This retrospective study was performed to assess CT scan findings of pancratic cancer and its ability todetermine resectability. CT scans of 41 patients, who were diagnosed to have pancreatic cancer on histological orclinical base, were reviewed. Most common findings were; focal pancreatic enlargement, diffuse pancreaticenlargement, loss of distinct contour, peripancretic fat obliteration, bile duct or pancreatic duct dilatation,vascular invasion, lymph node involvement, direct invasion of adjacent organs and distant metastasis.Resectability was assessed according to generally accepted CT findings such as small pancreatic mass lesion havingnormal lobulated contour of pancreas, no evidence of vascular invasion, no evidence lymph node involvement andfree of distant metastasis. With the criteria, 5 cases among 41 cases deemed to be resectable. However onoperation all cases were found unresectable indicating prediction of tumor resectability is difficult even withhelp of CT. Nonetheless CT would be very helpful in management of patients having pancreatic cancer since CT wouldshorten the diagnostic procedures of pancreatic cancer.
Bile Ducts ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Obturator hernia is a rare pelvic hernia, occuring most frequently in elderly, debilitated women. Because of nonspecific symptoms, the diagnosis of obturator hernia is often delayed until laparotomy for bowel obstruction. This leads to high bowel resection and mortality rates, which represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for surgeons today. We experienced an unusual case of right obturator hernia with strangulation in an 81-year-old female patient who presented with intermittent generalized, particularly right lower quadrant, abdominal pain and distension. The hernia was diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan and repaired using the lower midline transperitoneal approach. CT scan in the evaluation of patients with nonspecific intermittent gastrointestinal symptoms leads to a diagnosis of occult hernia. We report these findings with a brief review of the literature focusing on finding indicators leading to early diagnosis and treatment.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Diagnosis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Hernia ; Hernia, Obturator* ; Humans ; Ileus ; Laparotomy ; Mortality ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: Cyclooxygenase (COX) is an important enzyme that transforms arachidonic acid into prostaglandins and exists as two types of isoenzyme, COX-1 and COX-2. Recently, the expression of COX-2 was presented as an important factor in determining the prognosis in colorectal cancer, and the expressed COX-2 was related with recurrence and liver metastasis after an operation for colorectal cancer. Thus this study was to investigate the relationship between COX-2 expression and the prognosis for colorectal cancer. METHODS: We studied colorectal cancer patients who received operations at the Catholic University of Korea from Jan. 1993 through Dec. 2000, by reviewing their medical records and pathological reports. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the expression rate of COX-2 and to study its relationship with other clinical variables, the disease-free survival rat, and the recurrence rate. RESULTS: Among the 217 cases, 171 cases (78.8%) showed positive COX-2 expression. The COX-2 expression increased with the differentiation and was lower in cases with lymph-node metastasis. However, no statistically significant difference in age, sex, location of lesion, invasiveness, stage, organ of metastasis, disease-free survival rate, and recurrence existed between patients with positive COX-2 expression and those with negative COX-2 expression. CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence that COX-2 expression is associated with a poor prognosis for colorectal cancer.
Animals ; Arachidonic Acid ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Cyclooxygenase 2* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Korea ; Liver ; Medical Records ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases ; Prostaglandins ; Rats ; Recurrence

Intussusception in an adult is an uncommon condition. In contrast to the condition occuring in infants and children in adults, it is usually secondary to an intraluminal tumor. Hemangioma is a very rare cause of intussusception. The most frequent symptoms of intussuscepting hemangioma of the gastrointestinal tract are cramping abdominal pain, vomiting and melena. The treatment is usually resection. We experienced a case of hemangioma in the ileum with intussusception. After laparotomy and resection of the ileal segment, end to end anastomosis was performed.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Child ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemangioma* ; Humans ; Ileum* ; Infant ; Intussusception ; Laparotomy ; Melena ; Muscle Cramp ; Vomiting

BACKGRAOUND AND OBJECTIVES: Thyroid calcification is widely known as a highly specific sign of malignancy. However, there are few studies on the correlation between the calcification and papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The aim of this study was to describe the features of calcification in thyroid mass, and determine the relationship between thyroid calcification and PTC. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients (116) who underwent surgery for thyroid mass during the period of March 2006 to December 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Each patient underwent preoperative sonography (n=96) and computed tomography (CT)(n=110) to evaluate the thyroid lesion. We subdivided the calcification according to characteristic features and compared the pathologic results. The association between the type of calcification and PTC was verified through the Chi-square test or likelihood ratio. RESULTS: Of 96 patients who underwent sonography, 41 (42.7%) had calcification, of which 23 had microcalcificaiton, 15 had focal calcification, and three had rim calcification. Of 41 calcified lesions, 34 (82.9%) were PTC. Incidence of cancer from thyroid which had no calcified lesion was 30.9%. Three (6.7%) of 45 benign lesions had microcalcification, and 20 (39.2%) of 51 were PTC. We found statistically significant correlation between the presence of calcification, especially microcalcification, on sonography and PTC. Thirty of 110 patients (27.3%) who underwent neck CT had calcification, and among them, 20 patients (66.7%) were diagnosed as PTC. There was no statistical significance in relationship between calcification on CT and malignancy. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that microcalcification which is shown by sonography were more specific for PTC than other calcified lesions.
Factor IX ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neck ; Retrospective Studies ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms