This study has been examined different morphologic measurements in the evaluation of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Preoperative CT-Myelography from 30 patients who underwent surgery for central lumbar stenosis were analyzed. Based on this, we concluded as follows : 1) Bony measurement alone did not reliably identify patients with spinal stenosis. 2) Measurement of the transverse area of the dural sac on CT-Myelography was the most accurate method for identifying stenosis. 3) Lumbar myelography was still considered to have an important role in the valuation of a patient with stenosis because of correlation between the cross-sectional area of the dural sac and the anteroposterior diameter of the dural sac was excellent. 4) We identified soft-tissue problems as the main cause of stenosis. 5) The most common level of maximum stenosis was L4-5.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Myelography* ; Spinal Stenosis*

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to show the effectiveness and the safety of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of complicated duodenal ulcers. METHODS: From September 1994 to July 1997, 30 hemodynamically stable patients underwent laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of complicated duodenal ulcers, including 13 free perforations, 12 obstructions and 5 intractabilities. Operations consisted of a truncal vagotomy with a drainage procedure, a proximal gastric vagotomy (posterior truncal vagotomy with anterior seromyotomy) and simple closure of the perforation in 16, 9, 5 cases, respectively. In the beginning of this study, congo-red tests were attempted in 12 patients, intraoperatively in 7 and postoperatively in 5, to assess the reliability of a laparoscopic vagotomy. Long-term follow up was evaluated using by modified Visik criteria. RESULTS: The mean operation time was 150 (80-230) minutes. Oral intake resumed on the third postoperative day. The mean hospital stay was 8.4 days. There was one intraoperative open conversion. In another case, a distal subtotal gastrectomy followed due to persistent postoperative gastric stasis. Six of 7 intraoperative congo red tests showed black-to-red discoloration of the gastric mucosa, which meant reduced gastric acidity. However, in the postoperative group, only 2 of 5 cases did. The mean follow-up period was 21 (3-38) months. There were 2 recurrent ulcers. One was on the duodenum; the other was a marginal ulcer. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of complicated duodenal ulcers is technically feasible, effective, and safe.
Congo Red* ; Congo* ; Drainage ; Duodenal Ulcer* ; Duodenum ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Gastric Acid ; Gastric Mucosa ; Gastroparesis ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Peptic Ulcer ; Ulcer ; Vagotomy* ; Vagotomy, Proximal Gastric ; Vagotomy, Truncal

BACKGROUND: Correlations between the AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA125 levels of portal and peripheral blood were examined in 42 patients (male, 29; female, 13; mean age, 55.9) with gastric cancer in order to identify a better blood sample for measuring these tumor markers. METHODS: The levels of these tumor markers were measured by the immunoradiometric assay. The cut-off levels of positivity were 6 ng/ml for AFP, 7 ng/ml for CEA, 25 U/ml for CA19-9, and 35 U/ml for CA125. RESULTS: The positive rates of AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA125 were 11.9%, 19.0%, 14.3%, and 7.1% in portal blood and 9.5%, 19.0%, 14.3%, and 4.8% in peripheral blood, respectively. The positive rate of portal venous CEA was significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and lymphatic invasion than those without these variables. The positive rate of peripheral venous CEA was significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, high stages, and large tumor size. The positive rate of peripheral venous CA19-9 was higher in cases with distant metastasis. The positive rate of CA125 in portal and peripheral blood was higher in cases of lymphatic invasion. Neither portal nor peripheral AFP correlated with pathologic factors. Regression analysis revealed that the portal venous levels of AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA125 could be estimated by using the peripheral venous levels of these tumor markers. CONCLUSION: We can avoid intraoperative sampling of portal blood to measure the portal venous levels of AFP, CEA, CA19-9, and CA125 because the peripheral venous level of these tumor markers reflects the portal venous levels. The measurement of peripheral venous levels of CEA and CA19-9 can be used as non-anatomical prognostic indicators for staging of gastric cancer.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoradiometric Assay ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Stomach Neoplasms*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency, type and severity of cardiac abnormalities in the patients with ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthopathy. METHODS: A history, clinical examination, standard 12 lead electrocardiography, two dimensional, M mode, and Doppler echocardiographies were performed on 19 patients with ankylosing spondylitis, 15 patients with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy and 21 normal controls. RESULTS: 1) Cardiac abnormalities were detected in 8 patients(42.1%) with ankylosing spondylitis. 2) Cardiac abnormalities were detected in 8 patients(53.3%) with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy including 2 patients with aortic valve abnormalities(mild aortic insufficiency, aortic valve thickening. 3) Cardiac abnormalities were detected in one (4. 8%) among normal controls (mild tricuspid regurgitation). 4) There were sinus bradycardias on electrocardiography in 2 patients among patients witn anl;ylosing spond!litis and in 1 patient among undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy. But there was no conduction disturbance in both groups. 5) The frequency of cardiac abnormality was higher in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy than in normal controls. 6) The mean age, mean disease duration, presence of uveitis, peripheral arthritis, HLA-B27, enthesopathy, Schober test and chest expansion in the patients with ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy with cardiac abnormalities were not different from those in the patients without cardiac abnormalities. CONCLUSION: The frequency of cardiac abnormality was higher in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy than in normal controls. The frequency, type and severity of cardiac involvement in patients with ankylosing spondylitis were not different from those in patients with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.
Aortic Valve ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Arthritis ; Bradycardia ; Electrocardiography ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Spondylarthropathies* ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing* ; Thorax ; Uveitis

PURPOSE: Many reports have described significantly lower survival rates for patients with obstructing colorectal cancer than for patients with non-obstructing colorectal cancer. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the long-term prognosis of patients with obstructing carcinomas of the left colon and rectum and to identify the clinical and pathologic characteristics that affect the prognosis. METHODS: From June 1996 to October 2003, 46 patients with obstructing left colon and rectal cancer underwent curative surgery (case group), and from the patients with non- obstructing left colon and rectal cancer who had curative surgery, 48 patients with clinicopathologic characteristics similar to those of the case group were selected and matched as a control group. A comparative analysis of demographic, clinical, and pathologic characteristics, the recurrence rate, and the long-term survival rate between these two groups was done. RESULTS: Emergency operations were done more frequently for obstructing cancer than for non-obstructing cancer (P=0.0001), and more patients with obstructing cancer presented to non-specialists (P=0.0001). The overall recurrence rate was significantly higher in obstructing cancer patients than in non-obstructing cancer patients. Further, the 5-year overall and the disease-free survival rates were significantly lower in obstructing cancer patients when examining either overall patient outcome or stage-III patients outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term prognosis of patients with obstructing carcinomas of the left colon and rectum is poor. We suggest that the poor general condition of patients with obstructing cancer, the increased number of emergency operations involving those patients, and more patients with obstructing cancer presenting to non-specialists may contribute to poor long-term prognosis for obstructing cancer patients.
Case-Control Studies* ; Colon* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Disease-Free Survival ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Prognosis* ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Rectum* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: Colonoscopy is a reliable and useful tool for diagnosis, surveillance and treatment of colorectal disease. In spite of its safety, in a large number of procedures, serious complications such as perforation or bleeding of the colon are rare, but inevitable. Laparoscopically, we treated patients with complications after diagnostic or therapeutic colonoscopy and evaluated the safety and the usefulness of laparoscopic treatment. METHODS: From December 2002 to November 2003, thirteen patients were referred to us from regional colonoscopic clinics for laparoscopic surgery due to complications of colonoscopy. All patients presented radiologic intra- or retro-peritoneal free air and various degrees of clinical symptoms or signs comparable to colonic injury, such as abdominal pain and tenderness, distension, and/or fever. One patient with mild symptoms and an other colonoscopically treated were excluded for this study. Patients were followed up at least for two months after the operation. RESULTS: Laparoscopic procedures ranged from exploration only or closure of a perforated colon to a standard operation for colorectal cancer according to the degree of injury or associated disease. The mean operative time was 102 min. Patients resumed meals at the 2nd to 4th post-operative day and were discharged 5 to 8 days after the operation. No operative complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic surgery for complications of colonoscopy is feasible and safe and can allow an unnecessary laparotomy to be avoided. Even in patients with colonic injury due to the colonoscope and colorectal cancer together, laparoscopic surgery can be an alternative method for treatment of the disease.
Abdominal Pain ; Colon* ; Colonoscopes ; Colonoscopy* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Fever ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Laparotomy ; Meals ; Operative Time

Osteomas are benign, slow-growing osteogenic lesions frequently found in the craniomaxillofacial region. They can be classified as peripheral, central, or extraskeletal. Reactive mechanisms to trauma or infection, as well as muscle traction, are thought to play a major role in the development of peripheral osteomas. In the present report, a 41-year-old woman presented with a slow-growing, painless mass on her left eyebrow. She had suffered trauma 15 years prior. In the computed tomography scan, a 2.5 × 2 × 0.7-cm radio-opaque tumor was detected just medial to the left supraorbital foramen, and a peripheral osteoma was clinically diagnosed. An elective operation under general anesthesia was planned. Following a suprabrow incision, subcutaneous and intramuscular dissection was performed. In the surgical plane deep to the corrugator muscles and superficial to periosteum, a branch of the supratrochlear nerve was encountered and preserved using a vessel loop. The osteoma beneath the periosteum was extracted in multiple fragments using a chisel and mallet to minimize trauma to the nerve. Contour and facial symmetry were corrected. To use a suprabrow incision, the surgeon must understand neighboring anatomical structures, including the course of the supratrochlear and supraorbital neurovascular bundles. When these structures are located adjacent to tumor lesions, careful surgical maneuvers should be performed to preserve them.
Adult ; Anesthesia, General ; Eyebrows ; Female ; Forehead ; Humans ; Muscles ; Osteoma ; Periosteum ; Traction

Schwannoma is a slow-growing, well-demarcated, benign soft tissue tumor of the peripheral nerve sheath. It commonly develops in the head and neck region, usually in the parapharyngeal space. In this case, a 42-year-old woman visited the outpatient department to manage a painless mass on her left cheek. She had no history of concern and no neurological symptoms were observed. In the enhanced computed tomography scan, a 2.8 × 2.8 × 1.8 cm, heterogeneously enhanced tumor was detected in the left masseter muscle. A tumor resection under general anesthesia was planned. For the resection, a facelift incision was chosen; branches of the facial nerve were identified and retrogradely dissected. A well-marginated, yellowish, solid mass was found in the left masseter muscle. The mass was excised and given a histopathological diagnosis of schwannoma. A definite diagnosis of schwannoma, originating in the masseter muscle, is difficult to arrive at with radiographic findings alone; it is often misdiagnosed as intramuscular hemangioma. Histopathological examinations, including fine-needle aspiration or histological biopsy after surgery, are necessary. Using a facelift incision with retrograde facial nerve dissection, tumor resection in an intramasseteric lesion can be performed efficiently, without nerve damage, or leaving conspicuous scars on the face.
Adult ; Anesthesia, General ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Cheek ; Cicatrix ; Diagnosis ; Facial Nerve ; Female ; Head ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Masseter Muscle ; Neck ; Neurilemmoma ; Outpatients ; Peripheral Nerves ; Rhytidoplasty

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the long-term oncologic outcomes of laparoscopy assisted and open surgery for patients with right colon cancer. METHODS: From June 1996 to May 2000, 35 patients underwent curative surgery with a laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy (LAC), and from among the patients who had curative open surgery, 35 patients with clinicopathologic characteristics comparable to those of the LAC group were selected and matched as a control group (OC). A comparative analysis of long-term survival and patterns of recurrence between these two groups was done. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences in demographic, laboratory and pathologic characteristics between the two groups. The mean follow-up period was 54.5 months. The overall five-year survival was 82.9% in the LAC group and 68.6% in the OC group, but was not statistically significant (P=0.17). Interestingly, the five-year survival of patients with TNM stage III tumors was significantly higher in the LAC group (84.2%) than in the OC group (52.6%) (P=0.04). There were no port-site recurrences or operative deaths. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for right-sided colon cancer were similar to those of open surgery. Interestingly, laparoscopic surgery for stage III tumors showed better survival than open surgery. However, a more large-scaled randomized study will be needed to clarify the oncologic safety of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer.
Case-Control Studies* ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND: QT dispersion(QTD=QTmax-QTmin) on the 12 lead ECG has been known to reflect regional variation of ventricular repolarization, and thus a marker of an increased risk of arrhythmia events. Late potential(LP) on signal averagina ECG(SAECG) is independent risk factor of ventricular arrhythmia following acute myocardial infaction(AMI). However, the relation between LP and QTD as indicator of electrophysiologic instability in AMI remains to be determined. METHOD: To determine whether there is a difference in QTD between in parients with AMI during acute phase and in normal control and whether thrombolytic therapy is assiciated with a reduction in QTD, and to determine the relationship between change of QTD and late potential on SAECG, we studied 71 patient with AMI(male 54, female 14, mean age 57yrs) and 23 controls(malw 17, female 6, mean age 58yrs). QT interval was measured on a standard 12 lead ECG in patients with AMI on admission, 2 hours after urokinase IV and 10-14 days post-AMI, and QT dispersion was calculated by difference of maximal and minimal corrected QT interval(QTmax-QTmin). A signal averaged ECG was recorded in 36 patients before discharge and coronary angiogeaphy(CAG) was performed in all patients 10-14 days post-AMI. RESULT: QTD is significantly increased in AMI compared to control(78.7+/-39.5ms vs. 24.6+/-22.3ms, P < 0.01). In patients who received thrombolytic therapy with urokinase, QTD is decreased from 75.0+/-34.4ms to 53.9+/-36.0ms(P < 0.01), whereas there is no significant change in patients who did not received thrombolytic therapy(84.8+/-47.6ms vs. 78.9+/-36.2ms, NS). There in no difference in QTD between patients with positive LP(68.4+/-23.6ms) and those with negative LP(77.8+/-32.1ms) on admission, those with positive LP(66.6+/-27.6ms) and those with negative LP(56.0+/-26.4ms) after 10-14days post-AMI. But magnitude of change of 10-14 days post-AMI QTD in patients with negative LP is larger than those with positive LP(-21.7+/-33.4ms vs. -1.8+/-15.2ms, P=0.06). CONCLUSION: QTD in acute phase of AMI is significantly reduced by the thrombolytic therapy. Patients with negative late potential tent to have greater QTD reduction within 14 days after AMI. These finding suggest that QT dispersion in patients with AMI can be reduced by early recanalization and its reduction is associated with the presence of late potential.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Risk Factors ; Thrombolytic Therapy ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator