrointestinal carcinoma: 1) only chemotherapy and immunotherapy (control group), 2) chemotherapy and immunotherapy with 4500-5400mg red ginseng for 6 months (study group). For investigating the immunologic alternations alongside the numerical changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte and their subsets in the gastrointestinal carcinoma patients, lymphocyte surface markers were determined by monoclonal antibodies on the preoperative 1st day, and postoperative 5th day, 1 month, 3 month and 6 month in 28 controls and 20 red ginseng groups in gastrointestinal carcinoma patients which were recruited at Korea University Hospital from March, 1995 to December, 1995. The mean value for body weight was increased in the ginseng group than in the control group. There were no significant differences of serum hematocrit, hemoglobin, total protein and albumin in both groups. The total lymphocyte count was much more increased in the ginseng group than in the control group. The number of T cell, B cell, CD8, CD4, NK cell and activated T cell were increased in ginseng group more than in control group. The T cell was significantly increased on postoperative 5th day, 3 month and 6 month, and B cell on postoperative 6 month in ginseng group than in control group. The CD8 was significantly increased on postoperative 3 month and 6 month, CD4 on postoperative 5th day, and NK cell and activated T cell also on postoperative 6 month in ginseng group than in control group. In conclusion, red ginseng may be useful as a longterm adjuvant therapeutic agent for improving the immune function and anticarcinogenic effect after curative operation for immune compromizing gastrointestinal carcinoma patients.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Anticarcinogenic Agents ; Body Weight ; Drug Therapy ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Korea ; Lymphocyte Count ; Lymphocytes ; Panax*

The antihypertensive effect of clonidine was evaluated in 129 patients with essential hypertension of mild to moderate severity with a dosage of one tablet(0.075mg) a day for 71 patients of Group I and two tablets a day for 58 patients of Group II. The results were as follows : 1) Of 71 patients of Group I, 34 patients(47.9%)showed good antihypertensive effect(greater than 15 mmHg drop in mean diastolic pressure) and 11 patients(15.5%) showed fair effect(10-14 mmHg drop in mean diastolic pressure). 2) Of 58 patients of Group II, 39 patients(67.2%) showed good effect and 7 patients(12.1%) showed fair effect. 3) The side effect observed was transient and tolerable dry mouth, which developed in 5.6% of Group I patients and 13.6% of Group II patients.
Clonidine* ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Mouth ; Tablets

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: The prognosis of hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis is worse than in those without cirrhosis. In Korea, the hepatitis B virus prevalence rate is higher than in other countries. Therefore, we investigated patients' clinicopathologic and metabolic factors that affect the postoperative outcomes of hepatic resection for HCC in our hospital in Korea. METHODS: From August 2000 to December 2012, 171 HCC patients underwent hepatic resections at our institution. Two operative mortality cases and two short-term follow up cases were excluded. Data was collected from a retrospective chart review. There were 133 males (79.6%) and 34 females (20.3%), with a mean age of 58.2+/-10.2 years (range, 22-81 years), and the relationship between clinicopathologic and metabolic factors and the prognosis of patients with HCC undergoing hepatic resection were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Hypertension, major surgery, perioperative transfusion, resection with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or cryoablation, and resection margin were risk factors for overall survival, and hypertension, albumin, resection with RFA or cryoablation, perioperative transfusion, and tumor size were risk factors for disease-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: We found that hypertension, perioperative transfusion, and resection with RFA or cryoablation were risk factors for both disease-free and overall survival after hepatic resection in HCC patients. Further study is required to clarify the influence of metabolic and other clinicopathologic factors on the prognosis of HCC.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Catheter Ablation ; Cryosurgery ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B virus ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prevalence ; Prognosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Anatomic variations of the portal vein (PV) and bile duct (BD) are more common on the right lobe as compared with left lobe grafts in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We recently experienced a case of LDLT for hepatocellular carcinoma combined with liver cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection. The only available donor had right lobe graft with type IV PV associated with type IV BD. The patient underwent relaparotomy for PV stenting due to PV stenosis. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage was done for a stricture at the site of biliary reconstruction. Thereafter, the patient was discharged in good health. Our experience suggests that, the use of right lobe graft with type IV PV accompanied by type IV BD should be the last choice for LDLT, because of its technical difficulty and risks of associated complications.
Bile Ducts ; Biliary Tract* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Drainage ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis B virus ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Transplantation* ; Living Donors* ; Portal Vein* ; Postoperative Complications ; Stents ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants*

No abstract available.
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung*

PURPOSE: The mortality and morbidity rate after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still high, although the operative techniques and skills and the perioperative care has been improved. The incidence of PD for benign disease is 5~20%. The aim of this study is to determine the factors that differentiate between the benign group and the malignant group by comparing the clinical manifestations, and we studied the safety of performing PD for benign diseases by observing the early and late postoperative complications. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 124 patients who had been diagnosed with benign or malignant pancreatic diseases and who underwent PD between April 1995 and December 2005. We divided the patients into two groups, i.e., the benign group (20) and the malignant group (104), to compare their clinical characteristics and postoperative outcomes. Result: Chronic pancreatitis was the most common disease (35%) in the benign group and distal CBD cancer was the most common disease (40.4%) in the malignant group. Jaundice, weight loss, and elevation of CA 19-9 were more frequent in the malignant group than in the benign group (p<0.05). There were no statistical differences in the mortality rate (10.0% vs 6.7%), reoperation rate (5.0% vs 4.8%), hospital stays (27.1 days vs 24.0 days), early complications (30.0% vs 44.6%) and late complications (22.2% vs 26.4%) between the two groups. There were no mortality and newly developed malignancy during 33.4 months of follow-up period in benign group. CONCLUSION: On the preoperative evaluation, jaundice, weight loss, and elevation of CA 19-9 were more frequent in the malignant group. The postoperative early and late complications showed no difference between the two groups and complication rate was generally favorable. Thus, PD can be performed safely for benign diseases that cannot be treated in a conservative fashion and also for other clinically suspicious malignant diseases.
Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Jaundice ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Pancreatic Diseases ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy* ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; Perioperative Care ; Postoperative Complications ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Weight Loss

Neurofibromatosis 1(NF-1, Von Recklinghausen disease) and Neurofibromatosis 2(NF-2, bilateral acoustic neurinoma) have been established as distinct disorders by the National Institutes of Health(NIH) Consensus Development Conference in 1988. We recently have encountered a patient of NF-2 who develop multiple intracranial and spinal tumors 12 years after the surgical treatment of Schwannoma of lumbar nerve roots. The tumors were right acoustic neurinoma, left cerebellopontine angle(CPA) meningioma, multiple intracranial meningiomas, intraorbital glioma, multiple ependymomas of the brain stem and cervical spinal cord, and meningiomas of cervical nerve roots. We present this case with a review of reported cases of neurofibromatosis.
Academies and Institutes ; Acoustics ; Brain Stem ; Ependymoma ; Glioma ; Humans ; Meningioma ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibromatoses* ; Neurofibromatosis 2* ; Neuroma, Acoustic ; Spinal Cord

In this paper, we describe 72-year-old female patient without evidence of malignant disease presented with significantly elevated serum carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 levels by respiratory infections. She was diagnosed with respiratory infections due to Mycobacterium avium complex and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The serum CA 19-9 levels remarkably increased (1,453-5,300 U/mL; reference range, <37 U/mL) by respiratory infection and abruptly decreased (357-534 U/mL) whenever infection was controlled by specific treatments. This case suggests that serum CA 19-9 levels may be used as a diagnostic marker to indicate new or resistant infections to previous antibiotics in chronic lung diseases without significant changes in chest X-ray findings.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mycobacterium avium Complex ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Reference Values ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; Thorax

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between shift work and work-related injuries in a representative sample of Korean workers. METHODS: We used data from the Korean Working Condition Survey of 2006. The participants were 7,075 Korean workers 15 to 64 years of age. Logistic regression was employed to estimate the relationship between shift work and work-related injury using the SAS version 9.2 program. RESULTS: Shift work was significantly related to work-related injuries compared to non-shift workers(OR 2.40, 95% CI=1.65~3.48). When personal and occupational risk factors were accounted for, shift work had a statistically meaningful relationship with work-related injuries compared to non-shift work(OR 1.79, 95% CI=1.20~2.66). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, shift workers appear to have a higher risk of work-related injuries compared to non-shift workers. Work-related injuries in shift workers could be attributed to circadian rhythm disorder and sleep problems. Suitable arrangements that ensure flexible working times are needed for shift workers. Further study will be needed to identify and mitigate work-related injuries among shift workers.
Chronobiology Disorders ; Dietary Sucrose ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Phenothiazines ; Risk Factors